The liberality of the Minister to the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, may be explained by stating that he was the _brother-in-law_ of a Cabinet Minister. There was another gentleman at least equal in talent to the Assistant Secretary, whose services were gratuitous, who, at the risk of his health, was actively engaged on the spot in superintending the distribution of the relief. To him the Government thought it sufficient to give the Companionship of the Bath, whilst the Assistant Secretary was made a Commander of that Order. CHAPTER XVII. REWARDS OF MERIT. The personal distinctions in the gift of the Government of this country consist of the following five orders of knighthood:— NAME. NO. OF MEMBERS. GRAND KNIGHT COMP. CROSS. COM. The Garter 25 The Thistle 16 St. Patrick 16 The Bath Military 50 102 525 The Bath Civil 25 50 200 St. George and St. Michael 15 20 25 --------------------- 147 172 750 Of these, the first three are restricted, with few and rare exceptions, to persons of a certain rank—including earls, and those above them. The number of these, with the addition of three sons for each duke, and of the eldest sons of marquesses, amounts to about four hundred and fifty. Amongst this favoured class fifty-seven ribbons may be conferred; so that about one-eighth of the class enjoy the decoration. These ribbons, although much sought after by the class amongst which they are distributed, are more correctly appreciated by the public at large. With some illustrious and honourable exceptions, they are usually given by those in power to their party supporters. They have also occasionally been employed by the minister of the day, as inducements to persuade his friends to postpone inconvenient questions, to the agitation of which they had been publicly pledged. An amusing and characteristic anecdote respecting one of these Orders, the Garter, is related of a late Premier. At a time when several of these “baubles” had fallen vacant, and been judiciously given away by the discreet minister, a friend asked him, why he had not retained a Garter for himself? to which he wittily replied, “Why, the fact is, I don’t see the use of a man’s bribing himself.” The order of St. Michael and St. George was instituted for the Ionian Islands, and is usually given, after a certain time of service, to the Lord High Commissioner, to the Commanders-in-Chief of the Mediterranean fleet, and to other persons connected with the public service in those quarters.