[6]
For this reason, it is of the first importance that
we should know what style is most suitable for conciliating, instructing or moving the judge, and what
effects we should aim at in different parts of our
speech. Thus we shall eschew antique, metaphorical and newly-coined words in our exordium, statement of facts and arguments, as we shall avoid flowing
periods woven with elaborate grace, when the case
has to be divided and distinguished under its various
heads, while, on the other hand, we shall not employ
mean or colloquial language, devoid of all artistic
[p. 159]
structure, in the peroration, nor, when the theme calls
for compassion, attempt to dry the tears of our audience with jests.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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