4

HISTORY OF THE

[ANNO 1783.

and which, like that Order and the Thistle, should derive its name from theTutelar Saint, and its Emblems from the National Badges of the Country towhich it was to belong, while its Motto should inculcate that harmony andunion which the Sovereign was anxious to establish throughout his Dominions.The design being completed, a Royal Warrant was issued in February 1783,commanding Letters Patent to pass under the Great Seal of Ireland “ forcreating a Society or Brotherhood, to be called Knights oe the MostIllustrious Order of Saint Patrick.”

The History of Saint Patrick is so well known, that it is unnecessary tosay more than that he is supposed to have been born in Scotland about the endof the fourth century; that, after passing his life in converting the Irish toChristianity, he died in 464 p and that he has ever since been the Tutelar Saintof Ireland, where he is still held in the highest veneration. His Anniversaryis the 17th of March; and it is remarkable that “ his Day” was not chosen forthe Institution of the Order. With great propriety, however, the Cross of SaintPatrick (a red Saltire) and a Golden Harp, the ancient Irish Ensign, togetherwith the National Badge, the Shamrock 1 2 or Trefoil, to which he gave celebrity,were made its principal symbols.

The new Order 3 consisted of the Sovereign, a Grand Master, and FifteenKnights; and of six Officers, namely, a Chancellor, Registrar, Secretary,Genealogist, Usher, and King of Arms, to which number a Prelate was imme-

1 Butler’s Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and other principal Saints, vol. III. p. 176et seq.

2 The Irish word veaniAft ( sheamar) is clover, 05 , little; thus reartjfiog ( shamrog) is small clover, thetrifolium repens, or trefoil. It is said that Saint Patrick one day preaching on the doctrine of theHoly Trinity to some Irish Chiefs and Princes, was questioned as to the reasonableness of whatappeared to them a paradox; upon which the Saint plucked a leaf of the trefoil, and holding itup to them, demanded if it were not a single leaf, to which they readily assented. He then said,‘ Here you see every day, in one of his smaller works of creation, an emblem of the Triune God: it istruly but one leaf, yet is it composed of three parts, all equal in form, appearance, size, quality, andimportance. You cannot tell how this minute wonder was formed, how it grows and flourishes, oreven how it exists; yet you must believe that it is, that it grows, and that by some impulse itflourishes in all its beauty. Still it is a mystery, totally unknown to you. Why then presume toquestion what the Creator has revealed about himself, when you are not endowed with intellectsufficient to understand by what means your verdant country is adorned with this beautiful productionof God’s wisdom.’ From the information of Sir William Betham, Ulster.

3 It was said by a Correspondent to the Gentleman’s Magazine, in April 1786 (vol. LVI. p. 298),that the Order “ took its rise from a Voluntary Society existing above fifty years before in thatKingdom, under the title of the Friendly Brothers of Saint Patrick, whose Motto and manyof whose Symbols the new Order has adopted.” A representation of these Symbols, taken from the