used by the Congress; the Secretary of Foreign Affairs is called on, to give explanations of the views of the Executive upon subjects of foreign negotiation, and to vindicate the policy of treaties and other conventions, offered for the ratification of Congress, whenever it is thought necessary. The other secretaries are also frequently introduced under the order of the house, to explain anything within their duties, that may not be understood or approved. With regard to the foundation, on which the Judiciary is placed, no particular observation is necessary. The Judges hold their office during good behavior, and receive a fixed annual salary. In the appointment of them, however, a mode is pursued somewhat unusual, and designed to ensure the most unexceptionable selections. Three persons are nominated by the President to the House of Representatives, the house reduces the number to two, and presents them to the Senate, from whom that body designates the judge. For purposes of internal administration, the republic is divided into Departments, the number of which is to be regulated by Congress. Over each of these an officer presides, denominated an Intendant. Each department is divided into Provinces, over which a Governor presides. These provinces are again divided into Cantons, and these into Parishes. In these are officers denominated Alcaldes, answering very much to justices of the peace in countries where the common law prevails. The Alcaldes have jurisdiction, not only in judicial matters of small amount, but also in matters of police. As the powers of the government of Colombia do not depend, for their existence or extent, upon any specific grant in the constitution, but all are embraced, according to its theory, which are not positively denied to it, the list of interdicted powers becomes much more important, than the corresponding interdictions in the constitution of the United States, where they have been introduced, not as essentially necessary, but only through abundant caution. The constitution opens with a declaration indicative of the sense, which its framers had, of the magnitude of their duties, and of the high situation in which they stood; We the representatives of the people of Colombia in General Congress assembled, fulfilling the wishes of our constituents, to fix the fundamental rules of their union, and to establish a form of government, which may secure to them the blessings of liberty, security, property, and equality, so far as it is given to a nation so to do, which is commencing its political career, and is as yet struggling for its existence, do ordain and declare the following CONSTITUTION. 'The Colombian nation is forever and irrevocably free and independent of the monarchy of Spain, and of every other foreign potentate or power; nor is it, nor shall it ever be, the patrimony of any person or family. 'The sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. The magistrates and officers of government invested with any kind of authority, are its agents or deputies, responsible to it for their public conduct. 'It is the duty of every Colombian to live obedient to the constitution and the laws; to respect and obey the authorities, which are its organs; to contribute to the public expenses; to be ready at all times to serve and defend his country, and to make to it the sacrifice of his property, and of his life, if it be necessary.' We here present the substance of some of the provisions, intended to secure the rights of person and property to the citizen, against all attacks from the constituted authorities, as they are found under the eighth title of the constitution. Every Colombian has a right freely to write, print, and publish his thoughts and opinions, without any previous examination or revision, he being responsible to the laws for the abuse of this precious liberty. The liberty, which every citizen has of claiming his rights before the proper tribunals, shall never be obstructed or limited; on the contrary, he shall find a prompt and secure remedy in the laws for any losses, or injuries, he may sustain in his person, his property, his honor, or his reputation. 'Every person shall be presumed innocent, until declared guilty according to law; and if it shall be previously necessary to arrest him, no more rigor shall be used, than is indispensable for securing his person. 'No person shall be seized, or imprisoned, unless by virtue of a warrant signed by the magistrate, to whom the law gives this authority; the warrant shall express the grounds of the arrest ; and a copy of it shall be delivered to the prisoner, No jailer or other officer shall receive or detain in prison any one whatever, unless under a warrant issued and signed as No one shall be tried by special commissions, except by the ordinary tribunals established by law. above. ' All persons shall be deemed guilty of the crime of arbitrary detention, and shall be punished according to law, who shall arrest, or cause any one to be arrested, without legal authority. 'No one shall be judged, much less punished, except by virtue of a law passed anterior to the crime, or offence, and after having been heard in his defence, or legally cited; nor shall any one be obliged or admitted, in a criminal case, to give evidence against himself. 'No house shall be subject to search, except in cases determined by law, and under the responsibility of the judge who issues the order. • The private papers of individuals, and their correspondence, shall be inviolable, and shall not be liable to examination, or to be intercepted, except in cases expressly prescribed by law. 'The infamy of punishment shall not be visited by law upon the family or relations of the offender. No one, but those who are in the army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service, shall be subject to military law, or suffer the punishments provided by it. 'Entails are prohibited. 'All titles of honor granted by the Spanish government are abolished; Congress shall not grant any title of nobility, or hereditary distinction; nor create any office or employment, where the salary or emolument shall continue longer than the good conduct of those who serve in them. 'No one, who enjoys any post of trust or honor under the republic, shall accept any title, gift, or emolument from any king, prince, or foreign state, without the consent of the Congress. No money shall be drawn from the public treasury, except for objects fixed by law; and there shall be published every year, a regular statement of the receipts and expenditures, for the information of the people. 'All foreigners shall be admitted into Colombia, of whatever nation they may be; and they shall enjoy in their property and persons the same security as citizens, so long as they respect the laws. 'One of the first duties of the Congress shall be to introduce, in some cases, the trial by jury; and when the advantages of the institution are well understood, it shall be applied to all cases civil and criminal, in which it is commonly used in other nations.' The language of this last clause is somewhat vague. It seems, however, to have been intended to require of the Congress imperatively to introduce the system in some particular case, and that when the practice and proceedings under it should become familiar and well understood, it should be generally introduced. In this way the clause has been interpreted by the Congress, and law was passed at the first session, providing for the trial by jury in all cases of prosecution for libel. The system has not yet been applied to any other case; but many will be of opinion, that 'the advantages of the institution are well understood' already, when it is stated, that in every prosecution for a libel, which has yet occurred in the republic, the prisoner has been acquitted. ART. VI. A Manual of Chemistry, on the Basis of Professor Brande's; containing the principal Facts of the Science, arranged in the Order in which they are discussed and illustrated in the Lectures at Harvard University, N. E. Compiled from the works of Brande, Henry, Berzelius, Thomson, and others. Designed as a Text Book, for the use of Students and Persons attending Lectures on Chemistry. By JOHN W. WEBSTER, M. D. Lecturer on Chemistry in Harvard University. 8vo. pp. 603. Boston. 1826. Richardson & Lord. THE multiplication of treatises on chemistry, within a few years, has been remarkable, both in Europe and in our own country. Not only have many new works appeared, but new editions of the standard works have been sent out with great rapidity; and the student is not a little embarrassed in his choice of those, upon which he shall first fix his attention. While this increase of chemical works is an evidence of increased attention to the science, it further shows what quick advances have been made, and are still making in it. And this demand for new works, and new editions of the same work, is a consequence of rapid discoveries and improvements, no less than of the increasing attention bestowed on those arts of life, which involve chemical principles, and which are advancing towards perfection, in the same path as the science upon which they are founded. There is no science in which more frequent and important discoveries are making than in this, and none in which the revision of former opinions is so often demanded; bearing, as they do, on the arts of life and wants of the community. With the enlargement of our manufactures, an enlarged demand for chemical knowledge is strongly felt, and no nation can be expected to excel in many of the arts, or to increase in wealth and power, or to avail itself of the discoveries made in other nations, which does not consider chemistry an essential branch of education. The connexion between science and the arts, and their influence on the commercial prospects of nations, have been so often dwelt upon, as to make it unnecessary for us to attempt to offer any new views of the subject. It is given to but a few great minds to make brilliant discoveries, and comparatively few persons in Europe, and still fewer in this country, have the means or facilities of prosecuting any branch of experimental science to the extent they may desire. This remark applies with force to the science of chemistry, as in the extensive researches which it requires, a great expenditure of time and money must be provided for. It becomes important, therefore, that those who have abundant means, should contract a taste for such arts and sciences, as are most conducive to the morality and wellbeing of the people. Chemistry and mechanical philosophy, when made objects of pursuit and interest to the less informed classes of mankind, cannot but powerfully conduce to benefit the morals, and to enlighten and strengthen the understanding, In their elementary principles, and still more in their advanced state, aided by the countenance and influence of the wealthy, the physical sciences must always help in extending and improving the mental energies of the people, and be made a source of amusement, happiness, and profitable exertion. And with such encouragements as these, not only will the improvements in the arts and sciences be preserved, but their influence upon the public welfare will be augmented by valuable discoveries. The arts connected with our luxuries, pleasures, and amusements, are subject to fluctuation, from the change of our tastes, our love of variety, our varied degrees of mental power, and other causes. Painting, poetry, music, and their sister arts have had their alternations of rise and fall; but the physical sciences have gradually and steadily advanced, and whatever differences may exist in their degrees of perfection in different countries, no one will hesitate to admit, that this kind of learning is constantly improving. The prediction of Seneca may yet be often fulfilled in its figurative as it has been in its literal sense. |