Page:Melville Davisson Post--The Man of Last Resort.djvu/15

 across a great bridge, and one should discover that certain planks in its flooring were defective, would he do ill if he pointed them out to his fellows? If men labored in the shops and traded in the market confident in the security of their city's wall, and one should perceive that the wall was honeycombed with holes, could he stand dumb and escape the stigma of being a traitor? The law makes little difference in the degree of moral turpitude between the suppressio veri and the suggestio falsi. Both are grievous wrongs. The duty of the individual to the state is imperative. He cannot evade it and continue to regard himself as a worthy citizen.

Is there not in all this criticism a faint suggestion of the men who "darken counsel by words without knowledge"?

Lycurgus taught the laws to the people, Solon taught the laws to the people. The Roman law provided for a final appeal from the consul to the people, and the very essence of republican institutions lies, as has been said, in a recognition of the people as the source of the law-making power. If the law offers