David Josiah Brewer

“ It is not unusual to warn juries that they should be careful in giving effect to the testimony of accomplices, and perhaps a judge cannot be considered as going out of his province in giving a similar caution as to the testimony of the accused person. ”

“ It is neither death nor forfeiture of the lands or goods of the offender. It is true, the latter section provides that the smuggled goods shall be forfeited, but these may or may not be the property of the defendant, and the forfeiture of the thing in respect to which an offense is committed is not the equivalent of a forfeiture of the lands or goods of the offender. The ruling of the circuit court was correct. The offense was nothing but a misdemeanor, and the defendant was only entitled to three peremptory challenges. ”

“ Indeed, in Webster's Dictionary, after the common-law definition of the term, there are quoted from John Stuart Mill these pertinent observations: 'There is not a lawyer who would undertake to tell what a felony is, otherwise than by enumerating the various kinds of offenses which are so called. Originally, the word 'felony' had a meaning. It denoted all offenses, the penalty of which included forfeiture of goods. ”

“ But subsequent acts of parliament have declared various offenses to be felonies, without enjoining that penalty, and have taken away the penalty from others, which continue, nevertheless, to be called felonies, in so much that the acts so called have now no property whatever in common, save that of being unlawful and punishable.' 1 Mill's Logic.
There is no statutory definition of 'felonies' in the legislation of the United States. ”