ORDER OF ST. JOHN.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19524, 22 January 1929, Page 4

ORDER OF ST. JOHN.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS. SIR JOHN HEWETT'S LECTURE. The members of the St. John Ambulance Brigade were inspected last, ereniug in the Brigade room by Sir John Hewett and the Delegation from St. John's Gate. London. Mrs St. John Atkinson was presented with a bouquet by Mrs A." Bishop, Lady Corps Superintendent. Major A. L. Gray. Assistant Commissioner in charge of Canterbury and Westland District, was in control of the parade. The following divisions attended : —Christchurch Nursing, Beckenham Nursing, Selwyn Nursing. Girl Guide Division, Christohurch Ambulance, Christchurch Railway, iLyttelton Railway, and No. 3 Medical Corps Division. The following divisional officers were present: —Miss F. L. Cooper, Mrs M. A. Pyne, Capt. G. Peek, District Superintendent; G. Beeconsall, District. Officer; Mrs A. Bishop, Lady Corps Superintendent; Mr F. Rudd. Corps Superintendent; Mr A. Hoddinott, Corps Storekeeper. The total number on parade was 185 of all ranks. The Brigade moved later to the Jellicoe Hall, where Sir John Hewett, Bailiff Grand Cross of the Order, gave a lecture on the history and work of the Order. Sir John Hewett was introduced by the Deputy-Mayor, Mr D. G. Sullivan, M.P. He said it was a great privilege to introduce two such distinguished heads of the Order as Sir John Hewett and Mrs St. John Atkinson. Anyone who wanted to get an idea of the work done by the organisation would have to have a thorough knowledge of medieval history, ft would not be possible to tell the full history of the Order of the Hospital of St. John to Christianity and Europe. The history of the organisation went back to the year 1023. when a hospital was formed by some Christian merchants at Jerusalem. The St. John Ambulancp Brigade had done magnificent work in the City, and the people of Chr'stchnreh had every reason to be grateful for the work of the nursing and ambulance divisions.

An Ancient Order. Sir John Hewett thanked the chairman for his kindness in presiding at the lecture. The Order, he said, was the oldest Order of chivalry in the world. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, he said, had its origin in Jerusalem about the time the city was taken by the Crusaders in 1099. At the time of the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders there was a small hospital, in which there were two hospices, one for men under Brother Gerard and one for women under Sister Agnes. Brother Gerard introduced for the Brothers a black habit, with a white cross, worn on the left breast over the heart. This was still the badge of the Order. The successor of Gerard, Raymond du Puy, ruled the brethren for forty years. He was a very great man, filled with religious and military zeal, and he gave a military status to the hospitallers, as they were called. Unlike the Knights-Templar, who came into being about this time, the hospitallers of St. John combined with their military status the charitable occupation which was the origin of their society. They had to leave Jerusalem when it was captured by Saladin, but obtained a footing in Acre, when it was captured in the third Crusade. There they established a hospital, but with the fall of Acre in 1291 they lost their foothold in the Holy Land entirely. They went for about twenty years to the Island of Cyprus, and thence to Rhodes, where tbey were sometimes known as the Knights of Rhodes. They were the most serious obstacle to the Turks,- who were the greatest enemies, in those days, of Christianity. In Rhodes the Knights sustained one of the greatest sieges of all times, and successfully beat off the Turks; but eventually, after 200 years residence there, they were compelled to evacuate the Island. The different Princes in Europe began to think that the power of the Knights had gone, and began to plunder their prop?rties; but Charles V. gave them a home in the Island of Malta, where they fortified themselves at St. Elmo, which commanded the two harbours. Here they were again attacked by the Turks, and the siege of Malta was as celebrated as the siege of Rhodes. The Turks were eventually forced to retire. The Knights remained on at Malta, but gradually lost their military character and at Malta, as at Rhodes", they established a celebrated hospital. Eventually Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798, and the Knights were dispersed.

Establishment in England. Iu England, the Order had taken root in the time of Raymond du Puy, and had been given, in 1145, the land in Clirkenwell on which the Grand Priory of the Order now stood. In the middle of the fourteenth century, the Pope confiscated and gave to the Kinghts of St, John all the property of the KnightsTemplar, who bad offended the King of France by their political activities. Two centuries later, the Knights of St. John in England were dissolved and bad their property confiscated by Parliament, because the Grand Master at Malta refused the demand of Henry VIII. that the Order in England must deny the supremacy of the Pope. The Order was restored for a short period under Queen Mary, but all its property was confiscated again by Queen Elizabeth. The English Tongue, or section, of the Order was restored in the nineteenth century, and was granted a Charter of Incorporation by Queen Victoria in 1888 The King was the Sovereign Head of the Order, his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught was Grand Prior, and the Prince of Wales was Grand Prior of Wales, which worked under the general control of the Grand Priory for the British Realm. The Order had adapted its activities to the needs of the present day, in accordance with its motto, "Pro Utihtate Hominum." The objects were the encouragement of all works of humanity and charity in the relief of sieknesa, distress, suffering, and danger, without distinction of race, class, or creed. The Order had under its statutes two foundations; one was the Ophthalmic Hospital in Jerusalem, and the other the St. John Ambulance Association with its auxiliaries: (1) The St. John Ambulance Brigade at home, and (2) The St. John Ambulance Brigade overseas. The Association, was in the position of mother to the Brigade; it taught first, aid, and those who obtained its certificate in this subject were eligible, if men to join the Ambulance Division; if women, to join the Nursing Division, of the Brigade. The St. John Ambulance Association worked in all the States in Australia and New Zealand, and tht Brigade had divisions everywhere, except in Queensland. The services were given free, in the members' own time, and that service was entirely voluntary. Mr D. G. Sullivan thanked Sir Jonn for his address and referred to his work m the Indian Public Service and also to the work of Mrs St. John Atkinson during the war. Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. . Mrs Atkinson then lectured on the lantern slides of the pilgrimage to

Jerusalem in 1936. She did not wish to describe the history of the country, but just wanted to give an account of the journey of the Order Though the pilgrimage had been often discussed it was not till 1926 that they finally set out. The prevailing feeling was one of gratitude for the privilege of being allowed to undertake the journey. A number of slides of Palestine, Cfyprus, and Malta were thrown on the screen. Mr D. G. Sullivan thanked Mrs Atkinson for her interesting lecture. The Hon. Sir Heaton Rhodes then moved a vote of thanks to Sir John Hewett and Mrs Atkinson. He said that both the delegates were fulfilling the precepts of the Order, giving their services without pay and without reward. The vote was carried enthusiastically.