CH. X.]
THE SENATE.
243
will be espoused with caution by those, who will seriously consider the difficulties of collecting men dispersed over the whole Union; the injury to the innocent from the procrastinated determination of the charges, which might be brought against them; the advantage to the guilty from the opportunities, which delay would afford for intrigue and corruption; and in some cases the detriment to the state from the prolonged inaction of men, whose firm and faithful execution of their duty might have exposed them to the persecution of an intemperate or designing majority in the house of representatives. Though this latter supposition may. seem harsh, and might not be likely often to be verified; yet it ought not to be forgotten, that the demon of faction will, at certain seasons, extend his sceptre over all numerous bodies of men.
§ 771. A scheme somewhat different from either of the foregoing has been recommended by a learned commentator,[2] drawn from the Virginia constitution, by which, in that state, all impeachments are to be tried in the courts of law, "according to the laws of the land;" and by the state laws the facts, as in other cases, are to be tried by a jury. But the objections to this course