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In fact the Church did an inestimable amount of good to the servile classes, and, at the time that Aquinas wrote, thanks to the operation of Christianity in this respect, the old Roman slavery had completely disappeared. The nearest approach to ancient slavery in the Middle Ages was serfdom, which was simply a step in the transition from slavery to free labour.
The reason of the difference is, because bonitas physica, or relativa est congruentia naturae quaedem, saith Scalliger; and because two natures may be contrary one to another, therefore the good which is congruous to the one may be contrary to the good which is congruous to the other; but bonum virtutis, saith Aquinas non accipitur nisi per convenientiam ad aliquid unum, scilicet rationem; so that it is impossible for one moral good to be opponed to another.
One can attain to that happy state, and it is one of the principal means the soul can use to strengthen its dominion. For one must have either the one or the other. Thomas Aquinas is a writer who is accustomed to reason on sound principles, and the subtle Scotus, seeking to contradict him, often obscures matters instead of throwing light upon them.
With Aquinas it was entirely objective; something outside the will of the individual purchaser or seller; something attached to the thing itself, existing whether he liked it or not, and that he ought to recognise. Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy, following the authority of Knies, expresses the same opinion: 'Perhaps the contrast between mediæval and modern ideas of value is best expressed by saying that with us value is usually something subjective, consisting of the mental determination of buyer and seller, while to the schoolmen it was in a sense objective, something intrinsically bound up with the commodity itself. Dr.
Thomas Aquinas, following St. Augustine, inclines to hold that when there is an apparition of a dead man, the dead man is unconscious of the circumstance. A spirit of one kind or another may be acting in his semblance. Thyraeus rather fancies that the dead man is aware of what is going on. Hauntings may be visual, auditory, or confined to the sense of touch.
What an abomination! what treachery to heaven! what peril to the souls of men! Besides, your authorities differ: Augustine takes different ground from Pelagius; Bernard from Abélard; Thomas Aquinas from Dun Scotus. Have not your grand councils given contradictory decisions? Whom shall we believe?
It was in vain that the grooms with whip and spur sought to conquer their repugnance. They were finally compelled to give up the attempt, and to choose another place for their daily exercise. It has further been sought to fix the imputation of magic upon Thomas Aquinas by imputing to him certain books written on that science; but these are now acknowledged to be spurious.
Canonists and theologians accepted without hesitation the justification of trade formulated by Aquinas. Henri de Gand, Duns Scotus, and François de Mayronis unhesitatingly accepted the view of Aquinas, and incorporated it in their works.
Luther did not credit Henry with a composition which was probably his own after all. He thought the king was put forward by some of the English bishops 'Thomists' he calls them, as men who looked for the beginning and end of wisdom to the writings of Thomas Aquinas. 'Courage, he exclaimed to them, 'swine that you are! burn me then, if you can and dare. Here I am; do your worst upon me.
"Is that there? Yes, truly! God has punished me by taking my sons one after the other. What a wonderful book, in which everything is written! That is the reason then! But what says Thomas Aquinas, the 'Angel' of the Schoolmen?" "Yes, sire, if you wish the matter elucidated, we must consult the learned." "Let us do so, but quietly and cautiously.
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