"Not in the least; why should I?"
"It was a very painful duty that I had to perform,--the most painful
that ever befel me. I had no alternative but to do it, of course, and
to do it in the hope of reaching the truth. But a counsel for the
prosecution must always appear to the accused and his friends like a
hound running down his game, and anxious for blood. The habitual and
almost necessary acrimony of the defence creates acrimony in the
attack. If you were accustomed as I am to criminal courts you would
observe this constantly. A gentleman gets up and declares in perfect
faith that he is simply anxious to lay before the jury such evidence
as has been placed in his hands. And he opens his case in that
spirit. Then his witnesses are cross-examined with the affected
incredulity and assumed indignation which the defending counsel is
almost bound to use on behalf of his client, and he finds himself
gradually imbued with pugnacity. He becomes strenuous, energetic, and
perhaps eager for what must after all be regarded as success, and at
last he fights for a verdict rather than for the truth.
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