to be taken by a Knight-Subject, was very short, but comprehensive:
_That he should well and faithfully observe, to the utmost of his
Power, all the Statutes of the Order_; and this was all the Oath taken
by the first Founders, and to which they also affixed their Seals; and
so it continued without alteration or addition, till towards the End of
King _Edward_ IV’s Reign; and then, at a Chapter held at the King’s
Wardrobe in _London_, it was decreed, That all the Knights-Companions
then alive, and all such as should afterwards be admitted into the
Order, should be obliged to subjoin the Words following: _That they
wou’d aid, support, and defend, with all their Power_, the Royal
College of St. _George_, within the Castle of _Windsor_, _as well in
its Possessions, as all other things whatsoever_; which being drawn in
form, was enter’d in the Black Book; but has since receiv’d many
alterations: And there is an instance, 1 _Eliz._ when the Oath has been
dispensed with; as by the Duke of _Norfolk_, and others, in regard the
Rites and Ceremonies of Religion were then altered, and no new form of
an Oath settled, so that they only obliged themselves by Promise to
observe such Statutes and Orders as should be decreed in the next
Council of the Order, which was soon after settled, and recorded in the
Red Book of the Order, and is the Oath taken by a Knight-Subject at
this Day.
_You being Chosen to be one of the Honourable Company of this most
Noble Order of the Garter, shall Promise and Swear, by the Holy
Evangelists, by you here touched, that, wittingly or willingly, you
shall not break any Statute of the said Order, or any Articles in them
contained; the same being agreeable, and not repugnant to the Laws of
Almighty God, and the Laws of this Realm, as far forth as to you
belongeth and appertaineth: So help you God, and this Holy Word._
As soon as the Knight elect hath taken the Oath, he is led to his
appointed Stall, through the Entrance next beneath it, and there placed
before it. In the Interim, Garter advancing into the lower row of
Stalls, to the Place where the elect Knight stood when he took the
Oath, presents from thence the Mantle, Collar, and Book of Statutes, to
those who led him, who invest the Knight elect first with the Mantle,
by putting it on his Shoulders. There are some Examples where the elect
Knight hath been invested before he went up to his Stall, as in the
case of the Earl of _Northumberland_, 5 _Eliz._ _Francis_, Duke _de
Montmorency_, and others, 14 _Eliz._ the Earls of _Dunbar_ and
_Montgomery_, 6 _Jac._ I. and the Prince of _Wales_, 14 _Car._ I. among
which may be numbered those installed at the Grand Feast of St.
_George_, 13 _Car._ II. but this happen’d through a vast Concourse of
People in the Chapel, that prevented the due Order.
In the Red Book it is observed, that the Investiture with the Mantle
and Collar, hath been sometimes performed by the Black Rod; as at the
Installation of the Earl of _Northampton_, 5 _Car._ I. the Lord
Treasurer _Weston_, the Earls of _Exeter_ and _Lindsey_, and the
Marquiss of _Hamilton_, 6 _Car._ I. Nevertheless, this is to be
understood as this Officers Assistance to the Knights-Companions, whose
Office it only is, and no otherwise. Whilst the Ceremony of Investiture
with the Mantle is performing, the Words of Admonition proper thereto,
are pronounced as follows.
_Take this Mantle of Heavenly Colours, in Sign and Token of the most
Honourable Order you have receiv’d, and to the increase of your Honour,
signed and marked as you see, with a red Escutcheon of our Lord’s
Cross, to the intent that you, being always defended by the Virtue and
Strength thereof, may pass through your Enemies, and them also overcome
and vanquish, so that at the last, for your worthy and approved Acts,
you may, after this Temporal Chivalry, come to Eternal Triumphant Joys
in Heaven._
But at the Installation of King _Charles_ II. they receiv’d some
alteration, and were put in the following Form.
_Receive this Robe of Heavenly Colour, the Livery of this most
excellent Order, in augmentation of thy Honour, enobled with the Shield
and Red Cross of our Lord, by whose Power thou may’st safely pierce
Troops of thy Enemies, and be over them ever Victorious; and being in
this temporal Warfare Glorious in egregious and heroick Actions, thou
may’st obtain Eternal and Triumphant Joy._
Next, the Commissioners, Assistants, or Knights-Companions, lay the
Hood on the Knight’s right Shoulder over the Mantle, and bringing the
Tippet athwart his Breast, tuck it under the Girdle, at which his Sword
hangs: And lastly tye the Collar about his Shoulder, over his Mantle
and Hood; and at this part of the Investiture, the following Words of
Admonition are likewise pronounced.
_To the encrease of your Honour, and in Token of the Honourable Order
you have receiv’d; take this Collar about your Neck, with the Image of
the Holy Martyr, and Christ’s Knight, St._ George, _by whose aid you
being defended, may pass through the Prosperities and Adversities of
this World, that having here the Victory, as well of your Ghostly as
Bodily Enemies, you may not only receive the Glory and Renown of
Temporal Chivalry, but also at the last, the endless and everlasting
reward of Victory._
This Form of Words receiv’d likewise alteration when King _Charles_ II.
was to be installed, to the Tenor following.
_Wear this Collar about thy Neck, adorn’d with the Image of the Blessed
Martyr and Soldier of Christ, St._ George, _by whose Imitation
provoked, thou may’st so overpass both prosperous and adverse
Encounters, that having stoutly vanquished thy Enemies, both of Body
and Soul, thou may’st not only receive the Praise of this transient
Combat, but be Crowned with the Palm of eternal Victory._
Antiently at the Solemnity of Installation, when the Sovereign, or his
Lieutenant was present, the elect Knight, after he had been invested
with the Mantle in his Stall, was immediately conducted out of the
Choir, back to the Chapter-House, where the Sovereign, or Lieutenant,
used to remain till his return, there to receive the Collar of the
Order from one of them, which done, he is said to have receiv’d the
entire Possession of his Habit. This is contained in King _Henry_
VIII’s Statutes, and appears to have been the Practice about that Time,
as in the case of the Lord _Mountjoy_, and others, 18 _Hen._ VIII. and
several others after, in the 1 and 3 _Edw._ VI. and the 3, 5, and 14
_Eliz._ The Proceeding back to the Chapter-House on this occasion, was
much after the manner of what is before mention’d, except, that here
the new installed Knight took his Place according to the Dignity of his
Stall. But ’tis observable, that when the Sovereign’s Lieutenant
remained in the Chapter-House, while the elect Knight proceeded to his
Installation, the Usher of the Black-Rod stayed behind to attend the
Lieutenant; and as soon as the Investiture with the Collar was over,
the Lieutenant proceeded to the Choir in the Rear, and the new
installed Knight in Place according to his Stall, as in the case of the
Lord _Russel_, and others, 31 _Hen._ VIII. and the Marquiss of
_Dorset_, and others, 1 _Edw._ VI. The Proceeding having entered the
Choir, and the Lieutenant and Knights-Companions taken their Seats,
then the usual Ceremonies, the Service of the Church began.
But when the Installation was performed by Commissioners, the Collar of
the Order was laid on the Cushion with the Mantle, and born before the
elect Knight to his Stall, where, after his Investiture with the Mantle
and Hood, he receiv’d Investiture with the Collar also, of which there
are several Examples in the time of _Phil._ and _Mar._ and Queen
_Eliz._ In like manner, at all Installations since, where the Sovereign
has been present, the ancient custom of returning to the Chapter-House
being laid aside, the Knights-Companions, who led the elect Knights to
their Stalls, did there invest them with their Collars also; as the
Earl of _Rutland_, Sir _George Villars_, and the Viscount _Lisle_, 14
_Jac._ I. and the Earl of _Suffolk_, 4 _Car._ I. and hath been thus
observed at all Installations since, the Sovereign present.
So soon as the Investiture with the Mantle, Hood, and Collar is over,
those appointed deliver the Book of Statutes to the new invested
Knight, which was observed to the Earls of _Shrewsbury_ and
_Cumberland_, 34 _Eliz._ the Earl of _Rutland_, Sir _George Villars_,
and the Viscount _Lisle_, 14 _Jac._ I. and so generally to all elect
Knights since. This Book the Knight is to keep safe in his own Custody,
for his Instruction in the Laws and Ceremonies of this most Noble
Order. They likewise give him the Black Velvet Cap adorned with Plumes
of white Feathers, and this in particular was observed to be the last
Ceremony performed at the Installation of King _Charles_ II.
All things relating to the full Investiture being ended, there remains
only to compleat this great Ceremony, the Installation it self, which
is performed in the manner following. The new invested Knight standing
before his Stall, and turning toward the High Altar, makes humble
Obeysance that way, and then toward the Sovereign, or if absent, toward
his Stall; which done, the Commissioners, Knights-Assistants, or
Knights-Companions, receive and embrace him with great Civility, as
their Fellow and Companion, and set him down in his assigned Stall with
Professions of Esteem, and Wishes for his Honour and Happiness. Of this
Ceremony, there is a notable Instance at the Installation of _Philip_,
King of _Castile_, 22 _Henry_ VII. where the Sovereign personally
introduced him to his Stall, and there placed him, at which time there
was a certain Form of Words pronounced relating to the elect Knight’s
Session, and Act of Installation, no less than at his Investiture, but
the same are not repeated.
_The Order to be observed when two or more Knights
are installed in one Day._
§ 8. In this case it seems to have been the ancient Practice, when the
Ceremony has been perform’d by two Commissioners, or two
Knights-Assistants, that as soon as they had finished all the
Ceremonies due to the Senior of them, they left him possest of his
Stall, and forthwith returned to the Chapter-House in the usual manner,
and thence conducted the next Senior elect Knight, and so of the rest;
So it was at the Installation of _Albro Vasques d’Almadea_, Earl of
_Averenches_, the Lord _Beauchamp_, and Sir _Thomas Hoo_, in the time
of _Henry_ VI. and so of the Earl of _Huntington_, 1 _Edw._ VI. when
the two Assistants, after they had invested and installed the said
Earl, returned to the Chapter-House for the Lord _la War_, and so for
the Lord _Cobham_, and Sir _William Herbert_. In like manner, when the
Commissioners had given the Proctor to _Emanuel_, Duke of _Savoy_,
Possession of his Principal’s Stall, 1 and 2 _Phil._ and _Mar._ they
proceeded back for _William_ Lord _Howard_; so by the Earl of
_Pembrook_, 16 _Eliz._ when they had first installed the Earl of
_Derby_, and by the Earl of _Cumberland_, after the Earl of
_Shrewsbury_ had been installed.
When the Sovereign hath nominated three Commissioners, they have
returned altogether to fetch in the other Knights singly, that were to
be installed, and alternately changed their Places in the proceeding to
the several Installations, one of them always going single before; as
at the Installation of the Earls of _Essex_ and _Ormond_, and Sir
_Christopher Hatton_, 30 _Eliz._ when the Earl of _Worcester_, the
Lords _Hunsdon_ and _Grey_, were Commissioners: And if the Lieutenant
had four Assistants assigned him, which was necessary when many Knights
were to be installed, the order of their Installation hath been as
follows.
First, Two of the Senior Knights-Assistants conducted the Senior elect
Knight to his Installation, and the other two Assistants proceeded with
the second elect Knight; the former then took the third elect Knight,
and so alternately changed till all were installed: As at the
Installation of _Francis_, Duke _de Montmorency_, and others, 14
_Eliz._ And the like manner of alternate change is observed if four
Commissioners be constituted, as at the Installation of _Frederick_,
King of _Denmark_, and _John_, Prince Palatine of the _Rhine_, 25
_Eliz._ where the King’s Proxy was conducted into the Choir between the
Earl of _Leicester_ and the Lord _Hunsdon_, the two Senior
Commissioners; and the Prince, between the Earl of _Huntington_ and the
Lord _Charles Howard_, the two Junior Commissioners.
But some have been of Opinion, that the Commissioners named to this
Employment, ought not to divide the Duty, and part of them to Instal
one, and part the other, and by such an alternative to dispatch the
Ceremony, as in former Cases; but all jointly assist at each
Installation: Of which Opinion there is an Instance at the Installation
of the Earl of _Salisbury_, and the Viscount _Bindon_, 4 _Jac._ I.
where the Earl having been brought into the Choir, invested and
installed by the Earls of _Nottingham_ and _Suffolk_, the two Senior
Commissioners, the other two Commissioners who were left behind in the
Chapter-House, to conduct the Viscount to his Stall, remembring that
all four were joint Commissioners, apprehended that the Earl was not
legally installed, because they, as Co-partners in the Commission, had
not assisted; and this Opinion being debated, prevailed so far, that it
was agreed to be imparted to the Earl of _Salisbury_, who submitted to
descend into the lower Seats before his Stall, and there all four
Commissioners gave him his Oath again, then led him to his Stall, and a
second Time invested and installed him; and so of the Viscount _Bindon_.
But this Method was not only new, but different from former Practice,
as in all the cases before recited; and besides, where the Sovereign
hath authorized his Lieutenant to perform this Ceremony, and appointed
some of the Knights-Companions to assist, they, and not the Lieutenant,
have done the Duty belonging to Installation, that part of it of
investing with the Collar in the Chapter-House, the whole Duty at the
Installation of Prince _Henry_ excepted. And ’tis to be farther
observed, that the foregoing case of the joint Assistance in the
Installation of the Earl of _Salisbury_, was thought so little
Essential, or worthy of becoming a Precedent, that at the very next
Feast, when the Earls of _Dunbar_ and _Montgomery_ were installed, 6
_Jac._ I. and four Commissioners appointed, the two Senior installed
the Earl of _Dunbar_, and the two Junior the Earl of _Montgomery_; and
so again, 10 _Car._ I. by the Earls of _Danby_ and _Moreton_. But
lastly, if the Sovereign be present, and consequently the
Knights-Companions perform this Ceremony, then there is generally so
many of them as can go through the whole, without changing, after the
manner used when done by Commissioners or Assistants; in which case the
two Senior Knights-Companions descend from their Stalls, and passing
thro’ the Choir to the Chapter-House with the Proceeding before them,
conduct to his Installation the eldest elect Knight; and having
performed that whole Ceremony, return and take their Stalls, and so the
rest in due Order; as was practised at the Installation of Prince
_Henry_, and others, 1 _Jac._ I. and of the Earl of _Rutland_, 14
_Jac._ I. and at the grand Feast of St. _George_, 13 _Car._ II. but
here the separate proceeding with each single Knight to and from the
Chapter House, taking too much time, and the Day being far spent in the
Ceremonies of the Dukes of _Ormond_ and _Buckingham_; the Sovereign
ordered, that with the next Proceeding, the rest of the elect Knights,
being eight, besides two Proxies, should all be introduced at once; so
that each of them being placed before his Stall, took the Oath,
receiv’d his Investiture, and was led up to his Stall, and took
Possession of it by solemn Installation.
And in regard so many Knights elect were introduced together, it was
judged necessary, that their Mantles and Collars should be likewise
brought in the proceeding, and each elect Knight appointed one of the
Gentlemen that attended him, to bear the Cushion whereon they were
laid, before him to the Choir Door, where they held them in their Arms,
till Garter in due order fetch’d them into the Choir: And here we may
insert this general Rule, that at all Installations, where some of the
elect Knights are not sent for unto the Chapter-House, to receive
Investiture with the Surcoat, before the Senior elect Knight hath been
conducted to his Stall, but left to repose themselves in the East Isle
of the Chappel, as hath often happened, the Knights Commissioners, or
Assistants, on their return to the Chapter-House, send Garter for the
next Senior elect Knight, whom they receive at the Door thereof, and
having invested him with his Surcoat, and girt his Sword about him,
proceed with him to his Installation in the usual manner. And the same
method is observed if there were more elect Knights to follow; and we
find it 30 _Henry_ VIII. 16, and 34, and 10 _Car._ I.
The Knight, or Knights, having now receiv’d a compleat Installation,
the Knights-Commissioners, Assistants, or Knights-Companions, with
marks of Respect, take their leave of the last installed Knight, and
descending into the Choir, take their own Stalls; but the Senior
Knight-Companion ascends first: But observe, that if the Stalls of the
Knights-Commissioners, Assistants, or Knights-Companions, be on the
same side with the last installed Knight, then they descend not into
the Choir, but pass directly to them along the Stalls, as in the 34
_Eliz._ The Ceremonies of Installation being finished, the Officers of
Arms first, next the Alms-Knights, descend from the Steps of the Altar,
and take their several Stations in the Choir; then one of the Prebends
of the College, or, if the Sovereign be present, the Prelate, with the
Serjeant of the Vestry before him, is conducted to the Altar by the
Verger of the Chappel, and there begins the Service appointed by the
Church, which being ended, the Proceeding passes out of the Choir in
usual Order, either to the Presence-Chamber, or the Lieutenants, or
Commissioners Lodgings, as the Occasion is.
_The Offering of Gold and Silver._
§ 9. But if the Installation be solemnized in the Morning, the Service
of the Church having proceeded as far as the Offertory, two of the
Prebends, appointed to recieve the Offering, are conducted to the Altar
by their Verger, and first the Alms-Knights, then the Officers of Arms,
ascend the Steps of the Altar again, and stand in order as before.
After which, Garter Summons down the Knights-Companions to the
Offering, who descend into the Choir under their proper Stalls, as does
the Sovereign’s Lieutenant, who offers first for the Sovereign, he
receiving the Bezant from the Senior Knight, and then returns to his
Stall: And at this instant, was the usual time heretofore for offering
the Defunct Knights Atchievements, which was altered by King _James_ I.
as will be seen hereafter.
The Lieutenant, after a short stay in his Stall, descends again, and
proceeds up to the Altar, to make his own Offering of Gold and Silver,
and then returns, as do the rest of the Knights-Companions, including
those newly installed, in their due order. But when the Installation
passes by Commissioners, there is then no Offering made for the
Sovereign, but the Commissioners offer first, and after them the other
Knights in due order.
The Ceremony of Offering at the Installation of _Philip_, King of
_Castile_, 22 _Henry_ VII. is remarkable. He descended from his Stall
into the Choir, and standing before it, as the other Knights-Companions
did, the Sovereign left his Royal Stall to proceed to the Offering, to
which the King would have followed, but the Sovereign would not permit,
obliging the King to proceed along with him, on his left Hand, though
he desired to perform his Duty as a Brother of the Order, so that they
made their Offerings so near together, where, though the Sovereign had
the Precedence, yet ’twas hardly observable.
_Of the grand Dinner at the Installation._
§ 10. On the Day of Installation, there hath, from ancient Time, been
appointed a Noble and Sumptuous Feast, and though it was agreed on in a
Chapter, 3 _Edward_ VI. _That the Knights elect might, from
thenceforth, be installed by Commission without a Feast_; yet after his
Reign, we find the old custom of a Feast at this Solemnity restored.
If the Sovereign appoint the Installation to be when the Feast of St.
_George_ is also celebrated, and is himself personally present, the
Feast is then kept at the Sovereign’s Charge; and if in such case he
constitute a Lieutenant, then the Installation Dinner is kept at the
Charge of the Lieutenant; and is usually prepared in some of the
Sovereign’s Lodgings in the Castle, but seldom in St. _George_’s Hall;
as was done by the Earl of _Arundel_, at the Installation of the Earl
of _Shrewsbury_, and the Lord _Hunsdon_, 3 _Eliz._ But when the
Installation is kept at any other time of the Year, than that of St.
_George_’s Feast, then the new installed Knights are at all the
Expence; who generally have had the Dinner prepared in the Dean’s
Lodgings; however, be it where it will, the Sovereign, or his
Lieutenant, Commissioners, or Assistants, together with the new
installed Knights, proceed thither in full Robes; which is observed in
the Installation of 3 _Eliz._ above, to be according to the ancient
Custom. At the Installation, 31 _Henry_ VIII. the Sovereign’s
Lieutenant walked alone, after him his two Assistants, and lastly the
new installed Knights.
The Lieutenant’s Place at the Table is somewhat on the left Hand the
Cloath of State, there sat the Earl of _Arundel_, 3 _Eliz._ but the
other four Knights-Companions, his two Assistants, and the two new
installed Knights, sat toward the Table’s End on both Sides, for that
they could not well sit all on a side. But of late Years, as at the
Installation, 5 _Car._ I. a Question arose, whether the Lieutenant or
Commissioners should sit at Dinner in their Habits, since the Power
given them seemed to expire when the Knights were elected; (though
unanimously allowed the new installed Knights ought to do so,) and
likewise Precedents quoted, as 29 _Henry_ VIII. at the Installation of
the Lord _Cromwell_, where the Knights put off their Habits, and dined
in their ordinary Apparel; and so of the Earl of _Rutland_, and the
Lord _Cobham_, 26 _Eliz._ where the Commissioners did the same, and the
new installed Knights kept on only their Surcoats: But what followed on
this Debate is not mention’d; but the general Practice at other Times
hath been of keeping on the Habit till the Dinner is ended.
At the second Course, called also second Mess, or second Service,
Garter, accompanied with the Officers of Arms, Proclaims the Stiles and
Titles of Honour of the Sovereign (if he be personally, or by his
Lieutenant, present,) in _Latin_, _French_, and _English_, and cries
Largess thrice; next the Stiles of the new installed Knights in
_French_, or _English_ only, with two Largesses, and in that Order they
were installed. And thus it was at the Installation of _Charles_, Duke
of _York_, 9 _Jac._ I. of _Frederick_, Prince Palatine, 10 _Jac._ I.
and the Earl of _Rutland_, and others, 14 _Jac._ I.
_Philip_, King of _Castile_, Dined with the Sovereign in his
Privy-Chamber, 22 _Henry_ VII. whose Stile was Proclaimed by Garter,
not in the same Room, but at the Sovereign’s great Chamber-Door, and in
St. _George_’s _Hall_, after Largess had been thrice cryed. When the
Sovereign constitutes a Lieutenant, then is the Lieutenant’s Stile also
Proclaimed, and to his other Honours is added this of his Lieutenancy,
and afterwards the Stiles of the new installed Knights, as 3 _Eliz._
But the Order of this Ceremony is more particularly observed at the
Installation of the Duke _de Montmorency_, and others, 14 _Eliz._ where
first Garter cried Largess, and next Proclaimed the Sovereign’s Stile,
_&c._ in three Languages, then stepping two Foot back, Proclaims the
Lieutenant’s Stile in _French_ only, with two Largesses; and after
that, he cried one Largess for the Duke; and lastly, for all the other
new installed Knights, only two Largesses, and the Officers of Arms did
the like; and still as Garter had finished his Proclamation, the
Heralds joined with him in crying Largess, and so with Reverence
departed the Hall.
But lastly, it is proper to observe, that when neither the Sovereign,
nor his Lieutenant, are present, then the Sovereign’s Stile is not
Proclaimed, nor those of the Commissioners, but only of the new
installed Knights.
As soon as Dinner is ended, the Knights-Companions rise from Table, and
withdraw to disrobe themselves, and therewith the Solemnity of
Installation ends: And if at any time the Solemnity continues that
Evening, and the following Day, it is only because the Sovereign (or
his Lieutenant,) is present, on account of celebrating St. _George_’s
Feast, and not with reference to the Installation.