COLLEGE OF ST. GEORGE. It would be foreign to the purpose of the present work to give a detailed history of the College of St. George. It was incorporated by Edward III. soon after the institution of the Order of the Garter, and was endowed with many valuable and peculiar privileges, which were confirmed by subsequent sovereigns; several manors were assigned to it as a source of revenue, and the new foundation speedily assumed a distinguished rank among the ecclesiastical establishments of the country. In 1353, one of the magistrates of Yarmouth having been murdered in a fray, the bailiffs and commonalty of that borough granted to the College of St. George, as a penance for the offence, a last of red herrings. At the Reformation, the College sustained considerable loss,—an annual revenue of one thousand marks, arising from the hospital of St. Anthony, in London, and the offerings of Sir John Shorne's shrine, at Northmarston, in Buckinghamshire, estimated at £500. per annum, being appropriated to the Crown. Edward VI. and Queen Elizabeth made additional gifts of land, at which period the statutes were consolidated and arranged nearly as they remain at the present time. The establishment consists of a dean, twelve canons, seven minor canons, thirteen lay clerks (of whom the organist is one), and ten choristers; there are also a steward, treasurer, steward of the courts, chapter clerk, chanter, verger, two sextons, two bell ringers, a closet keeper, and a porter. The Rev. William Mugge was appointed the first custos, by letters patent dated Angust 6, 1348, 22nd Edward III.; but the Rev. Thomas Kingestone was the first who bore the title of dean, in 1412, 13th Henry IV. The chapter-house stands at the north-east end of St. George's Chapel; it is ornamented with a whole-length portrait of Edward III. in his robes of state, holding a sword, on which the crowns of France and England are displayed, in allusion to the victories achieved over those kingdoms by that warlike monarch. Round the frame is a Latin inscription to the following import :-" Edward the Third, the unconquered King of England, founder of this Chapel and of the most noble Order of the Garter." On one side of the portrait is the two-handed sword of the sovereign, six feet nine inches in length. Connected with "the most honourable and noble Order of the Garter," and the ecclesiastical and military foundation of the Collegiate Chapel of St. George, is the institution of "The Military Knights of Windsor." They derive their origin from the glorious and illustrious King Edward III., the great hero of Cressy and Poictiers. Ashmole, the celebrated historian of the Order of the Garter, says, "the evident intention of the royal founder was to provide for such military men, or old soldiers, as had served him bravely and faithfully during his wars, as a remuneration for their past services, by providing them with an asylum in their declining years. Such as through adverse fortune were brought to that extremity, that they had not of their own wherewith to sustain them, or to live so genteelly as became a military condition," which words are quoted from the original grant of King Edward III., and repeated in the Statutes of the Garter of King Henry V. and Henry VIII. Ashmole, and Camden in his Britannia, speak of the establishment of the Military Knights as an imitation of "The Prytancum at Athens, the asylum of the Greeks for wounded or decayed soldiers, who had deserved well of their country." At their foundation, the Military Knights had houses built for them to reside in, and one shilling a day pay for their sustenance; exactly the same sum as was granted to the Canons of St. George's Chapel, and derived from the same source. They are now governed and receive all their pay and allowances under the Letters Patent, and Book of Ordinances, Statutes, and Regulations of their great Patroness Queen Elizabeth, made in pursuance of the will and directions of her father Henry VIII. King James, commisserating their proverbial poverty, gave them an additional shilling a day. They consist of a governor and twelve knights on the Upper Foundation, and five on the lower, together eighteen, and consist of officers of every grade from a colonel to a subaltern, who are for the most part veterans, or on half-pay: and there are likewise seven Naval Knights, including their governor, who wear the uniform of their rank. By command of King William IV. the Military Knights wear an uniform nearly similar to that of the unattached officers of the army. The residence of "The Naval Knights, Travers' College," is situated near Thames-street, and at the bottom of the Hundred Steps: that of "The Military Knights," of the Upper Foundation, on the right hand as you enter the castle by Henry the Eighth's Gate, and the square tower in the centre is the governor's house, adjoining which is "The Garter House," or Mess House, and on the left hand of the above gate the five houses of the military knights of the Lower Foundation. 66 The most honourable and noble Order of the Garter," as it is justly termed in the ritual of the Collegiate Chapel, was founded by Edward III.; but the particular circumstance that gave rise to it is involved in mystery. The very motto of the order has caused much antiquarian research, but without elucidating any satisfactory data from which its origin can be ascertained. The first installation took place in the chapel of the order on St. George's Day, 1349; this saint was chosen as the more immediate patron of this knightly institution, but at the ceremonial Edward III. directed an invocation to be addressed to the Virgin Mary and Holy Trinity, beseeching them "to animate by their inspiring influence, and preserve by their efficacious power, his illustrious confraternity." The number of knights was limited to twenty-five with the sovereign, and continued thus until 1786, when the number of George III.'s sons tended to restrict this honourable distinction, it was ordered that the princes of the blood royal should rank as knight-companions without reference to the primitive number. The insignia of the order consists of the garter, mantle, surcoat, hood, star, George, and collar, the two latter being added by Henry VIII. The officers of the order are, the Prelate, who is always Bishop of Winchester; the Chancellor, Bishop of Oxford; Registrar, Dean of Windsor; Garter King-at-arms; and the Usher of the Black Rod. The public entrance to the Upper Ward is under a portcullised archway, near the entrance of the Round Tower, flanked by two towers with corbelled battlements, called the Norman Gateway. On the south side of the gateway is the residence of the right hon. the Lady Mary Fox, and immediately opposite is that part of the edifice erected by Queen Elizabeth and James I., beneath which a postern gate, communicating with the north terrace, forms a public entrance for strangers. CASTLE STREET, WINDSOR. The following information refers to J, B. BROWN'S Edition of the Windsor Guide. THE STATE APARTMENTS, Shown to the Public by Tickets issued from the Lord Chamberlain's Office, Are Viewed in the following order. 42 The Queen's Presence Chamber. This closes the tour of the State Apartments. TICKETS TO VIEW THE STATE APARTMENTS OF WINDSOR CASTLE, May be obtained of JOHN ROBERTS, Esq., Winchester Tower, WINDSOR CASTLE, On Monday's, Tuesday's, Thursday's, and Friday's from the 1st of April to 31st October, between One and Three o'Clock.-For Admission between Two and Four o'Clock. And from the 1st of November to the 31st of March, between Twelve and Two o'Clock. For Admission between One and Three o' Clock. A great variety of Views of Windsor Castle, Virginia Water, &c., may be had at the Library, Castle Street. |