The introduction to the dictionary has a strong social and political flavour which makes it very clear that Vassalli's primary aim was not the Maltese language in itself, but the civil and moral education of the Maltese people which he believed could only be attained through their native language. One can easily point out Vassalli's Discorso Preliminare as second only to the Constitution of the Republic in that it is a beautiful and precious document for the Maltese Nation to whom it was dedicated with the words: "Alla Nazione Maltese", a phrase which in those days could only be the fruits of a very fertile imagination.