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The Times, 25 July 1859
"The Suez Canal has been ushered in to the final stage of its existence. M. de Lesseps, unable to obtain the sanction of Turkey for the project on which he has embarked, has fallen back on last resorts, in this case by beginning work without the requisite authorization.
Our readers are probably already aware of the fact that certain activities had been launched in the area around Port Said, a process which had provoked, from Scheriff-Pasha, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, notification to the effect that in the absence of any authorization having been obtained from Turkey, work was to be stopped.
M. de Lesseps, on behalf of the Company, insists that the activities fall into the category of the 'research and preparatory work' authorized by the Viceroy, for which the Sultan's permission is not required. Judging by the pomp and ceremony with which this work was begun not so long ago, there is little doubt that their promoter viewed them as something more than simple tests or trials. M. de Lesseps was moreover at great pains to explain their aim.
In a letter he sent to the Grand Vizir last March he states that he is just about to leave for Egypt with the intention of cutting 'a service channel from Port Said to Suez, which would at the same time be a trial destined to lay the way for the opening of the isthmus to large shipping'. What might be the precise meaning of the words 'service channel'? I do not know, but since they designate a trench or something on a larger scale, I am quite sure that M. de Lesseps will not find it easy to convince the government and world at large that a ditch dug from one end to the other of the isthmus between Port Said and Suez is no more than a simple test and will not form any part of the planned construction.
Clearly, the Universal Company is drawing near to being wound up, and there are people who consider M. de Lesseps's service channel quite an appropriate place for him to dump his rubbish. Just a little while longer, and the issue of the Suez Canal will probably be buried beneath a sizeable compensation claim against the Viceroy of Egypt.
This is the way in which some of the most magnificent projects
of the Orient usually finish up. With the failure of the project,
any remaining interest in the issue will be dissipated, and the
public will show little curiosity in Saïd-Pasha, who has been
devoting himself to flirting alternately with Turkey
and with M. de Lesseps.
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