Remarks on Wearing Becorations.

“ True greatness lies in daring to be great.

Let dastard souls, in affectation, runTo shades, nor wear bright Honours fairly won;Such men prefer, misled by false applause,

The pride of modesty to Virtue’s cause.

Honours, which make the face of Virtue fair,

’Tis great to merit, and ’tis wise to wear;

’Tis holding up the prize to public view,

<* Confirms grown virtue, and inflames the new;

Heightens the lustre of our age and clime,

And sheds rich seeds of worth for future time.”

YOUNG.

In no point is the change which has taken place in the usages of Society moreremarkable, than with respect to Decorations. It was the very object andpurport of Orders of Merit, that their Ensigns should be borne on the personsof those who are admitted into them, as visible testimonies of their Sove-reign’s favour, and of their own services; and it is, therefore, wisely madecompulsory by the Statutes of many Orders, that some part, at least, of theInsignia shall always be worn. The omission to wear such Marks of Distinc-tion, whenever the individual on whom they may have been conferred, goes intosociety, is neither compatible with the respect due to his Sovereign, to theOrder of which he is a Member, nor to himself, since it might be supposedthat he attaches but little value to his Honours, or that he is conscious he doesnot deserve them.

Until about the time of the Peace, in 1814, the Knights of the Garter,Thistle, Saint Patrick, and Bath, rarely appeared in public without their

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