48 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



owners in the fifteen largest towns of the kingdom. 

 The Chambers of Commerce, the merchants, the manu- 

 facturers, and the shipowners of these towns have 

 been informed that I am going to commence a series 

 of visits to them all about the middle of April, and 

 nothing will be left undone to render this tour 

 decisive of the question so far as England is con- 

 cerned. My object is to collect signatures and 

 declarations to the effect that the piercing of the 

 Isthmus of Suez will be beneficial to English interests, 

 as well as to those of other nations, and that no 

 government has any right to put obstacles in the way 

 of the work. 



u In this way your Highness's glorious enterprise 

 will be based upon public opinion in England, as it 

 already is upon that of the European continent and 

 America. "While using all my efforts to attain that end, 

 I do not forget my promise I may add, rny duty to 

 avoid anything which might be calculated to disturb 

 your Highness's friendly relations with all the Powers. 



" After what I have myself seen in Paris and 

 London, and from what M. de Negrelli writes me 

 from Austria and Signor Palescopa from Italy, every- 

 one praises your Highness for having commenced the 

 sweet- water canal ; and I can confidently assure you 

 that you can continue the work without the least 

 cause for uneasiness, if the weather, the requirements 

 of agriculture, and the government resources admit 

 of your doing so. 



