< Page:Labour - The Divine Command, 1890.djvu
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Labour.

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suffering from hunger or cold succeed in enslaving him. Man, admitting that labor for bread is a law imposed on all, will consider it a strict duty not to permit the sale of bread (that is, articles of actual necessity), but will nourish, clothe, and care for each other.

I regard Bondareff's work from another point of view, which is this:

You will often hear it said that we must not be content with negative laws and commandments, that is, the rules which decide what we must not do; but we should have positive laws, which determine in a precise manner what we ought to do.

For example, Jesus Christ gave five negative commandments:[1]

1st. Never regard any one as a fool or idiot; and never be angry with any one.[2]

2d. Do not look on marriage as a mere source of pleasure. Let not the husband leave his wife, nor the wife her husband.[3]

  1. ↑ Tolstoï's moral law is all contained in these Gospel precepts. See, for the development of this doctrine, and his explanation of the Sermon on the Mount, his book entitled My Religion.
  2. ↑ "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." (St. Matthew, chap. v. 22.)
  3. ↑ "It hath been said. Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement;
    But I say unto you. That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit
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