ABSTRACT
The frequent declarations made by English authorities that the idea of a maritime canal across the Isthmus of Suez was fundamentally unsound and intrinsically impracticable, coupled with the unrelenting hostility of the entire diplomatic corps, caused De Lesseps to determine upon a new course of action. In January, 1856, after the report of the Suez Canal Commission had become known in London, Lord Clarendon urged Lord Stratford de Redcliffe again to point out to the Sultan the likelihood of the detachment of Egypt from the Turkish Empire in case the canal were to be constructed. The Egyptian Railway had served to counter-balance the Suez Canal idea for a time, and French hostility to the railway justified British intolerance of a navigable waterway. The importance of the French survey of the Isthmus of Suez to the cause of improved communication can hardly be overrated, although it resulted in nothing tangible at the time.
