KROM GEO. H. BEI.L, Bookseller ,< $tati,i*.r, 153 Montgomery. Cor. ot Merchant St. t SAN FRANCISCO. was TW plet( be u ON ; expi Cou THE LAS WEI THE THE THE WY. THE PRE LIO: the anet COC rr . and com .s wor P ~ - ..-11 D . ^ , , --, T ,- be sent, post-paid, to any address in the United States, under 3,000 miles. The work can be obtained from local agents (generally the principal Booksellers) in all the large cities. BOOKSELLERS and others desiring an agency where none has been , established can ascertain terms, &c., by addressing the Publishers, IV. A. TOWNSEND & CO., 46 WALKER STREET, NEW YORK. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER: OPINIONS OF HIS WORKS FROM DISTINGUISHED AUTHORS, STATESMEN, ETC. WASHINGTON IRVING. to the nation. He has left a in our litera "Cooper emphatically belongs space ture which will not easily be supplied." GEORGE BANCROFT. deserves the "The glory which he justly won was reflected on his country, and has his grateful recognition of all who survive him. His surpassing ability made own name and the. names of the creations of his fancy household words through out the civilized world." EDWARD EVERETT. "The works of our great national novelist have adorned and elevated our literature. There is nothing more purely American, which the latest posterity " will not willingly let die. WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT. " His writings are instinct with the spirit of nationality. In his productions every American must take an honest pride. For surely no one has succeeded like Cooper in the portraiture of American character, or has given such glowing and eminently truthful pictures of American scenery." WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. " for at it is that he has earned a fame wider He wrote mankind large ; hence than any author of modern times. The creations of his genius shall survive through centuries to come, and only perish with our language." DANIEL WEBSTER. "The enduring monuments of Fenimore Cooper are his works. While the love of country continues to prevail, his memory will exist in the hearts of the people. ... So truly patriotic and American throughout, they should find a place in every American s library." LEWIS CASS. " His country and the world acknowledge and appreciate his claims, and the productions of his genius will go down to posterity among the noblest efforts of the age. He will ever live in the history of human greatness." CHARLES SUMNER. "As a patriot, who loved his country, who illustrated its history, who advanced its character abroad, and, by his genius, won for it the unwilling regard of foreign in nations, he deserves a place the hearts of the American people." HENRY W. LONGFELLOW. "The country owes him a great debt of gratitude, and all who are of the guild of authorship should show the most alacrity in paying it. I was in no country of Europe where the name of Cooper was not familiarly known." FRANCIS PARKMAN, JR. "For myself, I have always felt a special admiration for Cooper s writings. They were my chosen favorites as a boy, and I may say, without exaggeration, that Cooper has had an influence in determining the" course of my life and pursuits." JOHN P. KENNEDY. "No man has done more in his sphere to elevate and dignity our national character than Fenimore Cooper. His genius has contributed a rich fund to the instruction and delight of his countrymen, which will long be preserved among the choicest treasures of American letters, and will equally" conduce to render our national literature attractive to other nations." ( THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE A MEMOIR OF JOHN LAW. BY ^ D O m, 3? H IE THIERS,u ATWHOR OP "THE CONSULATE AND EMPIRE," ETC. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, Authentic Accounts of the Darien Expedition, and the South Sea Scheme. TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY FRANK S. FISKE. NEW YORK: W. A. TOWNSEND & COMPANY. 1859. /r<3" 07 PttELAf ENTERED according to Act of Congress iu the year 1859, by W. A. TOWNSEND & CO., In the (Jerk s Office of the Distiict Court of the United States for the Southern District of New Yoik. W. H. TINSON, Stereotypes PEEFACE TO THE FKENCH EDITION. WE publish, with the consent of the author, a his torical work, clear, distinct and complete, although short, upon the system of Law. This work, which first appeared in an encyclopedic review about thirty years ago, produced a great sensation, and attracted to the then young author the attention of thinking men. We have reperused it, and it seems t"b us that, notwithstanding numer ous volumes have been published before and since upon the system of LAW, no one has ever presented, in a more pre cise and satisfactory manner, this singular financial phenomenon. It also seems to us that no one has so suc cessfully and ably deduced the important lessons which it contains lessons which it is not useless to to ; reproduce day, for the spirit of Law is present in all places and at all tunes. We, therefore, offer what appears to us to be a desirable edition of the work of M. Thiers for it has never ; been printed in a separate volume? and many readers have often asked for it in vain both in French and in foreign bookstores. We offer it in the form which we think at once elegant and convenient, and have submitted the proof vii 774212 PREFACE. sheets to the author, who has had the kindness to go over them carefully himself and make some corrections of this work of his youth. We hope, then, that this new edition, the only one in a separate volume, will be well received by an enlightened public, who are always friendly to a sound and useful literature. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Law s birth, parentage and education His personal appearance and qualities His early career in London Duel and its conse quences His travels and financial studies on the Continent Difference between money and wealth Banks and banking Paper money Law not guilty of the errors attributed to him His system of a general bank His attempt and failure to estab lish a territorial bank in Scotland, 13 CHAPTER II. -/^ Law resumes his travels His success at the gaming-table Pro poses his system to various governments State of the French finances Measures of the Regent Debasing the coin Its effect Law offers his plans Objections raised to it Establishment of Law s private bank Its favorable reception by the people Its benefit to trade Its extension into the provinces Astonish ing success, 35 CHAPTER III. Law s scheme of a commercial company The Mississippi company tho Jealousy of, and opposition to, Law He is sustained by X CONTENTS. Kcgent The brothers Paris The anti-system Law initiates a speculation in stocks Companies of the East and West Indies united Shares rise rapidly The rue Quincampoix Stockbrokers Run on the bank Law triumphs over everything, 57 CHAPTER IV. ^ The national debt Law s project for redeeming it Caution neces sary in executing the project The collection of the revenue granted to Law s company Arrangements for the assumption of the national debt by the company General eagerness to subscribe for the shares The nobility pay court to Law Rage for specu lation begins Stockjobbing operations of the brokers 81 CHAPTER V. Mistake in the details of the execution of Law s project New privi leges granted to the company Speculation attracts all classes and affects all kinds of business Foreigners arrive Tricks of the brokers Fortunes made in a few hours Actual value of the shares Law idolized Anecdotes His conversion Courted by foreign governments Continued success of the bank Excessive luxury of speculators Income of the company, 99 CHAPTER VI. Extravagant prices of goods First decline of shares Drain of specie from the bank Forced measures resorted to Attempts to revive confidence by adding new functions to the company Letter to a creditor Panic increases Odious measures Licentiousness of the realizers Bank notes might and should have been discon nected from the shares Violent and criminal plan, 125 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER VII. The bank and the company united Price of the shares fixed Measures for regulating the exchange of shares Frightful de preciation of bank notes Debtors the only persons benefited Father betrayed by his son Speculators dispersed by soldiers Second "Letter to a Creditor" Ingratitude of the Mississippians Murder and robbery by a young nobleman Firmness of the Regent, 143 CHAPTER VIII. Circulation of gold prohibited Reduction of the nominal value of shares and bank notes Great clamor raised Whole blame of the reduction falls on Law Regent yields to the clamor He retains Law in his favor Law repeals some of the most obnox ious regulations Measures to abolish the System Difficulties in carrying them out, 159 CHAPTER IX. of "Spoils the Mississippians" Further efforts to bring in the notes Men suffocated in the crowd at the bank Mob pursue Law He seeks protection at the palace of the Regent Bank closed Tampering with the currency Severities toward the Mississippians Final abolition of the System Law quits France Confiscation of his property, 179 CHAPTER X. / Recapitulation Comparison between this and other financial catas trophes Reflections, 205 x CONTENTS. PAGE THE DARIEN EXPEDITION, 231 Notes to Darien Expedition, 252 Enthusiasm of the Scotch, 254 Difficulties at the Start, 254 Opposition of the English, 255 Opposition of the Dutch, 256 Disastrous Result, 257 THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE, 261 Notes to South Sea Bubble, .