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1885.] made by the committee of management, even when originated and supported by native gentlemen of the highest culture and standing. The most practical of all these proposals was to procure the services of one of the higher officials of the British Museum to reorganise the whole collection, which might easily be done in the handsome building where it is at present located, were the best use made of the numerous apartments at the disposal of the Government; but the cry of the Colonial Office for economy knocked the scheme on the head. Sir Penrose Julyan, in fact, with the best intentions, did the island a serious injury when he made his report upon her finances; and there is no doubt that, had his recommendations been thoroughly carried out, irreparable injury would have been inflicted upon many of those remains of historical grandeur, which so ancient and wealthy a country as England should not hesitate to preserve in their integrity, even at some cost to the national exchequer.

There are few parts of the world so varied in antiquarian interest as Malta. The gigantic Phoenician temples, in size, number, and state of preservation unequalled elsewhere; the Roman villas and tombs; the early Christian crypts and catacombs; the fragments of the work of Norman builders during the Sicilian occupation; and the gorgeous and lavish splendour in carving, painting, tapestry, and other adornments with which the knights decorated churches, palaces, and even hospitals, altogether make up a panorama of the world's architectural progress and decline. That England should add to these grand features is perhaps hardly to be expected; but we may hope that the New Zealander of the future, on his way to view the ruins of London Bridge, will not find every trace of the Knights of Malta obliterated in their ancient stronghold by British utilitarianism.