so many contemporaries coulde distinguishe ye fanci- | Willibald, I know of a fox who is ten times the falle from ye fictitious, Plato's object coulde never greater rogue; for, look you, he helps himself to many have beene to deceive. There is something higher in a fat hen from my roost without ever offering to pay art than gross imitation. He who attempteth it is me. But tell me now, dear father, is it then a sin to always the leaste successfull; and his failure hath the eat fowls ?' 'Most assuredlie it is,' says the monk, 'it edium of a discovered lie; whereas, to give an avow-you indulge in them to gluttony.' 'Ah! if, if!' quoth edlie fabulous narrative a consistence within itselfe Pirkheimer. If stands stiff, as the Laccdemonians which permitts ye reader to be, for ye time, volun- told Philip of Macedon; and 'tis not by eating bread tarilie deceived, is as artfulle as it is allowable. Were alone, my dear father, you have acquired that huge I to construct a tale, I woulde, as you sayd to Cecy, paunch of yours. I fancy, if all the fat fowls that lie with a circumstance, but shoulde consider it noe have gone into it coulde raise theire voices and cackle compliment to have my unicorns and hippogriffs taken at once, they woulde make noise enow to drown ye for live animals. Amicus Plato, amicus Socrates, drums and trumpets of an army.' Well may Luther magis tamen amica veritas. Now, Plato had a much say," continued Erasmus, laughing, "that theire higher aim than to give a very pattern of Socrates fasting is easier to them than our eating to us; seeing his suub nose. He wanted a peg to hang his thoughts that every man Jack of them hath to his evening meal upon" two quarts of beer, a quart of wine, and as manic as he can eat of spice cakes, the better to relish his drink. While I... 'tis true my stomach is Lutheran, but my heart is Catholic; that's as heaven made me, and I'll be judged by you alle, whether I am not as thin as a weasel."

"A per? A statue by Phidias," interrupts Erasmus.

"A statue by Phidias, to clothe in ye most beautiful drapery," sayth father; "no matter that ye drapery was his own, he wanted to show it to the best advantage, and to ye honour rather than prejudice of the statue. And, having clothed ye same, he got a spark of Prometheus his fire, and made the aforesayd statue walk and talk to the glory of gods and men, and sate himself quietlie down in a corner. By the way, Desiderius, why shouldst thou not submitt thy subtletie to the rules of a colloquy? Set Eckius and Martin Luther by the ears! Ha! man, what sport! Heavens! if I were to compound a tale or a dialogue, what crotches and quips of mine own woulde I not putt into my puppets' mouths! and then have out my laugh behind my vizard, as when we used to act burlesques before Cardinall Morton. What rare sporte we had, one Christmas, with a muramery we called the Triall of Feasting!' Dinner and Supper were broughte up before my Lord Chief Justice, charged with murder. Theire accomplices were Plum-pudding, Mince-pye, Surfeit, Drunkenness, and suchlike. Being condemned to hang by ye neck, I, who was Supper, stuft out with I cannot tell you low manie pillows, began to call lustilie for a confessor; and, on his stepping forthe, commenct a list of all y fitts, convulsions, spasms, payns in ye head, and so forthe, I had inflicted on this one and t' other. 'Alas! good father,' says I, 'King John layd his death at my door;—indeede, there's scarce a royall or Loble house that hath not a charge agaynst me; and I'm sorelie afrayd' (giving a poke at a fat priest that sate at my lord cardinall's elbow) I shall have the death of that holy man to answer for.""

'Twas now growing dusk, and Cecy's tame hares were just beginning to be on ye alert, skipping across our path, as we returned towards the house, jumping over one another, and raysing 'emselves on theire hind legs to solicitt our notice. Erasmus was amused at theire gambols, and at our making them beg for vine-tendrils; and father told him there was hardlie a member of ye householde who had not a dumb pet of some sort. "I encourage the taste in them," he sayd, "not onlie because it fosters humanitie and affords harmlesse recreation, but because it promotes habitts of forethought and regularitic. No child or servant of mine hath liberty to adopt a pet which he is too lazy or nice to attend to himself. A little management may enable even a young gentlewoman to do this, without soyling her hands; and to negleckt giving them proper food at proper times entayls a disgrace of which everie one of 'em w be ashamed. But, hark! there is the vesper-bell."

As we passed under a pear-tree, Erasmus told us, with much drolleric, of a piece of boyish mischief of his,—the theft of some pears off a particular tree, the fruit of which the superior of his convent had meant to reserve to himself. One morning, Erasmus had climbed the tree, and was feasting to his great content, when he was aware of the superior approaching to catch him in ye fact; soe, quicklie slid down to the ground, and made off in ye opposite direction, limping as he went. The malice of this act consisted in its being the counterfeit of the gait of a poor lame lay Erasmus laughed, and sayd, "Did I ever tell you brother, who was, in fact, smartlie punisht for Erasmus of the retort of Willibald Pirkheimer? A monk, his misdeede. Our friend mentioned this with a kinde aring him praise me somewhat lavishly to another, of remorse, and observed to my father," Men laugh could not avoid expressing by his looks great disgust at the sins of young people and little children, as if and dissatisfaction; and, on being askt whence they they were little sins; albeit, the robbery of an apple arse, confest he cd not, with patience, heare ye com- or cherry-orchard is as much a breaking of the eighth mendation of a man soe notoriously fond of eating commandment as the stealing of a leg of mutton from jowls. 'Does he steal them?' says Pirkheimer. a butcher's stall, and ofttimes with far less excuse. 'Surely no,' says ye monk. Why, then,' quoth Our Church tells us, indeede, of venial sins, such as

the theft of an apple or a pin; but, I think," (looking hard at Cecilie and Jack,) "even the youngest among us could tell how much sin and sorrow was brought into the world by stealing an apple."

At bedtime, Bess and I did agree in wishing that alle learned men were as apt to unite pleasure with profit in theire talk as Erasmus. There be some that can write after ye fashion of Paul, and others preach like unto Apollos; but this, methinketh, is scattering seed by the wayside, like the great Sower.

they had beene conversing ye present state of ye Church, and how much it needed renovation.

Erasmus sayd, ye vices of ye Clergy and ignorance of ye vulgar had now come to a poynt, at the which, a remedie must be founde, or ye whole fabric w falle to pieces.

-Sayd, the revival of learning seemed appoynted by heaven for some greate purpose, 'twas difficulte to say how greate.

-Spake of ye new art of printing, and its possible consequents.

Of ye active and fertile minds at present turning up new ground and ferreting out old abuses. -Of the abuse of monachism, and of ye evil lives of conventualls. In special, of ye fanaticism and hypocrisie of ye Dominicans.

Considered y evills of ye times such, as that societie must shortlic, by a vigorous effort, shake 'em off.

Wondered at ye patience of the laitie for soe manie generations, but thoughte 'em now waking from theire sleepe. The people had of late beganne to know theire physickall power, and to chafe at ye weighte of theire

Thoughte the doctrine of indulgences altogether bad and false.

'Tis singular, the love that Jack and Cecy have for one another; it resembleth that of twins. Jack is not forward at his booke; on ye other hand, he hath a resolution of character which Cecy altogether wants. Last night, when Erasmus spake of children's sins, I observed her squecze Jack's hand with alle her mighte. I know what she was thinking of. Having bothe beene forbidden to approach a favourite part of ye river bank which had given way from too much use, one or ye other of 'em transgressed, as was proven by ye smalle footprints in ye mud, as well as by a nosegay of flowers, that grow not, save by the river; to wit, purple loose-strife, crcam-and-codlins, scorpion-yoke. grass, water plantain, and the like. Neither of 'em woulde confesse, and Jack was, therefore, sentenced to be whipt. As he walked off with Mr. Drew, I observed Cecy turn soe pale, that I whispered father I was certayn she was guilty. He made answer, "Never mind, we cannot beat a girl, and 'twill answer ye same purpose; in flogging him we flog both." Jack bore the firste stripe or two, I suppose, well enow, but at lengthe we hearde him cry out, on which Cecy coulde not forbeare to doe ye same, and then stopt bothe her ears. I expected everie moment to heare her say, "Father, 'twas I;" but no, she had not courage for that; onlie, when Jack came forthe all smirked with tears, she put her arm aboute his neck, and they walked off together into the nuttery. Since that hour, she hath beene more devoted to him than ever, if possible; and he, boy-like, finds satisfaction in making her his little slave. But the beauty lay in my father's improvement of ye circunstance. Taking Cecy on his knee that evening, (for she was not ostensiblie in disgrace,) he beganne to talk of atonement and mediation for sin, and who it was that bare our sins for us on the tree. 'Tis thus he turns ye daylie accidents of our quiet lives into lessons of deepe import, not pedanticallie delivered, ex cathcdrâ, but welling forthe from a full and fresh mind.

This morn I had risen before dawn, being minded to meditate on sundrie matters before Bess was up and doing, she being given to much talk during her dressing, and made my way to ye pavillion, where, methought, I sd be quiet enow; but beholde! father and Erasmus were there before me, in fluent and earneste discourse. I wd have withdrawne, but father, without interrupting his sentence, puts his arm rounde me and draweth me to him, soe there I sit, my head on 's shoulder, and mine eyes on Erasmus his face.

From much they spake, and other much I guessed,

Father sayd, that ye graduallie increast severitie of Church discipline concerning minor offences had become such as to render indulgences y needfulle remedie for burthens too heavie to be borne.-Condemned a Draconic code, that visitted even sins of discipline with ye extream penaltie.—Quoted how ill such excessive severitie answered in our owne land, with regard to ye civil law; twenty thieves oft hanging together on ye same gibbet, yet robberie noe whit abated.

Othermuch to same purport, ye which, if alle set downe, woulde too soone fill my libellus. At length, unwillinglie brake off, when the bell rang us to matins.

At breakfaste, William and Rupert were earneste with my father to let 'em row him to Westminster, which he was disinclined to, as he was for more speede, and had promised Erasmus an earlie caste to Lambeth; howbeit, he consented that they s pull us up to Putney in ye evening, and William s have ye strokeoar. Erasmus sayd, he must thank ye archbishop for his present of a horse; "tho' I'm full faine," he observed, "to believe it a changeling. He is idle and gluttonish, as thin as a wasp, and as ugly as sin. Such a horse, and such a rider!"

In the evening, Will and Rupert had made 'emselves spruce enow, with nosegays and ribbons, and we tooke water bravelie;John Harris in ye stern, playing the recorder. We had ye six-oared barge; and when Rupert Allington was tired of pulling, Mr. Clement tooke his oar; and when he wearied, John Harris gave over playing ye pipe; but William and Mr. Gunnel never flagged.

Erasmus was full of his visitt to ye archbishop, who, as usuall, I think, had given him some money.

"We sate down two hundred to table," sayth he:

Landing at Fulham, we had a brave ramble thro' ye meadows. Erasmus, noting ye poor children a gathering ye dandelion and milk-thistle for the herbmarket, was avised to speak of forayn herbes and theire uses, bothe for food and medicine.

"there was fish, flesh, and fowl; but Wareham onlie, and profounde enow for ye church, albeit noe churchplayed with his knife, and drank noe wine. He was man; I woulde have a blythe, stirring, English wife, very cheerfulle and accessible; he knows not what and half-a-dozen merrie girls and boys, an English pride is; and yet, of how much mighte he be proude! homestead, neither hall nor farm, but betweene both; What genius! what erudition! what kindnesse and neare enow to ye citie for convenience, but away from modesty! From Wareham, who ever departed in its noise. I woulde have a profession, that gave me some hours daylie of regular businesse, that s let men know my parts, and court me into publick station, for which my taste made me rather withdrawe. I woulde have such a private independence, as sd enable me to give and lend, rather than beg and borrow. I woulde encourage mirthe without buffoonerie, ease without negligence; my habitt and table shoulde be simple, and for my looks I woulde be neither tall nor short, fat nor lean, rubicund nor sallow, but of a fayr skin with blue eyes, brownish beard, and a countenance engaging and attractive, soe that alle of my companie coulde not choose but love me.'

"For me," says father, "there is manie a plant I entertayn in my garden and paddock which ye fastidious woulde cast forthe. I like to teache my children ye uses of common things-to know, for instance, ye uses of ye flowers and weeds that grow in our fields and hedges. Manie a poor knave's pottage woulde be improved, if he were skilled in ye properties of ye burdock and purple orchis, lady's- Why, then, you woulde be father himselfe," cries smock, brook-lime, and old man's pepper. The roots Cecy, clasping his arm in bothe her hands with a kind of wild succory and water arrow-head mighte agree-of rapture, and, indeede, ye portraiture was soe like, able change his Lenten diet; and glasswort afford we coulde not but smile at ye resemblance. Lim a pickle for his mouthfulle of salt-meat. Then, there are cresses and wood-sorrel to his breakfast, and salep for his hot evening mess. For his medicine, there is herb-twopence, that will cure a hundred ills; camomile, to lull a raging tooth; and the juice of buttercup to cleare his head by sneezing. Vervain cureth ague; and crowfoot affords ye leaste painfulle of blisters. St. Anthony's turnip is an emetic; goosegrass sweetens the blood; woodruffe is good for the liver; and bind-weed hath nigh as much virtue as forayn scammony. Pimpernel promoteth laughter; and poppy, sleep: thyme giveth pleasant dreams; and an ashen branch drives evil-spirits from ye pillow. As for rosemarie, I lett it run alle over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because 'tis the herb sacred to remembrance, and, therefore, to friendship, whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language that maketh it ye chosen emblem at our funeral wakes, and in our burial grounds. Howbeit, I am a schoolboy prating in presence of his master, for here is John Clement at my elbow, who is the best botanist and herbalist of us all."

-Returning home, ye youths being warmed with rowing, and in high spiritts, did entertayn themselves and us with manie jests and playings upon words, some of 'em forced enow, yet provocative of laughing. Afterwards, Mr. Gunnel proposed enigmas and curious questious. Among others, he woulde know which f ye famous women of Greece or Rome we maidens ** resemble. Bess was for Cornelia, Daisy for Clelia, if I for Damo, daughter of Pythagoras, which Wiliam Roper deemed stupid enow, and thoughte I nighte have found as good a daughter, that had not ed a maid. Sayth Erasmus, with his sweet, inexpressible smile, "Now I will tell you, lads and lasses, Saat manner of man I wd be, if I were not Erasmus. I woulde step back some few years of my life, and be balf-way 'twixt thirty and forty; I would be pious

Arrived at ye landing, father protested he was wearie with his ramble, and, his foot slipping, he wrenched his ankle, and sate for an instante on a barrow, the which one of ye men had left with his garden-tools, and before he crise or cry out, William, laughing, rolled him up to ye house-door; which, considering father's weight, was much for a stripling to doe. Father sayd the same, and, laying his hand on Will's shoulder with kindnesse, cried, "Bless thee, my boy, but I woulde not have thee overstrayned, like Biton and Clitobus."

(To be continued.)

MALTA.

BY A FRENCHMAN.

THE islands of the Mediterranean present to the eyc of the voyager as he floats past on some soft breezy day nearly every variety of natural scenery,—green valleys, cool forests and blue mountains, with here and there, as if to increase the effect of the beautiful, naked and arid rocks. Gibraltar, which has been often described, partakes of the latter character, and we propose in the present paper to condense the observations of a recent French traveller upon another rock in the same sea, not less remarkable for its physical peculiarities, the manners of its inhabitants, and the events of which it has been the theatre. As our title imports, we allude to Malta; and the remarks of a foreigner, upon what he heard and saw in the little British dependency, will perhaps possess more of piquancy and variety than could be expected from a native writer.

This island was first taken possession of by the Phoenicians 1519 years before the birth of Christ : they held it for 784 years, when the Greeks, who had just founded one of their most important colonies at

scene of their former triumphs, others followed Napoleon's banner, and the greater number dispersed themselves over Europe. A few weeks afterwards, Malta was blockaded by Nelson. The result of this blockade is well known. The French garrison capitulated after having lost nearly one half of their number by discase and famine; from which period the Maltese have lived quietly under English rule.

Syracuse, made themselves masters of the Phoenician | Some of the aged knights remained to die on the settlement, to which they gave the name of Melita, because of the delicious honey obtained there. During the wars between Carthage and Rome, the former power took the island from the Greeks, and was afterwards in turn driven out by the Romans, who lost it for a time, but took permanent possession in the year 216 before Christ. Their domination lasted more than six centuries. In the year 58 of the Christian era, St. Paul, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, was wrecked at Malta, and embraced the opportunity to make the truths of the gospel known to the natives. And it is interesting to know that the catacombs yet to be seen at Cita-Vecchia, and which have survived the assaults of the Vandals, Goths, and others, who succeeded the Romans, are supposed to be places in which the early Christians devoted themselves to the practice of their religion.

In the year 833, Malta fell into the power of the Saracens. Two hundred years later it was annexed to Sicily, under the government of Roger, youngest of the twelve sons of Tancred, who conquered it on their return from the Holy Land. In 1194, Henry VI. of France took Malta and Sicily from the Normans; and afterwards, in 1226, Charles of Anjou subjugated the two islands, as part of the conquest of Naples. The Sicilian Vespers, on the 30th March, 1283, put an end to the French dominion in Sicily, which, with Malta, was seized by Pedro of Arragon, and made a dependency of Spain for 246 years. A common fate appears to have attended the two islands, but in 1526 a career of glory and independence opened for the rock of Malta, which thenceforth ranked among the most memorable places of the carth. In that year the Knights Hospitallers established themselves upon the island.

Seen from a distance, Malta resembles a pedestal of white marble, broad oblong, slightly elevated above the surface of the waves, waiting as it were to receive some gigantic statue. On drawing nearer, the immense mass of stone assumes a definite outline, without losing any thing of its nakedness and angularity, and at length a city of white houses, without visible roofs or windows, appears as though excavated in the glittering rock. The sun's rays sparkle on ! the dazzling walls, whose upper lines cut the deep blue sky with a distinctness that excites a stranger's astonishment. The newly arrived traveller imagines! himself approaching one of the often dreamed-of Eastern cities, and looks above the ramparts for the graceful and tapering stem of the palm-tree, an essential accessory of every oriental landscape; but not a tree is to be seen; no tint of spring relieves the dry and monotonous picture. After passing beneath some formidable batteries, you enter the port, and find yourself unexpectedly under the guns of several men of war, lying solemnly at anchor. Scarcely have you recovered from the effect of this first surprise than a new one awaits you-a nautical joust. At the sight of the packet entering the port, a hundred boats of elegant build and brilliant colours, manned by rowers in white vests, with scarlet girdles, put off from every part of the quays, and challenging each other to speed, scem to fly along the water to the vessel, round which they are soon congregated. Then begins an uproar of which it is scarcely possible to give an idea. The swarthy boatmen, with Arab eyes and pointed teeth, utter the most extraordinary cries, quarrelling all the while in their vivacious yet guttural language, offering their services on every side, careless of the unsparing use of a rope's end, and at last, ir spite of opposition and Britannic gravity, carry you off to the shore with bag and baggage.

The Hospitallers was one among the many halfmilitary, half religious orders, which originated in the fervour and enthusiasm of the middle ages. On the expulsion of the knights from Rhodes, they petitioned the emperor Charles V. to cede to them the island of Malta, promising to repress the audacity of the African corsairs who then infested the Mediterranean. Pope Clement VII. supported their request, which was granted after four years' delay; one of the conditions being that they should present a falcon every ycar to the viceroy of Sicily, in token of homage. During the 267 years that they held possession of the island, the chief authority was exercised by a suc-pass through a number of paved and vaulted posterns, cession of twenty-eight grand masters, under one of whom, Jean de La Valette, occurred the memorable siege of Malta by the Turks, of which it has been said that it only required a Homer to become as famous as that of Troy: never was human courage, or human vengeance, carried to a higher extreme.

In June 1798 Napoleon stopped at Malta, on his way to Egypt with the French fleet, and asked permission of the grand master, Ferdinand de Hompesch, to water the ships. The request was refused, and the next day the French took possession of the island, and the power of the Hospitallers was at an end.

The quays are narrow, and to ascend to the city, rising in stages above your head, you are obliged to

1

to cross draw-bridges, and to mount the long stone stairs under a scorching sun; where at every step you encounter a tall, pale, lean, stiff, red-coated English sentry, or a handsome Highlander with bare legs, pacing gravely up and down, musket on shoulder and claymore on thigh. Every thing betokens the melancholy and sombre fortress; but, when on the platform, you are again in a street full of life, animation, and gaiety. The spectacle which presents itself is perfectly unique. In all that surrounds you, you perceive the most singular medley of English luxury and Italian misery; northern phlegm, and southern vivacity. The i

street is broad, straight, and regular; the houses are | island, such as the Floriane, and the governor's all of the same height and colour, with gay shops garden, not a particle of vegetable carth existed; the thrown in here and there; and the pavement is thronged Maltese borrowed soil from Sicily, fetching it from with people. In this crowd the Maltese ladies, with the environs of Syracuse, and spreading the productive their thickly plaited black mantillas, glowing eyes, layer over the polished surface of their rock. This dark hair, and Andalusian feet, elbow the starched process, which could only be successfully accomplished English dames, who walk with downcast eyes, flaxen by rich proprietors for pleasure-gardens, was too hair, and feet on which you might sleep standing. costly for the poor peasants, who had neither money Half-naked Sicilian sailors, with every species of arms nor vessels, and they effected by ingenuity what and uniform, Levanters in oriental costume, busy could not have been realized by any other means at merchants, splendid equipages rolling past, magnifi- their disposal. After tracing out a regular section. cent Arabian horses shaking their long manes as they of the surface, they excavate and remove the rock to gallop, beaux who strut and beggars who skulk,—all are a depth of nearly two feet, with iron wedges; taking mingled, crowded and confused around you. The care to preserve the small portions of earth found in multitude speaks all languages. With the English the fissures. When the excavation is complete, they hiss you hear the lively voice of a Frenchman; and spread alternate layers of this earth and of rock dust an Arab from Tunis discourses gravely by the side inside to a thickness of eighteen inches; the whole of an Italian who gesticulates. The shops are filled is then watered and left exposed for a year to the with merchandise from every country: tailors from action of the sun and air. With the pieces of rock London, perfumers from Paris, cafetiers from Greece, dug out of the opening they build a wall around it, and porters from Smyrna live in mutual good under- and it is the number and appearance of these walls standing in the Grande-Rue. Stately hotels, excellent which present so extraordinary a spectacle to a in appearance and well kept, display their rival signs stranger. The whole island is covered with them, on all sides to the eyes of the traveller. Life in and they protect the little artificial plots from the Malta is easy, inexpensive, and carelessly elegant. violence of winds and the inundations that frequently A large number of young and rich English officers happen. At the end of the year the owner ploughs indemnify themselves there for their expatriation by his land with a little plough worthy the primitive all the enjoyments of luxury, and keep up the jovial times; sometimes drawn by two oxen, but more customs which the knights, for their part, imported frequently by two asses. Cotton, wheat, vegetables, before them. A multitude of travellers arriving from and particularly melons, are cultivated with success. every quarter of the globe, and obliged to sojourn in the island, either waiting for ships, or performing quarantine, create much stir at the hotels, and a great sale of all the little indulgences which compensate for privations and the ennui of a long voyage. An excellent course of geography and commerce might be constructed by following carefully the conversations, often peculiarly interesting, which take place round the tables d'hôte at Malta.

The island supports about half of its population, which numbers 114,000, all Roman Catholics, except about 300 Jews and Turks, and the English: the latter are in a proportion of one in twenty-five to the other inhabitants. Although at first sight Malta is entirely bare, it is not altogether deprived of trees. Fig, lemon, and pomegranate trees grow here and there, half hidden by the walls of the inclosures: neither must the trees be forgotten on which grow During the ten days that I stayed at Malta, the ruddy-coloured fruits known as Maltese oranges; waiting for the steam-boat in which I intended to these are said to be the result of a pomegranate continue my voyage to Greece, I passed all my time grafted on an orange-tree. Without Sicily, the in riding about the island on pretty little Arabian Maltese could not exist; and it is a delightful sight horses, which may be hired in the city at a cheap rate. every morning to see the arrival of the speronari— The country, if such it can be called, presents a most little vessels-in the port, laden with Sicilian roses, extraordinary appearance, being all artificial. On fruits from Catania, or snow from Etna. Notwithgoing out of the city for the first time, the stranger standing its barrenness, the Maltese call their island stands still for an instant with surprise, so singular Fiore del Mondo, "flower of the world." This affecand different from any other landscape is the scene tionate, but somewhat boastful appellation, confirms an before him. An immense plain of chalk stretches observation frequently made, yet difficult to explain; before you, shadowless and without vegetation. Not it is, however, certain, that the poorer a country the a tree, not a bunch of verdure, is to be seen on the more is it beloved by its inhabitants. Numerous white and desolate plateau, which the sea washes on examples might be quoted in connexion with the every side. Endless repetitions of dwarf walls are wildest mountains of Scotland, of Switzerland, Authe only objects that meet the eye, with the immense vergne, or Limousin, the most arid of the isles of clouds of dust which the slightest breath of wind Greece, and the most desolate of the steppes of raises in every direction. Yet although so arid in Bulgaria; but Malta alone would be sufficient, for no appearance, the country is far from being unproduc- place on earth inspires its inhabitants in a higher tive; by dint of industry the inhabitants of this degree with this inexplicable attachment. isolated rock have made it, as it were, give nature the lie. In certain places, now the most fertile of the

The commerce of Malta is considerable; the average annual amount of imports and exports being