The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-05-14
KING OF BULGARIA
FINALLY GETS ORDER.

!, would be dimcult Intho d!stribu-
non ,,on OF INC order Of the Garter among
me me p pi heirs apparent who have
the only foreign King present, namely.
Ferdinand of Bulgaria.
or course King Ferdinand might have
Obtained the Order Of the Golden
the Spanish olden Fleece does not
rank nearly so high as that OF Aus
tray and while Anstrians arc forbid;
Fleece. 1t has always been regarded, as.
contrary 70 etiquette FOR any foreign
ruler or prince to don the Spanish Gel
den f'ieeee IN the doninlons OF En-
arch TO violate this rule being The
Kaiser
n Austria non Catholics are rlgor-
ously barred from tho order. and Roman
Catholicism. as well as blue hlcodcd
ancestry Tor number OF tions.
back. Is a sine qua non lis there
epcrial family and TO the greatest mo-
hlcs. In spain the. crown is much more
liberal In lis bestowal Plebeian an
cestry Is no DISQUALIFICATION and u num-
have been decorated. Moreover II is
bestowed freely on Protestant royalty.
aud foreign statesmen and King I'd
ana the late Prince Bisina rex a II re-
! ceivcd Golden Fleeccs from Spaii, as
did also King Georges grandfather,
OF Wellington
All sorts OF legends ana stories, some
q Them possible and other. OF an inn
corning the origin OF the. order. Ihe
two most generally accepted stories
are one 10 the effect thatit way found
60 BY Philip the ',ood Duke o. Bur,
CANDY. III honor OF the magnificent
golden ircsres OF the most beautifUl
Of his favorites, aud another that hr
did so In rccosnition# Of the fact that
In n ir a Il. : has I'll ,
iiur9ne owed Its prosperity TO us
The nrSt inycstiturc took place. il
1890. at Bruges. The grand master.
ship remained IN tho possession OF ,itr,
Dukes OF Burgundy until on the death
Of Charles the Bold. without mule Is
Emperor MaNimllan OF Germany. From
thai time its chiefialnah!p' has belong
ed 10 the imperial house OF EIapsburg,
which until 1900 occupied the throne
Al the beginning Of the eighteenth
century when The death or the last
lIiapsburE ruler OF Spain, resulted in the
War OF Succession. ana In ihc eventual
assignment uf the throne OF Spain TO
the French Duke OF Anjou. grandson
Of Louis XIV, 4 violent quarrel cnsucd
The new Bourbon King insisted that
1t was spanish order, while the Ger
man Emperor claimed that II belong
ed exclusively TO the house OF IIapsi.
the latter had ceased TO occupy the
throne of spain, the connection OF the
order with the Spanish crown tcrnii-
mated, ipso facto. H
On ordinary occasions the jeweied
insignia, consisting Of the golden
fleece Of n ram, are worn around the
neck. By a broad crimso n MORE rib
bon, which on grand occasions is re-
placed hy gold and jcwclcd chain.
The insignia arc returned TO the chap;
ter on the death OF each knight, by his
surviving relatives and heirs
Each Golden Fleece now III existence
has figured on tho breast or famous
men in by-gonc. centuries. Thus, the
Golden Fleece bestowed unon the late
Prince Bismarck was hundreds OF years
ago suspended from the neck Of The
Duke of Alba, the dcspot OF the Neither
lands; who virtually destroyed the
grandeur and prosperity Of Brugcs at
the close OF the sixtccnti' century;
while tho Fleece that belonged to Duke
1hhi.ip Of Burgundy, the founder OF the
order. was in the poss esson Of the
Spanish pretender, the iate Don Carlos,
who on ,onc memorable occasion dis!
eraceh himself by pawning 1t, at Milan.
for the sake Of lady of more than
questionable reputation
| (Cobyrightf lai1.' by tie Brentwood
Company