A deficiency in the first, would be fatal to the
accused; in the last, dangerous to the public tranquillity. The hazard
in both these respects, could only be avoided, if at all, by rendering
that tribunal more numerous than would consist with a reasonable
attention to economy. The necessity of a numerous court for the trial of
impeachments, is equally dictated by the nature of the proceeding. This
can never be tied down by such strict rules, either in the delineation
of the offense by the prosecutors, or in the construction of it by the
judges, as in common cases serve to limit the discretion of courts in
favor of personal security. There will be no jury to stand between the
judges who are to pronounce the sentence of the law, and the party who
is to receive or suffer it. The awful discretion which a court of
impeachments must necessarily have, to doom to honor or to infamy the
most confidential and the most distinguished characters of the
community, forbids the commitment of the trust to a small number of
persons.
These considerations seem alone sufficient to authorize a conclusion,
that the Supreme Court would have been an improper substitute for the
Senate, as a court of impeachments.
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