establishing New Orleans as the leading seaport of the South. See the section Jetties.
It is well understood that the whole work of regulating the river is likely to prove a slower process than was at first supposed, and that to be efficient it can only be gradual and progressive. It is a work of great magnitude; it is supposed that not less than $75,000,000 will be needed to put it even in approximately good shape. The work has, however, suffered greatly from inadequate and intermittent appropriations, which have interfered with a systematic and economical administration of its affairs.
For the history of the discovery and first settlements of the Mississippi, see De Soto, Hernando; Hennepin, Louis; Iberville, Pierre; Joliet, Louis; La Salle, René; Marquette, Jacques; Schoolcraft, Henry R.; New Orleans; Saint Louis; Saint Paul, etc. For shipping statistics of the Mississippi see the article United States, section on Shipping on the Mississippi System. See, also, articles on the principal tributaries.
Bibliography. Humphreys and Abbot, Report on Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River (Philadelphia, 1861); Eads, Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi River (New Orleans, 1876); Ellet, On industries of the Delta of the Mississippi (Philadelphia, n.d.); Glazier, Down the Great River (ib., 1888); Corthell, History of the Jetties at the Mouth of the Mississippi River (New York, 1880); Johnson, “Protection of the Lower Mississippi Valley from Overflow” and “Great Floods on the Lower Mississippi,” in Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies, vols. ii. and iii. (Philadelphia, 1885); Ockerson and Stewart, Mississippi River from Saint Louis to the Sea (Saint Louis, 1892); Levasseur, La question des sources du Mississippi (Paris, 1894); Brower, The Missouri River and Its Utmost Source (Saint Paul, 1897); Ockerson, The Mississippi River: Some of Its Physical Characteristics (Paris, 1900); and the Annual Reports of the Mississippi River Commission (Saint Louis, 1879 et seq.).
MISSISSIPPI SCHEME. A gigantic banking and commercial scheme projected in France by the celebrated Scotch financier John Law (q.v.), at the beginning of the reign of Louis XV. The primary object of the scheme was to resuscitate the French finances by removing some of the debt and disorder which had followed on the wars of Louis XIV. Money was to flow into France by developing the resources of the Province of Louisiana and the country bordering on the Mississippi—a tract at that time believed to abound in the precious metals. The company was incorporated in 1717, under the designation of the Compagnie d'Occident, and started with a large capital. Two hundred thousand shares were placed on the market and eagerly bought up. The company obtained exclusive privileges of trading to the Mississippi for twenty-five years, of farming the taxes, and of coining money. In 1719 it obtained a monopoly of trading to the East Indies, China, the South Seas, and all the possessions of the French East India Company, and the brilliant vision opened up to the public gaze was irresistible. The Compagnie des Indes, as it was now called, created fifty thousand additional shares; but there were at least three hundred thousand applicants for these, and consequently shares rose to an enormous premium. The public enthusiasm became absolute frenzy, and while confidence lasted, a fictitious impulse was given to trade in Paris; the value of manufactures was increased fourfold, and the demand far exceeded the supply. The population of Paris is said to have been increased by hundreds of thousands, many of whom were glad to take shelter in garrets, kitchens, and stables. But the Regent Orleans had meanwhile caused the paper circulation of the national bank to be increased as the Mississippi scheme stock rose in value, and paper currency to the face value of 2,700,000,000 livres flooded the country. The result was that many wary speculators, foreseeing a crisis, secretly converted their paper and shares into gold, which they transmitted to England or Belgium for security. The increasing scarcity of gold and silver in France becoming felt, a general run was made on the national bank, which in March, 1720, had been incorporated with the Compagnie des Indes. On May 21st the Government issued an edict which reduced the value of bank notes and of shares in the company by one-half. Law was now controller-general of finances, and he made several unavailing attempts to mend matters. Those suspected of having more than a limited amount (fixed by a law passed at the time) of gold and silver in their possession, or of having removed it from the country, were punished with the utmost vigor. The final crisis came in July, 1720, when the bank stopped payment, and Law was compelled to flee the country. A share in the Mississippi scheme now with difficulty brought 24 livres. An examination into the state of the accounts of the company was ordered by Government; much of the paper in circulation was canceled; and the rest was converted into ‘rentes’ to an enormous amount.
MISSISSIPPI SOUND. A lagoon-like strait, 8 to 14 miles wide, washing the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi from Mobile Bay to the entrance of Lake Borgne, a distance of about 90 miles (Map: Mississippi, H 10). It is formed and separated from the Gulf of Mexico by several long and narrow islands or sand bars, one of which is fortified. It is moderately deep, generally tranquil, and is navigated chiefly by the steamers and coasting vessels running between Mobile and New Orleans by way of Lake Pontchartrain.
MISSOLONGHI, mĭs′sō̇-lŏṉ′gē̇ or Mesolonghi. One of the principal towns of Western Greece, the capital of the Nomarchy of Acarnania and Ætolia (Map: Greece, C 3). It is situated on the north shore of the Gulf of Patras, in a low, marshy, and unhealthful locality. The harbor is shallow and inaccessible for large vessels. The town is the seat of an archbishop and of a high school. It has a statue of Lord Byron, who died here in 1824, and a mausoleum which contains the heart of the poet-hero. Population, in 1896, 8394. The town is famous as the chief western stronghold of the Greek patriots during the war of liberation (1822-26). It withstood two prolonged sieges by the Turks until April, 1826, when the survivors of the garrison destroyed the town and cut their way through the Turkish lines. In May, 1829, the town was evacuated by the Turks and restored to Greece.
