[26]
It remains to consider the technique to be followed
in the examination of witnesses. The first essential
is to know your witness. For a timid witness may
be terrorised, a fool outwitted, an irascible man
provoked, and vanity flattered. The shrewd and
self-possessed witness, on the other hand, must be
dismissed at once as being malicious and obstinate;
or refuted, not by cross-examination, but by a brief
speech from the counsel for the defence; or may be
put out of countenance by some jest, if a favourable
opportunity presents itself; or, if his past life admits
of criticism, his credit may be overthrown by the
scandalous charges which can be brought against him.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1921.
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