ing of the Church with
the accepted mercantile customs of the time. Endemann, however,
in spite of his colossal research and unrivalled acquaintance with
original authorities, was essentially hostile to the system which he
undertook to explain, and thus lacked the most essential quality of a
satisfactory expositor, namely, sympathy with his subject. He does
not appear to have realised that development and adaptability to new
situations, far from being marks of impracticability, are rather the
signs of vitality and of elasticity. This is not the place to discuss
how far the doctrine of the late fifteenth differed from that of the
early thirteenth century; that is a matter which will appear below
when each of the leading principles of scholastic economic teaching
is separately considered; it is sufficient to say here that we agree
entirely with Brants, in opposition to Endemann, that the change
which took place in the interval was one of development, and not of
opposition. 'The law,' says Brants, 'remained identical and unchanged;
justice and charity--nobody can justly enrich himself at the expense
of his neighbour or of the State, but the reasons justifying gain
are multiplied according as riches are developed.'[1] 'The canonist
doctrine of the fifteenth century was but a development of the
principles to which the Church had already given its sanction in
earlier centuries. It was the outcome of these same principles working
in a modified environment.'[2] With these conclusions of Brants and
Ashley we are in entire agreement.

[Footnote 1: Brants, _op. cit._, p. 9.]

[Footnote 2: Ashley, _op. cit._, p. 381.]

Let us say in passing that the assumption that the mediaeval teaching
grew out of contemporary practice, rather than that the latter grew
out of the former, is one which does not find acceptance among the
majority of the students of the subject. The problem whether a correct
understanding of mediaeval economic life can be best attained by first
studying the teaching or the practice is possibly no more soluble than
the old riddle of the hen and the egg; but it may at least be argued
that there is a good deal to be said on both sides. The supporters of
the view that practice moulded theory are by no means unopposed.
There is no doubt that in many respects the exigencies of everyday
commercial concerns came into conflict with the tenets of canon law
and scholastic opinion; but the admission of this fact does not at