io THE CURIA
fer worldly rides and orders. The laws of guaranty conceded to him his own postal and telegraph offices, but these were not actually es- tablished until the peace treaties were signed.
The real personal guard of the Papacy is the Noble Guard, so called because only these may become members. It is a corps of about ninety officers, the commander of which belongs to one of the most select of Roman noble families. It provides the guards of honour, and escorts the Pope wherever he goes. Its uniform is the beautiful traditional costume in use since the Guard was created in 1801. The officers are noblemen in both stature and bearing, and the organiza- tion does honour to its name. After this, from the point of view of service and rank, comes the Swiss Guard, members of which are all simon-pure Swiss. They must be at least six feet tall, wear a uniform of luminous yellow, red and black (to which they add on festive occasions armour and helmet) and they keep faithful watch with the halberd at all doors and gates. Today the Swiss Guard numbers hardly more than a hundred men the Vatican must econ- omize is housed in a garrison behind St. Peter's in Vatican City, trains like every other military troop, and lives according to a severe disciplinary code. The Swiss Guard has a proud history. Two dec- ades after its creation it covered the Pope's flight during the sack of Rome in 1527, and lost all but a few men; and to it there was recently erected a monument in the courtyard of its cantonment. The event described above took place on May 6th, and there is an annual com- memoration with which the solemn swearing in of new recruits is associated. The Palatine Guard of honour, an honorary militia of about four hundred men, is comprised of Roman petty bourgeois and artisans. It is used primarily on solemn occasions to form cordons and render similar service outside the Vatican buildings. Finally there are the Papal gendarmes, who are constantly on service as police in Vatican City. On gala occasions they wear caps of bear skin and look very handsome.;
The two highest orders are the Order of Christ, and the Order o the Golden Spur, both of which have a single class and are of equal rank. The Gregory and Sylvester Orders have several classes, as does the Order of the Holy Sepulchre which can also be conferred on women. The Papal honour known as fro ecclesia et pontifice is also
PAPAL
