THE ORIGIN OF THE SLEZ CANAL. 289 



the making of the canal. I, for my part, am too sin- 

 cerely his friend not to follow him in this course. Our 

 basis and our principal supports are in Egypt. If in 

 the course of the last fifteen months I had looked 

 elsewhere for support, I should have done nothing, and 

 matters would not have reached the point they have. 



" Whatever progress the matter has made, it only 

 remains with the Viceroy to prevent it being carried 

 any further. I need not, therefore, dwell further 

 upon this subject, the full gravity of which you who 

 know the character of Mohammed Said, and who are so 

 well acquainted with Egypt, will at once understand. 



" I break off this letter to go and meet Lord Pal- 

 merston. While confirming what Lord Clarendon 

 said to me in Paris, he persists in his opposition, and 

 did not make any secret of the fact that Lord Strat- 

 ford will continue to oppose us, not now in the inte- 

 rests of England, but in the alleged interest of the 

 Ottoman Empire. This tactic shows that the enemy 

 of the canal is driven to his last retrenchment, and I 

 am going to prepare my parallels and pursue with 

 prudence, but with more perseverance and vigour than 

 before, my appeal to public opinion in England. One 

 campaign the more will not discourage me, and in 

 the meanwhile the matter will ripen and assume a 

 consistent shape, which will add to our force. 



u Mr. McLean is fully convinced as to the success 

 of the enterprise. I have arranged with him and with 



Mr. Eendel that, in accordance with the wish expressed 

 VOL. i. u 



