M. FERDINAND DE LESSEPS.
AS Paris has been fitly termed "le paradis de l'homme moyen sensuel," so may M. F. de Lesseps be considered
as the Adam of the terrestrial Eden. All that Paris longs for, wealth, notoriety, power, he possesses in fullest measure. Yet more, his happiness in private life is undoubted, and the success of the Suez Canal promises him fame after death. Health, wealth, happiness, popularity in the present, and fame in the future, what more can man desire ? The question suggests itself, what manner of man is he who has attained such eminence of good-fortune What gift, or combination of gifts, has achieved such results ? This question we have set ourselves to answer, and the reasons for his success shall be sought. in the history of his life, and if needs be, in the pecu- liarities of his time. One word to avoid disappointment. It does not come within our design to determine the moral worth of his rights and privileges, or of those of the share- holders whom he represents. A few words, however, may be said about his father, Count Mathieu de Lesseps, who in 1803 was sent by Bonaparte to Egypt as French diplomatic agent. In this capacity he was commissioned by the Emperor to seek out an able Turkish chief capable of ruling at, Cairo. Count Mathieu do Lesseps selected, as his son tells us, "a man who could neither read nor write, an almost unknown Macedonian," to fill the post. The choice bore testimony to the insight of Count Mathieu. Mehemet Ali's ability and unscrupulousness, his friendship for France and hatred of England, have become historical. When M. de Lesseps, as Charge d'Affaires, died at Tunis, in 1832, he had already educated his son in his own profession.
Ferdinand de Lesseps was born at Versailles on November 10th, 1805; he passed through the Lyc(":e Henri IV. at Paris,
and when nearly twenty years of age went to Lisbon as Attache. From Lisbon he went to Tunis as Rive Consul, and learnt, we may presume, to dislike the English, and to nourish the dream of a French empire in Egypt. As a man of twenty- six, he went as Vice-Consul to Alexandria. The next eight years he spent in Egypt, and some incidents of his life in this period must be mentioned. He there married a Mdlle. Delamalle, who became the mother of his two eldest sons, Charles and Victor. There, too, _during the plague at Alexandria, he showed courage, and was decorated by M. Thiers. Yet these things become unimportant, when we remember that it was during this period that he won the friendship of Mohammed Said, son of Mehemet Ali. In 1838, M. Thiers rewarded M. de Lesseps' capacity and
energy in extending French influence by making him Consul- General at Cairo, where, as we are told, he played a prominent part in the intrigues which ended in the bombardment of Acre by a British Fleet, and in the dismissal of Thiers by Louis Philippe. In the first game, Palmerston had checkmated M. F. de
Lesseps, who was transferred to Barcelona, without, however, losing his grade. It is not necessary to tell how Lamartine came to advance him to Madrid, or how he was supplanted there by Prince Napoleon. All the world knows, too, how Louis Napoleon sent him to Borne when the Revolution broke out in that city, with instructions to support the Revolutionists, making him, at the same time, the bearer of a letter to General Oudinot, wherein the Prince-President instructed the General to suppress the revolt. M. de Lesseps took the joke badly, wrote a pamphlet in his own defence, and was punished by being placed on the Retired List without pay. In this way his career as a diplomatist came to an end in 1840-50. What seemed to be utter ruin was turned by his energy into a piece of good-fortune. On one of his early voyages to Egypt, he had been detained in quarantine before Alexandria. To while away time, he sent to his colleague of the French Consulate for some books. Among them he found the report of Lepere, -the engineer, upon the feasibility of crossing the Isthmus in some rapid way. From that day he revolved the question in his mind, and in his four years of retirement (1850-54) in Berry he matured his plan.
In 1854 Mohammed Said, the friend of M. de Lesseps' youth, was proclaimed Viceroy of Egypt. On hearing the news, M. de Lesseps embarked for Egypt, in order to obtain the Vice- roy's consent to the great undertaking. His reception was all he could wish,—he was treated by the Viceroy as a brother ; but the " promoter " had not forgotten his training in diplomacy, and awaited "a favourable moment" for pre- senting his plan. On November 13th, 1854, at five o'clock in the morning, he sees a magnificent rainbow stretching from east to west ; " his heart beats violently," he accepts "the symbol of alliance," and on the same day unfolds his design. Mohammed Said likes the project, and promises support. The act of concession of Mohammed Said to his great friend, Ferdinand de Lesseps, is dated November 30th, 1854. Scarcely was the signature dry before Lesseps returned to Paris, called together an International Scientific Committee, which he transported to Egypt, and which, asserting the practicability of the scheme, decided upon the route of the future Canal. The cost of these proceedings, some £20,000, was borne by the Viceroy.
Before the preliminary investigations were completed, England opposed the scheme ; Lord Palmerston acted on the Porte through Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and the Porte hesitated to ratify the concession. Forgetting all old grudges, Lesseps hastened to Paris and implored the Emperor's assistance. Napoleon replied :—" Strengthen your position, and you shall be supported." Here it must be remembered that the Empress Eugenie was the cousin of M. de Lesseps.
The next years were spent in travelling all night and hold- ing conferences by day, in forming a Company and gaining strength by obtaining eight millions of money. The outcome of the Crimean war increased French influence, but it was not till after the peace, concluded at Villafranca in 1859, that Napoleon felt strong enough to use his power in favour of M. de Lesseps. Then the work went rapidly on till, in 1862, the Mediterranean entered Lake Timsah. Two months later, Mohammed Said died, and Ismail took his place. At once M. de Lesseps named a town Ismaila, to propitiate the new Pasha ; but the bribe was not large enough, and the English were still powerful, so the "promoter" appealed once more to Napoleon. The Emperor, in 1864, decided that the Egyptian Government should pay the Company nearly three and a half millions of pounds by way of indemnity,—first, for refusing any longer to furnish forced labour ; second, for the retrocession of some arable lands ; third, for the cession of the Sweetwater Canal. On November 17th, 1869, the Canal was declared open, before the Khedive, the Empress Eugenie, the Emperor of Austria, and the Crown Prince of Prussia.
England was beaten ; and while M. de Lesseps established his private fortune, he realised the Napoleonic legend, and made France a Power in the East. Left a widower in 1854, M. de Lesseps married again, a Mdlle. de Bragard, who has since borne him eight children. The next nine years were spent chiefly in Paris, at his house, Rue St. Florentin. They were years of quiet happiness. Almost any day he could be seen riding or driving with his young children in the Bois, when no laugh rang more merrily than that of the septuagenarian. How he promoted the Panama Canal Company, how he behaved lately in Egypt, and in the still more recent negotiations with the English Government, is so well known as to need no mention.
In this bare sketch of M. de Lesseps' life the man can be seen. Let us first take race characteristics. Vain and irascible hui quarrel with Napoleon, and his pamphlet, "Ma Mission it Borne en 1849," show him to be ; he is also superstitious, as is evidenced by his frequent references to the rainbow as the "symbol of alliance." Nor are the good qualities of the Gaul lacking in him ; he is quick-witted, affable, and of joyous nature, neither capable of keeping a grudge nor of nursing wrath. One would say, looking at him, at his brown, quick-glancing eyes, and heavy, square-cut chin, this is a ready man of some tenacity of purpose. But such qualities, even when backed by a long training in diplomacy, are not, one would think, rare enough to merit the position M. de Lesseps has secured. That circumstances have aided him is certain, yet it is certain also that the stream furthers most those who swim with it. It is indeed as the creature of his age, as a growth peculiar to a certain mental atmosphere, that N. F. de Lesseps really deserves attention. For this man makes a merit of his egotism. We are told that he cannot understand "narrow, unintelligent selfishness ;" and that "he abhors only bigots, drunkards, thieves." Exactly,— the selfishness of the drunkard and the thief is unintelligent, as is the unselfishness of the bigot. M. de Lesseps' patriotism is ardent, he has given proofs of it again and again ; he pushes it to the utmost limit to which his enlightened self-interest allows him to push a mere sentiment. Both as egotist and as patriot, M. de Lesseps bodies forth the age. Do not be de- ceived by his professions ! The egotist, now as in the past, insists upon "the interests of universal commerce," just as aforetime the sceptic was always ready with a text from Bible or Koran to commend his scheme to the vulgar. Wise in his day and generation is M. F. de Lesseps ! Look a little more closely still,—here is the figure and the reflected image The age is sceptical of the supernatural, and materialist ; so is M. de Lesseps. The age boasts of its tolerance ; it is democratic ; and M. de Lesseps tells us "that men, like horses, are only wicked when afraid !" His energy, his tact, his indomitable perseverance, his courage, are all tainted with selfishness. And this selfishness is of the senses, is sensuous and luxurious.
"Put money in thy purse." Iago's phrase may be taken as the device of M. F. de Lesseps. Here we reach his morality, which is, too, the common morality of his time. "His creed," says a recent panegyrist, "is a large one,—that of development and liberty ; it includes encouragement to competition, and the just reward of the labourer." Surely a well-sounding and convenient creed ! It allowed M. F. de Lesseps to smile at the sufferings of the wretched Fellaheen dying under the lash How many thousands perished miserably to enrich one man! The guilt of this, and the shame of it, M. de Lesseps, beyond doubt, must bear. Too much liberty here, it seems. Why, when Ismail broke his "contract," or rather the "contract," made by Said, to supply forced labour, did not M. de Lesseps exact an indemni- fication? This is the man who now stands upon his rights, and demands justice ; it were a pity not to satisfy his de- mand to the very uttermost. Yet in all this, we recognise a feature of the age, an age in which Factory and Land Acts were required for the protection of the helpless, even in Christian England ! The biography of M. F. de Lesseps, if well written, would be an almost perfect expression of the time. Almost perfect, we say, for our age has not only pro- duced such captains of industry as is Ferdinand de Lesseps, but also many high-priests of science, many truth-lovers in literature, many devotees of faith ; and one of these idealists would have to be portrayed as a set-off to this realist. The age is impatient of such an artistic necessity ; it prefers Sancho Panza to Don Quixote, yet, already the knights are scarce enough, and the squires numerous beyond counting.
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