[33]
I think I hear certain persons (for there will
always be some who had rather be eloquent than
good) asking, “Why then is there so much art in connexion with eloquence? Why have you talked so
much of 'glosses,'1 the methods of defence to be
employed in difficult cases, and sometimes even of
actual confession of guilt, unless it is the case that
the power and force of speech at times triumphs over
truth itself? For a good man will only plead good
cases, and those might safely be left to truth to
support without the aid of learning.”
1 color is a technical term for “the particular aspect given to a case by skilful manipulation of the facts—the 'gloss' or 'varnish' put on them by the accused or accuser.”—Peterson on Quint. X. i. 116.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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