But the sympathy with the South, engendered by the common danger to the institution of Slavery, was too powerful to be resisted.

North Carolina, which had always been moderate, conservative, and Union-loving, threw her fortunes with the Confederacy.

Tennessee, distracted by the unforeseen defection of such staunch Union men as John Bell and Baillie Peyton,* went Southward with the general current.

Virginia could not be restrained, although she was warned and ought to have seen, that if she joined the Rebellion she would inevitably become the battle-ground, and would consign her territory to devastation and her property to destruction.

The Virginia convention which was in session before the firing on Fort Sumter, and which was animated by a strong friendship for the Union, was carried in to the vortex of secession by the surrounding excitement.