the tide which wafted him so joyously along was a tide of
destruction; and when he endeavoured to retrace his way, he found that the
current was too strong for his weak efforts to stem, and that he drew
nearer every instant to the tremendous falls. Down he went over the sharp
rocks, and the waters with him. _He_ was dashed to pieces with his bark,
but the waters, maddened and turned to foam by the rough descent, only
boiled and bubbled for a time, and then flowed on again as smoothly as
ever. Just so it was with Law and the French people. He was the boatman,
and they were the waters.

John Law was born at Edinburgh in the year 1671. His father was the
younger son of an ancient family in Fife, and carried on the business of a
goldsmith and banker. He amassed considerable wealth in his trade,
sufficient to enable him to gratify the wish, so common among his
countrymen, of adding a territorial designation to his name. He purchased
with this view the estates of Lauriston and Randleston, on the Frith of
Forth, on the borders of West and Mid Lothian, and was thenceforth known
as Law of Lauriston. The subject of our memoir, being the eldest son, was
received into his father's counting-house at the age of fourteen, and for
three years laboured hard to acquire an insight into the principles of
banking as then carried on in Scotland. He had always manifested great
love for the study of numbers, and his proficiency in the mathematics was
considered extraordinary in one of his tender years. At the age of
seventeen he was tall, strong, and well made; and his face, although
deeply scarred with the small-pox, was agreeable in its expression, and
full of intelligence. At this time he began to neglect his business, and
becoming vain of his person, indulged in considerable extravagance of
attire. He was a great favourite with the ladies, by whom he was called
Beau Law; while the other sex, despising his foppery, nicknamed him
Jessamy John. At the death of his father, which happened in 1688, he
withdrew entirely from the desk, which had become so irksome, and being
possessed of the revenues of the paternal estate of Lauriston, he
proceeded to London, to see the world.

He was now very young, very vain, good-looking, tolerably rich, and quite
uncontrolled. It is no wonder that, on his arrival in the capital, he
should launch out into extravagance. He soon became a regular frequenter
of the gaming-houses, and by pursuing a certain plan, bas