To Robert Herbert   29 September 1879

Melbourne

29, September 1879.

To the honorable

Robert Herbert, &c. &c.

Secretary of the most

distinguished Order

of St. Michael & St. George.

 

Sir,

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 3[0.] June, transmitting to me the warrants, under which her Majesty, our most gracious Queen, was pleased to raise me to the dignity of a Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George, and to authorize the dispensation of ceremonial Investiture.1 It is further my honorable duty to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the Statutes and of the splendid decoration of this most distinguished Order, and of a covenant, requiring the final restoration of the insignia after my death, which latter document I have now the honor to return duely signed.2

Having been honored with grant and warrant (despatches) (as transmitted by you) from the Chancellor of the Order and from the Right honorable the Minister of the Colonies regarding the high distinction conferred on me by our most gracious Sovereign, it devolved on me to express also in special letters to these high personages3 the most grateful appreciation of this unexpected mark of royal favor from the throne of Britain; and while conveying now also to you, honorable Sir, my words of gratitude, I beg of you to assure His Royal highness the Duke of Cambridge, the Grand Master of the Order, that whatever will be in my power will be done to remain worthy of the membership of such a glorious Institution of the British Crown.

In accordance with the statutes I have now also the honor to fulfil my obligation of returning to you the Companion Star of the Order, bestowed on me ten years ago. 4 I feel moreover assured, honorable Sir, that promotions in this most distinguished Order, are largely attributable to your own watchul5 interest in the Colonies, with which in your long eminent service and in your highly influential position at Her Majesty’s Colonial Office you are so fully identified.

Expressing also thus to yourself the sentiments of my gratitude,

I remain, SIr, Your Very obedient and humble

Ferd. von Mueller.

1
See R. Herbert to M, 30 June 1879 (in this edition as 79-06-30a).
2
The covenant is in this edition as 79-09-29d.
3
See M to C. Cox, 29 September 1879 (in this edition as 79-09-29a), and M to M. Hicks-Beach, 29 September 1879.
4
The Lord Chamberlain’s Office in a letter to Herbert, 20 November 1879 (National Archives, London, CO 47/35, 18281/79) acknowledged receipt of M’s CMG badge.
5
watchful?

Please cite as “FVM-79-09-29b,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 25 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/79-09-29b