Cornelii Valerii Ultraiectini In universam benedicendi [sic] rationem tabula, summam artis rhetoricae complectens

obscurely approaches the listener's mind in the speech.

Three parts of exordia.
The quality of the cause must be looked at first.
The honorable genus of cause.

there are five other genera to be observed: honorable, base, doubtful, lowly, and obscure. The honorable genus of cause is when we praise, persuade, defend, or blame, dissuade, attack what seems to everyone as something that should be done, such as when we praise good men, persuade for peace, etc.

Base.

The base, when either an honorable thing is attacked, or a base one is defended, etc., which is sometimes accustomed to be done for the sake of exercise. The admirable, or paradox, is also referred to here.

Doubtful.

The doubtful is when the cause has in itself a part of honor and baseness; such as if someone should speak for a father who is a bandit.

Lowly.

The lowly, when a vile and despised thing is brought forth.

Obscure.

The obscure, when the cause is involved and obscure.
The listener's mind immediately favors the honorable, and does not much require reconciliation, unless when it is tired from listening to others, or seems persuaded by the adversaries. For then we will renew the mind with some saying or story, and
When to use insinuation.

we will excite it with the hope of brevity: or we will promise persuasion; that we will refute the adversaries' arguments. If the genus is base, we will use insinuation, by which the baseness of the matter is excused at the beginning of the speech. The same must be done if it is a paradox, or something admirable. If it is doubtful, we will make them benevolent; and we will dilute that part which has baseness before everything else. If it is lowly, we will make them attentive;

Topics of exordia.

If it is obscure, we will make them docile. The topics of exordia, from which the cause and material of speaking are taken as if from notes and indicators, are persons, things, and the adjuncts to persons and things.

Goodwill.

Goodwill reconciles the listener's mind, which is captured either from persons, or from things, or from those things which are adjuncts to them: and from a person, either our own and our client's,