William Bramley/The Gods of Eden/23/230

the Bank of England! Specifically, the financiers had put together a total base of 72,000 pounds of actual gold and silver. By issuing notes valued at 16 2/3 times the base, the bank was able to make a loan to England of 1,200,000 Pounds in paper money. The yearly interest rate was 8 1/3%, which equaled 100,000 Pounds. This amounted to a profit of 28,000 Pounds, or 39% in just one year!

Twenty-two years after the Bank of England was established, an identical bank was set up in France in 1716. The founder of the French version was John Law, who became the Finance Minister of France. Law has been dubbed the "Father of Inflation" for his efforts. This title is not accurate, of course, because the practice of inflation had begun earlier. However, the spectacular inflation which occurred in France after Law's central bank was nationalized gave Law the dubious, honor of the title.

As the son of a goldsmith-turned-banker, John Law was an interesting character in many ways. He was deeply devoted to the schools of Brotherhood mysticism that were behind many of the important social changes occurring in his time. Biographer Hans Wantoch, writing in his book Magnificent Money-Makers, describes Law as "one of the last of the alchemist-mystics, of the astrologers who were dying out in the time of Voltaire, but in his pursuit of the stone of wisdom he invented inflation." Another interesting fact is that Law was a Scotsman with an obscure background, just like his earlier counterpart in England, William Paterson. The Scottish link between Law and Patterson may be significant when we later review evidence that Scotland was an important center of secret, but far-reaching, Brotherhood activity in Europe.

Law had played upon France's justifiable paranoia of England in order to convince the French government to establish a central bank identical to that of Britain. The warfare which had earlier been instigated by William III was causing a serious drain on the French treasury. Law's proposal seemed an attractive solution and so it was finally adopted.

At first, the new French currency issued under Law's plan appeared to revitalize the French economy. This