[52]
It is not, however, sufficient to explain the nature
of the exordium to our pupils. We must also indicate
the easiest method of composing an exordium. I
would therefore add that he who has a speech to
make should consider what he has to say; before
whom, in whose defence, against whom, at what
time and place, under what circumstances he has to
speak; what is the popular opinion on the subject,
and what the prepossessions of the judge are likely
to be; and finally of what we should express our
deprecation or desire. Nature herself will give him
the knowledge of what he ought to say first.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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