He remembered the days when with the name Ferdinand de
Lesseps one could attempt any kind of enterprise, could
always find people ready to back it up, and to believe in it.
He had not yet forgotten the praise bestowed on the " Grand
Francais," not only in his own fatherland, but also every-
where in Europe, and wherever he had shown himself. He
was but too well aware of the honesty of purpose that had
always distinguished the brave old man who was being pilloried
by the same public that had cheered him a few months before,
and he would have given much to be able to take upon his
own shoulders the weight of the responsibilities that were
crushing his father. He directed all his efforts towards that
one aim, and he partly succeeded, because Providence turned
out more merciful than men ; she struck old Lesseps in his
advanced age, and threw the veil of oblivion on his once
powerful brain.
