“I am glad you do not apprehend that Mr. Law is in a condition to do us any great hurt by what he gets by the rise of our South Sea Stock. Though I know that Law will brag, yet I own to you I did apprehend that he had gained considerably and that he might be able to do us a good deal of mischief by withdrawing a very great sum himself, and by tempting other foreigners to follow his example. I suppose you know the great sums Mr. Law pretends to have in our stocks were bought in Holland. It seems to me to be a very dangerous thing in such a country as ours, where things are so very uncertain and fluctuating, to have foreigners masters of such vast sums of money, as they must needs have at present, by the rise of our stocks. This is a terrible handle to hurt us by, in the hands of such a man as Law. I wish our monied men may be attentive enough to the security of the nation in this point; and that they may not let themselves be blinded by the flattering appearances of present gains. I am very glad to see you think so sanguinely as to the payment of our national debts. It will be very important to give the world such impressions of our situation. By several letters I have seen from very understanding men in Holland, I should be afraid that such impressions might prevail there and at Geneva, which would be very hurtful to us, for both the Dutch and the Geneve have very great sums in our stocks. I am afraid we have not money enough, either in coin or in paper, to move so vast a mass as our South Sea Company now comes to be. The national bank would have been a very great help. I must own I apprehend that if that matter is not settled at this time, you will meet with great opposition at any other time by the South Sea Company, which, from this time forward, we are to look upon as a very powerful body.