The officers of the Staff showed zeal but lacked prudence.

Whilst Greatauk kept an admirable silence, General Panther made inexhaustible speeches and every morning demonstrated in the newspapers that the condemned man was guilty.

He would have done better, perhaps, if he had said nothing.
The guilt was evident and what is evident cannot be demonstrated.

So much reasoning disturbed people's minds; their faith, though still alive, became less serene.

The more proofs one gives a crowd the more they ask for.
Nevertheless the danger of proving too much would not have been great if there had not been in Penguinia, as there are, indeed, everywhere, minds framed for free inquiry, capable of studying a difficult question, and inclined to philosophic doubt.