The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-07-04
mere Is a regular fixed tariff, the cash

dues" Thus everybody who does not
happen to be a notorious criminal can
buy an hereditary title Of count either
from the pope or from King Humbert
for the sum of $1,000. l know two dis
reputable Syrian usurers Of Alexandria,
in Egypt, who each acquired count
ship in this manntr, the one getting it at
the Vatican, and the other at the Quirinal.
The sole difference between the two was
that, whereas the latter insisted on the
$1,000 being paid in gold. the papal au-
thorities were content to accept the
amount in paper lire. A dukedom is
somewhat more costly. Its price reaches
as high as SIC, 900, and among those who
secured it by these sort Of methods was
the widow of Isaac Singer, of Singer
sewing machine fame. When she con-
ferred her hand and her fortune upon
the amfable but penniless little Amster-
| dam Hebrew who became her second
husband, she purchased for him from
the Vatican, as wedding gift, the title
of Duke of Camposelice. All these Ital-
ian titles descend to the children, who
even bear them during the lifetime of
their parents without any let or him
drance.
With regard to France, it is not even
necessary to go to the expense Of pur-
chasing title there, even if the govern
ment had such a commodity for sale,
which it has not All that is necessary
is to adopt any title that may happen to
strike ones fancy, no matter whether it
be count, prince or duke It is true that
there is a law in France which directs
that no one shall adopt a nobiliary title
or even adorn his buttonhole with the
ribbon of any foreign order without hav-
ing previously obtained authority to do
SO from the grand chancellor of the Lee
gion Of Honor. But the statute which
provides for heavy penalties, both by
fine and Imprisonment, is more honored
In the breach than in its observance, land
is rarely if ever enforced.
The consequence is that alongside of
the Rochefoucaulds, the Chimays, the
Rohans, the De Luynes, the Du Plantys
seventeen of whom are recorded by
Froissart as having been killed at the
battle of Agincourt-and the remainder
of the old nobility of the Faubourg St.
Germain, there are literally tens of thou
sands of soi-disant mobiles of obscure orr
gin, and often with a criminal record at
their back, who, by dint of perseverance
and imperviousness to snubs, have sue
ceeded in getting the general public to
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, and 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 1898. 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
Aeman 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
80 called princes" because the title OF
prince, when applied to Russians, is due tc
misapprehension and wrong translation.
The Russian word used to designate
these Muscovites who are addressed al
princes abroad is "knyaz," the correct
English synonym of which is Lord" 4
''knyaz," in fact, possesses much thu
same rank and position as an ordinary
English country squire or lord of thu
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 thei
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 It'll
; of prince from the very moment that b
, crosses the cars western frontier, mucl
r in the same manner that every well to
Bombay peddler is greeted as a ful
blown rajah as soon as ever he sets hi
$ foot in Paris Under these circun
stances it is not astonishing that tn
q titles Of count and even Of baron are {
0 far more importance and of higher ran
8 in Russia than that Of "prince." FC
b since the days of Peter the Great ther
s have been only sixty creations of count
s and fourteen of that Of baron" Thes
s figures, however, do not include tn
Y German barons in the Baltic province
$ of Russia and the Polish counts VIII
O have become subjects of the car
! In Austria and Germany the titles
+ prince and count are but rarely COZ
t ferred, and are therefore usually born
q by persons of ancient lineage and pc
n sessed of names that are more or less hi
J. torical. The title of baron, howeve