Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu/155

Rh of our labor. In short, we nourish you as a father nourishes his children.

Nothing can be more contrary to the law than the excuse you present in saying, "I pay for my bread." Where did you get your money? Is not this money that you keep at home with you, the fruit of our labor? You cannot obtain our pardon unless you agree with all your heart to eat the bread of your own labor.—Impossible! you reply again; how could all men do the same work?

The law of labor may be incomprehensible if we compare it to that of love, because this word love alone suffices to show all its nature, while we need numerous developments to make clear the meaning of the primitive law. I have written already nearly three hundred articles in comment upon it, and I doubt if I have completely persuaded my readers of the necessity of labor. How can I present in few words all the mysterious virtue which belongs to the law which God gave in creating the heavens and the earth? Besides, it encounters the greatest of obstacles in the influence of money which deprives this law of so much of its force. It is money which renders men blind and insensible. Hear them answer simply: "I pay for my bread! I pay for my bread." That is their only reply. How, then, can I dispute with them?