Chapter IX The Limits of Military Duties
The old feeling of the moral stain of bloodshed
Military purificatory customs
Modern change of feeling about warfare
Descartes on the profession of arms
The old-world sentiment in favour of piracy
The central question of military ethics
May a soldier be indifferent to the cause of war?
The right to serve made conditional on a good cause
By St. Augustine, Bullinger, Grotius, and Sir James Turner
Old Greek feeling about mercenary service
Origin of our mercenary as opposed to gratuitous service
Armies raised by military contractors
The value of the distinction between foreign and native mercenaries
Original limitation of military duty
To the actual defence of the realm
Extension of the notion of allegiance
The connection of the military oath with the first Mutiny Act
Recognised limits to the claims on a soldier’s obedience
The falsity of the common doctrine of duty
Illustrated by the devastation of the Palatinate by the French
And by the bombardment of Copenhagen by the English
The example of Admiral Keppel
Justice between nations
Its observation in ancient India and Rome
St. Augustine and Bayard on justice in war
Grotius on good grounds of war
The military claim to exemption from moral responsibility
The soldier’s first duty to his conscience
The admission of this principle involves the end of war