The daily sentinel., 1913-11-03
WILL REFORM
CATHOLIC ARMY
Tiny Troop Body VIII be Read
justed;; Historical 0rganiza-
tions Affected.
Associated Press.

AssoClate0 freh.
| Rome. Nov. 3.-In consequence of
series OF incidents. the most recent
of which was the mutiny of the Swiss
Guards, the Vatican authorities are
today taking steps to reform the tiny
but historic army under their control.
Although consisting of less than 800
men, the armed forces of the Holy
See comprise five different corps
They are the Noble Guards, Swiss
Guards. Palatine Guards, Gensdarmes
and Firemen, or as they are called,
Guards of the Fire"
The most important OF these is the
Noble Guards. Constituted as it is
today, this organization dates back
to little over one hundred years,
The predecessors of the Noble Guard,
however, first came into existence in
1884, having been organized as pa
pal guard in the time of Innocent
VIII. They were, however, disbanded
in 1898 when Plus vi was carried
loff to France, whence he never re-
turned. In 1901 an agitation was
started in Rome among the aristoc-
racy again to form a bodyguard for
the Pontiff, and an address was sent
to Plus VII. offering their services
gratuitously. To this Plus replied by
message from his secretary of state.
dated May IL, 1901. which may be
called their act of foundation, and
which provided that the corps consist
of sixty individuals, men and Off
GERS. Now they are reduced to about
fifty and their command. which was
hereditary in the Barberini and AL
teri families. has lately passed to
the Rospigliosi. the present COM
mander being Prince Camille. The
American connections of this family
are notable, Prince Camille having
two sons. both of whom married Am
erican girls. The wife of one was
Miss Ethel Julia Bronson, of New
York, while the other made Miss Mil
dred Haseltine his WIFE,
The Rospigliosf are very proud of
having had the commandership of the
Noble Guard conferred upon them, as
thereby they rank with the five other
Houses witch hold hereditary posi-
tions at the Papal court. These are
the two Princes-Assistants of the Pa
pal Throne. namely the heads of the
IOrsini and Colonna families. deadly
rivals in the Middle Ages: the Master
| of the Sacred Hospice, who is the
head of the Ruspoli family; the Stan
dard Bearer of the Holy Church, the
Head of the Patrizi-Montoro; and the
Marshal of the Conclave, the Head of
the Chigi.
To that warrior-Pope of the Della
Rovere House, julius III, who threw
the keys of st. Peter into the Tiber,
saying that he had more need of the
sword of st. Paul." who built the
Castle of Ostra and fortified the
Monastery of Grottaferrata, and who
was hoisted up in a basket to inspect
he 1in ALL ,.f nNl- Al. fa..
nation of the famous Corps of the
Swiss Guard was due.
The bellicose Pontiff in October,
1905, enlisted two thousand men,
who were officially described as
"Praetorian Guards of the Pope's per-
son and Palace" but only two hun
dred came to Rome under the COM
mand of Casper de Silenen, noble
man of Lucerne, who remained at the
Papal court till his death. The Swiss
Guard was destroyed almost to a man
in the famous sack of Rome by the
Constable of Bourbon in 1927. 1t
was reorganized in 154S and since
then has never ceased to exist, with
the two notable but temporary eXcep-
tions of the French occupations of
1898 and 1909. The Swiss Guard now
number only about seventy, and are
German and French cantons of SwitZ-
lerland
The Palatine Guard formerly was
composed of members of the upper
middleclass, but it is now recruited
from among shopkeepers and small
ltradesmen belonging to Catholic
clubs and societies in Rome.
1t is not Quartered inside the Vati-
can. but receives an indemnity for
expenses and uniforms and is only
called upon for great functions or i'm
portant events, such as a canonisa-
tion in st. Peters, or the visit of a
foreign ruler to the Pontiff. Its
commander holds the rank of Gen.
eral, and until lately this position
was entrusted to Count Camille Pecci,
nephew of Pope Leo XIII.
The Papal Gensdarmes owe their
origin to the time when Plus VII was
in exile after having been kidnapped
and taken to France by general
LOBBYING the instructions of the great
Bonaparte. Forced to submit to the
will of Napoleon, he had as guards
the French Grenadiers, who, how
ever, he admired greatly. When Plus
VII returned to Rome he constituted
a bodyguard for himself, which he
called the "Papal Carabiners," wear
ing the same UNIFORM as Napoleon
soldiers, and being composed of men
who had served under the Emperor.
Napoleon himself took a great inter
est in this body, but he did not like
the name given to ii and he induced
the Pontiff to change it into that of
lgensdarmes.
Nowadays, the Gensdarmes are re-
cruited almost entirely from among
retired Carabineers of the Italian ar
my and their commander, Count Geo
copieri, was formerly a police official
of the Italian Government. They
number rather less than one hundred
and they do almost the entire police
work inside tie Sacred Palaces.
Finally, there is the body of Fire
men, composed OF about thirty men
we'll trained and prompt who, how
ever, on several occasions have not
. H.. f.t., - Fnt