128	DE     LESSEPS
" All but England," reminded the Consul, signifi-
cantly.
England officially was still adamant; but the Viceroy
would not turn back.
Hitherto De Lesseps had fought his own battles
backed only by the active goodwill of the Viceroy.
Now he felt that France must abandon her passive
attitude. England had persistently broken the agree-
ment of neutrality, so that France was fully entitled to
give more than moral support. The Empress Eugenie,
herself related to De Lesseps, had given him continuous
sympathy and her advocacy with the Emperor. It
was to her therefore that he appealed through her
private secretary.
" The intervention of the Emperor, which now
becomes a question of life and death for us, will
certainly increase his popularity at home and his influ-
ence abroad. All the governments are ready to support
him against the isolated opposition of the antiquated
policy of England. ... I said at the last meeting of
our board that the Empress had been our guardian
angel, and that she would be for the union of the two
seas what Isabella, the Catholic, was for the discovery
of America. We have therefore chosen the i5th of
November, the feast of St. Eugenie, for our first general
meeting of shareholders."
The result of this letter was an audience with the
Emperor. The interview was indeed a vital one, for a
critical situation had arisen. Alarmed that construction
had actually begun, the British Government had so-
worked upon the Porte that a formal order from the
Sultan had been sent requiring all operations to cease