It was one of his best and most creditable appointments and was generally commended as such when it was made.

The fact that he had been elected to the State Senate as a Democrat, and shortly thereafter joined the Republican party was made the basis of the charge that his change of party affiliation was the result of a corrupt bargain between the Governor and himself, for which the Governor, but not the Judge, should be impeached and removed from office.

There were a few other vague and unimportant charges, but this one, as weak as it was, was the strongest of the number.
When the articles of impeachment were presented to the House, it was seen that they were so weak and so groundless that the Governor believed it would be an easy matter for him to discredit them even before an antagonistic legislature.

With that end in view, he employed several of the ablest lawyers in the country to represent him.

They came to Jackson and commenced the preparation of the case, but it did not take them long to find out that their case was a hopeless one.