After the failure of his scheme, the wags said the nation was lasse de
lui, and proposed that he should in future be known by the name of
Monsieur Helas!]

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'etat. It was not thought expedient to grant him the whole of the
privileges prayed for in his memorials until experience should have
shown 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