nt and shallow mind of
the Regent of France, which was the foundation of all the subsequent
trouble. The Regent became firmly convinced, that if a certain quantity
of bank bills could do so much good, a hundred thousand times as many
bills would surely do a hundred thousand times as much. That is, he
thought printing and issuing the bills was creating money. He paid no
regard to the need of providing specie for them on demand, but thought
he had an unlimited money factory in the city of Paris.

So far, so good. Next, Law planned, and, with the ever ready consent of
the Regent, effected, an enlargement of the business of his bank, based
on that delusion I spoke of about America. This enlargement was the
formation of the Mississippi Company, and this was the contrivance which
swelled into so tremendous a humbug. The company was closely connected
with the banks, and received (to begin with) the monopoly of all trade
to the Mississippi River, and all the country west of it. It was
expected to obtain vast quantities of gold and silver from that region,
and thus to make immense dividends on its stock. At home, it was to have
the sole charge of collecting all the taxes and coining all the money.
Stock was issued to the amount of one hundred thousand shares, at $200
(five hundred livres) each. And Law's help to the Government funds was
continued by permitting this stock to be paid for in those funds, at
their par value, though worth in market only about a third of it.
Subscriptions came in rapidly--for the French community was far more
ignorant about commercial affairs, finances, and the real resources of
distant regions, than we can easily conceive of now-a-days; and not only
the Regent, but every man, woman, and child in France, except a very few
tough and hard-headed old skeptics, believed every word Law said, and
would have believed him if he had told stories a hundred times as
incredible.

Well, pretty soon the Regent gave the associates--the bank and the
company--two other monopolies: that of tobacco, always monstrously
profitable, and that of refining gold and silver. Pretty soon, again, he
created the bank a state institution, by the magnificent name of The
Royal Bank of France. Having done this, the Regent could control the
bank in spite of Law (or order either); for, in those days, the kings of
France were almost perfectly despotic, and the Regent was acting king. I
have mentioned the Regent's terrible delusion about