310 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 286. 



to the defence of the Catholic faith ; " and the can- 

 didate answered, " So I acknowledge myself." 

 We find them in Rome acting in their original 

 capacity of servants of the poor, or hospitallers. 

 By a peculiarly happy and suitable arrangement, 

 they superintend a military hospital ; and whilst 

 they are real hospitallers, though not military 

 themselves now, they serve the military. 



Near the Ponte Sisto is the hospital called 

 " De cento preti." The building was originally 

 erected as a poor-house by Sixtus V. ; later it was 

 converted into a college, afterwards into a hos- 

 pital for poor ecclesiastics; and being then put 

 under the care of a congregation of a hundred 

 priests, established in 1631 for purely spiritual 

 purposes, it took the name of the congregation, 

 which it still retains. This establishment is now 

 attached to the church of SS. Michele e Magno 

 in Borgo. The building near the Ponte Sisto 

 was opened in 1841 as a military hospital under 

 the Knights of Malta. It contains 500 beds, and 

 the government contributes to the support of the 

 sick soldiers two pauls, or tenpence, per head 

 daily. The spiritual and temporal wants of the 

 soldiers are wonderfully attended to. The average 

 number of sick in the hospital varies from 184 to 

 325 ; but on one occasion it gave admission in four 

 months to 1595 soldiers, of whom only forty-one 

 died. Any one who wishes to interest himself 

 farther in the history of the active life of the 

 Knights of Malta in the Eternal City, may consult 

 Morichini's Istituti di Carita in Roma, vol. i. 

 p. 126., edit. 1842 ; or Regolamenti per lo spedale 

 del S. M. ordine Gerosolimitano sotto la suprema 

 direzione di S. E. il Signor Luogotenente-generale 

 Balio Candida. Rome, 1841. 



In addition to this hospital, the Knights have 

 another establishment in Rome, consisting of a 

 church and preceptory. It stands on the south- 

 west extremity of the Aventine hill, and is called 

 S. Maria del Priorato, or S. Maria Aventina. 

 When Cardinal Rezzonico was Grand Prior of 

 the Order, Clement XIII. made over this church 

 to the Knights, and the cardinal at his private ex- 

 pense put it into its present condition, employing 

 the architect Piranesi. Upon the frieze is the 

 inscription bearing reference to the restoration : 



"Jo. Battista Rezzonico, Magnus Prior, restauravit, 

 A. D. 1765." 



Gregory XVI. gave extended privileges to the 

 Order here established, and the church and con- 

 vent still remain in charge of the Grand Prior, 

 who is usually a cardinal. 



Externally, the Priorato has more the appear- 

 ance of a fortification than a church. In fi-ont of 

 the principal entrance on the south side is a small 

 quadrangle, upon the verge of a precipice, fenced 

 on three sides by a low wall like a bastion, and 

 the south gable bears ornaments rather warlike 



than devotional. Internally, the church consists 

 of nave, transepts, and apsidal sanctuary. The 

 vaulted roof of the nave has in the centre an 

 heraldic group of the armorial bearings and in- 

 signia of the Order of Malta. There are no side 

 chapels, but within arched recesses, four on each 

 side, are monuments chiefly relating to the Order. 

 The third monument on the ritual south side is a 

 large cross in mosaic, on a slab of white marble, 

 surrounded by small crosses and fleurs-de-lys. 

 The fourth bears the figure of a knight in full 

 armour, with a sword at his side. The first on the 

 north side is a knight in armour, hands crossed 

 on the breast, and an inscription of date 1465. 

 The fourth has also the effigy of a knight with his 

 arms crossed on the breast, and an inscription in 

 old characters. Cetrep. 



LATIN VOCABULARY. 



(Vol. xi., p. 242.) 



Amongst the many good qualities of " N. & Q." 

 may be ranked that of enabling its correspondents 

 to give an answer, however imperfect, to such 

 Queries as that of M. I possess a mutilated copy of 

 the work referred to by him, and I have long been 

 anxious to obtain a history of the book in ques- 

 tion.* It has been in my family for, perhaps, a 

 hundred years ; but, as it wants the title-page, I 

 was at a loss to frame a Query respecting the 

 work. It was published in demy octavo, and 

 each compartment of the work was headed by a 

 woodcut illustrative of the subject treated of in 

 the letter-press, which was in double columns, of 

 which that on the left hand of each page was in 

 English,yhile that on the right-hand column was 

 in Latin. In illustration, I have selected a short 

 example, at p. 142., of — 



" PATIENCE. CXIV. PATIENTIA. 



Patientia, 1. 



Tolerat calamitates, 2., et 

 injurias, 3., humiliter ut 

 agnus, 4,, 



Tanquam patemam Dei 

 ferulam, 5. 



Interim innititur Spei 

 AnchorcB, 6. (ut navis, 7., 



Patience, 1., 



Endureth calamities, 2., 

 and wrongs, 3., meekly like 

 a lamb, 4., 



As God's fatherly chas- 

 tisement, 5. 



In the meanwhile she lean- 

 eth upon the Anchor of Hope, 

 6. (as a ship, 7., 



Tossed by waves in the 

 sea). 



She prayeth to God, 8., 

 &c. 



The woodcut represents a female figure kneel- 

 ing on an anchor, with a ship in the background, 

 and the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c. refer to various 

 points illustrated in the woodcut, and referring to 

 the various figures introduced in the letter-press. 

 I have been long anxious to ascertain the title of 

 the book, and the name of its author. I have been 



Marl fluctuans). 

 Deo supplicat, 8.," &c. 



[* By Comenius : noticed in the article which follows.] 



