Disappointed, but not discouraged, Law was more determined than ever to have his system put to practical test. If France did not accept salvation at his hands, he doubted not some other country would. He accordingly approached the King of Sardinia, one of the needy sovereigns of the day. Law’s proposal to him was the establishment of a land-bank, which he held out in glowing terms as the certain foundation of great national prosperity, but the wily monarch was not to be drawn, and with a touch of sarcasm recommended Law again to urge his scheme upon France. “If I know,” he said, “the disposition of the people of that kingdom, I am sure they will relish your schemes; and, therefore, I would advise you to go thither.”
The close of 1714 saw Law for the third time in Paris. Whether his return to France was due to the suggestion of the King of Sardinia, or to his having perceived a possibility of his system being yet adopted by France, whose crippled financial condition was becoming more serious as time went on, and demanded some drastic remedy to relieve the intolerable burden upon the Treasury, we cannot judge. He probably considered that, with bankruptcy hanging over the French nation like a grim spectre, necessity, if not conviction, would induce the acceptance of his theories. The nation’s indebtedness had now outgrown its resources. Every conceivable device had been resorted to for the purpose of meeting the most pressing obligations. Provision for the future was regardlessly sacrificed to the needs of the moment, and ingenuity was devoted only to keeping the evil day afar off. Every one feared the worst. No one was able to grapple with the difficulty in a broad, statesmanlike fashion, and to carry out a bold policy of national economy. The Treasury had to face the payment of exorbitant rates of interest upon loans, the full value of which had not been received. The coinage was debased to an extent altogether out of proportion to its face value. Lotteries were organised on an extensive scale as a means of appealing to the gambling instincts of the community, and as a method of applying indirect taxation without the hateful element of compulsion. Billets d’état were foisted upon unwilling creditors in almost unlimited amounts, and formed a paper currency that had difficulty in changing hands at even 10 per cent. upon its value of issue. To crown all, titles were sold as mere articles of commerce, sinecures created with high-sounding designations that roused the ridicule of the multitude, but helped to provide the King with money, and monopolies granted to the highest bidder. Yet all these devices failed their purpose, and the insatiable hunger of the Treasury was still far from being appeased. Financial paralysis was creeping over the nation, and threatened the gravest consequences.
Here was such a field as Law alone could fully appreciate. Fortune at last seemed about to smile upon him. His star was about to assume a meteoric brilliance, and to mount towards its zenith with marvellous rapidity. Circumstances moulded themselves to his successful progress; and with rare capacity Law took full advantage of every opportunity. In order to remove as far as possible, social obstacles to his easy access to Court, he took up residence in a fine mansion, and lived as a man with unlimited means at his disposal. He entertained, in the extravagant way that marked his previous visits to Paris, all those whom he thought he could utilise for his own advancement; and the death of Mr. Segnior enabled him to marry the latter’s widow, with whom he had hitherto been living, thus removing the taint of illicitness from his cohabitation with her, and legitimatising his family.
Law’s objective was the good favour of the Duc d’Orleans. He recognised the importance of obtaining the support of the man who promised to occupy the Regency within a very short time, and who would thus possess sufficient power to impose upon the Government any scheme towards which he was favourably inclined. With great prudence Law did not seem to be over-anxious in the prosecution of his aim, lest he might induce suspicion as to his disinterestedness. He, accordingly, devoted himself at first to the entertainment of the Prince by bringing into play all his varied gifts, and by gratifying his tastes for gambling and pleasure as far as he was able. “His good address and skill at play, made him particularly taken notice of by the Regent, who used to play with him at baggammon, a game the Regent likes mightily, and Mr. Law plays very well at.” By this process, Law succeeded in placing his intimacy with the Duc upon a solid foundation, and in securing his influence when the opportune moment arrived for its exercise.
Law’s fame as a potential financier of national grasp was at this time exercising the minds of the British Government of the day. The Earl of Stair had been newly appointed Ambassador to the Court of France, and was so impressed with Law’s ability that he recommended him to Lord Halifax and to Secretary Stanhope as a man who might be useful in suggesting some means of liquidating the debts of the British Treasury, which at that time were somewhat complicated and assuming enormous proportions. On Feb. 12, 1715, Stair wrote to Stanhope:—
“... There is a countryman of mine named Law of whom you have no doubt often heard. He is a man of very good sense, and who has a head fit for calculations of all kinds to an extent beyond anybody.... Could not such a man be useful in devising some plan for paying off the national debts? If you think so, it will be easy to make him come. He desires the power of being useful to his country. I wrote about him to Lord Halifax.... The King of Sicily presses him extremely to go into Piedmont, to put their affairs upon the foot they have already spoken of. I have seen the King’s letters to Law, which are very obliging and pressing. I would not venture to speak thus to you of this man had I not known him for a long time as a person of as good sense as I ever knew in my life, of very solid good sense, and very useful; and in the matters he takes himself up with, certainly the cleverest man that is.”
Shortly before this date Stair had written to Halifax in similar terms, and received the following reply of date February 14, 1715:
“I had the honour to know Mr. Law a little at the Hague, and have by me some papers of his sent to Lord Godolphin out of Scotland, by which I have a great esteem for his abilities, and am extreme fond of having his assistance in the Revenue. I have spoke to the King and some of his Ministers about him, but there appears some difficulty in his case, and in the way of having him brought over. If your Lordship can suggest anything to me that can ease this matter, I should be very glad to receive it.”
The latter portion of this letter obviously refers to Law’s conviction of murder by the English courts, which Law had failed to obtain pardon for. On April 30, 1715, Stanhope replied to Stair in the following terms:—
“Though I have not hitherto, in my returns to your Lordship’s letters, taken notice of what you have writ to me once or twice about Mr. Law, yet I did not fail to lay it before the King. I am now to tell your Lordship that I find a disposition to comply with what your Lordship proposes, though at the same time it has met, and does meet, with opposition, and I believe it will be no hard matter for him to guess from whence it proceeds.”