To say that subjects in general are not proper judges (of the law) when their governors oppress them and play the tyrant, and when they defend their rights ...is as great a treason as ever a man uttered.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that subjects cannot justly judge the law when oppressed by tyrannical governors, equating such judgment to treason.
Jonathan Mayhew's quote reflects the idea that when authority figures, like governors, act oppressively, the subjects they govern are not in a position to impartially judge the laws that bind them. In effect, it highlights a moral and philosophical dilemma regarding justice, authority, and the condition under which laws are applied, asserting that it is treasonous to expect rational judgment from those who are being wronged.
In practice
In a speech about civil rights, one might invoke this quote to highlight the injustice faced by oppressed groups.
Not to discontinue our allegiance, in this case, would be to join with the sovereign in promoting the slavery and misery of that society, the welfare of which, we ourselves, as well as our sovereign, are indispensably obliged to secure and promote, as far as in us lies.
Basically, I feel fortunate to have realized what the goal is in life. There's no point in dying having gone through your life without knowing who you are, what you are, or what the purpose of life is. And that's all it is.
When we are abandoned to God, He works through us all the time.
In the end, the art of hunger can be described as an existential art. It is a way of looking death in the face, and by death I mean death as we live it today: without God, without hope of salvation. Death as the abrupt and absurd end of life
The true, unacknowledged purpose of capital punishment is to inspire fear and awe -- fear and awe of the State.
Every individual of the community at large has an equal right to the protection of government.
The world is such-and-such or so-and-so only because we tell ourselves that that is the way it is.
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