( *66 ) 1 ,

Friendfbip, as to a Prince nearly allied, and his moft fp ec ; a i

Friend; but alfo to impart to him, as far as in him lay A

the greatefl and higheft Honour that might be, and efpecialll

Juch, wherewith the military Virtue of fo great a Captain ;Xi

was wont to be adorned. Atl‘

But the principal Motive thought requifite to

Eledl Foreign Princes into this Society of Honour, hath j;l< 0111

been exprelled in the C’ommijjions of Legations, to be in

RefpeH of their glorious Merits, ennobled by the luftre and ft |ffi

grace of their Heroicli Virtues, their eminent Hoblentfi, jUrth

Grandeur, Prowefs, and Magnificence ; the renown of which, it, #

Fame had divulged and fpread Abroad throughout the Jeiu® 1

World. fyt

Where the Advantage of the Sovereign’s Service was

thrown into the Ballance, no Confiderauon could outvie

its Pretenfions, as in z H. 6. juftifies; whofe eminent iLjjpt

Service for his King and Country, was the fo!e Motive Kjf,cent

that crowned his E’etft ion : And the great Zealand Af- '.^h

feclion, which John Jafpar Ferdinand de Marchin (hewed Lta

for the Caufe and Service, and the recovery of the juft fJjtJ

Rights of King Charles 11. was the (trongeft Inducement

that fwayed that Sovereign to chufe him, in the tenth

Year of his Reign, a Knight-Companion of this moft no- ;

ble Order. But the laft inducement is of the greateft la- jp' j

titude, for the Sovereign has a Power to re jetft whofoever ■

he pleafes, though they do exceed in multiplicity of Voices, ' j g p /

and in other Qualifications ; and even to Elect a Perfon

that’s but once mentioned, as was (hewn in the Perfon of 1 /, '

Cafimire, the fourth King of Poland, An. 28 Henry VI. who £. r j

having only die (ingle Vote of the Lord Scales ; yet upon

refpeCi to the Sovereign, how advantageous he might be /ft

for his, and his Kingdom’s Intereft, obtained the Eledfion. 4

And of later Date, (as the Preambles for the carrying ‘*y'

the Enfigns to Foreign Princes fet forth) the Advantages :

the Sovereign has conceived to poflefs himfelf of, in the : y ;

improving, confirming, and eftablifhing, of a moft ftrid .ft*’*

and inviolable Bond of Friendfhip, and fair Correfpondence, ^ K

between him and Foreign Princes, their Realms and Sub- .'JWi

jedts, hach been a grand Inducement to E'edt fuch Princes ' ktl

into this moft noble Order. ;

' %

'b'.

§ 14. Upon the vacancy of any of the l(nigbts-Com-panions Stalls, the Election of others to fupply thofe, is a

ptero- I'il!#]