People · 1859
He could not have been tried by a jury of his peers, because his peers did not exist.
— Henry David Thoreau • A Plea for Captain John Brown
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The passage turns the idea of a jury of peers into a claim that this person had no equals. The argument makes ordinary comparison impossible. Read as praise within a defence, it elevates the person judged above the measure that a trial would ordinarily require.
Context reviewed