The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-08
= FATAL TITLES or NOBILITY
Not the Only ones in Europe That Can
 Be Had for Cash.

be ildu lOl 1dSls
 | Every now and again we read in the | newspapers that the Pope has created | some pious CT wealthy son of the | Church a Count of the Holy Roman Empire" When Count Jametel was married at Richmond a few weeks ago to the sister of the new princess Danilo Of Montenegro almcet every raper in the country described him as Count of the Empire. IL seems, therefore not alto gether supelhuous to explain that the lucky young man whose family has been raised in two generations from shopkeeping to close alliance with thrones is not that kind of Count, and
 that the Pope, who gave him his title has no power and claims no right to create titles of the Roman Empire. What the Popes can, and do create are Counts of Rome. These nobles are
 not Counts of the Papal States, which
 no longer exist, They are, properly speaking, Counts of the Vatican Counts Palattne, nobles of the palace. The official title, indeed, is 'Ctunt of the Apostolic Palace and of the Court of the Lateran" The designation
 comes down from the time when the
 Popes lived at St. John Lateran and
 these Comites were, in actual fact, the
 companions of the Pontiff. It is an
 other survival of those distant days that
 every Bishop Assistant at the Pontifcal
 throne. is created a count when he re- ceives his Court nomination. But it is in
 relation to laymen that these Papal dis
 tinctions are most interesting. Origin
 ally. no doubt, as still is the case in the
 ory. Vatican titles-and the Pope grants
 everything from knlgthoods to duke
 doms were conferred as rewards for
 good and faithful service to the church.
 In such cases it is the custom of the
 Pope to confer these honors motu pro-
 pria ct sine pecunia-without the pay
 ment of fees to the Vatican Chancery.
 But during the present century great
 numbers of Papal titles have been ere
 ated, and it is quite certain that the
 vast majority of them have not been
 accorded sine pecuia. The granting of
 them, indeed, has come to be regarded as regular source of income to the Holy See; and it would appear that it
 is no longer necessary to be Roman Catholic or even, for the matter of that Christian at all to become noble of the Apostolic Palace and of the Court of the Iateran. According to the tariff of foreign mobility agent" which was issued a few years ago, the title of prince could at that time be had for
 93000; a dukedom cost G2,000, while ,000 would buy countship, and $500 a barony We need hardly say that we do not vouch for these figures.
 It has often been said that the vatican sells titles; and, technically speaking, it of course does not, The money paid is not in return for the distinction; it pas ses in the guise of fees for making out and sealing the patent, and so on--fees which even an English peer or baronet has to pay. Nor does the Pope stand alone in covering up transactions of this kind under pleasant Actions. Italy and Portugal do the same, to say noth- ing of the accommodating little Repub- lie of Andorro, which recently ennob'ed an American because he made an all lowance of G1OO a year to the national library. It is in France that Papal ti- ties find their readest sale, which is