The Sun.
London, England, 1824-06-01 00:00:00

FOR THE SUN.

CANAL from the RED SEA to the NILE, across the
ISTHMUS of SUEZ, to join the WATERS of the ME-
DITERRANEAN with the INDIAN OCEAN.
MR. EDITOR-4 find by THE SUN of the 6th
of May, that you have been so kind as to speak
favourably of my Book, entitled the" WONDERS
OF Erm RA," perhaps the same friendly disposition
(although an utter stranger) will prevail on you to
find a corner in your valuable Journal fora few re-
marks on the project of excavating a Canal across
the Isthmus of Suez. I believe that an attempt was
made, a short time ago, to cut a canal across the
Isthmus of Darien; that undertaking was given
up as impracticable, as well it might be, from
the local obstacles that intervened ; but in the
undertaking which I nowjpropose to capitalists and
enterprising men, there are few difficulties to con-
tend with, and none that are not surmountable.
In this age of improvement and speculation I
certainly think my suggestion promises more
advantages to those concerned, and is easier of
accomplishment than many of the projects now
on foot. This, however, is not a time to enter
fully into the merits of the plan proposed, or to
state the difficulties, &c.—that would be incurred
in the execution of the plan. The trade of
India, before the discovery of the Cape of Good
Hope by the Portuguese, was carried on by the
route of Suez and the Red Sea, and the well-
informed and enterprising merchants at Calcutta
seem to be about reviving the same channel for
commercial purposes, as the annexed extract will
inform your readers.
" A Society has been formed at Calcutta for the
establishment of a regular Steam navigation be-
tween India and England. The lion. J. Haray-
ton presided at the Meeting convened on the oc-
casion, and the plan proposed to be adopted was
laid before the Meeting by a Lieut. Johnson, the
projector.—The outlines of this plan have already
appeared in the daily prints, in such a form as
to preclude the necessity of our dwelling upon
them. We have only to state, therefore, that the
measure has been patronized in our Eastern
Capital, in a manner fully equal to the encourage-
ment that is given in the Mother Country to any'
speculative scheme of similar or higher character.
—The journey across the Isthmus of Suez is of
course regarded as a trifle."—The foregoing para-
graph is in favour of the plan I propose; for the
Steam Vessels proceeding with goods and passen-
gers, will ensure to those concerned in the Canal
not only safety and co-operation, but freight
and employment. The " ENGLIsH SUEZ CoM-
PANY" being secured by a Charter; need fear
no interruption or molestation from other adven-
turers. It is not in the transit of goods from
India to Egypt that would alone reward the
Proprietors, but the valuable and numerous pro-
ducts of Egypt and adjoining countries would
find by the same channel an easy, safe, and ex-
peditious mode of transport. I have two surveys
of that route, and know something of the country,
and have no hesitation in,sayinw'that the plan of
a canal is not•only practicable, yo is'hen finished
would be productive of certain'!and great profit to
those concerned. When we for a moment cast our
eyes on the rich countries of Egypt, Arabia, and
Persia, whose varied arid rich merchandize would
be drawn in the course of a few years to Suez,
as a kind of great mart and depot, and these ex-
tensive countties taking our goods from the same
spot, the most central that can be conceived for
India, Africa, and the Mediterranean, it is clear
that, with the energies of the English and the
great resources of the natives, that a company esta-
blished at Suez, and possessing the canal, would,
in the course of a very few years, possess a prodi-
gious trade, and realize to the projectors and
supporters of the plan immense profits. It would
greatly benefit the Mother Country, assist the
East India Company in their commercial opera-
tions, in short, it would open a vast field for spe-
culation, with every prospect of success. The
country is flat, and of a light soil ; the distance
is nothing. The inhabitants are, with proper
measures and treatment, tractable and faithful,
and their chiefs easy to be gained over, and their
aid and protection secured for trifling sums. When
once this is accomplished, their faith is in-
violable. What innumerable benefits and ad-
vantages present theinselves in seeing, it pos-
sible to unite the waters of the Mediter-
ranean with those of the Indian Ocean," yet
it is to be done ; but the English' are the only
nation that can do it.—ln this letter I offer no
observation on the country or on the routes in my
possession, or on the localities or topography. I
shall conclude by observing that the point of
operation is beyond the limits prescribed to the
East India Company's Charter ; and that the
" Malta Trade Act" affords great facilities to
the object in view. I return to my military
duties at Bombay at the end of the year, and
have some notion of returning to India by the
Nile, Suez, and the Red Sea. As I have a know-
ledge of surveying, am acquainted with the lan-
guage, and well accustomed to the natives, I will
(provided I can get leave from the Honourable
East India Company), upon being applied to by
any respectable or eminent person or persons,
enter more fully into the subject, and I doubt
not that I am competent to procure the necessary
information and particulars. That I possess
some fitness for those explanations and enquiries,
page 558 and 559 of the Appendix of my late
publication will probably satisfy any doubt.
I ought to observe that the present enlightened
Pacha of Egypt has two steam vessels on the
Nile. These on one side of the Isthmus, and the
Calcutta steam vessels on the other, (or Red Sea
side) would open a field for commerce and traffic,
the extent and success of which, in the hands of
an opulent, prudent, and enterprising company,
is incalculable, to say nothing of other Orien-
tal nations who would flock to the same depot
and channel of communications. I should feel
obliged to any of your contemporaries who,
possessing- a spare corner in their Journals, will
have the goodness to transcribe these few obser-
vations.—l am, Sir, your Obedient Servant,
JOHN B. SEELY.
Capt. 4th Regiment Bombay Native Infantry.
Wyke, Dorset

NORTH 4- SOUTH SHIVLDS PITT CLUB•

NORTH SHIELDS, MAY 29.—Yesterday the

North and South Shields PITT CLUB celebrated for the
fifteenth time the Anniversary of the birth of that illustrious
Statesman the late Right Hon. WILLIAM PITT, by a grand
dinner at the Northumberland Arms, North Shields. JOHN
FENWICK, Esq., of Campville-House, was the President for
the day, and JAMES RicumtnsoN, Esq. the Vice President.
After the cloth was drawn, the President gave " The King,"
with four times four : the toast was drank with perfect enthu-
siasm. Next followed " The Duke of York and the rest of the
Royal Family." The President now rose, and said he had to
lament that the chair was not filled on this occasion by some
one better able than he was to discharge its important duties.
—He was, it was true, an ardent admirer of that great
man whose memory they were that day met to comme-
morate--a man whose political principles had raised this
Country to that pitch of greatness which in a degree asto-
nished the world. And though he was unable to do
justice to his feelings in expressing his sentiments as he
could wish, he would boldly say this—he was inferior to
no man in attachment to his Country and in loyalty to his
Sovereign.—(Applause.)—He felt justly proud in being a
Briton, and it would ever be his highest satisfaction to endea-
vour to discharge faithfully the duties of his station. He
would repeat it, he venerated the memory of that great man
(Mr. Pitt), whose inestimable worth and talents he was so
inadequate to do justice to : feeling therefore as he did, and as
he was persuaded all felt who heard him, he begged they would
fill a full-flowing bumper to do honour to the memory of per-
haps the very greatest statesman this country had ever pro-
duced—be meant the late Right Hon. William Pitt—(drank
in solemn silence standing). The Secretary of the Club (Wm.
Richardson, Esq. Solicitor) here rose, and requested permis-
sion to recite an Ode, which he had written for the occasion of
humbly doing honour to that illustrious individual, whose
councils had conferred upon his country, in fact, inexpressible
benefits :—We quote the two concluding stanzas of the Ode
alluded to :

Thus PITT'S achievements triumph now,
From fell perversion freed by Time ;
The Statesman's plans—his virtues too,
Beam in the lustre of their prime :
His eagle-eye survey'd the field
Where Fate's dread volumes are unfurl'd :
When States convuls'd before him reel'd,—
ln saving One, he sav'd a World.
O ye, associates of this day,
While circling flows the rosy stream,
While warm ye bask in Freedom's ray,
Think not your country's weal a dream !
At Freedom's shrine your vows renew—
Your patriot souls reanimate,
Give to immortal Worth its due,
Let PITT'S renown your hearts elate;
Oh ! promptly pour the grateful, choral song,
Bid Harmony and Joy th' exulting strains prolong.
Very great applause followed the reading of the Ode. As soon
as silence was obtained, JOHN TINLEY, Esq. rose to propose
a toast, which he begged to preface by a few words :—lle said
he was happy to be one who had met together that day to do
honour to the memory of the most exalted British Statesman
that ever lived to benefit his country—and whose stupendous.
talents would in fact constitute one of the proudest ornaments
of her political history ! Had this great man (Mr. Pitt) lived,
and acted as he did, there is no saying what might have been
our fate.—Applause.)—From 1788 to 1794, the workings of
that great moral pestilence, the French Revolution, diffused a
trait of no ordinary description throughout the British Empire.
Sedition reared its daring front in too many forms to be mis-
understood. And happy it was for this country that she then
had a Minister every way transcendently qualified to be the
guardian of her honour and her political independence ! Yes,
Gentlemen, (continued the speaker) the mind and energy of
the late Right Hon. Wm. Pitt successfully grappled with the
demoniacal spirit which the French Revolution had engen.
dered, and wholesome measures of restraint at once put down
the Corresponding Societies, and gave courage to the well-af-
fected. Thus the Government of the country was strengthened
at home, while the noble efforts of the British army abroad, to
repel the ruthless aggression of the foe, shed a lustre on the
name of Britain, which would
,ever he a grand ornament
in the page of England's HistOry.—(Applause.)—The Ho-
nourable Gentleman went on, dilating in the happiest
manner on the ultimate achievements of Britannia's sons,
when, through their instrumentality chiefly, the Powers
of Continental Europe combined, and hurled from his despo-
tic car the great disturber of the world—the hitherto invincible
Buonaparte, whose last days, on a rock in the Atlantic, formed
a wonderful contrast to the pomp that surrounded him, when so
many tributary kings were compelled to pay him homage. The
awful lesson here shewn by Divine Providence, he trusted would
be for the benefit of mankind.—[Mr. Tinley continued for some
time:longer, and was listened to with great satisfaction: we regret
exceedingly that our limits preventus from giving more at length
his excellent speech.' The Hon. Gentleman, before he sat down,
gave as a toast---" May the principles of Mr. Pitt ever animate
the Councils of Great Britain," which was drank with long
continued applause.—The next toasts were, " The Navy and
Army of the United Kingdom," and " The House of Bruns-
wick, may they never forget the principles that seated them on
the throne."—The President rose, and said, he was sure they
would fill a bumper to the toast he was about to propose : it
was, "The President and Members of the several Pitt Clubs
throughout the Kingdom."—Drank with great applause.
Then followed " The Duke of Wellington, the glory of his
country, and the Champion of Europe," and " His Grace of
Northumberland, the Lord Lieutenant."—(Both these toasts
toasts were drank with three times three, and great applause.)
The health of the President was given in very handsome terms
by Joseph Laing, Esq. The President rose, and made his
acknowledgments accordingly, assuring the company that lie
had the greatest satisfaction in being at the head of the table
that day. The next toasts in succession were, " The land we
live in,"‘ The Wooden Walls of Old England," and " Ships,
Colonies, and Commerce."—The President rose, and gave the
health of " Mr. Richardson, the Secretary to the Club, an indi-
vidual whose attention and services on all occasions were such
as to entitle him to the best thanks of the Members of the
Club."

The Hon. SECRETARY rose and returned thanks in the hap-
piest manner. Having. begged permission to give a toast, he
said the distinguished individual he had in his eye was indeed
am honour to the North—be meant " the Lord Chancellor,"
and as a Pittite his Lordship might with great truth be placed
on the top of the list.—(Here Mr. R. paid a just compliment to
the traascendant abilities and patriotism of the Noble Lord,
which want of room constrains us to omit.)
Mr. WEBSTER rose and proposed the health of the Vice-
President.—The VICE-PRESIDENT rose, and, in very neat
terms, returned thanks.—The next toasts were " the Coal
Trade," " Our excellent Constitution, the glory of England
and the admiration of the world," and " the Rights of the
Crown and the Liberty of the people."— Mr. TINLEY rose
and said, he had great pleasure in proposing a toast which he
felt persuaded would be drank in a bumper. In this great and
free Country it was well known that the Press was a mighty
engine, and when directed by men of talent and education, con.
duced very essentially to the moral dignity of the nation.—
He was pleasingly reminded of the toast by seeing before
him a Gentleman connected. with it. He therefore begged
Pto give " the Health of Mr. Grieveson and the Liberty of the
Press."—(Applause.)

Mr. GR'IEVESON rose to return thanks, and to express his
high sense of the honour that had been conferred upon him.
Mr. G. expatiated for some time on the unquestionable advan-
tages which this country enjoyed by means of the press, when
that powerful engine was confided to intelligent and well-in-
tentioned individuals ; observing, on the other hand, it was
but too well known to what base purposes it could be made to
pander, when wielded by designing men, who had sinister ob-
jects in view. In times of popular excitement the Govern-
ment was often complained of; but it should be borne in
mind, that—
" If e'er coercion's cords they're forced to draw,
'Tis to support the Majesty of Law."
Mr. G., before he resumed his seat, begged to give " Pros-
perity to the North and South Shields Pitt Club,', which toast
was drank with great applause.
The next toast was prefaced in a very happy and feeling
manner by the PRESIDENT, who requested the Company
would stand up, and drink in solemn silence, " To the Me-
mory of their late good and pious King, George the Third."—
Drank accordingly.
Mr. BAINBRIDGE, Of South Shields, proposed, in very
handsome terms, " the Strangers who had that day honoured
ed the Club with their Company." Mr. Brown (of London)
rose and returned thanks. A variety of loyal and appropriate
toasts followed—amongst which were " his Majesty's Mini-

Aters."—" The House of Wynyard," (proposed in wry haw"'
some terms by Mr. Fell) " The Members for Northumber-
land."—" The Mayor and Corporation of Newcastle," eice.,.,t
One of the last toasts which the Reporter heard, (which will "i
mentioned anon) was introduced by the President in the mat
tender and respectful way. The town of North Shields ha":
been deprieved by death the day before of one of the bestt%
its citizens, a man well known and endeared to them all bY B 1
many amiable qualities, a Member of that Club and what
dered his loss a severer blow, he was the humane Interpret of
the Laws, as a Magistrate. His removal hence in the 72d rot
of his age, would be long felt as a blow of no common nature'
Under these circumstances (continued the President) I proPle,
as an act of well-meant homage to the worth of the decease'',
that we fill a glass—.." To the memory of the late John Scott,
Esq. of Dock-wray square."—The company all rose, anti vritli
great sincerity of feeling, drank the toast which the Chair 1,a4
been so anxious to accomplish. The spirit of the Meetinf,
though damped by the last toast, was soon rallied by the abs
exertions of the Chairman, and we understand that conviviala
and good humour were kept up till a late hour.