In a secret ballot, where every man could have voted according to his own convictions and desires, the Secession scheme would have been defeated in Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

But the men who led the Disunion movement, understood the practical lesson taught by the French revolutionist, that "audacity" can overcome numbers.

In such a contest conservatism always goes down, and radicalism always triumphs.

The conservative wishes to temporize and to debate.

The radical wishes to act, and is ready to shoot.