The House of Commons tended to split, as Hamilton feared the Senate would, along party lines. The power of facts. But not entirely. And here lies one of the two lessons the impeachment of Warren Hastings has for the impeachment of Bill Clinton. The lesson is that the very act of forcing legislators to sit through and listen to the facts, to give or at least appear to give serious consideration to the arguments, can change votes.
Narrative has power.
It is not an accident that Republican House members, inclined to vote for impeachment, spent hours reading the documents in the Ford annex, while Democrats, inclined to vote against it, stayed away and found other ways to spend their time. In England everyone expected the prime minister, William Pitt the Younger, to vote against impeaching Hastings. And so he did on the first count. But as he listened to the evidence and argument, his mind changed. He then returned to his place and made his speech, giving up Hastings's case.