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[2]
If, however,
anyone should take this course, he will defend his
action by appealing to the blamelessness of his life
[p. 167]
as rendering perjury on his part incredible, or by the
solemn nature of the oath, with regard to which he
will win all the greater credence, if without the
least show of eagerness to take the oath he makes it
clear that he does not shrink from so solemn a duty.
Or again, if the case is such as to make this possible,
he will rely on the trivial nature of the point in
dispute to win belief, on the ground that he would
not incur the risk of the divine displeasure when so
little is at stake. Or, finally, he may in addition to
the other means which he employs to win his case
offer to take an oath as a culminating proof of a
clear conscience.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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