ondly, when a man gives alms out of what is necessary for his state
of life, and yet does so knowing that they can very easily be supplied
to him again without much personal inconvenience. Thirdly, when some
private person, still more when the State itself, is in the gravest
need. In these cases it would be most praiseworthy for a man to give
what seemingly was required for the upkeep of his station in life in
order to provide against some far greater need."

From these passages it will be possible to construct the theory in vogue
during the whole of the Middle Ages. The landholder was considered to
possess his property on a system of feudal tenure, and to be obliged
thereby to certain acts of suit and service to his immediate lord, or
eventually to the King. But besides these burdens which the
responsibility of possession entailed, there were others incumbent on
him, because of his brotherhood with all Christian folk. He owed a debt,
not merely to his superiors, but also to his equals. Such was the
interpretation of Christ's commandment which the mediaeval theologians
adopted. With one voice they declare that to give away to the needy what
is superfluous is no act of charity, but of justice. St. Jerome's words
were often quoted: "If thou hast more than is necessary for thy food and
clothing, give that away, and consider that in thus acting thou art but
paying a debt" (Epist. 50 ad Edilia q. i.); and those others of St.
Augustine, "When superfluities are retained, it is the property of
others which is retained" (in Psalm 147). These and like sayings of the
Fathers constitute the texts on which the moral economic doctrine of
what is called the Scholastic School is based. Albertus Magnus (vol. iv.
in Sent. 4, 14, p. 277, Lyons, 1651) puts to himself the question
whether to give alms is a matter of justice or of charity, and the
answer which he makes is compressed finally into this sentence: "For a
man to give out of his superfluities is a mere act of justice, because
he is rather the steward of them for the poor than the owner." St.
Thomas Aquinas is equally explicit, as another short sentence shall show
(2_a_, 2_ae_, 66, 2, _ad_ 3_m_): "When Ambrose says 'Let no one call his
own that which is common property,' he is referring to the use of
property. Hence he adds: 'Whatever a man possesses above what is
necessary for his sufficient comfort, he holds by violence.'" And the
same view could be backed by quotations from Henry