_T. H._ And first I assure your Lordship, I find in it no new argument,
neither from Scripture nor from reason, that I have not often heard
before, which is as much as to say, that I am not surprised.
_J. D._ (_a_) “Though I be so unhappy that I can present no novelty to
T. H., yet I have this comfort, that if he be not surprised, then in
reason I may expect a more mature answer from him; and where he fails, I
may ascribe it to the weakness of his cause, not to want of preparation.
But in this cause I like Epictetus’s counsel well, that (_b_) the sheep
should not brag how much they have eaten, or what an excellent pasture
they do go in, but shew it in their lamb and wool. Opposite answers and
downright arguments advantage a cause. To tell what we have heard or
seen is to no purpose. When a respondent leaves many things untouched,
as if they were too hot for his fingers, and declines the weight of
other things, and alters the true state of the question, it is a shrewd
sign either that he hath not weighed all things maturely, or else that
he maintains a desperate cause.”