§5.1.1ac prima quidem illa partitio ab Aristotele tradita consensum fere omnium meruit, alias esse probationes, quas extra dicendi rationem acciperet orator, alias, quas ex causa traheret ipse et quodam modo gigneret.
And indeed, that first division handed down by Aristotle has earned the agreement of almost everyone: that some proofs are those which the orator receives from outside the system of speaking, and others are those which he himself draws from the cause and in a certain manner generates.
ideoque illas ἀτέχνους, id est inartificiales, has ἐντέχνους, id est artificiales, vocaverunt.
Therefore, they called the former inartificial, that is, non-artistic, and the latter artificial, that is, artistic.
§5.1.2ex illo priore genere sunt praeiudicia, rumores, tormenta, tabulae, iusiurandum, testes, in quibus pars maxima contentionum forensium consistit.
To that former class belong previous judgments, rumors, tortures, documents, oaths, and witnesses, in which the greatest part of forensic contests consists.
sed ut ipsa per se carent arte, ita summis eloquentiae viribus et adlevanda sunt plerumque et refellenda.
But just as these things in themselves lack art, so they must for the most part be either supported or refuted by the greatest powers of eloquence.
quare mihi videntur magnopere damnandi, qui totum hoc genus a praeceptis removerunt.
For this reason, those who have excluded this entire class from the rules of instruction seem to me to be greatly to be blamed.
§5.1.3nec tamen in animo est omnia, quae aut pro his aut contra dici solent, complecti.
Yet it is not my intention to embrace all the things that are usually said either for or against these.
non enim communes locos tradere destinamus, quod esset operis infiniti, sed viam quandam atque rationem.
For we do not design to deliver commonplaces—which would be a work of infinite labor—but a certain path and method.
Quibus demonstratis, non modo in exsequendo suas quisque vires debet adhibere, sed etiam inveniendo similia, ut quaeque condicio litium poscet.
Once these have been demonstrated, each person ought not only to apply his own powers in executing them, but also in finding similar arguments, as each condition of the lawsuits shall demand.
neque enim de omnibus causis dicere quisquam potest saltem praeteritis, ut taceam de tuturis.
For no one can speak concerning all causes, at least those of the past, to say nothing of those of the future.