[16:7] (82) Lastly, treason can only be committed by subjects, who by
compact, either tacit or expressed, have transferred all their rights to the
state: a subject is said to have committed this crime when he has attempted,
for whatever reason, to seize the sovereign power, or to place it in
different hands. (83) I say, has attempted, for if punishment were not to
overtake him till he had succeeded, it would often come too late, the
sovereign rights would have been acquired or transferred already.

(16:84) I also say, has attempted, for whatever reason, to seize the
sovereign power, and I recognize no difference whether such an attempt
should be followed by public loss or public gain. (85) Whatever be his
reason for acting, the crime is treason, and he is rightly condemned: in
war, everyone would admit the justice of his sentence. (86) If a man does
not keep to his post, but approaches the enemy without the knowledge of his
commander, whatever may be his motive, so long as he acts on his own motion,
even if he advances with the design of defeating the enemy, he is rightly
put to death, because he has violated his oath, and infringed the rights of
his commander. (87) That all citizens are equally bound by these rights in
time of peace, is not so generally recognized, but the reasons for obedience
are in both cases identical. (88) The state must be preserved and directed
by the sole authority of the sovereign, and such authority and right have
been accorded by universal consent to him alone: if, therefore, anyone else
attempts, without his consent, to execute any public enterprise, even though
the state might (as we said) reap benefit therefrom, such person has none
the less infringed the sovereigns right, and would be rightly punished for
treason.

(16:89) In order that every scruple may be removed, we may now answer the
inquiry, whether our former assertion that everyone who has not the