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Chapter VI - Of the several Orders of public Ministers,—of the Representative Character,—and of the Honours due to Ministers
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690 book iv: restoration of peace; embassies clared against France. Notwithstanding all the caution and all the protestations of Louis the Fourteenth, his acknowledgement of youngStuart as king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, under the title of James the Third, was considered by the English as an injury done both to the king and to the nation. chapter vi Of the several Orders of public Ministers,— of the representative Character,—and of the Honours due to Ministers. In former days, people were scarcely acquainted with more than one order of public ministers, in Latin termed legati, which appellation has been rendered by that of “embassadors.” But when courts were become more proud, and at the same time more punctilious in the article of ceremony, and especially when they had introduced the idea of extending the minister’s representation even to that of his master’s dignity, it was thought expedient to employ commissioners of less exalted rank on certain occasions, in order to avoid trouble, expense, and disputes.Louis the Eleventh of France14 was perhaps the first who set the example.Thus several orders of ministers being established, more or less dignity was annexed to their character, and proportionate honours were requiredfor them. Every minister in some measure represents his master, as every agent or delegate represents his constituent. But this representation relates to the affairsof hisoffice:theministerrepresentsthesubjectinwhomreside the rights which he is to exercise, preserve, and assert,—the rights respecting which he is to treat in his master’s stead. Although such representation is admitted in a general view, and sofaras respectstheessence of affairs, it is with an abstraction of the dignity of the constituent. In process of time, however, princes would have ministers to represent 14. Louis XI of France, r. 1461–83.§69. Origin of the several orders of public ministers.§70. Representative character. chapter vi 691 them, not only in their rights and in the transaction of their affairs, but also in their dignity, their greatness, and their pre-eminence. It was, no doubt, to those signal occasions of state, those ceremonies for which embassadors are sent, as, for instance, marriages, that this custom owes its origin. But so exalted a degree of dignity in the minister is attended with considerable inconvenience in conducting business, and, besides occasioning trouble and embarrassment, is often productive of difficultiesanddisputes .Thiscircumstancehasgivenbirthtodifferentorders of public ministers, and various degrees of representation. Custom has established three principal degrees. What is, by way of pre-eminence, called the representative character, is the faculty possessedbytheminister, of representing his master even in his very person and dignity. The representative character, so termed by way of pre-eminence, or in contradistinction to other kinds of representation, constitutes the minister of the first rank, the embassador. It places him above all other ministers who are not invested with the same character, and precludes their entering into competition with the embassador. At present there are embassadors ordinary and extraordinary: but this is no more than an accidental distinction, merely relative to the subjectof theirmission . Yet almost every-where some difference is made in the treatment of these different embassadors. That, however, is purely matter of custom. Envoys are not invested with the representative character, properly so called, or in the first degree. They are ministers of the second rank, on whom their master was willing to confer a degree of dignity and respectability , which, without being on a level with the character of an embassador, immediately follows it, and yields the pre-eminence to it alone. There are also envoys ordinary and extraordinary; and it appears to be the intention of princes that the latter should be held in greater consideration. This likewise depends on custom. The word Resident formerly related only to the continuance of the minister’s stay; and it is frequent in history for embassadors in ordinary to be designated by the simple title of residents. But since the practice of employing different orders of ministers has been generally established , the name of resident has been confined to ministers of a third order, to whose character general custom has annexed a lesser degree of§71. Embassadors.§72. Envoys.§73. Residents. [54.166.170.195] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 20:23 GMT) 692 book iv: restoration of peace; embassies respectability. The resident does not represent the prince’s person in his dignity, but only in his affairs. His representation is in reality of thesame nature as that of the envoy: wherefore we often term him, as...