Titled "The Powers of the Senate Continued", it carries on a theme begun by John Jay in Federalist No.

Because the accused offence is political and directly related to the public trust, Publius explains that the unfortunate side-effect of impeachment will subsequently agitate the passions of the entire community and divide individuals into parties and factions.

The impeachment inquiry will thus become not entirely based upon the offense itself but also on rival factions' pre-existing biases and personal interests.

Publius asserts that "...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."

He explains that the proposed model of dividing the vote of impeachment and the trial between the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate was not the Constitutional Convention's original idea but rather was borrowed by the system in place in the British Parliament.