young man, who was, I think, an eleve of the Ecole Polytechnique, and
a duel took place, under the lamp-post near the theatre, with swords.
He ran F-- through the body, and left him dead upon the ground.

The late Marshal St. A-- and General J-- were great duellists at this
time, with a whole host of others whose names I forget. The meetings
generally took place in the Bois de Boulogne, and the favourite weapon
of the French was the small sword, or the sabre; but foreigners, in
fighting with the French, who were generally capital swordsmen, availed
themselves of the use of pistols. The ground for a duel with pistols
was marked out by indicating two spots, which were twenty-five paces
apart; the seconds then generally proceeded to toss up who should have
the first shot; when the principals were placed, and the word was given
to fire.

The Cafe Foy, in the Palais Royal, was the principal place of rendezvous
for the Prussian officers, and to this cafe the French officers on half-pay
frequently proceeded in order to pick quarrels with their foreign invaders;
swords were quickly drawn, and frequently the most bloody frays took
place: these originated not in any personal hatred, but from national
jealousy on the part of the French, who could not bear the sight of
foreign soldiers in their capital; which, ruled by the great captain
of the age, had, like Rome, influenced the rest of the world. On one
occasion our Guards, who were on duty at the Palais Royal, were called
out to put an end to one of these encounters, in which fourteen Prussians
and ten Frenchmen were either killed or wounded.

The French took every opportunity of insulting the English; and very
frequently, I am sorry to say, those insults were not met in a manner
to do honour to our character, Our countrymen in general were very pacific;