Misprision

Originally, a vague general term for a neglect, omission, or a contempt of authority. Hence it came to be sometimes used to signify any considerable offence which had no definite name. A more important and better defined use of the term was to denote the neglect or omission of one's duty to disclose an offence by another person of which he had become cognizant; the contempt of authority involved in concealing a crime. Thus, misprision of felony or misprision of treason is the offence of concealing the commission of either, known to have been perpetrated by another. As a designation of a distinctive offence the term has lost importance under the progress made in giving statutory definitions of the guilt and punishment of abettors and accessories. Misprision is generally understood to be all such high offences as are under the degree of capital, but closely bordering thereon; and it is said that a misprision is contained in every treason and felony whatsoever. Misprisions are generally divided into two sorts, negative and positive, the former consisting in the concealment of something which ought to he revealed, the latter in the commission of something which ought not to be done. Of the first, or negative kind, is what is called misprision of treason, which consists in the bare knowledge and concealment of treason, without any degree of assent thereto. Of this negative kind is also misprision of felony, which is the concealment of a felony which a man knows but never assented to. The concealment of treasuretrove, which belongs to the king or his grantees by royal prerogative, is also a species of negative misprision. Positive misprisions are generally denominated contempts or high misdemeanors; such, far high officers as are in public trust and employment; the embezzling of the public money; contempts against the king's prerogative, his person and government, or his title, &c.

See 1 Hawk. P. C. B. I. ch. 20.

Misprision has been applied to coining foreign coin, the reason given being that the offence was at one time visited with the same punishment as misprision; also, to the neglect of clerks in writing and keeping records. Mozley ^ W.