t barons, overawed by the crown,
gave now a more useful direction to their ambition, and attached
themselves to a prince who led them to the acquisition of riches and
of glory. That he might further promote the spirit of emulation and
obedience, the king instituted the order of the garter, in imitation of
some orders of a like nature, religious as well as military, which had
been established in different parts of Europe. The number received into
this order consisted of twenty-five persons, besides the sovereign; and
as it has never been enlarged, this badge of distinction continues as
honorable as at its first institution, and is still a valuable though a
cheap present, which the prince can confer on his greatest subjects. A
vulgar story prevails, but is not supported by any ancient authority,
that at a court ball, Edward's mistress, commonly supposed to be the
countess of Salisbury, dropped her garter; and the king, taking it up,
observed some of the courtiers to smile, as if they thought that he had
not obtained this favor merely by accident: upon which he called out,
"Honi soit qui mal y pense,"--Evil to him that evil thinks; and as every
incident of gallantry among those ancient warriors was magnified into a
matter of great importance,[*] he instituted the order of the garter in
memorial of this event, and gave these words as the motto of the order.
[8] This origin, though frivolous, is not unsuitable to the manners
of the times; and it is indeed difficult by any other means to account
either for the seemingly unmeaning terms of the motto, or for the
peculiar badge of the garter, which seems to have no reference to any
purpose either of military use or ornament.

* See note H, at the end of the volume.

But a sudden damp was thrown over this festivity and triumph of the
court of England, by a destructive pestilence, which invaded that
kingdom as well as the rest of Europe; and is computed to have swept
away near a third of the inhabitants in every country which it attacked.
It was probably more fatal in great cities than in the country; and
above fifty thousand souls are said to have perished by it in London
alone.[*] This malady first discovered itself in the north of Asia, was
spread over all that country, made its progress from one end of Europe
to the other, and sensibly depopulated every state through which it
passed. So grievous a calamity, more than the pacific disposition of
the princes, served to main