Part 16 (1/2)
The present Regulation shall not occasion any change respecting the Representative of the Pope.
+Form for Reception of Diplomatic Agents+
+Art.+ V. There shall be a regular form adopted by each State for the reception of Diplomatic Characters of every Cla.s.s.
+Diplomatic Agents of Courts Allied by Family or Other Ties+
+Art.+ VI. Ties of consanguinity or family alliance between Courts confer no Rank on their Diplomatic Agents. The same rule also applies to political alliances.
+Alteration of Signatures in Acts or Treaties+
+Art.+ VII. In Acts or Treaties between several Powers that admit alternity, the order which is to be observed in the signatures of Ministers shall be decided by ballot.[210]
+Art.+ VIII. It is agreed between the Five Courts that Ministers Resident accredited to them shall form, with respect to their Precedence, an intermediate cla.s.s between Ministers of the Second Cla.s.s and Charges d'Affaires.”[211]
To the articles, except the last, Austria, Spain, France, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and Sweden were parties. Spain, Portugal, and Sweden were not parties to the eighth article. Theoretically these rules are binding only upon those states parties to the treaties, but practically they are accepted by all civilized states.
The four grades are as follows:--
1. Amba.s.sadors, legates, and nuncios.
2. Envoys, ministers, or other persons accredited to sovereigns.
3. Ministers resident.
4. Charges d'affaires.
The first three grades are accredited to the sovereign. The fourth grade, charges d'affaires, is accredited to the minister of foreign affairs.
The rank of the agent does not necessarily have any relation to the importance of the business which may be intrusted to him. The t.i.tles given to the different diplomatic agents, at the present time, are in a general way descriptive, as follows:--
(1) _Diplomatic agents of the first cla.s.s_ are held to represent the person of the sovereign. Amba.s.sador ordinary usually designates one holding a permanent mission. Amba.s.sador extraordinary designates one on a special mission, or having power to act in exceptional circ.u.mstances.
This, however, is most often a t.i.tle of somewhat superior honor giving no other advantage. Papal legates rank, and for practical purposes, are, amba.s.sadors extraordinary, though representing particularly ecclesiastical affairs and the Pope as head of the Church. Legates are chosen from the cardinals and sent to countries recognizing the papal supremacy. Nuncios of the Pope rank as amba.s.sadors ordinary on a permanent mission, and are usually intrusted with power to transact general affairs.[212]
(2) _Envoys extraordinary, envoys ordinary, and ministers plenipotentiary_ have in general the same functions and rank. With these rank the papal internuncio. The general idea is that the agents of the second cla.s.s do not stand for the person of the sovereign, but for the state.
(3) _Ministers resident_ are regarded as upon a less important mission than the agents of the first or second cla.s.s. They are frequently sent by the greater powers to the lesser powers.
(4) _Charges d'affaires_ ceremonially rank below the ministers resident.
They are accredited to the minister of foreign affairs, while members of the first three cla.s.ses are accredited to the sovereign. A charge d'affaires may perform the functions of the higher grades of agents and has the same general privileges. When a consul is charged with a diplomatic mission he ranks with the charges d'affaires. Commissioners on various missions are sometimes accorded the same rank; but, as they do not bear the t.i.tle, commissioners cannot claim the rank of the charge d'affaires, though in their functions there may be no difference.
There is no rule as to the grade of diplomatic agent which one state shall send to another, though it was formerly held that only states ent.i.tled to royal honors could send amba.s.sadors. It is now customary for states to agree among themselves as to the relative rank of their diplomatic agent. Thus the United States by a recent act provided that ”whenever the President shall be advised that any foreign government is represented or is about to be represented in the United States by an amba.s.sador, envoy extraordinary, minister plenipotentiary, minister resident, or special, envoy or charge d'affaires, he is authorized in his discretion to direct that the representative of United States to such government shall bear the same designation. This provision shall in no wise affect the duties, powers, or salary of such representative.”[213]
The rank of a diplomatic agent is a mark of dignity and honor particularly of consequence in matters of etiquette and ceremonial.
Reciprocity between states is the general rule in the grade of agents.
The old theory that agents of the first rank had access to the ear of the sovereign is no longer held, and all grades alike represent both the sovereign and the state from which they come.
-- 71. Suite