Part 74 (1/2)

”Let us grant, Colonel Lee, that in law you are right. The States are sovereign. The Const.i.tution gives the General Government no power to coerce a State. Our fathers, as a matter of fact, never faced such a possibility. Grant all that in law. Even so, a mighty, united nation has grown through the years. It is now a living thing, immutable, indissoluble. It commands your obedience and mine.”

Lee was silent and Mrs. Marshall cried:

”Surely this is true, Robert!”

”My dear Mr. Blair,” Lee slowly began, ”your claim is the beginning of the end of law--the beginning of anarchy. If under the law, Virginia is right, is it not my duty to defend her? Obedience to law is the cornerstone on which all nations are built if they endure. Reverence for law is to-day the force driving the South into revolution--”

”A revolution doomed to certain failure,” Blair quickly interrupted.

”The border slave states of Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, under Mr.

Lincoln's conservative leaders.h.i.+p, will never secede. Without them the South must fail. You have served under the flag of the Union for thirty years. You know the North. You know the South. And you know that such a revolution based on a division of the Union without these border States is madness--”

”It is madness, Robert,” Mrs. Marshall joined, ”utter madness!”

”Right and duty, Mr. Blair, have nothing to do with success or failure,”

Lee responded. ”I know the fearful odds against the South. I know the indomitable will, the energy, the fertile resources, the pride of opinion of the North, once set in motion. I know that the South has no money, no army, no organized government, no standing in the Court of Nations. She will have a white population of barely five millions against twenty-two millions--and her ports will be closed by our Navy--”

Blair interrupted and leaned close.

”And let me add, that as our leader _you_ will not only command the greatest army ever a.s.sembled under the American flag, backed by a great Navy--but that your victory will be but the beginning of a career. From your window you see the White House and the Capitol. The man who leads the Union armies will succeed Mr. Lincoln as President.”

Lee's protest was emphatic.

”I aspire to no office, Mr. Blair. I'm fifty-four years of age. I am on the hilltop of life. The way leads down a gentle slope, I trust, to a valley of peace, love and happiness. Ambition does not lure me; I have lived. I have played my part as well as I know how. I am content. I love my Country, North and South, East and West. I am a trained soldier--I know nothing else.”

”The highest honor of this Nation, Colonel Lee, is something no man born under our flag dares to decline. Few men in history have been so well equipped as you for such an honor, both by birth and culture. You must also remember that the President of the United States is Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy. You are proud of your profession. You would honor it in the highest office of the Republic. You are held in the highest esteem by every soldier in the army. The President calls you.

The Nation calls you. All eyes are upon you.”

Blair studied the effect of his appeal. He saw that Lee was profoundly moved. Yet his courteous manner gave no hint of the trend of his emotions. He did not reply for a moment and then spoke with tenderness.

”My dear friend, you must not think that I am deaf to such calls. They move me to the depths. But no honor can reconcile me to this awful war.

It is madness. It is absolutely unnecessary. But for John Brown's insane act it could have been avoided. But it has come. Its glory does not tempt me. I wish peace on earth and good will to all men. I am a soldier, but a Christian soldier--”

His voice broke.

”I am one of the humblest followers of Jesus Christ. There is but a single question for me to decide--my duty--”

A horseman dashed under the portico, threw his reins to Sam and entered without announcement.

”Colonel Lee?” he asked.

”Yes.”

He handed Lee a folded paper bearing the great seal of the State.

”A message, sir, from Richmond.”

Lee's hand trembled as he broke the seal. He stared at its words as in a dream.

”You have important news?” Blair asked.