MALTA'S CATHEDRAL
Sta,—May I add a detail or two to " Janus's " remarks in your issue of April 27th about the founding of St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral at Malta? Queen Adelaide, widowed by the death of the sailor-king William IV, made a trip to Malta in the autumn of 1838 and remained there during the winter. The Admiralty placed at her disposal the frigate ' Hastings' for the voyage, and the Board possesses today a most naive painting of Queen Adelaide (by no means an old woman) sitting in her poke-bonnet and balloon-skirt on the poop of the ship. At her side stands the Countess of Sheffield, her lady-in-waiting (who provided for the cathedral a huge bible, which is in regular use today), with her small children playing near. A large flag (apparently the Royal Standard) is strung across the poop behind the Queen as a sort of screen back- ground. The captain of the ship is saluting the Queen-Dowager in a magnificent sweeping bow, with his cocked hat held at arm's length.
The Queen found at Malta the amenities which one would expect, but no church. Divine Service was conducted in some large room—perhaps partly below ground level—which tradition has dubbed " a cellar." Her- self a religious woman, Queen Adelaide did more than start the building fund: she built the Cathedral at her own charges, and the cost was £30,000. Other subscriptions provided the furnishings, amounting (it is said) to another £50,000. The Queen laid the foundation-stone in the spring of 1839. The Cathedral possesses in its museum the trowel which she used and also a- contemporary coloured print of the ceremony. Construction took over five years, and on November 1st, 1844, the church was consecrated for- use. It has been described by experts as a perfect building, a miracle of " Palladian " architecture.—Yours faithfully,
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