One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authori… — Walden

Walden — Henry David Thoreau

One would think, that a deliberate and practical denial of its authority was the only offence never contemplated by government; else, why has it not assigned its definite, its suitable and proportionate, penalty? If a man who has no property refuses but once to earn nine shillings for the State, he is put in prison for a period unlimited by any law that I know, and determined only by the discretion of those who placed him there; but if he should steal ninety times nine shillings from the State, he is soon permitted to go at large again.

Place: ¶588
License: Public domain · Source
The text is given as in the edition, unedited.

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