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, based upon some abstruse calculation of chances, he
contrived to
gain considerable sums. All the gamblers envied him his
luck, and many
made it a point to watch his play, and stake their money
on the same
chances. In affairs of gallantry he was equally fortunate;
ladies of
the first rank smiled graciously upon the handsome Scotchman
-- the
young, the rich, the witty, and the obliging. But all these
successes
only paved the way for reverses. After he had been for nine
years
exposed to the dangerous attractions of the gay life he
was leading,
he became an irrecoverable gambler. As his love of play
increased in
violence, it diminished in prudence. Great losses were only
to be
repaired by still greater ventures, and one unhappy day
he lost more
than he could repay without mortgaging his family estate.
To that step
he was driven at last. At the same time his gallantry brought
him into
trouble. A love affair, or slight flirtation, with a lady
of the name
of Villiers [Miss Elizabeth Villiers, afterwards Countess
of Orkney]
exposed him to the resentment of a Mr. Wilson, by whom he
was
challenged to fight a duel. Law accepted, and had the ill
fortune to
shoot his antagonist dead upon the spot. He was arrested
the same day,
and brought to trial for murder by the relatives of Mr.
Wilson. He was
afterwards found guilty, and sentenced to death. The sentence
was
commuted to a fine, upon the ground that the offence only
amounted to
manslaughter. An appeal being lodged by a brother of the
deceased, Law
was detained in the King's Bench, whence, by some means
or other,
which he never explained, he contrived to escape; and an
action being
instituted against the sheriffs, he was advertised in the
Gazette, and
a reward offered for his apprehension. He was described
as "Captain
John Law, a Scotchman, aged twenty-six; a very tall, black,
lean man;
well shaped, above six feet high, with large pockholes in
his face;
big nosed, and speaking broad and loud." As this was
rather a
caricature than a description of him, it has been supposed
that it was
drawn up with a view to favour his escape. He succeeded
in reaching
the Continent, where he travelled for three years, and devoted
much of
his attention to the monetary and banking affairs of the
countries
through which he passed. He stayed a few months in Amsterdam,
and
speculated to some extent in the funds. His mornings were
devoted to
the study of finance and the principles of trade, and his
evenings to
the gaming-house. It is generally believed that he returned
to
Edinburgh in the year 1700. It is certain that he published
in that
city his "Proposals and Reasons for constituting a
Council of Trade."
This pamphlet did not excite much attention.
In a short time afterwards he published a project for
establishing
what he called a Land-bank [The wits of the day called it
a sand-bank,
which would wreck the vessel of the state.], the notes issued
by which
were never to exceed the value of the entire lands of the
state, upon
ordinary interest, or were to be equal in value to the land,
with the
right to enter into possession at a certain time. The project
excited
a good deal of discussion in the Scottish parliament, and
a motion for
the establishment of such a bank was brought forward by
a neutral
party, called the Squadrone, whom Law had interested in
his favour.
The Parliament ultimately passed a resolution to the effect,
that, to
establish any kind of paper credit, so as to force it to
pass, was an
improper expedient for the nation.
Upon the failure of this project, and of his efforts to
procure a
pardon for the murder of Mr. Wilson, Law withdrew to the
Continent,
and resumed his old habits of gaming. For fourteen years
he continued
to roam about, in Flanders, Holland, Germany, Hungary, Italy,
and
France. He soon became intimately acquainted with the extent
of the
trade and resources of each, and daily more confirmed in
his opinion
that no country could prosper without a paper currency.
During the
whole of this time he appears to have chiefly supported
himself by
successful play. At every gambling-house of note in the
capitals of
Europe, he was known and appreciated as one better skilled
in the
intricacies of chance than any other man of the day. It
is stated in
the "Biographie Universelle" that he was expelled,
first from Venice,
and afterwards from Genoa, by the magistrates, who thought
him a
visitor too dangerous for the youth of those cities. During
his
residence in Paris he rendered himself obnoxious to D'Argenson,
the
lieutenant-general of the police, by whom he was ordered
to quit the
capital. This did not take place, however, before he had
made the
acquaintance in the saloons, of the Duke de Vendome, the
Prince de
Conti, and of the gay Duke of Orleans, the latter of whom
was destined
afterwards to exercise so much influence over his fate.
The Duke of
Orleans was pleased with the vivacity and good sense of
the Scottish
adventurer, while the latter was no less pleased with the
wit and
amiability of a prince who promised to become his patron.
They were
often thrown into each other's society, and Law seized every
opportunity to instil his financial doctrines into the mind
of one
whose proximity to the throne pointed him out as destined,
at no very
distant date, to play an important part in the government.
