Law (John)

Autograph letter signed ‘Law’, 2 pp. in French, to an unidentified recipient, ostensibly Louis Henri, Duc de Bourbon (1692-1740), January 24, 1721.

“I am obliged to you monseigneur for the manner in which you wrote to M. de Chavigny [Theodore Chavigny (1687-1771)] about my subject [...] Exiles, especially those of my sort, have few friends, and yet I am the enemy of no one. I wish success in their ministry to all those who serve the regent.”

“[Je vous suis oblige monseigneur de la maniere avec laquelle vous avez ecrite a M.de Chavigny sur mon sujet [...] les absens principalement ceux de mon espece n'ont que peu d'amis, en revenge je ne suis ennemi de personne. Je souhaitte a tous ceux qui servent le regent succes dans leur ministere]."

***Scottish economist John Law (1671-1729), known as a monetary reformer and as the originator of the 'Mississippi Bubble' for the development of French territories in America, the collapse of which caused an economic crisis of historic proportions. Law wrote this letter less than a month after he had been forced to flee France, amidst calls for him to be thrown in the Bastille and executed. The letter evidences the Duc de Bourbon's secret diplomatic work in regards to M. de Chavigny, a diplomat and ally of Law's opponent, the Cardinal Dubois.

Although the Duc de Bourbon was enormously enriched by the scheme and escaped its collapse unscathed, Law himself died in poverty in Venice, in 1729.