Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu/63

Rh have overlooked its value, and the labor required for its production:

Because, in the light of this law, all religious practices which are easy of accomplishment, and exact no labor, would lose their force and fall into disuse;

And also because he who explains a law should exemplify it by his example, and in setting those white hands to work, they would be found incapable of such labor.

For all these reasons this law has slumbered, and has been, as it were, consigned to a living tomb, whence it will not be resurrected to the end of the world.

32. If this commandment, the first which God has given us, which promotes all the virtues, and whence we derive all eternal good, whether earthly or heavenly, were duly comprehended, men would so cherish the cultivation of the ground that a father would give this order to his son: "When I am at the point of death, carry me into the field of grain, that my soul may there leave my body; and in that same field inter my remains."

But now, what happens?

The man who labors expects no recompense from God; and he who uses the fruits of another's labor looks for no punishment.

33. If, I repeat, this commandment were comprehended, how ably you would assist your laborers in their work! They would then do so