[51]
But even in the case of an accusation of
theft, just as in an accusation of murder, we enquire
both into the act and the author, while in cases
concerned with loans and deposits there are also
two questions (though these are always distinct
from one another), namely, whether the money was
delivered and whether it has been repaid. Cases of
adultery are marked by the following peculiarity,
that, as a rule, the safety of two persons is involved,
and it is necessary to say something of the past life
of both, although some have raised the question
whether both parties should be defended together.
The line to be taken must depend on the circumstances of the individual case: if the defence of one
party lends support to the defence of the other, I
should defend them conjointly; if the reverse is the
case, I should treat the two cases separately.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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