242 THE MARITIME CANAL OF SUEZ. 



23,300 persons; Egypt, represented by the Viceroy personally, came 

 next. This practical manifestation of Europe and America in the 

 fortunes of the Company excited the ill-will of the opponents to the 

 Canal, and certain organs of the English press ironically pitied the 

 subscribers, and even went so far as to declare the business a 

 manifest robbery, whilst, in Parliament, speeches were delivered, 

 notably, by Lord Palmerston, condemning the whole enterprise, 

 under the cloak of an affected anxiety "for Turkey.* 



Nevertheless, to the credit of the English merchants and ship- 

 owners, they emphatically protested by resolutions at. Public meet- 

 ings against the opinions put forth by Lord Palmerston, and declared 

 that the Maritime Canal of Egypt would be favourable to the com- 

 merce and to the interests of England, a declaration which its sub- 

 sequent history has amply justified. 



Confident, therefore, in the realisation of his work, the President 

 of the Company, Ferdinand de Lesseps, assisted by a Council of 

 Administration and of Works, concluded an agreement with a con- 

 tractor, Mr. Harden, for the execution of the preparatory works and 

 the furnishing of the material, and on the 2Sth April, 1859, 

 surrounded by a staff of 150 workmen and employh, and of the 

 Engineers, MM. Mongel Bey, De Montaut, Laroche, Larouse, 

 Ferdinand de Lesseps gave the first blow with the pickaxe upon 

 the beach of P^luse. The site of the future port, which had been 

 chosen from the considerations that we have indicated, was selected, 

 and the name of Port Said given to it, in virtue of the deep interest 

 taken by the Khddive, Mohammed Said. 



From this date the operations at the Canal proceeded with 

 •vigour, in face of the innumerable difficulties that had to be con- 

 quered from the beginning, to establish their first settlements in the 

 desert, into the details of which we need not enter. 



The service of the compulsory labour (corvee) was regularly made, 

 as companies of corvhs arrived in sufficient numbers from the 

 various provinces of Egypt ; for the first month, working upon the 

 dockyard, superintended by inspectors, who directed the service, 

 and organised the ambulances ; whilst from the warehouses were dis- 

 tributed the food at its net cost, and in this way securing as much 



* Lord Palmerston's opposition was encouraged also by the adverse opinions 

 of Robert Stephenson, C.E., the Member for Whitby, and a son of the eminent 

 Engineer, George Stephenson^ 



