SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
Notice in this column does op: necessarily preclude subsepsenl realm.]
The Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. By H. W. Fincham. (W. H. and L. Collingridge. 6s. net.)—It may have sometimes appeared that an ambulance corps was scarcely an imposing body to carry the weight of all the glorious mediaeval tradition of the Knights Hospitaller. of St. John. First-aid has been the best-known sphere of recent work of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, but the noble record of war work recounted here by the Secretary of the Order, Mr. Edwards (to say nothing of the ophthalmic hospital at Jerusalem, a fitting modern ex- tension of activity), might well stir with pride and sympathy the old knights who fought the Turks at Rhodes, at Malta, and in Palestine. Mr. Fincham's task is evidently a labour of love as well as of antiquarian skill. He gives a short sketch of the beginning and early history of the Order, and an account of the chequered existence of the English " Langue " until it received its present Charter from Queen Victoria. The rest of the book deals with the famous buildings at Clerkonwell. There is a list of the Grand Priors and a bibliography. It is illustrated with photographs of portraits, buildings, seals, &c. On p. 42 the name of the diarist, Henry Dfachyn, is wrongly spelt.
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