The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1904-09-30

luTtntT penalty OI the law Oh EHkiauu'
Meeting Lady Catharine, he learned,
as have others since and before him,
that human soul may have laws in.
flexible: that the iron bars Of WON
ans resolve may bar one out, even AZ
prison doors may bar him In. He
found the Lady Catharine unshake-
able in her resolve not to see him or
speak with him. Whereat he ragged, eX-
postulated by post, waited. waylaid,
and SO at length gained an interview,
which taught him many things,
Rejected. as he was now, by the new
ministry of England. none the less
every capital Of Europe came presently
to know John Law, gambler, student
and hnancicr Before every ruler on
the continent he laid his system OF
financial revolution, and one by one
they smiled or shrugged, or scofIed
at him Baiiled once more In his dear
est purpose, he took again TO play,
play in such colossal and audacious
form as never yet had been seen even
In the gayest courts Of a time when
gaming was vice TO be called ma
tional. No hazard was too great for
him, no success and no reverse suili-
GENTLY keen To cause him any appar-
cnt concern. There was no risk sharp
enough to deaden the gnawing in his
| soul, no excitement strong enough to
wipe away from his mind the black
panorama Of his past,
He won prncely fortunes and cast
them away again. With the figure and
| the air Of prince, he gained greater
reputation than any prince Of Europe
Upon him were spent the blandish-
ments Of the tairest women Of his time
| Yet not this, not all this. served To
| steady his energies, now unbalanced,
| speeding without guidance. The gold,
| heancd high on the tables. was not
| enough To stupefy his m4nd. not enough
| though he doubled and trebled 1t,
| though he cast great golden markets
| TO spare him trouble in the counting
| OF his winnings Still student, still
mathematician, he sought AT Amster-
| dam, at Paris. AT Vienna all new iheO-
| ries which offered in the science Of
| banliRg and finance. even as at the
same time he delyed still further into
| the mysteries of occurrences and
| chance.
| In this latter such was his success
| that losers mad: complaint, unjust but
enectual. to the king, SO that Law was
| Obliged to leave Paris for u time He
| had dwelt long enough in Paris, this
| double-n atured man, this student and
creator this gambler and gallant, to
| win the friendship OF Philippe of Or.
| leans, later to be regent OF France;
| and gay enough had been the life they
| two had led-sO gay. so intimate. that
| Philippe Eav0 promise that should he
ever hold in his own hands the gov.
eminent OF France he would end Laws
| Punishment and give To him the OPP
| portunity he sought of proving those
| theories Of finance which constituted
the absorbing ambition Of his life.
Meantime Law, ever restless. had
| passed from one capital Of Europe TO
another. dragging with him from hotel
| 10 hotel the young child whose life
| had been cast in such fcyerish and UNI
natural surroundings. He continued
| TO challenge every hazard, fearless,
reckless, contemptuous, and withal
! wrctChed. as one must be who, after
| years OF effort, found that he could
not Danish from his mind the pictures
Of n durk-iluOred prison, and Of knife
| ~ a In nI
| waters. and of n girl beautiful though
with sealed lips and heart of ice.
| From time to time, as was well known,
| Law returned to England lie heard
| of the Lady Catharine Knollys, rs
! might easily be done in London; heard
Of her as young woman kind of heart,
soft of speech, with tenderness for
every little suffering thing; a beautiful
| woman, whose admirers listed scores,
| but who never yet. even according to
;he cagerest gossip of the capital. had
| found sutton 10 whom she gave word
or thought of love
So now at last the arrogant selfish
ness OF his heart began to yield His
| heart was broken before It might
soften but soften AT last IL did And
so he built up In his soul the image
| OF Il grave, sweet saint. kindly and
! gentle-voiced. unapproachable, not to
| he prOfnned To this image-ah, which
| of us has not had such a shrinc!---he
| brought in secret the homage of his
| life, his confessions, his despairs his
| hopes, his resolutions; guiding thereby
| all his life, as well as poor mortal man
may do, failing ever Of his own stand
| ards, rs all men do, yet barking ever
back to that secret sIhyl reckoning all
| things from her, for her, by her
There came at length one chastened
| hour when they met in calmness. when
| there was no longer talk Of love be-
tween them, when he stood before her
as though indeed at the altar Of some
marble deity Always her answer had
been that the past had been mistake;
| that she had professcd to love man.
not knowing what that man was: that
| she had suffered. but that It was better
so, since II had brought understand.
! ing. Now, In this calmer time, she
| begged of him knowledge or this child
reEretting the wandering life which
had been Its portion saying that for
Mary Connynge she no longer felt hor-
ror and hatred. Thus II was that in a
hasty moment Law had impulsively
begged her to assume some sort OF
tutelage over that unfortunate child
1t was to his own amazement that he
heard Lady Catharine Knollys consent.
STIMULATING that the child should be
| placed in a Paris convent for two
years. and that for two years John
Law should see neither his daughter
nor herself. Obedient as a child him
self he had promised
Now. go away" she then had said
to him. Go your own way. Drink,
dice. game, and waste the talents God
hath given you. You have made ruin