Since Einstein talks of velocity (a vector quantity) rather than speed it is not clear that he meant the speed will change but the reference to special relativity suggests he did[/color] mean so. This interpretation is perfectly valid but a more modern interpretation is that the speed of light is constant[/color] in general relativity.
The problem here comes from the fact that speed is a coordinate-dependent quantity, and is therefore somewhat ambiguous. To determine speed (distance/time) you must first choose some standards of distance and time, and different choices can give different answers. This is already true in special relativity: if you measure the speed of light in an accelerating reference frame, the answer will, in general, differ from c[/color].
In special relativity, the speed of light is constant when measured in any inertial frame. In general relativity, the appropriate generalization is that the speed of light is constant in any freely falling reference frame (in a region small enough that tidal effects can be neglected). In this passage, Einstein is not talking about a freely falling frame, but rather about a frame at rest relative to a source of gravity. In such a frame, the speed of light can differ from c[/color], basically because of the effect of gravity (spacetime curvature) on clocks and rulers.
If general relativity is correct then the constancy of the speed of light, in inertial frames is a tautology from the geometry of space-time. The causal structure of the universe is determined by the geometry of null vectors. Travelling at the speed c means following world-lines tangent to these null vectors. The use of c as a conversion between units of metres and seconds, as in the SI definition of the metre, is fully justified on theoretical grounds as well as practical terms because c is not merely the speed of light, it is a fundamental feature of the geometry of space-time.
Like special relativity, the predictions of general relativity have been confirmed in many different observations. The book by Clifford Will is an excellent reference for further details.
Finally we come to the conclusion that the speed of light is not only observed to be constant[/color]; in the light of well tested theories of physics, it does not even make any sense to say that it varies.