[16]
For if an advocate is
producing a witness who is desirous of harming the
accused, he must avoid letting this desire become
apparent, and must not at once proceed to question
him on the point at issue. On the contrary this
point must be approached by a circuitous route in
such a manner as to make it seem that the statement which the witness is really desirous of making
has been forced from him. Again lie should not
press the witness too much, for fear he should impair
his credit by the glibness with which lie answers
every question, but should draw from him just so
much as may seem reasonable to elicit from a single
witness.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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