PREFACE.

VII

An application to the Honourable and Very ReverendDoctor Hobart, Dean of Windsor, the Registrar of the Orderof the Garter, for access to the Manuscripts in question, wasrefused; and when the object for which it was solicited isconsidered, together with the facts, that those volumes wereopened to the former Historians of the Order, and thatthe request was made by an individual who, from holdinga high Office in another of Her Majesty’s Orders, was notlikely to make an improper use of a public document (evenif his own character were not a sufficient security), the refusalmust certainly seem as discourteous as it was unexpected.This disappointment was not, however, so serious as it mightappear; because Ashmole’s Work contains, it is believed,every material statement that occurs in those Manuscripts;and the more important of the Registers alluded to, (“ theBlue Book,”) had long since been transcribed.

These remarks shew some of the sources whence the mate-rials for this Work have been derived, and will, it is hoped,prove that it had not, either in plan or extent, been anti-cipated by any similar publication; and, that, if properlyexecuted, it can scarcely fail to become a useful addition toHistorical literature. Its plan will now be briefly explained.

The general History of each Order contains, under thereigns of the Sovereigns, an account of its institution andorigin, and of every transaction that has occurred, illustratedby notices of all the Historical events that relate to the sub-ject. Then follow, a description of the Habits and Ensigns;Ceremonials of Election, Investiture, and Installation; an

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