"The idea of the mercenary springs from the same mentality as the one expressed by the two Chinese watching a couple of Europeans playing tennis under the hot sun of Shanghai. As they seemed rather exhausted, one of the sons of the Celestial Empire remarked to the other: "It's odd. This club has only well-to-do members. They easily could afford coolies to play in their stead." Yet the institution of mercenary armies still did not mark the nadir of war methods in Europe. It was at least not a return to the laws of the jungle, of primitive tribes, where every male capable of bearing arms has to join in. The officers had still the background of warriors; they were frequently second or third sons of noble families out for adventures, but nevertheless educated in the habits of chivalry. The average mercenary, on the other hand, was usually a ne'er-do-well, maybe the son of the henchman; he belonged to the scum of the cities or the village and he was often nothing else than a courageous jailbird."