CHAP.  XLVI.]  THE  PEINCIPAL  ACTOK.  §  659

who  shall  or  will  sue  for  the  same,  by  action  of  debt,  and  more-
over be  liable  to  be  indicted  and  punished  at  the  discretion  of  the
court ;  "  the  white  person  only  was  held  to  be  liable,  not  also  the
colored.^    So,  —

Hiring  Time.  —  In  North  Carolina,  a  former  statute  to  pre-
vent-slaves  from  hiring  their  time  of  the  owners,  was  con-
strued to  make  the  slave  alone  guilty  in  case  of  its  violation.^
Now, —

Reason  why.  —  The  different  degree  of  wrong  in  the  offences
created  by  these  statutes  accounts  for  the  different  construction
given  them ;  and  this  result  comes  in  spite  of  what  might  seem
to  be  the  opposing  rule,^  that  the  graver  the  offence  created  by
a  legislative  enactment,  the  stricter  must  be  its  interpretation.
1  The  State  v.  Brady,  9  Humph.  74.        And  see  Rawles  v.  The  State,  15  Texas,

2  The  State  v.  Clemons,  3  Dev.  472.     581.
8  Stat.  Crimes,  §  199.
367


§  663  DIVISIONS  AST)  DISTINCTIONS.  [BOOK  VI.
CHAPTER  XLVII.
THE  ACCESSOEY  BEFOEB  THE  PACT,  AND  THE  LIEE.^

§  660-661.   Introduction.
662-671.   General  Doctrine  of  Accessory.
672-680.  Before  the  Fact  in  Felony.
681-684.   In  Treason.
685-689.  In  Misdemeanor.
§  660.  Scope  of  this  Chapter. —  On  the  "  Diagram  of  Crime,"  ^
the  subject  of  this  chapter  is  indicated  by  B  C  O  P.  It  embraces
'  the  accessory  before  the  fact,  properly  so  called,  in  felony ;  the
party  who  sustains  the  like  relation  in  treason,  being  himself,  in
law,  a  principal  offender ;  and  the  one  thus  related  in  misde-
meanor, also  regarded,  in  law,  as  a  doer.
