Unsuccessful in his appeal to the Court at St. Germains to secure official employment, he resumed his old career of gambling, and made the principal cities of the Continent the field of his operations for the next three or four years. His movements at this time are somewhat difficult to trace. No authentic record of his peregrinations have come down to us. It is tolerably clear, however, that he resided for short periods at Genoa, Rome, Venice and Amsterdam, and may also have visited Florence and Naples. Gambling in his case was no mere means of satisfying an uncontrollable passion. He did not conduct it promiscuously. He based his speculations upon a system which he had developed for his own guidance after the most careful study of the laws of chance. Although success did not invariably attend his play, the balance of probability was so frequently in his favour that he was not only able to maintain his position as a gentleman of worth, but to amass a considerable fortune in an incredibly short period of time. No doubt the cool, calculating Scotsman, apart from any merit his system of play may have possessed, was more likely to rise from the tables with success than those with whom he would choose to gamble. Not only would his confidence and boldness irritate and excite his opponents, but the reputation his skill had acquired for him would be in itself a disturbing element to their minds, and render them unequal to his superior play. Notwithstanding his propensities in this direction, Law also devoted his abilities and his keen powers of observation to another and more creditable study. The subject of banking, the mysteries of credit, and all the intricacies of financial problems appealed to his strongly mathematical mind, and of the advantages afforded him, whilst on the Continent, for an intimate acquaintance with the various systems of his time he was not slow to avail himself. At this period there were several banking companies in Europe, and of these the banks of Venice, Genoa, and Amsterdam were the chief. The first two owe their origin to the financial difficulties of the Venetian and Genoese Republics, and had been in existence since 1157 and 1407 respectively. The Bank of Amsterdam, on the other hand, was of more modern growth, having been established in 1609 in order to minimise the confusion continually arising from the unsteady value of the currency by placing the coinage upon a fixed and more permanent basis. Law, accordingly, utilised his stay in these three cities to gaining an insight into their methods of business. At Venice, we are told, he constantly went to the Rialto at Change time, and no merchant upon commission was more punctual. He observed the course of exchange all the world over; the manner of discounting bills at the bank; the vast usefulness of paper credit; how gladly people parted with their money for paper, and how the profits accrued from this paper to the proprietors. At Amsterdam, where he was