hat place.]
King at Arms, this morning, for my Lord. My Lord hath summoned all the
Commanders on board him, to see the ceremony, which was thus: Sir Edward
putting on his coat, and having laid the George and Garter, and the
King's letter to my Lord, upon a crimson cushion (in the coach, all the
Commanders standing by), makes three congees to him, holding the cushion
in his arms. Then laying it down with the things upon it upon a chair,
he takes the letter, and delivers it to my Lord, which my Lord breaks
open and gives him to read. It was directed to our trusty and well
beloved Sir Edward Montagu, Knight, one of our Generals at sea, and our
Companion elect of our Noble Order of the Garter. The contents of the
letter is to show that the Kings of England have for many years made
use of this honour, as a special mark of favour, to persons of good
extraction and virtue (and that many Emperors, Kings and Princes of
other countries have borne this honour), and that whereas my Lord is of
a noble family, and hath now done the King such service by sea, at this
time, as he hath done; he do send him this George and Garter to wear as
Knight of the Order, with a dispensation for the other ceremonies of
the habit of the Order, and other things, till hereafter, when it can
be done. So the herald putting the ribbon about his neck, and the Garter
about his left leg, he salutes him with joy as Knight of the Garter, and
that was all. After that was done, and the Captain and I had breakfasted
with Sir Edward while my Lord was writing of a letter, he took his leave
of my Lord, and so to shore again to the King at Canterbury, where he
yesterday gave the like honour to General Monk,
["His Majesty put the George on his Excellency, and the two Dukes
put on the Garter. The Princes thus honoured the Lord-General for
the restoration of that lawful family."--Rugge's Diurnal.]
who are the only two for many years that have had the Garter given them,
before they had other honours of Earldom, or the like, excepting only
the Duke of Buckingham, who was only Sir George Villiers when he was
made Knight of the Garter. A while after Mr. Thos. Crew and Mr. J.
Pickering (who had staid long enough to make all the world see him to be
a fool), took ship for London. So there now remain no strangers with
my Lord but Mr. Hetley, who had been with us a day before the King went
from us. My Lord and the ship's company down to sermon. I staid above
|