6

HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF

[ANNO 1818.

but as the King of Great Britain and Ireland is the Sovereign of the Order ofSaint Michael and Saint George, as it was instituted by Letters Patent underthe Great Seal of the United Kingdom, and as nearly one half of the personswho have been honoured with its Ensigns were natives of this Country, it is asessentially and properly a British Order as the Garter or the Bath ; while it iseven more so than that of Saint Patrick, because that Order was created underthe Great Seal of Ireland, and its members have never yet had place orprecedency expressly assigned to them in Great Britain.

On the 27th of April 1818, the following Letters Patent were passed underthe Great Seal of the United Kingdom, for creating and instituting the Orderof Saint Michael and Saint George ; and as the other British Orders werecalled, “The Most Noble,” or “The Most Ancient and Noble,” or “TheMost Honourable,” or “ The Most Illustrious,” the new Fraternity was styledin that instrument, “ The Distinguished,” and afterwards, in the Statutes, “ TheMost Distinguished Order.”

“ George the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, To all to whom thesepresents shall come, Greeting. Whereas in and by a Treaty made and con-cluded at Paris, on the 5th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, 1815,between Us and His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, His Majesty theEmperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and His Majesty theKing of Prussia, it was provided and agreed, that in order to fix the destiny ofthe Seven Ionian Islands, and to insure the Independence, Liberty, andHappiness of the Inhabitants thereof, the Islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante,Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxo, with their Dependencies, shouldthenceforward form a single, free, and independent State, under the denomina-tion of “ the United States of the Ionian Islands,” and should be placed underthe immediate and exclusive protection of Us, Our Heirs and Successors; inpursuance of which Treaty the Constitutional Charter unanimously agreed to bythe Legislative Assembly of the United States of the Ionian Islands hath beensubmitted to Us, and hath received Our gracious sanction and ratification : Andwhereas at the glorious and ever memorable Era, when the peace and tran-quillity of Europe were re-established by Us, in conjunction with Our Imperialand Royal Allies, the Emperor of All the Russias, the Emperor of Austria,and the King of Prussia, certain Treaties were made between Us, Our saidImperial and Royal Allies, and His Majesty the King of France, whereby it