“Mingled together, and moving about the area of this oblong square block of buildings, might be seen, about seven o’clock p.m., a crowd of English, Russian, Prussian, Austrian, and other Officers of the Allied armies, together with countless foreigners from all parts of the world. Here, too, might have been seen the present King of Prussia” (the late Emperor William I. of Germany), “with his father and brother, the Dukes of Nassau, Baden, and a host of Continental Princes, who entered familiarly into the amusements of ordinary mortals, dining _incog._ at the most renowned restaurants, and flirting with painted female frailty.”[62] ----- Footnote 62: Gronow, _Reminiscences_ , i. 90. ----- The Palais Royal contained the principal, but by no means the only, gambling hell in Paris, and these constituted the “very fountains of immorality.” “There were tables for all classes; the workman might play with twenty sous, or the gentleman with ten thousand francs. The law did not prevent any class from indulging in a vice that assisted to fill the coffers of the municipality of Paris.”[63] ----- Footnote 63: _Ibid._ , i. 87. ----- In such a society it was only natural that constant disputes should arise between men who gave way to dissipation, and who, full of life and spirits and of national prejudices, had little to occupy them beyond the mere routine of military duty. Men’s minds were in a state of excitement, and all were engaged in defending interests which frequently conflicted with those of their temporary companions. These disputes could only be settled at that time by the sword or pistol. Numerous duels accordingly took place, sometimes between Royalists and Imperialists, and often between Frenchmen and the representatives of the invaders. It is stated that in almost every case the aggressors were the French; and while the English Officers had sometimes to defend themselves against the insolence of the natives, it appears that the Prussians, who used to congregate at the Café Foy in the Palais Royal, were the principal victims of Gallic fury, and were assailed more pertinaciously than the rest by half-pay French Officers, who went on purpose to pick quarrels with them. “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 the capital.... 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.”[64] ----- Footnote 64: Gronow, _Reminiscences_ , i. 106. -----