CONGRESS CONGRESS SPRING. 



401 



which the judicial power given by the constitution 

 extends. Congress has also power to declare the 

 punishment of treason ; but no attainder works any 

 corruption of blood, or forfeiture, except for the life 

 of the person attainted. The crime of treason is ex- 

 pressly defined, by the constitution, to consist in 

 levying war against the United States, or in adhering 

 to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. Con- 

 gress lias also power to prescribe, by general laws, 

 the manner in which the public acts, records, and ju- 

 dicial proceedings of the states shall be proved, and 

 the effect thereof, the constitution declaring that full 

 faith and credit shall be given in each state to them. 

 Congress Jias also power to dispose of, and make all 

 needful rules and regulations respecting the territory 

 or other property belonging to the United States ; 

 and also to admit new states into the union ; and also 

 to propose, by a majority of two-thirds of both 

 houses, amendments to the constitution ; or, on the 

 application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the 

 several states, to call a convention for proposing 

 amendments. But such amendments, to be binding, 

 must be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of 

 the states, or by conventions hi three-fourths thereof, 

 as the one or the other mode may be proposed by 

 congress. But no state, without its consent, can be 

 deprived of its equal suffrage in the senate. There 

 are also certain restrictions upon the powers of con- 

 gress ; the most material of which are, that the 

 privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be 

 suspended, unless, in cases of rebellion or invasion, 

 the public safety require it. No bill of attainder, or 

 ex post facto law, shall be passed. No capitation or 

 other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to 

 the census or enumeration before taken. No tax or 

 duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 

 state. No preference shall be given, by any regula- 

 tion of commerce or revenue, to the ports or one 

 state over those of another ; nor shall vessels bound 

 to or from one state be obliged to enter, clear, or pay 

 duties in another. No money shall be drawn from 

 the treasury but in consequence of appropriations 

 made by law ; and a regular statement and account 

 of all receipts and expenditures of all public money 

 shall be published from time to time. No title of 

 nobility shall be granted by the United States ; and 

 no person holding any office of profit or trust under 

 them shall, without the consent of congress, accept 

 of any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind 

 whatever from any king, prince, or foreign state. 

 These restrictions are found in the original constitu- 

 tion. 



Certain other restrictions and rights are secured by 

 amendments made scon after the constitution was 

 adopted. Among the most material are these : 

 Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 

 ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 

 thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the 

 press, or the right of the people peaceably to assem- 

 ble and petition the government for a redress of 

 grievances. The right also is secured to the people 

 to bear arms, to be free from having soldiers quar- 

 tered upon them in time of peace, or in war, in any 

 other manner than prescribed by law : to be secure 

 in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against 

 unreasonable searches and seizures, and to be 

 liable to search and seizure only upon warrants 

 on probable cause supported by oath or affirma- 

 tion; to answer for capital or otherwise infamous 

 crimes only upon a presentment or indictment of a 

 grand jury : to be exempted from being twice put 

 in jeopardy of life or limb for the same offence ; not 

 to be compelled, in any criminal case, to be witness 

 against themselves ; nor to be deprived of life, liberty 

 or property, without due process of law ; nor to have 



private property, taken for public use, without just 

 compensation. In criminal prosecutions, too, the ac- 

 cused enjoys the right to a speedy and public trial by 

 an impartial jury of the state or district wherein the 

 crime shall have been committed, which district shall 

 have been previously ascertained by law ; and to be 

 informed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; 

 to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to 

 have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in 

 his favour ; and to have the assistance of counsel for 

 his defence. In suits at common law, where the 

 value in controversy exceeds 20 dollars, the right of a 

 trial by jury is preserved ; and no fact tried by a 

 jury is to be otherwise re-examined in any court of 

 the United States, than according to the rules of the 

 common law. Excessive bail is not to be required, 

 nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual 

 punishments inflicted. The enumeration in the con- 

 stitution of certain rights is not to be construed to 

 deny or disparage others retained by the people ; 

 and the powers not delegated to the United States 

 by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, 

 are reserved to the states respectively, or to the peo- 

 ple. For other provisions of the constitution, see 

 the titles Constitution (America), Courts of the United 

 States, President of the United States, &c. &c.* 



CONGRESS SPRING ; a medicinal spring at Sa- 

 ratoga, hi the state of New York. Its water is pur- 

 gative; its specific gravity, compared with pure 

 water, is as 1012 to 1000 ; the taste very saline, brisk, 

 and pungent. Several chemists have given analyses 

 of the water of this fountain ; but in their results 

 exist some discrepancies. See Manual of Materia 

 Medica, by Edwards and Vavasseur, Paris ; translat 

 ed 1829, Philad. Doctor Steel classes the Saratoga 

 spring among the acidulous saline chalybeate. Ac- 

 cording to him, one gallon, just taken from the 

 spring, contains the following ingredients, viz. : 



Muriate of soda 227.3 grs. 



Hydriodate of soda 3 " 



Carbonate of soda, .... 19.21 " 



Carbonate of lime, 92.4 " 



Carbonate of magnesia, . 23.1 " 



Oxide of iron, ..... 5.39 " 



Silica and alumine (probably), . . 0.0 " 

 Carbonic acid gas, . . 318 cubic inches. 



Atmospheric, ... 4 " " 



Doctor Steel observes, that iodine may exist in a 

 mineral water, in the state of iodic or hydriodic acid, 

 combined with either of the alkalies, potassa or soda, 

 forming the iodate or hydriodate of the alkali with 

 wliich they are united. The following table contains 

 the ingredients of the water of Congress spring, the 

 public well at Ballston, and the Albany water, given 

 by Mr Meade : 



CONGRESS SPRING. 



Muriate of soda, .... 

 Carbonate of lime, 



Magnesia, 



Muriate of lime, .... 

 Muriate of magnesia, 



grs. 



6' J 

 13f 



8* 



a.: 



Oxide of iron, i 



Total, 

 Carbonic acid gas, 



78* 

 33 cubic inches. 



* It will not be uninteresting to our readers if we add 

 here a statement of the expenses of congress for the session 

 of 1829 30. The expense of this session is set down, in the 

 estimate of the treasury department, at 665,050 dollars 

 (149,634.) The session is estimated to last 175 days, or 

 nearly six months ; so that the pay of each member will 

 amountto 1400 dollars, (315), or 375,800 dollars (84,555), 

 for the whole number of members and delegates, besides the 

 round sum of 120,000 dollars (27,000) for travelling ex- 

 penses. The stationery, fuel, printing, &c., for the senate, 

 are estimated at 35,000 dollars, (7,875,) and for the house 

 of representatives, 100,000 dollars (22,500.) It is worth 

 while to compare these expenses with those of the cham- 

 bers of France and the two houses in Britain. 

 2C 



