ORDER OF THE BATH.

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ftts.

It was intended at the re-establishment of the Order of the Bath in 1725, thatthe Knights Companions should themselves remunerate their own Officers, byFees on their Election and Installation, and by quarterly payments; and thoughthe Government afterwards thought proper to relieve the Knights from theSalaries, the Fees were allowed to remain. Objectionable as is the practice ofrequiring those on whom the Crown confers its Honours, to pay money onreceiving them, the system is more improper in relation to the Order of theBath, than to the Orders of the Garter, the Thistle, or Saint Patrick, becausethose Distinctions are bestowed only on the higher Nobility, to whom a fewhundred pounds are of, comparatively, slight importance. But the Bath hasusually been reserved for Naval and Military Officers, in reward of distinguishedservices against the Enemy, and of persons employed in the Civil or Diplomaticdepartments of the State, and those upon whom it is bestowed, are seldompossessed of large fortune. Moreover, there is something repugnant in the ideaof having to pay money in return, as it were, for Honours, especially when thoseHonours have been fairly earned. Instead of those marks of the Royal favourbeing attended with any circumstance that could possibly deteriorate from theirvalue, every thing should be done to enhance .their importance, and to createfeelings of unmixed satisfaction, respect, and gratitude, in the minds of therecipients.

The Government has, for at least sixty years, 3 been accustomed to pay theFees of such Officers as were appointed to the Order for very eminent services;and between 1800 and 1815, £ 5770 , and from 1815, to 1832, to £2143, form-ing in all £7913, and averaging about £245 per annum, 4 have been paid onsuch occasions, or upon the nomination of Members of the Royal Family, andForeigners. But this arrangement is open to serious objections. It draws amarked and invidious distinction between the Knights for whom the Fees are

3 The earliest instance that has been found, is that of Sir George Brydges Rodney, whose Installa-tion Fees, amounting to £81 19«. were paid by the Treasury, pursuant to a Royal Warrant, dated 5thMay 1789.—Townsend’s MSS. in the College of Arms.

4 See Mr. Secretary Stanley’s speech, p. 170, antea.