And so, with this host of true subjects, ’Tis fitting his praises we sing, And drink, in joy’s wine, the glad toast “To Cupid—Long live the King!” NAPOLEON PART VI—LOUIS NAPOLEON By Anna Erwin Woods He wrote to the Minister of the Interior: “I come, M. Minister, to declare to you that if the French Government will permit me to go to Florence and perform a sacred duty, I promise, upon honor, to return and become a prisoner again whenever the Government expresses its desire that I shall do so.” He also addressed a letter to the king: “Sire, it is not without keen emotion that I come to ask Your Majesty, as a benefit, for permission to leave France, even momentarily; I, who have for the last five years found an ample recompense for the torments of captivity in the air of my fatherland. But, at present, my sick and infirm father demands my care. In order to obtain my freedom he has addressed himself to persons known for their devotion to Your Majesty; it is my duty, on my part, to do all that depends upon me to reach him. The Ministerial Council, not thinking it within its competence to grant the request I have made to go to Florence, promising to return and to become once more a prisoner when the Government shall manifest its desire for me to do so, I come, Sire, with confidence, to make an appeal to Your Majesty’s humane sentiments, and to renew my request by submitting it, Sire, to your high and generous intervention. Your Majesty, I am convinced, will appreciate as it deserves a step which pledges my gratitude in advance; and touched by the isolated position in a foreign land of a man who, on the throne, merited the esteem of Europe will hear the prayers of my father, and my own. I beg Your Majesty to receive the expression of my profound respect.” The Council of Ministers thought this letter insufficient to permit the exercise of clemency by the king. The leader of the Opposition went, in a private capacity, to plead the situation of the aged, infirm, solitary father, comparing it with that of the king, who was surrounded by a numerous family. The government, however, would not allow the petition to be considered.