[70]
In some
cases, too, we may mitigate a bad impression by
words which avoid the appearance of a statement of
facts. We may say, for instance, “He did not, as
our opponent asserts, enter the temple with the
deliberate intention of theft nor seek a favourable
occasion for the purpose, but was led astray by
the opportunity, the absence of custodians, and
the sight of the money (and money has always an
undue influence on the mind of man), and so
yielded to temptation. What does that matter?
He committed the offence and is a thief. It is
[p. 89]
useless to defend an act to the punishment of
which we can raise no objection.”
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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