made it a point to watch his play, and stake their money on the same
chances. In affairs of gallantry he was equally fortunate; ladies of
the first rank smiled graciously upon the handsome Scotchman -- the
young, the rich, the witty, and the obliging. But all these successes
only paved the way for reverses. After he had been for nine years
exposed to the dangerous attractions of the gay life he was leading,
he became an irrecoverable gambler. As his love of play increased in
violence, it diminished in prudence. Great losses were only to be
repaired by still greater ventures, and one unhappy day he lost more
than he could repay without mortgaging his family estate. To that step
he was driven at last. At the same time his gallantry brought him into
trouble. A love affair, or slight flirtation, with a lady of the name
of Villiers [Miss Elizabeth Villiers, afterwards Countess of Orkney]
exposed him to the resentment of a Mr. Wilson, by whom he was
challenged to fight a duel. Law accepted, and had the ill fortune to
shoot his antagonist dead upon the spot. He was arrested the same day,
and brought to trial for murder by the relatives of Mr. Wilson. He was
afterwards found guilty, and sentenced to death. The sentence was
commuted to a fine, upon the ground that the offence only amounted to
manslaughter. An appeal being lodged by a brother of the deceased, Law
was detained in the King's Bench, whence, by some means or other,
which he never explained, he contrived to escape; and an action being
instituted against the sheriffs, he was advertised in the Gazette, and
a reward offered for his apprehension. He was described as "Captain
John Law, a Scotchman, aged twenty-six; a very tall, black, lean man;
well shaped, above six feet high, with large pockholes in his face;
big nosed, and speaking broad and loud." As this was rather a
caricature than a description of him, it has been supposed that it was
drawn up with a view to favour his escape. He succeeded in reaching
the Continent, where he travelled for three years, and devoted much of