Both Uses of
treason
in
Middlemarch
- Mr. Borthrop Trumbull really knew nothing about old Featherstone's will; but he could hardly have been brought to declare any ignorance unless he had been arrested for misprision of treason.†
Chpt 3
- "To get their own bread they must overdose the king's lieges; and that's a bad sort of treason, Mr. Mawmsey—undermines the constitution in a fatal way."†
Chpt 5 *
Definition:
-
(treason) betraying someone or something -- typically betraying one's own country
(in this context, to betray is to not be loyal--often by helping enemies)