"And you begin by doing a greater wrong!"
The old man pursued his one idea without a break in thought. Lee's words made not the slightest impression.
"This question of the negro, Colonel Lee, you must face. You may dispose of me now easily. But this question is still to be settled. The end of that is not yet!"
"I, too, believe that Slavery is wrong, my friend. Yet surely this is not the way to bring to the slave his freedom. On pikes to be driven into the breasts of unoffending men and women! Two wrongs have never yet made a right."
The old man lifted his head towards the hills and a look of religious rapture overspread his furrowed face. His soul's deepest faith breathed in his words:
"Moral suasion is a vain thing, sir. This issue can be settled in blood alone."
The Colonel watched him with a growing feeling of futility.
"I have taken pains in this interview, Mr. Brown, to clear the way for your surrender without bloodshed. I cannot persuade you?"
"Upon what terms?"
"Terms?"