Rebellion must be managed with many swords; treason to his
prince's person may be with one knife.

Rebellion must be managed with many swords; treason to his
prince's person may be with one knife.

Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep,
And in his simple show he harbors treason.

Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep,
And in his simple show he harbors treason.

Tarquin and Caesar had each his Brutus--Charles the First, his
Cromwell--and George the Third--("Treason!" shouted the Speaker)
may read more

Tarquin and Caesar had each his Brutus--Charles the First, his
Cromwell--and George the Third--("Treason!" shouted the Speaker)
may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most
of it.

Supposition all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes;
For treason is but trusted like the fox,
read more

Supposition all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes;
For treason is but trusted like the fox,
Who, ne'er so tame, so cherished and locked up,
Will have a wild trick of his ancestors.

Is there not some chosen curse, some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, red with uncommon wrath, to blast read more

Is there not some chosen curse, some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man who owes his greatness to his country's ruin!

Treason and murder ever kept together,
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose,
Working so grossly in read more

Treason and murder ever kept together,
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose,
Working so grossly in a natural cause
That admiration did not whoop at them;
But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in
Wonder to wait on treason and on murder;
And whatsoever cunning fiend it was
That wrought upon thee so preposterously
Hath got the voice in hell for excellence.

Treason is not own'd when 'tis descried;
Successful crimes alone are justified.

Treason is not own'd when 'tis descried;
Successful crimes alone are justified.

This principle is old, but true as fate,
Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate.

This principle is old, but true as fate,
Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate.

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at read more

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.