The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-11-03


points which require notice. We will cor
tinue cur eqtracrs ana aEnotations.
The Suez Canal-Its Commercial and
Political Insignificance.
The famous Suez Canal has, at last, been
completed, and the magnificent conception
Of uniting the Mediterranean Sea and IN
dian Ocean has been realized Europe
has long sought to shorten the route to the
East, and it now seems that the dream OF
centuries has become fact The practi-
cability of this scheme has beeo debated
and denied; the nature Of the great flats
stretching out on the Northern boundary
Of the Isthmus, is said to be such that no
permanent connection can be kept open,
and the ultimate failure OF the vast expe-
riment is already predicted by the English
press.
we have no other reason to doubt the
sincerity OF the disclaimers Of hostility
towards the enterprise which are connected
with this expression OF opinion; bnt we
remember very distinctly (says the Peters
burg I,lder; that when the work was
begun, the British Government at once
possessed itself Of the stand of Perrin, Sc
that when the door was opened to the COM
merce of the East, by Frauce, Tic Dc:.:s.i
Lion should hold the key under his royal
hand. This was the universal construction
put upon the action Of England at that
time, and, indeed, is admitted of 40 other
conclusion, for the barren and desolatc
cliffs over which she hoisted the Cross of
St. George were absolutely worthless under
every other hypothesis. 1t would thus be
seen that the Government entertained &
different opinion Of the practicability OF the
scheme from that now announced by the
press. Certainly NJ. Lesseps is of very
different mode of thinking, and it is to be
be hoped in the interest of mankind at
large that his views are not lI-foundeJl.
The splendid fables Of the Arabian
Nights fall short, in their pictures, of the
results which will accrue from its success;
and it cannot be doubted that every re-
source Of skill and science-every appliance
of wealth aud ingenuity--wil be exhausted
to keep open this communication. New"
to us, although We remember that Nccho,
the Egyptian, constructed canal connect
ing the Mediterranean and the Red Sea,
which, notwithstanding the popular belief
III its Iailurc-a belief which the London
Morning Post seems to entertain-was un-
doubtedly ''open for large vessels" in the
reign of Darius. 1t is impossible for the
most ardent fancy and the most solid under
standing, to conjecture all the results which
ypiI ira fl1ac E ha w.t.
but it is certain that the Centuries looking
down" from the Pyramids, will behold q
greater glory for the nephew than ever,
even III the flush of his victories, perchcd
on the eagles of his uncle, and France will
gain no ascendency greater than she knew
under Louis XVI, or the great Corsican
Apart from the general interest which
attaches to so stupendous an undertaking,
the inquiry suggests itself, what influence,
if any, the success Of the Suez Canal is
likely to exercise on the Emperor's els
Atlantic policy? Will the power and
wealth thus acquired inspire new deter
mination to cling to his Mexican protecto-
rate? Will the Overland route" still pre-
sent charms to the imperial fancy? Will
his colonization policy be confirmed? In
view OF these suggestive questions, the
commercial Importance Of the enterprise
vast as it is-becorles insignificant. He is
undoubtedly the most inscrutable man of
his timcs-mysterious as the Sphinx of
that mysterious land upon whose shores
the skill Of his engineers has reproduced
the dream Of the old Egyptians; but it re-
quires little sagacity to forescc that, with
the increase of wealth and power, his we'll
considered schemes Of cjs-Atlantic policy
are not likely to be reversed. Two such
additions at once to the material prosperity
and material glory of France, as the East
India connection and the Mexican protecto-
rate-thc one mighty impulse to COM
nerce, the other d great and attractive
field for coloniZation-cannOt fail to go very
70, III