a Prince of the Blood Royal being a descendant of the body of the Princess Sophia, Electress of Hanover, shall be Grand Master, and that there shall be three Classes of Knights, firsts Knights Grand Cross, second Knights Commanders and third Cavalieri or Companions: the first class to be restricted to fifteen, the second, to twenty, and the third, to twenty-five.
The members of the Order enjoy rank and precedency immediately after the corresponding classes of the Order of the Bath: that is to say, the Knights Grand Cross after Knights Grand Cross of the Bath; The Knights Commanders after the Knights Commanders of the Bath; and the Cavaheri and Companions after the Companions of the Bath. All natives of the Ionian Islands, and of Malta, who receive this third class of the Order are styled 'Cavaliere,' and all natives of Great Britain and Ireland ' Companions.' The Grand Master is the first and principal Knight Grand Cross, and the Lord High Commissioner to the Ionian Isles has precedency of all other Knights Grand Cross. The Knights Grand Cross are entitled to bear supporters and to encircle their arms with the collar, ribbon, and motto of the Order. The Knights Commanders and Cavalieri also encircle their arms with the ribbon and motto; and the Companions suspend the badge of the Order to their arms.
The Star of a Knight Grand Cross is composed of seven rays of silver, having a small ray of gold between each of them, and over all the cross of St. George, gules. In the centre is a representation of the Archangel St. Michael encountering Satan, within a blue circle, inscribed with the motto ' Auspicium Melioris Ævi.'
The Collar is formed alternately of lions of England, of Maltese crosses, and of the ciphers S. M. and S. G. having in the centre the imperial crown, over two winged lions, passant-
