He stands a few seconds after he has done this, to recollect if he has forgotten any thing.

The witnesses to whom he has referred then rise up and tell all they themselves have seen or heard, but not any thing that they have heard from others.

The defendant, after allowing some minutes to elapse so that he may not interrupt any of the opposite party, slowly rises, folds his cloak around him, and, in the most quiet, deliberate way he can assume--yawning, blowing his nose, etc .-- begins to explain the affair, denying the charge, or admitting it, as the case may be.

Sometimes, when galled by his remarks, the complainant utters a sentence of dissent; the accused turns quietly to him, and says, "Be silent: I sat still while you were speaking; can't you do the same?
Do you want to have it all to yourself ?" And as the audience acquiesce in this bantering, and enforce silence, he goes on till he has finished all he wishes to say in his defense.

If he has any witnesses to the truth of the facts of his defense, they give their evidence.