NEWS AND NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11057, 8 May 1899, Page 3

NEWS AND NEWS.

EPISODES IN ENGLISH HISTORY. DOCUMENTS IS THE VATICAN LIBRARY. Ddking his recent visit to Rome Sir Benja* min Stone obtained permission to photograph various ancient documents preserved in the Vatican Library relating to episodes in English history. Some of these, which have not hitherto been accessible to the general public, save in the abbreviated form, are ot almost romantic interest, as, for instance, a series of MSS. dealing with ecclesiastical events of the reign of Henry VIII., the most important of which is a. treatise signed by His Majesty, in reply to the preachings of Martin Luther, and in vindication of the seven Sacraments. This treatise was sent to special ambassadors for presentation to Pope Leo X., the author having appended in his own handwriting, a famous greeting that "Henry, King of the English, sends this work and witness of faith and friendship to Leo X.;" ami. on receipt of it, the Pope conferred upon Henry VIII. the complimentary title of " Defender of the Faith." a, dignity eonfiimed in 1524 by a further Bull issued by Clement VII. The document last' mentioned is one of the "Ooulden Leagues," foinierly preserved in the Pyx Chapel, Westminster, and is now one 'of the. treasures of the Record office.

A photograph, which may attract- even greater notice, however, is ono reproducing the text of a love-letter in French, written, in the King's own hand, by Henry VIH. to Anne Boleyn. This is signed with a drawing of a heart in which the letters " A. R." appear, and around which is inscribed " H. no other seeks Rox." The following is a translation:— ° " The approach ot the time which I have so long expected rejoices mo so much that it seems almost ready como. However, the entire accomplishment cannot be till the two persons meet, which meeting is more desired by mc than anything in the world; for what joy can be greater upon earth than to have the company of her who is my dearest friend? Knowing likewiso that she does tho same on her part; the thinking on which gives great pleasure. You may judge what an effect the presence of that, person must have on me whose absence has made a greater wound in my heart than either words or writing can express, and which nothing can euro but her return. I beg you, dear mistress, to tell your father from me that I desire him to 'hasten the appointment by two days, that he may bft in Court, before the old term, or at furthest on the day prefixed; for otherwise I shall think he will not- dc the lover's turn (as he said lie would) nor answer my expectation. No more at present, for want of time: hoping shortly that by word of mouth I shall tell you the rest of my sufferings from your absence. Written by the hand of the secretary, who wishes himself at present privately with you; and whojs, and always will be, Your loyal and most assured servant, H. NO OTHER seeks Rex. Other documents of which Sir Benjamin Stone has secured excellent negatives are a petition from Edward 111. to Clement VI., asking for confirmation of tho statutes of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, an order from Urban V. tc the Archbishop of Bordeaux, to see whether Alexandra Dalby, whom the Black Prince has petitioned to bo made Bishop of Bangor, speaks Welsh well enoush to preach, and a petition from Edward HI. to Innocent VI., that the dean, canons, and vicars of the Royal Chapel, which he has founded in the Palace of Westminster, " may freely have continually in the said chapel a baptismal font for the baptism of the cb ; ldren of the Kings of England and of their servants dwelling within the precincts of the said Palace." There is no doubt that the fine font, now to be seen in St. Stephen's crypt, which is devoted to the christening of children born within the precincts of the Palace of Westminster, is the successor of tho font here referred to. While pursuing his investigations at the Vatican Sir Ben. Stone met with the greatest courtesy from the chief librarian and his assist intr, besides receiving valuable help from Mr. Bliss and Mr. Twemlow, who are engaged upon the work of calendaring such of the MSS. as relate to this country for the British Record Office. We understand that he contemplates another eariy visit to Rome for the purpose of continuing his researches. Meanwhile, it is of interest to note that Sir William Hircourt has so far followed in Sir Benjamin's footsteps as to devote a portion of his recent leisure to an examination of the Vatican archives.

THE HUMOURS OF THE NEGUS. Vicomte de Poncins. writing in the Nine.t<cnth Century, en "The Jlenelik Myth,'" endeavours to explode it hy telling his ex-piiic-nres of the Abyssinian King. He says: —"When the Negus talks, hi; ulance is alert, and his sayings often amusing. I have heard him tell the famous tale of the elephant, which was sr. large, that he had j two little elephants to help hiir to carry his tusks. He taught me, too, how the Abyssinians kill the panther; you dig a hole in the ground, and get into it with a, goat, closing the mouth of the holt with your shield. The bleating of the goat attracts the panther, which scratches at tho shield in order to get at its prey. But you I hold the shield fast, and the panther dies I incontinently of rage! On another occai sion he remarked: 'Joshua is said to have ! stopped the sun. That can't be true, and, j besides, no one could prove it, as in his ! day they had no watches. It is much more . likely that he was bored, and thought the I time passed so slowly that the sun must have stopped.' . . . The Negus like to be able to say that he has stamps and a coinage with his effigy upon them, a telephone, a posta' service, and a railway, which is going to connect him with the coast. It is trite that the stamps are sold only to philatelists upon the steamers at Jibuti, that the coinage is not current, that I the telephone wires serve merely as perches j for birds, that the postal service consists of I an india-nihbe. stamp of which Ihe holder, I an enfranchised slave named Gabriel, is so ! pi cud, that he has had himself baptised ' Mjnister of Posts and Telegraphs on the I strength of it, and that the railway is not ' vet completed. Nc matter; Menelik ii ! fluttered. i GERMANY AND AMERICA. THE ADMIRALS AT MANILA. In Harper's Magizine for February, Mr. J. L. Stikney tells the story of the little contretemps at Manila, between Admiral Dewey and Admiral Diederichs, which has been referred to in the cable messages recently. The friction with the Germans after the I American victory over the Spaniards was as i serious as could well be. Admiral Dewey i appears to have borne a good deal of anj noyance patiently until positive informa- , tion one day reached him that a German j vessel had violated neutrality by lauding provisions. Then he sent lor his flag-lieutenant, Brumby, and said : — "I wish you to take the barge and go over to the German flagship. Give AdI miral von Diederichs my compliments, and say that I wish to call his attention to the fact that the vessels of his squadron have shown an extraordinary disregard of the usual courtesies of naval intercourse, and that finally one of them has committed a gross breach of neutrality in landing provisions in Manila, a port which I am hlockad ing." The commodore's voice had been as low and as sweetly modulated as if he had been sending Von Diederichs an invitation to dinner. When he stopped speaking Brumby, who did not need any batter indication of the commodore's mood than the unusually formal and gentle manner of his chief, turned to go, making the usual official salute, and replying with the customary "Ay, ay, sir." And, Brumby," continued the commodore, his voice rising, and ringing with tho intensity of feeling that he felt he had represed about long enough, "Tell Admiral von Diederichs that if he wants a fight ho can have it right now !" The reply was an apology, and an assurance of the German commander's ignorance of the incident.