Page:The Book of Orders of Knighthood and Decorations of Honour of All Nations.djvu/689

236 were admitted who had accepted places or served in the National Guard during the unlawful government of the French.

55. Medal bestowed on the 19th October, 1823, on twenty-seven inhabitants of Villar de Ciervos, who had distinguished themselves on the 27th August of that year, in the engagement against the constitutional band of Don Alonzo Martin, Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment of Algarbia, and brother of the notorious Empecinado.

56. Scutcheon of loyalty, founded on the 14th December, 1823, for the Spaniards who, in the years 1820 and 1823, quitted their herds and flocks and fought with courage, perseverance, and inviolable faith for the cause of their King, religion and country. It is worn on the left side of the breast, embroidered, for sub-officers, with silk, and for privates, with wool, and has the inscription: 'El Rey á la fidelidad' (The King to loyalty).

57. Cross for Military Loyalty, was founded on the 9th August, 1824, as a reward for the royal troops who resolutely and bravely defended, in the years 1820 and 1823, the sovereignty of the King. It is of gold for the higher grades, of silver for subaltern officers, and of copper for privates. The obverse bears the inscription: 'El Rey á la Fidelidad Militar," and the reverse, the royal crest with the legend: 'Fernando VII. á los defensores de la religion y del trono en grado heroico y eminente' (Ferdinand VII. to those who defended in a most heroic and eminent manner the religion and the throne). For those who merited the reward in the time from the 7th March, 1820, to the 30th June, 1822, the cross is additionally adorned with a laurel branch. The period is divided into two parts, from the 7th March, 1820, to the 30th June, 1822, and again from the latter date to the 1st March, 1823. Those who have taken part in the