LOOKING BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 67, 20 March 1937, Page 19

LOOKING BACK.

NOTABLE EVENTS.

BURNT FOR HERESY.

SEXT WEEK'S ANNIVERSARIES

IP.j M. P. WITATMAX.)

Although the complete record of pjihnp ( :.i;i'iier"s life is not altogether credit.i!'"i' :•■ liini, lie won the respect and admiration of posterity for his nob'e b. liner when he was burnt at the stake for 'ifresy on March 21, 1556. In that orden's he was brave and steadfast, hearing :>oi.h humiliation and pain with serene C'mposure. As the billing servitor of Henry "VTII., Cranmcr ni<led his Royal master in his matriin- ni.i! intrigues. He suggested a means ft ?f-curing a divorce from his first wi'c. annulled Henry's marriage with Anne Boleyn, divorced him from Anne of Cleves. and was always a pliable judge in Henry' 3 interests. After Henry's death Cranmer played a leading part in placing the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey on the throne.. On Mary's accession Cranmer was thrown into tile Tower and charged with treason, to which he pleaded guiltv. He was, however, reserved for trial* as a herein-. In March, 1534, he was removed with Ridley and Latimer to the'common gaol, and Oxford, and seven months lateral* his two companions. ied forth for execution. After judgment had been pronounced upon him Cramner lost his i.orye and signed seven forms of recantation, each more submissive than its predecessor.

On the ' morning that lie .signed the last of these he was taken ont'to die. When they looked for him to read his recantation, instead he retracted all that 'for fear of death" his hand had written "contrary to the truth." With a cheerful countenance he then hastened to the stake, and, fire being put to him, thrust his right hand into the flame and kept it there, crying: "This hath offended! Oh, this unworthy hand!" Royal Tour Ended. While the crowd of about 200 people crin-ed from the biting wind and drenching rain on the wharf at the" liiuff. the little tu-jr. Theresa Ward, bearing His Royal Highness the Duke of York, now King George VI., stood out 1 to where H.M.S. Renown was waiting to take him home. On board the great battle-liij, was the Duchess, who, to the great disappointment of the people of the South Island, had been unable to tour that part of the Dominion. it was on March 22. 1027, that the Royal train, drawn by the famous engine. Tasschendaele," brought the Duke to the Rluff, after a month's tour of the Dominion. After leaving the train, he received his last address of welcome in New Zealand. That brief ceremony over, he boarded, H.M.& Diomede to make the journey to the Renown, which was dimly visible through the haze two miles out to sea.

On account of the heavy sea running, it was decided that the transfer of the Royal party from th»; Diomede to the Renown was too and the services of the little tug Theresa Ward were called in. The JKoyal Standard invite down from the mast of the Diomedfc to appear fluttering from the mast of the tug. As the Theresa Ward butted into the gale His Royal Highness stood smilingind waving on the bridge while the crowd on shore fluttered their handkerchiefs in reply. A memorable tour was ended. .-.-..• AnhivetMiry of the South. Pipes'--WW skirl in the provinces of Southland and Otago on Tuesday next *or it is their anniversary day. it was on March 23, 1848. that "the Otago pilgrims arrived at Part Chalmers and it was on March 28, 1861, that a New Zealand Gazette notice proclaimed Sonth--land a province with Invercargill as its capital It was no deserted shore to.which the John Wycliff brought the Otago pilgrims under Captain Gargili. Whalers, sealers and casual. sailors were responsible for a settlement at Port Chalmers with a population of about 100. There was even a pilot. It is true, however, that the settlement must date from the arrival of the John Wycliff. They were the first colonists in the organised and constructive sense of the word and it was their leader. Captain Cargiß."tl«er the first Superintendent of Otago. "who was the real founder of the province. Southland, then known as Murihiku, was seething with discontent in the, late 'fifties. Complaints were rife of the greed of the provincial authorities at Dunedin and of the neglect' with which the luckless southern,., district. was treated when there was nothing to be made by consideration. An increasingly powerful movement grew up for the subdivision of Otago in the interests of the southern squatters. The Otago settlers were anxious, for obvious reasons, that their province should not lose so valuable asset as the southern district* .In 1858} a public meeting was held m Dunedin to draw up a memorial against any proposal- to separate the districts. This was countered by a public meeting in-Invercargill. Finally, the Southlanders. ably and vigorously led- bjf ;the man who was to he their first Superintendent, Dr. J. A. R. Menzies, were victorious and the new province was born.

Mode of Beethoven. For a man, wholly deaf, to write music of the enduring beauty of the works of Ludwijr van Beethoven must always remain one of the miracles of the history of music. Beethoven, who was born in 1770. was the son of a tenor singer in the Elector's choir at Bonn and underwent a sound training in his chosen art. He was no infant prodigy, his first symphony dating from his 31st year.

Beethoven's symphonies are played as much now as ever in the past. The *arae is true of his quartets and trios. His sonatas are not only the test of the great masters; but they are also the indispensable material by which thousands of humble pianoforte stndents are taught; yet nobody ever tires of them.

The reason for this is partly the nature of the thoughts, apart from the extraordinary energy and the stern consciousness which animates and control* tliem. and which are synonymous with his name. They are always noble, simple, unpretentious," and yet containing a depth of meaning which is eve* fr«sb. Thev are also free frox*, affectation or; passing triviality, seeding to reach down to the common basisOf k*uuanity : —that which lie* at the fiotiom of wry heart, and thus his melodies hav£ Of**". a surprisingly fresh.. and! Jflfi4sni-&*&*i-as if made yesterday. Beethoven was only W y«*ra of aga when he died -on March 2C, 1827,