[17] Elizabeth was much prepossessed in favour of the English. Being a great admirer of their fashions, and wishing to introduce them at her Court, she had dolls sent to her in the various dresses worn, and which were fitted by Miss Church of St. James’s Street. [18] _Russia Correspondence_, Public Record Office. [19] A tradition exists to the effect that Count Woronzoff’s palace in the Sadovaya Oulitza, St. Petersburg, now occupied by the Corps des Pages, was constructed with English guineas. Later, in 1758, the count received a gratuity of fifty thousand roubles from Louis XV. [20] In acknowledging the receipt of despatches of May 12 and 18, brought to Paris by Michel the merchant, M. Rouillé warmly congratulates Douglas, in the name of the King, by letter dated June 18, on the distinction with which he had been received by the Ministers of Russia and even the Empress herself.—Copies of _French Correspondence_, Public Record Office. [21] _Russia Correspondence_, Public Record Office. [22] _Lett. Mém._ &c., iii. 6. [23] Copies of _French Correspondence_ in _Russia Correspondence_, Public Record Office. [24] Prince Tcheckbatoff says of Apraxin: The field-marshal was entirely devoid of military talents. Whilst awaiting orders at Riga he astonished the people by his display of wealth, and when moving with the army indulged in all the comforts and luxuries to be found only in a large city, and this in the midst of the sound of arms or in fatiguing marches. His tents extended over the space of a small town, five hundred horses being required to transport his baggage. Apraxin was a heavy, unwieldy man, fond of ladies’ society. Apraxin is described by Sir Hanbury Williams as very corpulent, lazy, luxurious, and certainly not brave. [25] M. Wolkhoff to D’Eon, April 15/27, 1757. _Lett. Mém._ &c. iii. 6. _Gazette d’Utrecht_, xiii. 1757. [26] D’Eon to the Count de Broglio, June 12, 1775: _Archives des affaires étrangères_. Gaill. 71. [27] _Lett. Mém._ &c. i. 48. [28] Boutaric, i. 222, 223. [29] Poutaric, i. 86, 224. Vandal, 307. [30] _Napoléon I. auteur du testament de Pierre le Grand_: par G. Berkholz. (Bruxelles, à l’Office de Publicité, 1863.) [31] Terms not understood. [32] _Lett. Mém._ &c. iii. 9. [33] Vandal, 327. [34] _Russia Correspondence_, Public Record Office. [35] This is the fifth or sixth minister who is anxious to make my fortune. Fortune, however, unhappily wears a wig, and is continually slipping away from my grasp. The next time we meet I shall seize her by the hair.—Note by D’Eon. [36] _Lett. Mém._ &c. iii. 11. [37] De la Fortelle, 33. [38] Note-book, dated 1754: Ch. MSS. [39] Loménie, i. 414.