Garter from his uncle, King Henry VIII. of England, with the Golden Fleece from the Emperor, and the Order of St. Michael from the King of France, resolved to be in the royal mode, and so made this order for himself and twelve knights, in imitation of Christ and his twelve Apostles. Then celebrating all the festivals of these orders, he set up their arms and badges over the gate of his palace at Linlithgow, joining St. Andrew with them.

ORDER OF ST. ANDREW.

Some Scotch writers, very fond of antiquity, not satisfied with the novelty of this institution, affect to call it the most ancient as to its derivation. But for this they have no better warrant than the dream of king Hungus, the Pict, to whom St. Andrew making a midnight visit, promised him a sure victory over his foes, the Northumbrians; and the next day, St. Andrew's cross appearing in the air, he made his words good, and the Northumbrians were defeated. On this story, as they say, King Achaius, about the year 800, framed the Order of St. Andrew, 700 years before James V. revived it. He also appointed the knights to wear the image of St. Andrew upon a blue ribbon, which continued till Queen Anne changed it to green.

ORDER OF THE GARTER.

Instituted by Edward III. in the year 1350. Some say on account of good success in a skirmish, wherein the king's garter was used for a token ; others say that the king, after his great success, dancing one night with his queen and other ladies, took up a garter which one of them dropped, whereat some of the lords smiling, the king called out, Honi soit qui mal y pense-Evil to him that evil thinks; and said, that ere long he would make that garter of high reputation; and shortly after he instituted the order, in memorial of this event, and gave these words as the motto of the order. This origin, though frivolous, says Hume, is not unsuitable to the manners of the times; and it is indeed difficult by any other means to account either for the seemingly unmeaning terms of the motto, or for the peculiar badge of the garter, which seems to have no reference to any purpose either of military use or ornament. The probability is, that in order to promote the spirit of emulation and obedience, the king instituted the order of the garter, in imitation of some orders of a like nature, religious as well as military, which had been established in different parts of Europe. The number received into this order consisted of twenty-five

persons, besides the Sovereign. Ladies were members of the fraternity as late as the reign of Edward IV. When Queen Anne attended the thanksgiving at St. Paul's in 1702, and again in 1704, she wore the garter set with diamonds, as Soverign of the order, tied round her left arm, and this precedent has been since followed. COLLAR OF S S.

This collar, which is worn on certain occasions by the judges of the present day, is derived from Saints Simplicius and Faustinus, two Roman senators, who suffered martyrdom under Diocletian. The religious society or confraternity of St. Simplicius wore silver collars of double S S ; between which the collar contained twelve small pieces of silver, on which were engraven the twelve articles of the creed, together with a simple trefoil. The image of St. Simplicius hung at the collar, and from it seven plates, representing the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. This chain, or collar, was worn because these two brethren were martyred by a stone with a chain about their necks, and thrown into the Tiber. Sir John Fern says, that collars in the 15th century were worn as ensigns of rank, of which the fashions ascertained the degrees. They were usually formed of S S, having in the front centre a rose, or other device, and were made of gold or silver, according to the bearer. He says, that knights only wore collars of S S ; but this is a mistake. At the marriage of Prince Arthur, son of Henry VII., in 1507, Sir Nicholas Vaux wore a collar of Esses, which weighed, as the goldsmiths that made it reported, 800 pound of nobles. The collar worn by the judges is still a collar of SS divested of certain appendages.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CROWNS.

In Scripture there is frequent mention of crowns, and the use of them seems to have been very common among the Hebrews. The high priest wore a crown, which was a fillet of gold placed upon the forehead, and tied with a ribbon of hyacinth colour, or azure blue. It seems also as if private priests, and even common Israelites, wore a sort of crown, since God commands Ezekiel “not to take off his crown, nor assume the marks of one in mourning.” This crown was no more than a ribbon or fillet, with which the Jews and several people in the East girt their heads; and indeed the first crowns were no more than a bandalet drawn round the head, and tied behind, and we still see it represented round the heads of Jupiter, the Ptolemies, and kings of Syria. The more luxu

riant crowns originated with the Roman emperors, who had four kinds, all seen on medals, viz., a crown of laurel, a radial or radiating crown, a crown adorned with pearls and precious stones, and the fourth a kind of bonnet or cap, something like the mortier.

In modern heraldry we have the following order and description of the various crowns now in use :

The Imperial crown is a bonnet or tiara, with a semicircle of gold supporting a globe with a cross top.

The British crown is adorned with four crosses, between which are four fleur-de-lis, which is the crest of France ; it is covered with four diadems, which meet at a little globe supporting a cross.

The French crown is a circle of eight fleur-de-lis, encompassed with six diadems, bearing at top double fleur-de-lis as the crest.

The Spanish crown is adorned with large indent leaves, and covered with diadems terminating in a globe, surrounded with a cross.

The crowns of almost all other kings are adorned with large leaves, bordered with four, six, or eight diadems, with a globe and cross at top.

The Prince of Wales's crown consists alternately of crosses and fleur-de-lis, with one arch, in the middle of which is a ball and cross, as in the royal diadem.

That of all the other sons and brothers of the king