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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]