Peter required the people to change this dress, and he sent patterns of the coats worn in Western Europe, to all parts of the country. He, however, met with a good deal of difficulty in inducing the people to follow these new fashions, especially regarding the shaving of their mustaches and beards. He thereupon assessed a tax upon beards, requiring every gentleman who wore one to pay a hundred rubles a year; and if any peasant entered the city wearing a beard, he was stopped at the gates, and rerequired to pay a fine of a penny. The officers of the customs, who were stationed at the gates of the towns, were ordered to stop every man who wore a long dress, and compel him to pay a fine of fifty cents, or else kneel down, and have all the part of his coat which lay upon the ground cut off with a pair of big shears. The Czar first set an example also, of rapid motion through the streets. It had been the custom for all the nobles to move about attended by a vast retinue; and as it was considered more stately to move slowly, and as all those lower in rank must stand, with uncovered heads, in the presence of their masters, the streets were often blocked in the snow and rain by these vast cavalcades of royalty; and crowds were obliged to stand in the cold and wet, with bare heads exposed to the inclemency of the weather. Peter the Great was attended, therefore, only by a few persons, when going out in carriage or sleigh, and his coachman was ordered to drive at a quick pace; and he limited the attendants of his nobles to a certain number. This story is told of the manner in which the Czar’s attention was attracted to young Menshikóf, who became one of his chief officers. Alexander Menshikóf was the son of a laboring man, in the service of a monastery, on the banks of the Volga. Young Menshikóf afterwards went to Moscow, and was there employed in a pastry-cook’s shop. It was his part of the work to go out in the streets and sell pies and cakes. In order to attract customers, he often sang songs. At one time Peter was passing, and stopped to listen to the songs of the young pastry-boy. Finally, the Czar asked him what he would take for his whole stock of cakes and pies, basket and all. The boy promptly stated the sum he would take for his wares, but as for the basket, as it belonged to his master, he could not sell it; but he dryly added: “Still, everything belongs to Your Majesty, and Your Majesty has, therefore, only to give me the command, and I shall deliver it up to you.” [Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF ST. PETER AND PAUL IN THE FORTRESS.]