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it would not be easy to disprove . What was his first project , the bank , which Dubois-supported and St . Simon opposed ? It was a plan , to equalize the value of paper and money . Whatwashis second project , the formation of a Western Company , to fertilize the French possessions in the 3 STew World ? It was a plan to monopolize the .: trade of the immense regions bordering ^ , on the Mississippi , and to create from , credit a vast floating mass of exchangeable value , and it is far from beiug an established fact that Law ¦ was answerable for the . mania that ensued . The world was duped , but ¦ whether by itself or by Law is an open question . It is certain that the Scotch financier ,, who is accused as a mere jobber in notes and money , did . occupy himself with ., extraordinary operations in favour of French trade , that a substantial basis might "be formed for the speculations in . which men of all classes and countries were so eager to . engage .. That Colbert ' s
project was a failure is . n . o reason why Law ' s should not have been a success . Compare , the stories circulated of the unimaginable wealth in gold and silk , in the regions of the Mississippi ,. with the bejewelled pictures of India inthe early days of the Company . The East was one Golconda , and Golconda was one diamond mine , and every Asiatic was a Great Mogul , and every Great Mogul -was anxious to part "with a priceless ruby for a bodkin or a feather . The Great Company ,, installed in the palace of Mazarin , began its operations in 1719 . The . Administrative Council was composed of thirty persons , among-whom . Law only figured as a director ,, on an equality with his colleagues ; . They were at first not only active but orjierly . The ; shares were allotted wittmuch form , and it was no very violent innovation to establish , an auction , or market of scrip . Then was exhibited the golden axtravaganza . of the ; Hue Quincampoix . Then the phalanx of
fortune-hunters stood in a compact column in the street , caring not for sleep , thirst ,, or hunger , many waiting their tarns for days .. The Rue Quincampoix . was closed to all other kinds of traffic . Pilgrims from all countries crowded ! thither . 3 sTot a carriage was left unhired on the most distant roads in France . Gold -was-a drug , silver dross , nothing was valued but paper . And all the maddening scenes that followed , with which the English public is vaguely familiar , are presented graphically by DC . Cochut . Insane hopes produced insane improvidence , and . luxury increased so far that a royal edict appeared , prohibiting the use of banisters , cabinets , tables , gridii-ons , or flower-gots of silver . Many a promoted lacquey lived like a Shah , —that Mississippian , notably ,, whom Duhautchamp commemorates in the language of halfrbewildered awe . Four millions' worth of jewellery , a service of plate
that had . been ordered of the magnificent King of Portugal , kitchen utensils andbedroom furniture of solid silver , ninety servants , four ' young ladies , ' -and four footmen of good birth as his personal attendants , peas at a hundred pistoles the pint , ambrosial fountains playing at his table—why ifc is enough . ; to .-convince M . Duhautchamp that the nameless prodigal was a masculine Cleopatra . Meanwhile Law himself , the prince of all the magic , reigned in flattered state , and the coldest and proudest beauties kissed him . He planned an equitable system of taxation , suggested experiments in free trade , barge public works ,, theydeyotion of two millions to the release ¦ of poor , prisoners for debt , tie restoration of waste lands , the establishment of a liberal poor , law . Says M . Cochut , who elsewhere calls Law perfidious , the Scbeme ,. "inthenrm conviction of ita founder , was to be , the instrument of general prosperity . " But , as Pontcbartrairi said to Louis XIV ., ' , '' When it pleases your majesty to create an office , God creates a fool to purchase ifc . " T'he : Company , soberly created ,, "because the property of desperadoes , money- wascarried away in countless millions , lands and houses were purchased , at unheard of prices , and Law , as Comptroller-General of Finance
, had to contend against jealousy , insanity , and confusion in the public mind . That his projects were extravagant , there Js little doubt ; that they were misrepresented and exaggerated , there is no doubt whatever . When a hundred and eighty young girls were taken out of prison , prettily dressed and decked with flowers , and bright little chains on their wi'ists , and married to as many young culprits of the . other sex ; and when attempts were made to sweep the redundant population by foice into the colonies , fatal mistakes were made ; but M . Cochut , though be pretends to be cautious , trusts too implicitly in the loose gossip of Buvat and the eluboi'ate gossip of St . Simon . The panic , tlie horrors , the reign of suspicion and cruelty that followed , were , as commentaries , impressive enough . It was only natural that Law ,, the distributor of riches , should afterwards be maligned as tbo distributor of ruin . How far he was responsible , it is left for more philosophical biographers than M . Cochut to ascertain . One thing is ¦ certain , that he was not personally rapacious , for he offered to divido the ¦ whole of his possessions among those who had been injured by the Scheme ,
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piled m brief , colourless paragraphs , but is full of substance , illusfcri tion , and authority . The references are to be classified at the end of tb third volume . The second , now published , begins with the rule of the Horn of Lancaster , and concludes with the execution of Charles I . Some noti ™« of the social state of Ireland during the reign of Henry Till , are ver curious . The Irish nobles were as much accustomed' to exemptions as th * French ; they would not permit the king ' s courts to be held in their district * fined their tenants if they repaired for justice to the walled towns profited by the penalties of crime , charged their peasantry for protection ' and left them unprotected , and levied taxes on deaths and births : —
Every -birth , marriage , or death hi the lord ' s family occasioned tlie demand of a sheep from each husbandman , and a cow from each Tillage ; money was levied ( srate ) for the expenses of journeys , never undertaken , to Dublin , or to England Forced contributions of food and . money ( ft > rj cmdpay , and mertgeghf ) lelieved the lord ' from all expenditure of Ms own when he had guests ; -when he hunted ,.. his do"s were regaled with bread and milk , or butter ; and whole quarters of oats were demanded when most scarce , for his ' great horse , ' and a composition in money exacted . The Anglo-Saxon king claimed tlie labour of his freemen to build his residence ; but the Irish noble exacted mustrons for the keep of all his various craftsmen , from masons to tailors ; he , however , seldom lived at home , but passed his time in periodical visits with an unlimited retinue , to his tenants , when * meat , drink , lodging , candle , and a present at parting lad to be provided . Pour such visits to pass- the night ( called cody , or cosher ) -were usually bestowed on each husbandman , while more occasional visits were often fia-id for the express purpose of ruining (' eating up' ) an obnoxious inferior .
Lady Catherine Poer , when one of her tenants was robbed , kept the property recovered "b y her soldiers , and fined the husbandinaii for his negligence ia losing it . . 'Ireland was tben , in its feudal system , the perfect paxvillel of Fiance . A Child ' s History of the United States . By John Bonner . ( Sampson Low . )—Two very excellent volumes , suggested by The Child ' s History of England of Charles Dickens ; . Mr . Dickens's preface will serve as praise for Mr . Bonner ; his book ' help children , by-and-by , to read with interest ; larger and better books on the same subject . ' A School History of Modem Europe , from the Reformation to the Mil of Napoleon . B y John Lord , A . M . ( Simpkin and Marshall . j—The fault of most school histories Js not the fault of this : it is any thing- but dull . Mr . Lord varies his narrative by interspersing social anecdotes aucl pictures , and notices of literary ancLscientific progress , with tbe political aimals of modern
Europe . He writes plainly but attractively , and , in general , with a close attention to the necessary details of his subject . Occasionally , however , a lapse occurs , leading important passages obscure . Of -wbitt value , for example , is the history of a war without an explanation of its results ? In 1713 , writes Mr . Lord , < c tlie Treaty of Utroclit gave peace to desolated and mourning Europe . " "Wbat were the provisions of the Treaty ? That is what should b& told in a School History . Then , what purposes were effected by the peace of Paris , in 1763 ? Mr . Lord records the signature of the Treaty , omitting' all notice of its stipulations . History ,-written in this style , is simply dramatic , and teaches nothing . These , however ,. are incidental , not characteristic deficie » cies . MrvLord , ho-svever , should riot have _ attempted criticism . He might have spared himself the folly of saying " Alison ' s history is , on the whole , the most complete account of the French Revohition . " " Why , the pupils will laugh ! ;
Familiar Astronomy >; or , An Introduction to the Study of the Heavens . By Hannah M . Bouvier . ( Tiiibner . )—This large volume , with its elaborate apparatus of tinted maps , figures , and diagrams , is intended for the use of schools , families , and private students . It is on an ample scale , and is divided into ^ five parts . The first treats of -the laws which govern the heavenly bodies j the second , of the components of the solur sj'stem , and the laws governing their . movements ; the third , of the sidereal heavens—fixed stars , clusters , and nebula ?; the fourth , of the principal instruments used in an observatory , and the fifth , of the globes . A very useful astronomical dictionary—a technical glossary—is added . Without being competent to test Miss Bduvier ' s science , we must bear witness that her boolcis one that lompts to study .
Analytical Ethnology .- The Mixed Tribes in Great Briictw and Ireland Examined . By A . T . Massy . ( Baillibre ) . —Hero is a . volume of random , gossip introduced in a scientific disguise . . Mr . Massy is as much a politician as an ethnologist , and wanders from his subject to scoff at Sir John 1 'orbes , and to abuse the 'liquid flowing from the editorial quill' of the Times Imagining that ho is called upon to vindicate the high qualities of tlie Irish nation , he digresses to tell us that Sir Hans Sloano was aai Irishman , - that many of the Times' 'leaders' are written by Irishmen , tint jMarshal O'Donnell ' procurer of peace and order , ' is of Irish extraction . From ' the fossil history of words , ' also , he derives national inferences that are highly gratifying . But it is in his full-length portx-aits of a Celtic man and woman , compared with ' dumpy Dutch' and' globular headed Saxons , ' that Mr . Massy excels himself . Heroic dignity combined with , pastoral
siinnli-A BATCH OF BOOKS . A Cyclopedia of Geography ^ Descriptive and Physical . By James Bryce , M . A ., F . G . S . (" Griffin and Co . ) - —The leading aim of this Gazetteer , the compiler states , haB been to present a full , clear , and accurate description of the known world , divided and distributed according to alphabetical arrangement . The most authentic statistics of trade , manufactures , population , and education , are added , with accounts of natural plienomenas connected with islands , continents , rivers , seas , lakes , and mountain ranges . The work has
been very carefully executed throughout . We find none " of these absurdities that disfigure more pretentious and better known compilations . The principal defects we have noticed are faults of omission , exemplified in the very first pngo . The Gazetteer , in fact , begins with the wotcI «' Aa , " to which is appended this information : — " The name of soveral cmnltviverB on the continent of Europe . " What rivers , and where are tney r m& position of one or two , at least , should have been indicated . « £ ^ L ? ' e xnB J . ection deficiencies of this kind are detectable ; but in a TZ „„ , ] f en 8 e r tma , is an admirable geographical dictionary , convenient in size , and as welUdapted for private libraries of reference aa for schools . oJJZ wJiZt ° / f , W «« * • an Epitome of Mnc / lkh History , from Cotcm-KrLf ( 4 u \ > R ° ° //« ' *«»«^ and ot / J Public lieco / ds . Vol . II . Wliod 2 n ~ to . JtudvP-rrW vhicU wil 1 he of groat value to those who oeaigato study English h . atory by a systematic inetbod . It is
comcity , a solt brogue issuing from a well-formed mouth , '' matchless tenth and lips , 'fresh , transparent , and elastic skin , a lion's heart , a square and muscular chest , make up tho ideal Irishman . The ideal Irish maiden is aubiirnhaived , and has a white , soft skin , a thinking forehead on a line with a straight , mild nose , exquisite lips and chin , well-set teeth , soit dark cyos full of honest loyo , and other attributes of tho Venus de Medici . Tho linnd of the Celt is delicate and taporing , ' exhibiting a fineness of mind ami fueling that is very remarkable . The Saxon ' s hand is thick , coarse , unpliablo ; it almost creaks on the hinges . The Saxon is a spatular-fingered man—his foot , too , is made for counting-houses ; that of the Celt for dunces , biirricnrtos , sind scaling-ladders— ' a piece of undulating architecture—tlie < nrain of beauty . ' That suffices .
A History of the Turks from the Earliest Period to the Present Time . Uy John M'Gilchvist . ( J . Blackwood . )—Whenever a titlo-pnge containa tlie words ' from tho earliest period to the present time' the book it introduces ia sure to be steady and formal . Mr . Al'Gilchrist ' s History of tho Turks is of this character . It is an intelligent epitome of the most interesting events of : lurkish history from tho decay of tbo Byzniitino Emniro to the full of liars .
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SS 8 0 ? EE LEADER . [ No . 337 , Satukdat
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 6, 1856, page 858, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2157/page/18/
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