The British Government were instantly seized with one of those sudden spasms of morality, or humanity, which Lord Macaulay affirms has been observed periodically to afflict the British people.
The Sultan, who appears to have been a pliable tool in the hands of English Envoys, issued an order abolishing the system of compulsory labor, and disbanding all the fellahs employed by the company.
This arbitrary and unjust interference had but one meaning, and seemed likely to have but one result. The plea of humanity, advanced by a Government which had overlooked the sacrifice of 1000 men in one day, when that sacrifice had been made by their own injudicious advice, and for their own benefit, could be nothing more than a manifest subterfuge.
This vigorous handling of the political puppets on the diplomatic chess-board proved how serious were Lord Palmerston’s apprehensions. It was the old question which every age revives. In the past, the issue had again and again been brought to the arbitrament of the sword. With such antagonists as Palmerston on one side and de Lesseps and the Silent Emperor upon the other, the duel was necessarily ā l’outrance.
It was now evident that war alone could arrest the completion of the maritime highway between the two seas. Was it the death of Palmerston or the progress of peaceful arts that kept this question confined to the field of diplomacy?
Opposition only stimulated the energy and confirmed the determination of de Lesseps. The controversy was referred to the decision of the French Emperor. A smile, half machiavellian, must have flitted over the face of his reticent Majesty when the question was submitted to his Imperial arbitration. By his decision the Egyptian Government were called on to pay, not unwillingly, an indemnity to the company for a release from the obligation to furnish compulsory labor, and for the retrocession of certain land grants and privileges of navigation.
“The indomitable Lesseps did not despair.” After months of delay, he collected laborers from all parts of Europe, and the work was resumed.
The vigilance of the English opposition soon found another vulnerable point. The Sultan was again persuaded to issue a firman denying the right of the Viceroy to cede the land through which the canal was to be excavated. This well-aimed blow caused a suspension of operations for two years. Any man less able, self-reliant, or resolute than M. de Lesseps would have succumbed.[1]
The Emperor was induced to intervene. M. Thouvener, the French Minister at Constantinople, was requested “to enlighten the mind of the Sublime Porte as to the views and wishes of France.”
The introduction of machinery now became a matter of necessity. Ten millions of dollars were expended for this object, and forty enormous dredges were soon at work upon the excavations. One of the novelties in the construction of these machines was a provision for carrying off the excavated material by means of a stream of water. One of the workmen, it is said, noticed that when removed in this way the slimy earth spread over a wide surface and became soon indurated, instead of flowing back into the place of excavation. It also possessed the further advantage of fixing the mobile sand.