From the date and superscription of the above truly Catholic letter, it will be seen that it was written about the period of the Reformation in England, and addressed to the Grand Master of an Order, which for four centuries had been at all times engaged in Paynim war; and won for itself among the Catholic powers of Europe, by its many noble and daring achievements, the style and title of being the "bulwark of the Christian faith." Bound as the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem were in all ages to pay a perfect obedience to the Roman Pontiffs, it is not surprising that this should be the last letter which we have found filed away in the archives of their Order, bearing the autograph of Henry VIII. WILLIAM WINTHROP. La Valetta, Malta. [Footnote 5: H. M. Henry VIII. was certainly labouring under an error, when supposing that the islands of Malta and Gozo "were strongly fortified by nature, and excellently adapted for repelling the attacks of the infidels;" as in truth nature had done nothing for their defence, unless it be in furnishing an abundance of soft stone with its yellow tinge, of which all their fortifications are built. When L'Isle Adam landed at Malta in October, 1530, it was with the rank of a monarch; and when, in company with the authorities of the island, "he appeared before its capital, and swore to protect its inhabitants, the gates of the old city were opened, and he was admitted with the knights; the Maltese declaring to them their fealty, without prejudice to the interests of Charles V., to whom they had heretofore been subject." Never, since the establishment of the Order, had the affairs of the Hospitallers appeared more desperate than at this period. For the loss of Rhodes, so famed in its history, so prized for its singular fertility, and rich and varied fruits; an island which, as De Lamartine so beautifully expressed it, appeared to rise "like a bouquet of verdure out of the bosom of the sea," with its groves of orange trees, its sycamores and palms; what had L'Isle Adam received in return, but an arid African rock, without palaces or dwellings, without fortifications or inland streams, and which, were it not for its harbours, would have been as difficult to hold as it would have been unworthy of his acceptance. (Vertot.)