[37]
But if the prosecution do allege some
motive, he will either say that the motive alleged is
[p. 71]
false or inadequate or unknown to the accused. For
it is possible that a man may be quite ignorant of
motives imputed to him. He may not, for example,
have known whether the man whom he is accused
of having killed had appointed him his heir
or intended to prosecute him. All else failing,
we may urge that motives are not necessarily of
importance. For what man is there who is not
liable to the emotions of fear, hatred or hope, and
yet numbers of persons act on these motives without
committing crime?
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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