[18]
Questions of law will often arise
from one ground of dispute after another, whereas
questions of fact are always concerned with one point;1
[p. 17]
but the order to be followed is the same in both
cases. We must, however, deal first with points that
differ in character. In such cases the weakest
should always be handled first, for the reason that
there are occasions when after discussing a question
we make a concession or present of it to our opponents: for we cannot pass on to others without
dropping those which come first.
1 This statement amounts to no more than that there may be infinite complication where questions of law are concerned, but questions of fact are simple and there is but one point to be considered, “was such and such an act committed?”
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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