These are all the duties that occur to us as likely
to be required of you, as Advocate for the defendant,
during the progress of the examination-in-chief of
the plaintiff's witnesses. We shall next proceed to
consider what you should do in the conduct of your
cross-examinations.
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XXXIV.
CROSS-EXAMINATION.
Cross-examination is commonly esteemed the
severest test of an Advocate's skill, and perhaps it
demands, beyond any other of his duties, the
exercise of his ingenuity. But those who have had
experience wiU be inclined to doubt whether, upon
the whole, it is so difficult to do well as an exami-
nation-in-chief, and certain it is that it is more
frequently seen to be well done, although this may
not improbably result from the prevalent notion
that examination-in-chief is an easy matter, which
any body can do, while cross-examination is
extremely difficult, and therefore that Advocates,
and especially young Advocates, perform the one
carelessly, while they put forth all their powers for
the accomplishment of the other. Do not under-
stand, however, that we are in any degree uncon-
scious of the difficulty of conducting a cross-exami-
nation with creditable skill. It is undoubtedly a

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376 THE ADVOCATE.
