Arizona republican., 1891-06-18
LESSEPS' IMPEACHMENT


 A great many people will read with regret that the courts of France are pro- ceeding against De Lesseps because of his operations on the Panama canal. They will read with regret because, however great the mistake the man made at Panama, there was no mistake in the heroism of his genius, in trying to storm the cliits and the raging waters of the isthmus to make through these mountain ranges and defiles path for ships. And they will have charity to consider kindly the magnificence of the dream that warmed the soul of the enthusiastic engineer. When other men said he would fail, when the engi- neers of half dozen nations said the feat of opening the canal through Suez was an impossibility, with faith in himself which was absolutely sublime he pursued the work, he cut the canal, out of the sands he made an artificial rock and with that artificial rock built a harbor to protect one terminus of the canal, and by his achievement changed the whole course of Eastern ocean com merce. It is not strange that he thought he could do as we'll among the rocks and torrents as he did among the sands. There is another feature of the dispatch which is interesting. It says, because De Lesseps wears on his breast Al pI of ha I of Honor, no ordinary court of France can arraign him and try him. It must be before the highest court. And in that simple statement there is this thought held out to men, that after all, there is protection in glorified name, that when man reaches cer- tain eminence, he cannot be tried by the common tribunals of the country. The wearing of that sacred cross on his bosom is a notice to all his countrymen that he reached place in the history of his nation where he was no longer amenable to the common clamor of pub lie opinion. It was notice served upon his countrymen that his achievements had won for him position, which ill a measure at least, shielded him against attack, because as that emblem was when it was invented, it was meant as a sign that the man who wore it could never do dishonorable or an unworthy act. Napoleon used to pin it upon the breasts of his soldiers, aud so great was its grace that many dying soldier for got the anguish of his last moments in the awakened enthusiasm, and with his dying breath shouted, "Long live the Emperor" De Lesseps won his not as a soldier fighting the enemies of his country, but as scientist, grappling with the obstacles of stubborn nature and subduing them to his will. It was more glorious on De Lesseps' breast than on any soldiers, because physical courage is a common attribute of man {; almost any man in the presence of way ing flags, beating drums and praying trumpets and shouting armies, can be brave, but he, who in his study, from his books, and from his own brain evolves a plan which means the con quest of a country; which means the arresting and turning back of nature's forces, which means standing on the sea shore and beckoning to him the ships from the world around, is entitled to more glory than any ordinary soldier and when such a one, through age or other causes, by his enthusiasm at last overmatches himself, and by being too sanguine takes from capital it's gold and loses it in venture, it is pitiiul thing to see such man arraigned as a crimi- nal. We do not believe the case will ever be prosecuted. We believe if it shall be prosecuted that the verdict will be, not that DeLesseps did an inten- tional wrong, but that when his facul- ties were failing his hope kept too bright, and he was led astray himself, and hence those who followed him were likewise led astray.