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efuse rien a quoi vous serez resolu & que je n'ay ny chois ny dis-
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48
tinction d 1 affaire ny de persone ou il ira de vostre comandemant...."
And finally his post-1588 attitude toward the education of the noble
youth reflects his acceptance of the military role of nobility with
the Prince at the top:
(C) Si ... au son du tabourin qui arme la jeune ardeur de
ses compagnons, [le jeune noble] se destourne a un autre qui
l'appelle au jeu des batteleurs; qui, par souhait, ne trouve
plus plaisant et plus doux revenir poudreux et victorieux
d'un combat, que de la paulme ou du bal avec le pris de cet
exercice: je n'y trouve autre remede, sinon que de bonne
heure son gouverneur l'estrangle..." (I,xxvi,162-3).
The sovereign, then, has the right to wage war, and it is the duty of
the nobility as well as the tiers &tat to answer to~the conscription.
Any force within or without the State which disturbs the tranquillity
of the society can justifiably be considered an enemy and war can
be justly waged against it. Montaigne has even indicated that any war
which the Prince begins must be supported even if the conscience disagrees.
The net result is the justification of a war desired by the-
Prince.
Although not a slave to the customs of his own environment, he
was willing to accede to force for the preservation of the country's
traditions—change was considerably more evil than what was already
extant. As part of this complex of the social system, he accepted the
principle of complete behavioral submission to the office of the King.
He accepted evil in the status quo because of his greater love for
order.
48. Montaigne, Oeuvres completes, Pleiade, Lettre XXV, p. 1391.