without standing or presentable authority, liable to be repudiated by his master and to have "his throat cut like a sheep" for any mistake or discovery, this capable vagabond manipulated the strings of the machine which developed into the most powerful influence for fair practice among nations ever yet seen in the world—American diplomacy. He not only believed the world to be a stage, but wrote the piece himself, and acted it; performing both functions in the most intensely dramatic and interesting style.
So it inevitably happened that he crossed the trail of Arthur Lee, an agent of the Continentals in England in the early days of our Revolution. King Louis was shortly informed what action a really wise king should take. The French were at peace with England, to be sure. And there were certain prevailing ideas upon the subject of neutrality, then as now. But to a mind as versatile as Caron's such impediments are negligible. See how it is done.
