294 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



instead of going round by the Cape. He is now 

 having made a large relief plan of the same dimensions 

 as that of Sebastopol, which attracted a great many 

 people. This popular mode of propaganda is excellent. 

 In 'my conference with Lord Palmerston, described in 

 my letter to M. B. St. Hilaire, the Prime Minister 

 admitted that the English Ambassador at Constanti- 

 nople had maintained that the Viceroy of Egypt did 

 not require the authorisation of the Sultan for the 

 railway from Alexandria to Suez, but that the situation 

 was different in respect to the canal. My reply was 

 that I saw no difference except that the English 

 Government wanted the railway, and does not want 

 the canal. 



" In short, tell his Highness that this ill-will will 

 eventually be paralyzed, and that with his persever- 

 ance and continued help, the obstacles and the diffi- 

 culties encountered will only serve to aggrandise his 

 position and render the success more complete." 



To M. Thouvenel, French Ambassador at Constantinople. 



" LONDON, April 22, 1856. 



" The following information, upon the exactitude of 

 which you may rely, will interest you, and may 

 perhaps be of some use to you. 



" After the banquet given by the Emperor to the 

 Plenipotentiaries of the Paris Congress, Aali Pasha, 

 the Turkish Ambassador, came up to His Majesty and 

 asked him what he thought of the Suez Canal ques- 



