y of its realization. But
the would-be patentee of the undertaking of great advantage, nobody to
know what it is, was a man of a different order. He understood human
nature in certain of its moods. He knew that there are men and women who
can be got to believe in anything which holds out the promise of quick
and easy gain. If he found a few dozen greedy and selfish fools to help
his project with a little money, that would, no doubt, be the full
attainment of his ends. Probably he was successful. The very boldness
of his avowal of secrecy would have a charm for many. One day would be
enough for him--the {193} the day when he sent in his demand for a
patent. The bare demand would bring him dupes.

[Sidenote: 1720--The bubble bursts]

The first great blow struck at the South Sea Company came from the South
Sea Company itself. Several bubble companies began to imitate the
financial system which the more favored institution had set up. The
South Sea Company put in motion certain legal proceedings against some of
the offenders. The South Sea Company had the support and countenance of
the high legal authorities, and found no difficulty in obtaining
injunctions against the other associations, directing them not to go
beyond the strict legal privileges secured to them by their charters of
incorporation. Among the undertakings thus admonished were the English
Copper Company and the Welsh Copper and Lead Company. His Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales happened to be a governor of the English Copper
Company, and the Lords-justices were polite enough to send the Prince a
message expressing the great regret they felt at having to declare
illegal an enterprise with which he was connected. The Prince, not to be
outdone in politeness, received the admonition, we are told, "very
graciously," and sent on his part a message to the Company requesting
them to accept his resignation, and to elect some one else a governor in
his place. The proceedings which the South Sea Company had set on foot
against their audacious rivals and imitators had, however, the
inconvenient effect of directing too much of public attention to the
principles upon which they conducted their own business. Confidence
began to waver, to be shaken, to give way altogether; and when people ask
whether a speculation is a bubble, the bubble, if it is one, is already
burst.

The whole basis of Law's system, and of the South Sea Company's schemes
as well, was