will readily be believed, that if the British fail to patronize the undertaking, other nations and powers will do so shortly: and it is therefore manifest, if British subjects were chiefly concerned in advancing the capital, and in executing and managing this great work, it would be vastly more for the benefit of Britain, than if any other nation or government lent their resources. But undertake it who may, it is most probable, that both the funds and the energies of execution will come from this country; and it is too probable, that if the measure is executed by any other parties than British, the work will be upon a cheaper and less effective plan of navigation, permitting only small craft to navigate, unfit for British commerce in the East, though sufficient for the small traders in the Mediterranean, who would consequently, in such a case, reap the entire benefit. I am decidedly of opinion, that British capital and British energy would alone execute the work in a truly useful and permanent style. But the measure is daily becoming so much more obvious as one of practical facility, that it cannot long be postponed in some shape or another.
The conclusions may now be recapitulated in general terms:—
\st. That a ship canal between the two seas, which contemplates an extended commerce between the countries of Europe and the Indian Ocean, should be free from the effects of all fluctuating causes, arising from inundations or floods, &c.
2nd. That it should be a measure irrespective of the commerce of Egypt and the Nile, or rather that it could not combine these objects in the same measure, with any good results; though it would be the means of greatly improving the commerce of Egypt by accessory measures.
3rd. That the mean fall from the level of the Bed Sea