On the record
The right of revolution, which tyrants, in mockery, accord to mankind, is no legal right under a government; it is only a natural right to overturn a government.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
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gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “The right of revolution, which tyrants, in mockery, accord to mankind, is no legal right under a government; it is only…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner distinguishes between a legal right and a natural right to overthrow a government.
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More from Lysander Spooner
That the legislation of the king was of no authority over a jury, is further proved by the oath taken by the kings at their coronation.
There is no more absurdity in giving a jury a veto upon the laws, than there is in giving a veto to each of these other tribunals.
And yet these reasons, which are really no reasons at all, are the only ones, so far as I know, that have ever been offered for this absurd and brutal doctrine.
It would also be making them consent to what they regard as the destruction of their own rights.