Hotaling

delivered the opinion of the Court. This was *63 an action to enforce a mechanic’s lien. It appears from the record, that the work in question was performed for the defendant Cronise, from whom the defendants purchased. Upon the trial of the cause in the Court below, the defendants offered themselves as witnesses for each other, to prove that the work was performed in an unworkmanlike manner, and that nothing was due to the plaintiffs. This testimony was rejected by the Court. The 303 and 304 sections of the Old Practice Act provide, that a party may be examined on behalf of his co-plaintiff, or co-defendant, but the examination so taken shall not be used on behalf of the party so examined, &c.: and that no person shall be excluded as a witness by reason of his interest in the event of the suit. Section 305 declares, that the last section shall not apply to a party to the action, or a party for whose immediate benefit the suit is prosecuted or defended. Without stopping to inquire how far the latter section controls the two former ones, the Court are of opinion that the interests of the defendants, as disclosed by the record, are so inseparable, that the testimony of either must…