[64]
And I will not conceal the fact that Cicero1 himself
holds that more qualities are required. For in
addition to demanding that it should be plain, brief
and credible, he would have it clear, characteristic
and worthy of the occasion. But everything in
a speech should be characteristic and worthy of the
occasion as far as possible. Palpalility, as far
as I understand the term, is no doubt a great virtue,
when a truth requires not merely to be told, but to
some extent obtruded, still it may be included under
lucidity. Some, however, regard this quality as
actually being injurious at times, on the ground that
in certain cases it is desirable to obscure the truth.
This contention is, however, absurd.
1 Top. xxvi. 97.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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