[clx. 300]

1822 July 8

Constitut. Code Rationale

Note (a)

Securities

Factitous honor

? Evils produced by it

(a)In England the title of Prince has never been borne by any individual who has not been a member of the Royal Family: when under this title the member of another nation is presented to his notice, this idea of blood relation to Monarchy /Royalty/ the highest order in the state naturally presents itself: it is only by particular information that he learns by how great and various distances the rank of the bearer of this title is separated from that of royalty and sovereignty in other States: how in France for example the throng of Princes is /are/ confounded with that /those/ of Counts, Viscounts and Barons: how abundant they are in various parts of Italy: how in Russia while the title is borne by some of the most opulent as well as antient families it is borne by others whose place is in almost the lowest rank in this scale of opulence. The advantage of being thus confounded in mens conceptions with the Members of Sovereign families seems of late to have recommended it in Germany as well as France. Hence it is that in the course of the Revolution undergone by France Bonapartes Generals received some of them indeed the title of Dukes, but others the title of Princes; and Talleyrand though a member of one of the oldest and as such most honored families of the Noblesse of France saw an advantage in accepting in form the title of Prince. In Germany, this title has been borne by several of the little sovereigns [...?] feudatory Monarchs with which the constitution of that confederacy still continues even in its present altered state.