MAGRUDER--You might as well sit down first because he isn't coming. (_They all sit down but MAGRUDER._) You see I found him in a little room in a corner of the palace hard at work on a map. I asked him why he wasn't at the banquet and he said he was too busy. I told him it was just drudgery and to let some one else do it, but he looked up at me with that mild, calm gaze we all know so well and said, "No, I'm just doing my duty." ACT II SCENE I _General Scott's office, Washington, April 18, 1861._ Characters Colonel Lee General Scott SCOTT--The nation is in a terrible condition. LEE--As far as I can judge from the papers we are between a state of anarchy and civil war. May God avert from us both! I see that four States have declared themselves out of the Union. Four more apparently will follow their example. Then if the border States are dragged into the gulf of revolution, one half of the country will be arrayed against the other. I must try to be patient and wait the end, for I can do nothing to hasten or retard it. SCOTT--I don't quite see why conditions have become so serious. LEE--The position of the two sections which they hold to each other has been brought about by the politicians of the country. The great masses of the people, if they understood the real question would avoid it. I believe that it is an unnecessary condition of affairs and might have been avoided, if forbearance and wisdom had been practised on both sides. SCOTT--Which side do you think is more to blame? LEE--The South, in my opinion, has been aggrieved by the act of the North. I feel the aggression and am willing to take every proper step for redress. It is the principle I contend for, not individual or private interest. As an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity, and her institutions. But I can anticipate no greater calamity for this country than a dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation. I hope, therefore, that all constitutional means will be exhausted before there is a resort to force. Secession is nothing but revolution. Still a Union that can be maintained only by swords and bayonets, and in which strife and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness, has no charm for me. I shall mourn for my country and for the welfare and progress of mankind. SCOTT--But do you think slavery is just? LEE--If all the slaves of the South were mine, I would surrender them all without a struggle to avert this war. SCOTT--Then your sympathies are with the North? LEE--Though opposed to secession and war, I can take no part in an invasion of the Southern States. SCOTT--But surely you could not desert the United States army? LEE--I deeply regret being obliged to separate myself from the service to which I have devoted the best years of my life and all the ability I possessed.