The Ordinary Refuge of the Criminal
It is all very well for you to say that you came of unhealthy parents, and had a severe accident in your childhood which permanently undermined your constitution; excuses such as these are the ordinary refuge of the criminal; but they cannot for one moment be listened to by the ear of justice.
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Context: An Erewhonian judge sentences a young man convicted of pulmonary consumption.
Not in a duel yet
Source: Chapter XI: Some Erewhonian Trials