'
I repeated to him Ellice's opinion that the commerce of England would not
use the canal.
'I have heard that,' he said, 'from Ellice himself, but I differ from
him. I agree with him, indeed, that your sailing vessels will not use the
canal, but I believe that a few years hence you will have no purely
sailing vessels, except for the small coasting trade. Every large ship
will have a propeller; and with propellers, to be employed occasionally,
and sails for ordinary use, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea are very
manageable. I believe that the canal will be useful, and particularly
to you. But whatever be the real merits of the scheme, for God's sake let
it be tried. Do not treat us like children, and say, "We know better what
is good for you than you do yourselves. You shall not make your canal
because you would lose money by it."'
'What did you hear,' I said, 'about the Congress?'
'I heard,' he answered, 'that Clarendon was very good, and was the best,
and that Walewski was very bad, and was the worst.'
'Can you tell me,' I said, 'the real history of the Tripartite Treaty?'
'I can,' he answered. 'There was an old engagement between the three
Powers, entered into last spring, that if they succeeded in the war, they
would unite to force Russia to perform any conditions to which she might
submit.
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