'Pius IX.,' while in the circle round it are the words: ' Virtuti et Merito.. The reverse shows the inscription ' Anno MDCCCXLVII,' (Tab. IV. No. 18).
The Knights of the second class wear the Order upon the right side of the breast, suspended by a dark blue ribbon with red borders, while the Knights of the first class who formerly carried it by a mbbon round the neck, and, by special permission, accompanied by a star (No. 17) upon the left breast; are now, by a Bull issued at Gaeta on the 17th June, 1849, enjoined to wear the badge across the right shoulder towards the left hip, suspended by a broad ribbon, and accompanied by the star, which may, by permission, also be adorned with precious stones. The costume for both classes, is a blue coat with red facings, and gold embroidery.
THE ORDER OF ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.
After the fall of Napoleon, Pope Pius VII. having restored this Order, and the deputy Grand Master having established his head-quarters at Rome in 1831, a considerable portion of its previous possessions at Parma, Lucca, Tuscany, Piedmont, and in the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, was restored to the Order in 1839, as we have already mentioned under the head of Austria; and we will here only allude to the Bull of Pope Pius IX. of the 28th July, 1854, in which he in so far altered the statutes, by introducing a sort of noviceship in the Order for the space of ten years, during which time the candidate may alter his mind and resign the Order, which binds him to vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. The candidate makes, in the first instance, only a simple vow of poverty and obedience, but not of perpetual chastity, which is reserved for the solemn procession, after the lapse of ten years' probation.
