first great example, and was very soon imitated by England with her
South Sea Bubble. At an earlier period, Holland made herself still
more ridiculous in the eyes of the world, by the frenzy which came
over her people for the love of Tulips. Melancholy as all these
delusions were in their ultimate results, their history is most
amusing. A more ludicrous and yet painful spectacle, than that which
Holland presented in the years 1635 and 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