TUnDer a Do^wooD witb /iDontatgne 



blocks he built, better, perhaps, than he 

 knew. It was a point of view which 

 showed him that the Turks, and even the 

 beasts of the field, were less savage than 

 the hordes of Christians wading in human 

 blood all over Europe. He reasoned that 

 a Turk was but a Turk, a dog but a dog ; 

 a Christian ought to be but a Christian. 

 Is it heresy to expect Christ's followers to 

 show the world a sweet life and a noble 

 aspiration? We have no trouble making 

 out Montaigne's innocence of mere polemi- 

 cal destructiveness, when we keep in mind 

 his surroundings. In the name of Christ 

 men were robbers, murderers, devastators. 

 Pizarro and De Soto were his contempora- 

 ries; from his tower at Montaigne he 

 could see the smoke of torment, could 

 hear the clash of foray, could smell the 

 effluence of carnage, all under the banner 

 of the cross. In his philosophy there was 

 room to doubt the agreement of cause and 

 effect. He doubted then, as the best 

 Christians doubt now, and had the hardi- 

 hood to set down upon paper just what 

 was in his mind, as Christians are not apt 

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