LAW, JOHN (1671-1739). A celebrated finan cier and speculator, born at Edinburgh. April 21, 1671. 1Iis father was a goldsmith and banker, and proprietor of the large estate of Lauriston, near Edinburgh. Law early showed a most re markable talent for mathematics, and after the death of his father he removed to London, where he was soon prominent both in financial and so cial circles; but his life was a dissipated one, and in 1695 he was compelled to flee from England in consequence of a duel in which he killed his adversary. After visiting France and Italy, he went to Amsterdam and spent his time in study ing the credit operations of the hank, where he was employed for a short time. About the year 1700 he returned to Edinburgh. a zealous advo cate of a paper currency; but his proposals to the Scottish Parliament on this subject met with an unfavorable reception. Ile visited different parts of the Continent, where he won large sums by gambling. but sought in vain to win the favor of governments to his banking schemes. which were outlined in a pamphlet advocating a State bank with paper notes. At last in 1715 he set tled in Paris. and in company with his brother William set up in 1716 a private bank. which was chartered by the Government. and which was soon successful and prosperous to such an ex traordinary degree that in 171g the Duke of Irleans, the Regent. was persuaded to adopt Law's plan of a national hank. The new institu tion issued prodi7ious quantities of bank-note:, which at first enjoyed perfect credit. while the ordinary national bonds remained. as they had long been, at a price far below their nomil.al value. In 1717 Law originated his famous Mis sissippi Scheme (q.v.). for the purpose of rais ing money to meet the exigencies of the State. The Compagnie d'necident was established. with liberty to exploit the region about t he Mississippi. It soon absorbed the French East India Company and other trading companies. being transformed into the Compagnie des Indes. The public were invited to invest in the shares of this company, and an extraordinary speculative mania resulted, which drove up the value of the shares to an almost fabulous height. For a time it seemed as if the Mississippi Scheme would more than fulfill its promises, and the company, which under took the payment of the debts of the Government, was charged with the receivership of the taxes.
In the meanwhile the country was flooded with paper money, and in 1120 a general financial collapse ensued. UM, who had been made Conn eih.r of State and Comptroller of Finances just before the crash came, thought it prudent to quit France. Ile proceeded first to Brussels. and then to England, where he remained for several years. but finally settled in Venice, where he managed to maintain himself by gambling, and died there. March 21, 1729. Law appears to have remained a firm believer in his theories regarding public credit and currency. A complete edition of his works, translated into French, was pub lished at Paris in 1790, and reprinted in 1843. They have since been inserted in GuillaumaD'S collection of the writings of the chief econo mists and financiers of the eighteenth century. Consult. for Law's life and theories of banking: \\ ood, ifcaiurits of the Life of John Law (Edin burgh, 1824) ; ..\la•kay, Memoirs of R.rt•aordi nary Popular Delusions (London, 1850) ; niers, Laic el sun sysl, me des finances ( Paris, 1858; Eng. trans., New York, 1559) ; Perkins, Prance Under the flegeney (New York, 1892) Heymann, Laic um! scia System (Munich, 185:3) : Levasseur, Rieherches historiques sur le syste.me de Law (Paris, 1854) ; prqnco an sacialisinc, on le systemc de Law (Paris, 1848).
LAW, JouN (1796-1K:) . Au American ju rist, born in New London, Conn. Ile was de scended from a line of lawyers including 'Iona than Law, Chief Justice of the Connecticut Su preme Court (1741-50). Educated at Yale, he was admitted to practice in 1817, and soon after wards emigrated to Indiana, and made his home at Vincennes. lie was successively prosecuting attorney, member of the State Legislature (1823), again district attorney, a judge for eight terms, and in 18:38 was appointed receiver of public moneys. In 1851 he moved to Evans ville, and was one of the founders of the town of Lamasco; four years afterwards he was ap pointed judge of the Court of Land Claims; and in 1860 he was elected to the House of Repre sentatives, and served in the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses on committees on li brary, agriculture, and Revolutionary pensions. His address on the Colonial History of Vincennes was published in 1839 and in 1858. lie was president of the Indiana State Historical Society.