248 THE MARITIME CANAL OF SUEZ. 



unfolded a huge scroll, from which he read aloud in a voice barely 

 heard above the roar of the distant billows rolling on the sandy 

 beach. At this moment the illustrious personages advanced to the 

 front, and, bare-headed, listened attentively to the prayer of the 

 Patriarchal Moslem, as he invoked the blessing of the Almighty 

 upon the great enterprise, and upon those whose skill and genius 

 had brought it to a successful issue. A procession of the Clergy 

 of Christian Churches, headed by the Archbishop of Alexandria, 

 Monsignor Bailer, supported by his ecclesiastical brethren, and 

 acolytes carrying in their hands lighted candles, slowly marched 

 through the dense crowd of spectators and took up a position on 

 the platform specially prepared for their reception. Monsignor 

 Baiier then stepped forward, and, in a voice resonant and far-reach- 

 ing, delivered a powerful oration, full of pathos and eloquence : — 



" He declared that History would record that day as the most memorable, not 

 only of the Nineteenth century, but almost of the world. The work which had 

 been said to be impossible had been accomplished. There was no longer an 

 Old World and a New. 



"Turning to the East, he hailed the splendid radiant region, the mother of 

 our race, the nurse of civilisation, and the cradle of our faith. Turning to the 

 West, he apostrophised the Old Europe from which had come new life to man- 

 kind. The material aspect of the Canal, important and interesting as it was, 

 with a glorious future, must not be permitted to make us lose sight of the 

 grand relations of the work to civilisation and to the happiness of mankind. 



" He rendered homage to the Ruler, who had by his liberal policy encouraged 

 the enterprise, and Egypt would call him her regenerator, and History would 

 inscribe his name on the noble roll of the benefactors of humanity. In the Land 

 of the Pharaohs he had struck off the fetters of ancient prejudices, and he had 

 seen in the country, which was famous for its ancient grandeur and for the 

 evidences of its old glories, a work which would do far more for the happiness of 

 the whole human family. 



" A very charming passage was devoted to the man to whom so much was 

 due, whose genius, fortitude, and almost superhuman energy, contending against 

 innumerable obstacles had carried him through years of difficulty and toil to such 

 a glorious end, compared him to Christopher Columbus, and said that his name 

 would henceforth be inscribed among the names of those who had, like the 

 Genoese Navigator, conferred inestimable benefits on mankind ; and, in conclu- 

 sion, he made a most feeling and tender allusion to those who had fallen, in the 

 course of the work, victims in the campaign of civilisation, who had given their 

 lives to the accomplishment of that for which ages to come would bless them. 



"Then, in a peroration full of eloquence and power, with face upturned to 

 Heaven, he invoked the Blessing of the Most High." 



At the conclusion of this stirring harangue, the music sounded, 



