DELIVERED AT THE NATIONAL CLUB BY SIR WILLIAM ANDREW, C.I.E., 66 99 66 AUTHOR OF INDIA AND HER NEIGHBOURS 'OUR SCIENTIFIC FRONTIER," ETC., ETC. THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR BARTLE FRERE, BART., The interests of England in Egypt are not to be the sport of internal anarchy, of .... "The more boldly we face the hard facts of the situation" (in Egypt) "It is a solecism of power to think to command the end, and yet not to endure the SECOND EDITION, WITH MAP AND APPENDIX. LONDON: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, FOR To the Editor of the Times. Referring to the report in the Times of yesterday of the discussion which followed Lord Lamington's powerful and eloquent speech when moving for the report of the Special Committee of the House of Commons on the Euphrates Railway, I would, as one who has paid some attention to the subject, feel greatly obliged by your permitting me to make one or two observations. All the noble lords appeared to concur in the importance of the plan, the objections resolving themselves into two-the badness of the climate and the difficulty in defending the line. The weight of evidence on which the report of the special committee of the House of Commons was based, and which will soon be on their lordships' table, effectually disposes of these objections. The great desideratum, as demonstrated by the critical position of our communication through Egypt, is the possession of an alternative route, and no widening, deepening, or other improvement of the canal would effect this object or prevent its banks being blown in. Bryanston Square, July 19, 1882. I am, &c., W. P. ANDREW. PRETENDED DIFFICULTIES WITH THE ARABS OF THE DESERT. Railway Times, 3rd April 1857. I have personally maintained, and I shall continue to maintain, that the Euphrates Railway will be a benefaction to countries now disinherited; and what is more, my experience of the Arabs and of the deserts of Arabia leads me into the persuasion, in opposition to what is generally believed, that the pretended difficulties as to the maintenance and safety of the Euphrates Valley Railway are prejudices as baseless as the fears respecting the silting up of the Suez Canal, the impracticability of the Bay of Pelusium, and the dangers of the Red Sea. FERDINAND De Lesseps. |