olent and all
of them running their roots down into texts of Scripture. Typical among
these is a sermon of Bishop Sands, in which he declares, regarding the
taking of interest: "This canker hath corrupted all England; we shall
doe God and our country true service by taking away this evill; represse
it by law, else the heavy hand of God hangeth over us and will strike
us."

II. RETREAT OF THE CHURCH, PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC.

But about the middle of the seventeenth century Sir Robert Filmer gave
this doctrine the heaviest blow it ever received in England. Taking up
Dr. Fenton's treatise, he answered it, and all works like it, in a way
which, however unsuitable to this century, was admirably adapted to
that. He cites Scripture and chops logic after a masterly manner.
Characteristic is this declaration: "St. Paul doth, with one breath,
reckon up seventeen sins, and yet usury is none of them; but many
preachers can not reckon up seven deadly sins, except they make usury
one of them." Filmer followed Fenton not only through his theology, but
through his political economy, with such relentless keenness that the
old doctrine seems to have been then and there practically worried out
of existence, so far as England was concerned.

Departures from the strict scriptural doctrines regarding interest soon
became frequent in Protestant countries, and they were followed up with
especial vigour in Holland. Various theologians in the Dutch Church
attempted to assert the scriptural view by excluding bankers from
the holy communion; but the commercial vigour of the republic was too
strong: Salmasius led on the forces of right reason brilliantly, and by
the middle of the seventeenth century the question was settled rightly
in that country. This work was aided, indeed, by a far greater man, Hugo
Grotius; but here was shown the power of an established dogma. Great as
Grotius was--and it may well be held that his book on War and Peace
has wrought more benefit to humanity than any other attributed to
human authorship--he was, in the matter of interest for money, too much
entangled in theological reasoning to do justice to his cause or
to himself. He declared the prohibition of it to be scriptural, but
resisted the doctrine of Aristotle, and allowed interest on certain
natural and practical grounds.

In Germany the struggle lasted longer. Of some little significance,
perhaps, is the demand of Adam Contzen, in 1629, that lenders
at in