thrown him into ill-humour, which extended through all his refusals.
Things, in fact, had come to such a pass, that it was evident one or the
other must give up an administration which their rivalry threw into
confusion.

Argenson saw the storm coming, and feeling the insecurity of his
position, wished to save himself. He had too much sense and too much
knowledge of the world not to feel that if he obstinately clung to the
finances he should not only lose them but the seals also. He yielded
therefore to Law, who was at last declared comptroller-general of the
finances, and who, elevated to this (for him) surprising point, continued
to visit me as usual every Tuesday morning, always trying to persuade me
into belief of his past miracles, and of those to come.

Argenson remained Keeper of the Seals, and skilfully turned to account
the sacrifice he had made by obtaining through it the permission to
surrender his appointment of Chancellor of the Order of Saint-Louis to
his eldest son, and the title, effectively, to his younger son. His
place of Conseiller d'Etat, that he had retained,--he also gave to his
eldest son, and made the other lieutenant of police. The murmur was
great upon seeing a foreigner comptroller-general, and all abandoned to a
finance system which already had begun to be mistrusted. But Frenchmen
grow accustomed to everything, and the majority were consoled by being no
longer exposed to the sharp humour of Argenson, or his strange hours of
business.

But Law's annoyances were not over when this change had been made. M. le
Prince de Conti began to be troublesome. He was more grasping than any
of his relatives, and that is not saying a little. He accosted Law now,
pistol in hand, so to speak, and with a perfect "money or your life"