Page:Dramatic Moments in American Diplomacy (1918).djvu/162

142 for the Pacific trade, the problem was easy. With proofs now in his hands Bigelow could convince the authorities of the real designs of the enterprise, and they would be stopped at once. For this sort of thing was the gravest breach not only of the accepted laws governing neutrality, but of the repeated assurances and promises of the Emperor himself. A glance at his exhibits convinced the consul that Napoleon "was hovering over us—like the buzzards—in Gérome's famous picture, over the exhausted camel in the desert—only deferring his descent until we should be too feeble to defend ourselves." In other words Napoleon III was himself a party to the construction of these leviathans destined to destroy a friendly country.

The first move was conventional. Complete copies of the papers were placed in the hands of M. Drouyn de Lhuys, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs. These were accompanied by remonstrances, and insistent demands that the vessels be seized. The worthy