Felo De Se, one who commits felony against or upon himself. As felony is, in common-law language, any capital offence, and murder is the only capital offence which a man can commit against himself, a felo de se is a self-murderer, or one who kills himself with malice aforethought. Indeed, the legal defini-tion of a felony de se (or suicide) is said to in-clude the doing of any unlawful and malicious act, although aimed primarily, against another, whereby death ensues to the guilty person. In | England this crime was punished not only with ■ forfeiture of goods and chattels, like other felonies, but, to mark the detestation of the law, and to deter others from a similar crime, the body was treated ignominiously, and buried in the open highway with a stake thrust through it. This very ancient rule fell into general if not entire disuse in England many years ago, but it was not repealed until the statute 4 George IV., c. 51; and even then, to manifest the horror of the law at the act of suicide, it was ordered that the body (which might be placed in a churchyard or other consecrated ground) should be buried at night, and without the performance of religious rites. (See Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. iv., p. 190.) ! Suicide does not seem ever to have been made punishable as a crime by any statutory provi-sions of the United States; nor are Ave aware that the barbarous usages of England in relation to the burial of the corpse were ever practised here.

It is held at the common law that if one encourage and assist another in the commission of suicide, he is guilty of murder as a principal.