Jean-Baptiste SAY (1767–1832). Letter from the author, Paris - Lot 103

Jean-Baptiste SAY (1767–1832). Letter from the author, Paris, September 15, 1816, to Michel Delaroche, merchant in Le Havre; 3 pages, in-4 format, addressed. Business letter referring to the shipwreck of *La Méduse*. He has exhausted the 10 mf line of credit he had with Delessert & Co., and he and his partners wish to get their business back on track; he therefore requests “a small extension of my credit with Delessert, and if, based on the initial results of our operations, I do not see the possibility of repaying you the advances from the profits—which are expected to come in fairly quickly—then we would instruct the New York office to sell some of my American holdings.” He would like to borrow 5,000 francs: “The reason is that we were forced to make advances to several needy farmers to secure their potato harvests; that we paid a hefty bribe toward our rent to reduce the lease price; and finally, we have, by calculation, increased our supply of lead and copper […] which will save us from repairs and other small expenses.” He then gives news of his family and is delighted that his son Horace will make the crossing before the English Channel becomes dangerous. This leads him to comment on the recent shipwreck of the Méduse (in July): “This happened entirely due to the fault of the expedition’s leader, whose only merit was being a die-hard counterrevolutionary. I was consulted about this expedition, which I criticized—not because of the shipwreck, which I could not have foreseen—but because of the stated objective and the means employed. Even if it had reached its destination safely, it would not have succeeded, and I foresaw disasters”…