136 
AN ACCOUNT OF 
1783- ferior natives flocked round to look at the Bone, and ap~ 
NOVEMBER* 
peared highly pleafed to fee his arm adorned with it, calling 
him Eng lees Rupack. 
Thofe who may have been witneffes of the confer¬ 
ring the more fplendid orders of diflin 6 lion, bellowed by 
fovereigns of powerful and poliffied kingdoms, where the 
Gothic hall is decorated with waving banners—where mi¬ 
tred prelates affifl the ceremony—where the pomp of re¬ 
gal flate impofes on the fenfe—and the blaze of fuperb or¬ 
naments, beaming from female beauty, gracing the cere¬ 
mony, overpowers the fpe£lator with a vafl difplay of magni¬ 
ficence—fuch may, with a fmile of contumely read the 
conceptions of thefe children of nature, or be difpofed 
to ridicule the iimplicity with which the unadorned na¬ 
tives of Pelew hold a chapter of their highefl Order 
of the Bone . But it will be recolledled, that the objedi 
and the end are every where the fame.-—This mark of 
diftindlion is given and received in thofe regions as a reward 
of valour and fidelity, and held out as the prize of merit* 
•—In this light fuch public honours were originally confi- 
dered, and flill ought to be fo, in every flate, from Pelew 
to Britain. —And while they continue to be thus regarded, 
they will operate on the human paffions, excite emulation* 
infpire courage, promote virtue, and challenge refpe< 5 t.—» 
The decoration indeed derives all its fplendor from the ' 
combined ideas of the mind whilft viewing it ; and the 
imagination 
