Treason

The crime of treason exceeds all other crimes as to its punishment.

Crimen laesae majestatis omnia alia crimina excedit quoad poenam.

Source: 3 Inst. 210; Weisman, 26c

Treason — the betrayal of sovereign trust — stands apart from all other offenses in severity, because it strikes at the foundation of the entire legal order.

Felony is included or implied in every treason.

Felonia implicatur in quolibet proditione.

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary; 3 Co. Inst. 15

Every act of treason necessarily contains within it the lesser offense of felony, because betrayal of sovereign trust is the highest grade of criminal conduct.

He who betrays his country is like the insane sailor who bores a hole in the ship which carries him.

Qui molitur insidias in patriam, id facit quod insanus nauta perforans navem in qua vehitur.

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary; 3 Co. Inst. 36

Treason is self-destructive folly — the traitor undermines the very order upon which his own safety depends.