"Thoreau sees the natural law and human law as antagonistic and separate from each other, as he says: "Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first and subjects afterward" (p. 222)."

Thoreau is trying to say that no person should have to limit their natural rights for the law. For example, no one should feel like they are inclined to do something only because the law says so. He is saying that people should remember we are human beings before we followers of the government. It relates to the theme of the lecture because the lecture talks on people in U.S history who felt the need to fight for all their rights as human beings with natural rights before they were law-abiding citizens.