We cannot be more Turkish than the Turk."'
'I am most anxious,' added Lafosse, 'that this stupid opposition of yours
should come to an end. Trifling as the matter may seem, it endangers the
cordiality of the Alliance. The people of England, who do not know how
jealous and _passionnes_ we are, cannot estimate the mistrust and the
irritation which it excites. That an enterprise on which the French,
wisely or foolishly, have set their hearts, should be stopped by the
caprice of a wrong-headed Englishman, hurts our vanity; and everything
that hurts our vanity offends us much more than what injures our serious
interests.
'If the engineers and the capitalists decide in favour of the scheme, you
will have to yield at last. You had much better do so now, when you can
do it with a good grace. Do not let your acquiescence be extorted.'
[Footnote 1: M. Lafosse died many years ago. He was a friend of M. de
Lesseps, by whom he and Mr. Senior were invited to join the expedition to
Egypt--ED.]
_Paris, May_ 19.--After breakfast I spent a couple of hours with Cousin.
'You have been in England,' he said, 'since you left Egypt. What is the
news as to our Canal? Will Palmerston let us have it? You must stay a few
weeks in Paris to estimate the effect of your opposition to it.
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