208

HISTORY OF THE

[INSTALLATION.

The First Installation. Thursday 17th June 1725.

The Second. Friday 30th June 1732.

The Third. Saturday 20th October 1744.

The Fourth. Monday 26th June 1749.

The Fifth. Thursday 27th December 1753.

The Sixth. Tuesday 26th May 1761.

The Seventh. Monday 15th June 1772.

The Eighth. Wednesday 19th May 1779.

The Ninth. Monday 19th May 1788.

The Tenth. Thursday 19th May 1803.

The Eleventh. Monday 1st June 1812.

Much public importance was attached to the Installation of Knights of theGarter and the Bath; and next to a Coronation, it was the most attractivespectacle of former times. People flocked from all parts of the Country towitness a Ceremony which was attended by the Royal Family, by the Nobility,Foreign Ambassadors, and by Persons of the highest Distinction of bothsexes. A Dinner was once an essential part of the proceedings; and untilthe last Installation, the newly Installed Knights always gave a magnificentBall and Supper.

Though cases have occurred in which Knights of the Bath have been bothKnighted and Invested, after they had been Installed by Proxy , 4 such proceed-ings were altogether unnecessary, because Installation, whether in person, or byProxy, gives to the Knight-Elect full and complete possession of the Dignity,together with all the incidental rights and privileges; and the same effect attends

When a Knight-Elect was employed in the King’s Service abroad, or wasprevented from being Installed in Person by illness, or other accident, he might(provided he had received the honour of Knighthood, and obtained a Dispen-sation for the non-observance of the Rites belonging to the Knighthood of theBath, together with a Licence for that purpose, under the Seal of the Order),substitute and appoint “ a Person of Honour, being a Knight, to be his Proxyor Deputy to be Installed for him .” 5 This privilege has been frequently exer-cised ; and previously to most Installations, several persons proposed as Proxiesfor Knights Companions, were Knighted to qualify them for the office. Inthe Procession, each Proxy walks in the place of his Principal, wearing the

Royal Warrants Dispensing with the observance of the Ceremony

4 Vide p. 202, note 4 , antea.

5 Statute of 1st June 1725, Art. III. Vide p. 66, antea. Copies of those Instruments will befound in the Appendix.