New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-16
MOBILES GALORE IN RUSSIA.
AN ATTEMPT TO CHECK THE FLOOD OF
PRINCE-MAkING.

If a social revolution. 1t will be if Alexander
III accedcs TO the request that is made, which
amounts to nothing less than a complete rc0rgan-
izaton of the nobility and the laws of admission
thereto. That such change is desirable every
one admits. For years the Russian titles of no.
bility, not eXcepting-indeed especially including
that of Prince. have been by-word in all the
aristocratic circles of Europe. They count for
rather less that Colonel" in Kentucky. 1t is not
that there many princely or otherwise no.
bic families. But if is noble in a family. all
are noble. If Ivan Ivanovitch is made a prince,
every one of his eleven sons becomes forthwith,
ipso facto, prince, and every one OF his nine
daughters becomes princess and so do Their
children and their children's children. world WIN
ont end. Even this system would not he so bad.
were it not that titles are easily procured
Theoretically only The Emperor can ennoble n
man. Practically every man who serves III any
Of the Government bureaus a certain lensth oil
time and in certain rank, becomes
thereby a nobleman, "and so do his sisters and
his cousins and his aunts'; Just as in some parts
of America every man who has served as Presi-
dent or Congressman or Justice of the Peace is
thcnceforth and forever known as the Hon.
And as these men get these places in the civil SER
vice chiefly through personal pull
it is easy 10 see into what state the no
hility has fallen.
Titles of nobility possess in Russia no political
value whatever They are now rapidly coming
10 have no social value prince--I mean bona
fde prnce-whose nobility dates from the days of
Rnrl and who owns estates as large as goodlv
kingdom finds himself knocking elbows with
some smart chinnovnik. who owns not an acre OF
ground and who has little education but who.
through favoritsm, has held snecuTe IN inc
civil service for a few years. Rather annoying
no doubt: and no wonder that the landed and
ancient aristocracy are clamoring-very respect
ful1v hu, still clamorinr-for a change. They
wish to exclude from their class the oihclals ana
chinnovniks who become mobiles only py r3h'
and length Of service and the favoritSm Of their
superiors and who generally have no landed or
other interest in the province TO which they are
reckoned to belong AT the same time they de-
sire TO have the right of proposing the ennoble-
mont of other persons who are large landed pro-
prietors and have attained certain standard of
education.
Before the time of Peter the Great there were
no mobiles but princes in Russia. The princes
were nearly all descendants of Rurik Then the
chamberlains and other members of the Imperial
household were onnobled and put on an equality
with the princes of RuTik's line. But Peter soon
struck deadlier blow at the hereditary nobility
by making it accessible not only to persons OF
merit but TO all who attained certain rank in
the State service He at the same time imposed
upon all existing mobiles the duty of serving for
50 many years in the military or civil service.
thus converting them into an army of officials.
Numbers of historic families still continued TO be
DESIGNATED By titles and though, since Peters
time a prince descended from Rurik is classed in
order of precedence, not with any reference 10
his birth. but in accordance with his actual rank
in the State service the titles borne by the arsto-
cratic families OF Russia still have certain So
eial value. Among the descendants from RnriN
may he mentioned the Dolgoroukis. the Gagarlns.
The Stcherbatofis the Gortchakofs, the Bariatin-
skys the Krapoti;ins the Odoicfsllis. the Obolcn-
,kvs. and some twenty or thirty more, including
three or four whose descent is through female
branches The Galtizns, the Havanskys. the
Troubcfzkois and the Kourakins are,
in common with six or seven of the great
Iithuano-Poish families descended from Guede-
min. the Lithuanian. The Galitizins. indeed are
TO be found in Poland as well as in Russia. The
name in Polish is spelled Gahczin and il IS prob
ably derived from the ancient Duchy Of iia.Icz, or
l,alitch in Russian; though Prince Peter Dolso-
rousi. in lis account of the principal families OF
Russia derives the name from ealitsa a eaunt-
let Several Of the ancient Russian names are de-
rived from personal peculiarities. Dolsoroukl
for instance, signifies long arm But ior the
most part they indicate family possession. or
some place where the family held power. Thus
the Volynski family, whose founder held an I'M
portant command at Kulikovo, the first successful
battle fought by the Russians against the laTtars
were from Vohynia.
Some of the historic Russian families, yet much
fewer than is generally supposed, Of Tartar
origin Thus the Rostopchn who burned Moscow
and made many excellent jokes, and whose daugh-
ter gained high reputation by her lyric poems.
was lineal descendont of Genghis Khan. The
Mestcherskys date from the period of the Tartar
domination and their name to the town or
district of Mestchera, conquered by the founder
Of the family in 1925 The Golovins, established
in Russia since 1850, are OF Crimean origin The
Ourousoiis are of Tartar race and have only been
Christians since the sixteenth century. The
Tchcr<asskys are, the name denotes, OF CIrcas-
sian origin Prince Boris Tcherkassky married
he aunt of the Gar Michael founder of the
Romanoff dynasty and one Of his near descendants
commanded the first expedition sent by Russia in
Tie reign Of Peter the Great, against khva.
Since the time OF Peter the Great. eleven prln-
ces some sixty counts and few barons have
been created. These last have generally been
bankers. iinanciers connected with the Cour',
and with the exception OF Kutaisson. Emperor
Pauls Crcassian valet, are almost the only ci-
villains who have received titles few dl
plomatsts have been distinguished, but they
have generally. in the comparatively recent case
VI Count lgnailei, begun life in the army. Count
Ncs-elrOde. too, Foreign Minister under Nicholas,
was originally officer in the Imperial Guard
but the Emperor Paul. seeing him at parade and
recognizing in him the demeanor not Of soldier
but of diplOhatst. ordered him TO leave the
army and enter the Foreign Office
Among Peters own creations may. in partc
uar be mentioned the MenschikOis, the SOuVa-
roGs ana the Orlons. The first of The Menschi-
kofIs was a pastry-cook's boy at Moscow in
Peters reign. but he enlisted in the army rose
10 the rank Of general. and rendered important
services 10 his country Scribe and Mcyerbeer
introduced him of The leading pcIsonagcs
in LEt0ile du Nord7 But the family objected
70 their ancestor being shown a pieman with a
tenor voice, Onering his pies for sale on the public
stage and the Ncnschikon" Of the original
cast now figures as Danilovtch.' The first of
tho SouvarOfIs was The son of a priest i'm the con-