Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu/146

142 from the poor laborers, which they pretend they will use in their aid. You know well, readers, that, whatever may be the subject under discussion, the rich always gain their point. It has always been so, and always will be to the end of the world, as says Sirach, the man who was inspired by God: "When a rich man speaketh, every man holdeth his tongue, and look, what he saith they extol it to the clouds: but if the poor man speak, they say. What fellow is this?"

Have I not proved, beyond dispute, that love without labor is dead, and that labor, accomplished according to the commandment, can live alone without the aid of love? Love is hidden in labor: labor is the home in which love dwells. Love without labor is as the body without soul. The law lives only when its power is used for man's profit; otherwise it is dead. Besides that, the law lives only for those who accomplish it willingly and not for those who refuse to submit to labor with all their heart. And in fine, the sluggards—who are truly criminal—are dead to the law as it is dead to them.

As for love to others, we will not speak of it here.

It is impossible for me to explain to the world the law of labor, that I have only learned by myself, and that no one has taught me. I have comprehended its truth with my whole soul. You deny, and you will deny forever, that it is gifted with a force that will, one day, unite all men in one faith, one church, and one love, because it is the chief of all virtues. You would