The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-03-24 00:00:00

ORDER OF KNIGHTS OF ST. DAVID.

At the present moment, when the institution of an order
of knighthood for Wales occupies so prominent a ph,ce among
tbe topics of the day, the following extract from " Planche's
Royal Records" may not he uninteresting ;
" Another word whilst upon the subject of Wales. The
Guelphic order being a Hanoverian decoration, and, conse-
quently, no longer at the disposal of the Sovereigns of Great
Britain, it has been rumoured that her Majesty will probably
institute some new order of knighthood in its place. In such
a case we would most humbly recommend to her Majesty's
gracious consideration the claims of a British saint and
champion, who has been sadly overlooked. Here we have a
Saint George, and ' the most noble order of the Garter,' for
England ; Saint Andrew, with the most ancient order' of
the Thistle, for Scotland ; and Saint Patrick, with ' his most
illustrious order,' for Ireland ; but Wales, the fourth gem of
the British Crown—that gives a title to its heir—that gave a
title to the Black Prince—the land of Arthur and Llewellyn
—the country of the bards—the soil of the royal tree of
Tudor—has not only been excluded from representation in
the arms of every British Sovereign save Elizabeth, but her
patron saint has been denied the honours of chivalric fellow-
ship which have been lavished on many other holy and re-
nowned champions of Christendom."
With regard to the Guelphic order, above alluded to, its
preamble states that it has been instituted " to reward faith-
ful servants of the state, individuals devoted to his Majesty's
exalted person, distinguished services to the country, and
the undoubted proofs of unshaken fidelity and attachment
shown by all classes of our beloved German subjects, parti-
cularly their never-to-be-forgotten fame obtained at the
battle of Waterloo," &c.

Now, surely, if the above qualifications are to be considered
as forming a claim to your royal notice, tew of her Majesty's
subjects can assert a stronger title to thathonourable distinc-
tion than the natives of the principality. Whether we look
to their unshaken loyalty at borne, or their bravery in the
field, from the arduous and protracted struggle of the Penin-
sula, to the fierce and decisive conflict of Waterloo, no where
shall we find more illustrious instances of devotedness and
valour than amongst the Welsh. kt the last-named battle,
so well-established was the high character of one of the heroes
of Cambria in the mind of his formidable antagonist, that on
the morning of that day one of Napoleon's first inquiries
was, `• On est la division de Picton ?" It is unaccountable
how the arms of the principality happen to be omitted in the
royal escutcheon with those of England, and also how it is
that the Red Dragon, the ancient banner of the Prince of
Wales, has been forgotten in the state processions of the late
reigns, especially as Henry vII. instituted the heraldic de-
gree of Rouge Dragon, expressly to commemorate the vic-
torious standard of Bosworth. It is now left to our youthful
Queen to repair the omissions above named, and however
singular it may be that the principality (the first augmentation
of territory by the British crown) should have been so long
unnoticed, even while an order of knighthood was granted to
the lonian Isles, yet never could it be instituted at a more
auspicious moment than on the nuptials of her Majesty, or at
the wished-for birth of a Prince of a Wales. It is singular
that the leek should often also be omitted among the national
emblems, though it forms a graceful ornament in jewels or in
painting, to unite the rose, shamrock, and thistle; however,
when it is represented in the collars of the knights of St.
David it will never more fail into oblivion.

WINE v. TEETorsusu.—By the custom-house return,
dated January, 1810, it appears that in 1837 there were im-
ported 21,110 pipes of port, and 25,359 butts of sherry ; in
1838, 26,057 pipes of port, and 30,747 butts of sherry ; In
1839, 26,170 pipes of port, and 26,036 butts of sherry; allow-
ing an increase in 1839 or 1838 of 388,457 gallons.