The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-01 00:00:00

THE GIBRALTAR CONTROVERSY.

d e
fAdmiral
his
rtomr g Grey,
me e
nda tio nin a letterthatGibraltao thrshe Tie
should be
surrendered on the condition of receiving Ceuta in
exchange. It is not, he maintains, a question as to
the comparative strength of Ceuta and Gibraltar,
but whether the former might not be made perfectly
defensible, giving us at the same time the naval ad-
vantages which Gibraltar does not possess, and without
for which, however impregnable that fortress maybe, it
is simply useless. Now that the extended area around
Ceuta has been ceded to Spain, the defences of that
place, Admiral Grey believes, might easily be made
all that is necessary.
Another correspondent, "King Coal;' submits that
the cession of Gibraltar would be exceedingly
dangerous, on the ground that England would then
be deprived of the least expensive, and at the same
time the most secure key to the Mediterranean.
England's first duty, the writer points out, must be to
protect the route to India rid the Mediterranean.
Gibraltar must be regarded as the first of a
magnificent line of coaling fortresses from
England to India—i.e., Gibraltar Malta, to
Alexandria, from Suez to Aden (the Gibraltar
of the Red Sea), from Aden to Bombay, or to
Trincomalee, in Ceylon, one of the finest harbours of
the East, or to Port Louis, in Mauritius, which com-
mands the Indian Ocean. The possession of this
chain of coaling stations would give England the
entire command of the Indian seas and the Red Sea,
through which our commerce could float un-
molested until it reached the Mediterranean ; but
as the strength of a chain is equal to its weakest
link, so, it is argued, would our power dissolve should
we break the connecting link of stations by ceding
Gibraltar. " King Coal" thinks the harbour might be
vastly improved for less than half the sum that would
be expended at Ceuta. " King Coal " quietly assumes
that England has a right to the " key " of the Medi-
terranean, and that the supremacy of that and the
Indian and Red Seas. This is just what the
Reformers in foreign politics deny.

VICTOR DUG° AND THE CHILDREN.
On Christmas Eve a very pleasant scene was to bo
witnessed at II auteville I louse, Guernsey, the residence
of Victor Hugo. M. Hugo gave his annual fete to
the poor children of his institution, when gifts and
fruits, and above all a splendid Christmas tree
delighted the friendless little ones. Victor Hugo's
address to those who assisted him in the distribu-
tion of his bounty was full of interest. He
said that grief was a call to duty, and that
for his part he Was thankful to exile for
giving him the opportunity of making a practical
experiment he had long thought of, with the view of
ameliorating the condition of poor children. • M.
Hugo takes pleasure in the thought that his institu-
tion for the benefit of children has suggested similar
efforts to philanthropists in England, Switzerland,
and America. *He quoted the other evening some
statistics from the records of London charities to

shew what progress the idea of the ciailciren's dinner
had made. In the single pariSh of Marylebone the
number of children succoured in 1808 had increased
from 5,000 to 7,850. A society called the Children's
Provident Society has just been founded in Maddox-
street, Regent-street, with a capital of £20,000. In
1866 there were in London 6,000 children assisted in
this manner ; in 1867 there were 30,000 ; in 1808
there were 115,000. If we add to these the 7,850
of Marylebone, which belong to a separate society, we
have a total of 122,850 children who have been
assisted. The forty children of Ilauteville House
have become 120,000 in London. M. Hugo, in con-
clusion, declared that whatever the sorrows of his
life, he should not murmur if he were permitted to
realise the two highest objects of a man's ambition—
to be a slave and a servant : the slave of conscience
and the servant of the poor.