Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu/16

12 of love and charity the law of manual labor. As he says so eloquently on page 36: "The man who professes, not only by words but by actions, the doctrines of truth and love, will not deceive himself as to the object of his life. Never would the man whose idea of existence is to serve others imagine that he can help those who are dying of cold and hunger by making new laws, by casting cannon, working on objects of luxury, or by playing on the piano or violin. Love cannot be so foolish."

Though disagreeing on this point, Bondareff and Tolstoï unite in proclaiming that manual labor is not only man's duty, but that it is also the most excellent moral remedy, and an efficacious agent for salvation. Bondareff has shown TolstoÏ how tilling the ground (which he so expressively calls "labor for bread") is the primitive occupation to which all men should apply themselves, and by which they should live. A man should not attempt secondary tasks till he has worked in the ground for forty days. In this way a man can nourish, clothe, lodge, and shelter himself without needing aid from others.

Both Bondareff and Tolstoï arrive at the conclusion that physical labor does not exclude intellectual activity, but, on the contrary, they hold that it augments the mind's dignity and power.

Thus Labor shows us that what Tolstoï has taught, Bondareff had previously put in practice. If we compare What should be done, with