The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-20 00:00:00

THE SU.EZ CANAL SCHEME.

Our French neighbours must not be surprised if
a good many people on this side the Channel should
persist in taking them at their own word in the mat-
ter of the Suez Canal Scheme. When a writer so
conversant with the .policy of his country and the
ideas of his countrymen as M. de Girardin distinctly
declares that the project in question is founded on
hostility to England, and when that declaration
coincides, as it does very curiously, with other indi-
cations pointing in the same direction, Englishmen
may well be justified in preparing to parry the
thrust of which such plain warning has been given.
Even where little weight is attached to these threats
the uneasiness of politicians finds scope and object in
the absence of any reasonable explanation of the
scheme on ordinary grounds. If the project, as we
all believe, admits of no defence in a pecuniary or
commercial point of view, why should it be prose-
cuted with such uncommon energy, and sustained
by such extraordinary support ? Is there not some-
thing wrong where there is so evidently nothing
right? These are the reflections now passing
through the public mind. Our daily correnpondence
seldom fails to apprise us of all the currents of
popular opinion, and accordingly we have received
one communication after another in condemna-
tion of the scheme and proceedings of M. de Lesseps.
We cannot say, that these arguments have changed
our opinion as to the policy of resisting the conces-
sion, but, at any rate, they shall be placed at the
public service.
If the Isthmus of Suez, we are told, were actually
pierced by a navigable canal, that canal would be
the shortest route to the East, to the Mauritius, to
Ceylon, to India, and to Australia. It would also,
according to the terms of the enterprise, be in the
hands of the French, or, at any rate, the French
would be able, in the event of war, to despatch an
expedition from Toulon or Algeria, and seize the
canal without delay. This done, they would com-
mand the Indian Seas, for, as they would be in pos-
session of the shorter route, they could send their
squadrons and cruisers down the Red Sea, and fall
upon our commerce or our colonies long before we
could arrive in the same waters by way of the Cape.
All this seems plain enough, no doubt ; but not to
mention that we have stations in the Mediterranean.
nearer Egypt than either Toulon or Bona, and con-
sequently might get a start in the supposed race for
the canal, it is the sincere conviction of English-
men that the canal itself is an impossibility, and
that a navigable channel through the isthmus from
the Mediterranean to the Red Sea can never be
maintained. That conviction, indeed, is one of our
motives for looking askanee at the whole proposal,
and we cannot therefore accept an argument
founded on the opposite assumption.
To this reasoning, however, it is rejoined that,
even if the proposed works should be found utterly
impracticable, much of the mischief would still be
done. Egypt has been regarded for more than one
generation as a point from which France might
menace England with serious injury. Napoleon I.
thought so, and England evinced similar convictions
when she encountered his schemes by a rival expe-
dition. Louis Philippe thought so too, and M. de
Girardin's pamphlet may safely be quoted to show
what Frenchmen think at the present clay. Now,
however complete may be the failure of M. de Les-
seps' project in other respects, it might probably suc-
ceed in promoting or even establishing what, accord-
ing to these traditions, are called" French interests"
in Egypt. For instance, the scheme comprises)very
considerable grants 'of land to the company in con-
nexion with the canal, so that the result would be
equivalent to the settlement of a French colony in
the heart of Egypt, giving endless opportunities of
intervention to the French Government. More-
over, the enterprise would tend directly to the con-
summation of the first step towards bringing Egypt
entirely under French influence—viz., the severance
of this province from the dominions of the Sultan.
At present Egypt is part and parcel of Turkey, £ll
the Porte, as we see in this very matter, exercises
a control over Egyptian politics. If, however, the
Viceroy could be rendered independent, this check
would be removed, and the province be made more
amenable to the influence of France. Here, also,
history is appealed to for practical evidence of these
impressions on both sides. The French have
always supported the Pashas in their refractory
moods ; we have always upheld the authority of the
Porte. Now, slowly and gradually, but by step
after step, have matters been so ordered in Egypt
that any future intervention on behalf of the Sul-
tan would be a work of far greater difficulty than
before. The Mediterranean coasts of the country
have been fortified so strongly that the famous
landing under Sir Ralph Abercromby which our
pictures represent could not easily be repeated at
the present day. These fortifications were madt.
e
under the auspices of Louis Philippe's Government.
Again the road from the Red Sea to Alexandria by
at
way of Cairo, which our Indian army
traversed
work osten-
sibly same period, has beau closed
by
available
military
ppurposes,oslt
?here
in
stillre a l irtey_
and
Canal. that
A would
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iainsoneroutbeaorpreend, and
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intoLesseesthe
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'we nbtaetd
it The
was
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then Canal would
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uld ewouldeffect
ebteto completelygood pu rpporsees
e Canal
to mightan
n armyeffect
half thought a tcenturyhat ourage ownlt
would
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if iaa trench 300 feet wide and
w
defended by batteries on
11C
s
30 feet deep, I
the Egyptian side, would b e a serious
confidentlyobsta
cle to a
Turkish army, so that Viceroy might
set
his Sovereign at defiance. Thesese results, we
are reminded, would be entirely irrespective of the
completion of the canal,instoertehsatst, Im:nagylain.eda,soinnabthl e
fair pursuit of her own
oppose the project,wreaalrthe ofungrltihceornvaisnscuerd of
assured that,
imiyn
neither the Sultan nor the Pasha needs
pointpr c im-
practicability. coafbfialei tty, .
any instigation to look upon the scheme with sus-
picion. The Sultan comprehends very clearly the
danger impending over his
.province ; the Viceroy
discerns that, though he might indeed be enabled
to defy his present master, the issue would not
ultimately be conducive to his independence. Eng-
land, therefore, is not called upon to put a control
upon the policy of the Porte, but only to approve
and support a resolution wisely conceived.
We have now given these views a full, and, as
wo believe, an adequate expression. We do not
deny—indeed, after M. de Girardin's confession, it
would be impossible to deny—that some such con-
, ceptions as have been here delineated may be at
the bottom of French
.policy in the Suez Canal
, scheme. We might impeach the value of these
designs by certain counter-considerations, but
, should not the question rather be estimated on
broader and more enlightened grounds ? In a few
words, have these struggles for influence" ever
been productive of much advantage ? Have these
national contests for ascendancy or equilibrium
usually resulted in any political success ? Have not
affairs generally gravitated to a natural position,
and left all States and Governments with their
natural powers and advantages, in despite of the
artificial conditions imposed by virtue of treaties or
force of arms ? To take the strongest of all ex-
amples, what lesson can we draw from the position
of France herself ? Fifty years ago she was placed,
as it were, under European custody, and the most
elaborate contrivances, including even a redistri-
bution of Europe, were designed for the purpose
of perpetuating the arrangements. What has been
the result ? Is France powerless ? Has she lost
every pretension to military ascendancy ? Is the
Imperial dynasty proscribed? M. de Girardin
can answer these queries—probably much to his
satisfaction ; but we may perhaps suggest in return
that his ideas of reducing the British Empire to '1
impotence by piercing the Isthmus of Suez are at
the least as preposterous as those by which it was
hoped to stifle the growth and energies of France.
Such notions, in fact, had better be discarded alto-
gether. The Suez Canal scheme is so manifestly a
delusion in its ostensible purport that we 'nave been,
and even still should be, completely justified in op-
posing it on the ground of the designs it covered.
We believe, however, that those designs themselves
/ would fail as completely as the pecuniary specula—

tion, and we have questioned, accordingly, the wis-
dom of perpetuating a contest in which, though our
interests were perhaps really attacked, we did not
see that they were really endangered.—Times.

DEATH OF TILE RIGRT HONOURAB.
H. FITZROY, FOR LEIFIEs.

(From the Sussex Et:press.)
It is this week our melancholy duty to announce
the death of the Right Hon. Henry Fitzroy, M.F.
which took place on Saturday evening last, a little
before six o'clock, at his residence, 3, Sussex-square,
Kemp Town, Brighton. The right hon. gentleman,
as our readers are aware, has for some time been
dangerously ill, being assailed by a combination
of fever and ague • and it will t
he remembered that
his colleague, the 'Hon. H. Brand, in referring to
his absence from a late dinner, then stated that Mr.
Fitzroy's health had suffered from over-anxious
and zealous attention to the duties of the important
office he occupied at the period of his decease. lie
was attended by Mr. Furner, surgeon, of the firm
of Messrs. Taylor and Furner, and we understand
that the more immediate cause of the hon. gentle-
man's death was exhaustion, arising from the dura-
tion of the attack.
The Hon. Henry Fitzroy was a son of the second
Baron Southampton, and only brother and heir
presumptive of the present lord. He was born on
the 2d May, 1807, in Stanhope-street, and was con-
sequently in the 53d year of his age. As it is not
stated in the usual sources of information that the
hon. member was brought up at any of our great
public schools or at either of the universities, We
presume he was privately educated. At 24, how-
ever,, we find he was returned for Great Griznsby,
Lincolnshire, a town of very much the same popu-
lation as the borough of Lewes, and having upwards
of 800 electors.
It was a dark December night, in 1834, that
travelling barouche drew up at the White Hart
Hotel, amidst the speculation of groups gathered
about in different parts, and from it emerged the
Hon. H. Fitzroy, M.P. He was a fine-looking
young man, with an intellectual face, eminently
prepossessing in his appearance, and dressed in the
most fashionable style of the day.
Friends quickly rallied round the then unknown
candidate, and in a very few days an election was
progressing in full vigour. The Whig candidates
were Mr. T. R. Kemp and Sir Charles Blunt, the
former members for the borough; The nomination
took place on the sth Jannary. Mr. Fitzroy was
proposed by R. Gear, Esq., and seconded by S.
Lowdell, Esq. The numbers at the close of the
poll were—Sir C. Blunt, 511; Mr. Kempt,
and Mr. Fitzroy, 359. On the retirement of Mr'
Kemp, in 1837, Mr. Easthope, of the 31orning
Chronicle, appeared as his successor in the Liberal
interest, when Mr. Fitzroy again contested the
seat, and the Conservatives were this time success-
ful, Mr. Fitzroy polling 397 votes, whilst Mr.,
Easthope received only 371. The death of
William the Fourth speedily followed, and the
two parties now found themselves fairly arrayed.
The Hon. H. Fitzroy and Capt. Lyon being oPP°sed
by Sir Charles Blunt and Thomas Brand, Est
The election came off on the 24tk July, 1837, and
the result was—Sir C. Blunt, 413 ; Hon. H. Fitsrel'
401; T. Brand, Esq., 338 ; and Captain Lyon, 343.
In 1841, the most memorable election on record
took place in this borough. The struggle in 1831
had showed how nearly parties were divided, and
the result was, every vote was deemed of the
highest importance. The Conservative candidata
were the Hon. H. Fitzroy and Viscount Cantilupe,
and the Liberals were represented by Mr.
Elphinstono and Mr. Somers Harford. At the
IL
close
of the poll the numbers were—Harford 411,
Elphin-
stone 409, Hon. H. Fitzroy 407, and Viscount Can-
tilupe 388. The Conservatives immediately peti-
tioned, and after the first day's hearing the Liberal!
finding their case desperate, and anxious to escaP,;
further exposure, agreed to a compromise, and
the Hon. Henry Fitzroy retained the seat be
had so gallantly fought for, whilst Mr. EV L"
stone being preferred to Mr. Harford, the 100(1:
gentleman, who was at the head of theVoll, fount'
himself, to his great surprise, deprived of h
In 1846 Sir Robert Peel, it will be remembered
resolved on repealing the corn laws, and the ilee•
H. Fitzt oy having given in his adhesion to the Pro-
position, became a Lord of the Admiralty. If? v. 7
°situ) ,
then returned for the borough without opposition,
and from that period to the present time, altho.tiiigetz.
frequently opposed, the hon. member has retaiseed.
his seat. In December, 1852, he became Under-
is seat...,
and re-
retary of State for the Home Department, In
mained in, that position till February:, 1855,:hair.
March of the same year he was appointed
man of Committees of the House of Commons. Under the present Government he became Presi-
dent of the Board of Works, which office he held UP
to
Areathe member is decease.
of Parliament, Mr. Fitzroy
tIY
remembered by acts, both relating to eminenb;
practical subjects. The regulation of London
and the protection to females from brutal assinf.r.
are no mean contributions to our legislation. v.l
still more valuable character was the act extending
the jurisdiction of the County Courts from £2O to
£5O. These were perfected whilst the hon. moll'
ber was Under Secretary for the Home Depart-
ment, ment, and is is not too much to say that, bad r
Lord Palmerston's subordinates served him eqnfl
well, his Administration would not have been s
short-lived and inglorious. Will be
election
Some time must elapse before a new
can take place. As Conservative candidates the
names afloat in private circles are those of Mr.
Amphlett, Q.C. or Lord West, the eldest son 0!
the Earl Delawarr. Mr. Blencowe and Colonel
Cavendish have been mentioned as probable in the
Liberal interest ; but the death of the hon. meta
a
has at last come upon us all so suddenly, that
would be premature at present to indulge in sPe"
culation. That Mr. Fitzroy, during his represen-
tation of this borough, has always proved himself
' to be a man of no ordinary talent, cannot be ques-
tioned ; and in private life he has ever been high/
esteemed evon by those who were politically op-
posed to him. He was courteous to all, and prover-
! bially attentive to every matter of interest to his
constituents; and though one may sometimes have
regretted that his talents and his amiable qualities
led many gentlemen to forgo their political predi-
lection rather than sacrifice private friendship, we
yet cnnnot be surprised at such a result.

EXTRAORDINARY ANNOUNCMILE VT
OP THE LOSS OF THE GREAT BRITAIN.

LIVERPOOL, MONDAY.
The following announcement appeared yesterday'
amongst the shipping intelligence at the Under-
writers' Rooms here :
" A small tin canister was picked up this morn-
ing, near the mouth of the river,
inside, on which was written the following
steamship, Great Britain, foundered off the Western
Islands.'
" Mem.—The Great Britain screw steamship
only sailed on the 11th inst. for Melbourne, and
was off Tuskar at four a.m. next day, with
N.E." Screvt
We sincerely hope there is no foundation for the
report, but, if a hoax, it is one of the most diabolical
that can be imagined. All the probabilities are
against the truth of the statement, and the under-
writers place no confidence at all init. It is very
unlikely that, in the prevalence of cutting nor.tliu:
east winds, the great Britain would take "-
northerly run to clear Ireland when the southerly o
would suit her better ; and the fact that she 176..
seen off Tuskar on the 12th inst., is in favour of hq
having taken a southerly course. Again it
be almost a miracle for a tin canister to have dritteu
from the locality of the Western islands right into
the mouth of the Mersey within the time requisite
to support the statement, and especially with .
North-easterly wind blowing, though a currelt .
does flow from that direction towards Liverpool:,
An ingenious assumption is mentioned, which
once relieves us from the necessity of supposing !!
a hoax, and enables us to believe that the ship le
speeding on her voyage in safety. About twelve
months ago the Great Britain encountered a dread'
ful storm off the Western Islands, in which she W 5
in imminent danger, and sustained some daillag.fe,
At this time it is quite possible that, in the fear
_u_e
the emergency, some canisters may have
thrown overboard, and that they have been tossing
about ever since, and one has at last been picked.up
near the Mersey. We trust that this explanation
will be realised, and that all will be found to We
ended prosperously.

IRRy.
iFREDERICKNsuItRE
eT DOUGLASS AND TIIE HARPER'S
FEl‘lt
lira. '
• ifax, at which town Frederick Douglass is at present
ioN.—The Rev. R. L. Carpenter, of
istaying, states that the latter was concerned in the recent
nsurrection in the following way only :—" Ile is charged bY
Captain Cook with having abetted the Harper's Ferry 10'
surrection, and then deserting it. As ha has inform of
ed the
American public by a letter, which has appeared in manY
their papers, Captain Cook is wholly unknown to him, ar"
his accusation is untrue. Unless Captain Cook was a person
who once called on him with Captain Brown, he does not
even know who he is. With Capt. Brown Mof r. Douglass
has long been very intimate, and he entirely approved
a
hi!
plan of helping the slaves to escape to the mountains,
an
secure their freedom. lie was cognisant of tho Ilarperti
Ferry plan; but did his utmost to dissuade him f
racticrom it.
In his anxiety to avert what he deemed an
impabyt
scheme, he went, about a month before the event, to visit
Captain Brown at Chambersburg, about twenty-eight Mild
from Harper's Ferry. His arguments were, however, un-
availing ; and his visit would no doubt be taken as an ovi•
deuce that ho was a party to tho plan. lie is in no Wart
therefore, mixed up with the insurrection, except in o fiir
that lie did not betray his knowledge of it ; and ho is not in
any way chargeable with deserting Captain Brown, since
Captain Drown well knew that he was opposed to it.''