But 'our  Act  of  1829  declares  that  the  receiver  "  shall  be  held
and  deemed  guilty  of,  and  may  be  prosecuted  for,  a  misdemea-
nor ;  "  affixing  the  penalty  of  imprisonment  and  whipping.  It
may  be  very  plausibly  argued  that  the  offence  is  now,  exclu-
sively and  substantially,  a  misdemeaiior,  not  in  nature  of  one ;
the  prosecution  is  to  be  for,  not  as  for,  or  after  the  manner  of,  a
misdemeanor.  The  Act  settled  the  doubt  created  by  Wrights
case,  as  to  liability  for  receiving  from  a  negro  or  slave,  being  the
thief,  and  removed  all  difficulties  arising  from  the  idea  of  the
relation  of  accessory  as  to  offences  that  admitted,  and  those  that
did  not  admit,  such  relation.  Thus  it  would  seem,  that  the  sole
legal  reason  which  operated  to  merge  the  Common  Law  offence,
has  ceased,  and  with  it  should  cease  the  rule  which  it  begat.
496  -         APPEALS  AT  LAW.
State  v*.  Poiey.
