[HUGO VICTOR]. HUGO Adèle (1803-1868) et Victor (1802-1885).

Autograph letter signed [Guernsey] (s.d.) 3 pp.1/2. in-8. With autograph corrections by Victor Hugo. Very nice and interesting letter about poor children, the corrections in Victor Hugo's hand are mentioned in bold. "Sir, I was passing the other day on the market place. I saw a six-month-old child, carried by a five-year-old girl, who did not know how to pull herself out of her burden. In an arm as weak as experienced the baby was suffering and crying, no doubt the mother of these poor beings, absent to earn a living for herself and her family, had entrusted her infant to another of her children. Many mothers on this island are reduced to this painful necessity. Most seafarers' wives have absent husbands! The burden and responsibility of the family falls on them. While the mother earns her bread outside, the children are left unprotected, or abandoned to strangers who often abuse them. The situation of the mothers is no less painful than that of the children. I wondered what could be done to alleviate this misery. There are schools here that serve as an asylums for the children, but they are only admitted at the age of six. From the moment of their birth until that age they have no shelter. In this situation, here is what I think is possible. We have in Paris and in all the cities of France establishments known as crèches: a healthy and chosen home in a central point of the district or in the city. From the age of six weeks the crèche is open to newborns. A woman whose intelligence, zeal and gentleness are recognized serves as mother to these interesting creatures in the absence of the other mother. The child brought to the nursery in the morning is washed, changed and fed until it is picked up in the evening. Under the patronage of charitable people, these children are visited and a doctor watches over their health. It would be easy, it seems to me, to import this excellent institution here. I am a foreigner, but I love Guernsey and who wouldn't love this charming country where there are so many good hearts! It is to these good hearts that I address myself. They will understand me. The foundation of a crèche would honor our dear little island. There are rich children who are very happy and there are poor children who are very unhappy. This difference makes God sad, and I am speaking here to religious hearts. God does not know poor children. He is the father of all. Let us imitate him and let our small Christian community be the mother of all children. Let us give to those who have nothing a little of the superfluity of those who have everything. And we will do a good work. And we will take something that will be ours in the supreme place where there are neither great nor small, neither poor nor rich. The friends I left behind in Paris have offered to help me with a deal I plan to make, the proceeds of which will go to the crib. The honourable inhabitants of Guernsey who associate themselves with this idea and would like to contribute to the success of the work are asked to address their letters to Mrs. Victor Hugo at Hauteville House (...)".