£10,000 Available for the Emperor, in Instalments of £2,000.
To His Majesty the Emperor.
Undated.
Sire,
I have this morning imparted to Mr. —— the idea which your Majesty had the kindness to express in a telegram, and I explained, moreover, how urgent it seemed to me to procure funds for the French Press.
Mr. —— replied that he would certainly bring to a happy conclusion the combination entered into by himself and some friends, in order to realize a substantial subscription, but that he still required a little time.
“Nevertheless,” he added, “I can already place at the Emperor’s service a sum of 250,000 francs [£10,000], as an instalment of the subscription which I and my friends are collecting, but I should desire that this amount be [? payable] by instalments of 50,000 francs [£2,000] each, at intervals of a few days.”
Mr. —— will leave for Paris on Saturday next, to remain there eight days, and if your Majesty would kindly at once send his orders, the address of his offices is....
As for me, I shall await your Majesty’s decision as to whether I should go to Cowes or remain in London.
Your Majesty will, perhaps, think that [our] success is still far from being equal to what was looked for; but, notwithstanding all [the] steps taken, and all my zeal, more time is required than I had expected; this worries me very much.