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428 EVIL OMENS IN PETROGRAD [chap. xxii.
the head of the Scandinavian section of that committee;
that in that capacity he made frequent journeys to
Stockholm, Christiania, and Copenhagen, and that
although he did not figure in the list of the members of
the German Legation in Sweden, he often saw Baron
von Lucius.
Later on, when recalling ProtopopofFs last journey
through Stockholm, I came to the conclusion that it was
from the journey to our western Allies that must date
the beginning of that nervous or mental state of the
Vice-President of the Duma, a state which eventually
made him the absolutely irresponsible factor in the
worst misfortunes of Russia. It was decidedly not the
same man as the one with whom I had talked in March,
and who seemed intelligent and well-balanced, although
somewhat of an actor and slightly conceited. This time
I had to deal with an excited being, inordinately
loquacious, and who jumped, without apparent reason,
from one subject to another, while the failings inherent
in his character seemed to be exaggerated and
caricatured.
A few days afterwards the Controller of the Empire,
M. Pokrovsky, arrived; he had been taking part, in
London and Paris, in conferences and parleys, the object
of which was the unification of the economic measures
and efforts of the Allies. I knew that he had made an
excellent impression in France as well as in England by
his tact, his cleverness, the clearness of his ideas, and
his thorough knowledge of financial matters. For many
years he had been head assistant to Kokovtzoff at the
Treasury, and it was he whom Kokovtzoff recommended
as his most appropriate successor. Pokrovsky had left
the Treasury with his chief; but at the first opportunity
he had been given the ministerial post of Controller of
the Empire, a post to which his eminent services gave
him every right.
I had the honour of knowing M. Pokrovsky, but very
superficially, never having exchanged ideas with him
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