f a man who once counted his revenue by
millions, whose offerings to the Church of St. Roch would have made a
meet dowry for a princess, and whose very menials acquired fortunes such
as modern nobility cannot equal."

As he spoke, he drew forth a large silver-clasped pocket-book, and,
opening it, took out a mass of papers.

"I do not ask you to take any part of this on trust," continued he.
"There, with the seal of the chancellor, and the date, January the 5th,
1720, is his patent as comptroller-general of France. Here are letters
from the Regent, the Prince of Deux-Ponts, the Duke of Rohan; I leave
them in your hands, and will send you others that authenticate all I
have stated. Of my own life, humble and uneventful, I have no wish
to speak; more than this I know, for I have long studied the great
principles of my father's secret. The causes of his reverses I have
thoroughly investigated; they are not inherent in the system, nor are
they reasonably attributable to it in any way. His discovery must not be
disparaged by the vices of a profligate prince, a venal administration,
and an ignorant cabinet; nor must the grandeur of his conception be
charged with the rash infatuation of a nation of gamblers. Law's system
stands free from every taint of dishonesty, when dissociated with the
names of those who prostituted it. For years long have I studied the
theory, and tested it by every proof within my power. To make the fact
known to the world; to publish abroad the great truth, that credit well
based and fortified is national wealth, and that national wealth, so
based, is almost boundless,--this became the object of my whole life. I
knew that a certain time must elapse ere the disasters that followed my
father's downfall were forgotten, and that I should, in all likelihood,
never live to see the day when his glorious system would be revived, and
his memory vindicated; but I hoped to have found one worthy to inherit
this secret, and in whose keeping it might be transmitted to after
ages. I will not weary you with the story of all my disappointments, the
betrayals, and the treachery, and the falsehoods I have endured. Enough!
I became a recluse from mankind. I gave myself up to my old pursuits of
calculation and combination, undisturbed; and I have lived on, to this
hour, with one thought ever before me, and one fear,--is this great
secret to die out with me? and are countless millions of men destined
to toil and slavery, whi