JOHN LAW
MONEY MANIA.— THE MISSISSIPPI SCHEME.
Some in clandestine companies combine;
Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line;
With air and empty names to beguile the town,
And raise new credits first, then cry 'em down;
Divide the empty nothing into shares,
And set the crowd together by the ears.—Defoe.
Erect new stocks to trade beyond the line;
With air and empty names to beguile the town,
And raise new credits first, then cry 'em down;
Divide the empty nothing into shares,
And set the crowd together by the ears.—Defoe.
The personal character and career of one man are so intimately connected with the great scheme of the years 1719 and 1720, that a history of the Mississippi madness can have no fitter introduction than a sketch of the life of its great author John Law. Historians are divided in opinion as to whether they should designate him a knave
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