Napoleon invariably objected to the practice of duelling; and, although he knew from the character of his officers and soldiers, that it was impossible to prevent it, yet he visited with his displeasure all the superior officers who transgressed the regulations on that subject. He was frequently heard to say, that he never could place any dependence upon a duellist in battle, and that Latour Maubourg, the bravest of the brave, had never drawn his sword in a private quarrel. Such was also the opinion of Follard, the commentator of Polybius, who observed, “that in his time, duellists were in great vogue, but he generally found them the very scum and dishonour of the army, and the first to flee in moments of danger.” Gustavus IV, as has been already related, with more chivalric feeling than wisdom, sent a message to Napoleon, who replied, “that he would order a fencing-master to attend him as a plenipotentiary.” During the reign of Napoleon, it appears that duels were not frequent; society was no longer convulsed by party feelings and violent political recriminations; discord had ceased to reign, and all France submitted quietly to the iron yoke of military despotism. Former disputes had arisen in the intrigues of courts, in which depraved and ambitious females reigned paramount; and in the incessant altercations of these privileged and honoured courtesans, the fashionable men of the age were constantly involved; political debates were also a common cause of hostile feeling, and a subsequent meeting: but under the empire, no one could express his opinion, and political discussion became merely a matter of form; the press, being also under the immediate control of government, could not give offence, and when it did offend, as it was the organ of the state, the injured party could obtain no public or private redress.