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In 1854 he received a commission from the Societe d'etudes du Canal de Suez at Paris to negotiate with Saeid Pacha for the construction of the canal projected in 1816. Accordingly, toward the close of that year, we again find him on the Isthmus, preparing for his great work. This time he came to conquer.
Great opposition followed, especially from England; and it was not till January, 1856, that the second and fuller concession was granted by Saeid Pacha, and a Compagnie International fully organized.
In 1858 M. Lesseps succeeded in raising two hundred millions of francs in France, and in 1859 he proceeded to Egypt and planted the Egyptian flag in the harbor of the ancient Pelusium, the great sea-port of Egypt thirty centuries ago, where Port Saeid now stands. He laid, at the same time, the foundation of a lighthouse, and proudly proclaimed the work commenced.
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