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should not pursue and provoke an armed man who has no other recourse
than to die fighting.
He would prefer that the enemy have recourse to alternatives.
His examples of a Lacedaemonian incident involving Pharaz and one concerning
Gondemar, king of Bourgogne, illustrate this point and show the
practical results of making someone stand up for his life (C/A,I,xlvii,
282). Montaigne's practical evaluation of the necessities of the State
and of war really provokes him to blast the practice of the King having
nobility attend him in his private, physical functions (A,I,xlii,
265). He certainly felt they could be better utilized for the state.
His praise of La Boetie, who, he felt, should have been used in a command
position under the Crown, is a case in point.He had no compunction
either in seeing ecclesiastical officials participate in military
encounters (the Bishop of Beauvais, A,I,xli,256-7). Moral activities
in war seem to revolve around order, discipline, moderation and
practical necessities. His letter to M. Du Puy in behalf of the Sr de
Verres shows his involvement with these ideas: "II a faict chose non
sulemant excusable selon les loix miUteres de ce siecle mais necessere
& come nous jujons louable Et l'a faict sans doubte fort presse....
War has its rules and its reasons beyond these same rules, and a soldier
is justifiable who lives and fights within the practical bounds of
14. See the letter to Michele de l'Hospitol, 1570, Oeuvres
completes, Pleiade, p. 1363.
15. Montaigne, Oeuvres completes, Pleiade, p. 1380.