“Again, this matter applieth not to one man but to many men.  Now if one half the tradesmen of England rush to us with their coin for reminting, surely the trade of the country will have left not sufficient medium with which to prosper.  This I take to be the second part of this problem.

“There be certain persons of the realm who claim that we may keep our present money as it is, but mark from its face a certain amount of value.  Look you, now, this were a small thing; yet, in my mind, it clearly seemeth dishonesty.  For, if I owe my neighbor a debt, let us say for an hundred sovereigns, shall I not be committing injustice upon my neighbor if I pay him an hundred sovereigns less that deduction which the realm may see fit thus to impose upon the face of my sovereign?  This, in justice, sirs, I hold it to be not the part of science, nor the part of honesty, neither of statesmanship, to endorse.”

“Sir Isaac,” cried Montague, striking his nervous hands upon the table, “recoin we must.  But how, and, as you say, at whose expense?  We are as far now from a plan as when we started.  We but multiply difficulties.  What we need now is not so much negative measures as positive ones.  We must do this thing, and we must do it promptly.  The question is still of how it may best be done.  Mr. Law, by your leave and by the leave of these gentlemen here present, I shall take the liberty of asking you if there doth occur to your mind any plan by which we may be relieved of certain of these difficulties.  I am aware, sir, that you are much a student in these matters.”

A grave silence fell upon all.  John Law, young, confident and arrogant in many ways as he was, none the less possessed sobriety and depth of thought, just as he possessed the external dignity to give it fitting vehicle.  He gazed now at the men before him, not with timorousness or trepidation.  His face was grave, and he returned their glances calmly as he rose and made the speech which, unknown to himself, was presently to prove so important in his life.

“My Lords,” said he, “and gentlemen of this council, I am ill-fitted to be present here, and ill-fitted to add my advice to that which has been given.  It is not for me to go beyond the purpose of this meeting, or to lay before you certain plans of my own regarding the credit of nations.  I may start, as does our learned friend, simply from established principles of human nature.

“It is true that the coinage is a creature of the government.  Yet I believe it to be true that the government lives purely upon credit; which is to say, the confidence of the people in that government.

“Now, we may reason in this matter perhaps from the lesser relations of our daily life.  What manner of man do we most trust among those whom we meet?  Surely, the honest man, the plain man, the one whose directness and integrity we do not doubt.  Truly you may witness the nature of such a man in the manner of his speech, in his mien, in his conduct.  Therefore, my Lords and gentlemen, it seems to me plain that we shall best gain confidence for ourselves if we act in the most simple fashion.