(Enter GEN. STARKE. He salutes.)
LEE—(Saluting.) Good morning, General, what can I do for you.
STARKE—Nothing for me sir, but a good deal for yourself.
LEE—This is no time to think of private benefits.
STARKE—But General your reputation is suffering, the press is denouncing you, your own State is losing confidence in you, and the army needs a victory to add to its enthusiasm.
LEE—I cannot afford to sacrifice five or six hundred of my people to silence public clamor. When it is time to strike, we will strike with a will.
STARKE—I wish those Northerners were all dead.
LEE—How can you say so?
Now I wish they were all at home attending to their own business, and leaving us to do the same. They also are my countrymen. General, there is a good old book which says, "Love your enemies." What a cruel thing is war; to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors and to devastate the fair face of the beautiful world.
STARKE—But think of our men who have laid down their lives so bravely.