If, therefore, the constitutional authority of Magna Carta had rested solely upon the compact of John with his people, that authority would have been entitled to stand forever as the supreme law of the land, unless revoked by the will of the people themselves.
Lysander Spooner: “If, therefore, the constitutional authority of Magna Carta had rested solely upon the compact of John with his people…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner posits that the authority of Magna Carta would remain supreme unless revoked by the people's will, emphasizing its enduring significance.
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On the contrary, they acknowledge themselves robbers, murderers, and villains, pure and simple.
They do not tell us that we are the freest and happiest people on earth, inasmuch as each of our male adults is allowed one voice in ten millions in the choice of the men, who are to rob, enslave, and murder us.
They do not tell us that all liberty and order would be destroyed, that society itself would go to pieces, and man go back to barbarism, if it were not for the care, and supervision, and protection, they lavish upon us.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.