THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 293 



attacking him in the same way, and soon it will be the 

 canal which will act as a lightning conductor for him. 



" Since I have been in England I have been con- 

 stantly rectifying the erroneous ideas which are kept 

 alive about Egypt, and which are for the most part 

 propagated by certain ill-disposed journals. 



"Mr. McLean entertained me the day before yester- 

 day at a somewhat important banquet given at the 

 Trafalgar Hotel, Greenwich. He had got together 

 about thirty guests, included among them being the 

 most celebrated engineers in England, manufacturers, 

 merchants, and bankers. Mr. McLean, in proposing 

 my health, spoke of the hospitable way in which he 

 and his colleagues of the International Commission 

 had been received in Egypt, and expressed, upon his 

 own behalf, as upon behalf of his friends, the hopes 

 that England entertained for the realisation of the 

 scheme and for the success of my efforts. This toast 

 and my reply to it were received with loud applause. 

 My object is to bring public opinion in England to 

 pronounce in favour of the Isthmus of Suez, so that 

 the English Government may be led to follow the 

 same policy as France. 



U A gentleman named Wyld, geographer to the 

 Queen, formerly a member of Parliament and owner 

 of i The Great Globe/ Leicester Square, gives ocular 

 demonstration, three times a day, at this latter estab- 

 lishment, of the advantages which navigation will 

 derive from passing through the Isthmus of Suez 



