gna §, No 10., Mar, 8. °56.] 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
197 
East. It is well known that the Romans, under 
the consuls and under the emperors, bore the eagle 
as their chief military standard. ‘he old Persians 
had used it in the same manner; and the first 
Emperor Napoleon, in modern times, adopted it 
for the great French empire which his conquests 
had established. 
The double-headed figure probably originated 
at Constantinople, from which it may have become 
known to Western Europe at the period of the 
Crusades. At least we do not find it used by the 
German emperor before the close of the twelfth 
century, when it was used by Henry VI. From 
the Germanic empire, it passed to the Austrian, 
which is in some sort its successor. The first of 
the Moscovite Czars who assumed it, was Ivan 
Basilovitz in the sixteenth century, to indicate at 
once his descent from a princess of the imperial 
family of the Paleologi (“N. & Q.,” 1° 8. xi. 
312.), and his pretensions to be successor of the 
eastern emperor. Subsequent Moscovite dynas- 
ties continued to bear the same ensign, and by 
alternate force and intrigue have made consider- 
able progress towards realising this claim to the 
throne of Byzantium. 
Presronrensis would have been spared a por- 
tion of his reflections, had he observed that the 
eagle displayed was also the ensign of Poland, on 
whose shield it was borne quartered with the 
bearings of Lithuania; the paternal arms of the 
king occupying an inescutcheon at the intersec- 
tion of the lines of quartering. 
Much of the history of Europe is expressed in 
its heraldry, of which an accurate and compen- 
dious explanation is still a desideratum to students. 
ARTERUS, 
Dublin, January 29, 1856. 
. 
This subject has for some time interested me. 
Will your correspondent Ceyrer supply the au- 
thority for his statement, that such an eagle “ was 
the ensign of the ancient kings of Persia and of 
Babylon ?” W.S. W. 
ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM, 
(1* S, xii, .455,) 
Cerner has stated that “the Order of St. John 
of Jerusalem does not now exist in this country.” 
Whether this assertion be correct or not, some of 
your correspondents can decide. I have seen a 
small pamphlet in which Sir H. Dymoke is re- 
sao to be the Lieutenant Turcopolier of the 
angue of England. In the list of knight com- 
athe ged the name of the Right Hon. Sir 
L, Shadwell, Vice-Chancellor of England. It \is 
also stated in the pamphlet that, — 
“Tn 1660, at the assembly for the election of a Grand 
fourth voice. Field-Marshal the Duke of Berwick, in 
1682, received at Malta the cross from the hands of the 
Grand Master, with the title of Grand Prior of England ; 
and in 1703 the Grand Prior of England went to Rome in 
quality of Ambassador Extraordinary.” 
And at p. 16, is the following information: 
“ Various steps have been taken for resuscitating the 
Order in its several original branches; and in the reign 
of William IV., who was himself a knight, the Langue of 
England was formally revived under commissionary 
powers derived from General Chapters of the Order, law- 
fully constituted under the bulls of the Sovereign Council. 
The proceedings in this matter, which commenced in 
1826, were finally consummated on the 24th of March, 
1834, by the Grand Prior, the late Sir Robert Peat, 
having openly qualified himself for office, in the Court of 
King’s Bench, before the Lord Chief Justice Denman, 
under the royal letters patent incorporating the Langue 
of England, which are for ever binding upon the crown, 
its heirs, and successors.” 
There is given a copy of the letters patent of the 
4th and 5th Phil. et Mar., incorporating the Order 
of St. John of Jerusalem in England, and at the 
end of the pamphlet are these words : 
“The above royal letters patent bear date at Green- 
wich, on the 2nd day of April, 1557, being the fourth and 
fifth years of the reign of King Philip and Queen Mary ; 
since which time the Corporation, having had in the + 
Order an unfailing succession, has never become extinct.” 
T have also seen a document purporting to ap- 
point an English gentleman a knight of justice of 
the Order. It is affirmed therein that he was 
elected by the members of the Order representing 
the English nation, having had the necessary 
powers conferred by the Baillies, &c., comprising 
the Languages of Provence, Auvergne, France, 
and Spain, being a majority of the eight lan- 
guages of the Order constituted, &ec., and pur- 
suant to the authority of the lieutenant of the 
Grand Master, and the sovereign decision of the 
Grand and Sacred Council residing at the Chef 
Lieu of Catania, in the Island of Sicily, bearing 
date the 10th day of August, 1814. What were 
“the necessary powers” alluded to in the docu- 
ment, constituting the English gentleman a knight 
of the Order, and where the official record issued 
by the authorities at Catania in 1814 is to be 
found, are questions of some interest. Perhaps 
some of your readers will enlighten us as to 
whether the Order really has been re-established 
by the authority of the foreian branches. Z. 
GALILEE, 
2" , i, 131.) 
With great deference I venture to put forth a 
conjecture of my own, in addition, and in oppo- 
sition, to those which Ceyrer has brought for- 
ward in his very interesting note on this vexed 
Master, the Knights of the Langue of Ungland had a | question. From the authorities quoted by Cerner 
