The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1891-06-19
IN tue breach tnnn IN its observance. and
(krarely IL ever enforced.

| the N0chefOucauIus, the Cnlmays, vu>
Rohans. the De Luynes, the Du Plainly
seventeen of whom are recorded BY
Froissart as having been killed at thu
battle Of Agincourt-and the remainder
Of the old nobility of the Faubourg St
German. there are literally tens OF thou
sands of soi-disant mobiles Of obscure ori
gin, and often with criminal record al
their back, who, by dint Of perseverance
and imperviouspess to snubs, have sue
ceeded in getting the general public tc
accord them the titles and frequently
even the names which they have wrong
fully usurped. Of course none Of these
pseudo mobiles has any documents from
the French government to authenticate
their titles, ana frequently seek to ex.
plain the absence thereof by the ridicu'
lous and hackneyed excuse that their
family papers were lost in the great rev.
olution of 1893. This, however, need
never be accepted as valid plea, since
the monarchical governments which sue.
ceeded the reign of terror at the close of
the last century were exceedingly lib
eral-far too much so, indeed-in recog-
nizing and registering titles that had
been in existence previous to 1893. In
deed there is no excuse for French no
bleman being without some kind of a
document from his government in which
his title is officially recognized
In Russia, just as in France, Italy and
Spain, titles carry no privileges, either
official or social, and confer no kind Of
prestige upon their bearers There are
thousands Of so called princes and prin-
cesses who have no right to appear at
court, and who would not be admitted
into the society either of st. Petersburg
or Of any other capital of Europe. / say
$50 called princes" because the title of
prince, when applied to Russians, is due to
misapprehension and wrong translation.
The Russian word used to designate
these Muscovites who are addressed as
princes abroad is "knyaz," the correct
English synonym of which is Lord A
"knyaz," in fact, possesses much the
same rank and position as an ordinary
English country squire or lord of the
manor. During the reign of Louis XIV
of France two of these knyaz happened
to visit Versailles. On inquiries being
made by court officials concerning their
rank, their interpreters, partly through
ignorance and partly with view of in.
creasing their own importance, trans
lated the word "knyaz" as prince.
Since then every Russian "squireen"
has invariably been treated to the title
Of prince from the very moment that he
crosses the cars western frontier, much |
n the same manner that every well to do
Bombay peddler is greeted as full
blown rajah as soon as ever he sets his
DOT in Paris. Under these circum-
stances it is not astonishing that the
titles of count and even of baron are OF
ar more importance and of higher rank
n Russia than that of "prince" For
ince the days of Peter the Great there
lave been only sixty creations of count
md fourteen of that Of "baron." These
igures. however, do not include the
German barons in the Baltic provinces
# Russia and the Polish counts who
AVE become subjects of the car.
In Austria and Germany the titles of
rince and count are but rarely con-
erred, and are therefore usually borne
y persons of ancient lineage and pos
essed Of names that are more or less his
orical. The title of baron, however,
Mess attached to names of this kind, is
evoid of any social prestige or consider
ton. For there is scarcely single one
f the horde of petty and impecunious
herman sovereigns who has obtained a
oan without comforting the title of baron
pom both the bankers and brokers who
ave obliged him. People thus ennobled .
re, however, kept at distance by the
Id aristocracy, which is likewise very
umerous, owing to the fact that not only
he eldest son, but also every one of the
ounger children, bears the fathers title. I
This is different In England, where it
My descends to the senior male heir.
he result is that the use sf honorific
of this kind is exceedingly
in Great Britain. Indeed,
lere is no nation in the Old World that
SO few titled personages. In
luding dukes. marquises, earls. barons,
oAOuClC OAAtA ALlSo utS, tACAC arc NV AACACI
IAN $1,000 With regard to knights it
lay be as well to mention that the only
rders of linighthood that carry with
lem title of any kind are those con-
erred by the English government.
either the Italian, the French, the Ger
ian, Spanish nor Russian orders bring I
18th them any title, not even that OF
sir" prefxed to the Christian name. II
In conclusion, will take the liberty
warning Americans visiting Europe :
give more consideration to the name
ian to the title of the acquaintance
lat they may acquire in the Old World.
tiles, even when they are authentic.
nd they should always be subjected to
are but of small value
to gentle birth and ancient
neage, which no monarch or govern
ent can confer. King James of Great
ritain, whose name figures in the
-eface to all of our Bibles, was wont
remark that though king can create
peer or confer nobility he cannot
ake gentleman. 1t is the latter and
ot the mere bearer of a mushroom title
no is regarded in Europe rs the true