This was carried upon the Petition of the Gentlemen-Ushers, Daily-waiters, seconded by the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl-Marshal, and others, Knights-Companions; as is evident from another Petition of theirs to the Sovereign in Chapter, assembled at Oxford, the 17th of January, 20 Car. I. But some Years after this, 1642. the Lord Lanrick, Secretary for Scotland, had on Mr. Maxwell’s behalf, obtained the Sovereign’s Warrant for Letters-Patent under the Great-Seal, for two Lives, Maxwell’s and Mr. Alexander Thayn, the longest Liver of them; whereby the said Decree was frustrate to the Gentlemen-Ushers; of which making Complaint in the last mentioned Chapter, the Sovereign and Knights-Companions (in regard this latter Grant was not only repugnant to the preceding Decree, and the Great-Seal surreptitiously gained, but ought likewise to have passed the Seals of the Order) order’d Peter Newton, Esq; to be presently sworn into this Office. Nevertheless, after the Restoration, A. D. 1660. Newton being then dead, the Gentlemen-Ushers, Daily-waiters, Petition’d again, and Thayne was demanded to put in his Answer; and the result of the whole was, after mature Deliberation in a Chapter held at Whitehall, the 20th of February, 13 Car. II. the Decree which fix’d this Office to one of the Gentlemen-Ushers Daily-waiters, was confirmed, and John Ayton, one of the Petitioners, was sworn Gentleman-Usher of the Black-Rod, which was performed by the Register in the Presence of the Sovereign, the Chapter sitting.

The Form of the Oath given to this Officer, temp. Hen. VIII. was, Truly and Faithfully to observe and keep all the Points of the Statutes of the Order as to him belonged and appertained.

He hath the like Habit with the Register and Garter before described, but his Ensign and Badge is somewhat different from Garter’s; for first, it was ordained, That he or his Deputy should carry a Black-Rod (whence he hath his Title) before the Sovereign, or his Deputy, at the Feast of St. George, within the Castle of Windsor, and at other Solemnities and Chapters of the Order. On the Top of which there ought to be set a Lyon of England. This Rod serves instead of a Mace, and has the same Authority to apprehend Delinquents, and such have offended against the Statutes of this Most Noble Order. And where he apprehends any one of the Order, as Guilty of some Crime for which he is to be expell’d the Order, the manner of it is by touching them with this Black-Rod, and his Fee for it, is 5 l.

He has assigned him a Golden Badge to be openly worn in a Gold Chain, or Ribband, before his Breast, composed of one of the Knots in the Collar of the Order which tye the Roses together, and encompassed with a Garter, being alike on both sides; which was conferred on him and his Successors, by Decree in Chapter, held the 24th of April, 8 Eliz.

’Tis as ancient as Hen. Vth’s Reign, for there’s a House in Windsor Castle granted to this Officer by Letters-Patent, during Life. And the same Provision is made for him by the Constitutions of his Office. It is situate on the South-side of the Castle in the middle Ward. The said Constitutions give him Baron-Service at Court, and Livery thereto appertaining; and besides these, the keeping of the said Castle, and the two Parks adjacent.

King Charles I. having taken into his Hands the little Park of Windsor, and bestow’d it upon James Maxwell, then Usher of the Black-Rod, He, at a Chapter held at Whitehall, the 5th of November, 1629. decreed, That as the Custody of the said Park was conferr’d on Maxwell in right of his Office; so the same should for ever after be annex’d thereto, and not to be disposed of but under the Great Seal of the Order, and that only to the Usher of the Order for the time being.

Lastly, this Officer had anciently a Fee of 12 d. per diem, which we find continu’d down in the Letters-Patents, whereby this Office was granted. Besides which, the Constitutions of his Office allow him an annual Pension of 30 l. heretofore paid him out of the Exchequer, but by King Charles I. assigned him out of 1200 l. per Ann. settled upon the Order; touching which, and the Payment of the Officers Pensions upon the new Establishment, is the next Section.

§. 6. King James I. taking into his Royal Breast, the Constitution of this Most Noble Order, that it was in the Nature of a Distinct Sovereignty, govern’d by Laws and Conventions proper to the Body, and himself as Sovereign in Matters immediately relating thereunto, had the sole and uncontroulable Authority of revising, adding, or explaining; and finding that the Pensions paid to the Officers of the Order (as those to the Alms-Knights) and some other Expences, had been anciently made payable out of his Exchequer by vertue of the Great Seals of England, or otherwise by Privy-Seals; and conceiving it incongruous, that the Officers should claim their Pensions by vertue of any other Seal than that of the Order, for it is in some kind derogatory to the Honour of the Order, to permit other Seals to be used within the same: He thereupon with twelve Knights-Companions in a Chapter held at Whitehall, the 22d of May, 20 Jac. I. passed a Decree, That all things concerning the Order should hereafter be ratify’d under the Seal of the Order only, and in particular, that the Grants of poor Knights Places, after their being Signed by the Sovereign, should be passed under the Seal of the Order only, and none other. And the Year following, the Chancellor was ordered, That he should take Advice of the Sovereign’s Attorney-General how by Vertue of the Seal of the Order, the Pensions, (given to the Poor Knights) might be paid and receiv’d, His Majesty’s further Pleasure being, That all Grants and Payments concerning the Order, should afterwards be confirmed under the Seal of the Order only, and by Vertue thereof.

As to the Alms-Knights Patents, this Decree was of Force and Validity, but in the other Generals, how far it was pursu’d we know not; for in some of them it grew obsolete and useless. But in a Chapter called at Windsor, the 22d of April, 10 Car. I. a Debate arose about setting a Part of the Annual Summ of 1000 l. out of the Receipts of his Majesty’s Exchequer, to be employ’d particularly in discharge of Expences towards the Feasts of the Order, Legations to Foreign Princes, Payment of the Officers Pensions, &c. disbursed for the Necessity and Reputation of this Noble Order. Afterwards at a Chapter held the 18th of April, 13 Car. I. that Sovereign ratify’d his Royal Assignation, and increased his Bounty to 1200 l. per Ann. setling it for those designs in a Perpetuity for ever, and making it payable out of the Customs in the Port of London, but to be received by the Chancellor of the Order for the time being, as Treasurer of this Money, of which he was to give up an Account to the Sovereign and Knights-Companions yearly at St. George’s Feast. And in pursuance of this Ratification, the Attorney-General had Instructions to draw up a Book for his Royal Signature to Warrant its passing under the Great Seal of England, which was dispatch’d, the Letters-Patent bearing teste at Westminster, the 23d of January, 13 Car. I. Immediately after, Sir Thomas Rowe, the Chancellor of the Order, presented a List of the ordinary Fees and Charges of the Order, upon which it was agreed to, That there should issue out a standing Commission to the Chancellor under the Great Seal of the Order to warrant the Yearly Payments, and he to be discharged according as the said Patent had provided. This Commission passing the Great Seal the 3d of May, 14. Car. I. the Sovereign thereby impower’d the Chancellor to make payable out of the yearly Revenue of 1200 l. all and every the yearly Fees, Pensions, Salaries, and other Payments due and payable to the Officers of the Order, Alms-Knights, or others, appertaining to the Order, either by Charter, Grant, or Assignation under the Seal and Signet of the Order, or by any other Lawful way whatsoever, and in particular,

l.s.
To Himself as Chancellor1000 per Ann.
Register of the Order500
Garter Principal King of Arms500
Usher of the Black-Rod300
Thirteen Alms-Knights2375
Total4675