Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-02-01
Pail Mall Gazette.
The Royal caste.


There ere u the present moment IS
reigning sgvereigne In Ciisistendom. from
the Queen Of England, to whom 237,-
O00. 900 ofhuman beings owe allegiance.
10 the Prince Of Monaco. whom 5,731
subjects acknowledge Is their liege lord.
Of these princes, ten are nUmSnally Ro-
man Catholics, namely the euaserors OF
Austria and Brazil, the kings Of Italy,
Spain, Portugal, Belgium Bavaria, Sax
COY Ire princes III Iichteasiein and
Monaco. AtIeass three i gAesa asoaA'
archs, however, are very Tar from be-
ing on friendly terms @ith the Pope,
the King of Italy actually lying under
sentence OF accommodation; while
the King Of Saxony. himself Cath
Ole, rules over population almost ex-
clusively Protestant
The old maxim Of German jurists,
"Cujus dominic ejus religio," has long
wanted a foundation in tact. OF the
remaining % princes, two belong 10 the
Greek church, though the Car and the
King Of the Helenes belong TO different
branches Of il. The other "a are pro-
testant, 16being Lutherans, four Cinclud-
ing the German EmPerorI belonging TO
the Evangelical confession, three TO
the Reformed" church, and one being
the supreme head on earth" OF the
Church OF England. But the vast ma
ioritv of Queen Victories subjects
139, 900, 00O) are neither Professionals
nor Catholics, but Hindoos, while the
Mohammedans, 10000, 900 in number,
are themselves more numerous than
the Protestants Of all denominations in
the Empire.
The oldest re gning sovereign is Will
liam, German Emperor and King Of
Prussia, who completed his eightieth
year on the 22d Of March, 1877; the
youngest IS Alponzo MI, Of Spain, who
was twenty last birthday (2Sth OF No
yember, 1879 10 this list we do not
count the Pope, because his holiness can
scarcely be considered, any longer as
sovereign, and in any case does not be-
long to The royal caste or consinhUOd Of
telgning families. The average age Of
the sovercigns now reigning is 4S4
years. II may be added that five out
Of the thirty-six-to-wit: the Kings Of
Spain and Bavaria, the Duke Of Bruins
wick, and the Princes of Schwarzburg-
Rudolstadt and Lichenstein-are bach
e!ors, though all happily provided with
heirs presumptIve.
There is only a doubt in one case as
to whether the heir, being a sovereign
who has lost his own dominions, will
be permitted to succeed TO those OF his
cousin. At all events, the Brunswick
ers need not fear lest they should be
left without a governor, it being gener-
ally understood that they are the OBJ
iect Of much thoughtful solictude at
Berlin. OF the thirty-one other sovef-
eigns, twenty-eight have been once
married, two have taken unto them
selves second consorts and one has been
fortunate enough to draw three prizes
in the great lottery. The inorganic
marriages of certain princes need not
to be taken into account. The thirty
one sovereigns have between them
ninety-five children living, to say moth
ing OF grandchildren, which gives an
average of more than three TO each.
The titles borne by the iiiustrious
personages are many and various
Five have in modern times assumed
the imperial style, the oldest of exist
ing imperial titles being that of the
Car. whose predecessor, Peter the
Great, dubbed himself Emperorin 1872,
and was soon after generally acknowl-
edged as such. The EmPerors of AUS
tria as such, date from 1906; the title OF
Emperor Of Brazil from 1922. The
King Of Prussia has been styled Ger
man Emperor" since 1871; and the
Queen OF England has been proclaimed
Empress of India.
The title of Dom Pedro III, by the
way, which is that Of CONSTITUTIONAL
Emperor and Perpetual Protector OF
Brazil" is worth nothing as7one Of the
rare instancesIn modern times in which
the language Of heraldry has made an
effort to be in accordance with fact. So
the two Napoleons styled themselves
emperors BY the will of the people as
well AZ by The grace OF God, and the
First Napoleon even took at one time
the curious designation OF Emperor by
the constitutions Of the republic" The
old Kings Of France had several centuries
before designated themselves Kings
by the grace of God aud the will OF the
mobiles"
The sovereigns not being emperors are
eleven in number ,seven dating their titles
from the present century. II is difficult
to say which 1f these kingiy titles in
existence i the oldest. Those Of Dem
mark and Norway seem 20 run each
other closely. On the other hand our
own soyefeigns, though IN diplomatic
documents .key bear Tile which only
dates from 1901, are called by the peo-
pie they govern and BY the rest Of the
world kings or queens of England, Ii
lie dating from 62s, when it. was Fret
assumed By EgbeFt. Down to the reign
Of Henry III, however, the sovereign
seems to have been commonly called
the KING OF the English. Harold III
was king Of the English and Lord Of
the Island Of Britain"
Four Of the sovereigns above rtcfi-
toned bear titles originally bestcsed BY
the Pope. the Emperor Francis Joseph
being "Apostogic" King Of Hungary,
whatever that may mean, Alphonso XII,
the "CathoIic' King, and the King OF PoF-
lugaI i'the Most Faithful" King: The
Queens title of'Defender OF the Faith"
was conferred on Henry VIII for an
Indifferent Theological treatise against