Hospitallaria;

HOSPITALLARIA ;

OK A SYNOPSIS OF THE HISTORY OF THE ORDER OF

ftntgtits hospitallers . ( Concluded from paije 9 ' . ' . ) By the statutes of the Order , the British Language and the German Language are strictly Frotestn . ilt ; and no man , be his rank or influence what they may , can obtain admission into the

fraternity unless his moral character is unexceptionable , and his merits otherwise of known and appreciated value . The venerable and sovereign Order of Knights Hospitallers , as has already been shown , was orig inally founded for promoting the great offices of humanity and universal benevolence .

Upon these , subsequently was en rafted the cliival rous object of defending and niai tuning the institutions and possessions of the Christian faith . How well the members of the fraternity accompli shed , in the olden times , both these meritorious ends , the preceding cursory narrative is an

imperfect record . They have not read history aright , who merely look upon tho bam er of Saint John as the rallying poiut ot those , who were imbued with what is cal ' ed a spirit of fanaticism ; or that the rescue of a tomb in Palestine was the question for which so miny successive generations of the

Chivalry of the West fought and perished . No ; the world's debate during the first five , hnndred years of the Order ' s existence , was whether the Christian religion , or the Mahouiinedau , should predominate ;—tue one hostile lo civilization , and favourable to ignorance , despotism , and vice ; the

other radiant with charity , and friendly to learning , to freedom , and to virtue If on the field 11 «» --Hospitallers sustained the manhood of Europe , and proved the sword and the buckler of Christendom , — not less in the convent , in the expansive character of their benevolent institution , did they cherish the

generous arts ot peace , promote social improvement , patronise science , the refinemei . t of taste , the eultuie of the mind , and all that adds grace and dignity to human life . " When the Greeks spoke of the Franks , " say a the 1 istorian of Charles the Fifth , " they described them as barbarous , fierce ,

illiterate , impetuous , and savage , —as a rude people , the very mention of whose names was sullicient lo contaminate . " Through the medium of the Crusades , and the religious military Orders , it was that enlightened views , and softened manners , and a long train of benefits , —which ought to lie gratefull y

remembered , for they extend to the present day , — flowed into Europe . The sweet consolations ind scriininately administered to t e sick and the unfortunate , the benefactions that made no distinction of sect or clime , the deeds which piety and benevolence inspire , —these were what gained for

the IIospiUHevsa place in the estimation of mankind loftier and more enduring than any which they ever won by exploits in arms . Shall their remembrance be allowed to perish / No ; the devout wish of Boisgelin w > ll find an echo iu the breast of the noble and the good to the end of time : — " If , then ,

there exists no country wherein the Kni ghts ot Saint John may not claim some unhappy beiii " restored to life and liberty by their charitable care , may they equally iu whatever nation they li . \ their residence , slil . continue to practise that distinguished benevolence for which they have ever been

so justly renowned ! And may these same nations have no other cause of regret , than that . Malta had so long deprived them of such valuable members of society !" Of the two original obji cts of the institution of Saint John , — " Christian iienovoleiice and . Military

Valour , "—the former is permanent and obligatory , the latter temporary and spontaneous . '' All who take the sword , shall perish by the sword ; " but "Charity" is immutable , " it never faileth . " In resuscitating , then , the ancient and illustrious fraternity of Saint John in Britain , it is intended to

revive its original , and not its advctitious , objects . The times have happily lony gone by in which , under the dawn of Gospel light , the pursuits and observances of monastic life were regarded as virtuous ; whilst , under the meridian inlluei . ee of the Sun of ltighteousness . it is now equallyacluiowlcdged

and understood , that in the busy concourse of social life man can best discharge his relative duties to man . In accordance , therefore , with the sentiments and primary purposes of the Order , it is proposed , as soon as the funds of the members will admit , to rc-found an institution in the Priory of the Sixth

Language , to be called "The Ilospitallariuiu , " including—1 st . " A Chapter Hall" for the meetings of the Council and tho Chapter ; a Chapel , a , Library , and such other accommodation as may be required .

2 nd . A suite ot apartments to be called " The Bight Inns of the Order ; " to be open at all times as a place of resort aud intercourse for the Knights Hospitallers of the various European Nations . 3 rd . "A Dispensary" for gratuitous medical

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advice and the distribution of medicines to . 'ill such as the Prior and Council shall consider worthy of aid . 4 th . " A Fund " for the pecuniary relief o the distressed ; and to promote such other objects as the members in open Chapter

shall consider as falling within the scope of the Institution . The funds requisite for erecting " The Hospitallarium , '" and for realizing the various objects enumerated , will be raised by the passage-fees and annual subscriptions of the members admitted into

the British Language ; and by the donations and bequests of the charitable aud humane . The whole funds to be administered according to the votes of the members in Chapters to be held periodically for that purpose ; with the exception of such sums as may be directed by the donors to be applied to

special objects . The Sixth ' .. anguage of the Ord' -r is composed , as originally , of three classes . —Nobility , Clergy , and Serjens . The first class is divided inte Equites Justitim , and Eqnites Gratia ;; the former admissible only by provingfourqiiarteringsof arms , the latter by

ihe production of testimonials of merit The second class , the Clei-gv , are eligble virtute officii . The third class , the Serjens , do not require to produce proofs of gentilitial descent ; they have \ consultative , but not a decisive , voice iu Chapter . To provide elf ctually against the introduction of

ineligible persons , the statutes strictly enjoin , that if candidates ( i hough possessing the requisite gentilitial qualifications ) apply for admission into the Order , they shall he . rejected . The names and pretentions of such noblemen and gentlemen as the Prior and Council may consider it desirable to

admit , are . submitted iu Chapter ; and , if approved , on payment of the tees , and subscribing the statutes , a diploma Pis granted under the seal of the Chapter , signed by the Prior and the members of Council . In conclusion , in again reviving in ( Jrent Britain and Ireland the aueiuii institution of Knights

Hospitallers , care has been taken to provide not only for its perfect and hides ructible establishment , but also that it shall be rebuilt on a basis worthy of the ancient dignity and utility of the Order , as well as of a nation which has long stood at the head of Christendom . From the character of the age in

which we live , it cannot be said that tin re is no room for the revival of the Ho pitaller fraternity in Britain . The Order of Saint John is a bond ot mutual amity and concord between those nations iu which it is located . It is calculated to cherish anil develope the best principles of the human heart

and to diffuse amongst t . e communities where it exisis the most beneficent feelings and sentiments . T ie policy , then , of reviving an Order iu Britain , which throughout the Christian world has been viewed for nearly a thousand years as the hi ghest personal reward for wisdom , fortitude , clemency ,

devotion , and the manlier virtues , is sel -apparent . It will at once b- acknowledged by all whose minds are inaccessible to prejudice or dark aud ungenerous passion . In other respects , its revival at the present moment will not be without important consequences . There never was a period in which , from

domestic circumstances , it Wis more necessary to surround the " altars" of the realm with such as are imbued with sentiments similar to those which pervaded the reli g ious militant Orders ; wl ilst lroin the misery aud distress that oveispivad a lar ^ e portion of our lellow-subjeets ,

it is most desirable , that the etlbrts of the philanthropic of the United Kingdom should be associated , lo enable them to cairy on an organized . system of benevolence . To these great and Worthy ends , what better means can be devised than the revival of an Order , at once the most ancient and

the most benelieient of all the knightly fraternities V True , the age of chivalry is gone , and the n . it on is lapsing last ii . to the sere and yellow leaf of social decadence . Nevertheless , tlure are yet those left behind , of wealth ami iiilluence sullicient , with whom the recollections of the past are not all a

dream , —who ale proud of times of domestic peace and morality , iu which their ancestors faithfully ami religiously discharged their duty , —and who will not he backward to lend their aid in their own day and generation , Unit " whatsoever things are true , honest , just , pure , lovely , and of good report , — it

there be any virtue , any praise , —such things shall held in remembrance , and be practised . " The diploma of Saint Jo ! u does not merely confer nobility , —a thing which every sovereign prince can bestow , and which is often bestowed on the

undeserving , —but the statutes of the Order strictl y provide that its members shall alread y be gentle by at least four descents ; and further , that they shall be possessed of those personal virtues and imbued with those lofty and generous sentiments , which elevate their owners more than would a

coronet . His late Majesty King lleorge the Fourth , of brilliant memory , whose highest title of honour was , that lie was the first gentleman in the British Empire , testified the high sense in which he held this illustrious fraternity , by never appearing iu

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any other decoration on those occasions when he wore the Cross and Itiband of a Kni ght Hospitaller . Aud why should U not ? His Majesty , who had a perception of dignity elevated as became its source and arbiter in this triple kingdom , felt that decorations , however distinguished , which he had himself

created , or which we .-e the creations of the modern kings of Europe , were iu t to be put iu comparison with those which had shown on the breasts of Godfrey of Bouillon , Guelpho of Bavaria , Richard Cce r de Lion , and their compeers , at Ascalon . Let , then , the members of those time-honoured

families , who constitute par excellence the gentry of the British nation , who can trace their descent beyond those far remote days in which their ancestors upheld the Cross at Ascalon , become members of an Order which renders the position as high-born men —whether titled or untitled—of those who hold its

diplomas as definite , and well understood in European society , as if their names were inscribed on the roll of Battle Abbey , written in the Golden Book of Venice , or in the Fasti Considares of ancient Borne . It is certain that the revival of what will be viewed as an obsolete dignity in the British

Empire , at a moment when democratic feeliug is so much in the ascendant , will be regarded , except by the charitable and loyal , with jealously and aversion . But this knightly phalanx has a jurisdiction independent in itself ; it is identified with the best interests of men ; it is intertwined with the hearts and habits

ot eight , at least , ot the chief monarchical communities of Christendom ; and the chivalrous spirit which pervaded the Order in olden time will assert its supremacy iu the existing generation . The bond of union in the venerable fraternity of Saint John was ori ginally religious feeling , —the desire to

maintain the institutions of the Christian Faith . Events , to which it is unnecessary to i \ fer , have unhappily arisen to separate the followers of the Cross . But there is another bond of union , second only to the former , namely , social feeling , —the desire to multiply the charitable institutions of Europe .

Philautrophy is ihe first of moral duties as loyalty is the chief of civil obligations An Order , comprised of men who shall '' fear God , honour the king , and love the brethren , " cannot be objected to on any grounds which the patr . otiu and virtuous need consider tenable;—for these principles of communion

are those alone which conduce to individual peace , social concord , and national stability . Iu shaking out , then , from the dust of centuries , the illustrious banner of Saint John once more iu the Graud Priory of the Sixth Language of the Order , let us

hope that the ancient cry which first hailed its erection , "God wills it ! God wills it f—shall not he deemed inapplicable to its second elevation . As at that t . me , infidelity overspreads the heritage of Christ , and an eruption of all the baser principles of

human nature menaces the destruction of whatever is noble and best in the social fabric . The times , morally anil politically , are out of joint ; and need is , that recollections of the past , should renovate the ancestral . sympathies of the nation . That such men were as CJer . ird , Du Puis , De Moulins , Villiers ,

Haps , De l'lsle Adam , Li Valette , Vignacourt , De V'llaret , D'Aubu son , & c ., should not be forgotten , for with them glory , devotion , valour , duty , magnanimity , were us precious as their own existence . These , niiu thousands of their compeers , descended to the tomb , —amid the tears of their fellow

Christians , —leaving the memory of their bright ex unple for posterity to emulate in later ages . Though , then , the Hospitaller ' s trumpet no longer summons to the field the White Cross chivalry of Europe , let it not therefore be supposed that the Order ' s occupation has ceased and determined ; as

noble names are to be acquired throughout Christendom by "deeds of charity , " as have ever been won by the sword on the cannoned deck , or on the tented plain . A reward , too , better than sceptred hands ever conferred , —even the blessings of the sick , the destitute , and the alllicted , —incites to

exertion , and will not fail to accompany it . During , then , many more centuries of tranquilly than rose in which the Order existed in times of warfare , may the divine watchword of the fraternity , "Peace on earth and good-will towards men , " stimulate its

members to active deeds of philanthropy;—and throng .. out the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ may the venerable and trophied " Standard of the Hospitallers" ever lie revered as the rallying point of the humane , the loval , and the religious .

HOI . LOWAY ' PILLS . — Bilious Affections and Stomach complaints induced by atmospheric hcut , or too liberal diet , it not checked at mice are often attended with serious ciinsc <| iieiiccs . When anyone ; finds his ideas less clear than usual , his eyesight dimmed mid his head dizzy , while lie is hnlispH-e . il lor all exertion iiliy-icul or mental , ho

may be sure that he is in immediate need of some cooling mid purifying medicine . Let him send at once for a box of ilolluway ¦ Pills , after u few doses of which his head will bo clear njja n , his spirits be elevated , und all his energies bo restored . Primed directions for the guid . uiee of patients in tlie use of this admirable medicine are affixed to every box . —Anvr .