"Now, for you to attempt to overthrow such a government as this, under which we have lived for more than three quarters of a century -in which we have gained our wealth, our standing as a nation, our domestic safety while the elements of peril are around us, with peace and tranquillity accompanied with unbounded prosperity and rights unassailed-is the height of madness, folly and wickedness, to which I can neither lend my sanction nor my vote."
With all that we now know, it's hard to imagine that anyone could possibly not wish that Stephens had been able to stop that madness.
Are you quoting Stephens the 'statesman,' or Stephens the 'vile traitor?' If he was the former, then why would he support the Confederacy? If the latter, then why do you bother to quote him?
And in any case, why should we grant his words greater authority than those of the Constitution, which nowhere prohibits secession?
"LOL."
;>)