What our diplomacy has to do is, to discover some means to render the high road to India through the Canal secure. Obviously we cannot do in this matter precisely as we should like, which would be to say that in time of peace all war vessels may pass through the Canal, and in time of war only ours. I hardly see how we can go beyond making the passage neutral in times of peace, and excluding from it in times of war the ships of belligerents. If Egypt were left to herself, I believe that she could very safely be left in charge of the Canal. Her people would be glad to be clear of all European complications, and, in case of war, she would occupy Port Said, and notify belligerents that their ships would not be allowed to pass." On the question of India he expressed himself thus: I am not at all of the "Perish India" school of politics. If it could be proved that our Empire would perish if we did not establish ourselves in Egypt, I am by no means certain but what I should be in favour of our establishment. But I am a believer not only in the justice, but in the expediency of an alliance with the people of a country, and not with its ruler against the people. Any intermixture in the internal affairs of Egypt on our part is not only opposed to Liberal principles, but opposed to English interests. To what has it already led? To a most costly military expedition; to our being arrayed against rights without which there can be no true liberty or sound government; to the slaughter of Englishmen and Egyptians with all the "pomp and pride of glorious war"; and lastly to our soldiers acting as retrievers, to hunt down and hand over to punishment to an Ottoman potentate, men many of whom--whether they were ambitious and whether they were ill-advised--had unquestionably a perfect right to fight in support of the principle that the only authority of their nation ought to be its representatives.[9] {202} A correspondent at once asked him: "How is it that you were in favour of the control and in favour of the Expedition, and yet now tell your readers that the control ought to cease, and that having by means of the Expedition established a firm foothold in Egypt, our next step ought to be to evacuate the country?" The following number of _Truth_ delivered itself in reply as follows: