of Eden.

The views Gordon expressed in 1881 as to the diminished importance of
the Mediterranean as an English interest, and the relative superiority
of the Cape over the Canal route, on the ground of its security, were
less commonly held then than they have since become. Whether they are
sound is not to be taken on the trust of even the greatest of
reputations; and in so complicated and many-sided a problem it will be
well to consider all contingencies, and to remember that there is no
reason why England should not be able in war-time to control them
both, until at least the remote epoch when Palestine shall be a
Russian possession.

"I think Malta has very much lost its importance. The
Mediterranean now differs much from what it was in 1815. Other
nations besides France possess in it great dockyards and
arsenals, and its shores are backed by united peoples. Any war
with Great Britain in the Mediterranean with any one Power would
inevitably lead to complications with neutral nations. Steam has
changed the state of affairs, and has brought the Mediterranean
close to every nation of Europe. War in the Mediterranean is _war
in a basin_, the borders of which are in the hands of other
nations, all pretty powerful and interested in trade, and all
likely to be affected by any turmoil in that basin, and to be
against the makers of such turmoil. In fact, the Mediterranean
trade is so diverted by the railroads of Europe, that it is but
of small importance. The trade which is of value is the trade
east of Suez, which, passing through the Canal, depends upon its
being kept open. If the entrance to the Mediterranean were
blocked at Gibraltar by a heavy fleet, I cannot see any advantage
to be gained against us by the fleets blocked up in it--at any
rate I would say, let our _first care_ be for the Cape route, and
secondly for the Mediterranean and Canal. The former route
entails no complications, the latter endless ones, coupled with a
precarious tenure. Look at the Mediterranean, and see how small
is that sea on which we are apparently devoting the greater part
of our attention. Aden should be made a Crown colony. The
Resident, according to existing orders, reports to Bombay, and
Bombay to _that_ Simla Council, which knows and cares nothing
for the question. A special regiment should be raised f