Memoirs of Popular Delusions Vol 1 | Page 4

1636, or France in 1719 and 1720, can hardly be imagined.
Taking them in the order of their importance, we shall commence our
history with John Law and the famous Mississippi scheme of the years
above mentioned.
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