Page:Nullification Controversy in South Carolina.djvu/76

 likely to be successful or even beneficial, it must be legal or constitutional. Some openly broached the subject of peaceable secession from the Union and contended that such action was not only justifiable but would leave the general government without power or pretense of a reason for coercion. Others thought of nullification and secession as two entirely distinct measures by no means closely related, the latter to be thought of only as a last resort. This class thought that there was great evil in writing and talking about disunion or secession, because it would shock and disgust the people to such an extent that it would prejudice them against any remedy whatever and prepare them for submission.

While many saw clearly the relation between nullification and secession, and that the latter might follow the former, they differed widely as to their predictions of what would actually happen in case nullification were tried. Many of this class clearly defined nullification as an exercise of the sovereign authority of the state, declaring