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REFACE-

H E moß nolle Order of Garter hathflourißed more than Three hundred and feventyTears, 'with fuch dißinguißed Glory, that thePrinces of Chriftendom, moß celebrated forheroick Atchievements, have eagerly follicitedan Admittance into this Fraternity, as thegreateß Accefßon of Honour that could hap-pen to them -, and on the Plan and Oeconomythereof did ereU feveral military Orders intheir own Territories, 'which have made likeFigures in Comparifon with it, as Copies ufuallyhear to their Originals, or Colonies to theirpotent Mother Cities : Though it is evident, thefe derivative Orders would havecontinued to ßine with more Lußre, if Übe great Maßers of them had notfujfered a Deviation from the Precedent of the Garter, which hath ne-ver permitted any Augmentation to the Number of the Companions defigned inthe primary Statutes.

The Annals of it in a continued Train of Succeßon, prior to the fourth Tearof that invincible Prince Henry V, have either perißed among the Ruins ofAntiquity, or as yet lie hid undifcovered to us. This Lofs can never be ef-ficiently lamented, though it may be repaired in fome tolerable Degree : For as

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