the
instance of that cause which we have mentioned. These circumstances
will be spoken of as before the affair,--the facts, I mean, of his
having joined himself to him so intimately on the march, of his having
sought occasion to speak with him, of his having lodged with him,
and supped with him. These circumstances were a part of the
affair,--night, and sleep. These came after the affair,--the fact
of his having departed by himself; of his having left his intimate
companion with such indifference; of his having a bloody sword.

Part of these things refer to the design. For the question is asked,
whether the plan of executing this deed appears to have been one
carefully devised and considered, or whether it was adopted so hastily
that it is not likely that any one should have gone on to crime so
rashly. And in this inquiry we ask also whether the deed could have
been done with equal ease in any other manner; or whether it could
have happened by chance. For very often if there has been a want of
money, or means, or assistants, there would not appear to have been
any opportunity of doing such a deed. If we take careful notice
in this way, we shall see that all these circumstances which are
attributed to things, and those too which are attributed to persons,
fit one another. In this case it is neither easy nor necessary, as it
is in the former divisions, to draw distinctions as to how the accuser
and how the advocate for the defence ought to handle each topic. It
is not necessary, because, when the case is once stated, the
circumstances themselves will teach those men, who do not expect to
find everything imaginable in this treatise, what is suitable for each
case; and they will apply a reasonable degree of understanding to the
rules which are here laid down, in the way of comparing them with the
systems of others. And it is not easy, because it would be an endless
business to enter into a separate explanation with respect to every
portion of every case; and besides, these circumstances are adapted to
each part of the case in different manners on different occasions.

XIV. Wherefore it will be desirable to consider what we have now set
forth. And our mind will approach invention with more ease, if it
often and carefully goes over both its own relation and that of
the opposite party, of what has been done; and if, eliciting what
suspicions each part gives rise to, it considers why, and with what
intention, and with what h