Page:Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1st ed, 1833, vol II).djvu/236

 228 uninfluenced, the necessary impartiality between an individual accused, and the representatives of the people, his accusers? Could the Supreme Court have been relied upon, as answering this description? It is much to be doubted, whether the members of that tribunal would, at all times, be endowed with so eminent a portion of fortitude, as would be called for in the exercise of so difficult a task. And it is still more to be doubted, whether they would possess a degree of credit and authority, which might, on certain occasions, be indispensable towards reconciling the people to a decision, which should happen to clash with an accusation brought by their immediate representatives. A deficiency in the first would be fatal to the accused; in the last, dangerous to the public tranquility. The hazard in both these respects could only be avoided 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 to such strict rules, either in the delineation of the offence by the prosecutors, or in the construction of it by the judges, as in common cases serve to limit the discretion of courts in favour 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 honour 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 to authorize a conclusion, that the Supreme Court would have been an improper substitute for the senate, as a court of impeachments.