Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu/32

28 Labor for bread, says Bondareff, renders all men equal, and clips the wings of luxury and covetousness.

One cannot cultivate the ground or dig wells in rich clothing, with white hands, or on delicate food.

By giving themselves up to an occupation that is good and holy for every one, men come nearer to each other. Labor for bread restores intelligence to those who have lost it or have led unworthy lives; and it also bestows joy and happiness; for God and nature have reserved this as a glad and interesting work for mankind.

Labor for bread is a remedy that saves mankind. If men would recognize this primitive law as divine and immutable, and regard labor for bread as an indispensable duty, all would then be nourished by their own work, be united by the same faith in God and in love for one another, and thus destroy the poverty from which so many suffer.

We are so accustomed to a contrary state of affairs, and to regard wealth, freedom from the need to labor, and high social position as gifts of Heaven, that we do not choose to see how unjust and incomplete it is.

Let us analyze it with care, and see if it is just.

There are on this point religious and political theories to suit all tastes. Let us judge Bondareff's theory as a mere theory. Let us consider what would happen if, following Bondareff's wish, all the clergy should undertake in