Dueling was the only thing that kept an otherwise dishonest man to his word. Lies were punishable by death.
Huh? That assumes the lying bastard would agree to a duel, and the one telling the truth, was the winner.
Dueling left a lot to be desired, especially if lying bastards were expert in the use of word, sword, and pistol.
You make a good point. The threat of a duel on the spur of the moment was perhaps the real force to be reckoned with.
The end result of the duel was no guarantee of true justice, I’ll grant that.