same offence. The first two of these pleas are founded on the maxim of
the law of England, that no man is to be twice put in jeopardy for the
same offence. A man is attainted of felony, only by judgment of death,
or by outlawry; for by such judgment, the prisoner being already dead
in law, and having forfeited all his property, there remains no
further punishment to be awarded; and, therefore, any further
proceeding would be superfluous. This plea has, however, been
practically put an end to by a recent statute. A plea of pardon, is
the converse of a plea of attainder; for a pardon at once destroys the
end and purpose of the indictment, by remitting that punishment which
the prosecution was calculated to inflict.

All these pleas may be answered by the crown in two ways--issue may be
joined on the facts they respectively set forth; or they may be
demurred to; by which step, the facts, alleged in the plea, are denied
to constitute a good and valid defence in law. In _felony_, if any of
these pleas are, either in fact or in law, determined against the
prisoner, he cannot be convicted or concluded by the adverse judgment;
and for this reason. Formerly all felonies were punishable with death,
and, in the words of Mr Justice Blackstone, "the law allows many pleas
by which a prisoner may escape death; but only one plea in consequence
whereof it can be inflicted, viz., the general issue, after an
impartial examination and decision of the facts, by the unanimous
verdict of a jury." The prisoner, therefore, although few felonies
remain still capital, is nevertheless still allowed to plead over as
before. In misdemeanours, however, which are never capital, and in
which, therefore, no such principle could ever have applied, the
judgment on these pleas appears to follow the analogy of a civil
action. Thus, if, upon issue joined, a plea of abatement be found
against the accused, the judgment, on that indictment, is final;