CHARLES hIIL, ORDER or. An Order of Knighthood, instituted by Charles the Thirteenth, King of Sweden, May 27, 1811, as an encouragement and reward for social and benevolent efforts to the advantage of the people, and par ticularly to those who may need assistance.
The order is conferred only on the members of the Masonic Fraternity who have attained to a high rank in the institution in Sweden. In the original statutes instituting the order, the King said: "To give to this society (the Masonic) an evidence of our gracious senti ments toward it, we will and ordain that its first dignitaries, to the number which we may determine, shall in future be decorated with the most intimate proof of our confidence, and which shall be for them 'a distinctive mark of the highest dignity." The King of Sweden is the perpetual Grand Master, and the number of knights is limited to 27.
Knights can be installed only on Jan. 28. Carlisle, in his "Account of the Orders of Knighthood," says: "The King, who is always Master of the Order, is bound to wear it, as well as the heir apparent and the Princes of the House of Sweden, appointed to that dignity by the King. It is also conferred upon thirty native Swedes, being 36 years of age, appointed by the King, of whom three are of the Ecclesias tical Order." The badge is a cross of four points, of ruby red, with a golden border, surmounted by the regal crown. In the center of the obverse, on a white ground, are the initials of the royal founder, viz: the number XIII., between two C's, intertwined with each other; on the reverse, in a triangle, the letter B. It is,worn pendant to a red watered ribbon.