The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-11-27
PRACTICAL SOCIAL SPIRIT Of THE MIDDLE AGES

The University of Chicago Press has
recently issued collection of extracts
on economic problems, edited by one
of the professors of that institution,
Walton Hale Hamilton. In the first
division Of the book quotations are
given from various authorities on "An-
tecedents of Modern Industrialism,"
dealing with conditions in the Middle
Ages. We learn of the Gospel of
Stewardship" from the great Summa
of st. Thomas Aquinas, and of the de-
nunciation of unjust business dealings,
not in general phrases but in detailed
explanation, from the sermons of the
famous Berthold Won Regensburg. 1t
is most refreshing to hear this great
preacher, for example, tell to those
who dealt in the selling of meat and
drink: IF thou offerest measly or
rotten flesh that thou hast kept SO long
until it be corrupt, thou are guilty of
perchance of one mans life, perchance
of ten. Or if thou offerest flesh that
was unwholesome before the slaughter
or unripe of age, which thou knowest
we'll and yet givest it for sale, SO that
folk eat it into their clean souls which
are so dear treasure to Almighty
God, then dost thou corrupt the noble
treasure which God has buried in
every man; thou are guilty of the
blood of the folk" ("Current Econo-
mic Problems" 1915, p. 25.)
From the original ordinances of va.
rious merchant and craft guilds we
learn of the religious spirit which per.
meated these organizations and from
the accounts of non-C Catholic writer's
and students we are informed of what
this spirit produced in actual practice.
William J. Ashley and William Gun
ningham, the able historians of this
period, in detailed fashion, relate the
ideal of social justice which influenced
the practical actions of the medieval
public bodies end associations. Fair
wages were aimed at, fair dealings in
business, the protection of the con-
sumner. 1.-THE use of the cheap labor
of women was regarded as a rule with
disfavor." Up. 30.) The articles of the
spurriers of London, assented to by
1.-The good folks of the trade" requir-
ing that members of their trade should
not be allowed to work at night be-
cause of the many persons of the
said trade who compass how to prac-
tice deception in work." taking advan.
tage of the night to Introduce false
iron, and iron that has been cracked,
for tim" and ito put gilt on false
coppers, and cracked" might be quot
ed as an example of the public NOR.
atty Of the time.
The spirit of solidarity in the me.
dieval town is dwelt upon at some
length by the editor, and the reasons
are given for this splendid spirit; the
necessities in which these growing
towns found themselves, and the social
teachings of the Church. 1.-THE influ-
ence of medieval thought in promoting
the spirit of solidarity is not to be
wholly overlooked" says the non Cath
olic Hamilton. "The town was born
in an atmosphere saturated with the
spirit of Medieval Catholicism. Broth
erhood and equality had long been
preached by the Church. Vertical, or
inter.class equality was never realized,
either in Chivalry or in the Church.
But many medieval institutions pre-
scented fair semblance of horizontal,
or intra-class equality. 1t was under
the influence of ecclesiastical prece-
dents that the towns established their
new organizations. A study of the
characteristic features of the gilds
show how great was the number of
things to which they were indebted to
religious institutions, and how few
were the real innovations springing
out of the newly created urban life.
Influenced by such habits of thought
and freed from the obstacles opposed
by the changing material progress.
merchant gid legislated with the end
In view of placing social interests
above class or individual interests. -
Up. 24.)
Thus we are furnished with another
evidence of the salutary social iniiu-
ence of the Church upon economic
conditions, as shown in the medieval
era. At times, in specifically study.
ing the social phenomena of various
periods of history, we may be tempted
to think that one age In its funda.
mental considerations and In its
thought for the good of the people is
the same as another and that the evils
Of one time are likewise much as at
any other, changed in form, of course.
by the changing material progress.
But the careful reading Of the testi.