However, though
the fruits may not at present appear, the seed having been sown, we
may entertain a strong hope that they will show themselves in time.
While an undertaking so gigantic as the diffusion of the English
language throughout India has been attempted, it seems rather
extraordinary that the efforts of the committee should not have
been directed to the same result in Malta, and that the progress of
education should not have been conducted in the language that promised
to prove the most useful to subjects of the British crown; but it
appears that the committee decided otherwise, and complaints are
making, that the instruction now supplied at the schools is of the
most superficial nature, and by no means calculated to produce the
desired end.
Every object in Malta bears witness to the ingenuity and industry of
its inhabitants. The softness of the stone renders it easily cut, and
the Dowager Marchioness of Hastings (who has left imperishable marks
of her desire to benefit those who came under her observation), in
supplying the best designs, has filled the shops of Malta with a
tasteful species of _bijouterie_, which is eagerly sought after by
all the visitors. The carved work of Malta is sold very cheap; but the
same quality, which renders it so easily cut, occasions it to chip,
and, therefore, great care is necessary in packing these fragile
articles.
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