# The Federalist Papers  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Alexander Hamilton]] - Full Title:: The Federalist Papers - Category: #books ## Highlights > A well-constituted court for the trial of impeachments is an object not more to be desired than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective. ([Location 7378](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7378)) > The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. ([Location 7379](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7379)) > The prosecution of them, for this reason, will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused. In many cases it will connect itself with the pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side or on the other; and in such cases there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. ([Location 7382](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7382)) > The delicacy and magnitude of a trust which so deeply concerns the political reputation and existence of every man engaged in the administration of public affairs speak for themselves. The difficulty of placing it rightly in a government resting entirely on the basis of periodical elections will as readily be perceived, when it is considered that the most conspicuous characters in it will, from that circumstance, be too often the leaders or the tools of the most cunning or the most numerous faction, and on this account can hardly be expected to possess the requisite neutrality towards those whose conduct may be the subject of scrutiny. ([Location 7386](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7386)) > What, it may be asked, is the true spirit of the institution itself? Is it not designed as a method of NATIONAL INQUEST into the conduct of public men? If this be the design of it, who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the representatives of the nation themselves? ([Location 7393](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7393)) > As well the latter as the former seem to have regarded the practice of impeachments as a bridle in the hands of the legislative body upon the executive servants of the government. Is not this the true light in which it ought to be regarded? ([Location 7399](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7399)) - Tags: [[favorite]] > It was equally desirable that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to so complicated an investigation. ([Location 7650](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7650)) > Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one quarter, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils. How could they better gratify this than by raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the Union? ([Location 7661](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7661)) > This process of election affords a moral certainty that the office of President will seldom fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States. ([Location 7684](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7684)) - Tags: [[favorite]] > The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law. The person of the king of Great Britain is sacred and inviolable; there is no constitutional tribunal to which he is amenable; no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution. ([Location 7725](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7725)) # The Federalist Papers  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Alexander Hamilton]] - Full Title:: The Federalist Papers - Category: #books ## Highlights > A well-constituted court for the trial of impeachments is an object not more to be desired than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective. ([Location 7378](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7378)) > The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust. They are of a nature which may with peculiar propriety be denominated POLITICAL, as they relate chiefly to injuries done immediately to the society itself. ([Location 7379](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7379)) > The prosecution of them, for this reason, will seldom fail to agitate the passions of the whole community, and to divide it into parties more or less friendly or inimical to the accused. In many cases it will connect itself with the pre-existing factions, and will enlist all their animosities, partialities, influence, and interest on one side or on the other; and in such cases there will always be the greatest danger that the decision will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt. ([Location 7382](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7382)) > The delicacy and magnitude of a trust which so deeply concerns the political reputation and existence of every man engaged in the administration of public affairs speak for themselves. The difficulty of placing it rightly in a government resting entirely on the basis of periodical elections will as readily be perceived, when it is considered that the most conspicuous characters in it will, from that circumstance, be too often the leaders or the tools of the most cunning or the most numerous faction, and on this account can hardly be expected to possess the requisite neutrality towards those whose conduct may be the subject of scrutiny. ([Location 7386](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7386)) > What, it may be asked, is the true spirit of the institution itself? Is it not designed as a method of NATIONAL INQUEST into the conduct of public men? If this be the design of it, who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the representatives of the nation themselves? ([Location 7393](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7393)) > As well the latter as the former seem to have regarded the practice of impeachments as a bridle in the hands of the legislative body upon the executive servants of the government. Is not this the true light in which it ought to be regarded? ([Location 7399](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7399)) - Tags: [[favorite]] > It was equally desirable that the immediate election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass, will be most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to so complicated an investigation. ([Location 7650](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7650)) > Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle should be opposed to cabal, intrigue, and corruption. These most deadly adversaries of republican government might naturally have been expected to make their approaches from more than one quarter, but chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils. How could they better gratify this than by raising a creature of their own to the chief magistracy of the Union? ([Location 7661](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7661)) > This process of election affords a moral certainty that the office of President will seldom fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States. ([Location 7684](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7684)) - Tags: [[favorite]] > The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and, upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law. The person of the king of Great Britain is sacred and inviolable; there is no constitutional tribunal to which he is amenable; no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution. ([Location 7725](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B000Q360D2&location=7725))