Section II. ― Offences of a treaſonable Nature.
I. Rebellion, is an attempt to violate the divine order of things on earth; for as the fruits of the earth are produced in regular ſucceſſion under the influence of the preſiding Spirit, ſo is their diſtribution among the people regulated by the Sovereign, who is the ſacred ſucceſſor to the ſeat of his anceſtors: reſiſing and conſpiring againſt him is, therefore, an unſpeakable outrage, and a diſturbance of the peace of the univerſe.
II. Diſloyalty, is evinced by an attempt to deſtroy the imperial temples, tombs, or palaces; for as the imperial temples and tombs are intended to perpetuate the memory, and to receive the remains, of former Soverrigns, ſo the imperial palaces, being deſigned for the uſe of the reigning monarch, are equally ſacred and inviolable.
III. Deſertion, is a term which may be applied to the offence of undertaking to quit, or betray the intereſts of, the empire, in order to ſubmit or adhere to a foreign power, and may be conſidered as exemplified in the caſe of betraying a military poſt, or exciting the people to emigration.
IV. Patricide, is the denomination under which the murder of a father or mother, of an uncle, aunt, grandfather or grandmother, is comprehended, and is a crime of the deepeſt dye; for ſuch a violation of the ties of nature, which are conſtituted by the Divine Will, is in every caſe an evidence of the moſt unprincipled depravity.
V. Maſſacre, is held to be the murder of three or more perſons in one family, and comprehends other crimes ſguinary and enormous in a ſimilar degree.
