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While this excitement lasted, Law took good care not to expose
himself unguarded in the streets. Shut up in the apartments
of the
Regent, he was secure from all attack, and, whenever he
ventured
abroad, it was either incognito, or in one of the Royal
carriages,
with a powerful escort. An amusing anecdote is recorded
of the
detestation in which he was held by the people, and the
ill treatment
he would have met, had he fallen into their hands. A gentleman,
of the
name of Boursel, was passing in his carriage down the Rue
St. Antoine,
when his further progress was stayed by a hackneycoach that
had
blocked up the road. M. Boursel's servant called impatiently
to the
hackneycoachman to get out of the way, and, on his refusal,
struck him
a blow on the face. A crowd was soon drawn together by the
disturbance, and M. Boursel got out of the carriage to restore
order.
The hackney-coachman, imagining that he had now another
assailant,
bethought him of an expedient to rid himself of both, and
called out
as loudly as he was able, "Help! help! murder! murder!
Here are Law
and his servant going to kill me! Help! help!" At this
cry, the people
came out of their shops, armed with sticks and other weapons,
while
the mob gathered stones to inflict summary vengeance upon
the supposed
financier. Happily for M. Boursel and his servant, the door
of the
church of the Jesuits stood wide open, and, seeing the fearful
odds
against them, they rushed towards it with all speed. They
reached the
altar, pursued by the people, and would have been ill treated
even
there, if, finding the door open leading to the sacristy,
they had not
sprang through, and closed it after them. The mob were then
persuaded
to leave the church by the alarmed and indignant priests;
and, finding
M. Boursel's carriage still in the streets, they vented
their ill-will
against it, and did it considerable damage.
The twenty-five millions secured on the municipal revenues
of the
city of Paris, bearing so low an interest as two and a half
per cent.,
were not very popular among the large holders of Mississippi
stock.
The conversion of the securities was, therefore,
a work of
considerable difficulty; for many preferred to retain the
falling
paper of Law's Company, in the hope that a favourable turn
might take
place. On the 15th of August, with a view to hasten the
conversion, an
edict was passed, declaring that all notes for sums between
one
thousand and ten thousand livres; should not pass current,
except for
the purchase of annuities and bank accounts, or for
the payment of
instalments still due on the shares of the company.
In October following another edict was passed, depriving
these
notes of all value whatever after the month of November
next ensuing.
The management of the mint, the farming of the revenue,
and all the
other advantages and privileges of the India, or Mississippi
Company,
were taken from them, and they were reduced to a mere private
company.
This was the deathblow to the whole system, which had now
got into the
hands of its enemies. Law had lost all influence in the
Council of
Finance, and the company, being despoiled of its immunities,
could no
longer hold out the shadow of a prospect of being able to
fulfil its
engagements. All those suspected of illegal profits at the
time the
public delusion was at its height, were sought out and amerced
in
heavy fines. It was previously ordered that a list of the
original
proprietors should be made out, and that such persons as
still
retained their shares should place them in deposit with
the company,
and that those who had neglected to complete the shares
for which they
had put down their names, should now purchase them of the
company, at
the rate of 13,500 livres for each share of 500 livres.
Rather than
submit to pay this enormous sum for stock which was actually
at a
discount, the shareholders packed up all their portable
effects, and
endeavoured to find a refuge in foreign countries. Orders
were
immediately issued to the authorities at the ports and frontiers,
to
apprehend all travellers who sought to leave the kingdom,
and keep
them in custody, until it was ascertained whether they had
any plate
or jewellery with them, or were concerned in the late stock
-jobbing.
Against such few as escaped, the punishment of death was
recorded,
while the most arbitrary proceedings were instituted against
those who
remained.
