back, with the inscription, "Admirez La Force."], de Chaulnes, and
d'Antin; the Marechal d'Estrees, the Princes de Rohan, de Poix, and de
Leon. 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
litterateurs 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