The power is a purely discretionary one in the President, and, therefore, may not in any way be limited by Congress. In Ex parte Garland38 the court say: "The power thus conferred is unlimited, with the exception stated (impeachments). It extends to every offense known to the law, and may be exercised at any time after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken ordering their pendency, or after conviction and judgment This power of the President is not subject to legislative control.

34 Osborn v. United States, 91 U. S. 474; 23 L. ed. 388. 35 Ex parte Garland, 4 Wall. 333; 18 L. ed. 366. 36 Ex parte Garland, 4 Wall. 333; 18 L. ed. 366.

37 See American Law Register, VIII (1869), 512, 577, two articles entitled "The Power of the President to Grant a General Pardon or Amnesty for Offenses against the United States."

38 4 Wall. 333; 18 L. ed. 366.

Congress can neither limit the effect of his pardon, nor exclude from its exercise any class of offenders. The benign prerogative of mercy reposed in him cannot he fettered by any legislative restrictions. ... A pardon reaches both the punishment prescribed for the offense and the guilt of the offender; and when the pardon is full, it releases the punishment and blots out the existence of the guilt, so that in the eye of the law the offender is as innocent as if he had never committed the offense . . . there is only the limitation to its operation; it does not restore offices forfeited, or property or interests vested in others in consequence of the conviction of judgment."