806 KNI GH 
concerning or alluding to it. This, however, is but a 
negative proof; and, although it weighs heavy in the 
fcale of credibility againft the authenticity of the anec¬ 
dote, does not entirely deftroy its probability. 
Another tradition, “of the fame fpinning with the 
former,” fays Afhmole, is no lefs uncertain. We read it 
in Duckefne's Hijloire generate d'Angieterre, d'EcoJfe, et d'lr- 
lande ; where he fays, that, the queen being departed from 
king Edward’s prefence to her own apartments, he, fol¬ 
lowing her foon after, happened to fpy a blue garter lying 
on the ground ; he had it picked up, and brought to him, 
faying; “You make but l'mall account of this garter, 
but within a few months I will caufe the belt of you all to 
reverence the like.” He adds, that the motto is the anfwer 
of the queen, when the king afked her what men would 
think of her, upon lofing her garter in this manner. It 
is clear that this relation is Hill lefs authentic, and not fo 
probable as the other. 
The third opinion is grounded upon a report, that, 
in choofing the garter for the enfign of the order he 
was inftituting, king Edward III. had in view what 
had been faid of Richard I. “ that, while his forces were 
employed againft Cyprus and Aeon, he, by the affift- 
ance and mediation of St. George, was infpired with 
freffi courage, and bethought himfelf of a new device, 
which was to tie about the legs of a chofen number of 
knights a leathern thong, or gai ter, whereby, being put 
in mind of the future glory that fhould accrue to them, 
with afturance of worthy reward if they overcame, they 
might be roufed up to the behaving themfelves ltoutly 
and gallantly in the wars.” This furely was not unwor¬ 
thy of the attention of king Edward : but, in this cafe, 
what becomes of the motto? What can it mean ? In¬ 
deed we muft, to arrive at fomething like truth, join to¬ 
gether two t'aCts which feerh moft probable. Selden affirms 
that this order was railed chiefly out of the Round Table of 
that time ; and we doubt not but Edward, who celebrated 
the fealt of that order annually at Whitfuntide, finding 
that it did not lufficiently bind the knights to him, con¬ 
ceived the plan of the Garter, and founded it according 
to his idea of religion and honour ; and that, happening, 
probably about the fame time, to pick up the garter of a 
favourite lady, without any objectionable meaning, he af- 
fumed this fort of band to become the enfign of the order; 
for there is fo much fenfe contained in the few words of 
the motto, that it is impolfible to apply them to any thing 
but fome gallant aCtion of the king towards a beloved wo¬ 
man. Betides we cannot feel any repugnancy at admit¬ 
ting fuch origin to a military fraternity, when we know 
that the general cry de guerre was, amongft the knights of all 
orders, Dieu et les dames, “ God and the ladies.” 
2. The precife Time when the Order was injlituted. Rely¬ 
ing entirely upon the authority of fir John Froiflart, who 
wrote his Chronicles in the reign of Richard II. our molt 
learned Selden aflerts, as a decided point, that this order 
took its origin in the i8th year of king Edward’s reign. 
But feveral of great refpeftability, as Lilly, Speed, Segar, 
■and Stow, aver, that the fealt of the order was celebrated 
for the firft time in the year 1350, which correi'ponds with 
the 24th year of king Edward III. 
By infpeCting the Rolls of the great wardrobe of the 
king, we find, in the accounts which run from Michael¬ 
mas, anno 21 Ed. III. to the 31ft of January in the twen¬ 
ty-third year of the fame king, feveral articles of drefs 
and furniture of blue taffetas embroidered with garters, 
and the motto; from which circumftance we may fafely 
conclude that the order was not inftituted in the 18th year 
of the founder’s-reign, but between the 22d and 23d year, 
fince it was within that fpace of time that his robes of ce¬ 
remony to celebrate the feaft were made. In fine, to put 
this queftion at reft, it is proper to mention, that the 
founder’s ftatutes fix the time of the inftitution to his 23d 
year ; fo do the ftatutes of Henry V. and the preface to 
the Black Book; and the fame alfo is attefted by Leland, 
and affirmed by Mills and Dr. Heylin, 
F H O O D. 
When the king had refolved upon the day and place 
for keeping the firft grand feaft of this moft noble order, 
which he defigned to exhibit with as much fplendour as 
could be imagined, he fent his heralds into Germany, 
France, Scotland, Burgundy, Hainault, Flanders, and Bra¬ 
bant, “to invite all knights and efquires who were willing 
to meet at that grand lolemnity, (with afturance to every 
one of fafe-conduCt and liberty for fifteen days both be¬ 
fore and after the fame,) in order to (how their military 
valour and prowefs in all kind of martial feats and other 
public exercifes, there to be held, proper to the place and 
occafion.” In compliance with this invitation from fo 
brave and illuftrious a monarch, a great number of 
knights, all men of high renown in the lifts and hafti- 
ludes, arrived from all parts; and the fplendour was con- 
fiderably increafed by the prefence of the queen, who was 
attended with three hundred of the faireft ladies of the 
realm, adorned with the utraoft gallantry and elegance. 
3. Of the Patrons of the Order. It was a general cuftorrt 
in ancient times, as it has been fince, to place a newly- 
created order under the guardianfhip and prote&ion of 
fome particular faints. Edward III. devoted this knightly 
eftablifhment, Firft, to God, as the origin of all things ; 
a cuftom which was held even by the Pagans : Ab Jove 
principium. Secondly, to the Virgin Mary, for whom, as 
well as Henry IV. he had a moft tender devotion. Thirdly, 
to St. George of Cappadocia ; “ not fo much,” fays Afli- 
mole, “ becaufe in his life he was a candidate of the Chrif- 
tian faith, or for that he was an armed foldier or knight 
of Chrift; but much more becaufe he lhovved his prefence 
in feveral vifions, and thereby excited the courage of the 
armies againft the infidels.” It is alfo reported by Du- 
chefne, “ chat it was by the fpecial invocation of St. George, 
that king Edward III. gained the battle of Creffy.” Such 
were the reports of the time, and no wonder that fuch 
marvellous relations have prompted feveral princes to place 
the orders which they eftabliihed under the immediate 
protection of St. George. Fourthly, to a faint whofe name 
the founder himfelf bore; we mean St. Edward the Confef- 
for. Thomas Walfingham, in his Hiltory, reports, that, at a 
Ikirmiffi near Calais, anno 1349, king Edward, in great 
heat of anger and grief, drew his fword and moft paffi- 
onately cried out: “Ha! St. Edward ; Ha! St. George;” 
which his foldiers hearing, ran unto him, and, ruffling vio¬ 
lently upon the enemy, put many of them to the fword. 
The charter of the foundation of Windfor-college, grant¬ 
ed by Edward III. begins as follows : In konorem omnipotent 
iis Dei, et fua genilricis Maria Virgiriis gloriofa, Sandorumqve 
Georgii Martyris et Edwardi ConfeJJoris, nojlris regiis fumptibus 
fecimus, ( 3 c. “In honour of Almighty God, of his glorious 
mother the Virgin Mary, and of the faints George the 
Martyr and Edward the Confeffor ; at our royal expenfes, 
we, &c. &c.” 
4. The Honour and Reputation of this Order. When we 
confider the fplendour with which it began at its dawn, as 
we have mentioned above, we are inclined to fuppofe that 
the order entered at once its meridian. The great refpeCt 
that all Europe entertained for the founder, the wifdoni 
which appeared though all the articles of the ftatutes, the 
ftriCtnefs with which they were conftantly adhered to, 
have unitedly contributed to the high repute the order ob¬ 
tained, and haspreferved to our days; for we may fafely fay, 
with Selden, that “ it exceeds, in majelty, honour, and 
fame, all chivalrous orders in the world.” And Afhmole 
obierves, that he finds upon this regiltry of honour eight 
emperors of Germany, three kings of Spain, five French 
kings, two kings of Scotland, five kings of Denmark, five 
kings of Portugal, two kings of Sweden, one king of Po¬ 
land, one king of Arragon, and two kings of Naples; in 
all thirty-four crowned heads, in the fpace of about three 
hundred years. 
We ffiall not enter into a minute defeription of the fta¬ 
tutes ; thofe of our readers who may be defirous of feeing 
thefe matters inveftigated fully and with great learning, 
may be referred to Alhtnole’s Hiltory of the moft noble 
j Order 
