CEREALIA CEREMONIAL. 



127 



CEREALIA (from Ceres, the goddess of the fields 

 and of fruits) signified the productions of agriculture, 

 also the festivals of Ceres. 



CEREMONIAL OF THE EUROPEAN 

 POWERS. One of the many ridiculous usages and 

 pompous nullities, of which such a number have 

 arisen in Europe, is the subject of this article ; which 

 has given rise to much war and confusion, and thrown 

 many obstacles in the way of peace. No indepen- 

 dent state can actually have precedence of another ; 

 but, as the weaker seek the protection and friend- 

 ship of the more powerful, there arises a priority of 

 rank. This lias occasioned the gradual establish- 

 ment of dignities, rank, and acts or respect to states, 

 their rulers, and representatives, by which means (in 

 contradistinction to the internal etiquette of a state) 

 an international ceremonial has been formed, to the 

 observance of which far more consideration is often 

 paid than to the fulfilment of the most sacred con- 

 tracts. Louis XIV. carried this folly further, per- 

 haps, than any one before or after him. To this in- 

 ternational ceremonial belong, 



1. Titles of rulers. Accident made the imperial 

 and regal titles the highest, and thus conferred ad- 

 vantages apart from the power of the princes. After 

 Charlemagne, the Roman emperors were considered 

 as the sovereigns of Christendom, maintained the 

 highest rank, and even asserted the dependence of 

 the kings on themselves. For this reason, several 

 kings, in the middle ages, to demonstrate their inde- 

 pendence, likewise gave their crowns the title of 

 imperial. England, for example, in all its public 

 acts, is still styled the imperial crown. The kings 

 of France received from the Turks and Africans the 

 title empereur de France. In progress of time, the 

 kings were less willing to concede to the imperial 

 title, of itself, superiority to the royal. 



2. Acknowledgment of the titles and rank of 

 rulers. Formerly, the popes and emperor arrogated 

 the right of granting these dignities ; but the princi- 

 ple was afterwards established, that every people 

 could grant to its rulers, at pleasure, a title, the re- 

 cognition of which rests on the pleasure of other 

 powers, and on treaties. Some titles were, there- 

 fore, never recognized, or not till after the lapse of 

 considerable time. This was the case with the royal 

 title of Prussia, the imperial title of Russia, the new 

 titles of German princes, &c. 



3. Marks of respect conformable to the rank and 

 titles of sovereigns. To the royal prerogatives, so 

 called (which, however, were conceded to various 

 states which were neither kingdoms nor empires, such 

 as Venice, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the elec- 

 torates), pertained the right of sending ambassadors 

 of the first class, &c. In connexion with this, there 

 is a much contested point, viz., that of precedence or 

 priority of rank, i. e. of the right of assuming the 

 more honourable station on any occasion, either per- 

 sonally, at meetings of the princes themselves, or of 

 their ambassadors, at formal assemblies, &c., or by 

 writing, as in the form and signature of state papers. 

 There is never a want of grounds for supporting a 

 claim to precedence. As the councils, in the middle 

 ages, afforded the most frequent occasion of such con- 

 troversies, the popes often interfered. Of the several 

 arrangements of the rank of the European powers, 

 which emanated from the popes, the principal is the 

 one promulgated in 1504, by Julius II., througli his 

 master of ceremonies, Paris de Crassis, in which the 

 European nations followed in this order : 1. the Ro- 

 man emperor (emperor of Germany) ; 2. the king of 

 Rome ; 3. the king of France ; 4. the king of Spain ; 

 5. of Arragon ; 6. of Portugal ; 7. of England ; 8. 

 of Sicily; 9. of Scotland ; 10. of Hungary; 11. of 

 Navarre; 12. of Cyprus; IS. of Bohemia ; 14. of 



Poland; 15. of Denmark ; 16. republic of Venice ; 

 17. duke of Bretagne ; 18. duke of Burgundy ; 19. 

 elector of Bavaria; 20. of Saxony; 21. ofBranden- 

 ]mrg ; 22. archduke of Austria ; 23. duke of Savoy ; 

 24. grand-duke of Florence; 25. duke of Milan; 

 26. duke of Bavaria ; 27. of Lorraine. This order 

 of rank was not, indeed, universally received ; but 

 it contained a fruitful germ of future quarrels; some 

 states, which were benefited by the arrangement, 

 insisting upon its adoption, and others, from opposite 

 reasons, refusing to acknowledge it. To support 

 their claims for precedence, the candidates some- 

 times relied on the length of time which had elapsed 

 since their families became independent, or since the 

 introduction of Christianity into their dominions ; 

 sometimes on the form of government, the number 

 of crowns, the titles, achievements, extent of posses- 

 sions, &c., pertaining to each. But no definite rules 

 have been established, by which states are designated 

 as being of the first, second, third, fourth, &c., rank. 

 At the congress of Vienna, a discussion took place 

 respecting the settling of the rank of the European 

 powers, and its inseparable consequences ; and the 

 commission appointed for the purpose by the eight 

 powers, who signed the peace of Paris, made in their 

 scheme a division of the powers into three classes. 

 But, as opinions were by no means unanimous on the 

 subject, most of the plenipotentiaries voting for three 

 classes, Portugal and Spain for two, and lord Castle- 

 reagh entirely rejecting the principle of classifica- 

 tion, as the source of constant difficulties, the ques- 

 tion respecting the rank of the powers was suffered 

 to rest, and the ambassadors of the crowned heads 

 were merely divided into three classes. (See Minis- 

 ters, Foreign.) Rulers of equal dignity, when they 

 make visits, concede to each other the precedence at 

 home : in other cases, where the precedence is not 

 settled, they or their ambassadors take turns, till a 

 compromise is effected in some way. 



Many states claim not a precedence, but merely 

 an equality. But, if neither can be obtained, there 

 are several means of avoiding the scandalous scenes 

 that formerly so often occurred. The ruler either 

 comes incognito, or sends an ambassador of different 

 rank from his with whom he contests the precedence ; 

 or the rulers or their ambassadors do not appear on 

 public occasions ; or, if they do, it is with a reserva- 

 tion respecting their dignity. In treaties between 

 two powers, two copies are made, and each is signed 

 by only one party ; or, if both sign, each party re- 

 ceives the copy in which it holds the place of hon- 

 our. According to the above mentioned resolution 

 respecting the relative rank of ambassadors, which 

 forms the 17th affix to the final act of the congress of 

 Vienna, the order to be observed by the ambassadors 

 in signing public treaties between powers, in respect 

 to which the rule of alternate precedence exists, shall 

 be decided by lot. In Britain and France, far less 

 ceremonial is observed, in the official style, than in 

 Germany,* where forms and titles are carried to an 

 absurd extent, and the ceremonial words, which ex- 

 tend even to the pronouns by which the princes are 

 designated, it is not possible to translate. Emperors 

 and kings mutually style each other brother, while 

 they call princes of less degree cousin. The German 



* The following is an instance of the degree of fally 'o 

 which the love of titles has been carried in Germany. We 

 do not say that it was often carried to this extent, but the 

 instance is too good to be omitted. A certain man of the 

 name of Seeger, in the 17th century, had his likeness taken, 

 and, according to the fashion of the period, was represented 

 standing under a cruciiix. From his mouth proceeded the 

 words DomineJemi C/iriste, amas m:1 and from the month 

 of the Saviour the following answer -. Clnrissime, nobilix. 

 sine atque doctissitne domine mag. Seeger, rector scltolie 

 H r itienbergensis mcritisslme alque dignissime, omnhio 'itno 

 tet 



