THE GREATEST VICTIM OF PANAMA.
From the Special Article (39 pages) by H. G. S. A. O. DE BLOWITZ, Ph.D.:
Lesseps.—... At his advanced age he went with his youngest child to Panama to see with his own eyes the field of his new enterprise. He there beheld the Culebra and the Chagres; he saw the mountain and the stream, those two greatest obstacles of nature that sought to bar his route. He paid no heed to them, but began the struggle against the Culebra and the Chagres. It was against them that was broken his invincible will, sweeping away in the defeat the work of Panama, his own fortune, his fame, and almost an atom of his honour. But this atom, only grazed by calumny, has already been restored to him by posterity, for he died poor, having been the first to suffer by the disaster to his illusions....
[The New Volumes also contain Articles on STYLE, THE ATOMIC THEORY, and THE MIGHTY ATOM.]
Locked Safe, The. See MADAME HUMBERT.
A FRENCH LAKE.
From the Special Article (21 pages) by M. CAMILLE PELLETAN. Translated by Mr. EDMUND GOSSE:
Mediterranean.—... Here we have, in perfection, all the materials of a French lake. The water is there, the shores are there, there are no tides. What could be better? Nothing disturbs the Gallic character of this charming inland sea but the occasional presence of a line of coast belonging to another country, such as Italy, Spain, Turkey, Austria, or the accidental chance that has given an island here or a fortress there to England. But what are obstacles such as these to a new Minister of Marine fresh from a newspaper office? Why should England, the eternal boule-dogue in the manger, enjoy in the persons of her statesmen the monopoly of ornamental, if indiscreet, metaphors? If it is impossible to expel Nature with a fork, why should not I, in the infectious warmth of a banquet, be permitted to employ the long spoon of Lord Joseph Chamberlain?...
[The New Volumes also contain Articles on CARTHAGE, CORSICA, and AFTER-DINNER ORATORS.]
Meredith, George. See ORDER OF MERIT—in vain.