Thus do authoritative precedents exhibit a usage of Parliament, or Parliamentary Law, unlike that of the Common Law, which on trials of impeachment seeks substantial justice, but is not “nice and precise in form.” If the proceedings are not absolutely according to the rule of reason, plainly the technicalities of the Common Law are out of place. It is enough, if they are clear to “a common understanding,” without the “minute exactness” of a criminal court. But this is according to reason. A mere technicality, much more a quibble, often efficacious on a demurrer, is a wretched anachronism, when we are considering a question of political duty. Especially must this be so under the genius of republican institutions. The latitude established in England cannot be curtailed in the United States, and it becomes more essential in proportion to the elevation of the proceedings. Ascending into the region of history, the laws of history cannot be neglected. Even if the narrow rules and exclusions of the Common Law could be tolerated on the impeachment of an inferior functionary, they must be disclaimed on the trial of a chief magistrate, involving the public safety. The technicalities of law were invented for protection against power, not for the immunity of a usurper or tyrant. When set up for the safeguard of the weak, they are respectable, but on impeachments they are intolerable. Here again I cite Edmund Burke:-- “God forbid that those who cannot defend themselves upon their merits and their actions may defend themselves behind those fences and intrenchments that are made to secure the liberty of the people, that power and the abusers of power should cover themselves by those things which were made to secure liberty!”[181] Never was there a case where this principle was more applicable than now. The origin of impeachment in the National Constitution and contemporary authority vindicate this very latitude. In this light the proceeding was explained by the “Federalist,” in words which should be a guide now:-- “_This can never be tied down by 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 favor of personal security.”[182] This article was by Alexander Hamilton, writing in concert with James Madison and John Jay. Thus, by the highest authority, at the adoption of the National Constitution, it is declared that impeachment “can never be tied down by strict rules,” and that this latitude is applicable to “the delineation of the offence,” meaning thereby the procedure or pleading, and also to “the construction of the offence,” in both of which cases the “discretion” of the Senate is enlarged beyond that of ordinary courts, and so the ancient Parliamentary Law is vindicated, and the Senate is recognized within its sphere. RULES OF EVIDENCE.