THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 303 



with a little patience until the harvest ripens, watching 

 in the meanwhile the seed which we have sown.' ' 



To His Highness Mohammed Said, Viceroy of Egypt. 



" PARIS, May 20, 1856. 



" Although I never fail to let your Highness know 

 by each mail any facts likely to be of interest to you, 

 I cannot refrain from writing to say how much I was 

 touched by your affectionate letter of April 26th, 

 though I had no need of this fresh evidence that I 

 might count upon the continuance of a friendship in 

 which my confidence knows no bounds. 



" I had for a long time observed that the adver- 

 saries of your Highness were instinctively the adver- 

 saries, either open or secret, of the canal. This 

 being so, I was not astonished at the campaign which 

 they instituted as soon as I had left Egypt. But it 

 is sometimes wise to profit by the conduct of one's 

 enemies, and when those who occupy an exalted position 

 are not afraid to hear the truth, when they have suffi- 

 cient intelligence to examine calmly the attacks 

 levelled against them, and sufficient good faith to be 

 able to distinguish between what is criticism and 

 what is calumny, your enemies, instead of injuring 

 you, have rendered you service. Criticism, even if 

 ill-natured, is to be met by repairing the errors to 

 which it points, while calumny is always to be con- 

 founded by the evidence of positive facts and per- 

 severance in conduct free of reproach. 



