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the Government Grant were withdrawn, he would probably, owing to the great difficulty and expense of securing the services of English Gentlemen as tutors, discontinue altogether the teaching of the English language, and reduce his establishment to the wants of a Common Mission school. There are now however at least four boys in the College competent as linguists for the Canton dialect, who it is believed, would gladly take service with the Government for the sake of a very moderate stipend.
We now proceed with some diffidence to give our opinion on the three points proposed for solution at the outset of our enquiry.
First, the question whether this institution in its present condition, as aided by Government, or by any modifications of existing arrangements, can be made available for the education of European youths selected in China, presents little difficulty; for your Excellency must be aware that the number of boys who receive education in the Colony is excessively small, and is confined to a class of society from which it would not be desirable to fill the responsible posts of Consular Interpreters. If occasionally a promising youth were discovered, then undoubtedly he might, by early acquaintance with the habits of the natives and with the peculiarities of the language, become a more than ordinarily valuable public servant, and could most advantageously be taken under Government patronage; but as a scheme of general applicability, we think