Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions - Chapter 1



Chapter 1 - Money Mania.—The Mississippi Scheme

Some in clandestine companies combine;
Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line;
With air and empty names beguile the town,
And raise new credits first, then cry 'em down;
Divide the empty nothing into shares,
And set the crowd together by the ears.
—Defoe.

THE PERSONAL CHARACTER and career of one man are so intimately
connected with the great scheme of the years 1719 and 1720, that a
history of the Mississippi madness can have no fitter introduction
than a sketch of the life of its great author John Law. Historians
are divided in opinion as to whether they should designate him a
knave or a madman. Both epithets were unsparingly applied to him
in his lifetime, and while the unhappy consequences of his
projects were still deeply felt. Posterity, however, has found
reason to doubt the justice of the accusation, and to confess that
John Law was neither knave nor madman, but one more deceived than
deceiving, more sinned against than sinning. He was thoroughly
acquainted with the philosophy and true principles of credit. He
understood the monetary question better than any man of his day;
and if his system fell with a crash so tremendous, it was not so
much his fault as that of the people amongst whom he had erected
it. He did not calculate upon the avaricious frenzy of a whole
nation; he did not see that confidence, like mistrust, could be
increased, almost ad infinitum, and that hope was as extravagant
as fear. How was he to foretell that the French people, like the
man in the fable, would kill, in their frantic eagerness, the fine
goose he had brought to lay them so many golden eggs? His fate was
like that which may be supposed to have overtaken the first
adventurous boatman who rowed from Erie to Ontario. Broad and
smooth was the river on which he embarked; rapid and pleasant was
his progress; and who was to stay him in his career? Alas for him!
the cataract was nigh. He saw, when it was too late, that the tide
which wafted him so joyously along was a tide of destruction; and
when he endeavoured to retrace his way, he found that the current
was too strong for his weak efforts to stem, and that he drew
nearer every instant to the tremendous falls. Down he went over
the sharp rocks, and the waters with him. He was dashed to pieces
with his bark, but the waters, maddened and turned to foam by the
rough descent, only boiled and bubbled for a time, and then flowed
on again as smoothly as ever. Just so it was with Law and the
French people. He was the boatman and they were the waters.

John Law was born at Edinburgh in the year 1671. His father was
the younger son of an ancient family in Fife, and carried on the
business of a goldsmith and banker. He amassed considerable wealth
in his trade, sufficient to enable him to gratify the wish, so
common among his countrymen, of adding a territorial designation
to his name. He purchased with this view the estates of Lauriston
and Randleston, on the Frith of Forth on the borders of West and
Mid Lothian, and was thenceforth known as Law of Lauriston. The
subject of our memoir, being the eldest son, was received into his
father's counting-house at the age of fourteen, and for three
years laboured hard to acquire an insight into the principles of
banking, as then carried on in Scotland. He had always manifested
great love for the study of numbers, and his proficiency in the
mathematics was considered extraordinary in one of his tender
years. At the age of seventeen he was tall, strong, and well made;
and his face, although deeply scarred with the small-pox, was
agreeable in its expression, and full of intelligence. At this
time he began to neglect his business, and becoming vain of his
person, indulged in considerable extravagance of attire. He was a
great favourite with the ladies, by whom he was called Beau Law;
while the other sex, despising his foppery, nicknamed him Jessamy
John. At the death of his father, which happened in 1688, he
withdrew entirely from the desk, which had become so irksome, and
being possessed of the revenues of the paternal estate of
Lauriston, he proceeded to London, to see the world.

He was now very young, very vain, good-looking, tolerably rich,
and quite uncontrolled. It is no wonder that, on his arrival in
the capital, he should launch out into extravagance. He soon
became a regular frequenter of the gaming-houses, and by pursuing
a certain plan, based upon some abstruse calculation of chances,
he contrived to gain considerable sums. All the gamblers envied
him his luck, and many made it a point to watch his play, and
stake their money on the same chances. In affairs of gallantry he
was equally fortunate; ladies of the first rank smiled graciously
upon the handsome Scotchman—the young, the rich, the witty, and
the obliging. But all these successes only paved the way for
reverses. After he had been for nine years exposed to the
dangerous attractions of the gay life he was leading, he became an
irrecoverable gambler. As his love of play increased in violence,
it diminished in prudence. Great losses were only to be repaired
by still greater ventures, and one unhappy day he lost more than
he could repay without mortgaging his family estate. To that step
he was driven at last. At the same time his gallantry brought him
into trouble. A love affair, or slight flirtation, with a lady of
the name of Villiers1* exposed him to the resentment of a Mr.
Wilson, by whom he was challenged to fight a duel. Law accepted,
and had the ill fortune to shoot his antagonist dead upon the
spot. He was arrested the same day, and brought to trial for
murder by the relatives of Mr. Wilson. He was afterwards found
guilty, and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to a
fine, upon the ground that the offence only amounted to
manslaughter. An appeal being lodged by a brother of the deceased,
Law was detained in the King's Bench, whence, by some means or
other, which he never explained, he contrived to escape; and an
action being instituted against the sheriffs, he was advertised in
the Gazette, and a reward offered for his apprehension. He was
described as "Captain John Law, a Scotchman, aged twenty-six; a
very tall, black, lean man; well shaped, above six feet high, with
large pock-holes in his face; big nosed, and speaking broad and
loud." As this was rather a caricature than a description of him,
it has been supposed that it was drawn up with a view to favour
his escape. He succeeded in reaching the Continent, where he
travelled for three years, and devoted much of his attention to
the monetary and banking affairs of the countries through which he
passed. He stayed a few months in Amsterdam, and speculated to
some extent in the funds. His mornings were devoted to the study
of finance and the principles of trade, and his evenings to the
gaming-house. It is generally believed that he returned to
Edinburgh in the year 1700. It is certain that he published in
that city his Proposals and Reasons for constituting a Council of
Trade. This pamphlet did not excite much attention.

In a short time afterwards he published a project for establishing
what he called a Land-bank2*, the notes issued by which were never
to exceed the value of the entire lands of the state, upon
ordinary interest, or were to be equal in value to the land, with
the right to enter into possession at a certain time. The project
excited a good deal of discussion in the Scottish parliament, and
a motion for the establishment of such a bank was brought forward
by a neutral party, called the Squadrone, whom Law had interested
in his favour. The Parliament ultimately passed a resolution to
the effect, that, to establish any kind of paper credit, so as to
force it to pass, was an improper expedient for the nation.

Upon the failure of this project, and of his efforts to procure a
pardon for the murder of Mr. Wilson, Law withdrew to the
Continent, and resumed his old habits of gaming. For fourteen
years he continued to roam about, in Flanders, Holland, Germany,
Hungary, Italy, and France. He soon became intimately acquainted
with the extent of the trade and resources of each, and daily more
confirmed in his opinion that no country could prosper without a
paper currency. During the whole of this time he appears to have
chiefly supported himself by successful play. At every
gambling-house of note in the capitals of Europe, he was known and
appreciated as one better skilled in the intricacies of chance
than any other man of the day. It is stated in the Biographie
Universelle that he was expelled, first from Venice, and
afterwards from Genoa, by the magistrates, who thought him a
visitor too dangerous for the youth of those cities. During his
residence in Paris he rendered himself obnoxious to D'Argenson,
the lieutenant-general of the police, by whom he was ordered to
quit the capital. This did not take place, however, before he had
made the acquaintance, in the saloons, of the Duke de Vendôme, the
Prince de Conti, and of the gay Duke of Orleans, the latter of
whom was destined afterwards to exercise so much influence over
his fate. The Duke of Orleans was pleased with the vivacity and
good sense of the Scottish adventurer, while the latter was no
less pleased with the wit and amiability of a prince who promised
to become his patron. They were often thrown into each other's
society, and Law seized every opportunity to instil his financial
doctrines into the mind of one whose proximity to the throne
pointed him out as destined, at no very distant date, to play an
important part in the government.

Shortly before the death of Louis XIV, or, as some say, in 1708,
Law proposed a scheme of finance to Desmarets, the comptroller.
Louis is reported to have inquired whether the projector were a
Catholic, and, on being answered in the negative, to have declined
having any thing to do with him.3*

It was after this repulse that he visited Italy. His mind being
still occupied with schemes of finance, he proposed to Victor
Amadeus, duke of Savoy, to establish his land-bank in that
country. The duke replied that his dominions were too
circumscribed for the execution of so great a project, and that he
was by far too poor a potentate to be ruined. He advised him,
however, to try the King of France once more; for he was sure, if
he knew any thing of the French character, that the people would
be delighted with a plan, not only so new, but so plausible.

Louis XIV died in 1715, and the heir to the throne being an infant
only seven years of age, the Duke of Orleans assumed the reins of
government, as regent, during his minority. Law now found himself
in a more favourable position. The tide in his affairs had come,
which, taken at the flood, was to waft him on to fortune. The
regent was his friend, already acquainted with his theory and
pretensions, and inclined, moreover, to aid him in any efforts to
restore the wounded credit of France, bowed down to the earth by
the extravagance of the long reign of Louis XIV.

Hardly was that monarch laid in his grave ere the popular hatred,
suppressed so long, burst forth against his memory. He who, during
his life, had been flattered with an excess of adulation, to which
history scarcely offers a parallel, was now cursed as a tyrant, a
bigot, and a plunderer. His statues were pelted and disfigured;
his effigies torn down, amid the execrations of the populace, and
his name rendered synonymous with selfishness and oppression. The
glory of his arms was forgotten, and nothing was remembered but
his reverses, his extravagance, and his cruelty.

The finances of the country were in a state of the utmost
disorder. A profuse and corrupt monarch, whose profuseness and
corruption were imitated by almost every functionary, from the
highest to the lowest grade, had brought France to the verge of
ruin. The national debt amounted to 3000 millions of livres, the
revenue to 145 millions, and the expenses of government to 142
millions per annum; leaving only three millions to pay the
interest upon 3000 millions. The first care of the regent was to
discover a remedy for an evil of such magnitude, and a council was
early summoned to take the matter into consideration. The Duke de
St. Simon was of opinion that nothing could save the country from
revolution but a remedy at once bold and dangerous. He advised the
regent to convoke the states-general, and declare a national
bankruptcy. The Duke de Noailles, a man of accommodating
principles, an accomplished courtier, and totally averse from
giving himself any trouble or annoyance that ingenuity could
escape from, opposed the project of St. Simon with all his
influence. He represented the expedient as alike dishonest and
ruinous. The regent was of the same opinion, and this desperate
remedy fell to the ground.

The measures ultimately adopted, though they promised fair, only
aggravated the evil. The first, and most dishonest measure, was of
no advantage to the state. A recoinage was ordered, by which the
currency was depreciated one-fifth; those who took a thousand
pieces of gold or silver to the mint received back an amount of
coin of the same nominal value, but only four-fifths of the weight
of metal. By this contrivance the treasury gained seventy-two
millions of livres, and all the commercial operations of the
country were disordered. A trifling diminution of the taxes
silenced the clamours of the people, and for the slight present
advantage the great prospective evil was forgotten.

A Chamber of Justice was next instituted, to inquire into the
malversations of the loan-contractors and the farmers of the
revenues. Tax collectors are never very popular in any country,
but those of France at this period deserved all the odium with
which they were loaded. As soon as these farmers-general, with all
their hosts of subordinate agents, called maltôtiers,4* were
called to account for their misdeeds, the most extravagant joy
took possession of the nation. The Chamber of Justice, instituted
chiefly for this purpose, was endowed with very extensive powers.
It was composed of the presidents and councils of the parliament,
the judges of the Courts of Aid and of Requests, and the officers
of the Chamber of Account, under the general presidence of the
minister of finance. Informers were encouraged to give evidence
against the offenders by the promise of one-fifth part of the
fines and confiscations. A tenth of all concealed effects
belonging to the guilty was promised to such as should furnish the
means of discovering them.

The promulgation of the edict constituting this court caused a
degree of consternation among those principally concerned which
can only be accounted for on the supposition that their peculation
had been enormous. But they met with no sympathy. The proceedings
against them justified their terror. The Bastille was soon unable
to contain the prisoners that were sent to it, and the gaols all
over the country teemed with guilty or suspected persons. An order
was issued to all innkeepers and postmasters to refuse horses to
such as endeavoured to seek safety in flight; and all persons were
forbidden, under heavy fines, to harbour them or favour their
evasion. Some were condemned to the pillory, others to the
galleys, and the least guilty to fine and imprisonment. One only,
Samuel Bernard, a rich banker, and farmer-general of a province
remote from the capital, was sentenced to death. So great had been
the illegal profits of this man,—looked upon as the tyrant and
oppressor of his district, — that he offered six millions of
livres, or 250,000l. sterling, to be allowed to escape.

His bribe was refused, and he suffered the penalty of death.
Others, perhaps more guilty, were more fortunate. Confiscation,
owing to the concealment of their treasures by the delinquents,
often produced less money than a fine. The severity of the
government relaxed, and fines, under the denomination of taxes,
were indiscriminately levied upon all offenders. But so corrupt
was every department of the administration, that the country
benefited but little by the sums which thus flowed into the
treasury. Courtiers, and courtiers' wives and mistresses, came in
for the chief share of the spoils. One contractor had been taxed
in proportion to his wealth and guilt, at the sum of twelve
millions of livres. The Count ***, a man of some weight in the
government, called upon him, and offered to procure a remission of
the fine, if he would give him a hundred thousand crowns. "Vous
êtes trop tard, mon ami," replied the financier; "I have already
made a bargain with your wife for fifty thousand."5*

About a hundred and eighty millions of livres were levied in this
manner, of which eighty were applied in payment of the debts
contracted by the government. The remainder found its way into the
pockets of the courtiers. Madame de Maintenon, writing on this
subject, says,—"We hear every day of some new grant of the regent;
the people murmur very much at this mode of employing the money
taken from the peculators." The people, who, after the first burst
of their resentment is over, generally express a sympathy for the
weak, were indignant that so much severity should be used to so
little purpose. They did not see the justice of robbing one set of
rogues to fatten another. In a few months all the more guilty had
been brought to punishment, and the Chamber of Justice looked for
victims in humbler walks of life. Charges of fraud and extortion
were brought against tradesmen of good character in consequence of
the great inducements held out to common informers. They were
compelled to lay open their affairs before this tribunal in order
to establish their innocence. The voice of complaint resounded
from every side, and at the expiration of a year the government
found it advisable to discontinue further proceedings. The Chamber
of Justice was suppressed, and a general amnesty granted to all
against whom no charges had yet been preferred.

In the midst of this financial confusion Law appeared upon the
scene. No man felt more deeply than the regent the deplorable
state of the country, but no man could be more averse from putting
his shoulders manfully to the wheel. He disliked business; he
signed official documents without proper examination, and trusted
to others what he should have undertaken himself. The cares
inseparable from his high office were burdensome to him. He saw
that something was necessary to be done; but he lacked the energy
to do it, and had not virtue enough to sacrifice his ease and his
pleasures in the attempt. No wonder that, with this character, he
listened favourably to the mighty projects, so easy of execution,
of the clever adventurer whom he had formerly known, and whose
talents he appreciated.

When Law presented himself at court, he was most cordially
received. He offered two memorials to the regent, in which he set
forth the evils that had befallen France, owing to an insufficient
currency, at different times depreciated. He asserted that a
metallic currency, unaided by a paper money, was wholly inadequate
to the wants of a commercial country, and particularly cited the
examples of Great Britain and Holland to show the advantages of
paper. He used many sound arguments on the subject of credit, and
proposed, as a means of restoring that of France, then at so low
an ebb among the nations, that he should be allowed to set up a
bank, which should have the management of the royal revenues, and
issue notes, both on that and on landed security. He further
proposed that this bank should be administered in the king's name,
but subject to the control of commissioners to be named by the
States-General.

While these memorials were under consideration, Law translated
into French his essay on money and trade, and used every means to
extend through the nation his renown as a financier. He soon
became talked of. The confidants of the regent spread abroad his
praise, and every one expected great things of Monsieur Lass.6*

On the 5th of May, 1716, a royal edict was published, by which Law
was authorised, in conjunction with his brother, to establish a
bank, under the name of Law and Company, the notes of which should
be received in payment of the taxes. The capital was fixed at six
millions of livres, in twelve thousand shares of five hundred
livres each, purchasable one-fourth in specie and the remainder in
billets d'état. It was not thought expedient to grant him the
whole of the privileges prayed for in his memorials until
experience should have shewn their safety and advantage.

Law was now on the high road to fortune. The study of thirty years
was brought to guide him in the management of his bank. He made
all his notes payable at sight, and in the coin current at the
time they were issued. This last was a master-stroke of policy,
and immediately rendered his notes more valuable than the precious
metals. The latter were constantly liable to depreciation by the
unwise tampering of the government. A thousand livres of silver
might be worth their nominal value one day and be reduced
one-sixth the next, but a note of Law's bank retained its original
value. He publicly declared at the same time that a banker
deserved death if he made issues without having sufficient
security to answer all demands. The consequence was, that his
notes advanced rapidly in public estimation, and were received at
one per cent more than specie. It was not long before the trade of
the country felt the benefit. Languishing commerce began to lift
up her head; the taxes were paid with greater regularity and less
murmuring; and a degree of confidence was established that could
not fail, if it continued, to become still more advantageous. In
the course of a year Law's notes rose to fifteen per cent premium,
while the billets d'état, or notes issued by the government, as
security for the debts contracted by the extravagant Louis XIV,
were at a discount of no less than seventy-eight and a half per
cent. The comparison was too great in favour of Law not to attract
the attention of the whole kingdom, and his credit extended itself
day by day. Branches of his bank were almost simultaneously
established at Lyons, Rochelle, Tours, Amiens, and Orleans.

The regent appears to have been utterly astonished at his success,
and gradually to have conceived the idea, that paper, which could
so aid a metallic currency, could entirely supersede it. Upon this
fundamental error he afterwards acted. In the mean time, Law
commenced the famous project which has handed his name down to
posterity. He proposed to the regent (who could refuse him
nothing) to establish a company, that should have the exclusive
privilege of trading to the great river Mississippi and the
province of Louisiana, on its western bank. The country was
supposed to abound in the precious metals; and the company,
supported by the profits of their exclusive commerce, were to be
the sole farmers of the taxes, and sole coiners of money. Letters
patent were issued, incorporating the company, in August 1717. The
capital was divided into two hundred thousand shares of five
hundred livres each, the whole of which might be paid in billets
d'état, at their nominal value, although worth no more than 160
livres in the market.

It was now that the frenzy of speculating began to seize upon the
nation. Law's bank had effected so much good, that any promises
for the future which he thought proper to make were readily
believed. The regent every day conferred new privileges upon the
fortunate projector. The bank obtained the monopoly of the sale of
tobacco; the sole right of refinage of gold and silver, and was
finally erected into the Royal Bank of France. Amid the
intoxication of success, both Law and the regent forgot the maxim
so loudly proclaimed by the former, that a banker deserved death
who made issues of paper without the necessary funds to provide
for them. As soon as the bank, from a private, became a public
institution, the regent caused a fabrication of notes to the
amount of one thousand millions of livres. This was the first
departure from sound principles, and one for which Law is not
justly blameable. While the affairs of the bank were under his
control, the issues had never exceeded sixty millions. Whether Law
opposed the inordinate increase is not known; but as it took place
as soon as the bank was made a royal establishment, it is but fair
to lay the blame of the change of system upon the regent.

Law found that he lived under a despotic government; but he was
not yet aware of the pernicious influence which such a government
could exercise upon so delicate a framework as that of credit. He
discovered it afterwards to his cost, but in the mean time
suffered himself to be impelled by the regent into courses which
his own reason must have disapproved. With a weakness most
culpable, he lent his aid in inundating the country with paper
money, which, based upon no solid foundation, was sure to fall,
sooner or later. The extraordinary present fortune dazzled his
eyes, and prevented him from seeing the evil day that would burst
over his head, when once, from any cause or other, the alarm was
sounded. The parliament were from the first jealous of his
influence as a foreigner, and had, besides, their misgivings as to
the safety of his projects. As his influence extended, their
animosity increased. D'Aguesseau, the chancellor, was
unceremoniously dismissed by the regent for his opposition to the
vast increase of paper money, and the constant depreciation of the
gold and silver coin of the realm. This only served to augment the
enmity of the parliament, and when D'Argenson, a man devoted to
the interests of the regent, was appointed to the vacant
chancellorship, and made at the same time minister of finance,
they became more violent than ever. The first measure of the new
minister caused a further depreciation of the coin. In order to
extinguish the billets d'état, it was ordered that persons
bringing to the mint four thousand livres in specie and one
thousand livres in billets d'état, should receive back coin to the
amount of five thousand livres. D'Argenson plumed himself mightily
upon thus creating five thousand new and smaller livres out of the
four thousand old and larger ones, being too ignorant of the true
principles of trade and credit to be aware of the immense injury
he was inflicting upon both.

The parliament saw at once the impolicy and danger of such a
system, and made repeated remonstrances to the regent. The latter
refused to entertain their petitions, when the parliament, by a
bold, and very unusual stretch of authority, commanded that no
money should be received in payment but that of the old standard.
The regent summoned a lit de justice, and annulled the decree. The
parliament resisted, and issued another. Again the regent
exercised his privilege, and annulled it, till the parliament,
stung to fiercer opposition, passed another decree, dated August
12th, 1718, by which they forbade the bank of Law to have any
concern, either direct or indirect, in the administration of the
revenue; and prohibited all foreigners, under heavy penalties,
from interfering, either in their own names, or in that of others,
in the management of the finances of the state. The parliament
considered Law to be the author of all the evil, and some of the
counsellors, in the virulence of their enmity, proposed that he
should be brought to trial, and, if found guilty, be hung at the
gates of the Palais de Justice.

Law, in great alarm, fled to the Palais Royal, and threw himself
on the protection of the regent, praying that measures might be
taken to reduce the parliament to obedience. The regent had
nothing so much at heart, both on that account and because of the
disputes that had arisen relative to the legitimation of the Duke
of Maine and the Count of Thoulouse, the sons of the late king.
The parliament was ultimately overawed by the arrest of their
president and two of the counsellors, who were sent to distant
prisons.

Thus the first cloud upon Law's prospects blew over: freed from
apprehension of personal danger, he devoted his attention to his
famous Mississippi project, the shares of which were rapidly
rising, in spite of the parliament. At the commencement of the
year 1719 an edict was published, granting to the Mississippi
Company the exclusive privilege of trading to the East Indies,
China, and the South Seas, and to all the possessions of the
French East India Company, established by Colbert. The Company, in
consequence of this great increase of their business, assumed, as
more appropriate, the title of Company of the Indies, and created
fifty thousand new shares. The prospects now held out by Law were
most magnificent. He promised a yearly dividend of two hundred
livres upon each share of five hundred, which, as the shares were
paid for in billets d'état, at their nominal value, but worth only
100 livres, was at the rate of about 120 per cent profit.

The public enthusiasm, which had been so long rising, could not
resist a vision so splendid. At least three hundred thousand
applications were made for the fifty thousand new shares, and
Law's house in the Rue de Quincampoix was beset from morning to
night by the eager applicants. As it was impossible to satisfy
them all, it was several weeks before a list of the fortunate new
stockholders could be made out, during which time the public
impatience rose to a pitch of frenzy. Dukes, marquises, counts,
with their duchesses, marchionesses, and countesses, waited in the
streets for hours every day before Mr. Law's door to know the
result. At last, to avoid the jostling of the plebeian crowd,
which, to the number of thousands, filled the whole thoroughfare,
they took apartments in the adjoining houses, that they might be
continually near the temple whence the new Plutus was diffusing
wealth. Every day the value of the old shares increased, and the
fresh applications, induced by the golden dreams of the whole
nation, became so numerous that it was deemed advisable to create
no less than three hundred thousand new shares, at five thousand
livres each, in order that the regent might take advantage of the
popular enthusiasm to pay off the national debt. For this purpose,
the sum of fifteen hundred millions of livres was necessary. Such
was the eagerness of the nation, that thrice the sum would have
been subscribed if the government had authorised it.

Law was now at the zenith of his prosperity, and the people were
rapidly approaching the zenith of their infatuation. The highest
and the lowest classes were alike filled with a vision of
boundless wealth. There was not a person of note among the
aristocracy, with the exception of the Duke of St. Simon and
Marshal Villars, who was not engaged in buying or selling stock.
People of every age and sex and condition in life, speculated in
the rise and fall of the Mississippi bonds. The Rue de Quincampoix
was the grand resort of the jobbers, and it being a narrow,
inconvenient street, accidents continually occurred in it, from
the tremendous pressure of the crowd. Houses in it, worth, in
ordinary times, a thousand livres of yearly rent, yielded as much
as twelve or sixteen thousand. A cobbler, who had a stall in it,
gained about two hundred livres a day by letting it out, and
furnishing writing materials to brokers and their clients. The
story goes, that a hunchbacked man who stood in the street gained
considerable sums by lending his hump as a writing-desk to the
eager speculators! The great concourse of persons who assembled to
do business brought a still greater concourse of spectators. These
again drew all the thieves and immoral characters of Paris to the
spot, and constant riots and disturbances took place. At
nightfall, it was often found necessary to send a troop of
soldiers to clear the street.

Law, finding the inconvenience of his residence, removed to the
Place Vendôme, whither the crowd of agioteurs followed him. That
spacious square soon became as thronged as the Rue de Quincampoix:
from morning to night it presented the appearance of a fair.
Booths and tents were erected for the transaction of business and
the sale of refreshments, and gamblers with their roulette tables
stationed themselves in the very middle of the place, and reaped a
golden, or rather a paper, harvest from the throng. The boulevards
and public gardens were forsaken; parties of pleasure took their
walks in preference in the Place Vendôme, which became the
fashionable lounge of the idle, as well as the general rendezvous
of the busy. The noise was so great all day, that the chancellor,
whose court was situated in the square, complained to the regent
and the municipality, that he could not hear the advocates. Law,
when applied to, expressed his willingness to aid in the removal
of the nuisance, and for this purpose entered into a treaty with
the Prince de Carignan for the Hôtel de Soissons, which had a
garden of several acres in the rear. A bargain was concluded, by
which Law became the purchaser of the hotel at an enormous price,
the prince reserving to himself the magnificent gardens as a new
source of profit. They contained some fine statues and several
fountains, and were altogether laid out with much taste. As soon
as Law was installed in his new abode, an edict was published,
forbidding all persons to buy or sell stock anywhere but in the
gardens of the Hôtel de Soissons. In the midst, among the trees,
about five hundred small tents and pavilions were erected, for the
convenience of the stock-jobbers. Their various colours, the gay
ribands and banners which floated from them, the busy crowds which
passed continually in and out—the incessant hum of voices, the
noise, the music, and the strange mixture of business and pleasure
on the countenances of the throng, all combined to give the place
an air of enchantment that quite enraptured the Parisians. The
Prince de Carignan made enormous profits while the delusion
lasted. Each tent was let at the rate of five hundred livres a
month; and, as there were at least five hundred of them, his
monthly revenue from this source alone must have amounted to
250,000 livres, or upwards of 10,000l. sterling.

The honest old soldier, Marshal Villars, was so vexed to see the
folly which had smitten his countrymen, that he never could speak
with temper on the subject. Passing one day through the Place
Vendôme in his carriage, the choleric gentleman was so annoyed at
the infatuation of the people, that he abruptly ordered his
coachman to stop, and, putting his head out of the carriage
window, harangued them for full half an hour on their "disgusting
avarice." This was not a very wise proceeding on his part. Hisses
and shouts of laughter resounded from every side, and jokes
without number were aimed at him. There being at last strong
symptoms that something more tangible was flying through the air
in the direction of his head, the marshal was glad to drive on. He
never again repeated the experiment.

Two sober, quiet, and philosophic men of letters, M. de la Motte
and the Abbé Terrason, congratulated each other, that they, at
least, were free from this strange infatuation. A few days
afterwards, as the worthy abbé was coming out of the Hôtel de
Soissons, whither he had gone to buy shares in the Mississippi,
whom should he see but his friend La Motte entering for the same
purpose. "Ha!" said the Abbé, smiling, "is that you?" " Yes," said
La Motte, pushing past him as fast as he was able; "and can that
be you?" The next time the two scholars met, they talked of
philosophy, of science, and of religion, but neither had courage
for a long time to breathe one syllable about the Mississippi. At
last, when it was mentioned, they agreed that a man ought never to
swear against his doing any one thing, and that there was no sort
of extravagance of which even a wise man was not capable.

During this time, Law, the new Plutus, had become all at once the
most important personage of the state. The ante-chambers of the
regent were forsaken by the courtiers. Peers, judges, and bishops
thronged to the Hôtel de Soissons; officers of the army and navy,
ladies of title and fashion, and every one to whom hereditary rank
or public employ gave a claim to precedence, were to be found
waiting in his ante-chambers to beg for a portion of his India
stock. Law was so pestered that he was unable to see one-tenth
part of the applicants, and every manœuvre that ingenuity could
suggest was employed to gain access to him. Peers, whose dignity
would have been outraged if the regent had made them wait half an
hour for an interview, were content to wait six hours for the
chance of seeing Monsieur Law. Enormous fees were paid to his
servants, if they would merely announce their names. Ladies of
rank employed the blandishments of their smiles for the same
object; but many of them came day after day for a fortnight before
they could obtain an audience. When Law accepted an invitation, he
was sometimes so surrounded by ladies, all asking to have their
names put down in his lists as shareholders in the new stock,
that, in spite of his well-known and habitual gallantry, he was
obliged to tear himself away par force. The most ludicrous
stratagems were employed to have an opportunity of speaking to
him. One lady, who had striven in vain during several days, gave
up in despair all attempts to see him at his own house, but
ordered her coachman to keep a strict watch whenever she was out
in her carriage, and if he saw Mr. Law coming, to drive against a
post, and upset her. The coachman promised obedience, and for
three days the lady was driven incessantly through the town,
praying inwardly for the opportunity to be overturned. At last she
espied Mr. Law, and, pulling the string, called out to the
coachman, "Upset us now! for God's sake, upset us now!" The
coachman drove against a post, the lady screamed, the coach was
overturned, and Law, who had seen the accident, hastened to the
spot to render assistance. The cunning dame was led into the Hôtel
de Soissons, where she soon thought it advisable to recover from
her fright, and, after apologising to Mr. Law, confessed her
stratagem. Law smiled, and entered the lady in his books as the
purchaser of a quantity of India stock. Another story is told of a
Madame de Boucha, who, knowing that Mr. Law was at dinner at a
certain house, proceeded thither in her carriage, and gave the
alarm of fire. The company started from table, and Law among the
rest; but, seeing one lady making all haste into the house towards
him, while everybody else was scampering away, he suspected the
trick, and ran off in another direction.

Many other anecdotes are related, which even, though they may be a
little exaggerated, are nevertheless worth preserving, as showing
the spirit of that singular period.7* The regent was one day
mentioning, in the presence of D'Argenson, the Abbé Dubois, and
some other persons, that he was desirous of deputing some lady, of
the rank at least of a duchess, to attend upon his daughter at
Modena; "but," added he, "I do not exactly know where to find
one." "No!" replied one, in affected surprise; "I can tell you
where to find every duchess in France: you have only to go to Mr.
Law's; you will see them every one in his ante-chamber."

M. de Chirac, a celebrated physician, had bought stock at an
unlucky period, and was very anxious to sell out. Stock, however
continued to fall for two or three days, much to his alarm. His
mind was filled with the subject, when he was suddenly called upon
to attend a lady, who imagined herself unwell. He arrived, was
shewn up stairs, and felt the lady's pulse. "It falls! it falls!
good God! it falls continually!" said he, musingly, while the lady
looked up in his face, all anxiety for his opinion. "Oh! M. de
Chirac," said she, starting to her feet, and ringing the bell for
assistance; "I am dying! I am dying! it falls! it falls! it
falls!" "What falls?" inquired the doctor, in amazement. "My
pulse! my pulse!" said the lady; "I must be dying." "Calm your
apprehensions, my dear madam," said M. de Chirac; "I was speaking
of the stocks. The truth is, I have been a great loser, and my
mind is so disturbed, I hardly know what I have been saying."

The price of shares sometimes rose ten or twenty per cent in the
course of a few hours, and many persons in the humbler walks of
life, who had risen poor in the morning, went to bed in affluence.
An extensive holder of stock, being taken ill, sent his servant to
sell two hundred and fifty shares, at eight thousand livres each,
the price at which they were then quoted. The servant went, and,
on his arrival in the Jardin de Soissons, found that in the
interval the price had risen to ten thousand livres. The
difference of two thousand livres on the two hundred and fifty
shares, amounting to 500,000 livres, or 20,000l. sterling, he very
coolly transferred to his own use, and, giving the remainder to
his master, set out the same evening for another country. Law's
coachman in a very short time made money enough to set up a
carriage of his own, and requested permission to leave his
service. Law, who esteemed the man, begged of him as a favour,
that he would endeavour, before he went, to find a substitute as
good as himself. The coachman consented, and in the evening
brought two of his former comrades, telling Mr. Law to choose
between them, and he would take the other. Cookmaids and footmen
were now and then as lucky, and, in the full-blown pride of their
easily-acquired wealth, made the most ridiculous mistakes.
Preserving the language and manners of their old, with the finery
of their new station, they afforded continual subjects for the
pity of the sensible, the contempt of the sober, and the laughter
of every body. But the folly and meanness of the higher ranks of
society were still more disgusting. One instance alone, related by
the Duke de St. Simon, will show the unworthy avarice which
infected the whole of society. A man of the name of André, without
character or education, had, by a series of well-timed
speculations in Mississippi bonds, gained enormous wealth in an
incredibly short space of time. As St. Simon expresses it, "he had
amassed mountains of gold." As he became rich, he grew ashamed of
the lowness of his birth, and anxious above all things to be
allied to nobility. He had a daughter, an infant only three years
of age, and he opened a negotiation with the aristocratic and
needy family of D'Oyse, that this child should, upon certain
conditions, marry a member of that house. The Marquis D'Oyse, to
his shame, consented, and promised to marry her himself on her
attaining the age of twelve, if the father would pay him down the
sum of a hundred thousand crowns, and twenty thousand livres every
year, until the celebration of the marriage. The marquis was
himself in his thirty-third year. This scandalous bargain was duly
signed and sealed, the stockjobber furthermore agreeing to settle
upon his daughter, on the marriage-day, a fortune of several
millions. The Duke of Brancas, the head of the family, was present
throughout the negotiation, and shared in all the profits. St.
Simon, who treats the matter with the levity becoming what he
thought so good a joke, adds, "that people did not spare their
animadversions on this beautiful marriage," and further informs
us, "that the project fell to the ground some months afterwards by
the overthrow of Law, and the ruin of the ambitious Monsieur
André." It would appear, however, that the noble family never had
the honesty to return the hundred thousand crowns.

Amid events like these, which, humiliating though they be, partake
largely of the ludicrous, others occurred of a more serious
nature. Robberies in the streets were of daily occurrence, in
consequence of the immense sums, in paper, which people carried
about with them. Assassinations were also frequent. One case in
particular fixed the attention of the whole of France, not only on
account of the enormity of the offence, but of the rank and high
connexions of the criminal.

The Count d'Horn, a younger brother of the Prince d'Horn, and
related to the noble families of D'Aremberg, De Ligne, and De
Montmorency, was a young man of dissipated character, extravagant
to a degree, and unprincipled as he was extravagant. In connexion
with two other young men as reckless as himself, named Mille, a
Piedmontese captain, and one Destampes, or Lestang, a Fleming, he
formed a design to rob a very rich broker, who was known,
unfortunately for himself, to carry great sums about his person.
The Count pretended a desire to purchase of him a number of shares
in the Company of the Indies, and for that purpose appointed to
meet him in a cabaret, or low public-house, in the neighbourhood
of the Place Vendôme. The unsuspecting broker was punctual to his
appointment; so were the Count d'Horn and his two associates, whom
he introduced as his particular friends. After a few moments'
conversation, the Count d'Horn suddenly sprang upon his victim,
and stabbed him three times in the breast with a poniard. The man
fell heavily to the ground, and, while the count was employed in
rifling his portfolio of bonds in the Mississippi and Indian
schemes to the amount of one hundred thousand crowns, Mille, the
Piedmontese, stabbed the unfortunate broker again and again, to
make sure of his death. But the broker did not fall without a
struggle, and his cries brought the people of the cabaret to his
assistance. Lestang, the other assassin, who had been set to keep
watch at a staircase, sprang from a window and escaped; but Mille
and the Count d'Horn were seized in the very act.

This crime, committed in open day, and in so public a place as a
cabaret, filled Paris with consternation. The trial of the
assassins commenced on the following day; and the evidence being
so clear, they were both found guilty and condemned to be broken
alive on the wheel. The noble relatives of the Count d'Horn
absolutely blocked up the ante-chambers of the regent, praying for
mercy on the misguided youth, and alleging that he was insane. The
regent avoided them as long as possible, being determined that, in
a case so atrocious, justice should take its course. But the
importunity of these influential suitors was not to be overcome so
silently; and they at last forced themselves into the presence of
the regent, and prayed him to save their house the shame of a
public execution. They hinted that the Princes d'Horn were allied
to the illustrious family of Orleans; and added, that the regent
himself would be disgraced if a kinsman of his should die by the
hands of a common executioner. The regent, to his credit, was
proof against all their solicitations, and replied to their last
argument in the words of Corneille:
"Le crime fait la honte, et non pas l'échafaud:"
adding, that whatever shame there might be in the punishment he
would very willingly share with the other relatives. Day after day
they renewed their entreaties, but always with the same result. At
last they thought that if they could interest the Duke de St.
Simon in their favour—a man for whom the regent felt sincere
esteem—they might succeed in their object. The Duke, a thorough
aristocrat, was as shocked as they were, that a noble assassin
should die by the same death as a plebeian felon, and represented
to the regent the impolicy of making enemies of so numerous,
wealthy, and powerful a family. He urged, too, that in Germany,
where the family of D'Aremberg had large possessions, it was the
law, that no relative of a person broken on the wheel could
succeed to any public office or employ until a whole generation
had passed away. For this reason he thought the punishment of the
guilty count might be transmuted into beheading, which was
considered all over Europe as much less infamous. The regent was
moved by this argument, and was about to consent, when Law, who
felt peculiarly interested in the fate of the murdered man,
confirmed him in his former resolution to let the law take its
course.

The relatives of D'Horn were now reduced to the last extremity.
The Prince de Robec Montmorency, despairing of other methods,
found means to penetrate into the dungeon of the criminal, and
offering him a cup of poison, implored him to save them from
disgrace. The Count d'Horn turned away his head, and refused to
take it. Montmorency pressed him once more, and losing all
patience at his continued refusal, turned on his heel, and
exclaiming, "Die, then, as thou wilt, mean-spirited wretch! thou
art fit only to perish by the hands of the hangman!" left him to
his fate.

D'Horn himself petitioned the regent that he might be beheaded;
but Law, who exercised more influence over his mind than any other
person, with the exception of the notorious Abbé Dubois, his
tutor, insisted that he could not in justice succumb to the
self-interested views of the D'Horns. The regent had from the
first been of the same opinion, and within six days after the
commission of their crime, D'Horn and Mille were broken on the
wheel in the Place de Grève. The other assassin, Lestang, was
never apprehended.

This prompt and severe justice was highly pleasing to the populace
of Paris; even M. de Quincampoix, as they called Law, came in for
a share of their approbation for having induced the regent to show
no favour to a patrician. But the number of robberies and
assassinations did not diminish; no sympathy was shewn for rich
jobbers when they were plundered. The general laxity of public
morals, conspicuous enough before, was rendered still more so by
its rapid pervasion of the middle classes, who had hitherto
remained comparatively pure between the open vices of the class
above and the hidden crimes of the class below them. The
pernicious love of gambling diffused itself through society, and
bore all public and nearly all private virtue before it.

For a time, while confidence lasted, an impetus was given to
trade, which could not fail to be beneficial. In Paris,
especially, the good results were felt. Strangers flocked into the
capital from every part, bent, not only upon making money, but on
spending it. The Duchess of Orleans, mother of the regent,
computes the increase of the population during this time, from the
great influx of strangers from all parts of the world, at 305,000
souls. The housekeepers were obliged to make up beds in garrets,
kitchens, and even stables, for the accommodation of lodgers; and
the town was so full of carriages and vehicles of every
description, that they were obliged in the principal streets to
drive at a foot-pace for fear of accidents. The looms of the
country worked with unusual activity, to supply rich laces, silks,
broad-cloth, and velvets, which being paid for in abundant paper,
increased in price four-fold. Provisions shared the general
advance. Bread, meat, and vegetables were sold at prices greater
than had ever before been known; while the wages of labour rose in
exactly the same proportion. The artisan who formerly gained
fifteen sous per diem now gained sixty. New houses were built in
every direction; an illusory prosperity shone over the land, and
so dazzled the eyes of the whole nation that none could see the
dark cloud on the horizon announcing the storm that was too
rapidly approaching.

Law himself, the magician whose wand had wrought so surprising a
change, shared, of course, in the general prosperity. His wife and
daughter were courted by the highest nobility, and their alliance
sought by the heirs of ducal and princely houses. He bought two
splendid estates in different parts of France, and entered into a
negotiation with the family of the Duke de Sully for the purchase
of the marquisate of Rosny. His religion being an obstacle to his
advancement, the regent promised, if he would publicly conform to
the Catholic faith, to make him comptroller-general of the
finances. Law, who had no more real religion than any other
professed gambler, readily agreed, and was confirmed by the Abbé
de Tencin in the cathedral of Melun, in presence of a great crowd
of spectators.8* On the following day he was elected honorary
churchwarden of the parish of St. Roch, upon which occasion he
made it a present of the sum of five hundred thousand livres. His
charities, always magnificent, were not always so ostentatious. He
gave away great sums privately, and no tale of real distress ever
reached his ears in vain.

At this time, he was by far the most influential person of the
state. The Duke of Orleans had so much confidence in his sagacity,
and the success of his plans, that he always consulted him upon
every matter of moment. He was by no means unduly elevated by his
prosperity, but remained the same simple, affable, sensible man
that he had shown himself in adversity. His gallantry, which was
always delightful to the fair objects of it, was of a nature, so
kind, so gentlemanly, and so respectful, that not even a lover
could have taken offence at it. If upon any occasion he showed any
symptoms of haughtiness, it was to the cringing nobles, who
lavished their adulation upon him till it became fulsome. He often
took pleasure in seeing how long he could make them dance
attendance upon him for a single favour. To such of his own
countrymen as by chance visited Paris, and sought an interview
with him, he was, on the contrary, all politeness and attention.
When Archibald Campbell, Earl of Islay, and afterwards Duke of
Argyle, called upon him in the Place Vendôme, he had to pass
through an ante-chamber crowded with persons of the first
distinction, all anxious to see the great financier, and have
their names put down as first on the list of some new
subscription. Law himself was quietly sitting in his library,
writing a letter to the gardener at his paternal estate of
Lauriston about the planting of some cabbages! The earl stayed for
a considerable time, played a game of piquet with his countryman,
and left him, charmed with his ease, good sense, and good
breeding.

Among the nobles who, by means of the public credulity at this
time, gained sums sufficient to repair their ruined fortunes, may
be mentioned the names of the Dukes de Bourbon, de Guiche, de la
Force,9* de Chaulnes, and d'Antin; the Marechal d'Estrées, the
Princes de Rohan, de Poix, and de Léon. The Duke de Bourbon, son
of Louis XIV by Madame de Montespan, was peculiarly fortunate in
his speculations in Mississippi paper. He rebuilt the royal
residence of Chantilly in a style of unwonted magnificence; and,
being passionately fond of horses, he erected a range of stables,
which were long renowned throughout Europe, and imported a hundred
and fifty of the finest racers from England to improve the breed
in France. He bought a large extent of country in Picardy, and
became possessed of nearly all the valuable lands lying between
the Oise and the Somme.

When fortunes such as these were gained, it is no wonder that Law
should have been almost worshipped by the mercurial population.
Never was monarch more flattered than he was. All the small poets
and littérateurs of the day poured floods of adulation upon him.
According to them he was the saviour of the country, the tutelary
divinity of France; wit was in all his words, goodness in all his
looks, and wisdom in all his actions. So great a crowd followed
his carriage whenever he went abroad, that the regent sent him a
troop of horse as his permanent escort to clear the streets before
him.

It was remarked at this time that Paris had never before been so
full of objects of elegance and luxury. Statues, pictures, and
tapestries were imported in great quantities from foreign
countries, and found a ready market. All those pretty trifles in
the way of furniture and ornament which the French excel in
manufacturing were no longer the exclusive play-things of the
aristocracy, but were to be found in abundance in the houses of
traders and the middle classes in general. Jewellery of the most
costly description was brought to Paris as the most favourable
mart; among the rest, the famous diamond, bought by the regent,
and called by his name, and which long adorned the crown of
France. It was purchased for the sum of two millions of livres,
under circumstances which shew that the regent was not so great a
gainer as some of his subjects by the impetus which trade had
received. When the diamond was first offered to him, he refused to
buy it, although he desired above all things to possess it,
alleging as his reason, that his duty to the country he governed
would not allow him to spend so large a sum of the public money
for a mere jewel. This valid and honourable excuse threw all the
ladies of the court into alarm, and nothing was heard for some
days but expressions of regret that so rare a gem should be
allowed to go out of France, no private individual being rich
enough to buy it. The regent was continually importuned about it,
but all in vain, until the Duke de St. Simon, who with all his
ability was something of a twaddler, undertook the weighty
business. His entreaties being seconded by Law, the good-natured
regent gave his consent, leaving to Law's ingenuity to find the
means to pay for it. The owner took security for the payment of
the sum of two millions of livres within a stated period,
receiving in the mean time the interest of five per cent upon that
amount, and being allowed, besides, all the valuable clippings of
the gem. St. Simon, in his Memoirs, relates with no little
complacency his share in this transaction. After describing the
diamond to be as large as a greengage, of a form nearly round,
perfectly white, and without flaw, and weighing more than five
hundred grains, he concludes with a chuckle, by telling the world,
"that he takes great credit to himself for having induced the
regent to make so illustrious a purchase." In other words, he was
proud that he had induced him to sacrifice his duty, and buy a
bauble for himself at an extravagant price out of the public
money.

Thus the system continued to flourish till the commencement of the
year 1720. The warnings of the parliament, that too great a
creation of paper money would, sooner or later, bring the country
to bankruptcy, were disregarded. The regent, who knew nothing
whatever of the philosophy of finance, thought that a system which
had produced such good effects could never be carried to excess.
If five hundred millions of paper had been of such advantage, five
hundred millions additional would be of still greater advantage.
This was the grand error of the regent, and which Law did not
attempt to dispel. The extraordinary avidity of the people kept up
the delusion; and the higher the price of Indian and Mississippi
stock, the more billets de banque were issued to keep pace with
it. The edifice thus reared might not unaptly be compared to the
gorgeous palace erected by Potemkin, that princely barbarian of
Russia, to surprise and please his imperial mistress: huge blocks
of ice were piled one upon another; ionic pillars, of chastest
workmanship, in ice, formed a noble portico; and a dome, of the
same material, shone in the sun, which had just strength enough to
gild, but not to melt it. It glittered afar, like a palace of
crystals and diamonds; but there came one warm breeze from the
south, and the stately building dissolved away, till none were
able even to gather up the fragments. So with Law and his paper
system. No sooner did the breath of popular mistrust blow steadily
upon it, than it fell to ruins, and none could raise it up again.

The first slight alarm that was occasioned was early in 1720. The
Prince de Conti, offended that Law should have denied him fresh
shares in India stock, at his own price, sent to his bank to
demand payment in specie of so enormous a quantity of notes, that
three wagons were required for its transport. Law complained to
the regent, and urged on his attention the mischief that would be
done, if such an example found many imitators. The regent was but
too well aware of it, and, sending for the Prince de Conti,
ordered him, under penalty of his high displeasure, to refund to
the Bank two-thirds of the specie which he had withdrawn from it.
The Prince was forced to obey the despotic mandate. Happily for
Law's credit, De Conti was an unpopular man: everybody condemned
his meanness and cupidity, and agreed that Law had been hardly
treated. It is strange, however, that so narrow an escape should
not have made both Law and the regent more anxious to restrict
their issues. Others were soon found who imitated, from motives of
distrust, the example which had been set by De Conti in revenge.
The more acute stockjobbers imagined justly that prices could not
continue to rise for ever. Bourdon and La Richardière, renowned
for their extensive operations in the funds, quietly and in small
quantities at a time, converted their notes into specie, and sent
it away to foreign countries. They also bought as much as they
could conveniently carry of plate and expensive jewellery, and
sent it secretly away to England or to Holland. Vermalet, a
jobber, who sniffed the coming storm, procured gold and silver
coin to the amount of nearly a million of livres, which he packed
in a farmer's cart, and covered over with hay and cow-dung. He
then disguised himself in the dirty smock-frock, or blouse, of a
peasant, and drove his precious load in safety into Belgium. From
thence he soon found means to transport it to Amsterdam.

Hitherto no difficulty had been experienced by any class in
procuring specie for their wants. But this system could not long
be carried on without causing a scarcity. The voice of complaint
was heard on every side, and inquiries being instituted, the cause
was soon discovered. The council debated long on the remedies to
be taken, and Law, being called on for his advice, was of opinion,
that an edict should be published, depreciating the value of coin
five per cent below that of paper. The edict was published
accordingly; but, failing of its intended effect, was followed by
another, in which the depreciation was increased to ten per cent.
The payments of the bank were at the same time restricted to one
hundred livres in gold, and ten in silver. All these measures were
nugatory to restore confidence in the paper, though the
restriction of cash payments within limits so extremely narrow
kept up the credit of the Bank.

Notwithstanding every effort to the contrary, the precious metals
continued to be conveyed to England and Holland. The little coin
that was left in the country was carefully treasured, or hidden
until the scarcity became so great, that the operations of trade
could no longer be carried on. In this emergency, Law hazarded the
bold experiment of forbidding the use of specie altogether. In
February 1720 an edict was published, which, instead of restoring
the credit of the paper, as was intended, destroyed it
irrecoverably, and drove the country to the very brink of
revolution. By this famous edict it was forbidden to any person
whatever to have more than five hundred livres (20l. sterling) of
coin in his possession, under pain of a heavy fine, and
confiscation of the sums found. It was also forbidden to buy up
jewellery, plate, and precious stones, and informers were
encouraged to make search for offenders, by the promise of
one-half the amount they might discover. The whole country sent up
a cry of distress at this unheard-of tyranny. The most odious
persecution daily took place. The privacy of families was violated
by the intrusion of informers and their agents. The most virtuous
and honest were denounced for the crime of having been seen with a
louis d'or in their possession. Servants betrayed their masters,
one citizen became a spy upon his neighbour, and arrests and
confiscations so multiplied, that the courts found a difficulty in
getting through the immense increase of business thus occasioned.
It was sufficient for an informer to say that he suspected any
person of concealing money in his house, and immediately a
search-warrant was granted. Lord Stair, the English ambassador,
said, that it was now impossible to doubt of the sincerity of
Law's conversion to the Catholic religion; he had established the
inquisition, after having given abundant evidence of his faith in
transubstantiation, by turning so much gold into paper.

Every epithet that popular hatred could suggest was showered upon
the regent and the unhappy Law. Coin, to any amount above five
hundred livres, was an illegal tender, and nobody would take paper
if he could help it. No one knew to-day what his notes would be
worth to-morrow. "Never," says Duclos, in his Secret Memoirs of
the Regency, "was seen a more capricious government—never was a
more frantic tyranny exercised by hands less firm. It is
inconceivable to those who were witnesses of the horrors of those
times, and who look back upon them now as on a dream, that a
sudden revolution did not break out—that Law and the regent did
not perish by a tragical death. They were both held in horror, but
the people confined themselves to complaints; a sombre and timid
despair, a stupid consternation, had seized upon all, and men's
minds were too vile even to be capable of a courageous crime." It
would appear that, at one time, a movement of the people was
organised. Seditious writings were posted up against the walls,
and were sent, in hand-bills, to the houses of the most
conspicuous people. One of them, given in the Mémoires de la
Régence, was to the following effect:— "Sir and madam,—This is to
give you notice that a St. Bartholomew's Day will be enacted again
on Saturday and Sunday, if affairs do not alter. You are desired
not to stir out, nor you, nor your servants. God preserve you from
the flames! Give notice to your neighbours. Dated Saturday, May
25th, 1720." The immense number of spies with which the city was
infested rendered the people mistrustful of one another, and
beyond some trifling disturbances made in the evening by an
insignificant group, which was soon dispersed, the peace of the
capital was not compromised.

The value of shares in the Louisiana, or Mississippi stock, had
fallen very rapidly, and few indeed were found to believe the
tales that had once been told of the immense wealth of that
region. A last effort was therefore tried to restore the public
confidence in the Mississippi project. For this purpose, a general
conscription of all the poor wretches in Paris was made by order
of government. Upwards of six thousand of the very refuse of the
population were impressed, as if in time of war, and were provided
with clothes and tools to be embarked for New Orleans, to work in
the gold mines alleged to abound there. They were paraded day
after day through the streets with their pikes and shovels, and
then sent off in small detachments to the out-ports to be shipped
for America. Two-thirds of them never reached their destination,
but dispersed themselves over the country, sold their tools for
what they could get, and returned to their old course of life. In
less than three weeks afterwards, one-half of them were to be
found again in Paris. The manœuvre, however, caused a trifling
advance in Mississippi stock. Many persons of superabundant
gullibility believed that operations had begun in earnest in the
new Golconda, and that gold and silver ingots would again be found
in France.

In a constitutional monarchy some surer means would have been
found for the restoration of public credit. In England, at a
subsequent period, when a similar delusion had brought on similar
distress, how different were the measures taken to repair the
evil; but in France, unfortunately, the remedy was left to the
authors of the mischief. The arbitrary will of the regent, which
endeavoured to extricate the country, only plunged it deeper into
the mire. All payments were ordered to be made in paper, and
between the 1st of February and the end of May, notes were
fabricated to the amount of upwards of 1500 millions of livres, or
60,000,000l. sterling. But the alarm once sounded, no art could
make the people feel the slightest confidence in paper which was
not exchangeable into metal. M. Lambert, the president of the
parliament of Paris, told the regent to his face that he would
rather have a hundred thousand livres in gold or silver than five
millions in the notes of his bank. When such was the general
feeling, the superabundant issues of paper but increased the evil,
by rendering still more enormous the disparity between the amount
of specie and notes in circulation. Coin, which it was the object
of the regent to depreciate, rose in value on every fresh attempt
to diminish it. In February, it was judged advisable that the
Royal Bank should be incorporated with the Company of the Indies.
An edict to that effect was published and registered by the
parliament. The state remained the guarantee for the notes of the
bank, and no more were to be issued without an order in council.
All the profits of the bank, since the time it had been taken out
of Law's hands and made a national institution, were given over by
the regent to the Company of the Indies. This measure had the
effect of raising for a short time the value of the Louisiana and
other shares of the company, but it failed in placing public
credit on any permanent basis.

A council of state was held in the beginning of May, at which Law,
D'Argenson (his colleague in the administration of the finances),
and all the ministers were present. It was then computed that the
total amount of notes in circulation was 2600 millions of livres,
while the coin in the country was not quite equal to half that
amount. It was evident to the majority of the council that some
plan must be adopted to equalise the currency. Some proposed that
the notes should be reduced to the value of the specie, while
others proposed that the nominal value of the specie should be
raised till it was on an equality with the paper. Law is said to
have opposed both these projects, but failing in suggesting any
other, it was agreed that the notes should be depreciated one
half. On the 21st of May, an edict was accordingly issued, by
which it was decreed that the shares of the Company of the Indies,
and the notes of the bank, should gradually diminish in value,
till at the end of a year they should only pass current for
one-half of their nominal worth. The parliament refused to
register the edict—the greatest outcry was excited, and the state
of the country became so alarming, that, as the only means of
preserving tranquillity, the council of the regency was obliged to
stultify its own proceedings, by publishing within seven days
another edict, restoring the notes to their original value.

On the same day (the 27th of May) the bank stopped payment in
specie. Law and D'Argenson were both dismissed from the ministry.
The weak, vacillating, and cowardly regent threw the blame of all
the mischief upon Law, who, upon presenting himself at the Palais
Royal, was refused admitance. At nightfall, however, he was sent
for, and admitted into the palace by a secret door,10* when the
regent endeavoured to console him, and made all manner of excuses
for the severity with which in public he had been compelled to
treat him. So capricious was his conduct, that, two days
afterwards, he took him publicly to the opera, where he sat in the
royal box, alongside of the regent, who treated him with marked
consideration in face of all the people. But such was the hatred
against Law that the experiment had well nigh proved fatal to him.
The mob assailed his carriage with stones just as he was entering
his own door; and if the coachman had not made a sudden jerk into
the court-yard, and the domestics closed the gate immediately, he
would, in all probability, have been dragged out and torn to
pieces. On the following day, his wife and daughter were also
assailed by the mob as they were returning in their carriage from
the races. When the regent was informed of these occurrences he
sent Law a strong detachment of Swiss guards, who were stationed
night and day in the court of his residence. The public
indignation at last increased so much, that Law, finding his own
house, even with this guard, insecure, took refuge in the Palais
Royal, in the apartments of the regent.

The Chancellor, D'Aguesseau, who had been dismissed in 1718 for
his opposition to the projects of Law, was now recalled to aid in
the restoration of credit. The regent acknowledged too late, that
he had treated with unjustifiable harshness and mistrust one of
the ablest, and perhaps the sole honest public man of that corrupt
period. He had retired ever since his disgrace to his country
house at Fresnes, where, in the midst of severe but delightful
philosophic studies, he had forgotten the intrigues of an unworthy
court. Law himself, and the Chevalier de Conflans, a gentleman of
the regent's household, were despatched in a post-chaise, with
orders to bring the ex-chancellor to Paris along with them.
D'Aguesseau consented to render what assistance he could, contrary
to the advice of his friends, who did not approve that he should
accept any recall to office of which Law was the bearer. On his
arrival in Paris, five counsellors of the parliament were admitted
to confer with the Commissary of Finance; and on the 1st of June
an order was published, abolishing the law which made it criminal
to amass coin to the amount of more than five hundred livres.
Every one was permitted to have as much specie as he pleased. In
order that the bank-notes might be withdrawn, twenty-five millions
of new notes were created, on the security of the revenues of the
city of Paris, at two-and-a-half per cent. The bank-notes
withdrawn were publicly burned in front of the Hôtel de Ville. The
new notes were principally of the value of ten livres each; and on
the 10th of June the bank was re-opened, with a sufficiency of
silver coin to give in change for them.

These measures were productive of considerable advantage. All the
population of Paris hastened to the bank, to get coin for their
small notes; and silver becoming scarce, they were paid in copper.
Very few complained that this was too heavy, although poor fellows
might be continually seen toiling and sweating along the streets,
laden with more than they could comfortably carry, in the shape of
change for fifty livres. The crowds around the bank were so great,
that hardly a day passed that some one was not pressed to death.
On the 9th of July, the multitude was so dense and clamorous that
the guards stationed at the entrance of the Mazarin Gardens closed
the gate, and refused to admit any more. The crowd became
incensed, and flung stones through the railings upon the soldiers.
The latter, incensed in their turn, threatened to fire upon the
people. At that instant one of them was hit by a stone, and,
taking up his piece, he fired into the crowd. One man fell dead
immediately, and another was severely wounded. It was every
instant expected that a general attack would have been commenced
upon the bank; but the gates of the Mazarin Gardens being opened
to the crowd, who saw a whole troop of soldiers, with their
bayonets fixed, ready to receive them, they contented themselves
by giving vent to their indignation in groans and hisses.

Eight days afterwards the concourse of people was so tremendous
that fifteen persons were squeezed to death at the doors of the
bank. The people were so indignant that they took three of the
bodies on stretchers before them, and proceeded, to the number of
seven or eight thousand, to the gardens of the Palais Royal, that
they might shew the regent the misfortunes that he and Law had
brought upon the country. Law's coachman, who was sitting on the
box of his master's carriage, in the court-yard of the palace,
happened to have more zeal than discretion, and, not liking that
the mob should abuse his master, he said, loud enough to be
overheard by several persons, that they were all blackguards, and
deserved to be hanged. The mob immediately set upon him, and,
thinking that Law was in the carriage, broke it to pieces. The
imprudent coachman narrowly escaped with his life. No further
mischief was done; a body of troops making their appearance, the
crowd quietly dispersed, after an assurance had been given by the
regent that the three bodies they had brought to shew him should
be decently buried at his own expense. The parliament was sitting
at the time of this uproar, and the president took upon himself to
go out and see what was the matter. On his return he informed the
councillors, that Law's carriage had been broken by the mob. All
the members rose simultaneously, and expressed their joy by a loud
shout, while one man, more zealous in his hatred than the rest,
exclaimed, And Law himself, is he torn to pieces?"11*

Much, undoubtedly, depended on the credit of the Company of the
Indies, which was answerable for so great a sum to the nation. It
was, therefore, suggested in the council of the ministry, that any
privileges which could be granted to enable it to fulfil its
engagements, would be productive of the best results. With this
end in view, it was proposed that the exclusive privilege of all
maritime commerce should be secured to it, and an edict to that
effect was published. But it was unfortunately forgotten that by
such a measure all the merchants of the country would be ruined.
The idea of such an immense privilege was generally scouted by the
nation, and petition on petition was presented to the parliament
that they would refuse to register the decree. They refused
accordingly, and the regent, remarking that they did nothing but
fan the flame of sedition, exiled them to Blois. At the
intercession of D'Aguesseau, the place of banishment was changed
to Pontoise, and thither accordingly the councillors repaired,
determined to set the regent at defiance. They made every
arrangement for rendering their temporary exile as agreeable as
possible. The president gave the most elegant suppers, to which he
invited all the gayest and wittiest company of Paris. Every night
there was a concert and ball for the ladies. The usually grave and
solemn judges and councillors joined in cards and other
diversions, leading for several weeks a life of the most
extravagant pleasure, for no other purpose than to shew the regent
of how little consequence they deemed their banishment, and that
when they willed it, they could make Pontoise a pleasanter
residence than Paris.

Of all the nations in the world the French are the most renowned
for singing over their grievances. Of that country it has been
remarked with some truth, that its whole history may be traced in
its songs. When Law, by the utter failure of his best-laid plans,
rendered himself obnoxious, satire of course seized hold upon him;
and, while caricatures of his person appeared in all the shops,
the streets resounded with songs, in which neither he nor the
regent was spared. Many of these songs were far from decent; and
one of them in particular counselled the application of all his
notes to the most ignoble use to which paper can be applied. But
the following, preserved in the letters of the Duchess of Orleans,
was the best and the most popular, and was to be heard for months
in all the carrefours in Paris. The application of the chorus is
happy enough:

  Aussitôt que Lass arriva
    Dans notre bonne ville,
  Monsieur le Régent publia
    Que Lass serait utile
  Pour rétablir la nation.
La faridondaine! la faridondon!
  Mais il nous a tous enrichi,

Biribi!

A la façon de Barbari,

Mon ami!

  Ce parpaillot, pour attirer
    Tout l'argent de la France,
  Songea d'abord à s'assurer
    De notre confiance.
  Il fit son abjuration,
La faridondaine! la faridondon!
  Mais le fourbe s'est converti,

Biribi!

A la façon de Barbari,

Mon ami!

  Lass, le fils ainé de Satan
    Nous met tous à l'aumône,
  Il nous a pris tout notre argent
    Et n'en rend à personne.
  Mais le Régent, humain et bon,
La faridondaine! la faridondon!
  Nous rendra ce qu'on nous a pris,

Biribi!

A la façon de Barbari,

Mon ami!

The following smart epigram is of the same date:
Lundi, j'achetai des actions;
Mardi, je gagnai des millions;
Mercredi, j'arrangeai mon ménage,
Jeudi, je pris un équipage,
Vendredi, je m'en fus au bal,
Et Samedi, à l'hôpital.

Among the caricatures that were abundantly published, and that
shewed as plainly as graver matters, that the nation had awakened
to a sense of its folly, was one, a fac-simile of which is
preserved in the Mémoires de la Régence. It was thus described by
its author: "The 'Goddess of Shares,' in her triumphal car, driven
by the Goddess of Folly. Those who are drawing the car are
impersonations of the Mississippi, with his wooden leg, the South
Sea, the Bank of England, the Company of the West of Senegal, and
of various assurances. Lest the car should not roll fast enough,
the agents of these companies, known by their long fox-tails and
their cunning looks, turn round the spokes of the wheels, upon
which are marked the names of the several stocks, and their value,
sometimes high and sometimes low, according to the turns of the
wheel. Upon the ground are the merchandise, day-books and ledgers
of legitimate commerce, crushed under the chariot of Folly. Behind
is an immense crowd of persons, of all ages, sexes, and
conditions, clamoring after Fortune, and fighting with each other
to get a portion of the shares which she distributes so
bountifully among them. In the clouds sits a demon, blowing
bubbles of soap, which are also the objects of the admiration and
cupidity of the crowd, who jump upon one another's backs to reach
them ere they burst. Right in the pathway of the car, and blocking
up the passage, stands a large building, with three doors, through
one of which it must pass, if it proceeds farther, and all the
crowd along with it. Over the first door are the words, 'Hôpital
des Foux', over the second, 'Hôpital des Malades,' and over the
third, 'Hôpital des Gueux.' " Another caricature represented Law
sitting in a large cauldron, boiling over the flames of popular
madness, surrounded by an impetuous multitude, who were pouring
all their gold and silver into it, and receiving gladly in
exchange the bits of paper which he distributed among them by
handfuls.

While this excitement lasted, Law took good care not to expose
himself unguarded in the streets. Shut up in the apartments of the
regent, he was secure from all attack, and, whenever he ventured
abroad, it was either incognito, or in one of the Royal carriages,
with a powerful escort. An amusing anecdote is recorded of the
detestation in which he was held by the people, and the ill
treatment he would have met, had he fallen into their hands. A
gentleman of the name of Boursel was passing in his carriage down
the Rue St. Antoine, when his farther progress was stayed by a
hackney-coach that had blocked up the road. M. Boursel's servant
called impatiently to the hackney-coachman to get out of the way,
and, on his refusal, struck him a blow on the face. A crowd was
soon drawn together by the disturbance, and M. Boursel got out of
the carriage to restore order. The hackney-coachman, imagining
that he had now another assailant, bethought him of an expedient
to rid himself of both, and called out as loudly as he was able,
"Help! help! murder! murder! Here are Law and his servant going to
kill me! Help! help!" At this cry, the people came out of their
shops, armed with sticks and other weapons, while the mob gathered
stones to inflict summary vengeance upon the supposed financier.
Happily for M. Boursel and his servant, the door of the church of
the Jesuits stood wide open, and, seeing the fearful odds against
them, they rushed towards it with all speed. They reached the
altar, pursued by the people, and would have been ill treated even
there, if, finding the door open leading to the sacristy, they had
not sprang through, and closed it after them. The mob were then
persuaded to leave the church by the alarmed and indignant
priests; and, finding M. Boursel's carriage still in the streets,
they vented their ill-will against it, and did it considerable
damage.

The twenty-five millions secured on the municipal revenues of the
city of Paris, bearing so low an interest as two and a half per
cent, were not very popular among the large holders of Mississippi
stock. The conversion of the securities was, therefore, a work of
considerable difficulty; for many preferred to retain the falling
paper of Law's Company, in the hope that a favourable turn might
take place. On the 15th of August, with a view to hasten the
conversion, an edict was passed, declaring that all notes for sums
between one thousand and ten thousand livres, should not pass
current, except for the purchase of annuities and bank accounts,
or for the payment of instalments still due on the shares of the
company.

In October following another edict was passed, depriving these
notes of all value whatever after the month of November next
ensuing. The management of the mint, the farming of the revenue,
and all the other advantages and privileges of the India, or
Mississippi Company, were taken from them, and they were reduced
to a mere private company. This was the death-blow to the whole
system, which had now got into the hands of its enemies. Law had
lost all influence in the Council of Finance, and the company,
being despoiled of its immunities, could no longer hold out the
shadow of a prospect of being able to fulfil its engagements. All
those suspected of illegal profits at the time the public delusion
was at its height, were sought out and amerced in heavy fines. It
was previously ordered that a list of the original proprietors
should be made out, and that such persons as still retained their
shares should place them in deposit with the company, and that
those who had neglected to complete the shares for which they had
put down their names, should now purchase them of the company, at
the rate of 13,500 livres for each share of 500 livres. Rather
than submit to pay this enormous sum for stock which was actually
at a discount, the shareholders packed up all their portable
effects, and endeavoured to find a refuge in foreign countries.
Orders were immediately issued to the authorities at the ports and
frontiers, to apprehend all travellers who sought to leave the
kingdom, and keep them in custody, until it was ascertained
whether they had any plate or jewellery with them, or were
concerned in the late stock-jobbing. Against such few as escaped,
the punishment of death was recorded, while the most arbitrary
proceedings were instituted against those who remained.

Law himself, in a moment of despair, determined to leave a country
where his life was no longer secure. He at first only demanded
permission to retire from Paris to one of his country-seats—a
permission which the regent cheerfully granted. The latter was
much affected at the unhappy turn affairs had taken, but his faith
continued unmoved in the truth and efficacy of Law's financial
system. His eyes were opened to his own errors; and during the few
remaining years of his life, he constantly longed for an
opportunity of again establishing the system upon a securer basis.
At Law's last interview with the prince, he is reported to have
said—"I confess that I have committed many faults; I committed
them because I am a man, and all men are liable to error; but I
declare to you most solemnly that none of them proceeded from
wicked or dishonest motives, and that nothing of the kind will be
found in the whole course of my conduct."

Two or three days after his departure the regent sent him a very
kind letter, permitting him to leave the kingdom whenever he
pleased, and stating that he had ordered his passports to be made
ready. He at the same time offered him any sum of money he might
require. Law respectfully declined the money, and set out for
Brussels in a post-chaise belonging to Madame de Prie, the
mistress of the Duke of Bourbon, escorted by six horse-guards.
From thence he proceeded to Venice, where he remained for some
months, the object of the greatest curiosity to the people, who
believed him to be the possessor of enormous wealth. No opinion,
however, could be more erroneous. With more generosity than could
have been expected from a man who during the greatest part of his
life had been a professed gambler, he had refused to enrich
himself at the expense of a ruined nation. During the height of
the popular frenzy for Mississippi stock, he had never doubted of
the final success of his projects, in making France the richest
and most powerful nation of Europe. He invested all his gains in
the purchase of landed property in France—a sure proof of his own
belief in the stability of his schemes. He had hoarded no plate or
jewellery, and sent no money, like the dishonest jobbers, to
foreign countries. His all, with the exception of one diamond,
worth about five or six thousand pounds sterling, was invested in
the French soil; and when he left that country, he left it almost
a beggar. This fact alone ought to rescue his memory from the
charge of knavery, so often and so unjustly brought against him.

As soon as his departure was known, all his estates and his
valuable library were confiscated. Among the rest, an annuity of
200,000 livres (8000l. sterling) on the lives of his wife and
children, which had been purchased for five millions of livres,
was forfeited, notwithstanding that a special edict, drawn up for
the purpose in the days of his prosperity, had expressly declared
that it should never be confiscated for any cause whatever. Great
discontent existed among the people that Law had been suffered to
escape. The mob and the parliament would have been pleased to have
seen him hanged. The few who had not suffered by the commercial
revolution, rejoiced that the quack had left the country; but all
those (and they were by far the most numerous class) whose
fortunes were implicated, regretted that his intimate knowledge of
the distress of the country, and of the causes that had led to it,
had not been rendered more available in discovering a remedy.

At a meeting of the Council of Finance, and the General Council of
the Regency, documents were laid upon the table, from which it
appeared that the amount of notes in circulation was 2700
millions. The regent was called upon to explain how it happened
that there was a discrepancy between the dates at which these
issues were made and those of the edicts by which they were
authorised. He might have safely taken the whole blame upon
himself, but he preferred that an absent man should bear a share
of it; and he therefore stated that Law, upon his own authority,
had issued 1200 millions of notes at different times, and that he
(the regent) seeing that the thing had been irrevocably done, had
screened Law by antedating the decrees of the council which
authorised the augmentation. It would have been more to his credit
if he had told the whole truth while he was about it, and
acknowledged that it was mainly through his extravagance and
impatience that Law had been induced to overstep the bounds of
safe speculation. It was also ascertained that the national debt,
on the 1st of January, 1721, amounted to upwards of 3100 millions
of livres, or more than 124,000,000l. sterling, the interest upon
which was 3,196,000l. A commission, or visa, was forthwith
appointed to examine into all the securities of the state
creditors, who were to be divided into five classes; the first
four comprising those who had purchased their securities with real
effects, and the latter comprising those who could give no proofs
that the transactions they had entered into were real and bonâ
fide. The securities of the latter were ordered to be destroyed,
while those of the first four classes were subjected to a most
rigid and jealous scrutiny. The result of the labours of the visa
was a report, in which they counselled the reduction of the
interest upon these securities to fifty-six millions of livres.
They justified this advice by a statement of the various acts of
peculation and extortion which they had discovered; and an edict
to that effect was accordingly published and duly registered by
the parliaments of the kingdom.

Another tribunal was afterwards established, under the title of
the Chambre de l'Arsenal, which took cognizance of all the
malversations committed in the financial departments of the
government during the late unhappy period. A Master of Requests,
named Falhonet, together with the Abbé Clement, and two clerks in
their employ, had been concerned in divers acts of peculation, to
the amount of upwards of a million of livres. The first two were
sentenced to be beheaded, and the latter to be hanged; but their
punishment was afterwards commuted into imprisonment for life in
the Bastille. Numerous other acts of dishonesty were discovered,
and punished by fine and imprisonment.

D'Argenson shared with Law and the regent the unpopularity which
had alighted upon all those concerned in the Mississippi madness.
He was dismissed from his post of Chancellor, to make room for
D'Aguesseau; but he retained the title of Keeper of the Seals, and
was allowed to attend the councils whenever he pleased. He thought
it better, however, to withdraw from Paris, and live for a time a
life of seclusion at his country-seat. But he was not formed for
retirement; and becoming moody and discontented, he aggravated a
disease under which he had long laboured, and died in less than a
twelvemonth. The populace of Paris so detested him, that they
carried their hatred even to his grave. As his funeral procession
passed to the church of St. Nicholas du Chardonneret, the
burying-place of his family, it was beset by a riotous mob, and
his two sons, who were following as chief mourners, were obliged
to drive as fast as they were able down a by-street to escape
personal violence.

As regards Law, he for some time entertained a hope that he should
be recalled to France, to aid in establishing its credit upon a
firmer basis. The death of the regent in 1723, who expired
suddenly, as he was sitting by the fireside conversing with his
mistress, the Duchess de Phalaris, deprived him of that hope, and
he was reduced to lead his former life of gambling. He was more
than once obliged to pawn his diamond, the sole remnant of his
vast wealth, but successful play generally enabled him to redeem
it. Being persecuted by his creditors at Rome, he proceeded to
Copenhagen, where he received permission from the English ministry
to reside in his native country, his pardon for the murder of Mr.
Wilson having been sent over to him in 1719. He was brought over
in the admiral's ship—a circumstance which gave occasion for a
short debate in the House of Lords. Earl Coningsby complained that
a man who had renounced both his country and his religion should
have been treated with such honour, and expressed his belief that
his presence in England, at a time when the people were so
bewildered by the nefarious practices of the South-Sea directors,
would be attended with no little danger. He gave notice of a
motion on the subject; but it was allowed to drop, no other member
of the House having the slightest participation in his lordship's
fears. Law remained for about four years in England, and then
proceeded to Venice, where he died in 1729, in very embarrassed
circumstances. The following epitaph was written at the time:

"Ci gît cet Ecossais célébre,
   Ce calculateur sans égal,
Qui, par les régles de l'algébre,
   A mis la France à l'hôpital."

His brother, William Law, who had been concerned with him in the
administration both of the Bank and the Louisiana Company, was
imprisoned in the Bastille for alleged malversation, but no guilt
was ever proved against him. He was liberated after fifteen
months, and became the founder of a family, which is still known
in France under the title of Marquises of Lauriston.

In the next chapter will be found an account of the madness which
infected the people of England at the same time, and under very
similar circumstances, but which, thanks to the energies and good
sense of a constitutional government, was attended with results
far less disastrous than those which were seen in France.