. Petersburg he was amiable enough to remember that I had
been presented to him in Paris on the occasion of his visit there. I
was very young then, and so many years had since gone by that I had
forgotten the incident; but princes as a rule are gifted with a memory
for faces and names. Among the various queer ordinances of his reign,
one, to which obedience was very troublesome, compelled both men and
women to alight from their carriages whenever the Emperor drove by.
Now, I must add that Paul was to be met with very frequently in the
streets of St. Petersburg, as he travelled them perpetually, sometimes
on horseback with but slim attendance, and sometimes in a sledge
without an escort, without any sign by which he might have been
recognised. You were nevertheless obliged to obey his command, under
pain of incurring his severest displeasure, and it will be agreed that
it was cruel to have to jump out into the snow and stand there,
however extreme the cold. One day when I was out driving, my coachman
not having observed his approach, I scarcely had time to exclaim:
"Stop! it is the Emperor!" But, as my door was opened and I was about
to get out, the Emperor himself descended from his sledge and hastened
to stop me, saying in the most gracious manner that his order did not
concern foreign ladies, especially Mme. Lebrun.

The reason why even Paul's most favourable whims were not reassuring
for the future was that no man was ever more changeable in his tastes
and affections. At the beginning of his reign, for instance, he
loathed Bonaparte. Later on he conceived such a great tenderness for
him that a portrait of the French hero was kept in his sanctuary and
he exhibited it to every one. Neither his dislike nor his favour was
lasting. Count Strogonoff, I believe, is the only person he always
loved and esteemed. He was not known to have favourites among the
gentlemen of the court, but was very fond of a French actor called
Frogeres, who was not without talent and rather clever. Frogeres went
into the Emperor's study at all hours unannounced; they were often
seen walking together in the gardens arm in arm, chatting on the
subject of French literature, for which Paul had a strong fancy,
particularly our drama. This actor was often invited to the small
court gatherings, and as he was highly gifted in the art of joking, he
made the greatest lords the object of jokes, which amused the Emperor
very much, but which probably were ver