The broad ax., 1897-08-14

W. Most o. what the
" great public looks
upon as the pleas
ures Of royalty must be the real bus
mess Of actual royal persons. After
one or two drawing-rooms, how can
any queen or princess look forward to
others except as bores? Then, besides
the show business, her most gracious
Majesty has TO do an immense amount
of routine woodwork that doesn't re-
quire her to put ON her best or even
her second best crown and the ri
bands" Of her pet orders, the Garter
and the Royal Hanoverian; but work
that is work just the same. Even when
she goes down TO her own country place
at Balmoral. one Of the ministers Is
constantly In attendance, and home
service messengers travel daily be-
tween London and Balmoral with
papers and documents. For over sixty
years the queen has been at work, so
it's only fair that she should have some
relaxation from time to time.
1t is perhaps hardly fair to speak of
the Order Of the Garter and the Royal
HanoYerian Order as the queens pet
orders. She has given pleasure to
many of her subjects chiefly by con-
ferring orders upon them at ESQ per"
but probably she has had quite as
much pleasure in inventing the various
orders and decorations and in granting
them as the recipients have had In re-
ceiving-and settling with the regis
trar.
There are, or there were up to last
October, fourteen orders Of knighthood
and decorations bestowed by the crown
Of Great Britain and Ireland, etc. Five
Of these were in existence before Queen
Victoria was born. These unfortunate
1--WE are: The Garter, said to date from
1349, and considered by the British as
the very topmost of all orders; nom
Britons place the Golden Fleece ahead
of the Garter-but non-Britons are
wofully ignorant and bigoted. After
in Scotland In 1910, by James "; the
order Of St Patrick, founded In 1888 by
George Ill; the Bath, said to date from
1899, when Ii was founded by Henry
w., but really dating from IT'S, when
George /. began It; and the order of
St. Michael and St George, dating from
1918. The other nine orders and dec
orations the queen has found time to
invent and improve, and no one can
grudge her the time spent, especially
as some Of the decorations (not alb
are worth ESQ each time they are con-
ferred.
The orders that the queen has in
vented are these: The Order OF the Star
Of India, 1861; the Order of the Indian
Empire. 1S79-the queen was pro-
claimed Empress Of India on January
/, 1877; the Royal Order of Victoria
and Albert, 1862; the Imperial Order Of
the Crown Of India, 1873; the Royal
Victorian Order, 1896; the Victoria
Gross, 1856; the Albert Medal, 1856;
the Royal Red Cross, 1883, and the Dis
tinguished Service Medal, 1856.
But merely inventing a new order
isn't all there is to it. All Of the or
ders have titles. and the titles are 50
various and variegated that the queen
must at times have been at loss how
to name her most recent creation.
The Garter Is The Most Noble Or
der Of the Carter" the Thistle is 1.-THE
Most Ancient Order Of the Thistle;;"
the Irish order is The Most Illustrious
Order OF St Patrick" the Bath IL THE
Most Honorable Order of the Bath"
the great colonial order is THE Most
DISTINGUISHED Order Of st. Michael and
St. George" Now 1t would seem as IL
only the man who eomposes the cir
Gus advertisements could evolve any
thing in the way of title for an order
different from these titles; but Queen
Victoria has done 80.
For the Order Of the Star Of India,
which she inserted between the Bath
and the Michael and George, she chose
the title Most Exalted" to the Order
of the Indian Empire she gave the title
Most Eminent" 1.-THE Prince Of Wales
had been Grand Master OF the English
Masons just about two years. by an in
teresting coincidence). The Victorian
Order Is "The Royal" 50 il the Vic
toria and Albert Inc Royal Oroers
the Crown Of India became The In
perial Order" and the Red Cross was
called ..The Royal These last three
orders, by the way, are for women only.
Like kissing, the bestoEal Of these
orders goes by favor. So does the De-
stowal Of the three medals Of the Dis
tinguished Service Order the Albert
Medal for saving life. and the Victoria
Cross. The Distinguished Service Or
der Cd. s. o. IL for officers Of the army
or navy: the Victoria Cross II for
conspicuous bravery and may 50 to
enlisted men as wen a. to oficers. II
a soldier or an oficer Il out Of favor
with his commander. mis- name isn't
sent up with recommendation that he
receive the medal
me aoIdsr Of Record.