[45]
But as for you, O Caecilius, I think that I see
already how he will play with you, how he will bandy you about; how often he will give
you power and option of choosing which alternative you please,—whether a thing
were done or not, whether a thing be true or false; and whichever side you take will be
contrary to your interest. What a heat you will be in, what bewilderment! what darkness,
O ye immortal gods! will overwhelm the man, free from malice as he is. What will you do
when he begins to divide the different counts of your accusation, and to arrange on his
fingers each separate division of the cause? What will you do when he begins to deal
with each argument, to disentangle it, to get rid of it? You yourself in truth will
begin to be afraid lest you have brought an innocent man into danger.
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M. Tullius Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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