iness, justice and gentleness come; and, as the
prophets say, 'a little child shall lead us all.'

'Yes, a little child will suffice; for we shall be gentle because we
shall be happy,' said Banaias; 'whereas now we are so unhappy, so
enraged, that a hundred giants would not be sufficient to restrain us.'

'And these times come,' continued Peter; 'all having a share in the good
of the earth, fertilized by the labor of each, all being sure of living
in peace and contentment, we shall no longer see the idle living on the
fruits of another's labor. Has not the Lord said through the son of
David, one of his elected:

"I hated all my labor which I have taken under the sun, because I should
leave it to the man that should come after me.

"For there is a man who labors with wisdom, with science, and with
industry, and he shall leave all he has acquired to a man who has given
to it no labor: and who knows not if he will be prudent or foolish?

"Now, this is vanity and great affliction."

'You know,' added the apostle, 'the voice of the son of David is as
sacred as justice. No, he who has not labored ought not to profit by the
labor of another!'

'But suppose I have a child,' said a voice; 'suppose, by depriving
myself of sleep, and a portion of my daily bread, I continue to spare
something for him, that he might not know the miseries I have suffered,
is it unjust, then?'

'Eh! who speaks to you of the present?' exclaimed Peter; 'who speaks to
you of these times, in which the strong oppress the weak, the rich the
poor, the unjust the just, the master the slave? In times of storm and
tempest, each builds up as he can a shelter for him and his: this is but
right.--But when the time promised by our prophets shall come, a divine
time, when a benificent sun shall always blaze, when there shall be no
more storms, when the birth of every child shall be welcomed by joyous
songs, as a blessing from the Lord, instead of being lamented as an
affliction, as at present; because, conceived in tears, man, in our
time, lives and dies in tears; when, on the contrary, the child
conceived in joy, shall live in joy; when labor, now crushing, shall be
itself a joy, so shall the fruits of the promised land be abundant;
each tranquil as to the prosperity of his children, shall no longer have
to think for them, to lay up treasures for them, by depriving himself,
and wasting away by over-fatigue. No, no: when Israel shall at length
enjoy the kin