Tuesday, 3 July 2018

execution to prevent bloodshed in 1813. WTF?

I came upon this snippet in the Hereford Journal, 20th October, 1813

It reads,
"The punishment of seconds in duels, by death, where every effort has not been made to reconcile the parties, consistent with honour, will prove a very probable method of stopping the effusion of human blood unnecessarily."

I had to share this.  What idiot thought that executing the seconds would bring about a reduction in bloodshed?