decide. He was bound to give weight to some very subtle considerations.
You boys remember your Roman history, do you not?"

"Fragments of it, sir," replied Harry.

"Then you will recall that Hannibal, a fine general, to be named worthily
with our great Lee so far as military movements are concerned, after
famous victories over greatly superior numbers of Romans, went into camp
at Capua, crowded with beauty, wine and games, and the soldiers became
enervated. Their fiber was weakened and their bodies softened. They
were quicker to heed the call to a banquet than the call to arms."

"Unless it was the arms of beauty, Leonidas."

"Well spoken, Hector. The correction is most important, and I accept it.
But to take up again the main thread of my discourse. General Lee
undoubtedly had the example of the Carthaginian army and Capua in mind
when he left Gettysburg and returned toward the South. Philadelphia is a
great city, far larger and richer than any in our section. It is filled
with magnificent houses, beautiful women, luxury of every description,
ease and softness. Our brave lads, crowned with mighty exploits and
arriving there as conquerors, would have been received with immense
admiration, although we are official enemies. And the head of youth is
easily turned. The Army of Northern Virginia, emerging from Philadelphia,
to achieve the conquest of New York and Boston would not be the army that
it is to-day. It would lack some of that fire and dash, some of the
extraordinary courage and tenacity which have enabled it to surpass the
deeds of the veterans of Hannibal and Napoleon."

"But, sir, I've heard that the people of Philadelphia are mostly Quakers,