Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu/82

78 merits eternal punishment,'—even then the rich man will remain unmoved, for he prefers his wealth to all divine benefits. Laboring for bread is to him more horrible than torture. And you, who are but as the dust beneath his feet, would seek, by expressing tour own convictions, to induce him to work!"

66. I know, I replied to them, that it is indeed impossible.

But they may approve of my arguments, since they are taken from the chief divine laws; and perhaps they may make them known to their laborers. For this good action alone God would greatly reward them. Then, like persons suffering from hunger and thirst, men will hasten to accomplish this work. They will not give themselves to other occupations till afterwards, for they all depend on labor for bread. Then the obscure night will be as the brightest day, and all will be easy. For this reason, amid all the cares and labors of my life, I have undertaken this task.

67. And then the superior class will see our merit, which it had never before remarked or heard of. It will feel culpable towards God and man; it will no longer depend on or oppress us as it does now. We are bought at half price, and sold for double the amount. When a rich man finds himself in a poor country, far from the cities and commercial centres, he meets no one with whom he can buy or sell. At each mouthful of bread men will ask, in spite of