In the first Column each Knight-Companion hath his own Name perfixt to those Persons for whom he condescends his Vote, to the intent it may appear by whom the Knights candidates are nominated, and these are Ranked in three several Divisions.
The first contains, The Degrees of Earls, Marquesses, Dukes, Princes, Kings and Emperors; yet at a Scrutiny taken Anno 24 Hen. VI. in a Chapter held at Brainford, Albro Vasquez d’almadea, (who immediately following, is Stiled Comes Averentiæ) is by a mistake Ranked; but in the second Division among the Barons, and twice among the Knights Votes of the Marquess of Suffolk, and Earl of Shrewsbury, but this Error perhaps owes its original for want of due knowledge, either of the Law in the Statutes or his Degree, the latter of which is the most feasible to conjecture; for being a Stranger, his Title might not be so generally divulged, nor is it taken notice of in the Scrutiny itself, tho’ in the annals immediately after it was rectified.
And to shew the probability of this Point, the Earls of Oxford, Devonshire, and Arundel, (whose degrees were sufficiently known) at a Scrutiny taken Anno 24 Hen. VI. are ranked in the second Division among the Barons, and Anno 1 Hen. VIII. the Earl of Darby is three Times so placed, and again 13 Hen. VI. the Earl of Devonshire twice; but this happened not thro oversight or neglect of the Statutes, but because at these Nominations wherein they are so Ranked, the first Division to which they appertained, happened to be fill’d up with those other higher Dignities belonging to the same Class, viz. Kings or Dukes, as when the beforementioned Earls of Oxford, Devonshire, and Arundel, were set down in the Place of Barons; the King of Portugal, the Dukes of Warwick and Norfolk, were put in the Class of Princes, and so it happened in many other instances.
On the contrary, Anno 15 and 16 Edw. IV. the Lord Rich. Grey one of the Queen’s Sons, by her former Husband, Sir John Grey of Groby Knight; in respect of his Alliance to the Royal Family, is Ranked in the first Division among the Princes, under the Title Dominus Richardus filius Reginæ, and afterwards Anno 19 Edw. IV. set only among the Barons, as well with the former Title as this Richardus Dominus Grey, but Anno 22 Edw. IV. he is thrice register’d among the Princes, and as often with the Barons, whence it is observable that to be Enrolled in the Rank of Princes, may be afforded of courtesie to Persons of high Eminency and Blood; but then as they can lay no claim to it by their Merit, so such of the Knights-Companions as Rank them lower, suffer no diminution in their Honour.
Wherein the second Division are Ranked the Barons and Viscounts, for Viscounts in all Scrutinies, after the first Erection of that Dignity, were on the same level with the Barons, until the 3 of Jac. I. (excepting only John Dudley Viscount Lisle, Anno 35 Hen. VIII. who by every Knight, the Duke of Norfolk excepted, is Ranked in the first Division of Princes) and in a Scrutiny then taken, Robt. Cecil Viscount Craneborne is the second Viscount in the List that has been Ranked with Princes, whence it became the frequent Practice in succeeding Scrutinies, until Anno 14 Car. I. And then (upon a Question put in Chapter convened at Westminster 23 May 14. Car. I.) whether Earls Sons and Viscounts were eligible with Barons, it passed in the affirmative, and that by general usage except in the two cases just mentioned; and about the same time we find it reiterated near that Time, for in two Scrutinies taken the 19th and 21st of that Instant May, the Viscounts are therein reduced to the second Division, and Ranked with the Barons.
The Knights-Batchelors and Bannerets held the same Rank in King Hen. VIII’s Statutes, in all Scrutinies with Barons.
But tho’ the word in King Hen. VIIIth’s late Statutes is Baronettus instead of Banerettus, yet is this frequently obvious in some ancient Books and Records, as well as in those ancient Writers, long before the Title of Baronet was conceived or brought into use.
In the last place he who demands those Suffrages (the Knights-Companions present) is by the Statutes of Institution to receive them in writing; for in a Scrutiny taken Anno 2 Hen. VI. at the Election of John Lord Talbote and Turnival, the Dean of Windsor, and the Register of the Order, wrote down the Votes and Nominations of every singular Knight present at the Day of Election.
And at another Scrutiny Anno 4 Hen. VI. to fill up that which by an Error in the Black Book is set down Sir Henry Fitzhugh, ’tis inserted, That the Dean and Register wrote down in Order, (according to their Seniority) the Votes of the Knights-Companions. And after the Scrutinies began to be entred in the Annals, it is evident the general Practice kept pace with the Injunction of the Statutes; only there are two instances of an Election confirmed without taking a Scrutiny in writing, one in the case of the Princes Henry and Christiern IV. King of Denmark, where the Knights-Companions in a Chapter convened at Whitehall, 14 of July 1 Jac. I. gave in their Votes viva voce, and immediately the Sovereign admitted them both into the Illustrious Society; the other was the Case of James Marquis Hamilton, Elected the 2d of Feb. 20 Jac. I. with the vocal consent of all the Knights-Companions.
It is worthy observation, that this Method, and the omission of taking the Scrutiny in writing, is not only contrary to the Law of the Order expressly set down for a more stable consignation of the Action, and more faithful transmission of it to Posterity, but exceeding prejudicial to Persons of Honour, and Distinction, whose Names would otherwise survive with great veneration among the candidates of this Illustrious Order, and of which Honour many deserving Persons will be hereafter deprived, if the Injunctions of the Statutes be not observed in this particular respect.
SECT. XI.
The Presentation of it to the Sovereign.
THE Knights-Companions, having delivered their Suffrages, the Officer by whom they are Collected, humbly presents to the Sovereign the Nominations, for so it is recorded the Prelate of the Order acted in the 9th of Hen. the Vth. If these Votes were taken in Chapter, the Paper usually was immediately presented to the Sovereign who made his Election, before the Chapter broke up; but if gathered in the Chapel, tho’ it was given to the Sovereign, yet the choice was not made then, but the Morning after, and this was the manner in the 2d and 5th Years of Queen Eliz. Another time it hath not been presented till the Vespers were finished, but in the Practice of latter Days the Scrutiny hath not been given up to the Sovereign till the next Day at the opening of the Chapel before Morning-Prayer, as in the 13, 15, 20, 30 Years of Queen Eliz. demonstrates, and was the accustomed Practice of the 17th Year of King Charles the first of ever-sacred Memory; the last presentation was transcribed in a little Book, and with all due Reverence offered upon the Knee, before any other Affair was transacted in the Chapter.
This has been the general Use as we are ascertain’d, Anno 2 Hen. VI. the Dean of Windsor, and the Register of the Order, having Collected the Vote of every Knight, they were immediately given into the Hands of the Sovereign’s Deputy; and in the same nature were they presented on the 4th Hen. VI. when John Duke of Bedford was Lieutenant, in the 20th of Queen Eliz.; when the Suffrages were Collected by Sir Francis Walsingham the Chancellor, he gave them up to the Earl of Sussex, then Lieutenant to the Sovereign.
But it’s evident from several Passages in the Blue Book of the Order, that the Lieutenant afterward delivered them to the Sovereign, as is apparent from the Records of the 30th, 34th, 38th, and the 40th Year of Queen Eliz.
In the 12th Year of K. James I. some Exceptions arose upon the Chancellor’s not presenting the Scrutiny to the Prince, (who at that time was the Sovereign’s Lieutenant) but to the Sovereign himself, which was an Error he fell into, as well as some of his Predecessor’s; as the 2d, 3d, and 25th of Eliz. demonstrate.
The Sovereign’s Considerations upon the Qualifications of those
to be elected.
§ 12. As the Knights-Companions are under an Obligation, by the Statutes, to nominate no Person, but who can bear the Test of the afore-mention’d Qualifications, there’s a Standard of Honour provided for the Sovereign, to measure the Extraction, Quality, and Merit of the Person proposed to be elected, least it might chance, thro’ the Indulgence of the Sovereign, this Fountain of Honour might be mudded by the Choice of inferior and undeserving Persons, for the Statutes run—because this Order consists of Goodness, and honourable Virtue, doth not admit Unworthiness and Villany, and so by Consequence secludes all Persons of mean Extraction and Merit.
The Qualifications for Election are exhibited in the 2d Article, as in the 18th are included those of Nomination: The Words of the Institution are, That none shall be elected into the Order; and refer only to the Act of Election: For if we consult the rest of the Statutes, and compare them with this Passage, they run according to this Tenor, That none shall be elected and chosen a Companion of this Order. These refer more principally to the Time of the Election, and not to the Investiture with Garter, and George, and Installation, from the Expressions of admitting and receiving Knights into this Order, as the Examplars of the Statutes of Institution set forth. And this is farther illustrated, from another Passage in the 2d Article of Henry the VIII’s Statutes, where the Word Reproach is mentioned, saith, The Guilt thereof so incapacitates a Man’s Election, that for the future it’s a Bar, and utterly disqualifies him for that Honour.
There are Two Points requisite for Qualifications and Endowments; first, to be a Gentleman of Blood; and, 2dly, a Knight without Reproach. By the Statutes of Henry the Vth’s Institutions, no Man ought to be elected, unless he be a Gentleman born. The Examplar in the Black Book saith, Unless he be worthy upon the Account of Birth and Arms: And in another Passage, That he be one eminent for his Demeanour and good Report; which intimates the Conjunction of Blood and Virtue, which make up the noblest Composition. The Statutes of King Henry VIII. are more extensive than those, and say, He must be a Gentleman by Name, Arms, and Blood; and least this Character might seem intricate and perplex’d, A Gentleman of Blood is defin’d to be, One descended of three Descents of Nobles, viz. of Name and Arms, both by his Father and Mother’s side.
It’s certain Gentility does not receive its Perfection in the Person it was first devolv’d on, but is rather compleated by Succession: For, among the Romans, tho’ the Father was Free-born, and of the Equestrian Cense; yet it was farther requisite, that the Grand-father should be the same, or else they could not obtain the Ring, one of the Symbols of the Equestrian Order, as Pliny informs us. Gentility hath its beginning in the Grand-father, its increase in the Father, and full ripeness in the Son; and consequently in the Constitution of Gentility, the Father and Grand-father conveying a Lustre to the Son, make it entire and compleat; for its incongruous to suppose a ripeness in the Son, unless there had been a former encrease in the Father, and a longer Series from the Grand-father.
The memorable Instance of the Lord William Paget, who was divested of the Garter five Years after his Election, upon Pretence of his not being a Gentleman of Blood by either Father or Mother, proceeded not wholly from the defect in Point of Extraction, as Haward relates, but rather from the Prevalence and Practice of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, by whose means he was most unjustly deprived of the Garter; repenting, perhaps, at the great Honours he had done this Lord, by his fair Character of him to King Edward VI. when he procured him a new Grant of those Arms, under the Great Seal of England, when he was Earl Marshal, which he had some time before received from the Garter Principal King of Arms.
But, admit the defect of Blood and Arms, for three Descents, were the true Cause of the recalling his Garter, that it might be conferred upon the Earl of Warwick, eldest Son of the said Duke, who, out of courtesie, is called so, in which Relation both Haward and Stow have mistaken, for they were bestowed upon Sir Andrew Dudley, Brother to the Duke; for tho’ he was put in the Scrutiny enter’d among the Annals of Edward VI. in the Sixth Year of his Reign, upon St. George’s Day, yet was the Earl neither then, nor at any other time, elected.
The Ensigns of this most Noble Order, as soon as Queen Mary ascended the Throne, were with as much Honour restored to the Lord Paget, and with as great and absolute an Authority, as they were disgracefully taken from him. And in Confirmation of this Lord’s Restauration, he had the Garter buckled on his Leg, and the Collar and the Order put about his Shoulders, with the George depending, by two of the Knights-Companions present; and the Garter King at Arms was order’d, That he should take Care his Atchievements should be replaced over his Stall at Windsor, which is the 9th on the Sovereign’s side. It is observable, that the very Records of the Order brand his Degradation as Injustice; as if it were inferable, That when Honour is conferred, upon the Account of Virtue and exquisite Endowments, the Consideration of these supplies the defect and obscurity of Extraction. The Sovereign, whose Prerogative it was to declare and interpret the Statutes, being present in Chapter, thought fit to qualifie the Law, and gave him this honourable Commendation, That he had highly deserved of the Nation, by his Prudence and Counsel.
And though there’s only inserted in the Examplar of the Black Book, Virtue and good Report for a Qualification, yet the same was observed by the Sovereigns and Lieutenants in foregoing Times, with great Circumspection; and that the Magnanimity, Fortitude, Prudence, Generosity, Fame, Reputation, and other Virtues and Excellencies, whether innate or acquired, of the Person proposed to Election, have by prudent Inquisition been inspected, and brought to the Touchstone, before they have been admitted into so noble and illustrious a Body.
Those Qualities were chiefly consider’d and esteemed by Henry V. for which Reason, at an Election in the 9th Year of his Reign, he gave the Preference, before others that were nominated and presented unto him, to John, Earl Marshal, William, Earl of Suffolk, John, Lord Clifford, Sir Lewis Robertsack, and Sir Heer Tank Clux.
Humphry, Duke of Gloucester, Deputy to K. Hen. VI. trod in the same Steps, and did weigh, by the strict Rules of Fortitude and Prudence, the gallant and noble Actions and Deserts of John, Lord Talbot, before the Election, and gave in an Approbation worthy of his own Judgment, and that Candidate’s Merit. And for this Reason it’s expressed in the Annals of the Order, that such noble and heroick Qualifications should have the favour of Election preferrable to others, as is evident in the Matter of Choice of Sir Nicholas Carew, in the 28th of Hen. VIII. That he was a very fit Person, upon the Eminency of his Extraction and Fame, and the many noble and worthy Actions he had performed; so as that all present did, without any delay, unanimously approve of his Election. And after this Tenure run the Commendation of Henry, Earl of Cumberland, at his Election, viz. The many famous and loyal Atchievements performed by him, both at several other times, and then more especially, when the Tumult of Rebellion began to break forth in those Borders where he had his Habitation.
The 2d Point to treat on is, That no one is qualified for Election, unless he be a Knight; or as it is expressed in one of the Examplars in the Hatton Library, Unless girded with the unstained Girdle of Knighthood; so singular a regard the Law of the Order hath to this particular Qualification above the rest: And least Chance or Inadvertency might let slip a Person not Knighted into the Scrutiny, were the Words inserted ut minimum, that he be at least a Knight before he be elected, when the Sovereign comes to make his Choice. It is evident from the 2d Article in the Statutes, that it hath long since received this Construction, as appears by an eminent Instance. In the 17th of Hen. VIII. The Feast of St. George being celebrated at Greenwich, and the Sovereign being present, having elected the Lord Roos, afterwards Earl of Rutland, into the Society of this most noble Order; and being advertised on the Morrow after St. George’s Day, while the Mass of Requiem was celebrating, That he had not before received the Dignity of Knighthood, according to the Statutes, which positively enjoin, That whosoever is elected into this Society, should be in Degree at least a Knight; that is, actually Knighted before-hand. And tho’ the Lord Roos was, at the Time of his Election a Baron of this Realm, which is a higher degree of Honour than a Knight; The Sovereign after Mass re-assembled the Knights-Companions, and annulled the Election, and commanded the Garter and George, so lately conferred, to be taken off, and in the same Place dubbed him a Knight; and then he was Elected again, with an unanimous Consent, and so declared by the Sovereign’s own Mouth; and was restored to his Ensigns and Ornaments, by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk. Agreeable to this, it’s recorded in the Red Book of the Order; that none of the English, Scotch, or Welsh Nation, how considerable soever otherwise, in the Prerogative of Blood or Virtue, can be Elected into this most honourable Society; but that he ought to be first ennobled and rendered capable, by this first degree of Knightly Honour.
But this Law does not bind Foreign Princes; for by a Decree at White-Hall, in 13 Charles I. these Words, ut minimum, are explained to relate to all Subjects, of what Degree soever, within the Sovereign’s Dominions; but Foreign Princes ought not to be Knighted, as the Basis and first Degree of Chivalry. The Statutes of Institution, as to those before-mentioned, not only enjoyn them to be Knights, but to be free of all Infamy and Reproach. In Henry V’s. Statutes, it stands, Chivalier sans reproche, which Answers in the Latin, Eques irreprehensus; and the Argument used by the Duke of Bedford, for promoting the Election of Sir John Radcliff, was, that he had continued and exercised the Armies, the space of twenty eight Years, without Reproach. King Henry VIII. determined this Word Reproach into three Species; first, when a Knight hath been convicted of Heresy, against the Catholick Faith; or suffered any publick Punishment for such Offence: Here Heresy is reckoned among those defects, that deprive Men of Honour; because it bends its Force against the Catholick Church, which not only renders a Man, in the ballance of Honour, of no Weight and Esteem, but more than all other Sins, makes him Infamous. And therefore when by Tongue, Pen, or Actions, a Man endeavours to trample under Foot the sacred Law, he scandalizeth Government, and seduceth others.
The second Point is, when any Knight hath been arraigned, convicted, and attainted of Treason; however Q. Elizabeth qualified this Point by a Decree, made in the first Year of her Reign; that in case any Persons so convicted, were pardoned by the Sovereign, and restored in Blood; every such Gentleman in Name, Arms, and Blood, and descended as aforesaid, being otherwise qualified, according to the ancient Statutes of the Order, should be thenceforth accounted Eligible, and might be Chosen a Companion. This Decree, it’s presumed, owes its Original, upon the occasion of restoring in Blood William Marquiss of Northampton, and the Lord Robert Dudley, after Earl of Leicester, who had been attainted of High Treason in the first of Q. Mary: And we find that in the next Feast of St. George, they recovered their Privileges of Honour, and were preferred in Nomination, and on the last Day of the Feast, were Elected into this most illustrious Society.
Though the Marquess of Northampton had been formerly Elected in the 35 H. 8. and was restored in Blood, as I said before; it’s very remarkable, that it was thought fit to descend to a new Nomination and Election, as appears from the Decree it self, as it was performed upon the third of June Anno primo Eliz.
The last Point of Reproach, is, where a Knight Companion hath fled from Battle; in which the Sovereign, or his Lieutenant, or other Captain, (having the King’s Authority) were present; when Banners were displayed, and both Sides proceed to Fight. Now for a Person to behave himself cowardly in the Fight, abandon his Colours, leave his Prince, Friends, and Companions, in hazard of Life, are undoubtedly Concerns of a very high and reproachful Nature, and draw down Dishonour upon the Order, the Sovereign, and Knights Companions, and a sufficient indication of a pusilanimous Mind; that prefers to drag an infamous Life, and makes his Honour a Sacrifice to a reproachful Safety; for the Resolution of a right Martial Spirit, ought either to return decked with Victory, or die upon the Bed of Honour.
By the Laws of King Edward the Confessor, the Soldier that runs from his Colours, either in Land or Sea Service, his Life and Estate were made liable to answer the Offence; and our Acts of Parliaments have made it Felony, without Benefit of Clergy; for as much as such desertion endangers the Estate of the King, Nobility, and Commonwealth.
But the danger is of a far more dismal hue, when Officers, or he that Commands in Chief, or who has any Post of Trust assigned him, either quit it, or is found defective in his Duty, as was Thomas Earl of Lancaster, who quitted the Army at the Siege of Berwick, the consequence of which proved an abortion to the whole Design; and for which he was proclaimed Traytor, Anno 12 E. 2. And therefore whoever is culpable of any of these three Points of Reproach, is disqualified from being Elected into this most noble Order. Before we proceed any farther, it may not be improper to take notice of an Error which Polydore Virgil hath interwove with one, and which Erhardus Celius, in his History of England, hath copyed from that Author, but refuted by the learned Pen of Dr. Heylein, viz. that the Knights-Companions have certain Laws belonging to their Order, whereby they are obliged to help one another, and in Time of Battle never to betake themselves to shameful Flight: The Statute Law of the Order is silent upon the first Clause, nor is the latter otherwise to be taken, than one of those Points of Reproach spoke of in the second Statute of K. Henry VIII. which nulls the Election of the Person nominated, if he be peccant in that Point: Now that which gives some Umbrage to the Knights mutual Assistance and Defence, is founded upon an Article in their Statutes, which prohibits the arming themselves one against another, to create a mutual Affection, and to extinguish Feuds, which is the Life and Soul of Society, and which the Founder, to prevent Inconveniencies, had a great Regard to; and therefore he Ordained, which has been confirmed since by other Statutes; That none of the Knights-Companions should Arm themselves against any of their Fellows, unless either in the Cause of his Sovereign, or his own just Quarrel: And this Clause it was, that gave the Handle to both Parties, that sided with the Houses of York and Lancaster; some firmly adhering to Henry VI. whom they accounted Sovereign of the Order; and others taking Part with Edward IV. as esteeming him Sovereign de Jure, though not de Facto.
But more firmly to tye this Knot of Amity among this noble Fraternity, least they should unhappily engage in Factions one against another, and proceed so violently as might commence into Actions of Blood and Slaughter; it was ordained, That if a Knight-Companion should happen to be retained in the Service of a Foreign Prince, to take up Arms in his Quarrel; and after his Adversary desired to entertain another Knight-Companion on his Side also; he that was last invited, was bound to wave this Offer, and in no wise to give his Consent. And upon this, the Knights-Companions were obliged to make special Precautions in that their Engagements; that if any of his Fellows were retained on the other Side, and that if he knew not that another of his Fellows had been engaged with the Adversary, so soon as it came to his Knowlege, he was obliged to relinquish the Service he before had undertaken.
To these three Points of Reproach we have set down, we find in a Manuscript, that belonged to Heny Grey, third Marquiss of Suffolk, a fourth added to these other three Points of Reproach; in these Words:
That if any Knight of the Order, from henceforth, by Prodigality or Ryot, wilfully or negligently, Dispend, Sell, Aliens, or do away his Patrimony or Livelihood, by reason whereof, he shall not be able honourably to maintain himself, and his Estate, in such honourable manner, as may Conserve the honour of the said Order, and of himself; in this Case he shall be Summoned by the Usher of Arms of the Order, called the black Rod, by Commandment of the Soveraign, his Lieutenant, or Deputy; to appear before his Majesty, or his Commissioners, and the Knights of the Order, at the next Chapter ensuing; there to be examined before the Soveraign, or his said Commissioners, and the Knights and Companions of the said Order; and if he be found in such great default of Prodigality, insolent Riot, or wilful Negligence; that then the Soveraign, with the advice of the Company of the said Order may deprive and degrade him of the said Order, at the said Chapter, if it be their Pleasure.
Though this fourth Point is not inserted into King Henry VIII’s Statutes, yet the Substance thereof seems to be approved of before; for we find among some Orders, prepared by the Marquiss of Exeter, and other Knights-Companions, at a Chapter at Windsor, the twenty fifth and twenty sixth Days of May, Anno 8 Henry VIII. one of them was something to this Purpose.
§. 13. Amongst the Number of these Candidates, the Sovereign is chiefly to regard those who have most Voices, or whom he conceives most requisite to contribute to the Honour of the Garter, and most Beneficial to himself, and of most Advantage to his Crown and Kingdom. We find the Law hath not always reserved the greatest Number of Voices, as will appear from the Annals; yet it has sometimes confirmed the Election, as in the Case of the Duke of Queenberry An. 5 Henry VI. where, after a due and sufficient Examination taken of the Scrutiny, the Duke, by the consent of most Voices, was Elected into the Stall of Thomas Duke of Exeter; and so was the Election of Sir Nicholas Carew, the twenty fourth of April, in the 28 Henry VIII.
It is remarkable in a singular Instance, that when two Knights had on either Side equal Voices; which was the Case of Sir John Fastolf, and Sir John Radcliff; the first being esteemed more Worthy, by the Sovereign’s Lieutenant, obtained the Election.
The second Inducement relates to such as, in all Appearance, may bring most Renown to the Order, and advance it to a higher pitch of Greatness; and these have in a great Measure been effected, by enrolling Foreign Princes into this illustrious Society, whose Valour and great Merit have proclaimed them deserving both of Nomination and Election. And upon this Consideration, K. Charles I. of blessed Memory, upon Consideration had of the glorious Atchievements, and high Renown, of Gustavus Adolphus King of Sweden; judged it a Part of his Respect, not only to render him all Offices of Kindness and Friendship, as to a Prince nearly allied, and his most special Friend; but also to impart to him, as far as in him lay, the greatest and highest Honour that might be, and especially such, wherewith the military Virtue of so great a Captain was wont to be adorned.
But the principal Motive thought requisite to Elect Foreign Princes into this Society of Honour, hath been expressed in the Commissions of Legations, to be in Respect of their glorious Merits, ennobled by the lustre and grace of their Heroick Virtues, their eminent Nobleness, Grandeur, Prowess, and Magnificence; the renown of which, Fame had divulged and spread Abroad throughout the World.
Where the Advantage of the Sovereign’s Service was thrown into the Ballance, no Consideration could outvie its Pretensions, as in 2 H. 6. justifies; whose eminent Service for his King and Country, was the sole Motive that crowned his Election: And the great Zeal and Affection, which John Jaspar Ferdinand de Marchin shewed for the Cause and Service, and the recovery of the just Rights of King Charles II. was the strongest Inducement that swayed that Sovereign to chuse him, in the tenth Year of his Reign, a Knight-Companion of this most noble Order. But the last inducement is of the greatest Latitude, for the Sovereign has a Power to reject whosoever he pleases, though they do exceed in multiplicity of Voices, and in other Qualifications; and even to Elect a Person that’s but once mentioned, as was shewn in the Person of Casimire, the fourth King of Poland, An. 28 Henry VI. who having only the single Vote of the Lord Scales; yet upon respect to the Sovereign, how advantageous he might be for his, and his Kingdom’s Interest, obtained the Election.
And of later Date, (as the Preambles for the carrying the Ensigns to Foreign Princes set forth) the Advantages the Sovereign has conceived to possess himself of, in the improving, confirming, and establishing, of a most strict and inviolable Bond of Friendship, and fair Correspondence, between him and Foreign Princes, their Realms and Subjects, hath been a grand Inducement to Elect such Princes into this most noble Order.
§ 14. Upon the vacancy of any of the Knights-Companions Stalls, the Election of others to supply those, is a Prerogative of the Sovereign, and in some Cases to his Lieutenant; for it’s recorded in the Black Book of the Order, in Henry VIII’s Statutes: That if any Stalls fall Vacant, it should belong to the Sovereign, to Elect new Knights, wheresoever he was Resident; upon Condition, the Chapter consisted of six compleat Knights-Companions; but if he chanced to be out of his Realms, and the Number was deficient, and that his Lieutenant held the Feast of St. George at Windsor; in such a Case the Election belongs to the Lieutenant, who is first to be certified of his Sovereign’s Pleasure, and what Esteem he has for the Candidates, to the intent such Information may guide, or direct his Election.
This Power of Election is fully acknowledged, by the Knights-Companions themselves, to be in the Sovereign; as the fragment of a Letter demonstrates, sent from the Chapter, convened at Windsor, upon the Feast of St. George, to Henry V. then in France; viz. That the Sovereign, in what Place soever residing, may, as is most fitting, Elect into a vacant Stall, (there being a sufficient Number of Knights called to this Election) such as he shall judge serviceable to his Crown, or do exceed others in deserts, and nobleness of descent: And at publishing the Election of Duke Emanuel of Savoy, in the Reign of Philip and Mary, who were joint Sovereigns of the Order; it’s styled, The Election of the King and the Queen.
This grand Prerogative of the Sovereign being not duly weighed by Polydore Virgil, occasioned his tripping in this Affair, and drew in Claudius Coteræus into the same palpable mistake; for writing of this Order, and the Succession of new Knights, reports in his History of England, That one Knight is received in the room of another deceased, by the Choice and Election of all the rest; and Erhard Celly in his Anglo-Wirtemb. does as falsely affirm, That no Person may be received into this Order, not so much as by the Sovereign, unless with the common Consent and Suffrage of all the Knights-Companions.
But these Passages are altogether erroneous, the Knights-Companions only nominate the Persons, but the right of Election remains solely in the Sovereign of the Order; for whosoever is honoured with his Choice, is immediately admitted; and pronouncing barely the Name of the Person in Chapter, constitutes the Election. After the Scrutiny hath been taken, and presented to the Sovereign, he peruseth it himself, or the Chancellor, or some other Officer of the Order that gathered it, reads it over to him; afterwards the Sovereign resolves forthwith, upon some one or more of the Knights, contained in the Scrutiny; and then publickly declareth the Name of him, or them, he does Elect; and by the bare Act of his Pronunciation, they Commence Elected Knights; except now and then the Sovereign is pleased to give his Reasons, why the Knight is Elected by him.
But though this Act of Election be solely in the Sovereign, yet the Consent of the Knights-Companions is frequently recorded in the Annals, and sometimes mentioned in the Commissions of Legations to Foreign Princes; not that the single Act of Election is, in truth, the Act of the whole Chapter, or is made invalid, without the joynt Consent of the Knights-Companions, present at the Election; but their Consent so expressed, is to be taken as an honorary Respect given them by the Register, intimating rather an Applause, or Commendation of their Sovereign’s Choice, as being in their Opinions Just and Right, according to the Merit of the Elected, than a material Circumstance, tending to the Ratification of the Election made by the Sovereign, as if defective without it.
§. 15. Among other Duties incumbent on the Register, and expressed in the Statutes of the Order, this is one: That the Register’s Office is to set down, and record for a Memorial, the Elections (or Scrutinies,) and Names of the Knights Elected: But in succeeding Times a Scruple arose, if this was not needless, when the Scrutiny should be taken, yet no Election made; to clear up which doubt, in a Chapter held in 5 Elizabeth, on St. George’s-Day, it’s recorded as the Sovereign’s Will and Pleasure, that thenceforward it should be Enacted, and received as the Sanction of a Law, within this Order; That if any Nominations were taken from the Knights-Companions, the same should be entered into the Annals, though there were no Election made of any Person into the Order at that Time: Which we presume was so Decreed, out of great deference to those Princes and noble Personages, who, in descending Times, should, by the glory of their Exploits, appear but worthy of a bare Nomination into so resplendent and illustrious an Order. And in pursuance of this Decree, there is frequent mention made of the delivery of the Scrutiny into the Hands of the Register, in order to be Recorded.
The Blue Book says, Anno 22 Elizabeth; That the Chancellor himself delivered the Knights-Companions Votes to the Register, to be committed to Writing, for a perpetual Memorial; and accordingly the Register, as his Duty obliged him, transcribed them, and put them in their proper Place, with all Care and Fidelity. Anno 34 of the same Queen, ’tis said, the Votes were delivered to the Register, who took care to Record them, according to usual Order. Yet maugre this Law, the Entry of Scrutinies hath been sometimes omitted, either by the Register’s forgetfulness of the Decree, or some accidental Miscarriages. In some Places of the Annals, in the room of Scrutinies, we find Excuses entered, as it’s said, Anno 28 Elizabeth; that the Prelate, immediately after Vespers, presented the Scrutiny to the Sovereign; but because there was no Election made of any new Knights, in regard of hurry, or weighty and pressing Affairs, it was laid aside, and through Neglect lost, or at least came not into the Register’s Hands, to be inserted in its proper Place. And when the Dean of Windsor collected the Scrutiny at Vespers, Anno 18 Elizabeth, it’s said, No Election was made, nor any thing else done: The like Excuse is made, Anno 5 Charles I. but the Fault is thrown upon the Chancellor; for though the Scrutiny had been taken by him, during the Vespers of the Feast-Day, yet would he not suffer it to be entered. In some Places we find, Anno 31 Elizabeth, the Votes being presented, they were left with her. And Anno 11 Charles I. the Scrutiny of Algernoon Earl of Northumberland never came to the Register’s Hands.
But the Law yet remains in force, that all Nominations and Votes of the Knights-Companions ought to be enter’d among the Annals, whether Election be made or not, unless it shall please the Sovereign, upon some Emergency, to forbid it: As appears but by one Example of such a Prohibition, viz. Anno 40 Eliz. where, by the Queen’s special Command, the Scrutiny then taken was not recorded among the Acts of this most Noble Order. But then it is declared, That the Register took care to set down all the Passages as they happened, the Names only excepted. And why the Scrutiny is not inserted in the Registry, An. 44 of Eliz. gives this Account: That upon assembling the Knights-Companions, it seemed good to the Sovereign, for several urgent Reasons, best known to her self, to give Commandment, That for that time, they would wholly forbear all Scrutiny of Votes, and Nominations of Persons; except which, there was nothing wanting to heighten the Solemnity of that Assembly: But this in the Annals is said to be præter morem, contrary to the usual Custom.
§ 16. Anno 27 of Eliz. there is a remarkable Occurrence, not to be passed over; for the Earls of Rutland and Derby, the morrow after St. George’s Day, were desirous to have seen the Scrutiny, which was committed into the Custody of the Dean of Windsor, to be registred, in pursuance of the before-mentioned Decree, Anno 5 Eliz. but he returned a modest denial, and said, It ought not to be seen before it was register’d. The Earls, not satisfied with this Answer, requested the Opinions of the Knights-Companions, present at the Feast, on this Affair; who, upon mature Deliberation, adjudged the Point against them; and since it has been a standing Rule, that no Knight-Companion ought to see whom the other hath named.
§ 17. It hath chanced, that tho’ the Nominations for Election have been received, presented and perused, yet the Sovereign hath thought expedient to defer it, upon several Considerations, and principally where an intent was to keep an open Stall; but we must understand this of such Scrutinies as are taken of Course, at the Vespers on the Feast-day.
And the most memorable Example of this Kind, is that of the Emperor Sigismond, who expired in the 16th Year of K. Henry VI. whose Stall was reserved Twenty One Years, and then determined, that Prince Edward, the Sovereign’s only Son, should fill it up, being at that time about Six Years of Age. This is the first Emperor, whose Election we find register’d in the Annals, being about the 7th of May, in the 4th Year of Henry V. styled Sigismundus Imperator Almanicus.
And keeping a vacant Stall was sometimes given as a Reason by the Sovereign for his deferring an Election, as is plain from An. 13. Car. I. when the Scrutiny taken the Day before was read over in the Chapter-House, the Sovereign declared, That he would receive no Man into the Order before his Son Charles. Whereupon all the Knights-Companions gave their Opinions, That this Resolution was rather the effect of Justice, than Fatherly Indulgence; since they all acknowledged him, to be more a Prince by Merit, and towardliness of his Youth, than by the Fortune of his Birth. At which the Sovereign expressed his Satisfaction no otherwise than by Silence.
And in like manner, Anno 15 Charles I. when the Chancellor of the Order gave up the Scrutiny to the Sovereign, he declared——That he had a purpose to have Chosen Prince Rupert, his Nephew, a Knight of the Order; but being then a Prisoner with the Emperor, he would not Elect any at that Time; whereupon, a vacancy of a Stall was reserved. It has sometimes been the Sovereign’s Pleasure to defer Elections, without expressing the Cause, as in the 13 of Elizabeth; though she perused the Scrutiny in Chapter, yet the Blue Book informs us; That the said Sovereign made no Election, though two Stalls were vacant. Thus was it in the 2, 3, 11, and 12, of K. James I. where no other mention is made than this; none were admitted into the Order this Year.
Sometimes we find these Prorogations of Elections recorded, as solely done by the Will of the Sovereign; and at other Times by the Sovereign, and the approbation of the Knights-Companions; to the first of these we find a Memorial, in the 22 of Elizabeth, on the 24 of April; that the Knights-Companions had a Message sent to their Chapter, held before Morning-Prayer; That it was the Pleasure of the Sovereign to prorogue the Election to the following Year. And so it was, in the 10th of Charles I. though the Nomination was taken by the Chancellor, and presented to the Sovereign in Chapter, the Sovereign did not think fit to make any Election at all. And for a Testimony of the second, we meet with this Instance, in the 27th of Elizabeth; that with the concurrent Approbation and Assent of all the Knights-Companions then assisting, the Sovereign thought fit to put off the Election to another Time. As to the seeming difference of the Sovereign’s absolute Authority, and yet the Knights-Companions Approbation, we have cleared up that Point in the Act of Election; for though it is his unquestionable Authority and Prerogative, to Prorogue Elections ad libitum, yet out of Respect, and Honour to the Knights-Companions, their Approbation hath been sometimes exprest.
§ 18. When any Knight-Companion hath received a Summons, to appear at a Chapter of Election, and doth wilfully refuse, or withdraw himself, he was to be mulct a Mark for his Disobedience, which King Henry VIII’s Statutes inlarged to twenty Shillings, payable to the Dean and College of Windsor, to pray for defunct Souls. And at his next appearance in Chapter, he was to remain kneeling in the midst of them, before the Sovereign, or Deputy, till he was restor’d to their Favour: Yet upon a just Cause signified to the Sovereign some time before, under the Seal of his Arms, he was excused, if it was found just and feasible; if not, it was rejected, and he remained Punishable.
And for greater Caution, this Clause was formerly inserted, in the Letters of Summons; where, after the Time and Place for Election was certified, and command given to observe both, the Letter concludes thus, et se estre ny poues nous Signifies soubz, &c. and if it cannot be accomplished, that is, if the Knight-Companion could not meet at the time assigned, to perform what the Statutes oblige, he should then signify to the Sovereign, under his Seal, the cause of his Impediment; so that he might perceive by his Excuse, whether it was worthy of Acceptance, or he in Fault or not.