The same request was presented to the present czar at the time of his coronation, but met with a refusal on the part of his Muscovite majesty, for he pointed out that Peter the Great had throughout his entire reign contented himself with the rank of colonel. There is also another reason which Nicholas did not mention officially, but which is well known to the members of his immediate _entourage_. At the present moment his name figures on the army list as the principal orderly officer and personal adjutant of the late czar. This is an office which can only be held by military men below the rank of general. The moment young Nicholas acquires that rank his name _ipso-facto_ disappears from the list of his dead father's adjutants, and he is far too attached to his memory to desire this, preferring the minor rank of colonel and the association with his beloved predecessor, to all the pomp and glory of a generalissimo. Of all the other sovereigns in Europe there is not one who travels with such an immense amount of luggage as Emperor William. He seldom undertakes a trip without taking along at least one hundred huge trunks of the so-called Saratoga pattern, which fill several wagons of the imperial train; indeed, an entire special train is not infrequently chartered solely for the conveyance of his luggage. Like some French _élégantes_ at a fashionable seaside resort, he changes his garb five, six, and even seven times a day. The consequence is that it is necessary to have at hand not only a vast number of naval and military uniforms, but also a diversity of shooting suits, hunting suits, civilian clothes, Tyrolese jäger costumes, and even the kilt, sporran and tartan of a Highlander, for he is very proud of the fact that Stuart blood flows in his veins, and considers that he is quite as much entitled to wear the Stuart tartan as his uncle, the Prince of Wales. All these clothes are not under the charge of a mere valet, but of a grand dignitary of the Court of Berlin,--Count Perponcher-Sedlinzky,--who holds the rank of privy councillor, and who is addressed as "your excellency." The count has a perfect army of dressers and valets under his orders, but it is he who is responsible, not only for the uniforms being in good trim, but likewise for their being on hand whenever the emperor happens to need them. In order to understand what this entails, it must be remembered that the kaiser is not only colonel of some hundred or more German regiments, but also of a very great many foreign corps, belonging to every country in Europe, except Turkey, Bulgaria and France. Now for each regiment, there are sometimes six, sometimes eight different uniforms--one each for parade, fatigue duty, court wear, an undress uniform, and others too numerous to mention.