[57]
Further, the
order in which the facts are stated may either contribute to or detract from the credibility of our case;
for consistency and the reverse depend to a very
great extent on the way the circumstances are
arranged. But we shall be unable to detect these
qualities unless we consider the circumstances in
connexion with the case as a whole. None the less,
it will always be necessary to consider what are best
suited to be placed together.
III. Conjecture is followed by definition. For the
man who cannot assert that he has done nothing,
must needs take refuge in the assertion that lie has
not committed the act which is alleged against him.
Consequently the laws which govern definition are
for the most part the same as those which govern conjecture, the only difference lying in the method to be
employed in defence in cases such as those concerned
with theft, deposits or adultery. For just as we say,
[p. 85]
“I have not committed theft, I never received a
deposit, I am not guilty of adultery,” so we say,
“This is not theft, this is not a deposit, this is not
adultery.”
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