[14]
The further question has been raised as to whether
the strongest arguments should be placed first, to
take possession of the judge's mind, or last, to leave
an impression on it; or whether they should be
divided between the commencement and close of the
proof, adopting the Homeric disposition of placing
the weakest in the centre of the column,1 so that
they may derive strength from their neighbours.
But in the disposition of our arguments we must be
guided by the interests of the individual case: there
is only one exception to this general rule in my
opinion, namely, that we should avoid descending
from the strongest proofs to the weakest.
1 I. iv. 299.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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