[39]
The question has been raised as to whether we
should deal first with persons or motives, and different
orators have given different answers: Cicero as a rule
prefers to treat motives first. For my own part, if
the circumstances of the case do not point strongly
in either direction, I consider that the most natural
course is to begin by dealing with persons. For the
enquiry whether any crime can credibly be imputed
to such a man as the accused is of a more general
character than the question whether some one
particular crime can be imputed, and in addition
involves a greater correctness in division.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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