Memoirs of Popular Delusions Vol 1 | Page 6

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 Vendome, 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 anything to
do with him. [This anecdote, which is related in the correspondence of
Madame de Baviere, Duchess of Orleans, and mother of the Regent, is
discredited by Lord John Russell, in his "History of the principal States
of Europe, from the Peace of Utrecht;" for what reason he does not
inform us. There is no doubt that Law proposed his scheme to
Desmarets, and that Louis refused to hear of it. The reason given for the
refusal is quite consistent with the character of that bigoted and
tyrannical monarch.]
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 anything 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 expenditure 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