THE OLD HOUSE IX FRANKFORT.
THE ROTHSCHILDS:
THE FINANCIAL RULERS OF
NATIONS
BY
JOHN REEVES
CHICAGO :
A. C. McCLUEG & CO.
1887
All Eights Beserved.
PREFACE.
the following pages prove
fortunate enough to be favourably
received by the public, they will owe
it entirely to their subject-matter.
To this, and not to vigour of language or lucidity
of style, must be attributed whatever interest they
may possess. The Author makes no pretensions to
the character of a practised writer and feels that the
subject is worthy of a more able and experienced
hand ; he therefore ventures to solicit the indul-
gence he so sorely needs for his literary short-
comings, of which no one can feel more conscious
than himself. On the other hand, he boldly and
frankly claims for his work the merit of perfect and
impartial truthfulness ; and, in the words of Mon-
taigne, he conscientiously asserts, with perhaps jus-
tifiable pride : " C'est icy un livre de bonne foy,
lecteur."
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE 1. The value of a name The phenomenal success of
the Rothschilds and their poor beginnings Their reputation
for unstinted benevolence Persecutions to which the Jews
have been subjected The hatred of them still rampant in
some countries The spirit of intolerance dying out in England
What the world owes the Jews Universal pre-eminence
accorded to the works of their great lawyers and prophets
Spinoza Large number of Jews distinguished as musicians
and composers, and likewise as dramatic and operatic artists
Eminence of the Jews as mathematicians and astronomers
The Jews in commerce and finance The Jews as lawyers and
as politicians Charges brought against the Jews Misleading
impressions regarding them Mayer Amschel Rothschild, " the
honest Jew " Unimpeachable lives and characters of the
Rothschilds and other prominent Jewish families The secret
of Jewish success Sir Thomas Gresham Queen Elizabeth
Jewish pride of race.
CHAPTER II.
PAGE 21. Mayer Amschel Rothschild The city of Frank-
fort The Judengasse Condition of the Jews in Frankfort
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II. continued.
during the early part of the Middle Ages First massacre of
the Jews in 1241 Galling restrictions imposed on them
The Judengasse burnt down in 1711 ; rebuilt and widened in
1717 The House of the Red Shield Amschel Moses Bauer
Birth of Mayer Amschel Rothschild in 1743 He is at first
intended for a rabbi Abandons his theological studies and
enters the sen-ice of a banking firm in Hanover Returns to
Frankfort, where he settles permanently Marries Gudula
Schnappe Is known as " the honest Jew" Is appointed Court
Banker to the Landgrave of Hesse The Landgrave's whole
fortune entrusted to his keeping Fanciful stories connected
with this circumstance ; the true account Mayer Amschel
Rothschild conveys specie to the Duke of Wellington in
Spain His death in 1812 Heine's reminiscence of Gudula
Rothschild.
CHAPTER III.
PAGE 56. Respect entertained by the Jews for their
parents Mayer Amschel's five sons The success achieved
by the founder of the firm ; to what greatly due Archives
of the Rothschild family a sealed book to the public at large
First period in the history of the firm Mayer Amschel
and the Danish Government His philanthropy and bene-
volence Second period in the history of the firm Branch
firms established Nathan Mayer acknowledged as the
business head of the family The business in Government
Funds Stock Exchange speculations Amount of the loans
negotiated by the Rothschilds, between 1815 and 1830, for
England, Russia, Austria, France, and Prussia Principal
loans issued by the Rothschilds Honours and decorations
showered on the latter Third period in the history of the
firm A heavy blow dealt to the great banking-houses
CONTENTS. ix
CHAPTER III. continued.
New path struck out by the Rothschilds Effect of political
events on the fortunes of the Rothschilds American War of
Independence The first French Revolution Rise and fall
of Napoleon The French July Revolution Immense landed
estates possessed by the Rothschilds Sugar manufactories
How the Rothschilds accumulated their wealth The two
causes specified by the Chevalier von Gentz The " one
power in Europe."
CHAPTER IV.
PAGE 103. Anselin Mayer von Rothschild Historical
sketch of Frankfort Character of Anselm Mayer Account
of him by a friend His humour and shrewdness Neat
compliment paid by him to Thorwaldsen Anselin Mayer at
Ems His great charity His love of art and flowers Im-
mense amount of business transacted by him Loans under-
taken by him His supremacy on the Frankfort Exchange
His two nephews, Baron William and Baron Carl von Roth-
schild, succeed him in the management of the Frankfort firm.
CHAPTER V.
PAGE 133. The London firm established by Nathan
Mayer Rothschild Great Britain at the beginning of the
present century Its political condition Power of the landed
aristocracy Mr. C. P. Villiers and the Corn Laws Land
held in England on conditions differing from those en which
it is held abroad Evils resulting from the National Debt
Devices employed by the earlier English sovereigns to raise
money Plans adopted for this purpose by Richard L,
Henry III., Edward I., Edward III., Henry VII., Henry VIIL,
Charles I., Charles II., and James II. respectively William III.
and Louis XIV. Principal objection to the financial innova-
x CONTENTS.
CH VPTKR V. continued.
tion introduced by William III. Various expedients adopted]
by him to obtain supplies State of society and of finance at
this period Affairs under Queen Anne Growing influence
of wealth Marlborough Infamous tone of parliamentary
morality The great Hebrew capitalist and speculator,.
Medina The Bank of England Improvement of the
national finances under William Pitt, in 1782 The suspen-
sion of cash payments Disastrous consequences of it What
first impelled Xathan Mayer Rothschild to visit England
His great talent for speculation He speedily becomes the
loading man on the Stock Exchange Maintains a staff of
agents and couriers to insure early intelligence of important
events Organizes a pigeon-post Xews of Napoleon's return
from Elba Xathan Mayer Rothschild sets out for Belgium,
and is present at the Battle of Waterloo Immediately after
the action he hurries from the field, rides to Brussels, and
tln-.ice proceeds to Ostend His difficulty in procuring the
means of crossing over to England He reaches Dover
Without stopping to rest, he posts up to London His
appearance, seemingly broken in health and spirits, on the
Stock Exchange next day, gives rise to the most gloomy
apprehensions, which he might allay but does not The Funds
fall rapidly, but, when the truth is at last known, they go
up again with a bound, and Xathan Mayer Rothschild pockets
nearly a million sterling He marries in 1806 He may be
considered the first to introduce foreign loans into England
Principal loans issued by him He purchases the Almaden
quicksilver mines in Spain The Bank of England no
match for him in finesse He is, however, sometimes out-
witted His adventure with the stockbroker Lucas His
meanness towards the persons in his employ His tactics on
the Stock Exchange His two maxims His disregard of the
CONTENTS. xi
CHAPTER V. continued.
courtesies and amenities of civilized life Description of him
by an anonymous writer Nathan Mayer and the German
Prince Life of anxiety His two mysterious visitors and the
ledger Nathan Mayer and Spohr Nathan Mayer's death at
Frankfort His funeral.
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE 204. Baron Lionel de Rothschild Succeeds Nathan
Mayer in the management of the London firm His great
financial talent ; his prudence His activity in connection
with foreign loans Awkward predicament His political
career His deep interest in the welfare of his co-religionists
Efforts for the removal of Jewish disabilities Sir David
Salomons Baron Lionel elected one of the members for the
City of London Lord John Russell's Bill It is carried in
the House of Commons but rejected by the Peers Baron
Lionel resigns his seat and is re-elected Sir David Salomons
returned as a member for Greenwich Further progress and
conclusion of the struggle Baron Lionel a great sufferer
from rheumatic gout His irritable temper His broad
charity His wife ; her death Marriage of his eldest
daughter Marriage of his youngest daughter ; her death
His London mansion His delight in pictures and flowers
His humour His xmexpected death His two brothers
Character of Baron Mayer Sir Lionel succeeded in the
London firm by his three sons, Nathaniel, Leopold, and
Alfred Their respective characters and pursuits Sir Na-
thaniel raised to the Peerage Conduct of the firm towards
Egypt Scene in St Swithin's Lane Probable future of the
firm.
CHAPTER VII.
PAGE 252. Baron Carl von Rothschild The Naples firm
xii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII. continued.
Change in the political circumstances of Italy Social con-
dition of that country Finances of the Papal States Inde-
scribable peculation and fraud French system of taxation
introduced Expenditure of the Duchy of Parma Expendi-
ture of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Duchy of
Lucca Expenditure of Sardinia Pecuniary difficulties of
the kingdom of the Two Sicilies A Bankers' Syndicate
formed in Paris to oppose the Rothschilds The result
Death of Baron Carl von Rothschild He is succeeded by his
son, Baron Adolf von Rothschild, who, however, soon retires
from the management of the firm.
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE 272. Baron Salomon von Rothschild The Vienna
firm Part played by the Jews in Austria Their pecuniary
assistance eagerly sought They are subjected to a poll-tax,
compelled to wear a distinguishing badge, and obliged to
dwell in a particular quarter of the city Peculations of a
certain Hirschel Mayer Collision between the Jews and the
Vienna students The Jews expelled from the Judenstadt,
but ere long permitted to return The Court-Factor, Samuel
Oppenheimer His house pillaged and his life endangered
Joseph Michael Arnstein, the first Jewish Baron Austrian
Funds at one time an exceedingly favourite investment
Sway exercised by Salomon von Rothschild over the finances
of the Austrian empire Baron Salomon's special stockbroker
An unofficial Stock Exchange The quicksilver mines at
Idria and at Almaden Baron Salomon elected an Honorary
Freeman of Vienna Baron Salomon and the cabman Loans
issued by the Vienna Firm Ferdinand, Nathan, and Salomon
Albert von Rothschild.
CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER. IX.
PAGE 289. Temporary character of the French Govern-
ment since the First Revolution Baron James de Rothschild
His boldness and sagacity in establishing his firm in Paris
Financial condition of France at the period The Russian
campaign and Napoleon's retreat The Restoration Napo-
leon's return from Elba French finances under Louis Phi-
lippe, under the Second Republic, and Second Empire
Enormous fortunes Reason assigned for the stability en-
joyed by the Paris firm Baron James and the Polignac
decrees Ouvrard The fall of M. Thiers brought about
principally by the Rothschild firm The Black Arts in the
Middle Ages and Stock Exchange manoeuvres at the present
day Lamentable want of principle on the part of speculators
Fabrication and circulation of false news Prominent
public men implicated in disreputable stock-jobbing transac-
tions Mr. Walsh, M.P. ; Mr. Cochrane Johnstone, M.P. ;
Count de Guisne, French Ambassador at the Court of St.
James's ; the great Duke of Marlborough Victory achieved
by Baron James over the financial world in Paris Corrupt
state of French society during the reign of Louis Philippe
End of the Rothschild monopoly of French loans Baron
James the " Railway King " of France Construction of the
Northern Railway of France Rivalry between Baron James
and Emile Perreire The Vienna Credit Bank founded by
Baron James Gigantic fraud perpetrated by Carpentier,
Grellet, and others, on the Northern Railway of France
Mode of action adopted by them Services rendered by
Baron James to France recognized and rewarded Slight put
upon him by the Duchesse d'Angouleme How he avenged
it His rough manners His behaviour to Prince Paul of
Wiirtemberg Baron James and the Deputy The Baron
and Jadin the painter The Baron and the three peaches
xiv CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IX. continued.
The Baron and Horace Vernet Baron James's great bene-
ficence His motives frequently misrepresented Ungrateful
return for his noble charity in 1847 Absurd calumnies cir-
culated against him in connection therewith His subscrip-
tion for the wounded and unemployed workmen in 1848
His conduct towards Caussidiere His reported charity at
others' expense Heine's description of him His death
Baron Alphonse de Rothschild His remarkable business
abilities Payment of the French indemnities to Germany
entrusted to him His intense anxiety during the siege of
Paris and the existence of the Commune.
CHAPTER X.
PAGE 360. ROTHSCHILDIANA. Baron Anselm von Roth-
schild loses the ring given him by the Emperor of Austria
It is found by a poor girl How Baron Anselm rewarded
her Anecdote narrated of him by Dr Busch Eugene
Delacroix and Baron James de Rothschild The latter
as an artist's model A kind action How requited by
Baron James Baron James and the porcelain service His
decrepit visitor rejuvenescent The Baron mystified An
excellent comedian Baron Alphonse and the barometer A
millionaire without a sou A porter becomes his surety for
ten francs Attempts to rum the Rothschilds Mr James
H and his speculations Is ultimately ruined Georges
Sand and Baron Rothschild Georges Sand's autograph An
American in England He goes to see the mansion then being
built by Baron Lionel de Rothschild in Piccadilly His inter-
view with an old gentleman How the Rothschilds made
two fortunes His interview with a younger gentleman
Who the old gentleman was, and who was the younger
gentleman.
THE ROTHSCHILDS.
THE HOUSE OF KOTHSCHILD.
CHAPTER I.
ABOUT THE JEWS.
HAT'S in a name ? " asks Shakespeare.
The answer, when the name is such as
Rothschild, is not difficult. There is
a volume of meaning in its mere sound.
It is a name which conjures up in the imagination
visions of untold wealth and unrivalled power,
which appear so startling and amazing as to be
more appropriate to romance than real life. It has
become a household word synonymous with un-
bounded riches, and is as familiar to the ears of the
struggling artizan as to those of the banker or
trader. No name has, indeed, been so prominently
2 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
before the public during the last sixty years or
more, as that of this great financial firm. Its
origin was so shrouded in humble obscurity, and
the rapidity with which it sprang forward to pros-
perity and fame was alike so extraordinary and so
remarkable, that the public gaze has been kept by
a species of fascination upon the movements of the
well-known financiers. From one corner of the
world to the other the success of the Rothschilds
has been the subject of universal wonder and envy.
When we recollect the poor beginnings of this
eminent firm, and contrast them with the exalted
position it now holds, there is good reason to be sur-
prised. History does not record another instance of
such unparalleled success, of such immense fortunes
won in such a short time by sheer force of intellect
rising superior to all adverse circumstances. The
firm startled the world like the flash of a meteor,
but the brilliance of its first successes was soon
eclipsed by its subsequent achievements. The more
one considers the marvellous manner in which
it won its way to fame and fortune, and how it rose
within the short space of ten or fifteen years
from the filthy confines of the Judengasse to take
its station at the foot of a royal throne, the more
ABOUT THE JEWS. 3
incredible the story seems. But facts are stubborn
things. There is no denying the fact that at the
beginning of this century the Rothschild family
was unknown beyond the limits of Frankfort;
neither can it be gainsaid that before Napoleon's
downfall the firm had rendered immense service
both to the Emperor and to the Allied Princes by
its advice and its financial aid. Ere a quarter of a
century had elapsed the firm which had commenced
business in an unpretending shop in the Judengasse
was courted and favoured by all the reigning
families of Europe. From being dealers in old
coins, the founder of the family and his sons rose
by their skill and financial abilities to be the trusted
and valued friends of the governments of every
European nation. And well indeed might they be
trusted, seeing that, in more than one instance, their
aid was indispensable to ward off impending bank-
ruptcy and disaster. Great, however, as is their
fame as skilful financiers, the Rothschilds enjoy a
reputation for liberal and unstinted benevolence
which does them far greater honour.
The rise of the Rothschilds is the more re-
markable seeing that they belong to an outcast and
down-trodden race. No other race has experienced
4 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
such persecution, nor passed through such trials as
have the Jews. From time immemorial they have
been loaded with scorn and contumely, they have
been harassed and fettered by tyrannical laws
and barbarous edicts, but they have always passed
through their tribulations patiently and triumphantly.
Their very name has been a term of reproach to
them, and they have been the common butt for the
sneers and ridicule of their Christian neighbours.
It would be difficult to describe in a few words the
intense hatred which the mere word : " Jew," roused
in the breasts of Christians, but ample proofs of the
bitter animosity between the believers in the old
and the believers in the new dispensation are to be
found in the writings of our poets and historians.
"Thou dog of a Jew" was a term eloquent with
savage hatred and unmeasured contempt. These
feelings were formerly far more rampant than they
are now, but even in these much vaunted days of
liberalism and progress there is a very general in-
clination to cast the words of Shylock in the face of
anyone who by his features or manners excites the
slightest suspicion of a Jewish origin :
" You call me misbeliever, cut-throat, dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine."
ABOUT THE JEWS. 5
That the long-standing hatred of the Christian
for the Jews is not extinguished, has been proved
only too clearly of recent years. In Russia, Turkey,
Poland, Hungary, and elsewhere, the Jews are still,
in the eyes of the populace, an accursed race, to be
despoiled and persecuted without mercy. Those
who cannot compete with them in industry, thrifty
habits, or intelligence, show a painful and deplorable
eagerness to lend themselves to a propaganda of
extermination started often by scheming tricksters,
with the result that many innocent lives are sacri-
ficed to the fury and ignorant passions of brutal
mobs. Especially is it to be regretted that such
lawless proceedings receive a powerful support in
some countries from Court chaplains and others,
who profess but whose professions are belied by
their deeds to act up to a creed in which " charity
that thinketh no evil" holds a distinguished place.
Nothing surely can be more detrimental to true
religion than the sanction given by men of educa-
tion and influence to the perpetration of such bar-
barities. These continual outbreaks are a forcible
proof that even in these enlightened days the spirit
of persecution is but poorly concealed, and that a
spark may at any moment set it ablaze, when the
6 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCUILD.
law would be powerless to control or restrain the
excited passions of the multitude.
In England the spirit of intolerance is, we are
thankful to say, fast dying out. It is our just pride
and boast that our island is the land of liberty, the
refuge to which the persecuted of other lands flock.
No doubt there still is among Englishmen a preju-
dice against the Jews, but bitterness in the feeling
is now less marked than pity. We no longer regard
the language or nationality of those who live in our
midst ; it is the mental qualities and abilities that
awaken our regard and esteem. Here in England
we welcome men of every nation, whether Jew or
Gentile ; here all can and do live in friendly rivalry
without any animosity being excited. The thrifty
and industrious habits of the Jews, combined with
their great intelligence, have long been recognized
and acknowledged here in England, and any attempt
to start a crusade against those who trusting to our
generosity and good nature have settled in our
midst, would at once meet with general and well-
merited disapproval. In no other country do
the Jews enjoy such liberty and privileges as in
England. Abroad they live apart, despised and
shunned by their so-called Christian neighbours, and
ABOUT THE JEWS. 7
harassed in their business and private life by re-
strictions and edicts originating in the envy inspired
by their success. Here they live peacefully and
quietly, enjoying the same privileges and opportu-
nities as the rest of the community ; no hindrances
bar their way to attaining the highest civil or
military honours in the land ; they are looked upon
as a worthy and estimable part of the nation. But
whilst on the one hand they are rapidly aban-
doning their peculiar habits, and are assimilating
themselves to our own mode of living, they still
fondly cling to their ancient religious ceremonials
and doctrines, and assert their claim to a history
that dates back to the genesis of our race and re-
produces the symbolism of their desert wanderings.
Their ceremonies and memories flourish under the
protection which is accorded to them in the same
measure as to all the other numerous sects and
communities that exist in our great metropolis.
No less honour or respect is accorded to the
Jewish creed than to any other ; they are all on
an equal footing, and have to trust to their own
efforts for support. While in religious matters we
practically ignore the existence of the Jews, it
cannot be denied that we, in common with all civili-
8 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
zation, owe them a debt which we are very prone
to forget, for it is certainly to them that we owe
the very bases of our faith, and, were it not for
the books of Moses, Christianity would lose one of
its main supports, and much of its power.
From the Jews we have that short pithy code of
morals embodied in the Ten Commandments, which
are placed in the most prominent parts of our
churches. The Jews have contributed to the ranks
of poets, historians, philosophers, and musical com-
posers a long succession of names that are the
admiration of the whole world. In every department
of science, art, or philosophy, we have representa-
tives of the Jewish nation, who have by their
labours and researches left an indelible impress upon
the pages of history and helped to enlighten and
ennoble the human race. It is from the Bible that
many of our poets and writers have derived their
greatest inspiration ; the Bible is a storehouse full
of the most noble, the grandest ideas, inspiring our
writers to their greatest and most successful efforts.
The Psalms of David, the Book of Job, and the
teachings of Isaiah have never been surpassed, and
still retain their sway over the hearts of millions.
No higher homage to the intelligence and lofty
ABOUT THE JEWS. 9
genius of the Jewish writers could be paid than the
universal pre-eminence accorded to the works of
their great law-givers and prophets. The moral
law of Moses is virtually unaltered ; the principles
are still as sound and true as when first propounded,
and it is only in the details by which their execution
is effected that any change has been made. In the
more ordinary and prosaic spheres of thought the
superior intelligence of the Jews has been equally
conspicuous. The doctrines of Spinoza lie at the
root of the whole of that metaphysical philosophy
which has had an immense influence upon the
opinions and modes of thought of the whole civilized
world, for he may undoubtedly be regarded as the
founder of modern Rationalism. In music and the
acted-drama the children of Israel are far ahead
of all their rivals. The number of Jews who have
distinguished themselves in these two branches of
art is surprisingly large, and includes such famous
masters as Meyerbeer, Mendelssohn, Rubinstein,
Ernst, Moscheles, Benedict, whilst on the stage are
to be found such brilliant performers as Grisi,
Rachel, and Sarah Bernhardt. It would be alto-
gether superfluous to specify those Jews who have
distinguished themselves in literature, science, or
10 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
philosophy; their name is legion. One thing is
certain and unquestionable : to the Jews we owe
our knowledge of the sciences of mathematics and
astronomy. During the Middle Ages, in spite of
the risk they ran and the suspicion they were likely
to incur of being astrologers and necromancers,
they were the only students of mathematics and
astronomy, the mysteries of which they patiently
and unceasingly laboured to solve. In these two
branches they have from the most ancient times
been pre-eminent for their surpassing knowledge,
as these two subjects have always had a great at-
traction for minds in which the powers and habits of
calculation are innate and conspicuous. The earliest
professors of mathematics in our universities were
Jews, and in Germany, notwithstanding the ill-
feeling that exists between the Christian and Jewish
communities, the bulk of the mathematical professors
belong to the Jewish faith. In commerce and
finance the reputation of the Jews for success and
ability is remarkable and world-wide, whilst in
politics we have but to mention such distinguished
names as Gambetta and others, to prove that in
whatever path the Jews enter their talents and
indefatigable energy will invariably enable them to
ABOUT THE JEWS. 11
place themselves in the foremost rank. If any
further proofs of the great intellectual powers of the
Jews are required they will be found in the leaders
of the legal profession. Few will be prepared to
question the learning and acumen of such eminent
lawyers and advocates as Lord Herschell, Sir
George Jessel, Mr Benjamin, and Mr Cohen.
Among the well-known politicians with a promising
career opening out before them we must not over-
look such men as Mr Mocatta, Baron de Worms,
and others.
Of the many charges brought against the Jews,
rapacity was by far the most frequent. It was
a charge that could be brought forward with
very little support, any evidence in refutation
of it being sure to find but scant credit in the
minds of Christian judges imbued with the
strong prejudice everywhere prevalent against the
Jews. It was the universal belief that the Jew
would always exact his pound of flesh from the
poor victim in his clutches. No abatement or
reduction was ever to be expected from the relent-
less, merciless Shylock. Doubtless there was some
reason for these accusations, but it will be some-
what of a surprise to our readers to learn that it was
12 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
to the possession of qualities considered unusual and
unlooked-for in a Jew, honesty and integrity, that
the founder of the Rothschild family owed his
success. From our infancy we have been taught to
regard Jews as above all things sordid, mean, and
selfish, ever grasping and coveting the goods of
others. No impression could be more misleading
or mistaken. The wish was father to the thought,
and ignorant and intolerant Christians seized upon
usury as a weapon with which they could wreak
their vengeance upon inoffensive Jews. Whether
these charges of rapacity brought against the Jews
were often unfounded, or whether the first Roth-
schild was a marvellous exception to the rest of his
co-religionists, we will not argue ; it is sufficient for
us to know that Mayer Amschel Rothschild was
well known in Frankfort for his justice and fairness,
and that even his Christian neighbours agreed in
calling him " the honest Jew." Why honesty should
be so generally regarded as an exceptional trait
in a Jew's character, we cannot say, but that such
is the general opinion few will dare to deny. When
we remember the frugal, abstemious habits of the
Jews, and the careful economy by which they
are distinguished, it should surely not appear sur-
ABOUT THE JEWS. 13
prising or incompatible if they were found to be
not altogether wanting in honesty and love of fair
dealing. The narrow prejudice that formerly existed
against the Jews on the score of their grasping
avarice is not so pronounced now, but still it cannot
be said to have altogether ceased to exist. That
public opinion should have become so much more
lenient and favourable to the Jews is no doubt
greatly owing to the respect and esteem that cannot
be denied even by Christian rivals to the unim-
peachable lives and characters of the Rothschilds,
the Montefiores, and other prominent families.
The history of such well-known firms has done
much to remove the ill-feeling formerly so rife, and
has gone far to prove that Jews when placed on an
equal footing with their Christian fellow-citizens
can and do trade with a fairness and justice not a
whit inferior to those of their business rivals. But,
while this prejudice is nearly extinct in England, it
still burns with undiminished fury on the Continent.
Even when its fury is apparently exhausted and
smouldering away, Court chaplains and others, as
already stated, abuse their position and fan its dying
embers once more to a flame. There is no just
cause for this violent outcry ; it arises more from
14 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
envy and jealousy than from any reasonable and
well-founded grievance. In Germany of late years
there has been a violent agitation or crusade against
the Jews, in which all the charges formerly brought
against them, such as that of sacrificing Christian
children, have been revived, and have found belief
among the ignorant classes. The only objection
for which there is the least show of reason, is that
the Jews everywhere supplant the Christians, and
secure all the best and most lucrative appointments,
whether in commerce or in the learned professions.
But that the Jews do this is surely we think a great
and convincing proof of their superior talents and
abilities, for they would never receive such honour,
in the face of the general ill-will, were it not for
their surpassing and undeniable abilities. In
making this the basis of an unwarrantable agitation
to secure the expulsion of the Jews, the greatest
want of reason and justice is displayed. The
success of the agitation is rendered impossible by
such conduct, which deprives the movement of the
support of all thinking men, who cannot fail to see
that jealousy and envy are the real causes which
excite the animosity of their Christian neighbours
in the nineteenth century. Their bitterest opponent
ABOUT THE JEWS. 15
never thinks of accusing the Jews of gaining their
successes by foul or unfair means. The secret of
their invariable success in life is that they not only
have an innate and remarkable aptitude for business,
but that they at the same time excel their Christian
rivals in frugality and economy. The saying that "A
penny saved is a penny gained " recommends itself
strongly to their minds, and they fully appreciate
the wisdom of Fielding's remark, that " Men do not
become rich by what they get, but by what they
keep." Now thrift is a quality which we have
always heard described in terms of praise and
approbation, so that to persecute the Jews simply
because they are industrious and thrifty is certainly
a novel, but hardly a commendable doctrine.
Jealousy is however proverbially blind, and will
seize on any pretext, however weak, as an excuse
for its mad and unjustifiable proceedings. The
Jews are thrifty, the Christians luxurious ; conse-
quently success must always rest more with the
former than with the latter. The great cry now
against the Jews is not so much that they are
rapacious, as that they undersell or do business
cheaper than others, and thus gradually get the
bulk of whatever business there is into their hands.
]6 TUE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
But in these days of free trade, when competition is
the soul of business, it would strike most persons on
considering the matter that the greatest gainers
must be the public at large. Christians are always
at liberty to do business on the same terms as their
Hebrew rivals, but they find themselves unable to
maintain the struggle, for their luxurious habits are
against them, and they see themselves practically
handicapped out of the contest. The remedy however
is in their own hands ; let them adopt the thrifty,
economical habits of their rivals, and they will soon
cease to have any grievances on the score of under-
selling. Jews, we do not deny, like to make the
best bargains they can, and are apt to be 'cute and
sharp in their dealings, but in this they are by no
means singular. Their Christian competitors, if
we mistake not, are not so disinterested in their
dealings as to be ready and willing to abandon a
large profit for a smaller one. Sharp practices are
common to both parties. The great Sir Thomas
Gresham in many of his business transactions dis-
played great financial skill and a careful solicitude
to secure an ample return for the accommodation
he was pleased to place at the disposal of his clients.
Had he been a Jew the large percentage of profits
ABOUT THE JEWS. 17
he made on many of his transactions would have
called forth severe denunciation and many hard
words. Our gracious lady, Queen Elizabeth, a
perfect mistress of the art of diplomacy, but above
all things a woman of the world, proved herself
remarkably sharp in her money matters. She forced
the loyal City companies to advance her large sums,
and, finding she had more money than she required,
very graciously returned the surplus, but with the
condition that she was to be paid interest on the
amount so restored to its owners. Taken as a body,
the Jews will be found as honest and open in their
dealings as others, and in any case it is a matter of
history that the Rothschild family is largely in-
debted for its present unexampled prosperity to the
honesty of its founder. It cannot, however, be
denied that his successors, in their anxiety to aug-
ment the fortune bequeathed them, did not hesitate
to employ those expedients in common use on the
Stock Exchange, which are not free from objection,
but which they in common with other speculators
were at perfect liberty to adopt. Playing their
cards with greater skill than their opponents, the
Rothschilds were invariably successful in their
speculations, and it was only after their defeat that
18 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the losers began to doubt and question the morality
of their rivals' manoeuvres. Those who engage in
such contests should count the risks beforehand,
and should remember that the laugh is with him
that wins.
We have now said enough to prove what great
intellectual gifts the Jews as a race possess, and
how well qualified they are to become successful in
whatever walk of life they may enter. There is,
however, one question which cannot fail to suggest
itself: How is it that with their acknowledged
abilities, with their remarkable industry and thrift
leading them to the acquisition of splendid fortunes
and fame in their careers ; how is it that the Jews
still remain an outcast and an alien race amongst
the civilized nations of the earth? The answer is
short and simple, being contained in the few
words pride of race. Amidst all the sufferings
and trials through which they have passed, despite
the universal contumely and disdain heaped upon
them, careless of and undismayed by the jeers
and derision hurled at them, the Jews have clung
steadfastly to the belief and conviction that they are
the chosen people, that in the distant future their pro-
mised supremacy will be achieved and recognized.
ABOUT THE JEWS. 19
" A people still, whose common ties are gone,
Who, mix'd with every race, are lost in none ;
A part there are, whom, doubtless, man might trust,
Worthy as wealthy, pure, religious, just ;
They who with patience, yet with rapture, look
On the strong promise of the Sacred Book."
This faith has made them hold themselves apart ;
they have neither adopted the religious teachings,
yielded to the national spirit, nor mingled their
lives with those among whom they live. They
have no foothold in the countries in which they
have settled, but are indeed strangers in the land.
To be let alone and allowed to pursue the even
tenour of their way is all they desire, but even this
is a concession not readily granted them in many
countries. Though for centuries they have had to
endure the opprobrium and hatred of those in power,
they have never tried to resent their wrongs, but
have borne them with patient and silent resignation.
An outcast race, they still maintain their proud
reserve, and never solicit aid from any but co-
religionists, which is certainly more than can be
said of the Christian community whose benevolent
institutions receive handsome and liberal support
from Jewish philanthropists. The isolation in
which they live not unnaturally gave rise to feelings
20 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
of suspicion and distrust, which were intensified by
the envy inspired by their enormous wealth and
extraordinary success. The rough intellect that
found itself unable to cope with the subtle Hebrew
mind lent a ready belief to every wild rumour of
sorcery and supernatural agency. The results have
been seen in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere, where
raids on Jewish households have been frequent,
ending in many cases in cruelty, spoliation, and
bloodshed. In England a better feeling prevails ;
the barriers that separate the Jews from their
neighbours are rapidly falling away, and the Jews
are steadily amalgamating with their fellow citizens,
/-. as is proved by the ever increasing number of mixed
marriages that are made. Besides this there is a
feeling among Jews that England is their home,
that here their nature and qualities are best appre-
ciated, as it was here that they received the full
benefits of citizenship.
CHAPTER II.
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD.
THE FRANKFORT FIRM.
T was in the Jewish quarter of Frankfort
that the founder of the great financial
firm first saw the light. Goethe, who
also owned Frankfort as his birthplace,
has left us a graphic description of the imperial city,
which he states was composed of " town within
town, fortress within fortress." Not the least in-
teresting portion of his description is that of the
Jewish quarter, enclosed within the ramparts, but
yet shut off from the rest of the city by heavy gates
and high walls. It was a quarter frequented by few
Christians. The houses, huddled close together, were
packed from floor to roof with human beings living
in a state of squalor and dirt baffling description,
while the air was polluted with smells so vile and
strong as to drive back all but those whose olfactory
22 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
nerves had become deadened by long residence or
familiarity with the noisome atmosphere. Goethe
narrates how he would sometimes peep through the
heavy gates and steal a glance at the strange scenes
passing in that narrow lane, and goes on to describe
what a shudder the sight caused him when he
remembered the tales then current of the horrible
cruelty and treachery of the Jews. At that time
there was a general belief that human sacrifices
were offered in the synagogues. Charges were
often laid against the Jews of having kidnapped
Christian children, who were never seen alive again.
Through the midst of this home of the world's
outcasts ran the Judengasse, a narrow, dirty lane,
lined with dilapidated houses, crowded with dusky,
repulsive looking Jews, who would wrangle, argue,
and bargain with each other in tones so harsh and
discordant that a stranger might well hesitate to
venture among them. When, at last, Goethe did
pass through the gates, and came into contact with
them, their servile cunning, obsequious entreaties,
and the filthy state of their persons, combined with
the pestilential smells everywhere prevalent, so filled
him with disgust that he determined never to visit
them again. Years later he was led to considerably
MAYER AMSOHEL ROTHSCHILD. 23
modify his opinion regarding these descendants of
Israel, and he frankly acknowledged that on closer
intimacy he found among them many men of quick
intelligence and honourable principles, ready at all
times to give him a hearty welcome. " Everywhere
I went I was well received, pleasantly entertained,
and invited to come again/' He witnessed many
of their ceremonies, visited their schools, and con-
fessed to having been very fond of walking with
the dark-eyed, merry-tongued Jewesses to the
Fischerfelder on Sundays.
A writer in a recent number of the " Journal des
Debats," gave the following interesting particulars
respecting the Judengasse and its inmates :
" No trace," said he, " will shortly be left of the
houses in which Borne, the German writer, and
Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the founder of his
family's fortunes, first saw the light. Since 1872,
only a single row of houses has been left, as one
side of the street has been pulled down after the
fall of two houses, when thirty-one persons were
buried in the ruins. Looking at the Judengasse
in its present aspect one is struck by the narrowness
of the houses. They have three storeys facing the
street, and the whole of the fa9ade is studded with
24 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
small windows. The gables are pointed, and access
is gained to the houses by three or four steps.
The doors open into a dark passage, at the other
end of which is a worm-eaten wooden staircase,
the boards of which bend as one puts one's foot
upon them. The rooms are small and low-pitched.
They are inhabited by a few of the poorest and most
squalid families, Jew and Christian alike. The
room upon the ground floor is used as a shop by
dealers in old clothes, shoemakers and tinkers.
Several of the wealthiest merchants in Germany at
the present time may regard these hovels as the
home of their ancestors, who are now replaced by
the poor wretches just mentioned. There is little
that is picturesque about the Judengasse, and those
who have had their curiosity whetted by the
descriptions in 'Baedeker/ will see nothing com-
parable to what one comes across in Italian
ghettos. More curious than the Judengasse is a
tavern hard by, where the Jewish beggars meet at
nightfall. This tavern, kept by a man named Levy,
consists of one long room, the walls of which are
painted yellow. Little drink is consumed in this
room, but the customers take their meals there and
play cards. Round a circular table a cosmopolitan
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 25
company, consisting of Jews from Poland, where
the caftan and the long curls are still worn, as well
as from Paris and Berlin, may be seen conversing
in low tones, and, upon the evening when the writer
paid a visit to the place in the company of a
detective, several women were there knitting, one
of them being one of the handsomest persons he
had ever seen, with magnificent eyes, a white skin,
and jet black hair encircled by a kerchief of red
wool.
" But, though the Judengasse is not picturesque,
its disappearance removes a most interesting his-
torical monument. These decrepit houses revive
recollections of another age. The land on which
they are built, with the exception of the site owned
by the Rothschilds, and on which their house stands,
belongs to the town of Frankfort. The Jews con-
fined within their ghetto were not the owners of the
soil, being merely tenants at the good will of the
Council of the Free City. The Judengasse does
not indeed date from earlier than the middle of the
fifteenth century, and the walls of the quarter were
destroyed by Kleber's army in 1796. During the
first part of the Middle Ages the condition of the
Jews was comparatively easy. They were the serfs
26 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
of the Imperial Chamber, and the Emperor, in return
for a fixed tribute, accorded them his protection,
and was all the more interested in guarding them
from ill-usage as he was anxious to preserve for him-
self the privilege of taxing them. There is no
precise evidence as to when the Israelites came to
settle in Frankfort, their presence being officially
referred to for the first time in 1240. The first
massacre of the Jews took place in 1241, when
180 of them perished. A hundred years of com-
parative peace ensued, though their relations with
the Christians gradually became more strained, their
wealth and their mode of life and religion inflaming
the superstition, the fanaticism, and the cupidity
of the lower orders.
" The worst phase of persecution commenced in
1349, the year of the Black Plague. The country
round Frankfort was scoured by bands of Flagel-
lants, who went about declaring that the Jews ought
to be put to death for having poisoned the wells.
When the inhabitants seemed deaf to their appeals,
the Flagellants set several houses on fire, and then
spread through the streets exclaiming, 'The Jews are
burning your houses ! ' The stratagem succeeded,
and there was a general massacre. In the same
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 27
year the Emperor, Charles IV., had mortgaged his
Jews to the town of Frankfort for a sum of about
80,000. This sum was never repaid, and the Jews
came under the immediate jurisdiction of the Council.
This rendered their position much worse, for the
Emperor had allowed them to manage affairs much
in their own way, and to choose their own judges.
They preserved, nevertheless, a certain degree of
autonomy, and for some time the only thing which
distinguished them from the ordinary citizen was
that they had no political rights. Their existence
was, however, precarious, and their fortunes often
threatened. Thus in 1389 the Emperor Wenzel
suppressed by one stroke of the pen the obligation
to pay what was due to them, and now and again
during a riot numbers of the account books in which
they inscribed the sums owing to them were burnt-
There was about this time a Jews' street at Frank-
fort, but it was not inhabited exclusively by Jews,
for many of the best Christian families lived in it.
Thus the Burgomaster resided there from 1364 to
1375. Still as their synagogue, their baths, and
their assembly room for dancing were in this street,
most of the Jews lived near it. But, as it was close
to the cathedral, their enemies declared that their
28 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
cries and blasphemies disturbed the Catholic wor-
shippers. Public feeling became more and more
hostile to them, and in 1425 they were prohibited,
under a heavy penalty, from taking the name of
burgher. The most cruel blow, however, was yet
to come. Frederick III., in compliance with the
prayer of the clergy, ordered the Jews to remove
from the neighbourhood of the cathedral, and, though
they offered to wall up the gate of the street leading
to that edifice, their offer was refused. The Council
selected a site outside the ancient walls of the town,
and had houses built at the expense of the Jews.
It is thus that the Council owns the ground on which
the Judengasse stands. The gates of the ghetto,
which were very strong and lined with iron, were
kept closed every Sunday and saint's day, as also
upon the days when the Emperor entered the city.
The Jews were enjoined not to show themselves in
public, nor to pass by any church. If business
brought them to the Town Hall, they were not
allowed to enter by the main door but by a small
door from behind. The men were compelled to
wear a yellow patch about the size of a crown piece
upon their garments, and the women blue stripes to
their veils. They were also enjoined to make room
MAYER AMSCUEL ROTHSCHILD. 29
for other citizens on the pavement, and not to touch
any of the articles in the market. They were not
allowed to buy fish before a certain hour of the day,
nor to hire Christians as servants. The Council
consented to dispense with their wearing the dis-
tinguishing cap on payment of a fine of 250 florins,
but they were compelled to have either a black or
a grey hat. They were forbidden to lend money to
minors or to women, to sell new clothes, or to lend
upon clothes which were wet or stained with blood.
" These minute regulations, together with many
more of a similar nature, were read out every year
in the synagogue. The Jews, in short, must have
paid very dearly for the privilege of living in
Frankfort ; the number of marriages between them
was even limited, for there could be only a fixed
number of houses, the different couples having to
wait their turn. Strange Jews were not allowed in
Frankfort, and yet that city must have offered them
comparative security, for the Jewish community of
Nuremberg sought refuge there in 1498. Protected
by their walls, the Jews of Frankfort escaped pillage
during the revolt of 1525, but the democratic revo-
lution of 1614 drove them out of the city, and they
did not return for two years. When order, however,
30 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCUILD.
was restored they came back, and, so as to make it
quite clear that they were under the protection of
the Empire, the Imperial coat of arms was displayed
above the gate of their street. In 1711 the whole
street was burnt down, but the Jews were so afraid
of pillage that they would not open their doors, and
many perished. The Judengasse was rebuilt in
1717 and made rather wider. While the work of
reconstruction was progressing the Jews were
allowed to lodge in the town, the poorest being
accommodated in an empty hospital. There were two
other fires in the Judengasse during the eighteenth
century, and the shells from Kleber's guns in 1796
set fire to 150 houses. The wealthiest of the
Israelites availed themselves of this opportunity to
settle in the town, and they were not again molested.
The gates were demolished in 1808, and many restric-
tions were removed. The Prince Primate granted
the Jews, in 1811, equal civil and political rights
with those enjoyed by the other inhabitants, but they
lost these again in 1815, and did not recover them
until 1853 and 1864. In 1811 there were 159 houses,
inhabited by 2,214 persons, in the Judengasse, while
at the present time the Jews number 14,000, or
eleven per cent, of the whole population."
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 31
Here, then, in the Judengasse, in the house
numbered 152, but better known as the House of
the Red Shield (Rothschild) afterwards adopted
as a surname, lived Amschel Moses Rothschild,
earning a livelihood as a dealer in curiosities and
old coins. In the course of his business he was in
the habit of travelling about the country, hawking
his wares and keeping his eyes open in search of
curiosities, and an anecdote is related of him tending
to show on what a thread the destiny of the family
at one time hung. In reproducing this anecdote, we
wish it to be understood that we do not attach any
value to it ourselves, our object only being to make
the narrative as complete as possible. Many of the
stories related of the Rothschilds are pure myths,
for lively imaginations have placed a halo of romance
about their history, as about that of every other
person of notoriety, so that implicit credit cannot
always be attached to the anecdotes told of the
different members of the firm. The story in ques-
tion is to the effect that Rothschild was one day
walking along a country road, when he was over-
taken by a brother pedlar in more flourishing
circumstances than he himself, seeing that he had
an ass to carry his wares. In the course of con-
32 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
versation, Rothschild was invited to relieve himself
of his load by placing it on the ass's back : an offer
he was glad to accept. On coming to a narrow
ravine where the bridge across was formed by a
single plank, Rothschild prudently removed his
sack from the ass's back to his own shoulders,
remarking as he did so : " Accidents sometimes
happen at places like this, and, as this sack contains
all my fortune, it is well to be on the safe side."
His comrade laughed at his fears, but Rothschild's
prudence was fully justified by events, for no sooner
had the ass, followed by his master, reached the
middle of the bridge than the plank gave way, and
both were precipitated down the chasm. Thus by a
miracle Rothschild saved both his life and his money.
We have already mentioned that the number of
Jews allowed to marry was limited, but Rothschild
having gained permission availed himself of his
privilege and took unto himself a wife, who, in 1 743,
gave birth to a son whom they named Mayer
Amschel. When the boy grew up and his parents
had to decide as to his future in life, they resolved
to have him educated with a view to his becoming
a rabbi, or teacher in the synagogue. This resolu-
tion was not unnatural, seeing that several of the
MAIER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD,
MATER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 33
family had been or were then celebrated for their
knowledge of the Talmud and the doctrines of the
Jewish faith. Dr Lewysohn states that in the
Jewish cemetery at Worms is buried RabbiMenachem
Mendel Rothschild, who had been the chief rabbi to
the congregation there. Isaac Rothschild was
warden of the Frankfort synagogue, Solomon
Rothschild was chief rabbi of Wiirzburg and
Friedburg, and Boaz Rothschild was the author of
a Hebrew work published at Fiirth in 1766. Mayer
Amschel, in 1755, lost his parents and was sent by
his relatives to Fiirth to complete his studies.
Theology was, however, not to his taste. He had
been born and bred in the midst of a community
whose whole thought centred upon getting and
accumulating money. He had early learnt to see in
wealth the only true standard by which one could
judge his fellow, and he not unnaturally shared the
ambition that fired his comrades to acquire riches
and a consequent name among his co-religionists.
His instinct for business was too powerful to resist.
Even while at college he had become well-known
as a collector and dealer in old coins on a small
scale, and in this way had made the acquaintance
of several numismatists in the neighbourhood.
D
34 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
This is surprising when we remember that he could
not have been much more than twelve years old at
the time, but with Jews the talent for business is
innate, and their natural shrewdness and skill in
making bargains more than compensate them for
their youth and inexperience. Notwithstanding
the limited resources at his disposal, Mayer Amschel
seems to have pursued his youthful speculations
with considerable energy and profit.
At length, rightly judging that he was better
fitted for commercial than theological pursuits, he
abandoned his studies altogether and returned to
the Judengasse, where his abilities and shrewdness
soon became known among his co-religionists. His
reputation reaching the ears of some of the large
firms, several offers of employment were made him,
and not being one of " those who are content to
spend their lives trotting on a cabbage leaf/' as the
proverb says, when a wider field of enterprise was
thrown open to him, he accepted the offer of a
banking firm named Oppenheim in Hanover. In
their service he remained several years, gaining
and maintaining a high character for steadiness and
reliability, while his energy and abilities were
recognized by his gradual promotion to the respon-
MAYER AMSOHEL ROTHSCHILD. 35
sible post of co-manager. Frugal and economical
in his habits, he was able to save a considerable
portion of his salary, until he thought he possessed
sufficient capital to make a start on his own account.
He therefore left Oppenheim's service and set up
in business for himself, dealing in old coins, bullion,
and anything by which he thought he could make
a profit. For some time it was a hard, uphill fight,
and more than once the budding firm was in danger
of collapse, but the untiring energy and honesty of
its founder, triumphing over all difficulties, placed
it on a sound basis and secured its future safety.
Some years later he determined to transfer his
business to his birthplace, where he settled for
good, as in 1770 he married Gudula Schnappe, and
lived in his father's house in the Judengasse. His
business was at the outset of a very mixed descrip-
tion, ranging from coins and curiosities, to bullion,
bills of exchange, &c., but as his speculations,
distinguished by cautious boldness, were almost
invariably successful, he was soon in a position to
abandon the business of a dealer in works of art for
that of a banker and financier. One of his earliest
investments was to purchase the freehold of the
house in the Judengasse, which has given birth to
36 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
one of the greatest financial houses in the world.
In all his business transactions he displayed re-
markable honesty and integrity; so widely did he
become known as the " honest Jew " that his
reputation spread through the surrounding pro-
vinces, and was largely the means of securing him
fresh business. A man of his character has never
lacked friends, and Mayer Amschel found many
persons ready and anxious to recommend him and
gain him new clients. Oppenheim, his old em-
ployer, was especially zealous in promoting the
success of his former employe, and never allowed
an opportunity to slip of saying a word in his
favour.
During his apprenticeship at Oppenheim's Mayer
Amschel had more than once come into contact
with Lieutenant-General Baron von Estorff, an
intimate friend of William IX., Landgrave of Hesse,
and had won his good opinion and esteem. When
years later Baron Estorff, who, from his own know-
ledge and Oppenheim's accounts, was able to form an
estimate of Rothschild's worth, had an opportunity
of advancing his fortunes, he did not hesitate to
recommend him to the Landgrave as a person well
qualified to act as his financial agent. Seeing that
MAYER AMSCREL ROTHSCHILD. 37
the Landgrave had a private fortune of thirty-six
million thalers, it was indeed a most lucrative post
to obtain. Rothschild received a summons to wait
upon the Landgrave. When he was ushered into
the room, he discovered his Highness deep in a
game of chess with Baron Estorff, who seemed to
be getting the best of the struggle. Not caring to
disturb the Landgrave's calculations, which absorbed
his attention so entirely that he had not noticed
his visitor's entrance, Rothschild stood by, a silent
spectator of the game. At last the Landgrave, in
his perplexity and despair, threw himself back in
his chair, and in so doing caught sight of the
banker. He at once inquired of his visitor :
" Do you know anything of chess ? "
Rothschild's answer was to point to a particular
piece, saying
" Would your Highness move this piece to that
square ? "
The move he suggested was adopted, and at
once put a different complexion on matters. So
far from the game being lost to the Landgrave, it
slowly turned in his favour, and was eventually
won by him. He then conversed with Rothschild on
the subject of the latter's visit. He was so highly
38 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
impressed by his visitor's intelligence and address
that he told Baron Estorff, after the banker's de-
parture, that he had " certainly recommended him
no fool/' The result of the interview was that
Mayer Amschel Rothschild was appointed Court-
Banker to the Landgrave of Hesse.
In 1804, Rothschild contracted with the Danish
government for the issue of a loan of four million
thalers : a sign of his growing influence and pros-
perity. At that time all Europe was in arms
against Napoleon, who defeated and overran king-
dom after kingdom. In 1806, the Emperor sent
a portion of his army to chastise Frankfort and
Hesse- Cassel for the support they had given to the
cause of the Allies. The truth was that the Land-
grave, having a keen eye for business, had found
he could largely augment his already handsome
fortune by placing his troops at the -disposal of the
Prussian and English governments, receiving in
return large subsidies. This conduct reached the
ears of the " child of fortune," who determined to
administer a severe punishment to the Landgrave,
by plundering and sacking Hesse- Cassel. The
approach of the French becoming known, the
Landgrave concluded that under the circumstances
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 39
discretion was the better part of valour. He there-
fore made hasty preparations for flight. But,
although he would by flight secure the safety of
his person, he could not render his money safe, for
that he was forced to leave behind. Consisting
as it did largely of specie, its mere bulk was a
hindrance to its removal, and yet to leave it where
it was would be but making a present of it to the
French. In his dilemma he recollected Eoth-
schild, and, thinking the banker might be able to
take charge of his money, he had it packed and
sent to Frankfort.
" Mayer/* said the Landgrave, " I have already
had some experience of your honesty and integrity,
and have now to put it to further proof. I wish to
deposit with you my whole fortune; to your care
I leave it, to be returned to me in more peaceful
and happier times."
" Such a signal mark of your confidence and
esteem flatters and honours me, your Highness;
but do you not forget that the French will be here
in a few days ? "
" Do you think so ? "
" And that in their train there always follows a
band of lawless ruffians, who will fall upon us and
40 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
plunder us without mercy. It will be a time of
unrestrained pillage, as your Highness must know
full well."
" Ah, well, Mayer, I leave my fortune to your
care, and you will act as you think best. I ask no
receipt from you, knowing that in your hands the
money will be safe, if you can but keep the French
from handling it."
With these words the Landgrave left, paying no
heed to Rothschild's protestations, on finding him-
self thus suddenly and unexpectedly saddled with
the responsibility and anxiety attaching to the
custody of so large a sum. Before the week
passed all his prophecies were fulfilled. Frankfort
was in the hands of the French, who gave them-
selves up to plunder and wanton destruction.
Rothschild, being a man of well-known wealth,
was one of the first visited, and had to endure
calmly and unmoved the sight of his premises
being sacked and stripped of everything of value.
He had, however, good reason for his calmness.
By thus quietly allowing the French to seize his
own property, of no small value, he prevented
n more thorough search of his premises being
made, and so secured the safety of the Land-
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 41
grave's money, which he had artfully concealed
in wine casks in his cellars, or had buried in his
garden.
This was the turning-point in Rothschild's career.
It was the tide in his affairs, taken at the flood,
and leading on to his future prosperity and fortune.
Had the founder of the Rothschild family refused
to undertake the trust confided to him, the course
of European history might have been altered, and
some of the most remarkable characters of the
nineteenth century have remained unknown to
fame. The trust was, however, faithfully kept,
and Rothschild, after the French had once more
left the city, started business afresh, and made
such good use of the Landgrave's thalers that in a
few years he was reputed to be richer than ever.
He seems to have transmitted the whole of the
money to his son Nathan, who was established in
business in London. This son was already a well-
known man in the English capital, where the
astounding skill and boldness of his speculations
had taken the City by surprise. He thus referred
to the fortune left in his father's hands :
" The Prince of Hesse-Cassel gave my father his
money; there was no time to lose, so he (my
42 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
father) sent it me, and I put it to such good use
that the Prince made me a present of all his wine
and linen/'
A. period of respite followed, during which most
of the German rulers gave in, either willingly or
from necessity, their allegiance to Napoleon. Being
raised by the Emperor to the dignity of Elector of
Hesse-Cassell, William IX. was enabled to return
from his exile. One of the first persons he visited
was, not unnaturally, Rothschild. He was aware,
from the papers and other sources, of the pillage of
Frankfort, and knew that the house of the Jew-
banker had not escaped a visit. It had been re-
ported to him, with every show of truth, that
Rothschild had been robbed of all he possessed, and
was completely ruined. Not knowing anything of
the stratagem by which his fortune had been saved,
the Elector concluded that his thalers had gone to
fill the pockets of the French soldiery ; but he still
resolved to visit his old agent, if merely to show
that his regard and esteem for the latter had
suffered no change.
"Good day, Mayer, good day," said he, ex-
tending his hand ; " at last we have peace again,
though rather dearly bought. You see before
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 43
you a poor devil of a prince as badly off as Job
was."
" You poor, my lord ! "
" Yes, to be sure, since those cursed thieves have
run off with my thalers as well as yours. If it is not
inconvenient to you, I should be glad to get some
small advance from you against the indemnity that
is to be made me."
" But your Highness has no need to borrow.
The money your Highness entrusted to my keeping
is safe and untouched."
" Teufel f" cried the Prince; "why, did not the
French plunder your premises ? "
"Pardon me, and I will explain. The French
stripped me of everything belonging to myself, but
I was careful not to irritate them by any violent
resistance, else they might have made a more care-
ful search in my cellar, where your money was
hidden."
"What! can it be "
"Yes, my resignation was a ruse; they little
dreamt how great a prize they missed."
"Is it possible!" exclaimed the Prince, almost
dumb with surprise.
" For the last nine years, your Highness, I have
44 THE HOUSE OF POTHSCHILD.
taken the liberty of making use of your thalers to
compensate myself for the loss of mine. All my
speculations have been successful, aiid I can at this
moment, without inconvenience, restore the whole
sum to you, with interest at five per cent."
The Prince was deeply moved, and with difficulty
could express his gratitude and his admiration of
Rothschild's noble conduct.
" Friend Mayer/' said he, " you are the most
honest Jew I know ; keep my money, and do what
you think fit with it. I want no interest on it for
the time it has been in your custody, and for the
next twenty years I undertake to leave it with you,
and to receive no interest on it above two per
cent."
This is the account given by some writers who,
dazzled by the immense riches and power of the
Rothschilds, were unable to ascribe those riches
and that power to ordinary business transactions,
and so have gone out out of their way to invent a
romance for which they have no better authority
than their imaginations. This story is derived from
the " Spriichworter der Deutschen," and to show
how little dependence can be placed upon its truth-
fulness, we need only mention that it is related
MATER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 45
about a " Moses :> Rothschild of Frankfort, of whom
no one has ever heard, as there was no Rothschild of
that name living. Further, the Landgrave fled from
Cassel at the first approach of the French, and
could not have gone to Frankfort, as that city was
already in the possession of the enemy. Neither
could the money have been buried in the gai'den,
as no gardens existed in the Judengasse, and the
Jews were forbidden by law from owning any free-
hold property in any other part of the city. The
true unvarnished story seems to have been the
following :
Some writers maintain that Rothschild's connec-
tion with the Court of Hesse Cassel commenced
during the lifetime of the Landgrave Frederick II.,
who died in 1785, leaving an immense fortune of
fifty-six million thalers. This he had acquired by
means of his poor subjects, whom, for handsome
subsidies, he had placed at the disposal of the
English Government. In 1775 he raised a levy of
12,800 Hessian troops, who were shipped off to
quell the rising of the American colonists, and
further detachments, amounting to about 4,000
more, were sent at intervals. For the services of
these men he received from England twenty-two
46 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
million thalers. On his death he was succeeded
by his son, William IX., a warlike prince, who had
seen some service under Frederick the Great. He
followed his father's plan, and increased, by large
subsidies from the English Government, the vast
fortune left him.
In 1787 he was paid six hundred thousand
thalers for the services of 12,000 men, and in 1794
he furnished the English with 4,000 more, who were
employed in Spain against France. When the
French invaded Germany the petty German princes
were unable to offer any opposition to their ad-
vance ; they all fled before the soldiers of the
Republic. The Landgrave in the first place went
to his brother in Schleswig, but afterwards, in 1808,
proceeded to Prague, where he met with a some-
what unpleasant surprise in the shape of an Imperial
decree which stated that " the House of Hesse
Cassel has for some years past sold its subjects to
the English crown, and by that means has amassed
a large fortune. This detestable avarice has brought
about its own punishment, as the house has ceased
to reign/' When the treaty of Tilsit was con-
cluded Hesse Cassel was incorporated with the
Kingdom of Westphalia.
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 47
Whether M. A. Rothschild was appointed Court
Jew by Frederick II., as some assert, or first
became connected with the Court owing to some
dealings he had with William IX., an ardent lover
of old and rare coins, and whether his honesty
and integrity had won the Landgrave's favour, is
shrouded in doubt. It is certain, however, that
when William IX. became Landgrave M. A. Roth-
schild was the " Court Jew," and managed all the
Landgrave's financial affairs. The bulk of the
Landgrave's fortune, there is every reason to sup-
pose, was invested in the English Funds, as being
the only safe and reliable investment, and it was
Rothschild's duty to collect the dividends as they
became due by drawing upon the firm of Van
Notten in London, in whose hands the stocks were
deposited. The commission he charged for this
business must of itself have amounted to a large sum.
That the Landgrave was satisfied with the way in
which Rothschild managed his affairs may be inferred
from the fact that he gave Rothschild's third son,
Nathan, when he established himself in London,
full power to deal with his stocks as he deemed
best, and transferred to him all the business which
the Van Notten firm had formerly conducted. His
48 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
confidence must have been great, as Nathan Roth-
schild was allowed perfect liberty of action, and
could sell out and re-invest the stocks confided to
him as he pleased. When William IX. fled from
Cassel, his first great care was to provide for the
safe custody of his money, and this we know M. A.
Rothschild undertook to do. What was the exact
sum entrusted to him on this occasion we cannot
say with any certainty, though it is stated by some
writers to have amounted to two million thalers.
Now, instead of hiding or burying the money, as
some have asserted, it would surely be more charac-
teristic of such a shrewd man of business as Roth-
schild to have transmitted this sum to London to be
disposed of as Nathan Rothschild thought fit. To
conceal so large an amount from the French would
be next to impossible, and, besides, it would have
been madness for M. A. Rothschild to have kept the
money himself, when its safety could have been
secured by sending it to London ; and that he did
send it we have his son's word. The romantic
version, therefore, seems to have very little truth
in it, with the exception of the main point that
the fortune of the Landgrave was the original cause
of the subsequent success of the Rothschilds. The
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 49
commission gained by the London and Frankfort
houses every year for managing the Landgrave's
affairs must have been considerable, and would of
itself have formed a sufficiently strong base for the
many successful speculations which the Eothschilds
entered into in the money market. Under these
circumstances, they may not have speculated for
their own benefit with the Landgrave's money at
all, and were therefore able to restore it to its
owner whenever he thought fit to claim it back.
During the war in Spain the Duke of Wellington
experienced great annoyance and embarrassment
from the failure of the specie supplies, and the
English Government were unable to assist him in
his difficulty, as they could induce no bankers to
assume the responsibility of conveying the money to
Spain. At this juncture M. A. Rothschild stepped
forward and offered to undertake the task for a
pretty heavy commission. His offer was accepted,
fortune smiled on his enterprise, and the money
reached the Duke safely. This was a most pro-
fitable piece of business, as Rothschild is said to
have cleared annually for eight years a sum of
about 150,000. The success of this operation, and
the punctuality which distinguished its execution,
50 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
induced the Government to entrust the Rothschilds
with the payment of the enormous subsidies to the
various Continental princes, and this, again, still
further increased the growing reputation and in-
fluence of the firm.
Thus it was that the Rothschilds made their first
millions, and few can say they have gained their
fortunes in an equally honourable and praiseworthy
manner. When once the first million had been
made, it was a comparatively easy task to add
others. Water always flows to the sea, or, in other
words, money makes money. But streams in their
progress to the ocean become discoloured by the
muddy waters of affluent streams, and so with the
Rothschilds' millions. The first were gained by
the fairest of means, but some of those that suc-
ceeded were undoubtedly won by recourse to those
expedients and artifices, common on the Stock
Exchange, which are open to serious moral objec-
tions.
Mayer Amschel Rothschild died on the 13th
September, 1812, in his sixty-seventh year. Just
before his decease he summoned his five sons to his
bedside, and with his last breath, after giving them
his blessing, enjoined them to remain faithful to
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 51
the law of Moses, to remain united until the end,
and to undertake nothing without having first con-
sulted their mother. " Observe these three points
and you will soon be rich among the richest, and
the world will belong to you" a prediction that
has been fulfilled to the letter.
He left five sons, Anselm Mayer, Salomon, Nathan,
James, and Carl, who soon after his death esta-
blished a pentarchy, Anselm retaining command of
the original house in Frankfort, whilst the others
founded new branches in Vienna, London, Paris,
and Naples respectively. By so doing they won-
derfully increased the reputation and influence of
the firm, and gradually gained that control over the
different money markets which enabled them to
augment their fortunes with such astounding cer-
tainty and rapidity.
Although Mayer Rothschild is known to history
merely as an eminent financier, money-making did
not monopolize his time or thoughts. With all his
engagements, he still managed to find leisure and
opportunities for administering relief from his well-
lined purse to his suffering fellow-mortals, and
many tales are told of his benevolence and charity.
He would often stop a poor, starving creature in
52 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the street, to place a coin in his hand and hurry
away to prevent his face being recognized. He
moreover exerted his influence to obtain an exten-
sion of the civil and political rights of the Jews,
and the abolition of the tyrannical restrictions from
which they suffered.
His wife Gudula survived him many years, dying
in 1849, at the ripe old age of ninety-six. Not-
withstanding its dismal and filthy surroundings,
the old house in the Judengasse was her home to
the last. No entreaty or attempt at persuasion
could induce her to abandon the house so intimately
associated with the growth and success of the great
firm, whose very name was derived from the sign
by which the house had been distinguished from its
neighbours. Superstitious scruples and a love of
the old place combined to prevent her forsaking it.
In her eyes it had some mysterious connection
with the prosperity and greatness of the family.
Here then she lived on, distinguished by the sim-
plicity of her habits, until the thread of life was
snapped and her remains were carried to the grave.
" The mother of the Rothschilds, the Hecuba of
the European Croesus family," wrote an eye-witness
during her lifetime, ' ' must be almost a centenarian,
MAYER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 53
but so vigorous and active is she still, that she
manages to visit the theatre nearly every night.
There she sits in her box, with a fan in her hand
to shield her eyes from the dazzle of the lights, with
an old Jewish hood, adorned with flowers, upon her
head, no hair visible, dressed in coloured silks,
with the most costly lace about her neck and breast.
Of her sons, Anselm is most like her. She lives
in the Judengasse still, in the same house as when
she, at that time the wife of a needy shopkeeper,
brought her children into the world. This old
musty house, in the dampest and most unhealthy
street in the city, she has never been willing to
abandon."
" Here I have seen," said she, " my sons grow
rich and powerful, and, as I have not become con-
ceited in my old age, I will leave them their good
fortune, which would certainly forsake them, were
I from pride to abandon my humble dwelling."
Owing to the narrowness of the street, no vehicle
could approach her house, and her son's carriage
could come only as far as the entrance of the Gasse
when she returned from the theatre, so that she
was always carried home from the carriage.
Heine, in his work, " Ueber Borne," gives us a
64 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
pleasant description of a walk he took through
the Judengasse, together with an interesting re-
miniscence of the first Rothschild and his wife :
" In this sraall house lives the worthy dame, the
Letitzia, who has given birth to so many Napoleons
of finance; the great parent of all loans, who in
spite of the world-wide rule of her kingly sons,
will never consent to leave her little, but fondly
cherished palace in the Judengasse, and to-day,
owing to the great festivities, her windows are
adorned with white hangings. How pleasantly
the lamps shine which she lit with her own hands
on the 18th October of the Jews, which has been
celebrated now for more than two thousand years
in remembrance of the day when Judas Maccabaeus,
with his equally brave and heroic brothers, set his
country free, as did Frederick William in our day.
The tears spring to her eyes as the good old dame
looks at the lamps, for they bring back to her
the memory of Mayer Amschel, her dearly loved
husband, and of her children then young children
who would plant the lamps in the ground, and
with childish glee jump over and round them.
Old Rothschild, the founder of the reigning dynasty,
was a noble soul, goodness and kindheartedness
MATER AMSCHEL ROTHSCHILD. 55
itself; a benevolent face with a pointed little beard;
on his head a three- cornered hat, and his dress
quiet and sober, if not poor. Thus would he go
about in Frankfort, and frequently surrounded, as
if holding a levee, by a crowd of poor people, to
whom he would either give alms or address a kind
word. If a row of beggars was met in the street,
with cheerful and pleased countenances, one might
be sure that Rothschild was in the habit of passing
down that way."
CHAPTER III.
THE PROGRESS, OF THE FIRM.
HE dying injunctions of Mayer Amschel
to his five sons were faithfully ob-
served with the filial obedience so cha-
racteristic of the Jews. The Jews,
with all their faults and Jews are no more fault-
less than the rest of mankind still display many
qualities which deserve our praise and admiration.
The importance and value they have always attached
to reverence and respect towards their elders, and
especially towards their parents, are too well known
to require demonstration, and certainly few nations
excel them in this respect. No doubt the habits
of the Jews encourage the development of such
qualities as filial obedience and reverence of old age.
With their proud reserve, which holds them aloof
from their Christian neighbours, they are necessarily
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 57
forced to foster the pleasures and comforts of their
own domestic circles and to knit the family bonds
more firmly together. In Jewish families the wish
of the father has far more weight, and is far more
highly respected than in Christian families. That
the last wishes of Mayer Amschel should have been
scrupulously fulfilled, need excite no surprise, for,
even if filial obedience had not led his sons to live in
unity together, their natural shrewdness would have
at once pointed out to them the advantages which
would follow from their combined action. But, be
the motives what they may, it is a matter of history
that the five sons, after their father's death, started
business in five of the European capitals, each
brother managing his own, but always acting on
important occasions in concert with the others.
The result of this union of aims and action was that
they all rose simultaneously to fame and fortune,
rising, too, with a rapidity which appears incredible.
There is one drawback to this principle of com-
bined action for their general benefit the impos-
sibility of writing a lucid and accurate description
of the career of each of the brothers, owing to the
impossibility of ascertaining what part each played
in the many gigantic operations undertaken and
58 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSOHILD.
carried out conjointly by all. The business of the
Rothschilds since 1812 has been so immense, and
the bonds linking the different members of the
family together so interwoven, that to unravel them
appears well-nigh hopeless. The best course for us
to pursue under these circumstances is to give in
the first place a clear and concise account of the
family, and then to deal with the career of each
individual member. By the adoption of this plan
we hope to avoid confusing the reader by frequent
reference to other portions of the narrative.
The success achieved by the founder of the firm
was no doubt greatly due to the disturbed state of
the financial and political world. Had he fallen on
more peaceful times, it may well be questioned
whether he would have met with the success he
did. In more senses than one we may regard
Mayer Amschel as a child of fortune equally with
his illustrious contemporary Napoleon. The period
from his starting in business to his death in 1812
was a period rife with wars and rumours of war a
period eminently favourable to such a shrewd and
daring speculator as he was. It is in such dis-
turbed times, when the prices fluctuate greatly,
yielding to the influence of any and every rumour,
TEE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 59
that speculators reap their richest harvest. Peace,
which means prosperity to the country at large,
is their dread and abhorrence. Times could hardly
have been more auspicious for Mayer Amschel.
Trade was then almost annihilated on the Con-
tinent, and confidence and credit were at such
a low ebb that Rothschild could obtain for his ad-
vances pretty well whatever interest he chose to
demand. Favoured by fortune and circumstances,
and aided as it was by the remarkable faculty he
displayed of forecasting the future, his progress was
rapid. We are forced to write in these general
terms of the founder of the firm, as little but tra-
dition remains to afford us information either as to
bis business or private life. To the public the
archives of the family which could throw so much
light upon the history of this century are a pro-
found secret, a sealed book, kept hidden from pro-
fane eyes. What a mass of interesting information
must the pages of those archives contain ! and yet
no stranger has been allowed to inspect and make
known their contents. No encouragement is offered
by the family to any who may desire to obtain
information respecting the early history of the
members of the firm ; indeed, such inquiries, how-
60 THE HOUSE OF EOTHSCHILD.
ever laudable may be their object, are regarded as
intrusive, if not impertinent, and an evasive answer
is all that is usually received. The reticence of
the family can be easily understood ; but still it
is to be regretted that some relaxation of this hard
and fast rule cannot be made, seeing that the
family, owing to the exalted position and relations
it holds towards all the States of Europe, has long
since ceased to retain its private character. The
movements of the Rothschilds are carefully watched,
and are as important to the public as those of any
Minister. It is said that one enthusiastic inquirer
was informed that "they much regretted that
no information could be given him on the subject
of the business of the founder of the firm, as no
record of his loans and other financial operations
had been kept, neither could they furnish a photo-
graph, as he had never sat for his portrait ; and, in
conclusion, that it was impossible to name all the
members of the family, as a full pedigree did not
exist."
In the previous pages we have narrated how
Mayer Amschel started in business as a dealer in
coins and bullion, and how, as his reputation for
honesty became known, he was able to extend his
TEE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 61
sphere of action by dealing in bills of exchange,
merchandise, &c. We have described how he be-
came known to and appreciated by the Landgrave
of Hesse, through whose influence he gained a large
number of wealthy and princely clients, and how
his fame and credit were still further augmented
in 1801 by his being appointed Court Jew in
succession to Feidel David. In this way he laid
the foundation of the substantial fortune he be-
queathed his five sons. In 1804 Mayer Amschel
found that he had prospered so well in his under-
takings that he was in a position to lend his assis-
tance to the Government of Denmark, whose
finances were not then in a flourishing condition.
This transaction was followed by several of a similar
nature, Denmark being overtaken by a series of
undeserved aud unforeseen calamities which quite
crippled her for the time. The greatest and most
hurtful shock she received was when the English
fleet appeared in the Sound without any previous
declaration of war, and demanded the surrender
of the Danish fleet. This demand being refused,
General Cathcart landed some 30,000 men a few
miles above Copenhagen, and then bombarded the
town for three successive days. The result of these
62 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
vigorous measures was that General Pyrmann was
induced to comply with the English terms and sur-
render the Danish fleet. In the ensuing year war
with Sweden followed, and still further crippled the
financial resources of the Government, which was
compelled to impose fresh burdens on the already
heavily-taxed and impoverished country. Besides
issuing an enormous amount of paper money, the
Government was compelled in their extremity to
apply to the Rothschilds for assistance, an applica-
tion which, as we have said, met with a favourable
response. Between 1804 and 1812 the loans
issued by M. A. Rothschild on behalf of Denmark
amounted to no less than 10,000,000 thalers; a
large sum for any one firm to be responsible for at
that time, when money was dearer than it is now.
This large business proved, no doubt, very lucrative
to the contractor, and gave a turn to the business
of the firm which it has since retained. After 1812
the miscellaneous business was gradually aban-
doned, Government operations taking its place. It
is not certain whether the last Danish loan was
issued during the lifetime of Mayer Amschel or
not ; that, however, is a trifling matter. Having
established the firm on a solid basis, Mayer Amschel
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 63
daring the last years of his life left the manage-
ment to a great extent in the hands of his sons, and
devoted himself to work more congenial to his
better nature. His philanthropy and benevolence
were unbounded, and endeared him to the memory
of his fellow-citizens. The esteem in which he was
held was proved by his being nominated by the
Grand Duke a member of the Wahlcollegium, when
Frankfort was made the capital of the new Grand
Duchy. It was to the Grand Duke that the Jews
of Frankfort were indebted for the grant of the full
enjoyment of political and municipal rights which
had hitherto been withheld. With the death of
Mayer Ainschel in 1812 the first period in the his-
tory of the firm closed a period small and insigni-
ficant in results when compared with those that fol-
lowed, but still considerable if compared with the
results achieved by any other banking firm.
The second period in the firm's history dates
from 1812 to 1826. On the death of their father,
four sons out of the five started each a business of his
own, in Paris, Vienna, Naples, and London respec-
tively. The branch in London had, however,
existed some time previously, having been founded
by Nathan Mayer Rothschild, who saw that Frank-
64 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
fort was too small to afford scope for the operations
of himself and his brothers. With his charac-
teristic decision, he resolved to repair to England
and win his way to fortune by his own unaided
efforts. In subsequent pages we shall detail the
business he conducted, and will content ourselves
by stating here that the financial ability he dis-
played was so marvellous that he gained an unpre-
cedented success in the country of his adoption.
He contributed largely to the prosperity of the
parent firm in Frankfort by inducing the English
Government to entrust his father with the payment
of its subsidies to its foreign allies. That this was
a profitable business may be inferred from the fact
that in one year the subsidies amounted to no less
than 11,000,000, which must have left a handsome
commission in the coffers of the firm. On the death
of Mayer Amschel, an exception was made to the
rule always since observed by the firm, that the
eldest member should be regarded as its head and
ruling spirit. The brothers, fully cognizant of his
superior intellectual capacity, willingly acknow-
ledged Nathan Mayer as the most fit to direct
#11 their most important transactions. That they
acted wisely in doing so, results have proved, as
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM, 65
their business began from the year 1812 to assume
cosmopolitan proportions, and to pervade all parts
of the world. Its operations were of a most gigantic
nature, whilst the success it achieved was corre-
spondingly rapid. Its success was indeed so re-
markable that the only explanation of it seems to
be in the extraordinary vicissitudes and excitement
through which many of the European States passed
during that period, and of which the Eothschilds
took advantage. From 1812 the firm quitted the
old conventional paths and struck out a new line of
business, which it has made peculiarly its own.
Its fortunes and its resources had then grown
so large that the old banking operations were no
longer worthy of its attention. Government busi-
ness, such as issuing State loans and the emission
of Government funds, proved more congenial, and
no doubt more profitable, so that we find the firm
between 1812 and 1830 engaged in the transaction
of a series of vast operations, which raised it to a
position of power no other firm has ever attained.
Its influence was so all-powerful that it was a
saying, no war could be undertaken without the
assistance of the Rothschilds, since the control
exercised by them on the money markets was such
7
66 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
that they could effectually withhold or procure the
requisite funds.
The inauguration of this new business opened up
a new field of industry, if we may so call it, which
possessed such attractions in the shape of facilities
for making and losing money, that it soon became
popular. Every year the business in Government
funds increased in value and importance, for the
advantages the funds possessed were so many and
so great that merchants and persons of every rank
and station hastened to invest in them. By the
purchase of Government securities the buyer knows
he holds the best security for his money, since the
credit and solvency of the country are pledged to
him, and, as it is of the greatest public importance
to preserve these uninjured, so his security is prac-
tically safe from destruction. No other way of
investing money with equal safety exists, for in
private enterprises, in which the security may be
goods or landed property, the whole capital may
suddenly be lost by fraud, fire, or other accidental
causes. Then, again, an investor can rely with
tjertainty on regularly receiving a fixed interest on
his capital, whereas, were he to invest his money
otherwise, the interest would be dependent on con-
TEE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 67
tingencies beyond his control. Another advan-
tage, and a very great one, is that anyone can pur-
chase what amount of Government stock he pleases,
and in this way make use of all the money he can
command. He is not limited to a round sum, as
would be the case if he lent his capital on mort-
gage, which might demand either a larger or
smaller amount than that at his disposal for the
time being, but in Government stock he can invest
the amount down to the last shilling. Most Go-
vernment stocks are negotiable in all the leading
European markets, so that their popularity may be
due in no small measure to their portable and
saleable qualities. It is scarcely to be wondered at
that the demand for these stocks was for ever
increasing, and that the business done in them be-
came in a few years of the greatest importance. In
addition to the intrinsic value of the stocks, an
additional value was derived from the speculation
which took place in them. By the exercise of a
certain amount of shrewdness, and aided by good
fortune in the choice of the moment for buying or
selling, it was possible to make hitherto unheard-of
gains. This possibility naturally caused a general
desire to share in such easily-earned profits, and in
68 TUE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
this way speculation went on increasing. In the
course of time, when the public appetite for iDvest-
ing was no longer appeased by Government funds,
stocks and shares of every description were issued
and snatched up with avidity. Year after year spe-
culation grew, and gradually degenerated into one
vast system of gambling. No objection can be
raised to legitimate purchases or sales of stocks,
but since the bulk of Stock Exchange business has
been based on speculation there can be no doubt
that the effects are far from beneficial. When it is
possible to make enormous and fabulous gains, with
comparatively no exertion, by operations on the
Stock Exchange, it would be surprising if many
business men were not found to quit the old paths
in which their fathers made their fortunes by steady
persevering industry, to enter upon one surrounded
with such rosy allurements, where failure appears
out of the question. The commerce of a country
must be affected by this endless speculation, as the
amount of capital sunk in keeping stocks up at fic-
titious prices must at times be immense. To make
matters worse, everything imaginable is done to en-
courage this speculation. The disclosures recently
made in connection with the managers of several
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 69
of the London banks prove with what ease unscru-
pulous persons might without means embark in
speculations amounting to hundreds of thousands
of pounds. How largely chance enters into Stock
Exchange operations is shown by the custom of
buying or selling stocks for delivery at some future
day. A man may perhaps sell an amount of stock
now at a certain price to be delivered to the purchaser
say a month hence, in which case he trusts to Pro-
vidence to be able to buy the same amount of stock
himself at a lower price before the time expires,
and so clear a profit without having really risked any
money. Should he buy, then the opposite prin-
ciple guides his action. As a proof to what extent
gambling of this kind is carried, we may mention
that in the corn market crops are frequently sold
before the seed has even been planted. The
facilities offered are so great that speculators enter
into operations out of all proportion to their means,
for, being anxious to make as large a profit as they
can, they are forced to engage in transactions on a
gigantic scale. Should their calculations turn out
wrong, or the fickle goddess not be amiable, the
result is that ruin stares them in the face. But
they seldom yield without making a violent effort
70 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
to turn the tables in their favour. This they try to
do in one of two ways : they either plunge deeper
into the speculation, trusting by this plan to obtain
a control of the market, or they resort to the fabri-
cation of false news, hoping that the effect pro-
duced will be such as to once more make prices
favourable to their operations. Humours, lying,
and every possible artifice are adopted by those
who speculate on the Exchange, and it is certainly
not beneficial to public morality that those should
frequently succeed best who prove themselves the
greatest adepts in this species of manoeuvring.
These few explanatory remarks, though perhaps out
of place, will enable the reader to understand how
practicable it is to acquire rapidly by speculation an
enormous fortune, which in the ordinary course of
business could be gained only after a life of perse-
vering activity and industry.
The greater part of the Government loans which
press so heavily upon the leading European States
have been issued through the agency of the great
financial and banking houses, at whose head stands
the family of Rothschild. Being to a certain ex-
tent the originators of this description of business,
and possessing such influence on the different
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 71
European markets, in all of which they had branches
or correspondents, it was only natural that the five
brothers should manage to secure the goodwill and
patronage of the various Governments. We have
seen that they issued a series of loans for Denmark
between 1804 and 1812, but it was not till tran-
quillity was restored to Europe in 1815 that the
firm was called upon to show the great things of
which it was capable. With that year the brothers
began a period, lasting for fifteen years, during
which they were incessantly engaged in the issue
of Government loans. Unvarying success followed
them in all their undertakings, and the firm rose
to a position of such power and repute in the poli-
tical and commercial world that they were the dic-
tators of Europe. To give the reader an idea of
their power, we may mention that Ferdinand I. of
Italy was compelled to accept the condition named
by them as the only means of obtaining their aid
the recall and reinstallation in office as Finance
Minister of their friend the Chevalier de Medici. And
this is no exceptional case ; other Governments in
their extremity have been forced to agree to the
terms dictated by the great financial house. We
do not intend to follow and analyze each individual
72 THE HOUSE OF EOTHSCHILD.
step the Rothschilds made on their road to fame
and fortune, but will content ourselves with giving
a summary of the leading operations undertaken by
them in the course of the second period of their
history. According to the Chevalier von Gentz,
the annual business of the firm during the twelve
years preceding 1826 amounted to no less than
eleven or twelve hundred thousand thalers, mostly
loans, but partly subsidies. This period was un-
doubtedly the most prosperous, and at the same
time most brilliant, through which the firm has
passed. The explanation of this extraordinary
activity is easy. The long struggle in which all
the European States had been engaged for a quarter
of a century, either as the friends or the enemies of
Napoleon, had drained the State treasuries of their
supplies, whilst the countries were impoverished
by the excessive war contributions levied to meet
the expenses incidental to the prosecution of the
campaigns. When the efforts of the Allies to
forcibly shake off the heavy yoke of the Emperor
were rewarded with success, and Napoleon placed
in a position where he was powerless to threaten
the peace of Europe, it was possible to form an esti-
mate of the enormous sacrifices and expense the
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 73
struggle had cost. Every State, without exception,
found itself burdened with debts which seemed to
crush its energies and to defy any attempt that
might be made to remove them. However, all this
was set once more in order and prosperity restored
between the years 1815 and 1830; thanks chiefly
to the assistance lent by the Rothschilds. Accord-
ing to a careful estimate, the loans negotiated by
them during this period for the five great European
States, England, Russia, Austria, France, and
Prussia, amounted to very nearly one thousand
million thalers. Hitherto we have spoken in very
general terms of the business of the firm, but it is
almost impossible for the reader to form a just con-
ception of the magnitude of the firm's operations
without some details being given. We shall there-
fore proceed to describe a few of the principal loans
brought out under the auspices of the Rothschilds.
One of the earliest loans contracted for by the
Rothschilds was that issued in 1818 for the benefit
of the Prussian Government. This loan, better
known as the English loan, was for 5,000,000
sterling. The terms on which it was issued were
far from favourable to the Government, and gave a
good idea of the low state of credit prevailing at
74 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the time. The Government guaranteed interest on
the loan at the rate of 5 per cent. They found,
however, that they were utterly unable to obtain a
better price than 70 per cent, on the first half.
The other half was issued, in two portions, at the
price of 72 i- and 75 respectively, but the whole
amount was not applied for. That everything was
done to gain the favour of the public is clear, as
provision was made to pay off 3 per cent, of the
loan in the first year, 2^ per cent, in the second,
2 in the third, 1^ in the fourth, and 1 per cent, in
the fifth. In 1830 the remainder of the amount
was converted into a Four per Cent., to redeem
which a sinking fund of 1 per cent, and the interest
accruing from bonds drawn after 1835 were set aside.
In 1822 a second English loan of three and a half
millions at 5 per cent, was concluded, and was fol-
lowed in 1830 by the third Prussian-English loan
at 4 per cent., of which mention was made above.
Austria found herself compelled, like Prussia, to
issue several loans, partly through the agency of
the Rothschilds, and partly through them and other
banking firms. The first loan was the lottery loan
of 1820 for 20,800,000 guldens, contracted for by
S. M. von Rothschild, in conjunction with David
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 75
Parisch. The second followed in 1821, and was
for 37i million guldens, in shares of 250 guldens,
bearing 5 per cent, interest. In 1834 Austria
negotiated a third loan for 25 million guldens at 4
per cent., in shares of 500 guldens, with the firms
of Rothschild, Arnstein, Eskeles, Sina, and Gey-
muller and Co. The same firms issued a fourth
loan in 1839, amounting to 30 million guldens, in
bonds of 250 guldens each.
Russia in 1822 raised a loan of 3| millions
sterling through the Rothschilds, and in 1847
France followed suit with a loan of 250 million
francs, issued at 75. In 1834 a Greek loan of 66
million francs was issued at 94 per cent., whilst in
1831 Belgium floated one for 50 million francs.
The operations of the firm were not confined to
Europe, as on several occasions the Empire of
Brazil sought its assistance to the extent of
3,200,000 in 1824, and 800,000 in 1829.
In addition to these Government loans, others
were issued in large numbers on behalf of the
different German principalities. It was thus the
Grand Duchy of Hesse obtained in 1825 61 million
guldens, and 2,375,000 guldens in 1834. The Duchy
of Nassau in 1 837 placed a loan of 2,600,000 guldens.
76 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Besides these the following loans were issued at
different periods. In 1821, for the kingdom of
Naples, 16 million ducats, 20 millions in 1822, and
2,500,000 sterling in 1824. The Papal States,
16 million francs in 1831, followed by 2,160,000
francs in 1845. Hesse-Homburg, 1| million guldens,
1829 ; Hohenzollern-Hechingen, 260,000 guldens in
1829; Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, 3| million guldens;
the Duchy of Lucca, 1,050,000 guldens in 1840, and
1,120,000 in 1843. Baden, in 1840, 1845, 1848,
1849, and 1850, issued loans for 5, 14, 2|, If, and
If million guldens respectively. Hanover in 1847
had a loan of 3,600,000 thalers ; Bavaria, in 1848,
22 million guldens ; Hesse, four loans from 1848 to
1851, amounting to 6| million guldens ; and Nassau,
1,200,000 guldens in 1849.
The above list is far from complete, but it will
suffice, we think, to convey some impression of the
vast proportions and unlimited extent of the busi-
ness transacted by the Rothschilds since the com-
mencement of their remarkable career. During
this second period the reputation and influence of
the firm may be said to have reached its zenith.
Honours and decorations were showered by grate-
ful Governments upon their benefactors, who were
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIR31. 77
everywhere treated with a deferential consideration
a monarch might well envy. In 1815 they were
nominated private financial advisers to the Elector
of Hesse, and in 1818 appointed members of the
aulic commercial council of Prussia. In 1815 the
Emperor Francis of Austria conferred upon them
an hereditary title of nobility, and in 1822 raised
them to the rank of barons. In addition to this
the brother in London was appointed at first Consul
and then Consul-General for Austria, an honour
which his brother likewise enjoyed in Paris. In
1823 Baron James of Paris received the cross of
Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and was after-
wards created a Commander of that order. Sir
Anthony de Rothschild received his baronetage in
1846, and the title has now descended to Sir Natha-
niel de Rothschild (Lord Rothschild), the present
head of the London firm.
The third period of the firm's history dates from
1830 to the present time. During the latter part
of the second period there occurred in the financial
and commercial world that memorable crisis, even
now recollected by many as if it were but of yester-
day, so terrible was the panic it created. Owing
to the abundance of money in the years immediately
78 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
preceding, some difficulty was experienced in in-
vesting capital in good paying undertakings, and
by degrees a speculative mania, which reached its
climax in 1825, took possession of the public. A
collapse ensued, and in 1826 its effects began to be
felt, as one by one firms and banks of hitherto
undoubted credit and solvability failed. The ruin
and distress caused by these failures were wide-
spread, the whole country being more or less
affected; and, as is usual in such cases, the evil
was felt most by persons who had been led away by
the plausibility and specious promises of designing
rogues. So great was the blow given to credit,
that many firms were brought to the verge of ruin
owing to the support of the banks being suddenly
withheld. The Bank of England even came in for
a share of suspicion, or at least the confidence of its
customers was so shaken that a run upon its coffers
took place, and threatened at one time to make it
close its doors. That this was prevented was, as is
well known, largely due to the loyal support rendered
the bank by Nathan Mayer Rothschild. Scarcely
had credit recovered from this shock, and commerce
once more regained its prosperity, than an unex-
pected blow was struck, and again shook the finan-
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 79
cial world to its very foundations. In 1830 the
French Revolution of July took everyone by sur-
prise, and brought about a period of great uncer-
tainty and anxiety. On this occasion, as in 1826,
the Rothschilds rendered great and inestimable
services to the public by aiding, with their immense
means and credit, many houses threatened with
ruin through no fault of their own. There can be
no doubt that this bold and public-spirited course
of action went far to restore confidence, whilst it
certainly added greatly to the repute and honour of
the firm. For the next eighteen years after this
subversion of things in France, matters remained
undisturbed under Louis Philippe, the head and
founder of the new dynasty, and Europe enjoyed a
period of unbroken repose. And never did the star
of the Rothschilds shine with such unrivalled bril-
liance as during these eighteen years, when their
advice was sought for by those in power.
But at the expiration of that time events occurred
with equal suddenness, and as little anticipated as
those of 1830, which have had a prejudicial effect
on the business of the great financial firm. During
the period of undisturbed tranquillity through which
France passed after the Restoration, time was found
80 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
to attend to the introduction of much-needed
reforms in the Government and Constitution. Neces-
sarily the finances were the first subject to come
under review, and in 1848, after a great deal of
debating, a reform was made in the system by
which the Government had been wont to raise what
money it required to borrow, and the hitherto all
potent influence of the Rothschilds received a
blow from which it has never since recovered.
From the beginning of this century the credit of
the European Governments had risen steadily. In
the early part of the century it was impossible for
them to obtain even at 6 per cent, the money they
required, whereas in 1848 no Government would
have experienced any difficulty in borrowing what
sum they pleased at 4 per cent. After the revolu-
tion of 1848 the French Government felt convinced
they could obtain the money required by the State
on easier terms than those previously accepted ;
they were confident they could procure first hand,
without the intervention of any banker, the funds
of which they stood in need ; they addressed them-
selves frankly and directly to the people, and the
people fully justified the faith reposed in their
liberality by placing at the disposal of the Govern-
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 81
ment sums frequently ten times the amount de-
manded. The quite unexpected success that
attended the Government's action has had an
immense bearing on the mode in which State
finances have since been conducted, and has proved
highly beneficial to the State itself, as well as to
individual persons. Since that time the immense
preliminary profits, in the way of commission, which
always went into the banker's pockets, have been
abolished, and, whilst the business is conducted far
more economically, the intervention of bankers and
others is done away with, and the State and its
subjects brought into closer contact. The result
of the new measures was that all the great banking
firms who had been accustomed to undertake loan
business for the Government were unable to secure
for themselves any advantages not enjoyed by every
private person, by every citizen ; the old connec-
tions with the Government were severed, and
thenceforth financiers, banking houses, and citizens
were equal. The gilt having been so roughly taken
off the gingerbread, the great houses were forced
to seek the profits they had been wont to make out
of Government business in enterprises of another
description. Gradually we find commercial under-
o
82 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
takings engaging the attention of the leading capi-
talists and bankers.
The new arrangements of the Government were
a severe blow to the Rothschilds, who had issued
for many years the majority of the loans needed by
the different States. From that time forward,
from that " mad year 1848," so detrimental to
their interests, the great firm have pursued an
entirely new path. They have, for instance, aided
in the formation and establishment of every de-
scription of industrial enterprises, in railways,
mining, and such-like companies, but more espe-
cially in banking and credit institutions, all of which
formed admirable foundations for speculation. It
cannot be denied that the immense and preponde-
rating influence possessed by the Rothschilds up till
that time, began to wane when they lost the busi-
ness which had been regarded as peculiarly their
own, and could no longer sway the money market
by their nod as of old. They were forced to put
themselves on a level with many other great bank-
ing and financial firms. In writing thus it must
be distinctly understood that we do not mean to
say that the pecuniary resources of the firm were in
the least affected by the change; their financial
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 83
position was as strong as ever, but naturally their
having been for so long the trusted and favoured
agents of the Government had lent their name a
certain pomp and splendour which disappeared
when the Government determined to act in
future without their aid. Backed up as the Roth-
schilds are by the enormous wealth of the whole
family, and the immense credit attached to their
name, they are able still to make large profits in
their enterprises, as they are able to wait until a
favourable moment occurs for securing the success of
their operations. Nothing proves more strongly the
energy and vigour of the firm and their capability of
still engaging single-handed in colossal enterprises,
than the assistance they have of late years lent the
English Government. In 1876, as is well known,
they advanced the sum of four million pounds ster-
ling to the British Government, to enable the latter
to complete the purchase of Suez Canal shares from
the Khedive, and in 1884 they once more responded
to an appeal for pecuniary aid, by lending the Egyp-
tian Government a sum amounting to one million
sterling. Though perhaps more sedate in its move-
ments than in its earlier years, the great firm shows
no sign of decay or weakening of its powers.
84 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
The first, and head establishment of the firm,
was that founded by Mayer Amschel Rothschild
in Frankfort-on-the-Main. It was the only one till
1798, when a second establishment was formed in
London, to be followed, in 1812, by that in Paris.
These two establishments belong to the first period
of the firm's history. In the second period falls
the creation of the other great houses, namely, that
of the Vienna house, about 1816, and that of the
house in Naples, in 1820. At the head of these
five houses were the five sons of Mayer Amschel.
The eldest, Anselm, directed the affairs of the
Frankfort house until his death on the 3rd Decem-
ber, 1855 ; the third brother, Nathan, guided the
fortunes of the London firm until 1836, in which
year he died. James de Rothschild, the youngest
of the five sons, presided over the destinies of
the Paris house; he outlived all his brothers by
some ten or twelve years, dying on the loth
November, 1868. Salomon von Rothschild of
Vienna, died on the 27th July, 1855, and Carl
Mayer de Rothschild, the head of the Naples firm,
on the 10th March of the same year. The Naples
firm has since ceased to exist, but at the head of
the remaining four firms are the descendants of the
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 85
five brothers. In addition to these great establish-
ments managed by members of the family, there
are, in every great capital, agents and representa-
tives who watch vigilantly over its interests, and
execute the orders given them.
The political events of this century have had so
important a bearing on the fortunes of the Roth-
schilds that we may be allowed to give a brief sum-
mary of the leading incidents which have been
so instrumental in promoting the success of the
millionaire family. In the first period of the firm's
history there occurred a succession of remarkable
events which threatened the welfare of many Euro-
pean States. The first to attract attention was the
outbreak of the War of Independence in America,
a war which terminated so disastrously for the
honour of England. But, disastrous as was the
end of this outbreak to England, it was not to be
compared with the evil and ruinous consequences
the first French Revolution entailed upon France.
Yet, harmful as these episodes were to the countries
concerned, they were far from being so prejudicial
to the interests of individual persons. To the
Rothschilds nothing could have occurred more
propitiously than the outbreak of the American
86 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
revolt, and that of the French Revolution, as the two
enabled them by their intimate relations with the
Landgrave to lay the foundation of the immense
wealth they have since acquired. To this same
period belongs the gradual rise of Napoleon, and
his elevation to the throne of France, followed at
length by his overthrow and abdication, but not
until he had forced all Europe to acknowledge and
tremble beneath his despotic sway. As Napoleon's
star sank and disappeared, that of the Rothschilds
rose and increased in brilliance. When Napoleon
was finally crushed at Waterloo, his star vanished
for ever, whilst that of the Rothschilds seemed to
grow every day in power and to dwarf all others.
The Rothschilds belong to no one nationality, they
are cosmopolitan, and, whilst on the one hand they
provided supplies for the armies of Napoleon, on
the other, they raised loans for his foes, who used
the funds thus obtained in defraying the cost of
their campaigns against him ; they belonged to no
party, they were ready to grow rich at the expense
of friends and foes alike. The fall of Napoleon waa
the rise of Rothschild. By means of couriers
and expresses who brought the great firm news of
Napoleon's defeat long before the world generally
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 87
was in possession of the joyful intelligence, the
Rothschilds were able to purchase on a gigantic
scale, so that when the news became known and the
funds in response to the public joy rose with a
bound, the gains accruing from the transactions were
unprecedentedly large. From that time forward the
house occupied a prominent position in the political
world ; it was regarded as a power whose opinions
must be consulted before any great financial opera-
tion was undertaken. From that time forward the
co-operation of the firm was sought by all the lead-
ing States whenever a loan was required, and to
receive such assistance was regarded by the re-
cipients very much as a favour not granted at
random. With the French July Revolution the
firm entered upon its third period, a period during
which the influence and position of the several
houses attained a height which would have vastly
surprised the old banker, Mayer Amschel. History
does not record another instance of any one private
firm holding so prominent a position, or exercising
such a powerful control over the destinies of nations,
as is furnished by the Rothschild family. It is
almost impossible to describe their influence upon
the history of the last fifty years, for the effect of
88 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
their actions and advice upon the policies of the
different Cabinets is not easily seen, owing to the
unobtrusive and undemonstrative way in which
they always bore themselves in public affairs. They
never held any official Cabinet rank, consequently
their opinions were seldom publicly ventilated ; but,
notwithstanding this, they always enjoyed the full
confidence of the different Governments who were
forced on more than one occasion to seek the
counsel of the powerful financiers. No firm or
family has ever figured so prominently in history,
and yet no family has been so uniformly quiet and
unassuming in its demeanour. It never tries to
force the public to adopt its opinions, but is con-
tent to bring the weight of its influence to bear
privately, in a manner which cannot fail to secure
careful consideration to whatever plans or sug-
gestions it may think fit to propose. In France it
is well known that Baron James was one of the
most trusted and esteemed counsellors of the
Bourbons and of the Emperor Napoleon, and it
is the same in England, Germany, and Austria.
The late Baron Lionel de Rothschild was for many
years a member of Parliament, and sat on many of
the Committees, where his opinions always com-
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 89
manded respect and attention. Nothing demon-
strated so clearly the immense power exercised by
the firm as the guarantee given by Baron Lionel at
the conclusion of the Franco- German War to the
German Government to maintain the stability of
the foreign exchanges a guarantee which greatly
facilitated the payment of the indemnity.
The Rothschilds are not content to allow their
influence to rest merely on the possession of bound-
less wealth ; they seek to extend and increase it
still further by becoming owners of land on a large
scale a course by which their interests and those
of the nation are more closely linked together. In
England, France, Germany, and Austria they pos-
sess immense estates, and there can be no doubt
that the fact of their possessing such an important
stake in the continued prosperity of the different
countries, leads the public to attach greater weight
to their opinions, and greater importance to their
proceedings, than would otherwise be the case.
One of the largest estates belonging to the family
was that acquired by the purchase, in 1844, of the
manors of Schillersdorf, Oderberg, and Hultschin,
in Ober-Schlesien, near the Austrian frontiers.
Schillersdorf was at one time in the hands of the
90 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Jesuits, and afterwards passed into those of the von
Eichendorff family. This extensive property, which
included a number of villages, was at first laid out
for agricultural purposes by its new owner, and
supplied the beetroot and turnips for the sugar
manufactories which were erected on it. Owing
to lower taxes and State subsidies, the manufacture
of sugar could be carried on much more profitably
in Austria than in the Zollverein, and the profits
were still further increased by a little artifice which
cheated the Government out of part of the duty. A
large proportion of the sugar manufactured was for
Russian consumption, and, as the manufactory was
close to the frontier, the beetroots were brought
across in a dried state, as produce for which the
duty was a mere trifle. The weight being con-
siderably reduced by this means, a large saving
was effected in the duty. The profits derived from
the estate were, however, not large enough to please
its owner, and it was afterwards split up amongst
a number of tenants. In France the Rothschilds
have several very large estates and vineyards.
Baron Alphonse's chateau at Ferrieres is famed for
the brilliant hunting parties that frequently assemble
there, and has been the scene of more than one
91
historic meeting. During the siege of Paris it was
chosen as the headquarters of Prince Frederick
William of Prussia and Prince Bismarck. It was
there that Ferry went to negotiate for an armistice,
and that the terms of the capitulation were finally
arranged. In England the Rothschilds are amongst
the largest landowners, and own between them a
large part of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire,
in which counties there is quite a cluster of their
estates. Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild owns a fine
property at Tring ; Mr Leopold de Rothschild has
an estate at Ascott, near Leighton Buzzard ; Mr
Alfred de Rothschild, one at Alton ; Lady Anthony
de Rothschild, one at Aston Clinton ; Baron Ferdi-
nand, from Vienna, one at Waddesden. In addi-
tion to these country estates, they each have a
palatial town residence, where the most brilliant
receptions and most sumptuous dinners are given.
There is still to be mentioned the grand old Gun-
nersbury House, with its magnificent grounds,
where the late Baron Lionel de Rothschild used to
reside.
" How has the house of Rothschild amassed such
untold wealth ? " is a question one is continually
striving to answer, but to answer it fully and com-
92 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
pletely would necessitate our examining and analyz-
ing all the manipulations and undertakings of the
great firm from its commencement. It is indeed
remarkable that this one firm should have so specu-
lated as not only to have enriched and strengthened
itself, but to have risen steadily to a position
exalted far above all rivals. The ways and means
employed by its members were open to all, and all
were at liberty to make what use they pleased of
them ; but the Rothschilds were ever masters in
the art of speculation, and soon outstripped all
competitors, and left them far in the rear. Their
speculations were at once simple and clear. These
masters of finance first laid down the lines of the
speculation, and fixed the aim and object of their
efforts clearly in their minds, keeping their whole
attention fixed on the main points, and never
troubling themselves about the details. The mani-
fold and apparently often contradictory manoauvres
effected by the firm were always dictated by an
unswerving regard to the object they had in view.
Nothing, indeed, was more simple than the mode
in which they won their enormous profits. For
instance, they issued a loan at a certain price
already, perhaps, 2 or 3 per cent, above the con-
THE PROGEESS OF THE FIRM. 93
tract price. This of itself was a handsome profit to
start with, and one which can seldom be secured
now, when nearly all first- class loans are brought
out on commission. Competition was less keen
then, whilst joint-stock banks and kindred institu-
tions were in their infancy. But the public had
confidence in the loan, the Stock Exchange was in
its favour, and it at once rose to a good premium
on its issue price. An ordinary speculator would
perhaps have been content with profits such as
these, but not so the Rothschilds. They still
further multiplied their gains by selling, buying,
and reselling continuously the same stocks, until
the profits reached, in many cases, an almost in-
credible figure. Through operations calculated to
bring about a fall or a rise, as the case might be,
in the prices of particular stocks, the Rothschilds
went on unceasingly amassing their millions, and
these operations, by the violent fluctuations they
produced, formed the basis on which the fortunes
of the firm were laid. In order to render these
great speculative operations successful, every
means at their command was employed. Every
method that could be devised was resorted to ;
every Stock Exchange manoeuvre and artifice called
94 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
into requisition ; every sort of rumour and false
news promulgated ; and money in large and small
sums sacrificed to secure the success of their
schemes. This, then, was how the earlier Roth-
schilds amassed their millions, which the present
representatives strive to keep and augment steadily
and cautiously, without grasping at the handsome,
old-fashioned profits of by-gone days.
The greatest gains are made during times of
great excitement, when war is imminent, or when
a political crisis paralyzes trade and fills the public
with anxiety and doubt. To obtain early and pre-
vious warning of such weighty occurrences is of
the most vital importance to speculators, because,
possessed of such information, they are often
enabled to steal a march on their rivals and turn
their knowledge to profitable account. To gain a
start of a few minutes is of immense consequence,
making a difference of perhaps thousands of pounds,
and, certainly, in this sense, time is unquestionably
money, for the fortune or ruin of many on the
Stock Exchange is decided in a few moments.
Knowing this, it has always been the first care of
the Rothschilds to secure the earliest information
possible of all such weighty events, more particu-
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 95
larly of those in the sphere of politics, and it is
especially their interest to discover and favour
persons who, owing to their position in official
or business circles, are likely to receive the earliest
news of occurrences of that description. In ad-
dition to their agents and informants in political
and official circles, they had in every great capital
throughout the world representatives whose duty
it was to hunt up and report all that was going
on of a nature likely to affect the money market
directly or indirectly. The excellence of their
system of obtaining early information of passing
events has been proved on many occasions, and
they have been the first to furnish the Governments
with details of more than one occurrence long
before the reports reached them through official and
privileged channels. The expresses and couriers of
the Rothschilds tore along at break-neck speed, as
if on a matter of life and death, whilst the Govern-
ment couriers were content with journeying by com-
paratively short and easy stages. The news of Na-
poleon's defeat at Waterloo was, as already stated,
known to the Rothschilds several days before the
public learned the joyful tidings, and Lord Aberdeen
was indebted to them for the first information re-
96 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
garding the outbreak of the French July Revolu-
tion. Then, again, the position they held with
respect to the Continental railways was greatly
in their favour. They were the " Hudsons" of the
Continent ; all the leading lines were of their crea-
tion, and at their disposal. This gave them an
immense advantage, and it was nothing unusual
when important news reached them to despatch a
special locomotive with a courier to communicate
the news as speedily as possible to their other
houses. After the invention of the telegraph the
capabilities and advantages of the new means of
communication were readily appreciated by them,
and most extensively employed to promote the suc-
cess of their operations. It is indeed scarcely sur-
prising, when the odds were so much in their
favour, that their career should have been an almost
unbroken success. It happened, of course, at times
that their anticipations were disappointed, that
their information proved incorrect, and that their
calculations were upset; but such an occurrence
was rare and exceptional.
The success of the Rothschild family is ascribed
by the Chevalier von Gentz, an intimate personal
friend of Baron Salomon von Rothschild, of Vienna,
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 97
and consequently well qualified to form an opinion,
to two causes, which he specifies in the following
terms : " The question how the house of Roth-
schild has been able to undertake and carry through
in so short a time all that it has really accomplished
has exercised the brains of many a business and
political head. Perhaps, however, the answer is
not so difficult as it is generally thought to be. He
who, without waiting upon chance, has sufficient
sense to perceive that the issue of all great transac-
tions depends not alone on the choice and use of a
favourable moment, but also, and even more, on the
rigid adherence to once-recognized fundamental
principles, will readily acknowledge that there were
two principles especially, of which this firm never
lost sight, and to which, combined with prudent
management and profitable conjunctures, it is cer-
tainly indebted for the greatest share of its present
prosperity.
" The first of these principles was that which led
the five brothers to conduct all their businesses
in a long and unbroken unanimity of aims and
interests. This was the injunction left them by
their father on his death-bed, and, if a lucky star has
stood over them, they have ever remained firm in
H
98 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
their resolve never to prove forgetful of that injunc-
tion. Since their father's death, every proposition,
no matter from what quarter it came, has been the
subject of their united consideration and discussion.
Every operation, even if of only comparative impor-
tance, was carried out on a concerted plan, and with
the united efforts of all, and all were equal partici-
pators in the profits. Though their places of abode
have for some years been far apart, even this cir-
cumstance failed to destroy the close understanding
which exists between the brothers, but rather
worked to their advantage, since each, being more
thoroughly informed of the state of affairs in the
different capitals, was able to prepare and manage
so much more effectively the businesses that were
to be undertaken by the firm as a body." In this
view the writer is backed by the author of " Society
in London," who is evidently intimately acquainted
with the family, and well qualified to express an
opinion. " The family genius of the Rothschilds/'
says he, " shows itself equally in the understanding
they maintain amongst themselves and the rela-
tions they establish with all those who can be useful
to them. It is only natural that a house divided,
as the Rothschilds are, into branches, each branch
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 99
being a separate dynasty, should have its own little
jealousies. There could be no more solid monu-
ment to their shrewdness and sagacity than that
they should not suffer these jealousies to hold them
apart at critical moments when union is strength.
Nor do they choose their friends and agents out-
side themselves with less discrimination, or treat
them with less of wise generosity and forbearance.
They know exactly whom to select for their pur-
poses, and, once having made their choice, they are
loyal to it. Many men are indebted to the Roth-
schilds for their fortune. No one who has once
placed his trust in them, and whom they have
found it worth their while to trust, can reproach
them with having deserted him/'
"The other principle/' continues Von Gentz,
tl which demands notice, is that which guided them
never to strive after extravagant profits in any of
their undertakings, but to set limits to their opera-
tions, and to render themselves independent, as far
as human foresight and wisdom could do so, of the
freaks of chance. In the maxim Servare modum,
jinemque tenere, lies one of the great secrets of
their strength. There can be no doubt that with
the means at their command they could, in this or
100 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
that operation, have raised their profits to a much
higher figure. Even if, however, the safety of their
undertakings would not have suffered thereby, they
would in the long run have gained less than by
extending their forces to a larger number of busi-
nesses, ever requiring renewal under all kinds of
circumstances. To fail in their undertakings was
out of the question, for they staked not merely their
wealth and their credit, but also the confidence
with which the fairness of their demands, the punc-
tuality of their payments, the clearness and sim-
plicity of their plans, together with the clever way
in which those plans were carried out, had inspired
the various Governments and all the great business
firms. What others sought to gain by so-called
decisive strokes, which lead to victory on the field
of business as on the field of battle, but which also
often lead to great reverses, the Rothschilds have
won by the happy use of the best principles of com-
mercial strategy; not through boldness, but by
prudence and perseverance.
" The personal and moral characters of the five
brothers have contributed in no small measure to
the success of their enterprises. If he is powerful
enough it is not difficult for a man to secure a
THE PROGRESS OF THE FIRM. 101
numerous following on his side, but in the present
instance the voices of all parties unite, and the
Rothschilds are, as the phrase goes, respected by
great and small, not merely on account of their
wealth, but for qualities of heart and soul not in-
variably associated with riches and power. To be
always extending their sphere of kindness, to with-
hold their hand from none in distress, to advance
readily to the assistance of all who solicited their
aid, no matter to what class they might belong,
and ever to bestow their most substantial favour
in the kindest and most feeling manner, these
were the ways by which the Rothschilds won the
real and well-merited popularity that is theirs,
as many thousands of witnesses and whole families
will testify. And this beneficence springs from their
innate good-nature and humane disposition, and
not from calculation. Moreover, they have been so
fortunate as not to have raised up a host of enemies
along with their host of friends, which is rarely the
case with persons who have risen suddenly to wealth
and celebrity. It may be truly said that they have
disarmed envy itself, and rendered harmless the
tongue of slander."
"There is but one power in Europe/' said the
102 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
French writer Weill, " and that is Rothschild. His
satellites are a dozen other banking firms ; his
soldiers, his squires, all respectable men of business
and merchants; and his sword is speculation.
Rothschild is a consequence that was bound to
appear; and, if it had not been a Rothschild, it
would have been someone else. He is, however,
by no means an accidental consequence, but a
primary consequence, called into existence by the
principles which have guided the European States
since 1813. Rothschild had need of the States to
become a Rothschild, while the States on their side
required Rothschild. Now, however, he no longer
needs the State, but the State still has want of him."
CHAPTER IV.
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD.
THE FRANKFORT FIRM (continued).
HAT the considerations were which
guided May er Amschel Rothschild when
he turned his back upon Hanover to
select Frankfort as the place for start-
ing in business on his own account, and for laying
the foundations of a fortune which was to eventually
attain such colossal proportions, are of course un-
known to us, but we may reasonably suppose that
his choice was influenced by early associations.
Frankfort was his birthplace, and it may be to this
circumstance that it is indebted for the immense
benefits it derived from the subsequent career of
the great family within its walls. There can be no
doubt that to the Rothschilds the city of Frankfort
owes not only its present importance, but much of
104 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
its commercial prosperity. In settling in his native
town and in starting business there, Mayer Amschel
increased the chances in his favour, as he was inti-
mately acquainted with the neighbourhood and the
opportunities of making money that were likely to
present themselves. But, whatever may have been
his motives for returning to and settling in Frank-
fort, we know that he did, in or about 1770, set up
there in a humble way of business as a dealer in old
coins, &c., with a capital derived from his savings,
and that his industry and honesty were such as to
enable him to extend his sphere of action by deal-
ing in works of art, old gold and silver, and, in
course of time, to add to these pursuits bullion and
bill-broking. Gradually, as he strengthened his
position, his business assumed more the nature of
an ordinary banking business, which continued to
raise the name and repute of the founder as a skil-
ful and fair-dealing financier, in whom every confi-
dence could be safely reposed. Little could Mayer
Amschel have anticipated that the humble shop was
destined to ultimately grow into one of the largest
and most renowned banking firms of the world, and
that his sons would in after years come to exercise
such an unbounded sway that the peace of nations
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 105
would depend upon their nod ; that the powerful
control they exercised on the European money mar-
kets would enable them to pose as the arbiters of
peace and war, since they could at their pleasure
withhold or furnish the pecuniary means required to
carry on a campaign. But this, incredible as it may
seem, was what their vast influence, combined with
their enormous wealth and unlimited credit, enabled
them to do, for no firms existed strong enough to
oppose them for any length of time, or rash enough
to take up a business which the Rothschilds had
refused. To reach this exalted position Mayer
Amschel and his sons required the co-operation of
the States, but, when once he had climbed over their
backs and reached the height of his ambition, he
was independent of all aid and could act with the
greatest freedom, whilst the States remained in a
suppliant attitude at his feet.
The house of Rothschild when at the summit of
its might was the ruling power in Europe, for
all the political powers were willing to acknow-
ledge the sway of the great financial despot, and,
like obedient vassals, to pay their tribute without a
murmur.
Frankfort, the birthplace of this great firm, derives
106 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
its name from a fort built by the Romans on the banks
of the Main, to guard the frontiers and to resist the
incursions of the Goths, on the opposite bank, who,
though daring enough in hand-to-hand contests,
shrank from attacking an enemy hidden in a fort sur-
rounded by high ramparts and deep ditches. By what
Eoman general Frankfort was built is not, we believe,
known, but during the reign of Charlemagne the
place acquired additional importance from the palace
constructed there by that great warrior, who brought
quite a colony in his train . The Romer, or town-hall,
is probably part of this palace, which was erected
on the same plans as that at Aix-la-Chapelle. The
natural advantages which Frankfort possessed, from
its favourable situation on the banks of the navi-
gable Main, and the fruitfulness of the neighbour-
hood, were all conducive from an early date to the
growth of its trade. The whole of the commerce of
Germany was at that time of the smallest, and
Frankfort was but a poor place, with an inconsider-
able traffic, until the bright thought struck Charle-
magne of uniting the Main with the Donau by a
canal, thus enabling merchandise to be brought
from Constantinople and the East directly into the
heart of Germany. In order to attract thither people
ANSELH MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 107
from other parts of Germany, and foreigners from
other countries, he instituted yearly markets which
afterwards gave rise to the famous fairs. In the
midst of endless feuds between rapacious neigh-
bours and rieving knights, and in spite of the
disturbed times, Frankfort continued to grow in
prosperity and importance, which were still further
favoured and fostered by several laws, passed with
a view to providing escorts and protection to all
visitors and traders for the emperors saw and
recognized of what vast moment trade was to the
public welfare. Warehouses, granaries, and shops
were built in large numbers, and Frederick II.
showed how greatly he appreciated the advantages
of trade by granting the city a charter for its
autumn fair, a privilege still further extended by
Ludovic II., who contributed largely to the pros-
perity and consequence of Frankfort by the many
diets he held there. There are numerous proofs
existing to show that the power and influence of
Frankfort during the Middle Ages was considerable.
Cologne and Strasburg were its only business rivals.
These three towns were by far the greatest centres
of trade in that part of Germany. In wealth Frank-
fort was inferior to few, whilst its dignity cannot
108 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
have been small when it took precedence of stately
Nuremberg at the coronation of Maximilian I. The
Golden Bulls of the Pope declared that the Eoman
elections should always be held in Frankfort, and
this cannot have failed to favour the fortunes of the
city, necessitating as it did splendid pageants and
sumptuous banquets which made money flow freely
into the pockets of the worthy citizens. In the
course of time patents and privileges of all kinds
tending to foster and encourage trade were con-
ferred upon the city, and in 1510 the right of
coining money was conceded to it by the emperor.
The powerful Hanseatic League had broken
down, and the fetters which it had kept on commer-
cial activity in Germany were removed. Frankfort
was immediately sensible of the beneficial effects of
the change, as Nuremberg began to send thither
part of its manufactures, Augsburg its cloth and silk
goods, and Ulm its linen and cotton goods. Even
Aix-la-Chapelle and Dortmund entered into business
relations with their young rival, who soon out-
stripped them in the race for first place, and con-
tinued to grow in consideration and wealth. The
discovery of America was turned to profitable ac-
count, as the merchants and traders of Frankfort
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 109
were among the first who endeavoured to extend
their business relations to the New World. Trade
in Frankfort during the early part of the seven-
teenth century had been severely affected by the
war, but towards the latter part it began to make
rapid progress towards recovery, owing, no doubt, in
a great measure to the famous fairs which attracted
men of business from all parts of Europe. The
rapid revival of its trade was still further promoted
by the disappearance of the Hanseatic League, which
had till then enjoyed a monopoly of the English
cloth trade. This, however, now passed out of the
hands of its traders, as a direct market was found
for English goods in Frankfort. The wine trade
was equally flourishing, for Rhenish wines were
highly esteemed in all parts of Europe. At this
period a new branch of industry was started and
rapidly extended by the enterprising traders the
trade in books. In a comparatively short time,
owing to the extensive printing works which were
erected, the book trade of Frankfort assumed enor-
mous proportions. The great autumn fair soon
came to be recognized as the lagest book fair on
the Continent, for it was the rendezvous of book-
sellers and dealers from all parts of Europe. The
110 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
concourse of persons attracted by the fair is said to
have numbered as many as 400,000, so that the
advantages derived from these monster gatherings
must have been of the utmost value to the pros-
perity of the city. The rapid rise of Frankfort had
been watched with bitter jealousy by many of its
older rivals, who tried to injure and destroy its trade
by all means at their command. How intense was the
animosity they cherished against their younger rival
is seen from the fact that Nuremberg carried its
hatred and envy so far as to forbid its citizens under
pain of death from attending the Frankfort fairs.
Frankfort, however, shrank from no sacrifice and
spared no exertion to secure the safety of its trade.
In all its leagues with its neighbours the main con-
dition of its co-operation was the support and pro-
tection to be given to the fairs. Everything was
done to insure the safety of visitors and their goods,
escorts even being provided for that purpose.
These famous fairs have evoked the wonder and
surprise of many writers, who have borne testimony
to their importance by the lavish praise they have
bestowed upon them. " The Frankfort fair/' said
one, "is the chief of the yearly markets of the
world," whilst another concisely described it as
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. Ill
" the world in a nutshell ; or the magazine of the
Germans." To the fairs Frankfort is indebted for
its first newspaper, the " Messrelationen," which
was in existence for some two hundred years. The
fairs likewise called into prominence a branch of
business, namely, bills of exchange, which has
tended greatly to facilitate and develop commercial
transactions all over the world. Instead of the
inconvenient and cumbrous method of settling
every transaction by a money payment, recourse was
had to the far more convenient and reasonable plan
of paying by the medium of bills of exchange. If
some such plan as this had not been adopted the
trade of Frankfort could never have gone on in-
creasing as it has done. When dealings had to be
settled by a payment in money, they were neces-
sarily on a very restricted scale owing to the
immense weight of the coin, to say nothing of the
risks that a person would run who was in the habit
of carrying about with him large sums in cash.
With bills of exchange the risk is greatly reduced,
whilst the advantages they offer in transferability
and portability are such as to need no demonstra-
tion. The fairs, as we have said, brought a vast
business to Frankfort, which was moreover a sort
112 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
of half-way house for the rest of Germany, a
large portion of the imports and exports passing
through the hands of its merchants. Being then
the centre of trade, and doing an immense business
in bills of exchange, the Frankfort prices came to
be watched and studied with as much care as those
of other great commercial centres such as Rotterdam
or Antwerp. The importance of the Frankfort
Exchange after the Rothschilds had founded their
extensive business was vastly increased owing to the
intimate connections and vast influence possessed
by the firm in the other large cities of Europe. In
every large town they have either branches of their
own, or active agents who are ever seeking to
promote their interests, and ever faithfully reporting
to them all that occurs in financial or commercial
circles. This goes far to explain the problem how
they have been able to amass their immense fortune
so rapidly, for it must not be forgotten that the
members of the family, while carrying on their
respective businesses independently of each other,
on all momentous occasions unite their forces for
the common benefit, and temporarily concentrate all
their thoughts and energies on achieving the suc-
cess of the operations in hand. It is hardly strange,
ANSELM MAIER VON ROTHSCHILD.
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 113
therefore, to find that the wheel of fortune, when
the family bring their collective wealth and influence
to bear in this fashion upon it, should yield to their
persuasive efforts and take the direction they desire.
On the death of Mayer Amschel, the founder of
the firm, the management of the affairs of the
Frankfort house naturally passed into the hands of
his eldest son, Anselm Mayer, who retained it until
his death, which took place on the 6th December,
1855. Anselm Mayer was above all things a man
of business, in which his inmost soul seemed concen-
trated. These words sum up his whole character.
But, able and clever as he was, the individuality of
his third brother Nathan, the head of the London
house, was even more striking in regard to business
matters, for he distinguished himself from his elder
brother by his unrivalled financial skill and daring,
by his greater shrewdness, and by his intuitive
power of forecasting the course of either the money
market or of politics, all of which gifts he turned
to the utmost profit. In a word, Nathan Mayer
was a greater financier, a greater speculator and
manipulator, and, although self-taught, of more
solid and useful acquirements. To the house this
was, however, of secondary importance, seeing
i
114 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
that the more weighty operations were planned and
carried out by all the brothers in concert, whilst
the times in which they lived were so eminently
favourable to the success of their enterprises that
to them they are as much indebted for the sudden
growth of their immense wealth and power as to
their own abilities and energies. It is here, indeed,
that we must seek the explanation of the problem
how they have been able in so short a time to
extend and develop their business so amazingly.
Circumstances, or, in other words, luck was on their
side. Not that they trusted blindly to their luck,
for they contributed in no small measure to their
success by the prudent caution which marked all
their dealings, and by the observance of maxims
which had been carefully learnt and as carefully
practised by all members of the family, and of these
maxims the most important was : to seize upon the
right moment in all political or commercial crises
and turn it to profitable account.
We cannot pretend at this distance of time to
be capable of giving a faithful and lifelike descrip-
tion of Anselm Mayer von Eothschild, the head of
the Frankfort firm. We prefer, therefore, to repro-
duce the words of a writer who was for many years
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 115
on the most intimate terms with him, and whose
account may consequently be regarded as privileged
and deserving credit :
"Anselm Mayer is the oldest of the European
Nabobs, with thoroughly eastern features and all
the old Jewish customs and practices. He wears
his hat down on the back of his head, which is
covered with snow-white hair, and his coat, usually
unbuttoned, hangs negligently down from his
shoulders. He has an open and frank counte-
nance, on which rests an air of assumed vivacity,
whenever he thinks he is observed. His hands
are usually in his trouser pockets playing with
money. He invariably goes on foot, and to every
beggar who accosts him he gives a coin of more
or less value. His beneficence is very great in-
deed, the poor Jewish families in Frankfort are
mostly dependent on his bounty. It was he who
contributed the greater part of the funds for the
erection of the new Jewish hospital. When the
weather is unusually severe, or when, for instance,
a poor family is burnt out, he is particularly liberal
in his charity. Should a hard frost or a prolonged
drought set in, a large crowd is sure to be seen
collected before the doors of his town residence in
116 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the Fahrgasse. His house in the above-named
street is an ill-looking building from the outside,
and no stranger, as he passed, would guess that it
was the abode of one of the richest merchants in
the world. Anselm Mayer sits in his office in the
midst of his clerks like a Padischah; below him
are his secretaries, and around him may be seen a
crowd of brokers, for ever coming and going.
With a few words he dismisses each, for like a true
business genius he knows at once what answer to
give to every question, and what decision to arrive
at on any business that may be laid before him for
consideration. No one in the universe, when
Anselm Mayer's ' yes ' or ' no ' has once been
pronounced, would venture to renew the discus-
sion. To speak to him privately on a matter of
business is well nigh impossible ; everything in
his office is done openly as in a law court. He
observes and keeps the office hours as scrupulously
as any of his clerks, and has indeed less opportu-
nities for recreation than they have, seeing that
even in the theatre he is likely to be disturbed and
called away by the arrival of one of his couriers.
For the same reason he is often forced to rise from
bed in the night, to peruse the news and despatches
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 117
just brought by an express, so that he can, in case
of need, forward them on without delay to his
brothers in Paris, Vienna, or London. To facilitate
this business he has had an office erected adjoining
his bedroom. He has many orders and titles, but
usually he wears only the Hessian ribbon. The
diplomatists resident in Frankfort, and those who
may make a transitory visit there, vie in doing the
great financier honour, and the most splendid ban-
quets are given on each side. At these entertain-
ments Anselm Mayer sits in true penance, as he
never touches any viands or dishes that have not
been cleansed or prepared in the Jewish fashion.
This strict and unaffected observance of the re-
ligious injunctions of his faith is greatly to his
honour ; he is indeed regarded as the most religious
Jew in Frankfort."
All writers agree in describing Anselm Mayer as
a man of great shrewdness of judgment, with a
thorough knowledge of mankind. By a sort of in-
tuition he was able to form a pretty correct opinion
of the character and motives of the men with whom
he came in contact. No matter what cloak they
might use to conceal their real object, he saw
through their hypocrisy almost before they had said
118 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
a word. He seldom erred in his judgment, and was
remarkably quick in detecting the vanity or self-
conceit of those who addressed him. True and able
men were always appreciated by him at their just
value : he would always deal with them at par. A
man who showed himself quiet but efficient in the
discharge of his duties was sure to be noticed and
favoured. In his conversation Anselm Mayer was
somewhat confidential, though he always allowed a
certain reserve to be visible which effectually pre-
vented the display of any want of respect towards
himself. He was a man of some humour, and
is remembered for the many sly and witty say-
ings which figured in his conversation, and with
which he was in the habit of administering keen
rebukes, or speaking unpalatable truths, calculated,
if uttered in a stronger and plainer form, to have
given offence. The many anecdotes related of him
all display more or less the humour and shrewdness
for which he was remarkable, and are often conspi-
cuous for their brevity. He knew also how to
clothe his sallies in befitting language. When
Thorwaldsen passed through Germany he was re-
ceived with enthusiastic welcomes everywhere, and
innumerable banquets were given in his honour. At
ANSELJI MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 119
one of these gatherings Rothschild was introduced
to the sculptor, and made the neat remark : " You
look so handsome, Chevalier, that one is forced to
believe you created yourself/' Thorwaldsen after-
wards acknowledged that he had never been paid a
more novel or more flattering compliment.
Fond of wit and humour as he was, Anselm
Mayer could recognize and reward wit in others,
even if the sally was directed against himself. On
one occasion a man wrote to him, simply saying,
" Heir Baron, send me a thousand guldens and
forget me." The brevity and essentially witty
character of the demand at once struck Anselm
Mayer, who, in forwarding the sum demanded, re-
plied : " I send you one thousand guldens and
have forgotten you."
When Baron Anselm Mayer went in 1832 to
spend a few months of the summer at Ems, he took
up his quarters in a private house on the Romer-
berg. At the same house there was also staying
Baron von E , a dashing Prussian Uhlan officer,
with whom Baron Anselm soon became exceedingly
friendly. One evening they went for a stroll in the
direction of the Four Towers, and in the midst of a
spirited conversation Rothschild came to a sudden
120 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
halt. Taking advantage of this, an ill-clad man
stole noiselessly up behind the famous banker and
cleverly opened his pocket. Baron von E , who
had noticed the suspicious movement, naturally con-
cluded that theft was the man's object ; but to his
surprise he noticed that the man quietly slipped a
letter into the pocket and disappeared. Scarcely
had Baron Rothschild resumed his walk ere the in-
convenience arising from the recent contribution
made itself felt. He put his hand into his pocket
to discover the reason, and at once exclaimed, " Ah,
I know now." It was evident that the mere touch
had explained the mystery. The walk was con-
tinued along the road to Coblentz, and when they
at last turned to retrace their steps dusk was already
setting in. Suddenly from behind a tree a ragged
fellow sprang forward and placed himself directly
in Baron Anselm's path. The Baron's companion
was about to strike the fellow, when he noticed the
latter had neither pistol nor stiletto in his hand, but
simply a begging-letter, which he sought in this
violent fashion to force on Anselm Mayer. The
latter betrayed not the slightest surprise or alarm,
and it was evident he was by no means unaccustomed
to this novel way of delivering begging-letters.
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 121
One very warm summer's day, when Baron
Anselm was entertaining some friends at dinner, a
window directly opposite his seat happened to be
unclosed. Through the aperture thus left there
presently came flying, during the dessert, a packet,
so well aimed that it fell right upon the Baron's
plate. The guests were not unnaturally astonished,
but Anselm Mayer quietly felt in his pocket, took
out a gold piece and put it in the cover of the still
unopened letter, which he returned with the same
celerity and by the same way it had come. This
novel and unique mode of bestowing charity was
highly appreciated by his guests. Rothschild, how-
ever, was not satisfied ; he could not feel easy until
he knew what had become of the letter and its con-
tents. Apologizing, therefore, to the company, he
asked permission to rise a moment. He then ad-
vanced to the open window, leant out and returned,
evidently satisfied and happy, saying, half audibly,
" placirt." It is interesting to notice how solicitous
the wealthy financier was, from force of habit, to
know whether even such a trifle as that which he had
just given away, had been well bestowed.
Baron Anselm Mayer was proud and aristocratic
in his manners only to the extent that the con-
122 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sciousness of his personal importance and influence
was allowed to be visible; but still without any
arrogance. He related, not unwillingly, the small
beginnings and struggles of his firm, his walks to
the office, the Friday evenings spent in the old
house in the Judengasse, where white bread and
roasted nuts were his fare. He referred with sove-
reign contempt to the conceit and arrogance of
certain upstarts. He did not mix himself up with
politics, and invariably spoke with considerate for-
bearance of the different Governments, though his
partiality for Austria was always unmistakably
manifest. He bestowed enormous sums in alms-
giving, and, when they remembered the many calls
upon his purse, and the immense amount actually
distributed by him every year among the poor and
the suffering, many persons, whose petitions solicit-
ing aid for themselves or for others failed to meet
with the response anticipated, have come to think
more favourably of the seeming coldness they had
experienced. It is impossible to estimate or describe
the wonderful good effected by means of Baron
Anselm's beneficence. But how great it was and
how profoundly appreciated, is evidenced by the
thousands of applications for relief which were an-
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 123
nually submitted to his consideration. When he
died the poor lost one of their most liberal, and at
the same time most unostentatious benefactors.
He had been brought up in the midst of a family
struggling hard to earn a living; his youth was
passed in continued and incessant toil, so it is but
natural that he was not able to boast of a very high
or classical education. In later years he tried, not
without success, to improve his knowledge of lan-
guages and history, and to strengthen his bodily
powers, but, ever conscious of his shortcomings, he
would turn away offended if any sycophant flat-
tered him on his horsemanship or any other accom-
plishment. French and English he spoke very
indifferently : indeed, it was only the interests of
his business and perhaps a little vanity that led him
ever to converse in these languages, which he spoke
even worse than he did his native German. To-
wards ladies he always displayed a very engaging
address, a lively gallantry, which he retained to the
last. His love of art showed itself most strongly in
his taste for coins and old metal-work ; but still
on paintings he was often heard to say a shrewd
word of criticism. Above all things, however, he
loved his garden ; it was his delight to revel among
124 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
his beautiful flowers, of which he never grew
weary.
His position as a resident in Frankfort differed
in no way from that of any other member of the
Jewish community. Great as were his wealth and
influence, they did not enable him to share the
civil and political rights enjoyed by every Christian
living in the city. For a brief period the Jews
were permittted by the Prince Primate in 1812 to
rank on an equal footing with their Christian neigh-
bours, but in 1815 they were deprived of these pri-
vileges, which were not restored to them till 1853
and 1864. Whilst at one time the founder of the
house of Rothschild was a member of the Elective
Assembly, his son, equally with the poorest Jew in
Frankfort, was debarred from taking any active
part in the management of civic affairs, for he
lacked the first qualification the freedom of the
city, without which none could hold office. Al-
though siding with the strictly orthodox party of
the Talmudic Judaism, Anselm Mayer did not
allow any difference of opinion to disturb his sym-
pathies with his co-religionists, and he is known to
have frequently contributed largely to the erection
of synagogues where the teaching would be wholly
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 125
opposed to that which he favoured. At his death
he left a fortune estimated as amounting to from fifty
to sixty million guldens, which he willed to one of
his nephews. To the Jewish community he be-
queathed a handsome legacy of 1,200,000 guldens,
and several others proportionately large for the
benefit of the poor, who, he was fond of saying as
he walked through the streets, were his " courtiers."
He also left strict orders in his will for the main-
tenance and preservation of the old house in the
Judengasse. Strict Jew as was the head of
the Frankfort house, opposed as he was to every
innovation in the doctrine and ritual of the syna-
gogues, and exact as he was in his observance of
the Sabbath, he nevertheless did not hesitate to
trade and make money on feast days. Thus, on one
occasion when he was ' in Aix-la-Chapelle taking
part in the Congress there, a sum of money
amounting to 160,000 thalers fell due to him on a
Saturday. At the proper hour he presented him-
self at the office and demanded his money. On his
attention being called to the day, he pointedly
answered : " It is not every day one has to receive
160,000 thalers." He then carefully counted and
pocketed the money.
126 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
The extent of the business transacted by the
parent firm in Frankfort was something immense.
It not only embraced the majority of the German
states and principalities, but included in its clientele
a large proportion of the nobility and aristocracy,
especially those of South Germany, whose pecuniary
resources were so embarrassed as to render the
assistance of a financial house necessary and un-
avoidable. The number of accounts of the Frank-
fort house probably far exceeded that of any one of
the other houses in London, Paris, or Vienna. To
prove how liberal the Rothschilds were to the Ger-
man princes, and to show what profitable customers
the latter must have been, we give a list of those
who were forced to apply to the firm for aid.
Against the name of each we place the total amount
of the loans, as far as can be ascertained, which he
obtained : Guldens.
Isenburg-Birstein 1,100,000
Lowenstein-Wertheim 1,250,000
Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg . . . 300,000
Waldburg-Zeil 172,000
Graf Sandor v. Szlavnicza .... 670,000
Bitter von Biese 250,000
Isenburg-Wachtersbach 294,000
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 127
Guldens.
Solms-Lich 300,000
Lowenstein-Rosenberg 350,000
Prince Victor zu Isenburg 140,000
Count Viczay 700,000
Szapary 300,000
Leiningen-Westerberg .... 80,000
vonNiczky 340,000
von Hunyady 500,000
von Szechenyi 1,800,000
Henkel v. Donnersmark . . . 1,125,000
von Froberg 100,000
Prince von Galantha Esterhazy . . . 6,400,000
Freiherr von Greifenklau 130,000
Prince Schwarzenberg 5,000,000
Waldburg-Wolfegg 800,000
Waldsee 350,000
Count K. von Wartemberg .... 2,070,000
Total Guldens 16,021,000
Thig list is far from complete ; still, even as it is,
it gives some idea of the large business done by the
firm with its private clients.
In conclusion, we may say a few words respecting
the sovereignty of Baron Anselm Mayer over the
128 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Frankfort Bourse, and of the complete subordina-
tion of that institution to his will. Before the
advent of the Rothschilds, Frankfort could claim no
precedence over the other great trading cities of
Germany ; it had a large commerce, and large
operations were carried on in foreign bills, but still
its quotations were not so important or so influential
as to cause them to be closely watched and studied.
All this, however, is now altered : the movements of
the Frankfort Exchange have through the magnitude
of the transactions carried out by the house of Roth-
schild acquired an importance which makes itself felt
on the markets of other leading financial centres.
Paris, Frankfort, Vienna, and London are in such
close communication and connection through the
houses established there by the Rothschilds, that
no great movement can take place in one of them
without creating a marked impression in the rest.
In Frankfort the control and sway possessed by the
parent house were more marked and manifest, per-
haps, than was the case with its branches elsewhere.
Loud and frequent complaints were made by other
banking and financial firms of the prejudicial effects
on business caused by the entire dependence of the
Frankfort Bourse on the will of Anselm Mayer, who
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 129
could at his pleasure raise or depress prices to the
discomfiture of all who might happen to oppose
him. The public prints were for ever complaining
of and animadverting upon the pressure of the great
firm on the energies and spirits of the Bourse.
Their complaints were always worded in the same
unvaried strain, so that they became quite mono-
tonous in their repetition. For instance, the remark
that " money was more abundant, and might become
still more so, were it not for the knowledge that
the Rothschilds are so completely masters of the
situation, and have the market under complete
control," was a stock expression with the Frankfort
editors. This pressure could not fail to prove
injurious to many smaller houses, but complaints
availed not ; business was free to all, and speculation
unhindered. The Rothschilds were at liberty to
conduct their operations on whatever lines they
pleased, without asking permission of any. The
same freedom of action belonged to all, whether
great or small. Might on the Stock Exchange
means right, and if weaker speculators were made to
pay heavily for the opposition, however slight, they
offered to the rule of the colossal firm, they had
but themselves to blame for their folly and loss.
130 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Foreign loans became the perquisites, if we may so
call them, of the Rothschilds, who were ever on the
alert to secure them before a rival had any chance
to step in. On one occasion another firm was bold
enough to undertake a Belgian loan, on its own
sole responsibility behind Rothschild's back, but
was quickly made to repent of its temerity, as Roth-
schild put his forces in motion and bore down upon
it with such resistless force that the rival house was
soon glad to give in its submission and tender an
apology for its presumption. But, on the oth er hand,
it is totally undeniable that, at different times, in
circumstances of great financial pressure and during
commercial crises, Rothschild rendered immense
services by means of his unbounded wealth and
credit to many houses, who, but for the support thus
liberally provided, would have been forced to sus-
pend payment. Not that we wish it to be supposed
that Rothschild made such sacrifices from purely
unselfish motives, for, however unfavourable they
might appear, he usually managed to turn the
circumstances of the case to profitable account.
For instance, in ] 832, a well-known banking estab-
lishment in Paris had accepted without adequate
security a large number of bills drawn by a bank
ANSELM MAYER VON ROTHSCHILD. 131
in North America, whose credit at that time was
decidedly low. The suspension at an early date of
the bank in Paris, was discussed and anticipated.
Rothschild himself had a great many of these doubt-
ful acceptances in his portfolio. "What did he do ?
He voluntarily placed the sum of forty million
thalers at the disposal of the bank, whose failure
was averted, if only for a moment, as the public,
seeing the apparent confidence of Baron Anselm in
its solvability, not unnaturally concluded he had
good reasons for his liberality and that the rumours
to the contrary were ill founded. The Paris house
was saved, whilst the transaction proved very
remunerative to Rothschild himself, as he had re-
mitted this sum not in specie, or bills on other firms,
but in bills, which he had bought dirt cheap, upon
the bank itself.
" In this way/' wrote a German journalist of
Baron Anselm Mayer, " he has made himself king
of finance, and his kingdom is no poetical creation
but a reality. His vassals are the other banking
firms and financial institutions, whom he can destroy,
if he so pleases, when he no longer needs them, or
support and strengthen as long as they are useful
and necessary for his purposes."
132 THE HOUSE OF EOTHS CHILD.
Since the death of Anselm Mayer, the business
of the Frankfort firm has been managed by his
nephews, Baron William and Baron C. von Roth-
schild, who have faithfully observed the traditional
policy of the family in all their financial operations.
The wealth of the two brothers continues steadily
to augment, thanks to the prudence and caution
which mark all their undertakings. Baron Carl is
a great patron of the arts, and has a collection of
pictures and sculptures such as is possessed by
only very few. Baron William is a most strict
Jew, and rigidly observes the fasts and feasts of
the Jewish calendar. 1
1 The death of Baron Carl, which took place quite re-
cently, leaves his brother the sole head of the Frankfort
house. Baron Carl's magnificent collection of art treasures
will become the property of Lord Rothschild.
CHAPTER V.
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD.
THE LONDON FIRM.
HE first step towards extending the
business of the original house in Frank-
fort was taken in 1798 by Nathan
Mayer, the third and most remarkable
of all Mayer Amschel's sons, who in that year
started for England with the object of creating a
business of his own. To Nathan Mayer may be
ascribed much of the subsequent prosperity of the
family, as, by his splendid financial abilities and
untiring energy, he contributed far more than any
of his brothers towards raising the firm to the
brilliant position it has held for the last fifty years.
He it was who, by his vast schemes and far-reaching
speculations, gave the firm its cosmopolitan cha-
racter, whilst the great services which he, in com-
134 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
mon with his brothers, rendered to all the Govern-
ments of Europe in turn, gained for his family a
reputation and a consideration such as no other
firm has ever enjoyed. In an earlier part of our
narrative we stated that, previous to 1798, all the
business of the Frankfort house with England was
transacted through the firm of Van Notten in
London, who acted as the attorneys of the Elector
of Hesse in receiving the latter's subsidies from the
British Government, and collecting his dividends.
When Nathan Mayer had established himself in
London, these powers were transferred to him, and
so great was the confidence reposed by the Elector
in his integrity and shrewdness, that he was
allowed carte-blanche as to the disposal of the
moneys he received. He was left perfectly free
and unfettered in dealing with the Elector's funds
and stocks ; he could buy or sell at his own discre-
tion. The choice of London from all the European
capitals, as promising the best opening for a branch
business, affords a convincing proof of the natural
shrewdness of the man. Before many years had
elapsed, the splendid success he achieved forced
the whole world to acknowledge the soundness of
his judgment. His name, by that time, had become
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 135
familiar to all the leading European statesmen,
whilst the business conducted by him in London
far exceeded, in the vastness of its proportions,
that of any of his brothers. This, after all, was
but natural, seeing that London, with its gigantic
commerce, its unceasing activity, was the pivot
round which the trade of the whole world revolved.
That a man of Nathan Mayer's temperament, whose
chief delight was in vast and complicated opera-
tions, should have taken advantage of the oppor-
tunities which London afforded for embarking in
enormous undertakings might have been safely anti-
cipated. He could hardly have selected a spot
more suited to his plans. A born speculator, he
found himself in the midst of an incessant whirlpool
of gambling and speculation, from which none but
one possessing, as he did, a cool head and a shrewd
intellect, could have emerged with flying colours.
Whether intuition or instinct dictated his choice,
or whether it was due to mature consideration, we
do not pretend to say, but the results accruing
from his selection must have far surpassed his most
sanguine anticipations, as his family, through his
influence and skilful management, became the
supreme rulers of the money markets of the world,
136 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
and gained the monopoly and control of all im-
portant financial enterprises.
At the beginning of the present century, Great
Britain was hardly a pleasing picture to look upon,
as, owing to false principles of government, to the
ignorant and blind cultivation of our home trade,
and the neglect of our foreign trade and manu-
facturing industries, it had the appearance of a
State driven to the most opposite and contradictory
extremes. Priding itself on the possession of the
freest constitution in Europe, England yet concealed
the greatest tyranny ; possessing unbounded riches,
it yet allowed the poor peasantry in Ireland to die
of hunger, whilst the privation and distress pre-
valent among the labouring classes generally were
so great and indescribable as to threaten to end in
riot and rebellion. The hardships endured by the
poorer classes in many parts of the country were
still further aggravated by the disgraceful condition
of our political system. Morality was at a discount ;
bribery and intrigue were the order of the day. It
was a time when the thoughts of all were turned to
their own advancement and to the complete forget-
fulness of the sufferings of others. Before the
Reform Bill of Lord Grey, corruption was so wide-
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 137
spread that the independence of the Crown and that
of the constituencies were threatened by the machi-
nations of unscrupulous politicians. The majority
of the votes were in the hands of a limited few,
eager and ready to advance their own interests at
the expense of the nation at large. The Reform
Bill in a great measure remedied the evil, which,
however, was by no means annihilated. Corruption
sought fresh pastures on which to flourish, and other
malpractices ere long came into fashion. Apparently
the democratic element had been admitted into the
constitution, but we may fairly question whether
the power of the landed aristocracy was in any way
injured. The limited few still controlled the votes
of the majority. Formerly the landed aristocracy
ruled the elections, as they were able to influence their
tenants, and so secure the return of particular candi-
dates ; but much of this power now passed into the
hands of the moneyed aristocracy, the large capitalists,
who, besides enjoying this addition to their political
might, are the principal ruling force in the financial
and commercial world. The great landed aristo-
cracy still exercises an important influence in the
political world, but the few noble families who pre-
viously possessed the monopoly of the boroughs have
138 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
now to share their power with their rivals, the landed
capitalists. The repeal of the Corn Laws was, as
D'Israeli truly said, the abolition of the landed aris-
tocracy by the moneyed aristocracy, of the nobility
by the bourgeoisie, of pedigree by money.
The agitation preceding the repeal of the Corn
Laws was instrumental in expunging from the
political creed an article then generally accepted,
which had caused much of the distress among the
labouring classes, and had largely contributed to
the stagnation of the home industries. Politicians
up to that time had been unanimous in asserting
that the true remedy for the prevailing distress,
and the only reliable source of prosperity was to
be looked for in agriculture, with a powerful landed
aristocracy at its head. It was, they declared, a
Quixotic idea to suppose that the prosperity of the
country could be permanently benefited by culti-
vating and extending our foreign trade and our
manufacturing industries. The first to recognize
the absurdity of this belief, and to point out the
evils which would inevitably follow from such a
mistaken policy, was Mr C. P. Villiers, the pioneer
in the Corn Law crusade. f< My charge against
the Corn Laws," said he in one of his speeches,
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 139
" is, that they limit and endanger our foreign trade,
and that all such laws proceed upon a policy directly
the reverse of that which is recommended by the
present circumstances and condition of the country.
And my charge against the legislature is, that this
policy has been pursued in this country since the
close of the last war, now twenty-three years ago,
though each year has proved the folly of it by the
injury it has entailed, and is now inflicting upon the
country So that, proceeding at home upon
the monstrous fallacy that agriculture was the source
of all our greatness, and abroad stipulating nothing
for our foreign commerce, we were doing everything
in our power to cripple our manufactures. Now,
if all this had been the error of a particular Govern-
ment, or the folly of a party that had ceased to
exist, it would, I know, be idle to refer to it, the
time to remedy the evil being now past ; but it
is our misfortune that it is the policy of the present
hour. The policy of that day that the home trade
is the best trade, and that we ought to create cus-
tomers by Act of Parliament for that trade, and be
as little dependent as possible upon foreign trade,
is the ground on which the Corn Laws are defended
to-day." The support and protection accorded by
140 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the legislature to the landed aristocracy in England
were not enjoyed by the noble orders abroad. The
conditions on which land was held on the Continent
had undergone extensive modifications, and the
nobility had by degrees, owing to the Eevolution
or modern legislation, lost the direct ownership of
the land, with its attendant seigneurial rights and
privileges. The tendency abroad has been to split
up the land into small holdings, a course which
rendered the disappearance of large proprietors
inevitable. In England the contrary is the case ;
the tendency is towards consolidation in the hands
of a few large proprietors. It could hardly be
otherwise. The main principle in the English law
of land tenure is, that the owner must either culti-
vate his land to the best advantage himself, or else
lease it to those who will do so. This was hard
upon small proprietors, who were called upon not
only to cultivate the land but to contribute towards
its improvement, and this a series of bad seasons
would render impossible. The consequence was,
that they were compelled to sell their land to the
large landowners. In this way the small landed
proprietors disappeared, and gave place to the
thrifty tenant farmer. Whether it is right or wrong
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 141
that the land should thus be concentrated in the
hands of a limited few, is a question which has
agitated the minds of many, and which we, for our
part, do not feel called upon to decide. There can,
however, be no doubt that, since it has been gene-
rally acknowledged that the prosperity and great-
ness of the country are dependent upon a flourish-
ing foreign trade, the tendency has been to abandon
agriculture for manufacturing pursuits, and to leave
the cultivation of the soil to those whose wealth
renders them independent of the profits or losses
attending their labours.
Injurious as were the effects produced by this
mistaken policy of fostering the home trade and
neglecting the foreign, there can be no question
that the country has also suffered severely from the
evils resulting from the creation of the National
Debt. To the increased taxation and the widespread
corruption it engendered, may be ascribed much
of the want and privation the poorer classes of the
community have had to encounter. However much
we may deplore the existence of the National Debt
or national nuisance, as some would call it we
must confess that William III. had no other plan
left by which he could procure the money he re-
142 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
quired. Great events from little causes spring,
and it is to the necessities of earlier monarchs
rather than to William that we must trace the
origin of the system of State borrowing embodied
in the National Debt. When our earlier rulers
found themselves short of funds, they were accus-
tomed to apply to their faithful subjects for aid,
and, as they were not always couched in the most
gentle terms, or made with that courtesy which so
befits kings, the applications were sure to attract
gold to the royal exchequer. In the pursuit of
cherished schemes of ambition or revenge, monarchs
would recklessly embark on enterprises the cost of
which their loyal subjects were afterwards forced
to liquidate. Richard I., in his eagerness to visit
the Holy Land, stopped short of no device to pro-
cure the funds necessary for his object. He ex-
torted money from his subjects, he farmed the re-
venues, mortgaged the customs, and even threatened
to sell London rather than abandon his crusade.
His successors imitated and improved upon his
system of extortion. Henry III. seized the mer-
chandise of his subjects, and managed to borrow
a large sum under the tempting offer of high inte-
rest, but, with a forgetfulness characteristic of the
NATHAN MATER ROTHSCHILD. 143
times, neither capital nor interest was ever paid.
Under the pretence that he was about to start on a
crusade, Edward I. seized the plate and money
of the monasteries, but, once secure in the posses-
sion of the spoil, declined to go. Edward III.
imposed heavy taxes, created monopolies, raised
forced loans, and availed himself of every possible
means to wring money from his unfortunate sub-
jects. As time rolled on, each succeeding monarch
strove apparently to rival and outdo his predecessor
in unscrupulous exaction. Edward IV. enjoyed
the reputation of being the handsomest tax-gatherer
in the kingdom. When on one occasion he kissed
a buxom widow to show his appreciation of the
readiness with which she yielded to his demands,
it is said that she at once doubled her contribution
in the expectation of being again favoured by the
royal lips ; but kingly gratitude did not go so far.
Henry VII. was guided by logic in his extortion.
He forced frugal people to contribute largely, on the
ground that they must have saved money by their
economy. Henry VIII., owing to his extravagant
habits, was continually replenishing his exchequer
from the pockets of his subjects; nor was he by
-any means particular as to the methods by which the
144 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
supplies were obtained. He seized upon the ac-
cumulated property of the monastic orders, and
raised a loan of ten per cent, on all property from
20 to 300, increasing the percentage on sums
above the latter amount. By courtesy the money
thus raised was termed a loan, but, when years
later he refused to pay the capital or to acknowledge
his debt, the transaction was known by a harsher
name. Elizabeth displayed a great deal of Muteness
in her financial operations : she would borrow large
sums of her devoted subjects, and, if at any time she
had a balance lying idle, would graciously deign
to lend it back again to her faithful citizens at a
high rate of interest. The Stuarts were not be-
hind their predecessors in recklessness or extrava-
gance, while in extortion they went to extremes
of which no one had ever dreamt. Charles I.
found to his cost that he had no sovereign right to
the property of his subjects, and paid a heavy
penalty for rashly endeavouring to force them to
yield to his exactions. His failure, however, did
not deter Charles II. from similar practices, and
the Merry Monarch fairly excelled all his rivals in
barefaced thieving, for that is the only term appli-
cable to his action in closing the Exchequer and
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD.
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 145
appropriating to his own use the money deposited
there. James II. would have liked to imitate his
brother, but the offences which the nation over-
looked in the graceful, rollicking Charles, were not
to be excused or tolerated in one so universally
hated and suspected as his successor. The Stuarts
seem to have laboured under the impression that
they had a sovereign right to whatever of their
subjects' property they might fancy, and regarded
all those who declined to accede to their oppressive
demands as disloyal subjects and traitors. The
result of this difference of opinion is too well known
to need description here. William III., on his
accession, created, willingly or unwillingly, the
National Debt, and by so doing acknowledged the
indebtedness of the Crown to the public for the
money placed at its disposal. Whatever faults he
may have had and he was by no means faultless
William III. at least deserves all credit for having
laid down the principle which has ever since been
maintained, that the faith of the State must be
preserved inviolate towards its creditors.
The creation of the National Debt has been
severely criticized and disapproved by later gene-
rations, wiser in their time than their ancestors.
L
146 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
We must, however, in justice to William III.,
remember that he had no option in the matter ; it
was a case of Hobson's choice. Had he been able
to devise a better plan of obtaining the money he
required to carry on the war with France, he would,
we feel sure, have adopted it, but as no other method
suggested itself he was forced to avail himself of
the National Debt. To crush his life-long rival,
Louis, was a mission which William felt called upon
to perform, and which nothing would induce him to
abandon. From his earliest years he had learnt to
hate the name of France, and his life had been
passed in one long struggle to humble the French
monarch and frustrate his ambitious schemes. He,
who at the head of the small but resolute Dutch
Republic had defied single-handed the power of the
two strongest nations in Europe ; who had seen his
countrymen tear down the dykes and canal banks
to let loose the waters they confined rather than
behold their fatherland desecrated by the presence
of the conquering invader, was hardly the man to
relinquish the struggle when his hands were
strengthened by the resources and energies of
England. Time had not effaced from William's
memory the recollection of the wrongs and affronts
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 147
his country had suffered, so that, on his accession
to the English crown, he renewed hostilities with
even greater zeal and determination than before.
Louis on his side, being as anxious to crush William
as William was to crush him, did not relax his
efforts, but exerted all his strength, brought into
play all the arts of diplomacy and intrigue to attain
his cherished object. When he remembered how
both Charles II. and James II. had been in his pay,
how completely successive English ministers had
been his tools, it must have galled him to find his
hated rival placed on a throne which gave him such
greater powers of defiance. Deep as his hatred of
William had been formerly, it became deeper and
more bitter as he noticed the resolute front and
undisguised contempt displayed towards France by
his foe after he landed in England. The rage and
annoyance, the bitter disappointment and chagrin
felt by Louis, were well known, for he made no
attempt to conceal them. He sheltered the de-
throned James, surrounded him with a mock Court,
and did all in his power to irritate the Court of St
James's. The contest was maintained by William
with a certain amount of personal pride, but, how-
ever ardently he may have desired to see France
148 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
humbled, it was even more important to the in-
terests and welfare of England and of Europe that
the ambitious designs and tyrannical projects of
Louis should be checked by the strong hand. In
addition to his own military genius and undaunted
courage, William III. called into requisition the
strength and riches of the British Empire. The
creation of the National Debt was, under the cir-
cumstances, fully justified. " Had he employed,"
remarks Mr Francis, " the arbitrary mode of
levying supplies of the earlier monarchs ; had he
made forced loans, and never repaid them ; had he
;
seized upon public money and wrung the purses of
public men, the country might as well have been
governed by a James as a William, and would in
all probability have recalled from exile the unfor-
tunate house of Stuart. The evils of William's
reign were in the facts that his power was not
sufficiently established to borrow on equitable
terms ; that the bribery, abuses, and corruption of
men in high places increased with their position ;
and, above all, that instead of paying his debts by
terminable annuities he made them interminable. "
In spite of the great difficulties he experienced
in obtaining supplies, William would never abandon
NATHAN MATER ROTHSCHILD. 149
the contest, which continued more or less languidly
for a number of years, until both parties were
thoroughly exhausted by it. At length Namur was
forced to capitulate, and the long-desired suspension
of hostilities came. The power of France in Spain
was shaken ; its coasts were assailed, and Louis,
having lost his great captain, was glad to resume
his overtures for peace. The peace of Ryswick
terminated this memorable struggle, which had
cost Europe 480 millions of money and 800,000
men. No great achievement was recorded of this
protracted war, nor was the peace it produced of
long duration. Its earlier history, like that of most
English wars, was not remarkable for its successes.
The unanimity so essential to great deeds was at
that time an impossibility, owing to the divided
state of political parties. Had greater patriotism
and less self-interest and advancement been dis-
played by the House of Commons, William might
have been able to bring the war to a successful
issue years before.
The principal objection to William's financial
innovation was, as we have already observed, that
he borrowed on irredeemable annuities. Had he
borrowed on annuities terminable at a certain date,
150 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD,
the operation would have been very little dearer,
whilst, instead of saddling posterity with a heavy
burden, the pressure would have decreased year by
year, until the debt finally disappeared. Credit,
moreover, would have improved as time went on,
and the discontent have lessened. Whatever blame
may be attached to William, still stronger must be
the blame attached to the advisers of succeeding
monarchs, who although perfectly well acquainted
with the objections to the raising of money on
irredeemable annuities still continued the practice.
It was predicted by Sir Eobert Walpole that the
country would be ruined when the debt amounted
to 100 millions. If such was his sincere belief, he
is much to be censured for steadily omitting to
take steps to avert the calamity. It is needless to
say that the debt has long since exceeded Sir
Robert's limit, and yet the country is still far from
being bankrupt.
In 1696, while the gold was being recoined, ex-
chequer bills in amounts of 5 and 10 were intro-
duced. These were found of great convenience in
business, for, being issued on the credit of the
Government, they were regarded as equal to gold,
and passed freely from hand to hand under the con-
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 151
fident knowledge that they would be paid off at
par. The Treasury was authorized to contract with
capitalists for the supply of cash, and, although
these bills were for a short time at a discount, they
soon stood at a premium. At first they bore no
interest, but, when they were re-issued, interest was
paid on them. They have always continued to be a
favourite source of supply with succeeding minis-
tries, and when it is found inconvenient to pay them
off they are liquidated, with the consent of Parlia-
ment, by being added to the fixed debt of the
country.
It is amusing and instructive to note the variety
of expedients William was compelled to employ to
obtain his supplies. At one time it was a mild
remonstrance, at another a haughty menace, and
often a reproach that he had risked his life for an
ungrateful country. Heavy as was the cost of main-
taining the war with France, the money spent with
that object was as nothing compared with the
enormous sums expended in buying members of the
Lower House. Corruption was rampant through-
out society ; every man of influence had his price.
Some were bribed with contracts, some with por-
tions of loans, while others received titles, commis-
152 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sions, or places. So low had public credit fallen
and so high were the demands of members and the
premium on money, that of 5 millions voted for the
war only 2| millions reached the exchequer. Mr
Francis, to whom we are indebted for much of the
matter in this chapter, describes very faithfully the
state of the finances and of society at that time:
" Long annuities and short annuities, lottery. tickets
and unredeemable debts, made their frequent
appearance, and the duties, which principally date
from this period, were most pernicious. The hearth-
tax was nearly as obnoxious as the poll-tax. The
custom and excise duties were doubled. The
hawker and the hackney-coach driver, companies
and corporations, land and labour, came under
supervision. Births, burials, and bachelors were
added to the list, and whether a wife lost a husband
or whether a widow gained one, the effect was
alike. Beer and ale, wine and vinegar, coal and
culm, all contributed to the impoverished State;
and although some, who looked back with regret,
occasionally indulged their spleen, the general tone
of Parliament was submissive. Still there were
times when the truth was spoken, and truths like
the following were unpleasant : ' We have pro-
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 153
vided/ said Sir Charles Sedley, ' for the army, we
have provided for the navy, and now we must pro-
vide for the list. Truly, Mr. Speaker, 'tis a sad
reflection that some men should wallow in wealth
and places, while others pay away in taxes the
fourth part of their revenue. The courtiers and
great officers feel not the terms, while the country
gentleman is shot through and through. His
Majesty sees nothing but coaches and great tables,
and therefore cannot imagine the want and misery
of the rest of his subjects. He is encompassed by
a company of crafty old courtiers/ '' The corrupt
transactions which tended so much to increase the
National Debt are very remarkable. The assembled
Commons declared in a solemn vote : " it is notorious
that many millions are unaccounted for ; " Mr Hun-
gerford was expelled from the Lower House for ac-
cepting a bribe of 21, and the Duke of Leeds
impeached for taking one of 5,500 guineas. The
price of a Speaker Sir John Trevor was 1,050,
and the Secretary to the Treasury was sent to the
Tower on suspicion of similar practices. Money
receivers lodged large sums of public money with
the goldsmiths at the current interest. Others
lent the Exchequer its own cash in other persons'
154 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
names, and, out of 46 millions raised in fifteen years,
25 millions were unaccounted for. The commis-
sioners of hackney coaches were accessible, and
peculation in the army was discovered by the chance
petition of the dwellers in a country town. By this
it appeared that the inhabitants of Royston in Hert-
fordshire had large claims made upon them for
money by colonels, captains, and cornets, in addition
to the food and lodging which were their due. A
few independent members took up the question ; the
public supported them ; and at this juncture a book
was delivered at the lobby of the house, which
asserted that the public embezzlement was as enor-
mous as it was infamous, and that the writer was
prepared to make disclosures which would astonish
the world. The offer was accepted ; a searching
inquiry was instituted, and defalcations were dis-
covered, so great, that all wonder ceased at the in-
crease of the National Debt, and at the decrease of
the national glory. The abuses in clothing the
army were plain and palpable. The agents habi-
tually detained the money due to the soldiers and
used it for their own advantage, or compelled the
troops to pay so large a discount that they were in
the utmost distress. The subaltern officers were
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 155
not better off. Colonel Hastings afterwards
cashiered for the offence obliged them to buy their
raiment of him. If they hesitated he threatened ;
if they refused he confined them. In 1693, an
inquiry was ordered into the application of the
secret service money, when severe and deserved
animadversion was passed upon those through whom
it circulated. The power possessed by Government
under such abuses may be imagined. They were
sure of the votes of those who had places and pen-
sions, and they were sure also of the votes of that
large class of expectants which always haunts a pro-
fuse ministry j and thus " the courtiers," as the
ministerial party was long designated, could baffle
any bills, laugh at all grievances, stifle any accounts,
and raise any amount of money.
Under Queen Anne intrigue and corruption still
permeated the political world. Money had learnt
its innate power, and day by day its influence
upon the politics of the nation grew more marked
and unmistakable. Through the interest and
pressure of the State creditors, the moneyed classes,
a law was passed enacting that for the future no one
should be eligible to represent a borough in Par-
liament unless he had an income of 300 a year,
156 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
or 600 a year in the case of a county member.
The power exercised by money waxed every day
more prejudicial to the true interests of the country,
and the greater that power grew the more baneful
became its effects upon the morals of the nation.
Bribery was universal. An eager scrambling after
wealth disgraced the whole of society, and noble
names of all ranks and parties were tarnished by an
utter disregard for the laws of common honesty.
Everywhere the cry resounded :
" Get money, money still,
And then let virtue follow if she will."
Marlborough, it is well known, did not scruple to
satisfy the cravings of his avarice at the expense of
the soldiers to whom his successes were due. His
victories were but a source of gain to him ; the blood
of his gallant veterans, a trifle unworthy of con-
sideration if it interfered with his plans. Somerset,
Newcastle, and other ministers lent the State money
on terms settled by themselves.
The Funds were diverted from their legitimate
purposes and employed in buying the votes of the
Lower House. When the Tories came into office
no less than 30 millions sterling- were found to be
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 157
unaccounted for in the budget. The scandal con-
nected with this discovery was not diminished when
the investigations afterwards instituted proved abor-
tive. The whole tone of parliamentary morality
was infamous, and the financial condition of the
country was proportionately unsatisfactory and
alarming. The National Debt is in a measure
answerable for much of the corruption that prevailed,
and there is undoubtedly much truth in the argu-
ments which have been urged against this method of
raising the money required by the State in emer-
gencies. The objections are directed, not so much
against the debt itself as, against the evils it has
brought in its train. Speculation was promoted
and encouraged by its creation, which, from a
business point of view, has certainly been of little
benefit to the mercantile world. Seeing fortunes
quickly and easily won by speculations in the
Funds, merchants were seduced from their own
legitimate pursuits. In 1697 the debt amounted
to 20 millions, and it was found to be such a
convenient agent, with such elastic qualities, that
its proportions were for ever on the increase. The
deficit in that year was no less than 5 millions.
This state of things was turned to account by
158 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
speculators, who set afloat rumours of every descrip-
tion to disparage the Government. Capital was
made out of the distresses of the Ministry, the in-
terest on the debt was declared to be uncertain,
and the public credit was depreciated by any and
every means. The Funds in consequence attracted
an amount of attention and acquired an importance
which have but increased with the progress of
time. The great Hebrew capitalist and speculator
Medina aroused the envy of many by the large
fortune he amassed in a comparatively short period.
Eager to imitate and rival his success, English
merchants began to dabble and speculate in the
Funds, and the Royal Exchange soon became as
Change Alley was later the rendezvous where
men of all creeds and nationalities met to tempt
the fickle goddess, and enrich themselves by this
privileged mode of gambling. Jews and Gentiles,
Quakers and Ministers, rogues and hypocrites, all
mingled in the fray. On that common ground all
prejudices and enmities were sunk and forgotten.
A greed for money swayed the hearts and minds of
these worshippers of Mammon. The speculation
fever spread with surprising rapidity; each day
saw the crowd grow in proportion. If business in
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 159
the Funds slackened, other sources of speculation
were discovered : bargains in annuities, lottery
tickets, tontines, exchequer bills were made briskly,
and bubble companies were promoted with almost
the same facilities as in the nineteenth century.
" The poor English nation/' said one writer, " run
a madding after new inventions, whims, and
projects, and this unhappy ingredient my country-
men have in their temper; they are violent and
prosecute their projects eagerly."
William III. created the National Debt, but the
foundation stone was indirectly laid by Charles II.
when, in 1672, he appropriated to his own use half
a million of money deposited by merchants and
goldsmiths in the exchequer. Charles, however,
repudiated all claims made upon him for the re-
.storation of the money thus taken, and to William
belongs the merit of having first acknowledged the
indebtedness of the State to its creditors. Not
only did he own his liability for sums he himself
borrowed, but he added to them the amount mis-
appropriated by his predecessor. The condition
on which he negotiated his first loan was that those
who advanced him money should receive stock repre-
senting double the value of their contributions.
160 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Forty firms expressed their readiness to assist him
on these lucrative terms, and in this way he raised
half a million sterling towards carrying on the war
with France. By making so liberal an offer he gained
two immense advantages : he not only obtained the
money he required, but he secured the support
of the great body of English merchants, who,
having placed their capital at his disposal, were
naturally interested in the maintenance of his rule.
At the same time he won the gratitude of the
nobility, who on previous occasions had always been
called upon to prove their loyalty by large sacrifices.
In 1694, being again in want of funds, William
announced that he wished to raise 1,200,000, and
that he was willing to grant those merchants who
first subscribed this sum, a charter in their joint
capacity under the title of the Bank of England.
By this charter they were allowed to carry on a
general banking business, and were given certain
privileges in buying and selling bills of exchange,
bullion, and other commodities. The money was.
soon subscribed, and in this way the first public
debt was handed down to posterity. At William's
death it amounted to 16 millions, but so rapidly
did it accumulate that it was 54 millions when.
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 161
his successor died. The increase is partly accounted
for by the cost of Marlborough's war, but by far the
greater portion was due to the prevailing bribery
and corruption.
In 1782 William Pitt first entered the Ministry,
holding the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and the following year found him, as Prime
Minister, at the head of the affairs of the country.
To improve the finances was the task which before
aught else claimed his attention. This was a problem
worthy of his great genius, and the results of his
remarkable skill and untiring energy were manifest
before many years had passed. The revenue in-
creased rapidly. In 1783 it amounted to but 10
millions sterling, but by 1800 it had risen to 26
millions, while in 1810 it was no less than 62
millions. By Pitt's skilful plans the national
finances which, under Lord North's administration,
had been allowed to fall into a deplorable condition,
were once more re-established, and public credit
restored. The most convincing proof of the sound-
ness of Pitt's financial policy is that his measures have
been the basis of all subsequent legislation affecting
the revenue and expenditure of the country. He
likewise instituted a scheme for the reduction of
M
162 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the National Debt. The result of the various steps
taken by him was so favourable that Consols, which
in 1784 stood at 54, already reached 76 in 1786,
and by 1792 had risen to 96, or a rise of 42 per
cent, in eight years.
No event in the financial history of England has
had such important results immediately and remotely
as the suspension of cash payments during the reign
of George III. In 1797 the English banks found
themselves deeply embarrassed, mainly in conse-
quence of the demands of the Government, who
borrowed millions every year for the war, and for the
support by subsidies of half the Continental Powers.
All cash payments were forbidden, the consequence
being that Bank notes fell at once to a discount.
The 1 note became worth only 17s. or 18s. The
House of Commons at length voted that the value
must be restored to par; but the mere vote was in-
sufficient to stop the depreciation. At length,
under Lord Liverpool's Ministry, cash payments
were resumed, and all who had contracted debts
during the depreciation found themselves compelled
to pay in cash, by which they lost heavily. Bank-
ruptcy and ruin were the inevitable results. Having
given this hasty and imperfect sketch of the finances
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 163
of the country up to the beginning of this century,
we will proceed to narrate the career of Nathan
Mayer Rothschild, the founder of the firm in
London.
The London firm was the first branch of the
Frankfort business, and was, as we have said, started
at the commencement of this century by Nathan
Mayer Rothschild, the third son of old Mayer
Amschel, of the Judengasse. The immediate cause
of his repairing to England was a dispute with one of
the great cotton manufacturers from Lancashire, who
treated Nathan Mayer, himself a rough, unpolished
man, in an arrogant, overbearing fashion, which
was keenly resented. At that time the Continent,
Germany and Austria especially, was entirely de-
pendent on England for its supplies of cotton
goods, and the English manufacturers, secure as
they thought in their monopoly, abused their posi-
tion and treated their foreign customers in a very
cavalier fashion. In their opinion it was quite a
favour on their part to dispose of their wares at all.
The Frankfort house did a large business in cotton
goods, and it was the behaviour of one of the manu-
facturers who visited the firm that caused Nathan
Mayer to adopt the sudden resolve to go to England.
164 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
We cannot do better than repeat his own version,
as published in Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton's
Biography, of his first experiences and successes in
England. In one of his letters Sir Thomas says:
"We dined yesterday at Ham House, to meet
the Kothschilds, and very amusing it was. He
(Rothschild) told us his life and adventures. He
was the third son of a banker at Frankfort. ' There
was not/ he said, ' room for us all in that city. I
dealt in English goods. One great trader came
there who had the market all to himself; he was
quite the great man, and did us a favour if he sold
us goods. Somehow I offended him and he refused
to show me his patterns. This was on a Tuesday. I
said to my father : ' I will go to England/ I could
speak nothing but German. On the Thursday I
started. The nearer I got to England the cheaper
the goods were. As soon as I got to Manchester I
laid out all my money, things were so cheap, and I
made a good profit. I soon found out there were
three profits the raw material, the dyeing, and the
manufacturing. I said to the manufacturer, ' I will
supply you with material and dye, and you supply
me manufactured goods/ So I got three profits
instead of one, and I could sell goods cheaper than
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 165
anybody. In a short time I made my 20,000 into
60,000. My success all turned on one maxim. I
said, ' I can do what another man can, and so I am
a match for the man with the patterns and for all
the rest of them/ "
Nothing could demonstrate more clearly Nathan
Rothschild's profound confidence in his own powers,
and his resolute character, than this simple narrative.
So rapid was his success in Manchester, that before
many years had passed he found even that was too
limited a sphere for the mind which could grapple
with three profits. He accordingly at the begin-
ning of this century established himself in London,
where he was afterwards destined to make such a
name. Previous to his arrival in London, the
business of the parent house in Frankfort had
passed through the hands of the banking firm of
Van Notten, but Nathan Mayer at once assumed
the control and management of the firm's interests
in England. In the concluding portion of his
letter, Sir T. F. Buxton writes :
" I forgot to say that soon after Rothschild came
to England Buonaparte invaded Germany. ' The
Prince of Hesse Cassel/ said Rothschild, ' gave my
father his money ; there was no time to be lost : he
166 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sent it to me. I had 600,000 arrive unexpectedly
by post; and I put it to such good use that the
Prince made me a present of all his wine and linen/ ;
The immense profits realized by these early
transactions, Nathan Rothschild soon found means
to multiply. It was a period when a man gifted
with his remarkable shrewdness and business
capacities was bound to succeed. However great
his folly may have seemed at the time when
Napoleon's forces were trampling all Europe beneath
their feet, Nathan Mayer learnt to form a favourable
idea of the immense strength and resources of
England, and his calculations as to the ultimate
issue of the struggle were all in favour of his adopted
country. Acting on his convictions, he on one
occasion purchased a large amount of bills of the
Duke of Wellington at a heavy discount, but know-
ing that the credit and faith of the country were
pledged to their payment he felt he had made a good
bargain. To quote his own words once more :
"When I settled in London, the East India
Company had 800,000 worth in gold to sell. I
went to the sale, and bought it all. I knew the
Duke of Wellington must have it. I had bought
a great many of his bills at a discount. The
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 167
Government sent for me and said they must have
it. When they had got it, they did not know how
to get it to Portugal. I undertook all that, and I
sent it through France, and that was the best
business I ever did."
Nathan Mayer was generally termed a merchant,
but, although his commercial transactions were large
and important, the scene of his greatest and most
profitable triumphs was the Stock Exchange. At a
time when the prices of the Funds and all securities
were subject to violent fluctuations, the temptations
to a great capitalist, with the speculative instinct
so strongly developed as in Nathan Mayer, were
irresistible. Though a mere stripling among the
grey heads of the money market, his almost preter-
natural sagacity in the art of money making
brought him at once into prominence, and he
became the leading man on the Stock Exchange,
none of the members of which could boast, like him,
of having " multiplied their capital 2,500 times in
the course of five years." He had now a field
opened out to him for the display of his remark-
able powers, and his immense speculations in the
Funds, by which he realized large profits, proved
him to be gifted with a wonderful intuitive fore-
168 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sight as to the course of events, combined with
great fertility of resource, and unrivalled boldness.
The introduction which his first business with the
Government had secured him to the Ministers, was
invaluable in his after career, as it enabled him to
procure from privileged sources early information of
all that passed in the political world likely to affect
the money market. Every piece of early informa-
tion was worth thousands to him on the Stock
Exchange, the pulse of which none knew better
how to feel than he. But he was ere long dis-
satisfied even with the privileges secured to him by
his connection with the Government, and he origi-
nated a system of intelligence by which news was
conveyed to him long before the arrival of the
Government couriers and messengers. He had his
own staff of active agents and couriers, whose duty
it was to follow in the wake of armies or attend at
the different Courts to collect and transmit to him
regularly, without regard to expense, reports of all
that transpired. He organized a system of pigeon
post, by which news was conveyed to him from the
Continent rapidly and at short intervals. He was
known to have spent immense sums on his pigeons,
and was ever ready to pay liberally for birds
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 169
possessing great strength and swiftness. The
superiority of his intelligence over that of the
Government was proved on several occasions. He
was the first to inform Lord Aberdeen of the Paris
July revolution, as he had been to announce the
defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. In connection
with Waterloo an interesting little romance has
been written upon the immense sum Nathan Mayer
gained by his early knowledge of the victory of the
Allies, which his financial strategy enabled him to
use to the fullest advantage on the Stock Exchange.
Many of his large speculations had been based
on the presumed success of the English arms, and
he was perhaps congratulating himself on his shrewd
foresight and the soundness of his calculations when
the sudden and treacherous return of Napoleon
from Elba shattered at once his golden dreams and
renewed all his previous anxiety and fears. No
man, indeed, had greater cause to tremble at the
reappearance of the mighty despot than had Nathan
Mayer ; when the fruits of his victory seemed
almost within his grasp, they were at a blow re-
moved, and he was left surrounded with doubts and
contingencies. In the midst of its rejoicings the
whole of Europe was startled with alarm and dis-
]70 THE HOVSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
may. That the deposed Emperor should ever
return to harass and devastate Europe, had never
occurred to men's minds ; it was a possibility of
which no one had ever thought. The public
alarm was only increased as the news of the glad
welcome Napoleon received on his way to Paris
became known. So upset was Nathan Mayer by
the news, and so intense became his anxiety to
learn how matters progressed and were likely to
end, that it would not allow him to rest satisfied
with the speed of his couriers, but drove him to
go himself to the Continent to watch the course of
events with his own eyes. He accordingly pro-
ceeded to Belgium and followed close in the wake
of the English army. When at length the Duke
took up his position at Waterloo, and quietly
awaited the French forces, Nathan Mayer felt that
the critical moment on which hung the fortunes,
not of Europe alone, but of the Rothschilds also,
had arrived. He had such an immense stake de-
pendent upon the issue, that his feverish anxiety
would not allow him to remain in the background.
He proceeded to the battle-field and took up a
position commanding a view of both armies. We
can imagine how eagerly he scanned the field, and
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 171
noted the disposition and strength of the opposing
forces. Those under the command of the Iron
Duke must, we should fancy, have struck him as
being outmatched and standing but a poor chance
with the French army, which included the famous
and hitherto invincible " Old Guard." Turning to
the distinguished personages around him, among
whom were to be seen Count Pozzo di Borgo, Baron
Vincent, General Alava, Baron Muffling, and others
of equal note, Nathan Mayer questioned eagerly
and wistfully all who cared to give him a hearing.
The answers he received were discouraging and
but increased his fears, for all were too well aware
that the struggle between two such remarkable
commanders would be long and stubborn. Though
hoping for victory, none felt confident enough to
predict such a result. The battle began. A dense
smoke, from the furious cannonade, soon enveloped
the whole field in a cloud; but Nathan Mayer's
straining eyes were able from time to time to see
the fierce charges of the French cavalry, by which
the safety of the English lines was more than once
imperilled. Cold steel, however, conquered, and
the assailants recoiled before the bristling hedge
of bayonets. And so the battle grew and waxed
172 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
fiercer as the day progressed. On the opposite
hill of Rossomme, Napoleon was seated with a map
outstretched before him, and from there he issued
the orders for a last and desperate charge, on
which all his hopes of victory were placed. The
Old Guard, with the gallant Ney at their head,
rushed forward to retrieve the fortunes of the day ;
but in vain. They had met their masters. They
were driven back by the British bayonets, and were
soon to be seen making their way from the battle-
field in the greatest confusion and disorder. With
a ringing cheer that told which side had won, the
English forces rushed after their foes, whilst Nathan
Mayer, his anxiety allayed and his spirits restored,
spurred his horse back towards Brussels. It was
dusk as he quitted the field, and his solitary ride
in the darkness must have been intensely exciting
to his already highly taxed brain. It was a ride he
cannot readily have forgotten. Having reached
Brussels, he procured, after some difficulty, a car-
riage to convey him without delay, and at all
speed, to Ostend, where he arrived, travel-stained
and weary, on the morning of the 19th June. Tired
as he was, he would not stay to rest. In spite of
the tempestuous sea, and the threatening weather,
NATHAN HATER ROTHSCHILD. 173
he wished to make his way across the Channel, but
even the fishermen shrank from the attempt. In
vain he offered bribes of five hundred, six hundred,
eight hundred francs to the poor fellows; they
would not venture. It was not until the offer
reached two thousand francs that one of them con-
sented to brave the tempest, and endeavour to take
Nathan Mayer across to England, on condition
that the money was paid to his wife before starting.
They set sail, and before they had gone far the
threatening weather changed for the better, whilst
a favourable breeze sprang up and considerably
accelerated their passage. In the evening they
sighted Dover and shortly after Nathan Mayer
dragged his weary limbs ashore. Even here he
would not rest, but, after procuring the swiftest
post-horses to be had, resumed his journey to
London. The next day he was to be seen leaning
against his well-known pillar on the Stock Ex-
change, apparently broken in health and spirits,
and looking as if he had been overwhelmed and
crushed by some direful calamity. The greatest
gloom and despondency had for days prevailed in
the City, and as men looked at Rothschild, and then
significantly at each other, they seemed to come
174 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
unanimously to the conclusion that their hopes had
been blasted, and that the worst was yet to be
known. Had not Rothschild travelled post-haste
from the Continent, and were not his agents already
selling out ? The Stock Exchange, generally so full
of life and noise, was unusually silent ; speculators
moved about in a listless, aimless way, now and then
stopping to discuss in low whispers the cause of the
great financier's sales. The gloom and despon-
dency was not lessened when a rumour became
current that Rothschild had told a friend in con-
fidence that Blucher with his 117,000 Prussians
had been defeated on the 16th and 17th June at
Ligny, and that Wellington could not hope with
his handful of soldiers to arrest the progress of
Napoleon's victorious and far larger forces. The
evil news spread through the City like wildfire.
The Funds dropped rapidly, and the greatest un-
easiness and despondency prevailed. The change
was so violent and so sudden. It seemed as if it
were but yesterday that Europe had been exulting
over the discomfiture of Buonaparte and the restora-
tion of peace. The public thanksgiving, the grand
reviews, the public rejoicing, the fireworks, had
hardly yet finished, and now, the whole was in vain,
NATHAN MATER ROTHSCHILD. 175
the scourge of Europe was loose again. And so the
day closed, with not a ray of hope to brighten the
all-pervading gloom. But the next afternoon a
sudden, wild reaction set in. It was everywhere
reported, with sparkling eyes and heightened colour
in men's cheeks, that Wellington was victorious, and
the French defeated. Nathan Mayer had himself
been the first to announce the good news with
undisguised delight and satisfaction to his friends
on the Stock Exchange. When the glad tidings
received official confirmation some hours later the
public joy knew no limits. The Funds rose again
at a bound. Many pitied Rothschild for the
enormous losses he had, as they thought, suffered ;
they little suspected that, while his known agents
had been selling openly, his unknown agents had
bought up secretly every piece of scrip they could
secure. Far from losing, he had by his manipula-
tions pocketed nearly a million sterling.
In 1806 Nathan Mayer Rothschild married a
daughter of Levi Barnet Cohen, one of the wealthiest
Jews at that time living in London. After ac-
cepting Rothschild as his daughter's suitor, Cohen
had^some doubts as to the extent of his future son-
in-law's riches. A man who speculated so boldly
176 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
and so largely was not unlikely to be speculating with
other persons' money, so Cohen prudently asked
for some proof of his reputed wealth. This Roth-
schild declined to give, saying that as far as wealth
and good character went, Mr Cohen could not do
better than give him all his daughters in marriage.
The name of Rothschild became familiar to the
English public mainly through its connection with
loans issued for various Governments. This loan
business was perhaps the most profitable of all the
many enterprises on which the firm embarked, as,
to begin with, there was the certainty of a hand-
some commission ; whilst the endless Stock Ex-
change speculations to which the loans gave rise
were a fruitful source of gain to Nathan Mayer.
He may fairly be said to have been the first to in-
troduce foreign loans into England, and to have
made them popular as investments. Foreign stocks
had, of course, been largely held by English capi-
talists for years, but they had never enjoyed public
favour, owing to the interest and dividends being
payable abroad. Rothschild, however, arranged
that they should in future be paid in London, at
fixed rates in sterling money, an arrangement which
contributed largely to the success of the loans
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 177
brought out under his auspices. It speaks well,
indeed, for his prudence and caution, that, although
the loans issued through other firms were often re-
pudiated and the interest stopped, none that he
took up were ever known to suffer from the bank-
ruptcy of the Governments for whom they had been
issued. Rather than allow his loans to acquire a
bad name through the inability of the contracting
State, owing to temporary difficulties, to provide the
funds necessary for the payment of the interest, he
was known to have advanced his own money for
that purpose, trusting to his influence and power to
secure its due return. However unfavourable an
opinion people may entertain of some foreign loans,
it is quite certain that they cannot point to any
loan issued by the Rothschilds that has come to a bad
end. The first occasion on which he assisted the
English Government was in 1819, when he un-
dertook the loan of 12,000,000. This operation
was unsuccessful, as the loan fell to a discount ;
but Rothschild had cleverly shifted the burden on to
other shoulders. The list given below, which is by
no means complete, will show how varied his loan
operations were, and will enable the reader to form
an idea of the immense profits attending this line
178 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
of business. On one single loan he made a profit
of 150,000, with which he purchased the well-
known Gunnersbury House and grounds. This
historical mansion was formerly the residence of
Princess Amelia, the aunt of George III., and on
her death the house and grounds passed into the
hands of a Mr Copland and ultimately became,
as we have said, the property of Nathan Mayer
Rothschild.
The principal loans issued by Nathan Mayer were
the following :
1818 . Prussian . 5/ o . 5,000,000
1822 . . . 3,500,000
. Eussian . . 3,500,000
1823 . Austrian . . 2,500,000
1824 . Neapolitan . . 2,500,000
1825 . Brazilian . . 2,000,000
1829 . . . 800,000
1832 . Belgian . . 2,000,000
Total . 21,800,000
The majority of these loans were remarkably suc-
cessful ; but at times the sunshine was broken.
On more than one occasion Nathan Mayer sustained
such heavy losses that the stability of any other firm
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 179
but his would have been endangered. He is esti-
mated to have lost not less than half a million by
Lord Bexley's scheme for funding Exchequer bills
in a Three and a half per cent, stock. In 1823, at
the time of the French invasion of Spain, he was
threatened with severe losses through the French
loan, but fortunately for him he saw his danger in
time, and managed to distribute the loss among
others less alert.
He would often decline proposals for loans with-
out troubling himself about the terms, if the coun-
try soliciting his assistance was under the least
suspicion, or subject to internal disorganization.
With Spain, or the South American states which
had formerly acknowledged the Spanish flag, he
would never have anything to do. He always cau-
tiously steered clear of every doubtful or unsafe
business. During the great speculation fever of
1824 and 1825 he kept studiously aloof, and warned
others to follow his example. It is true that, during
this time, he established the Alliance Marine Insur-
ance Company, but the history of the causes which
led to its formation would seetn to show that its
establishment had no connection with the specula-
tion then prevailing. When the numerous bubble
180 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
companies which had been floated burst in rapid
succession, and the inevitable panic occurred, Roth-
schild greatly relieved the market by his readiness
to purchase at a fair price any amount of stock that
might be tendered him. Brokers in many instances
preferred accepting his offers to realizing their
stock on the market. Nothing demonstrated more
clearly the power and stability of the firm during
this trying period, when the Bank of England had
nearly to close its doors, than the unstinted and
fearless manner in which it advanced funds to the
Bank to enable the latter to meet its calls.
In 1831 Nathan Mayer did what he regarded as a
very clever stroke of business. Mercury, as is well
known, is a valuable article, indispensable in many
trades, as well as in the dispensing-room. It is a
powerful medicine, and is also largely used to sepa-
rate gold and silver from the earthy impurities
with which they combine. Most of the quicksilver
found in Europe was derived either from the mines
at Idria, in Austria, or from those at Almaden, in
Spain. The latter mines had at the time of which
we are writing been allowed to fall into disuse, but
their richness was well known, even the Greeks and
Eomans having realized immense profits from the
NATHAN MATER ROTHSCHILD. 181
rich deposits there. Spain in her difficulties
thought of her once famous mines, and willingly
mortgaged them to Rothschild as security for the
due payment of the interest on the loan he had
undertaken. The immediate result of this agree-
ment took the public quite by surprise : the value
of Alrnaden quicksilver was doubled. Under these
circumstances, they naturally turned to the Idria
mines for their supplies, but only to find that the
price there likewise had been doubled. Rothschild
had managed to get the Idria mines also under his
control, and by so doing had secured the monopoly
of mercury. "This clever stroke of business as
profitable as it was clever had one notable conse-
quence for the sick and suffering of all nations.
Mercurial preparations, largely employed in medi-
cine, are at the present moment no more manufac-
tured from the pure metal as obtained from the
mines, but from the refuse of other articles contain-
ing quicksilver, such as the foil of old mirrors and
looking-glasses." This piece of stratagem brought
down upon Nathan Mayer a shower of abuse and
condemnation from the press.
On another occasion he forced even that vener-
able institution, the Bank of England, in spite of
182 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
its prestige and its Government support, to confess
that it was no match for the finesse of the great
financier. Rothschild particularly required an
amount of bullion to promote the success of an
operation he had in hand. This bullion the directors
willingly lent him on condition that it should be
returned by a certain day. On that day Rothschild
appeared at the Bank to fulfil his engagement.
When asked if he intended to return the bullion,
his reply was to produce a bundle of notes for the
amount. He was reminded of the terms of the
agreement, the directors pointing out that to oblige
him they had touched their reserve, and that they
now urgently required the bullion. "Very well,
gentlemen," he is reported to have said, "return
me my notes ; I dare say your cashier will honour
them with gold from your vaults, and then I can
return you bullion/*
This story is so characteristic of the man, that
its authenticity seems undeniable, but the same
cannot be said of the following anecdote, which is
evidently due to the fertile brain of some imagina-
tive writer. The very minuteness of detail and
the dramatic completeness of the narrative are
enough to make one suspicious of its genuineness.
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 183
The elements of improbability are too prominent
and manifest to fail to strike the reader. The
story runs that the Bank mortally offended Nathan
Mayer, by refusing to discount a bill drawn upon
him for a large amount by his brother Anselm of
Frankfort. The Bank had haughtily replied that
they "discounted only their own bills, and not
those of private persons." But they had to deal
with one stronger even than the Bank. " Private
persons ! " exclaimed Rothschild, when the fact was
reported to him ; " private persons ! I will make
these gentlemen feel what sort of private persons
we are ! " Three weeks afterwards, Nathan Mayer,
who had employed the interval in collecting all the
bank-notes he could procure in England and on the
Continent, presented himself at the Bank as soon
as it was opened. He drew from his pocket-book a
5-note, and the clerk naturally counted out five
sovereigns, at the same time looking with great as-
tonishment at Rothschild. It seemed strange that he
should trouble himself for such a trifle. He, how-
ever, examined the coins carefully one by one, and
put them in a little canvas bag ; then drawing out
another note, a third, a fourth, a tenth, a hundredth,
he kept demanding change for his notes, never
184 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
placing the money in his bag without first scrupu-
lously examining the pieces. In some cases he
would try them in the balance, " as/' he observed,
" the law gave him the right to do." The first
pocket-book being emptied, and the first bag filled,
he passed them to his clerk, and received a second
supply of notes, thus continuing to drain the Bank
of its gold till the doors were closed. He had
spent seven hours in changing 21,000. But as
he had nine of his employes engaged in the same
manner, it resulted that the Bank had lost 210,000
from its reserve of gold. Moreover, Nathan Mayer
had kept the tellers so occupied that no other
persons could change a single note. Everything
that bears the stamp of eccentricity always pleases
the English public, and in this instance the pique
of the great millionaire caused endless amusement.
The directors, however, laughed less, when they
saw him reappear next day at the opening of the
Bank, accompanied by his nine allies ; they laughed
no longer when they heard the financial despot say,
with ironical simplicity : " These gentlemen refuse
to take my bills ; I have sworn not to keep theirs.
I will merely warn them that I hold notes enough
to keep them occupied for two months/' For two
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 185
months ! eleven millions of gold drawn from the
Bank ! The Bank grew alarmed ; something had
to be done. The next morning a notice appeared
that in future Rothschild's bills would be taken as
readily as their own.
Shrewd and 'cute as Nathan Mayer proved him-
self to be, the laugh was not always on his side.
He at times met with rivals whose cunning and
strategy were too much even for his subtle calcula-
tions. A leading banker once lent him a million
and a half against the security of Consols, which
were then quoted at 84. The terms on which the
money was advanced were clear and simple ; the
banker was to have the option of buying the Con-
sols at 70, should the price recede to 74. Roth-
schild felt satisfied with his bargain, for the possi-
bility of Consols dropping 10 per cent, appeared to
him a very remote contingency. The banker,
however, had acted on an idea which subsequently
fully justified his course of procedure. He at once
began unloading Rothschild's Consols on the mar-
ket, following this up by a similar amount in his
own possession. The market grew alarmed at the
gigantic sales ; uneasiness and doubt followed ; the
Funds dropped rapidly, and other circumstances
186 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
occurring to help the depression, the fatal price of
74 was at length reached. The Christian had out-
matched the Jew.
When he lived at Stamford Hill, Nathan Mayer
had as an opposite neighbour a wealthy stockbroker
named Lucas, who, on returning home late one
evening, noticed Rothschild's carriage standing
ready at the gate. Thinking something must be
in the wind, Lucas directed his coachman to drive
round to the stable and not unharness the horses,
but to wait till he sent for him. Concealing him-
self, he presently saw Rothschild and two com-
panions enter the carriage, the driver being ordered
to drive "to the City." Hastily summoning his
own carriage, the stockbroker started in pursuit,
and saw them alight at New Court. A few minutes
later he followed, and, reeling past the housekeeper
in an apparently hopelessly drunken state, forced
his way, in spite of all opposition, to the financier's
private room, where he fell prostrate on the floor.
Nathan and his friends were not unnaturally startled
by the sudden inrush of their unwelcome and un-
invited visitor. They raised him, bathed his face
with cold water, but without any benefit, the only
result-being a convulsive trembling and shrinking.
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 187
They were at a loss what to do with Lucas, but,
noticing that he seemed at length to settle into a
heavy slumber, determined to let him remain where
he had fallen. Time was precious ; they had im-
portant matters to discuss, so they covered the
reveller with a rug, and proceeded with their
business. Important news had been received from
Spain, and the result of the consultation was to
order certain brokers to commence at once buying
up cautiously a particular stock. This settled, Roth-
schild and his companions separated. After they
had gone, Lucas began slowly to recover, and
although still uncertain and shaky on his legs, and
suffering from a dreadful headache, as he said, he
insisted, in spite of the housekeeper's remon-
strances, upon going home. On reaching the
street he went at once to his office, where he made
arrangements for buying up all the stock he could
procure. Rothschild was dreadfully upset by this
trick, and used always to refer to it as the " base,
dishonest, and nefarious stratagem " of Lucaa.
In addition to his loan business and speculations,
Rothschild embarked in many commercial enter-
prises, for he was ready to support any under-
taking which appeared to him at once sound and
188 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
likely to prove lucrative. By his immense bill
transactions he must have won hundreds of thou-
sands of pounds. A writer in " The Gentleman's
Magazine/' shortly after Rothschild's death, said :
"He never hesitated for a moment in fixing the rate,
either as a drawer or as a taker, on any part of the
world ; and his memory was so retentive that, not-
withstanding the immense transactions on which
he entered every foreign post-day, and though he
never took note of them, he could, on his return
home, with perfect exactness, dictate the whole to
his clerks." Nothing was too gigantic for his
grasp; nothing too minute to escape his notice.
His mind was as capable of contracting a loan for
millions, as of calculating the lowest salary on which
a clerk could exist. " It was characteristic of Na-
than/' says Martin, in his " Stories of Banks and
Bankers," that "he never paid his employes a
farthing more than was necessary for their bare sub-
sistence or at least not a farthing more than they
could compel him to pay. This meanness towards
those who assisted him in building up the edifice of
his enormous fortune is a reproach to the character
of the man from which even his warmest adulators
have not been able to free him." This is a reproach
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 189
from which we are glad to say the present heads of
the firm are free, for their liberality is too well
known to require our confirmation.
" One cause of his success/' says the author of
" The Stock Exchange," " was the secrecy with
which he shrouded all his transactions, and the
tortuous policy with which he misled those who
watched him the keenest. If he possessed news
calculated to make the Funds rise, he would com-
mission the broker who acted on his behalf to sell
half a million. The shoal of men who usually fol-
low the movements of others sold with him. The
news soon passed through Capel Court that Roth-
schild was bearing the market, and the Funds fell.
Men looked doubtingly at one another; a gene-
ral panic spread ; bad news was looked for ; and
these united agencies sank the price two or three
per cent. This was the result expected, and other
brokers, not usually employed by him, bought all
they could at the reduced rate. By the time this
was accomplished, the good news had arrived ; the
pressure ceased ; the Funds rose instantly ; and Mr
Rothschild reaped his reward." To tell who was
and who was not his agent was well-nigh impos-
sible, for he is known to have made his very enemies
190 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
his tools to serve his purposes. He was informed
one day that a broker had been openly abusing
him on the Stock Exchange, and boasting "how
thoroughly he detested Eothschild and the whole
Jewish race." Nathan listened quietly and un-
movedly to the statement, merely remarking
"Thank you; I am much obliged. That man
will be useful."
Shortly afterwards this abusive broker sold out on
behalf of a third party, acting secretly for Rothschild,
600,000 Consols; " For/' said Nathan, "they will
never suspect he is bearing the market on my ac-
count." It was a common practice with this mighty
speculator to have one set of agents selling, and
another buying, the same stock, so that there was
no ascertaining what in reality was the object of his
manoeuvres. The probable result was a secret con-
fined to his own breast. Owing to his enormous
power, subtle stratagems, and profound mystery, no
one could conjecture, with any certainty, his pur-
poses. A general suspicion and mistrust followed
him in all his actions. If business was flat and dull,
it was caused by Rothschild, while, if matters im-
proved, the improvement was declared fictitious and
only temporary. The whole Stock Exchange be-
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 191
came tilled with an uncomfortable atmosphere of
suspicion and incredulity, which kept the members
ever in a fever of apprehension and doubt.
It may not be out of place to mention that
Nathan Mayer attributed much of his success to the
observance of two maxims : " Another advantage I
had. I was an off-hand man; I made a bargain at
once." The second maxim shows that he had a
grain of superstition in his composition, for he
would never, as he said, have anything to do with
an unlucky man or an unlucky place. " I have seen
many clever men, very clever men, who had not
shoes to their feet. I never act with them. Their
advice sounds very well, but fate is against them ;
they cannot get on themselves, and, if they cannot do
good to themselves, how can they do good to me ? "
His methods of business and his conduct pro-
cured him many enemies. The satirists were ever
ridiculing hia portly figure and slovenly appear-
ance, caricaturing his Jewish accent and his uncouth
manners. He was indeed a subject created for
caricature, but he was at the same time utterly in-
sensible to the jeers and laughter he occasioned.
He pursued his path without paying the least regard
to anything that might be done to give him offence.
192 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Undoubtedly he was responsible for much of this
satire and ridicule. In his manners and address he
seemed to delight in displaying his thorough disre-
gard of all the courtesies and amenities of civilized
life. They were to him superfluities and shams. He
appeared to pride himself on his blunt and outspoken
style of speech, which he mistook for frankness,
but which was usually so violent and uncouth that in
any other than a millionaire it would not have been
tolerated. He was, like most of his family, a man
of unbridled temper, which led him into excesses of
passion and language quite unworthy of his posi-
tion in society. A clever anonymous writer thus
describes him as he was seen on "'Change" :
" There is a rigidity and a tension in his features
too that would make you fancy, if you did not see
that it was not so, that someone was pinching him
behind, and that he was either afraid or ashamed
to say so. Eyes are usually denominated the win-
dows of the soul ; but here you would conclude
that the windows are false ones, or that there was
no soul to look out of them. There comes not one
pencil of light from the interior, neither is there
one scintillation of that which comes from without
reflected in any direction. The whole puts you in
ROTHSCHILD ON EXCHANGE.
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 193
mind of a skin to let, and you wonder why it
stands upright without at least something in it. By-
and-by another figure comes up to it. It then
steps two paces aside, and the most inquisitive
glance that you ever saw, and a glance more
inquisitive than you would ever have thought
of, is drawn out of the erewhile fixed and leaden
eye, as if one were drawing a sword from a scab-
bard. The visiting figure, which has the appear-
ance of coming by accident and not by design, stops
but a second or two, in the course of which looks
are exchanged which, though you cannot translate,
you feel must be of most important meaning. After
these the eyes are sheathed up again, and the figure
resumes its stony posture. During the morning
numbers of visitors come, all of whom meet with a
similar reception and vanish in a similar manner;
and, last of all, the figure itself vanishes, leaving
you utterly at a loss as to what can be its nature
and functions." Nathan Mayer must indeed have
at once attracted attention as he leaned against
his favourite pillar, with his shoulders drawn up
to his ears, and his hands plunged deep in his
breeches-pockets, motionless, and apparently specu-
lationless.
o
194 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
" The name of this gentleman, the entertainments
given by him, the charities to which he occasionally-
subscribed, and the amount of his transactions in
the money market were blazoned abroad. Peers
and the princes of the blood sat at his table ;
clergymen and laymen bowed before him; and
they who preached loudest against mammon, bent
lowest before the mammon-worshipper. Gorgeous
plate, fine furniture, an establishment such as many
a noble of Norman descent would envy, graced his
entertainments. Without social refinement, with
manners which, offensive in the million, were but
brusque in the millionaire, he collected around him
the fastidious members of the most fastidious aris-
tocracy in the world. He saw the representatives
of all the States in Europe proud of his friendship.
By the democratic envoy of the New World, by the
ambassador of the imperial Russ, was his hospitality
alike "accepted ; while the man who warred with
slavery in all its forms and phases was himself slave
to the golden reputation of the Hebrew. The
language which Mr Rothschild could use when his
anger overbalanced his discretion was a licence
allowed to his wealth ; and he who, when placed in
a position which almost compelled him to subscribe
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 195
to a pressing charity, could exclaim, e Here ! write
a cheque ; I have made one fool of myself ! '
was courted and caressed by the clergy, was feted
and flattered by the poor, was treated as an equal
by the first minister of the Crown, and more than
worshipped by those whose names stood foremost
on the roll of the commercial aristocracy. His
mode of dictating letters was characteristic of a
mind entirely absorbed in money-making ; and his
ravings when he found a bill unexpectedly pro-
tested, were translated into mercantile language
ere they were fit to meet a correspondent's eye.
It is painful to write thus depreciatingly of a man
who possessed so large a development of brain ; but
the golden gods of England have many idolaters,
and the voice of truth rarely penetrates the private
room of the English merchant. There was, how-
ever, an occasional gleam of humour in him, sternly
as his thoughts were devoted to heaping up riches.
' I am as good as you,' said he to the Due de Mont-
morenci, when his title was granted, 'you style
yourself the first Christian baron, and I am the
first Jew baron/ "
This reminds one forcibly of another anecdote.
A German Prince, bearing letters of introduction
196 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
and credit to the great financier, called at New
Court, and was shown into the private room where
Nathan Mayer was sitting busy with a number of
papers before him. On hearing his visitor's name,
Rothschild nodded and motioned him to take a
seat, whilst he went on steadily with the examina-
tion of his papers. This cool treatment was not
quite what the Prince expected should have been
shown to one of his dignity and rank. After
standing a minute or two, he exclaimed : " Did you
hear, sir, who I am ? I am - ," naming his
full title. "Very well," said Rothschild, "take
two chairs." More often the point of his jokes
was due to his imperfect pronunciation of English.
When dining at the Mansion House one evening,
he was heard to remark to a guest who had declared
his preference of mutton to venison : " Ah, I see ;
you like mutton because it is sheep (cheap) ; others
like venison because it is deer (dear) ! "
Wealth, whatever luxuries it might command,
was unable to secure its possessor happiness or
tranquillity of mind. Rothschild was a prey to
empty fears, and the care and anxiety inseparable
from the control and safe-keeping of his millions
effectually prevented him from ever enjoying any
NATHAN MATER ROTHSCHILD. 197
peace of mind or relaxation. He had made nume-
rous enemies ; he had ruined many a man of
business by his stratagems and speculations, so
that it is not surprising to learn he was continually
haunted by dreams of assassination. Threatening
letters poured in upon him by the hundred, and
one in particular, sent to him by a secret political
tribunal on the Continent, which declared that as
he, by his loans, had supported the Governments
in their tyrannical oppression of their subjects, his
death had been decided upon and the agents ap-
pointed to carry out the crime, is said to have
caused him special uneasiness. So great a hold
did his fears have over him, that for many years
before his death he is reported to have slept with
loaded pistols at his side. " You must be a happy
man," said Sir T. Fowell Buxton, as he surveyed
the comforts and luxuries of his splendid mansion,
" in such a home as this." " Happy, I happy ! "
was the bitter reply ; " what ! happy, when just as
you are going to dine a letter is placed in your
hand saying : ' If you do not send 500 I will
blow your brains out/ Happy, I happy ! "
Two tall, dark men, with heavy moustaches and
penetrating eyes were once ushered into his room.
198 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
The financier bowed ; the visitors on their side did
the same, but said nothing. They were feeling in
an anxious, nervous manner in their pockets, as if
to find something they had concealed there. Roth-
schild's fears at once led him to the conclusion that
his assassins were at last before him, bent on carry-
ing out the foul deed. Without a moment's hesita-
tion or thought, he seized a ledger within his reach
and hurled it with all his force at the unsuspecting
visitors, and shouted for assistance. When at last
an explanation was forthcoming, and Nathan Mayer
discovered that the strangers were two bankers
bearing letters of introduction, which they in their
nervous haste were unable to discover, his mortifi-
cation was intense, and he was heard to mutter to
himself : " Poor unhappy me ! a victim to nervous-
ness and fancied terrors ! and all because of my
money ! "
What little pleasure and happiness Nathan Mayer
did enjoy was derived not so much from the pos-
session of unbounded wealth, as from the excitement
and intriguing attending the making of it. He
revelled in the plotting and tricking, the manipula-
tions and stratagems which his gigantic specula-
tions necessitated and created. "This is the key,"
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 199
said one who knew him well, " to an understanding
of Rothschild's character. His ambition tended to
the accomplishment of elaborate financial operations
of making money, if you like ; but in this phrase
the emphasis must bo placed on the making; for
he did not value either money in itself or the
things that could be procured by it. He had no
taste or inclination for what every Englishman
seeks as soon as he has money enough to buy it
comfort in every respect. His ambition was to
arrive at his aim more quickly and more effectually
than others, and to steer towards it with all his
energy. When his end was reached it had lost all
its charm for him, and he turned his never- wearying
mind to something else." This view of his character
and disposition is confirmed by his own lips, as he
declared in answer to the question asked by one of
his guests : " I hope that your children are not too
fond of money and business to the exclusion of more
important things. I am sure you would not wish
that ? " " I am sure I should wish that," was the
outspoken reply ; " I wish them to give mind, soul,
and heart and body everything to business. That
is the way to be happy. It requires a great deal of
boldness, and a great deal of caution, to make a
200 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
great fortune, and, when you have got it, you require
ten times as much wit to keep it." Outside his
business Rothschild had few pleasures. Whilst his
mansions were crowded with works of art, and the
most gorgeous appointments, it was not because he
was a patron or admirer of the arts, but because,
with his millions, it was expected of him. When
Spohr, the famous violinist and composer, called
upon Nathan, with a letter of introduction from
Nathan's brother in Frankfort, he was told by the
banker : " I understand nothing of music. This "
patting his pocket and making his money rattle
and jingle " is my music ; we understand that on
'Change. But you can come and dine with me."
" Nevertheless," added Spohr, "the letter of re-
commendation to Rothschild was not wholly use-
less, for he took a whole box at my benefit concert."
At long and rare intervals Rothschild would be
seized with a charitable freak ; but that his benevo-
lence was due to nothing better than caprice is
proved by his own words : " Sometimes to amuse
myself I give a beggar a guinea. He thinks it is a
mistake, and for fear I should find it out off he runs
as hard as he can. I advise you to give a beggar a
guinea sometimes. It is very amusing."
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 201
The directions of old Mayer Amschel of Frank-
fort, that his sons should always remain united,
were carried out to their fullest possible extent, by
the practice of intermarriage. Thus Baron James,
the head of the Paris house, had married one of his
nieces; and in 1836 it was decided that Lionel,
Nathan Mayer's eldest son, should marry his cousin,
the daughter of Anselm Rothschild of Frankfort.
Nathan Mayer went to Frankfort to be present at
the marriage festivities. He was in bad health at
the time, suffering from a carbuncle. On the day
of the wedding he was taken seriously ill, but he
obstinately maintained that it was but a passing
attack. He grew, however, rapidly worse, and,
when matters had assumed a threatening and hope-
less aspect, his physician was sent for from London.
But his services were summoned too late, and the
great man, after being delirious for a day or two,
gave in to his great enemy. He died on the 28th
July, 1836. The first news of his death was conveyed
to England by one of his own specially-trained
pigeons, which was shot by a sportsman near
Brighton. On a slip of paper attached to its leg
were the words, " H est mort." His remains were
brought over from Frankfort for interment. Sur-
202 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
rounded as he had been during his life by all the
luxuries which money could command, he was
placed in his last resting-place with a gorgeous
pomp and display that seemed hardly appropriate
to the solemnity of the occasion. The coffin which
contained his remains was described in the press as
being "different in shape from those made in this
country, and so handsomely carved and decorated
with large silver handles at both sides and ends
that it appeared more like a cabinet than a recep-
tacle for the dead." A procession of carriages,
nearly a mile in length, followed it. Among those
who were present in the Jewish East-end Cemetery
out of respect to the Deceased, were the Austrian,
Russian, Prussian, Neapolitan, and Portuguese am-
bassadors, besides the Lord Mayor, the sheriffs,
aldermen, and a crowd of minor dignitaries.
Much speculation and curiosity was manifested
by the public after Nathan Mayer's death as to the
amount of the fortune he had left his children, but
this was not made known in the will, and has con-
sequently always remained a secret. The directions
to his executors were clear and simple. Those gen-
tlemen were expressly bidden to confine themselves
to their administrative duties, and not seek to pry
NATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD. 203
into matters which were outside their functions.
No statement of the amount of his property, or of
the securities in which it was invested, was given in
the will, and the main points touched upon were
the conduct of the business and the marriage of his
daughters. The business was to be conducted by
the four sons in co-operation with their uncles
abroad. To each of his daughters he left 100,000,
which was to be forfeited if they ever married with-
out the consent of their mother and their brothers.
Legacies to his employe's and dependents, as well as
charitable bequests, were conspicuous by their
absence there were none.
CHAPTER VI.
BARON LIONEL DE EOTHSCHILD.
THE LONDON FIRM (continued).
ATHAN MAYER ROTHSCHILD left
four sons and three daughters to par-
ticipate in the immense fortune he had
won. Of these four sons, one, Natha-
niel, chose France as his home, whilst the other
three, Lionel Nathan, Mayer, and Anthony, suc-
ceeded to the management of the fine business
bequeathed them by their father. The control and
management were really confided exclusively to
Baron Lionel, for his abilities and skill justly
entitled him to that proud position, whilst his
brothers, having no great inclination for financial
matters, were content to concentrate their atten-
tion and energies on more congenial pursuits the
encouragement of art and sport in all their forms.
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 205
Baron Lionel was only twenty-eight when his father
died an early age at which to be called upon to
direct and conduct a business so complicated and
so vast as that which he had inherited.
But Baron Lionel proved himself fully equal to
the responsibilities of his new position. He pos-
sessed great natural abilities, and much of his
father's financial skill, which had been cultivated
and developed under the careful eye of his father
himself. For some years before the latter' s death,
Baron Lionel had assisted him in the business of
the firm, and, owing to a wise rule followed by
Nathan Mayer, had acquired a thorough insight into
all its various details and perfectly mastered the
principles on which it was conducted. Nathan
Mayer invariably insisted that all the correspon-
dence and negotiations respecting important trans-
actions should be carried on either by himself or
his sons ; he discussed the details with them, and
encouraged them to study every financial proposi-
tion in all its bearings, thus making them partici-
pators in the wisdom derived from his vast expe-
rience, and training them in the best possible way
for the charge which must eventually become theirs.
Young as he was, Baron Lionel, thanks to the
206 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
thoroughly sound training he had received, and to
the great financial talents he had inherited from his
father, soon showed that the fame and reputation of
his firm would not diminish whilst the management
remained in his hands.
Nathan Mayer had wisely observed that it took
a " great deal of boldness and a great deal of
caution to make a great fortune, and ten times as
much wit to keep it when you have got it/' and the
justice of this remark was fully appreciated by his
son. Baron Lionel, having perhaps little inclination
for gigantic speculations, with all the excitement and
worry attending them, such as his father had revelled
in, concentrated his thoughts exclusively on the con-
solidation and preservation of the immense fortune
and business his predecessor had made with such
unparalleled rapidity. Great prudence and unfailing
caution invariably marked the enterprises on which
Baron Lionel entered. He never mixed himself up
with any bubble companies, and carefully avoided
purely speculative undertakings. On the Stock
Exchange he dealt largely, but he never stooped to
avail himself of any of the tricks and stratagems to
which his father resorted so successfully. The un-
rivalled sway and control his father possessed over
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 207
the stock market Baron Lionel did not aspire to re-
tain in its entirety, as that would have necessitated
the employment of those underhand manipulations
and expedients which were in his eyes any thing but
admirable, even if generally adopted by the mem-
bers of the Stock Exchange. Naturally his in-
fluence on the stock market was great, still it was
far below that which his father had enjoyed ; but
what the firm lost in influence they more than
gained in the respect and favour of the public.
In the negotiation of foreign loans Baron Lionel
was particularly active, as this business, at once
lucrative and comparatively free from risk, was one
which he preferred before all others. During his
lifetime his firm was interested in the issue of
no less than eighteen Government loans, amount-
ing in the aggregate to one hundred and sixty
millions sterling. To enter into the details of
these transactions would be to give the financial
history of Europe for the last fifty years, and after
all no advantage would be gained by our doing so,
as the immediate cause of the whole of them was
the same the pressing necessities of the borrow-
ing States. The only difference was the circum-
stances and conditions under which each loan was
208 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
issued, and these particulars belong rather to the
history of the individual countries than to that of
the Rothschilds. In all these great loan trans-
actions the direction was invariably left with Baron
Lionel, not only on account of his influence as
head of the family, but also on account of his
matured judgment. His skill in detecting the
moment for buying or selling, his delicacy in feeling
the pulse of the market, and his promptness in
seizing every opportunity favourable to his pur-
poses, were universally recognized. Among the
many loans issued by Baron Lionel we may men-
tion the Irish Famine loan, which he negotiated in
1847 for the English Government, for whom he
also in 1854 raised a sum of 16,000,000. During
more than twenty years he was the agent for the
Russian Government. In the successful funding of
the debt of the United States he took a prominent
part, and in 1876 he advanced the English Govern-
ment the sum of four millions sterling for the instant
purchase of Suez Canal shares from the Khedive.
By the latter transaction alone he cleared a profit of
nearly 100,000. On the conclusion of the Franco-
German war, Baron Lionel, at the head of a group of
bankers and financiers, guaranteed to maintain the
v
I ARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD.
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 209
foreign exchanges, and so facilitated the payment
of the French indemnity. The fact of this delicate
and important business being confided to his manage-
ment was a remarkable and flattering tribute paid
to his great financial ability and unerring judgment.
Whilst speaking of foreign loans, we may be
allowed to recall an anecdote in connection with
a Russian loan which Baron Lionel was asked to
negotiate. He was a man of action, quick in coming
to a decision, and prompt in carrying it out. On
this occasion an unusual hesitation and irreso-
lution overpowered him, and led to the loss of
the loan. The cause of this unwonted irresolution
was that he found himself placed in an awkward
predicament in which he must either abandon a
profitable business, or else damage himself in the
eyes of the public. It was at the time when he was
posing as the champion of freedom, and of the
liberties of the subject ; when he was fighting the
House of Commons to obtain possession of the seat
to which he had been elected. On the other hand,
the loan was required by the Russian Government
presumably to enable it to carry on its campaign
against Poland, then in arms against the despotism
and oppression of the great Russian autocrat.
P
210 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Baron Lionel was in a dilemma. If he negotiated
the loan, he would be publicly accused of having
proved false to his spoken opinions, of having cast
aside all his regard for the liberty of the subject aa
soon as his pocket was affected. In place of the
public support and favour, he would at once bring
down upon himself a shower of sneers and satire.
If he were once to estrange the public from him,
if he were once covered with obloquy and contempt,
he knew full well that all chance of bringing his
struggle with the House of Commons to a successful
issue would be gone. But he did not wish to lose
the loan. Indeed, he was anxious to secure so
profitable a business. The Russian Government,
he was aware, had not limited its negotiations to
himself, but had communicated with other and rival
firms on the subject. Baron Lionel knew that a
decision must be made promptly, but he was so
assailed by opposing considerations, that he could
not decide which to sacrifice : his political popularity,
or his profit. When at length he had resolved to un-
dertake the negotiation of the loan, he found that his
hesitation had lost him the business, as a more ener-
getic competitor, unembarrassed by any such con-
siderations, had succeeded in coming to an arrange-
BAEON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 211
ment with the representatives of the Russian Govern-
ment. This was a lesson the Baron never forgot.
Whilst the business life of Baron Lionel calls
for no detailed narrative, it is different with his
political career, owing to the remarkable and per-
sistent efforts he made to procure the abolition of
the civil and political disabilities with which the
Jews were hampered. It is hardly necessary to
say that Baron Lionel was never ashamed of the
race from which he had sprung. His wealth did
not, as in the case of Samson Gideon, lead him to
turn apostate to the creed which his fathers and
forefathers had professed and followed. In all that
concerned the welfare of the Jewish community, of
which he was the recognized head and leader, Baron
Lionel took an active interest and was always fore-
most to do all that his influence and money could
command to ameliorate the condition of his co-
religionists. He was for many years president of the
Great Synagogue, and was also, for some time, one
of the council of the United Synagogue. In 1869
he laid the foundation stone of the Central Syna-
gogue. At the time of his death, in 1879, he was
a member of the Jewish Board of Deputies. In
common with all his co-religionists, Baron Lionel
212 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
was placed under a ban in the eyes of the law, for,
great as had been the services rendered by them to
the nation in time of need, the Jews were still
regarded as an outcast race, not worthy to be ranked
on the same level as their Christian fellow citizens.
When the law was passed emancipating the Roman
Catholics from all the civil and political disadvan-
tages they had suffered, and they were given equal
rights with the Protestants, it occurred to some of
the leading members of the Jewish community that
the moment had arrived for them to make an effort
to free themselves from the fetters which restrained
their liberty. Conscious of being to the full as
orderly and as good citizens as the Roman Catholics,
they saw no reason why they likewise should not,
in this land of freedom, enjoy the same political and
civil privileges as Protestants and Catholics now
possessed in common. They little imagined they
would meet with a long and protracted opposition
to their wishes, still less did they see in their demands
any danger to the constitution. All this and much
more did the enlightened Christians, professing
liberal principles, perceive in the agitation for the
removal of the Jewish disabilities. The Christians
were undoubtedly influenced and blinded by pre-
BARON LIONEL DE EOTHS CHILD. 213
judice, by the stigma which has always been con-
nected with the Jewish race. At the beginning of
the present century no Jew could serve as a magis-
trate or hold office as sheriff in any of the muni-
cipalities, owing to the test of the sacrament and
other obstacles in his way. Gradually these hin-
drances as far as regards municipal offices were
abolished. In 1837 Sir David Salomons was elected
Sheriff of London and Middlesex, but could not fill
his office owing to the state of the law. Anxious
to propitiate the City by conferring on its citizens
a boon which the Ministry valued very lightly, Lord
Campbell introduced and carried a bill which enabled
Sir David Salomons to accept the shrievalty. But
even this did not enable Sir David to serve as alder-
man, so Lord Lyndhurst was eventually compelled in
1 844 to alter the declaration which had barred him
from that office. Although all impediments in the
way to municipal offices were thus removed, the
Jews found themselves still barred from entering
upon a parliamentary career, owing to the Oath of
Abjuration which every member was bound to take
before being allowed to sit and vote in the House.
This oath concluded with the words " on the true
faith of a Christian/' which no Jew could con-
214 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
scientiously repeat. Owing to the powerful majority
of the Tory party in both the Lords and the Com-
mons, no move was made to procure the abolition of
the Jewish disabilities for some years, as any agita-
tion for that purpose would have been vain, owing
to the great repugnance which the Tories displayed
to all measures of reform. To have introduced a
measure at that juncture would have been to court
defeat, seeing that it was certain to be violently
opposed and rejected.
When, however, Baron Lionel was elected in
1847 a member for the City of London, with Lord
John Russell as his colleague, appearances seemed
more favourable to the attempt. Accordingly his
Lordship, who was then Premier, took an early op-
portunity of moving a resolution : " That the House
do resolve itself into a committee to consider the
propriety of the removal of the civil and political dis-
abilities now affecting Her Majesty's Jewish sub-
jects." In his speech supporting this resolution,
the noble lord stated that the question concerned
the rights, political and religious, of a commuuity
numbering more than forty thousand souls, distin-
guished by their love of order and their industry,
who were neither inclined nor able to instigate a
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 215
public agitation in support of their rights, nor to
threaten the security and peace of the empire if
those rights were withheld. He showed that his-
torically the Oath of Abjuration had no reference to
the Jews, and pointed out that it was mere preju-
dice which led the Government of 1753, after
passing an Act for their naturalization, to repeal
it hurriedly and without due consideration the next
session. Having carried the resolution successfully,
his lordship announced his intention of introducing
at an early date a bill dealing with the subject.
The debates on this resolution were remarkable for
the support given to the Whigs by Mr Gladstone,
who with Sir Robert Inglis at that time repre-
sented the University of Oxford in the Tory in-
terest. His support was all the more noteworthy as
his colleague was one of the most bitter and vigor-
ous opponents of the proposed reform. On pre-
vious occasions Mr Gladstone had objected to the
removal of the Jewish disabilities, but having once
acknowledged the Jews meritorious citizens, worthy
to fill magisterial and municipal offices, he con-
fessed it would be illogical and inconsistent to pre-
vent them from entering parliament. Mr Disraeli,
then the Tory member for Buckingham, also sup-
21C THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
ported the resolution, making an earnest appeal to
the House to perform a great act of national justice,
and to discard the superstitions of the Dark Ages
which influenced them in their opposition. The
bill embodying this resolution was introduced early
the next year, and the debates to which it gave
rise remind one forcibly of the Bradlaugh scenes.
In both cases the agitation turned upon religion
and prejudice. There was, however, one note-
worthy difference in these two agitations. The
House of Commons recognized the justice of the
claims of Baron Lionel and the Jews, whereas they
were strongly opposed to the admission of Brad-
laugh and his co-irreligionists. The arguments were
very similar in both cases. The opponents to the
admission of the Jews asserted that the latter
sneered at Christianity, and were consequently
unfit persons to sit in the House. On the other
side, it was argued that, even if this were true, it
was notorious that many prominent members of the
House had openly sneered at and ridiculed Christians
and Christianity. Gibbon, a rank Deist, was ad-
mitted to Parliament, and allowed to take the Oath
of Abjuration unopposed, although he openly ex-
pressed his disbelief in the doctrines it was sup-
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 217
posed to involve. No objection either was raised
to the admission of Hume, who was certainly far
from being a Christian, and whose works were cal-
culated to damage Christianity much more than the
voice of any Jew. Moreover, it was argued that the
clause " on the true faith of a Christian/' to which
the believers in the Mosaic dispensation chiefly
objected, had been introduced only during the
reign of James I., and that another formula had
been previously used. In addition to all these argu-
ments, it was urged that, as the Jews already pos-
sessed the franchise a far more important privilege
to the community than that one of its members should
be chosen a representative of the electors in Parlia-
ment and could " send the makers of Acts of Par-
liament to Parliament," it was illogical and weak
to curtail their right and to debar them from the
House. After a lengthy discussion, a division waa
taken, and it was found that the Bill had been
carried by a respectable majority ; when, however,
it was submitted to the Lords, it was thrown out
by thirty-five votes. In consequence of its rejec-
tion Baron Rothschild at once resigned his seat.
Not that he meant to allow the matter to end so
quietly as that ; he was of too determined a dispo-
218 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sition to abandon a struggle at the first reverse,
when he felt that justice was on his side.
He offered himself for re-election, and was once
more returned a member for the City by some
seven thousand votes. Great indignation and dis-
content prevailing among the prominent City poli-
ticians at their representative's being kept out of
his seat, pressure was brought to bear on the Minis-
try to provide a remedy for the evil. Lord John
Russell, as another member for the City, was almost
bound to move in the matter owing to the forcible
representations made to him by his constituents.
He had indeed pledged his word to see the matter
brought if possible to a satisfactory conclusion, and
a second Bill was accordingly introduced and read
for the first time on the 30th May, 1850. The
Ministry being apparently very lukewarm in sup-
porting the measure, and not too desirous of press-
ing it on to the Lords, the citizens summoned a
large meeting in the City, at which it was decided
that the Baron, who had hitherto studiously avoided
asserting his rights in the House, wishing to have
his claims recognized peacefully and amicably, should
present himself before the Speaker and have some
decision as to his right of admission. Accordingly,
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD, 219
on the 26th July, 1850, Baron Rothschild walked
up to the table of the House of Commons, and
demanded to be sworn as one of the members for
the City of London. When asked by the clerk
whether he wished to take the Protestant or the
Catholic oath, he replied : " I desire to be sworn on
the Old Testament." The attention of the Speaker
being called to the subject, Baron Rothschild was
forthwith requested to withdraw, which he did. A
fierce discussion, opened by Sir Robert Inglis, at
once took place, and was brought to a close by the
Attorney- General, who proposed that the Baron
should be heard at the bar of the House, either by
himself, or by his counsel or agent, with reference
to his claim to sit and vote in the House after
having been sworn on the Old Testament. This
proposition was violently opposed, and, when the
debate had been adjourned several times, it was
finally resolved on the 5th August, " That the
Baron Lionel de Rothschild is not entitled to sit in
this House, or to vote in this House during any
debate, until he shall take the Oath of Abjuration in
the form appointed by law." This forced the Go-
vernment to redeem its promise to effect some al-
teration in the statute, so that Jews should no longer
220 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
be kept out of their seats. Even if no such pro-
mise had been made, some action must have been
taken, as matters were fast approaching a crisis. In
1851 Sir David Salomons was returned a member
for Greenwich, and, in defiance of the rules of the
House, sat and voted without having previously
taken the oath. For his contempt of Parliament
he was fined five hundred pounds by Baron Alder-
son. But this incident, combined with the active
agitation conducted by Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid
and his son, Sir Francis Goldsmid, Q.C., rendered
some action on the part of the Government neces-
sary and unavoidable. Early in April, 1851, a new
Abjuration Oath (Jews) Bill was submitted to Par-
liament, and rapidly passed through the Commons,
only to be again rejected when it reached the
Lords. The complications with Russia and the
outbreak of the Crimean war distracted attention
from domestic politics for a while, but, although the
Jewish question was momentarily shelved, it was
by no means forgotten. In 1852 Baron Lionel
was once more elected, and, when the question was
re-introduced to Parliament in 1853, a fresh Bill
was presented and passed by a larger majority than
ever. Once again the Lords showed their opposi-
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 221
tion, but on this occasion the majority against the
Bill was much smaller than on previous occasions.
Matters had now reached a climax, for, the faithful
citizens showing once again in 1857 their firm reso-
lution to see their chosen representative admitted
to take his seat, it became clear that a solution of
the difficulty must be soon found. A fresh Bill
was introduced, but, although Lord John Russell
urged that some recognition of the persistency and
determination of the electors should be made, the
Lords refused to listen to his counsel, and rejected
the Bill as they had done all its predecessors. It
was, however, their last effort. Day by day it
became more evident that the claims of the electors
must be recognized, and the Lords at length ma-
naged to save their dignity, and yet yield to the
pressure brought upon them, by rejecting the Bill
presented by the Commons and passing a measure
of their own, with practically the same enactments
for the removal of the Jewish disabilities. This
Bill received the Royal Assent on the 23rd July,
1858. On the 26th of the same month Baron
Lionel presented himself to be sworn, and, on being
offered the form of oath prescribed in the Bill just
passed, declared in the words of the clause intended
222 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
to meet his case, " Sir, I beg to state that, being a
person professing the Jewish religion, I entertain a
conscientious objection to take the oath which by
an Act passed in the present session has been sub-
stituted for the oaths of supremacy, allegiance, and
abjuration, in the form therein required." The
attention of the Speaker being called to this cir-
cumstance, Baron Lionel was requested to with-
draw. Lord Russell then moved a resolution that
the words : " on the true faith of a Christian" should
be omitted from the oath, and, this being carried
unanimously, Baron Lionel was re-admitted. He
then was sworn on the Old Testament, signed the
oath, and at last was allowed after nearly ten years'
contest to take his seat. In commemoration of
the successful issue of this hard struggle, he en-
dowed the City of London School with its most
valuable scholarship, and it was no doubt most gra-
tifying to his feelings to see this scholarship car-
ried off in 1866 by a scholar of the Jewish persua-
sion. He continued to represent the City almost
without a break until 1874, when he suffered in the
general Liberal defeat. He had never taken a pro-
minent part in politics ; indeed, he is not known
to have spoken in the House on a single occasion.
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 223
It was not his ambition to shine in the political
arena, although in his quiet unobtrusive way he
exerted considerable influence on the Ministry.
For many years he had been unable to walk owing
to the rheumatic gout, from which he suffered
severely, and, as this prevented him from making
an active canvass, his failure to secure re-election is
not surprising. His colleague, Mr Goschen, de-
clared publicly that Baron Lionel from his desk in
New Court exerted far greater influence than a
much more active representative could exercise ;
but this, though true, would not satisfy the City
electors. Besides, Baron Lionel himself contributed
largely to his defeat by a bold and unpopular pro-
posal he made. He pointed out that Mr Glad-
stone's scheme to abolish the income tax would
cause a large deficiency in the budget, and he sug-
gested that this deficiency should be met by the
creation of fresh taxes. When his audience shouted
" No " and " Economy," he replied that economy
would not enable us to save four and a half millions
a year. The great objection against the income tax
arose from its inquisitorial character, and Baron
Lionel thought that new taxes should be on pro-
perty. He therefore suggested the introduction of
224 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
licence duties, such as were paid by commercial
men in Austria. This self-denying ordinance was
not, however, approved by the City.
The Baron was, as we have said, a great sufferer
from rheumatic gout, brought on by exposure in
the hunting-field. He was for many years before
his death unable to take any exercise whatever ; he
wheeled himself about his office in a chair made
specially for him, and had to be carried to his
carriage. The consequences of such a painful in-
firmity could hardly fail to be prejudicial to the
temper of the most passive and resigned of mortals,
and its influence on the manners of the Baron was
unmistakable. The worry and anxiety attendant
upon the management of his vast business were of
themselves calculated to affect his nerves and spirits,
independently of the painful malady with which he
was afflicted, so that if he was peevish and harsh in
temper, giving way at times to violent bursts of
passion, there was much to be said in excuse of his
conduct. However fractious and irritable he may
have appeared, it is certain that his natural dispo-
sition was really a kind and benevolent one. Those
who knew him well will bear us out when we say
that under his rough and forbidding exterior there
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 225
beat a warm heart. He would never withhold from
anyone whom he knew to be deserving and honest a
helping hand or a kind word. In his paroxysms of
pain he could not always control his temper, and none
regretted his immoderation more than he himself did
afterwards. He had great administrative abilities,
and always insisted on superintending personally all
the details of his vast business. Nothing irritated
him more than to learn that any of his clerks had
had the audacity to give an answer on any business
or to come to a decision without having first asked
his advice. This practice naturally entailed upon
him much worry and annoyance which he might
well have spared himself, though on the other hand
it kept the whole of the machinery in first-class
order. To particularize the philanthropic actions
of Baron Lionel would be impossible, seeing that
they were frequently unknown to his most intimate
friends. Many of his donations were given on the
strict understanding that they should not be pub-
lished, and whenever his sons attended a charity
festival there were always large anonymous sub-
scriptions, the origin of which it is not difficult to
guess, although there is nothing to confirm the
justice of the conjecture. Large acknowledged
Q
226 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
donations were given with munificent liberality to
the charities of all creeds and nations, and it is said
that, enormous as was the Baron's income, he dis-
tributed more than a tithe of it in the relief of suf-
fering and distress. If the distress to be relieved
was abroad he was the first to send remittances
direct through his agents, besides subscribing after-
wards to the funds that were organized. His exer-
tions in organizing the Irish Famine Fund were ac-
knowledged by the " Times" in the following words :
"It was in Baron Lionel's own room in New
Court, in December, 1846, that the ' British Belief
Association' was organized, Messrs. N. M. Roth-
schild and Sons subscribing with others the munifi-
cent sum of 1,000. This led to the formation of a
committee, consisting of the most eminent mer-
chants and bankers of the City of London, of which
Mr Samuel Jones Loyd, afterwards Lord Over-
stone, was subsequently elected chairman, and the
collection of a fund amounting in the aggregate to
upwards of 500,000, for the relief of the starving
peasantry of the sister kingdom. Throughout the
period of extreme pressure Baron Lionel was inde-
fatigable in his exertions."
Bound to his seat as he was by physical suffering
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 227
which made his manner varying and sometimes
harsh, so that his temper grew to be something
watched like the weather for its influence on the
Stock Exchange, Baron Rothschild found his re-
laxation in giving, and his eyes glistened when he
heard that his alms had been beneficially be-
stowed. Great, however, as was his charity, he was
perhaps outdone in sympathy with the suffering
and the distressed by his estimable Wife. This
worthy lady devoted the whole of her time to phi-
lanthropic deeds ; her delight and pleasure seemed
to be in works of love. She was indeed the almoner
of the family, and was particular in ascertaining
that the objects of her sympathy were deserving of
it. She would not rely on reports or hearsay evi-
dence, but was in the habit of personally visiting
her pensioners, said to number nearly two thou-
sand. Many a struggling artist or student was
indebted to her quiet but substantial aid, accom-
panied by kind words of encouragement, for his sub-
sequent success. This estimable lady died in 1884,
leaving by her will to charities in which she was
interested donations to the extent of 120,000.
In 1857 society was set agog by the marriage of
Baron Lionel's eldest daughter, Leonora, with her
228 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
cousin Alphonse, the eldest son of Baron James de
Rothschild, and now the head of the Paris house.
It is needless to say that the wedding was one of
the most magnificent of the season, and was at-
tended by the most distinguished and noble mem-
bers of all ranks of fashion and society. At the
banquet after the marriage ceremony, Count Per-
signy, the French Ambassador, proposed the health
of the bride and the bridegroom. He was followed
by Mr Disraeli, whose duty it was to propose the
health of the bride's parents. His speech on this
happy occasion is said to have been one of the best
social addresses he ever delivered, which is not
strange, for he is known to have been for many
years one of the most intimate friends of the
family, and of Baron Lionel in particular. In
the course of his speech he made a remark worth
reproducing : " Under this roof are the heads
of the name and family of Rothschild a name
famous in every capital in Europe and every divi-
sion of the globe a family not more regarded for
its riches than esteemed for its honour, virtues,
integrity, and public spirit." Eight years later
another festive gathering brought the family toge-
ther. On June 7th, 1 865, the youngest daughter,
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 229
Evelina, was married to Baron Ferdinand, the
eldest son of Baron Salomon, of Vienna. Unhap-
pily, these joyful festivities were followed by a
mournful conclusion, as the bride, who had been at
all times so charming for her sweetness of disposition
and gracious manners, died the next year in giving
birth to her first child. The shock was a severe
one to both Baron Lionel and his amiable wife, for
both had been fondly and tenderly attached to their
daughter. They neither of them ever recovered
from the blow, rendered all the more painful by the
death of the child, which did not survive its mother.
The Evelina Hospital in Southwark was built by
Baron Ferdinand in memory of the wife he so
fcndly loved, and so early lost.
The town residence of Baron Lionel was the well-
known mansion adjoining Apsley House, a magni-
ficent building some six storeys high, fitted up with
every modern luxury and improvement. It is said
that when Baron Lionel determined on building
this palatial mansion he was anxious to secure the
next house, belonging to Sir Edmund Antrobus,
and throw it into his own, but his brother banker,
although asked to state his own terms, would not,
like Esau, sell his birthright, and declined all over-
230 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
tures. He was indeed so fired with rivalry, that
he even had an additional storey built to his own
house to make it overtop that of Baron Lionel a
peculiarity that may be at once noticed. Here it
was that Baron Lionel was wont to give his sump-
tuous dinners the wonder and the talk of society.
The following graphic description of one of these
dinners will convey to the reader a very good idea
of the luxury and comfort by which Baron Lionel
was surrounded :
" My daughter and myself left Paris and reached
our hotel in time to fulfil an engagement to dine
with the Baroness Lionel de Rothschild, to meet
Lord and Lady Lyndhurst, for whom the dinner
was given. Nothing could exceed the splendour
of the banquet. Silver and gold plate shone on the
table and buffets ; exquisite flowers delighted the
eye ; while the retinue of servants in full dress, so
well trained that not a footfall told of their pre-
sence, and the ease and repose that prevailed, the
result of perfect training, were forgotten in the dis-
tinction of the company. Another still more splen-
did and prolonged fete in Lord Lyndhurst's honour,
to which we were also bidden, was given by the
Baroness Mayer Rothschild at her Venetian villa
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 231
at Mentmore rather palace than villa, however.
The Baroness had sent early in the week to have
the house and grounds put in perfect order. Such
pictures, such furniture, such park scenery, race-
horses and hounds ! Such a breakfast and lunch
al fresco, afterwards a dinner at Baron Anthony's, as
words cannot describe."
Baron Lionel was not by nature a society man,
and he was further prevented from participating in
fashionable gaities by his physical infirmities. The
true representatives of the family in society were
his two brothers Anthony and Mayer, who had
little inclination for business, and were far more
inclined to pleasure and sport in all their forms.
The only relaxation from the worry and trammels
of business that Baron Lionel knew was derived
from his pictures and flowers. A writer intimately
acquainted with the Baron stated that " when,
after many hours of absorbing transactions, he left
the precincts of his City establishment and entered
his home, he found himself at once transferred into
an atmosphere of beauty which freed and raised
the mind and restored it to its harmony and equi-
poise. For to him works of art were no mere
decorative ornaments. That remarkable soundness
232 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
of judgment which he displayed in all practical
concerns of life guided him no less safely in matters
of taste; and the pictures he had acquired com-
prised examples of the finest works from the brushes
of the principal masters. These treasures were not
his pride but his joy ; they proved to him an un-
failing source of regeneration. In such genial
surroundings the mind spontaneously opened itself
to a simple and healthy cheerfulness, which now
took pleasure in the sallies of wit, and now followed
with interest some of the graver questions of the
present or the past."
That there was a vein of humour running in
Baron Lionel's disposition the following anecdote
will show. He was dining at a friend's house and
chanced to sit next to a lady who had an only son
whom she was anxious to bring up in business
rather than in a profession. Like most fond
mothers she was extremely anxious to do the best
for the youth in whom all her hopes were centred.
She determined to utilize to the utmost the favour-
able opportunity she had of consulting a man so
well qualified by his vast mercantile experience and
sound judgment to advise her on so important a
question. Accordingly she plied the Baron with
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 233
questions, and extracted all the information she
could, but, when the vital question was asked :
" What he would consider the best business for her
son to adopt," she found her neighbour become
suddenly reserved and uncommunicative. The
truth was the Baron strongly objected to giving
advice, to which a certain responsibility was always
attached. Again and again the lady returned to the
attack, but the Baron was always on the alert, and
turned the conversation adroitly to other subjects.
At length, finding that she would not be denied, he
replied, " Well, madam, in my opinion, selling
matches is a very good business, if tit ere is enough
of it." A trite and pithy remark, displaying much
common sense and wisdom.
Baron Lionel continued to manage and superin-
tend the affairs of his firm up to the very eve of his
death, which happened with painful suddenness on
the 3rd June, 1879. He had for twenty years been
a sufferer from rheumatic gout, but this did not
prevent his attending at his office up to the very
last. His death occurred quite unexpectedly
without the slightest warning. On Friday the
30th May, 1879, he held his usual business levee
at New Court, and those who from time to time
234 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
brought him reports of the various markets, or
went to him for the purpose of obtaining subscrip-
tions to charities, perceived no indication that they
then for the last time saw proof of the well-stored
mind, the tenacious memory, and the sound decision
which were known throughout Europe. The Baron
was in the habit of driving daily to Gunnersbury
Park, the favourite residence of the Baroness, the
gardens of which are famous in horticulture, and
situated in the midst of a wide domain of land
belonging to the family. He passed some time
there as usual, and returned to Piccadilly on Sunday
afternoon. He then complained of feeling unwell
and appeared to be forgetful. The symptoms were
declared by the doctors to be those of gout, which
need give rise to no alarm or anxiety ; but on Mon-
day, about noon, he was seized with an attack of an
epileptic character from which he never rallied. He
died early next morning. His brothers, Baron Mayer,
or (as the name was afterwards spelt) Meyer, and Sir
Anthony de Rothschild, had both died some years
before ; Baron Meyer on the 6th February, 1874, and
Sir Anthony on the 3rd January, 1876. Both were
highly popular in society owing to their amiable
dispositions and agreeable manners. The banquets
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 235
and receptions they gave were of the most brilliant
and dazzling description, whilst their mansions were
embellished by the choicest works of art which
money could procure. They were both patrons
of the turf, not so much on account of the excite-
ment attending horse-racing as from a laudable
ambition to see the Rothschild colours take the
foremost place in sport as in everything else. In
chronicling the death of Baron Meyer to the
public the real " Baron Rothschild " owing to his
great popularity the " Times " paid a very flatter-
ing but well merited tribute to his memory. It
ran as follows : " Baron Meyer was the youngest
surviving son of the distinguished founder of the
London house of Rothschild, and his death is in
every respect premature. He was only fifty-five,
and in the enjoyment of the interests and pursuits
to which he had devoted himself. He held a seat
in the late Parliament at the time of its dissolution,
but it was well understood that he would not stand
again. It is not in Parliament, however, that he
will be chiefly missed. Like all his house, he was
a steady adherent of the Liberal party, but, like
them also, he was a silent member. It is the
world of Art and Sport which will suffer by his
236 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
loss, and he will there leave a vacant place that will
not easily be filled. His splendid hospitalities at
Mentmore, his numberless charities, his munificent
patronage of art, his unstinted support of the
highest kinds of sport, formed a rare combination
which we could have wished to preserve among us
for many more years. Rich men are not uncommon
in England, and the world is seldom observant
enough to notice distinctions in the use generally
made of wealth. For such a man to surround himself
with everything beautiful and agreeable in houses,
estates, pictures, sculptures, and all the pleasures
of the field has in it at first sight nothing to attract
attention. It may seem, and may be, nothing more
than a lavish expenditure of money on not unworthy
objects. But men are not apt to suspect nor ready
to admit that there may be an opportunity in such
a life for the exercise of the finer qualities. It does
not seem like the career of a man of business, or a
politician, or a financier. But there is a great error
in such a hasty estimate, and Baron Rothschild set
an example which should tend to correct it. The
ancient world had a conception, which we have in
great measure lost, of there being a distinct excel-
lence to be aimed at in the expenditure of great
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 237
wealth. The common idea among ourselves is
simply that a great man should do good with his
money, but we do not go beyond the moral virtue
of benevolence and just management. The ancient
conception we think once prevailed in England and
perhaps, like most other sentiments connected with
the finer tastes, it was trampled out by the Puritans,
or corrupted by the Cavaliers. But the Greeks at
all events recognized that magnificent expenditure
had a virtue of its own, distinct from mere liberality
or unselfishness. It was the art of using great
wealth appropriately as distinguished from that of
using moderate wealth rightly. There are some
developments of human genius and civilization
which men of great resources can encourage, and
which cannot be, or ought not to be, encouraged
by any one else. The highest art in such matters
as painting, or sculpture, or in animal culture,
would never be pursued for the sake of the demand
which men of ordinary means could maintain.
Great literary works can be multiplied, and the
literary artist can consequently appeal to so wide a
circle as to be independent of individual support.
But it is otherwise where the product of genius or
skill is something of which the charm or excellence
238 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
is incapable of indefinite multiplication. Rich men
can foster the labours of genius in such matters, and
it is one of their functions to do so. It is their
function, moreover, to do it well and thoughtfully.
It is easy, of course, for a great man to get rid of
his superfluous money by lavish orders to architects,
painters, sculptors, and musicians. But a man may
foster bad as well as good art by such means, and
both patron and artist lose in dignity and in the
artistic capacity, which is associated with it, by
indulging the mere extravagance of luxury. It is
possible to be frugal and conscientious in dealing
with millions not less than to be lavish and thought-
less in dealing with hundreds. It was Baron Roth-
schild's merit to understand this function and to
discharge it thoughtfully. A passion for art of all
kinds engrossed his life to the last; but he indulged
it under a control and with an orderliness similar to
the qualities which in business have made the for-
tunes of his house. He spared no money for his
purposes ; but he had a purpose in all his expendi-
ture. It was easy for him to make Mentmore a
palace, supplied with every form of modern luxury;
but he made it much more. It was a Museum,
adorned with all that is beautiful. In such an
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 239
expenditure of vast wealth there was felt to be
nothing inappropriate or out of place, because the
senso of waste could never be felt. Great resources
had been bestowed to produce a great result, and
the result waa something which had an aesthetic
value of its own.
" Baron Rothschild's career on the turf was marked
by similar qualities, and if his example were more
generally followed this national sport might yet be
saved from the degradation which threatens it.
The professed object of racing is to improve the
breed of horses, and no doubt if rich men would
pursue it with this single object they would do
what cannot otherwise be done. To Baron Roth-
schild, accordingly, a fine racehorse was an animal
worth producing for its own sake, and he applied
himself systematically to breeding racehorses. He
never squandered money in speculative purchases,
but kept a stud which he diligently and patiently
improved, and it was by the qualities of a thorough
man of business that he at length achieved a con-
spicuous success. When he won, two years ago,
the Derby, the Oaks, and the St Leger, all the
world felt that a piece of good and useful work had
been justly rewarded, and they rejoiced at the
240 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
evidence thus shown that the Turf was capable of
reinvigoration. We cannot afford in these respects
to forget his example. This is an age of great
fortunes and, though few can be compared with
those of a Rothschild, there are many who have
similar opportunities, and it cannot be said that
these are at present turned to the best account. . . .
Baron Rothschild pursued a career that will always
have attractions for men of wealth, but he pursued
it in a manner which enabled him to render real
services to the community. His friends will always
bear in mind his kindness and generosity, and he
will be personally regretted among a large circle.
But the public will also feel that they have lost a
man who had a rare capacity for making a really
magnificent use of great wealth."
The destinies of the firm, since the death of
Baron Lionel, have rested in the hands of his three
sons, Sir Nathaniel (Lord Rothschild), Leopold,
and Alfred de Rothschild. Sir Nathaniel, who
came into the baronetcy on the death of his uncle,
Sir Anthony, is in reality the ruler of the fortunes
of the London firm. He is heart and soul a man
of business. All his thoughts are centred upon
the welfare and prosperity of the firm ; he allows
LORD ROTHSCHILD.
(From a Photograph by Messrs. Russell & Sons.)
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 241
neither the pleasures of society nor the excitement
of the racecourse to withdraw his attention from his
duties as the head of the family in England. He is
a great reader, and what little relaxation he can
snatch from the worry and toil of business he finds
either in the company of his books, or in quiet
rambles through the open fields. Conscious of his
greater abilities and more thorough devotion to the
interests of the firm, his two brothers are content
to leave the control and management in his hands.
Not that we wish to say that either of the two
brothers is in the least indifferent to its interests.
Both attend regularly at New Court to participate
in the conduct of affairs, but, as they cannot boast
of such an intimate acquaintance with the smallest
details as Sir Nathaniel possesses, their duties par-
take largely of a mechanical nature. They are
both shrewd, quick-sighted men of business, and,
if they were to study the welfare of the firm as
closely as does their eldest brother, they would
soon rival him in ability and business knowledge.
Much, however, of their time is devoted to other
objects. Mr Alfred is as essentially a man of
pleasure as Sir Nathaniel is a man of business.
The balls and dinner parties given at Seamore
242 THE SOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Place are the talk of London society. They are
arranged in the most sumptuous and luxurious
style. Art and wealth are called into requsition to
satisfy the most varied and exacting tastes, so that
it is scarcely surprising that the elite of society
throng together at these receptions. There one
may safely reckon on meeting the most distin-
guished personages in the diplomatic and political
world, with the probability of discovering that
royalty is likewise represented. But the pleasures of
society do not monopolize the whole of Mr Alfred
de Rothschild's attention. He is a munificent
patron of the arts. He delights to encourage
talent, whether it be found in the ranks of sculp-
tors, painters, or actors. Many a man who has
acquired distinction in his profession owes his suc-
cess to the liberal support and patronage so readily
accorded by Mr Alfred to struggling talent. Dif-
ferent from his brother Alfred, Mr Leopold de
Eothschild is seldom seen in London society. A
country life, with its hunting and horse-racing, has
irresistible charms for him. When free from New
Court, he hastens down either to his stud at New-
market, or to his hounds at the same place. Eacing,
or rather the breeding of racehorses, absorbs the
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 243
greater part of his time. Nothing so disappoints or
discourages him as for his horses to prove failures on
the turf. Following racing as a hobby, and betting
very little, it annoys him greatly to find that his
efforts at improving the speed and stamina of the
English racer meet with very poor success. The
disappointments and disgust which many of his
favourite horses cause constitute perhaps the great-
est trials in life he has to endure. Individually,
Mr Leopold de Rothschild is good-nature personi-
fied. His charity and benevolence are unlimited.
He is as pleased and as ready to relieve distress as
the recipients of his bounty are glad to receive the
welcome and much- wanted aid. He cannot, in fact,
refuse aid to a suppliant without doing violence to
his inclinations. A playfully ironical, but accurate,
description of the three brothers was given in a book
recently published, entitled : " Society in London,"
which attracted much attention. This description
we cannot do better than reproduce here :
" It is, so far as the Rothschilds themselves are
concerned, a species of trinity, the first person of
which is Sir Nathaniel (now Lord Rothschild),
the second Mr Alfred, and the third Mr Leopold
de Rothschild. The baronet is the supreme head
244 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
of the establishment, occupying the first place at
the family tribunal, receiving visitors, and treated
with a marked deference by his two brothers. You
will find him, at first, a gentleman of curious
manner. He is so pre-occupied by the cares of
business, he is so habituated to the exercise of
authority, that he can spare little thought for the
amenities of life, and he is not so much intolerant
of contradiction by others as fond of contradicting
others himself. But this is merely one of the super-
ficial idiosyncrasies of the man. A contradiction
with him means no more than an interrogation with
you. It is only the way in which he puts a ques-
tion. Instead of asking on what evidence your
assertion rests that the day is fine or wet, he con-
siders it the more effectual to meet your statement
that it is wet or fine with a pointblank denial. In
this fashion he hopes to elicit your reasons, to put
you on your mettle, to compel you to retract your
declaration, if it is hasty and ill-considered, or to
demonstrate that it is based upon testimony entitled
to respect. People who make 'Natty's* acquain-
tance for the first time may be forgiven if they con-
ceive the idea that he is disposed to be imperious,
overbearing, and harsh. There could be no greater
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 245
mistake. He is not any one of these things. He
is, on the contrary, when his interest or regard is
enlisted, a generous and loyal friend.
" His two brothers discharge, respectively, parts
essential to the economy of New Court. The
youngest, Leopold, is occupied with the mechanical
minutiee of the business. In the City his vocation
appears humble, and he himself little more than a
drudge. Outside the City he is a person of impor-
tance, a man of sport and pleasure, a member of
the Jockey Club, an owner of racehorses and of a
modest establishment in Buckinghamshire. The
second of the three Rothschild brothers has func-
tions, as he has a physiognomy, altogether unlike
either of his two brothers. He is light of com-
plexion, while they are dark, with tawny hair and
drooping moustache of the same colour and cut
known as the Dundreary. He bestows much atten-
tion on the graces of manner. His hospitalities in
London and in the country are upon an elaborate
scale. The Prince of Wales is frequently amongst
his visitors, and no opportunity is wanting to enable
him to form an accurate idea of the opinion held by
the privileged or official classes in English Society.
Add to this that the Rothschilds in London have at
246 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
their disposal a little army of brokers and touts in
the City, a choice detachment of politicians and
financiers, whether they do or do not belong to the
public service, at the West End; bear in mind, too,
that they receive early information from their kins-
men and correspondents in every part of the earth
of what is happening or is likely to happen, and you
will not be surprised to know that New Court is the
abode of power."
Last year the Queen was pleased to raise Sir
Nathaniel to the peerage under the title of Lord
Rothschild. None will dare assert that the honour
was unmerited. Few who have gained this coveted
distinction can show a better claim than that which
Lord Kothschild possesses in the record of the
services rendered by his family to the English
Government during the last fifty years and more.
During that period the nation has on more than one
occasion benefited by the counsel and aid tendered by
the great financial firm. Lord Rothschild may well
be proud of his title which, though tardily conferred,
has been won by merit alone, and is no sign of
royal favouritism. The honour is the greater as
Lord Rothschild is the first avowed Jew who has
entered the House of Lords. Samson Gideon
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 247
founded the family of Eardley, but he, during his
lifetime, abandoned the Jewish Creed. In thus
raising Lord Rothschild to the peerage, the Queen
has done honour to the whole Jewish race, and
taken a step which cannot fail to remove the great
barrier of distrust and prejudice which has so long
separated Jews from Christians.
As they have scarcely emerged from their busi-
ness teens, since their father died only in 1879, it is
as yet too early to form a judgment of the business
qualities possessed by the three brothers. Short
as the period is they have yet been able, between
1879 and 1885, to undertake and carry out success-
fully several large loans, such as those for the Hun-
garian, Brazilian, and Chilian Governments. The
most important business they have transacted has,
however, been in connection with the Egyptian
Government. While the European Powers were
quarrelling about their rights in Egypt, bankruptcy
slowly threatened the future of that country. This
disaster was happily averted by advances made by the
Rothschilds, on their own responsibility, and against
security little better than waste paper. Sir M.
Hicks-Beach, when Chancellor of the Exchequer,
testified in Parliament to the immense services
248 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
conferred on Egypt by the liberality of the Roth-
.schilds in the following words: "The late Prime
Minister has stated that Egypt was in imminent
danger of bankruptcy. In fact it was saved only
by monthly advances made by Messrs Rothschild
upon no legal security, but simply on the security of
a private note from the late Foreign Secretary. The
greatest dangers might have occurred if the issue
of the loan had been any longer delayed." This
proves beyond question that the risks run by the
Rothschilds in advancing a million sterling to
the Egyptian Government were by no means
visionary, as some would assert, but real and serious.
Those who envy the Rothschilds the profit accruing
from the loan of nine millions issued in 1885, should
not overlook the sacrifices which they made, and
which gave them a good title to all they earned.
The success of the loan was remarkable : the scene
in St Swithin's Lane on the morning the loan was
issued was one not easily to be forgotten. New
Court and its approaches were thronged with a
huge, eager, struggling crowd, all anxious to obtain
allotments. The stream of applicants poured in so
fast that the whole loan was subscribed for soon
after the doors were opened. The list was closed
BARON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 249
an hour or two before the appointed time, a proceed-
ing which gave rise to loud expressions of disap-
proval and disappointment among the many per-
sons who were thereby prevented from obtaining
any portion of the loan.
The successful manner in which these loan opera-
tions have been conducted demonstrates, beyond
dispute, that the present heads of the firm are by
no means deficient in financial akill ; but still, with-
out any disparagement, we think they cannot claim
to inherit the marvellous powers or the shrewd far-
seeing judgment of their father. This they would,
if questioned, we think, readily acknowledge. Baron
Lionel was a man of uncommon ability ; his intellect
was of the highest order, enabling him to grapple
with and master the most difficult questions. To
expect his sons to be as highly gifted as he was
would be expecting too much, for it is very rare
to find equal talent in two generations of the same
family ; nor, after all, are such extraordinary powers
of mind required by the present heads of the firm ;
their business is established on so firm a basis, and
their wealth is already so immense, that their chief
solicitude and care must be to discover safe and
reliable investments by which their money may
250 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
accumulate automatically, rather than to increase
it by leaps and bounds through speculative and
risky enterprises. This, to all appearances, is the
opinion they hold, as all their movements are dis-
tinguished by great caution and prudence, qualities
which can hardly fail to render their career pros-
perous and worthy the traditions of their family.
It is difficult, nay, impossible, to foresee to what
extent their fortunes and repute may even yet grow,
if the advice of old Mayer Amschel is followed as
faithfully in the future as it has been in the past.
Of late years the family seems inclined to break
through the rule that its different members should
seek to tighten still further the bonds of union
by intermarriage. Against this innovation we see
no objection indeed, it is, we think, to be ap-
proved. Had the Rothschilds, however, adhered
strictly to the intermarriage- system, there is no
knowing how wealthy they would have become in
the course of time, by thus confining their riches
within such narrow limits. Under present cir-
cumstances, and always excepting carelessness
and want of caution, they cannot help grow-
ing richer and richer, as the cream of business
invariably falls to them. Large and lucrative
SAEON LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD. 251
undertakings are submitted daily to them, and
constantly declined, as they very properly refuse to
entertain, or embark in any enterprises which do
not come within the well-defined and strictly re-
cognized sphere of their business. Many houses
would greedily snap at the proposals the Rothschilds
unhesitatingly decline. The great requisites in the
heads of the firm at the present time are caution
and prudence qualities which they seem deter-
mined to foster. If these are diligently cultivated,
the firm must eventually become a dynasty, whose
widespread power and all puissant influence
though recognized by no constitution will far
exceed those of any ruling family in Europe.
CHAPTER VII.
BARON CARL VON ROTHSCHILD.
THE NAPLES FIRM.
TALY once consisted, like Germany, of
a number of separately governed States,
which, however, were not as in Ger-
many associated in a general " Bund "
or confederation for the protection and support of
their common interests. The language was the only
link that joined the various Italian States together.
In all else they were separated by long-standing
hatreds and jealousies, which were the greatest ob-
stacles to the progress and prosperity of the nation.
It was these continued feuds and the enmity of Aus-
tria that so long barred the way to the formation
or development of a united Italy worthy to take a
leading part in the affairs of Europe. To establish
a branch of their business in the leading State of
BARON GAEL VON ROTHSCHILD. 253
Naples, when the political condition of the country
was so disturbed and uncertain, may at first sight
appear to have been a somewhat rash and ill-advised
move on the part of the Rothschilds, but a little
consideration will show that this step was the result
of mature deliberation and shrewd calculation. The
very feuds and jealousies so prejudicial to the welfare
of the land proved the source of much of the profit-
able business which the firm afterwards secured . The
States were always in need of funds to carry on their
wars, and, being well-nigh bankrupt from past cam-
paigns, were forced to seek from other quarters
the assistance they required. Besides, the system
on which the administration of the finances of most
of the States was conducted was so thoroughly
rotten that borrowing was perhaps the only way
left open to them of meeting the current expenses.
The extent of the business transacted by the Naples
branch was small compared with that transacted by
the houses in Paris and Frankfort, still it was in pro-
portion, perhaps, more lucrative. The number of its
clients was limited, but these few clients were regu-
lar and frequent applicants for assistance. In addi-
tion to this, trade and commerce, favoured by the
situation of the country so surrounded by the sea,
254 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
through the extensive bill business they created,
proved no unimportant source of profit to the
banker, and over this business Rothschild by virtue
of his peculiar relations with the Bourse and the
State, held undisputed sway.
During the present century a wonderful transfor-
mation has been brought about in the political con-
dition of Italy. Formerly, as we have already said,
the numerous states and principalities were divided
from each other by continual hostilities and old-
established family feuds ; to look upon themselves
as forming one great people never entered their
thoughts, for from their birth all the great princes
had been taught that it should be their first duty
and absorbing ambition to avenge the insults their
family had suffered through the instrumentality of
their traditional enemies. To shake hands with their
hated rivals, and, for the good of the nation, to live in
brotherly amity together, would in their opinion have
been dishonourable and infamous. With time, how-
ever, these bitter feelings have passed away, for the
misfortunes which the various States all suffered in
common gradually drew them together, and year by
year Italians grew more willing to recognize that
they all belonged to one great fatherland, and in-
BARON CARL VON ROTHSCHILD. 255
sensibly yielded to the more elevating inspiration
that one invisible bond of union linked them all
together. At length an ardent longing to see the
nation rise from its ashes, and like a giant refreshed
open out for itself a new path of honour and fame,
took possession of many energetic minds, who
strove, and ultimately with success, to create a
" United Italy." The story of Mazzini and Gari-
baldi, and of the association of "Young Italy,"
hardly belongs to these pages, and is, after all, too
well known to require repetition.
The social conditions ruling in Italy offer the
student many an agreeable picture, which he in vain
seeks elsewhere. The line which marks the distinc-
tion between the nobility and the less favoured
orders is not so sharply drawn as in other countries.
This is indeed clearly shown by the history of many
of the noble Italian houses who rose to their rank
from having won wealth and fame as energetic and
enterprising merchants; and it is undeniable that
the commoners were always highly esteemed, and
enjoyed an aristocratic importance which no doubt
fostered the opinion, so prevalent in Italy, that it
was no disgrace, but rather an honour, for a noble
to increase his own wealth and the prosperity of
256 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
his dependents by commercial enterprises. The
nobles and the commoners in Italy were not sepa-
rated from each other by the haughty pride and
the overbearing manners which have in other lands
kept the two orders so far apart. This, perhaps, is
the reason why the nobility of Italy have furnished
so many talented writers and poets, for they were
not kept by false pride from the pursuit of know-
ledge, but displayed a praiseworthy zeal to place
themselves on a level with their rivals, of whatever
rank, in science or art.
The finances of the Papal State form one of the
darkest and most unattractive pages in the history
of the country. We shall not carry our review
further back than to the period of the first French
Revolution. In the year 1790 a small detachment
of French troops marched against Rome. Willing
or unwilling, the Romans were forced to accept the
revolution; the Republic was proclaimed in the
Forum, and the French constitution introduced.
To the French commander-in-chief at that time the
power of a dictator was given. Bills for large
amounts were issued upon the richest of the
Romans, on whose behalf the French general was
kind enough to accept them, and afterwards to
KARL VON ROTHSCHILD.
BARON CARL VON ROTHSCUILD. 257
compel their payment on penalty of death. Under
the extravagant rule of Pius VI. the finances of
Rome were in the most deplorable confusion, and
the paper money fell to an unusually low value.
The French Government entered into a contract
with Torlonia, the banker, by which the latter
undertook to purchase some millions of such money,
which he could issue afterwards at his own risk.
The paper was sometimes quoted at ten per cent.,
often only at five, but the public had taken it
up at almost double this price in silver, so that
Torlonia was not only able to carry out his engage-
ment, but to make an immense profit by the trans-
action. The Roman system of finances was based
on the law of the 19th March, 1801, and the mode
of carrying it out on the principles borrowed from
France was so utterly bad, that it can be safely
affirmed that the financial administration could not
well have been worse. The cost of collecting the
taxes was enormous, but the peculation and fraud
prevailing were indescribable. The treasuries should
have been full to overflowing, nevertheless they
were empty ; the State expected to obtain money
at a low interest, but could with difficulty obtain it
even on the most usurious terms. No budget was
B
THE HOUSE OF BOTHSCHILD.
drawn up, nor were the accounts examined ; no
one concerned himself with the financial balance-
sheet.
Under Sextus V., the income of the Papal
Chamber was infinitely less than that contributed
by the faithful Catholics all over the world to the
Roman spiritual tribunal. The taxes, with the
exception of the direct taxes, were all increased, as
the falling off in the revenue became evident ; the
price of salt was raised, and the lottery established.
Loans were called into requisition, the interest on
them being gradually reduced from six to three per
cent., and paper money, which had been so extra-
vagantly issued by the unscrupulous Government of
Pius VI., was again put into circulation. When
Pius VII. ascended the Papal chair, the people had
been drained to their last drop of blood, and, as the
paper money had become almost worthless and the
credit of the State was gone, it was difficult to see
any way out of the impending ruin and bankruptcy.
"When matters were in this most distressing condi-
tion, the financial decree of Cardinal Lante of the
19th March, 1801, was issued. By this the land-
tax was fixed according to the register of 1777, and
all the other old taxes abolished. A house-tax
BARON CARL VON ROTHSCHILD. 259
was imposed, as was one on all loanable capital :
foreigners and travellers were also affected by the
new regulations, and a succession duty was made
law. In addition there were salt and malt-taxes,
whilst the same law decreed the reduction of the
interest on all the loans to three per cent., and the
realization of all common lands.
After the abolition of the Roman States in 1809,
the French system of taxation was introduced, with
some necessary modifications, on this side of the
Apennines, the Italian system remaining in force
in the provinces on the further side ; for instance,
the meal-tax was retained in place of the droits
reunis, the land-tax was augmented, and registration
adopted. When the Papal Government regained
possession of their land in 1814, the earlier system
of taxation was restored. The motu proprio of the
6th July, 1816, lowered the land-tax about 400,000
scudi, and, after various gradual modifications, the
old system was practically restored. The gross
receipts were estimated at nine million scudi,
though in all probability they did not exceed seven
millions.
Previous to the first French Revolution, almost
two and a half million Roman florins in Church-
260 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
dues found their way from the faithful Catholics to
the Papal coffers in Rome. To this large sum
Spain contributed 640,000 florins, Germany and
the Netherlands, 488,800 ; France, 357,000 ; Por-
tugal, 260,000 ; Poland, 180,700 ; the two Sicilies,
136,170; the other Italian States, 170,000; and
Switzerland, 87,000 ; while about the same amount
was received from Northern Europe. These sub-
scriptions in aid of the Head of the Church after-
wards showed a great falling off, consequently the
financial situation of the State changed gradually
for the worse. Since the incorporation of the
Papal States by Victor Emmanuel in the kingdom of
Italy, they have ceased to have a separate financial
system of their own, as the taxes imposed on the
rest of the country are enforced in what was for-
merly the Pope's material dominions.
The expenditure of the Duchy of Parma was
estimated, in the year 1854, at two and a half
million lire, and its debt at fourteen millions. The
latter had been increased in 1827 by a new loan
of twelve million lire, which the Duchess arranged
through the mediation of the Rothschilds and the
firm of Mirabaud and Co., in Milan. In addition
to the compulsory loan, issued in 1849, of 2,700,000
BARON GAEL VON ROTHSCHILD. 261
lire, Parma was saddled in 1854 with another five
per cent, loan, voluntary in this case, of 2,470,000
lire, in obligations of 500 and 1,000 lire each. This
last loan was secured upon the State property and
the private possessions of the ruling family.
The expenditure of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
with Lucca was estimated at five million florins, the
receipts at about the same sum, and the bank-note
and paper circulation at two million florins. Their
joint debt dated first of all from a loan of thirty
million Tuscan lire, which was issued in bonds of
1,000 lire, bearing five per cent, interest. An addi-
tional loan of twelve million lire, in bonds of the
same amount, and bearing the same interest as the
above, was made in the course of the year 1851,
through the intervention of the firm of M. A.
Bastogi and Son in Leghorn. As security for this
loan the iron mines and foundries belonging to the
State were hypothecated. The small three per cent,
loan, of three millions, concluded towards the end of
1852, in bonds of 2,000 lire, can hardly be reckoned
as forming part of the State debt, as it partook
more of the nature of a compulsory loan, issued only
to meet immediate and pressing wants. We should
have passed it over in silence had not the firm of
262 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Rothschild taken part in its issue, as they did in
both the loans for the Duchy of Lucca in 1836
and 1843, which, after the union of that Duchy to
Tuscany, were added to the public debt of the latter
State.
The kingdom of Sardinia, with over five million
inhabitants, had an old standing debt on which
5,336,393 francs rente were annually paid, and this
debt was increased in 1848 and 1849 by the addi-
tion of 13,771,680 francs rente, so that at the com-
mencement of 1850 the total debt amounted to 382
million francs, costing the State annually 19,108,073
in the way of interest at five per cent. In 1850 a
loan of 140 millions and a premium loan of 18 mil-
lions were found necessary, and were followed in
1851 by one for 3,600,000 francs, all being required
by the share Italy took in the campaign of the
Western Powers against Russia. The State expen-
diture in 1847 amounted to 90 million francs; in
1856 it had risen to 139,157,335 francs. Between
1848 and 1856 no less than thirteen new loans were
brought out, amounting in the aggregate to 553
millions, and swallowing up yearly thirty million
francs in interest. What comparatively little profit
the State derived from the loans is seen by the loan
BARON GAEL VON EOTHS CHILD. 263
of the 12th July, 1850, for eighty millions, which,
however, only brought in sixty- four and a half mil-
lions. So great was the drain upon the resources
of the kingdom, caused by the cost of the army in
the Crimean war, that a further loan of thirty mil-
lions was found unavoidable and necessary. The
Sardinians might well adopt for their motto the
well-known saying of the Prussian finance minister,
Hansemann : " Freedom costs money/' for the debt
by which the State was burdened was out of all pro-
portion to its population. Sardinia, however, was
self-reliant and patriotic, and always showed itself
ready and willing to respond to the calls made upon
it by its rulers. In the case of the loans which were
brought out the Sardinians displayed extraordinary
unanimity in supporting the Government, for they
themselves not unfrequently covered these loans
several times over, thus rendering any appeal to
the assistance of foreign bankers and nations unne-
cessary. For instance, in 1849 and 1850, besides
providing the annual interest on the large debt
already existing, the Sardinians subscribed an ad-
ditional loan of eighteen millions, and in 1851, when
a further loan of eighteen millions was asked for,
more than double the amount required was sub-
264 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
scribed in a very short time by the native bankers
and capitalists alone. Of the many loans brought
out by the Rothschild house, only that for eighty
millions in 1850, and a second for rather more than
sixty-seven millions in 1853, were for the kingdom
of Sardinia, whose usual agents for this sort of
business were the firms of Barbarous and Tron,
Migone in Turin, C. J. Hambro and Sons in
London, and the Gebriider Bethmann in Frankfort.
The kingdom of Naples, or the Two Sicilies,
suffered for a number of years from the evil
influence of a bad financial system, combined with
the calamities and trials through which it passed.
Measures of every sort from the introduction of
new taxes to the sale of the State domains, from the
raising of the taxes to compulsory loans were all
tried to effect some alleviation of the State's diffi-
culties after Joachim Murat was deposed and Fer-
dinand I. ascended the throne. In order to pay
the interest on the State debt, loans were re-
peatedly found necessary. In January, 1821, the
yearly rente payable on the debt amounted to
three millions eight hundred and eighty-two thou-
sand Neapolitan ducats. In 1822 the Government
contracted a loan of sixteen million ducats with the
BARON CARL VON ROTHSCHILD. 265
Rothschilds. This was followed by three successive
loans, which Baron Carl von Rothschild, the head
of the Naples house, refused positively to under-
take, unless his friend the Chevalier Medici, who
had been banished to Florence, was recalled and
reinstated as Minister of Finance. On this con-
dition, and this only, would Baron Carl assist the
Government, as that would be the sole guarantee
he could, he said, possibly accept of their fidelity
and good intentions. There being no other per-
son at that time capable of assisting the Govern-
ment, it is almost superfluous to add that his terms
were accepted, though not with a very good grace.
Medici was once more restored to the favour of the
King, and the three loans were issued. The first of
these so-called English loans concluded with the
Naples house of the Rothschilds, was that of 1821,
amounting to sixteen million ducats capital, bear-
ing eight hundred thousand ducats interest ; the
second loan, bearing interest at five per cent., was
for twenty million ducats, costing yearly one million
rente ; the third was that known on several of the
European markets under the name of " Rothschild's
Bonds/' and was for two million five hundred
pounds sterling.
266 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
By a decree of the 26th May, 1821, the King
separated the finances of Sicily from those of the
kingdom of Naples, and concluded a loan for
the benefit of the former for 1,500,000 ounces
(4,500,000 ducats), in bonds of 400 ounces to
bearer. The interest on this loan was paid through
the Rothschilds in Paris. ,
In 1834 the Papal Government proposed to con-
vert the Papal five per cent, debt into a three per
cent, debt, for which the opportunity seemed highly
favourable, seeing that the five per cents, were
quoted at 102 to 104. To carry out this scheme,
Cardinal Tosti, the Papal treasurer, started off to
Paris, in order to arrange for a concerted plan of
action with several banking firms in that city. At
that time the Parisian financial world stood in pecu-
liar relations with the Rothschilds. The notorious
omnipotence the latter exercised in all government
loan business, not only of France but of other coun-
tries, was an intolerable burden to the notabilities
of finance, the other bankers, who resolved at length
to make an effort to cast it off. Six of the leading
houses, namely, J. Hagermann, Andre and Cottier,
B. A. Fould and Oppenheim, J. A. Blanc, Colin
and Co., Gabr. Odier and Co., and Wells and Co.,
BARON GAEL VON ROTHSCHILD. 267
accordingly combined to form a syndicate to chal-
lenge the Rothschilds, enter into spirited com-
petition with them, and if possible shatter the
fetters by which the financial world in Paris was
bound.
In the first loan, a Sardinian one, arranged on
the plan of the Paris State lottery, the syndicate
obtained some success, as they managed to wrest
this business out of the hands of the Rothschilds.
J. Hagermann personally contributed greatly to
the success achieved, as, having formerly been esta-
blished in Genoa, where his firm was acknowledged
to be the first and largest, he was on terms of inti-
macy with the Sardinian minister Caccia, and
through him with the firm of Caccia in Paris. The
latter, having neither means nor influence enough
to carry out the business entrusted to him by his
brother, placed it in Hagermann's hands.
The Rothschilds, who were never so forgiving as
to allow a rival quietly to outbid them, felt, as
might be expected, annoyed and vexed by this
unexpected blow, and were not long before they let
the weight of their wrath fall upon the presump-
tuous confederates by ruining what might under
other circumstances have been a profitable transac-
268 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
tion, and rendering it a costly and expensive one.
The second time the syndicate tried to compete
with the despots of the money market, they found
that they had challenged a rival whose forces were
so immeasurably superior that victory a second time
was out of the question.
The fall manipulated by the Rothschilds in the
value of French securities reacted upon and affected
the prices of the Sardinian stocks, which continued
to sink steadily until they reached a heavy discount.
This was enough to render the six allies somewhat
timid and nervous ; still Andre and Cottier saw so
clear a profit to be derived from the conversion of
the five per cents, into three per cents., that they
at length, after some consultation with their col-
leagues, declared themselves prepared to despatch
an agent to the Papal exchequer to secure the
business and ratify the contract. When the agent
was admitted to an interview with the secretary of
Monsignore Tosti, one of the first questions put to
him was the weighty one What guarantee will the
Papal Government have for the due fulfilment of
the contract about to be made ? To this the agent
replied, " The names of the allied Paris bankers,"
adding that he was for the moment forbidden to
BARON GAEL VON ROTHSCHILD. 269
give their names, but that the secret would be
divulged after the conclusion of the contract, and
in the event of the names not being satisfactory
that the contract could bo considered null and void.
After the agent had had several conversations
with the Cardinal, the matter seemed to be nearing
its conclusion. Inviolable secrecy was promised on
both sides, but the Papal officials are not remarkable
for their discretion or for their fidelity in business
matters. Scarcely had the agent quitted Rome
than the matter was publicly rumoured about. The
Rothschilds, too, through the many influential
friends they have among the officials of every
government, are always sure to hear of such nego-
tiations, so in this case the Naples house got wind
of the proposed financial operation, and at once sent
one of the younger partners to Rome. No sooner
did he learn the exact position of affairs, than he
produced the contract entered into by the Papal
Government, when the five per cent, loan was
undertaken by Rothschild in conjunction with the
firm of Torlonia. This contract contained a clause,
till then forgotten, by which the Papal chair engaged
to enter into no definite treaty for any subsequent
loan without giving the Rothschilds previous notice,
270 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
and also to accord them the preference when their
terms were not higher than those offered by other
firms.
The earlier loan had been concluded before Tosti
had assumed the management of the finance depart-
ment, consequently he was quite in the dark as to
this important condition in the contract. He and
the agent accordingly determined to draw up the
conditions of the proposed conversion and leave the
Rothschilds and the allied bankers to settle the rest.
It was of course to be foreseen that, if the business
proposed was lucrative, the Rothschilds would never
let it slip from them, and whether it was likely to
prove a profitable undertaking they were as well
qualified to judge as their adversaries. On the
other hand, the only chance left the latter was to
undertake the business on much less favourable
terms, should the Rothschilds see fit to place them-
selves in their way. Still, the coalition of the Paris
bankers was not to be ignored by the Rothschilds,
who might have experienced much annoyance and
trouble from the opposition they would have called
forth if they had made full use of their privileges
and influence to secure the business for themselves.
Finally matters were settled in an amicable fashion
BARON CARL VON ROTHSCHILD. 271
and a common understanding arranged between all
parties with reference to the matter in dispute.
Rothschild certainly did not lose by his forbearance,
whilst the rivals learnt that their strength was still
far too weak to damage the sway of the millionaire
financier.
It is unnecessary almost to add that Baron Carl
von Rothschild, for the many valuable services ren-
dered to the Italian States and Princes, both by
loans or by advances of money, was honoured with
titles and orders of every description. He died on
the llth March, 1855. The business was for some
years continued by his son, Baron Adolphe de
Rothschild, who, however, soon tired of the anxiety
and responsibility attaching to the management of
so large a concern. Being of a nervous disposition,
he could not hear without fear and alarm the rumours
of the internal troubles which threatened Italy, and
like a wise man, blessed with a handsome fortune,
he retired from public affairs to enjoy the comforts
and repose of private life.
CHAPTER VIII.
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD.
THE VIENNA FIRM.
HE importance Vienna enjoyed from its
being the capital of the Empire and
the residence of the Emperor and his
Court, as well as from the large com-
merce carried on there, was no doubt the reason
which led to the establishment of a separate house
of the Rothschilds in the Austrian dominions.
The Jews for centuries played a very distin-
guished part in the affairs of Austria, and in Vienna
especially were to be found in the highest circles of
society, possessing not only large influence, but
holding also prominent positions among the leading
public men. The great consideration and authority
they commanded were due simply to their money,
for the finances of the country and the Court had
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 273
got so dreadfully embarrassed and confused that
the money of the Jews was as a consequence eagerly
sought for and demanded. In spite of the wealth
of the aristocracy, the assistance of the accommo-
dating Israelites was continually found necessary,
and borrowing and lending were the order of the day.
Even in the time of Ferdinand II. the Jews were
on intimate relations with the Imperial Court, al-
though they were at that time subject to a poll-tax,
and compelled to wear pointed hats and a yellow
patch on their left arm, that they might be at once
distinguished from the Christian citizens. They
were not even allowed to live where they pleased,
but were cut off from the Christians and forced to
dwell in a particular part of the city, the Leopolds-
vorstadt. None the less they were readily tole-
rated, for they were extremely useful, not to say
indispensable, to the Court. They also enjoyed very
considerable privileges, and were under the direct
protection of the Government. They knew how to
amass fortunes by evil as well as honest means, for
in the Frankfort Relational of 1667 it was stated
that " Hirschel Mayer had been arrested for having
defrauded the Emperor during a period of twenty-
three years of no less a sum than two million two
T
274 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
hundred thousand guldens, contributions of his co-
religionists." He was sentenced to life banish-
ment from Vienna, and to the payment of a penalty
of seventy thousand guldens. In 1670 the Jews and
the students of Vienna had a collision, which ter-
minated in rioting and other excesses, causing the
Jews to be driven out and compelled to quit the
Judenstadt, or, as it is now called, the Leopoldstadt,
whilst their synagogue was converted into a Catho-
lic church. However, it was not long ere the Pre-
sident of the Chamber, Von Sinzendorf, granted
them permission to return to their homes. All the
financial business with the Court was placed in the
hands of the " Court- Factor," Samuel Oppenheimer,
a privilege which secured him the deadly hatred of
the whole commercial body. This bitter feeling
vented itself in 1700, and again in 1706, in a vio-
lent tumult, during which his house was attacked
and sacked, money and valuables stolen, letters and
account-books torn to pieces. The rich Israelite
had even some difficulty in escaping alive with his
family. Still the lucrative relations he had held
with the Court were resumed as before, notwith-
standing that his firm became bankrupt in the
interval between the two riots. In 1706, however,
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 275
his affairs were again reviving, as he had secured
the contract for supplying the army in Italy during
the war of the Spanish succession.
Joseph II., in 1783, astonished, if he did not scan-
dalize, the Christian world, by creating the first
Jewish Baron in the person of the banker Joseph
Michael Arnstein, whose wife, Fanny Itzig, of Berlin,
was a special favourite of the Emperor. During
the Congress of Vienna the families of the sove-
reigns of the money market, Arnstein and Eskeles,
were conspicuous above all in the festivals and car-
nivals which then took place. The wives of both
these financiers were natives of Berlin, being daugh-
ters of the rich Jewish banker Itzig, a well-known
personage during the reign of Frederick the Great.
The Austrian Government, not only before, but
after the Congress, arranged many important finan-
cial operations with these two firms, as well as with
several others.
The house of Rothschild, however, after esta-
blishing a house of business in Vienna to co-operate
with those already existing in Frankfort and Lon-
don, soon eclipsed all competitors by their enormous
wealth and magnificent receptions. With the forma-
tion of this new establishment a fresh page opens in
276 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the history of the finances and money market of
the Austrian empire, owing to the influence and
sway exercised by Baron Salomon von Rothschild.
The Austrian empire, consisting as it does of a
union of numerous and varied kingdoms and pro-
vinces, is one of the greatest confederations of people
and nationalities in the world. Under the rule of
its distinguished sovereigns Maria Theresa and
Joseph II., its importance and power grew in all
directions ; its revenues and tax-paying capabilities
increased and its finances assumed a flourishing
aspect. Many of its loans were arranged through
the Dutch bankers, Hope and Goll, and through the
well-known firm of Bethmann Brothers, in Frankfort.
The Austrian funds were in great favour with the
public, and generally saleable at par. It was only
when the political sky of Austria became over-
clouded, and when its financial schemes were ex-
hausted that these foreign banking houses withdrew,
and in their places appeared the Vienna firms of Fries
and Co., Arnstein and Eskeles, Geymiiller and Co.,
and Steiner and Co. By the agency of these four
firms Austria, during the period of the war of the
French revolution, and her struggle with Napoleon,
contracted a number of loans on terms far less
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 277
favourable than formerly. So low indeed had the
credit of the empire been brought by the misfortunes
and the sufferings incidental to its protracted efforts
to oppose the ambition of the French, that the syn-
dicate of the four bankers above named would
consent to take up the five per cent, loan of 1809
only at a discount of forty per cent., and with the
State domains pledged to them as security. After
having amassed millions by their participation in the
various Government loans, as well as through large
and lucrative bill business on Augsburg for the
Government account, the firm of Steiner and Co. were
content to rest on their laurels, and withdrew from
the syndicate. Little did Steiner, the head of the firm,
a discreet and shrewd man, anticipate that within a
few years of his death the millions he had bequeathed
his heirs would be all lost or squandered away.
The place formerly occupied in the syndicate by
Steiner and Co. was now filled by the firm of Roth-
schild, who brought with them new schemes on which
to conduct the Government loans. The scheme
adopted was the lottery plan, which at once became
popular with the public. The amount produced by
the loans was soon exhausted, owing to the yearly
drawings which formed the leading feature of the
278 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
innovation. The consequence was that the loans
brought out on this plan were constantly being
renewed. This the contractors by no means re-
gretted, seeing that their profits were necessarily
multiplied, and Stock Exchange speculation pro-
moted. After the overthrow of Napoleon, the
Rothschilds acted on principles directly opposed to
those on which they had always hitherto proceeded.
Their object was apparently to reverse all that they
had previously done, and so, whereas they had
formerly striven to depreciate the Government funds,
they now did their best to force them up in the
market. Steadily and by degrees the prices re-
covered, so that the five per cent, loan, which we
have said was issued at a loss of forty per cent.,
was eventually redeemed at 106 to 109. The dif-
ference between these two prices was not at all a
bad profit for the Rothschilds to realize as the result
of their operations. Not so fortunate was the firm
of Fries and Co. in its association with the Govern-
ment loans. Although the only son, Count Fries,
inherited some six or eight million guldens and
through his bill business gained a hundred thousand
annually, he was nevertheless forced in 1824 to
abandon the Court and Vienna, and fly to Paris,
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 279
where he soon afterwards died. By this catastrophe
the remaining members of the syndicate were re-
duced to the firms of Geymuller, Arnstein and
Eskeles, and Rothschild. Later on they admitted
into their ranks the Vienna millionaire and banker
Baron Simon George Sina, and these four firms con-
tinued to undertake the frequent and endless loans
which the Government were forced to solicit from
its subjects. The two brothers Geymuller, by whom
the business was founded, had already retired and
were living on the fortunes they had gained. The
sole head of the firm after their retirement was their
nephew Falkner, who subsequently assumed the
name Von Geymuller, and whom they had brought
up and adopted as a son. He possessed a capital of
one million thalers, which, however, he soon ran
through, and then made off one night without leaving
any clue as to his destination. On the 12th
February, 1843, nineteen months after the failure of
the firm, a warrant was issued and published for the
arrest of the fugitive on a charge of embezzlement.
In like manner the brothers Schickh, Steiner's heirs,
were advertised, arrested, and brought to trial. At
that time nearly all the business firms were im-
perilled, and shaken to their foundations. The
230 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Rothschilds alone met the shock unmoved, deriving
additional power and strength from the trials they
had so successfully encountered.
Besides this Government business, the Vienna
house of the Rothschilds, at the head of which was
Baron Salomon von Rothschild, the second son of
old Mayer Amschel, was ever ready to embark in
enterprise of any sort which promised to prove lucra-
tive. For Prince Esterhazy and many other mem-
bers of the high Austrian nobility he issued in con-
junction with the house in Frankfort many loans, of
which we gave particulars in a previous page. He
also established a Fire Insurance Company, the
shares of which he was able to sell at a handsome
premium. In addition to all these enterprises he
had his immense bill business, which brought him
in a regular and unfailing profit.
In 1836 the firm took over from the Austrian
Government the contract for the construction of the
railway from Vienna to Bochnia, and before even a
sod had been turned or a shovel used the whole of
the twelve million shares were sold at a premium
of fifteen per cent. The shares in 1841 had already
fallen from 115 to 62, and the Government were
compelled to assist the undertaking by an advance
SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD.
BAIION SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 281
of five millions, but before the end of the year they
took into their own hands the completion of the
line.
As in all other countries where the Rothschilds
were domiciled, so in Vienna, the money market
was completely under the control of the house
established there. The prices of the funds and
other securities rose or fell according to the pres-
sure or support they received at the hands of
Baron Salomon. Every day, from the opening of
the Bourse at twelve o'clock to its close at four, he
was besieged by brokers and stockjobbers anxious
to give him reports of the tendency of the market,
and eager to receive and execute his commissions.
Speculation in stocks was, however, far from con-
fined to these hours, as long before and long after
the Bourse was open the speculators were in the
habit of congregating in the well-known caf in the
Griinangergasse, which establishment was rented
by the Stock Exchange folk, and free to the
public. Here the dealings and speculations in
stocks were carried on without intermission till late
at night, for the prices of the funds and shares of
every sort were quoted and dealt in as regularly as
on the Bourse itself. The transactions were indeed
282 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
far larger on this unofficial market than on the pri-
vileged and recognized Bourse. Rothschild had in
his service a stockjobber at a fixed salary of 12,000
guldens, irrespective of his immense commissions.
This person used to wait upon Rothschild early
every morning, when together they concerted the
plans for the day's operations. The stockjobber
had his clients and customers not only on the
Bourse but also in the " Panduren- Lager," with
whom he concluded his purchases and sales. He
kept a number of runners in his employ, whose sole
duty it was to run backwards and forwards from
him to Rothschild's with reports of all the fluc-
tuations in prices and the disposition of the markets,
and to return with orders to be carried out for the
purpose of raising or depressing prices as circum-
stances or convenience dictated. Naturally those
speculators and gamblers who were not initiated
into his plans fared badly, and were frequently
ruined by Rothschild's manipulations. This facto-
tum of Baron Salomon was a poor man when he
first became acquainted with the great financier,
but it was not long ere he also joined the ranks of
the millionaires. So strong were the faith and confi-
dence placed in him, that he was entrusted with the
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 283
control of affairs and the procuration signature
whenever Baron Salomon left Vienna on business or
pleasure.
The house of Rothschild played a prominent part
in nearly all the great Austrian financial operations.
Most of the loans have passed through its hands,
and on more than one occasion was the head of the
firm consulted with respect to the private fortune
of the Imperial family. He was a trusted coun-
sellor with whom family secrets were perfectly safe,
and he had always free access to the ministerial
Cabinet. Councillor Brentano, of the Finance De-
partment, had indeed formerly been the agent in
Trieste of the Frankfort house for its money trans-
actions with the East, but its present agents there
are Messrs. Morpurgo and Parente. The energies
and influence of the firm were not by any means
confined to purely financial matters, for it was
known to have been interested in the success of
several mining and industrial adventures. It is no
secret that the large quicksilver mines of Almaden
in Spain are mortgaged to the Rothschilds. These
mines are the only rivals worthy of the name with
which the Austrian mines in Idria, producing some
3,000 centners annually, have to contend. To pre-
284 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
vent any injurious competition between the Spanish
and the Austrian mines, an understanding was
effected through the all-powerful influence of the
Rothschilds. By this understanding the price of
both quicksilver and cinnabar was kept up at a cer-
tain figure, which was not to be altered unless both
parties consented to the change. The agreement,
however, has for some years past been null and
ineffective, owing to the discovery of immense
quicksilver deposits in America a discovery which
has put an end to a uniform price being maintained
for any length of time in Europe.
The city of Vienna derived many direct and
indirect benefits from the presence of Baron Salo-
mon, as, independently of his noble beneficence
and liberality, its general prosperity must have
been increased by the immense business introduced
by his firm. A very pleasing recognition of his
great services was made him in 1843, when the
Mayor of Vienna, accompanied by the Austrian
ministers von Kolowrat and Hardegg, handed him
as a New Year's gift the diploma or deed stating
that he had been elected an honorary freeman of
the city, as he was prevented by his nationality and
religious persuasion from ever becoming a free
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 285
citizen. This document stated that he had been
elected an honorary freeman not only " on account
of his services to the monarchy in general, but
more especially in recognition of his great and
praiseworthy exertions on behalf of the welfare of
the city, by means of his quiet and unobtrusive
charity, which had won him universal respect and
esteem."
An amusing tale is related of Baron Salomon
with reference to a certain Cabby, who it is to be
presumed was generally employed by his son, a
great patronizer of cabs, and a very liberal man
with his money. It was nothing unusual for him
to give the drivers four or five times the amount of
their legal fare. On one occasion Baron Salomon
after alighting paid the man the legal faro, not a
penny more nor less. The Jehu regarded the coin
in his open palm with a significant glance, which
caused the Baron to inquire whether it was not cor-
rect. " Quite correct, and I am much obliged ; but
your son would have given me three, four, or six
times as much." " Indeed, would he? Well, he
has a rich father. I have not."
As we have already mentioned, the Vienna house
issued, now alone, now in conjunction with other
286 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
firms, several loans on behalf of the Austrian
Government. The first of these loans was that of
1820 for twenty million eight hundred thousand
guldens, undertaken by the Eothschilds and David
Parisch in Vienna. This was issued in tickets of
one hundred guldens each, bearing premiums, and
was paid off in the regular course of time by the end
of 1840, by means of yearly drawings. The success
of this loan was due mainly to the great inducement
held out to the public in the shape of the large
prizes to be won.
The same two firms contracted for the second
loan of 1821, amounting to thirty-seven and a half
millions, in bonds of 250 guldens, and redeemed by
means of fourteen drawings by the end of 1841.
At the close of 1823, Austria opened a loan
of twenty-five million guldens with Rothschild,
Baring Brothers and Irving and Co., in London.
This loan was required to provide the payment of the
subsidies of two and a half millions sterling due to
England for her defence of Belgium.
Again, on the 1st December, 1829, a loan of
twenty -five millions, required to payoff treasury bills,
was concluded with Rothschild, Geymuller and Co.,
Arnstein and Eskeles, and Sina. In 1 834 a further
BARON SALOMON VON ROTHSCHILD. 287
loan of twenty-five millions was issued by these four
allied firms, and was followed in 1839 by one of
thirty millions. Both these loans were issued on
far more favourable terms to the Government than
had been the case on previous occasions, the interest
payable on the first being five, and on the second
four per cent.
In 1842 Austria was again forced to seek the
assistance of Rothschild and his colleagues, the
result being a loan of forty million guldens, on which
the contracting bankers are estimated to have made
four millions clear profit.
After the death of Baron Salomon, the business
passed into the hands of his son Baron Anselm von
Rothschild, who retained the direction until his
death in 1879, when his three sons Ferdinand,
Nathan, and Salomon Albert, succeeded him. The
two first-named have never taken any active share
in its control, preferring to leave the helm wholly
and solely in the hands of their youngest brother,
Salomon Albert. They were not anxious to face
the worry and responsibility attaching to the
management of the firm. Quite satisfied with the
possession of a handsome fortune, they, like wise
men, determined to rest content with what they
288 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
had and to retire to the enjoyment of the pleasures
of society. Baron Ferdinand has long ceased to be
an Austrian, having for many years past been an
Englishman by the process of naturalization. He
married Evelina, the daughter of Baron Lionel de
Rothschild, but lost her after one short year of
wedded life. Her loss was a severe blow to him, for
he was most fondly attached to his young wife. Of
late years he has figured prominently as one of the
leaders of society. His country house at Waddesdon
is the scene, during the summer months, of the most
brilliant reunions and garden parties. Scarcely a
day passes by without the arrival of parties of dis-
tinguished visitors, often including royalty and
members of the diplomatic body, who are received
and entertained in a truly princely style. Balls,
fetes, shooting parties, follow in rapid succession,
until the winter season approaches, when Baron
Ferdinand returns to his palatial residence in the
Rothschild quarter of Mayfair. He now represents
the Aylesbury division of Buckinghamshire in Par-
liament.
CHAPTER IX.
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD.
THE PARIS FIEM.
RANGE for nearly seventy years pos-
sessed no permanent form of govern-
ment ; each successive government was
of a temporary and provisional charac-
ter. After the fall of the monarchy attempts of
various kinds were made in the way of forming a
representative government, and following one upon
the other in rapid succession came the Legislative
Assembly with an interim government, the Con-
vention with the Reign of Terror, the Directory,
the 18th Brumaire with the Three Consuls, Buona-
parte and his Consulate, Napoleon I. and the
Empire, the first restoration of the Bourbons under
Louis XVIII., Napoleon's one hundred days, the
second restoration under Charles X., the July
a
290 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
dynasty of the Orleans with its immutable ideas,
its fall through the revolution of February, the
Republic, the Presidency of Louis Napoleon, Napo-
leon III., Emperor. Such is the list of the many
forms of government to which France has been
subjected, varying from the most unbridled des-
potism to the most extreme licentiousness.
In order to realize the condition of France at the
beginning of the present century, and to appreciate
fully the boldness and sagacity which led Baron
James de Rothschild to found his house in Paris, it
will be well to give a few particulars regarding the
finances of the country at that time. The first
budget proclaimed by Napoleon was that of his
Consulate, and it amounted to nearly 600 million
francs. On the 20th May, 1804, he was elected
under the title of Napoleon I. Emperor of the
French, the succession to the imperial purple being
limited to his descendants and those of Joseph and
Louis Buonaparte. With the exception of some
sixteen marshals, one hundred members of the
Senate, and the judges, Napoleon could dispose at
pleasure of all other appointments, so that it is not
surprising that with the army at his back he should
have been able to get the crown voted to him by
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 291
some three and a half million citizens. In a few
years he made himself master of the European
continent, thanks to his skill not only in annihi-
lating armies but in overreaching and deceiving
cabinets and ministers, thereby preventing any
country from arming itself and taking effective
measures to resist his progress. When, how-
ever, Spain, with Austria and Russia, and at last
Prussia and Germany, combined against him, his
star of fortune and destiny began to wane. By
arbitrary and violent methods he enlarged the limits
of the French Empire, denying and destroying the
worldly power of the Pope by declaring the Papal
States a portion of France, depriving his brother
Louis of Brabant, Zealand, and Guelderland, in
order to make the valley of the Rhine the frontier
line in that direction ; then he annexed Holland to
France, and finally, on the 10th December, 1810,
declared the necessity of extending the empire to
the Baltic, and, accordingly, all the sea-coast north
of an arbitrary line drawn from the junction of the
Lippe with the Rhine to Travemund became French
territory. From the Pyrenees to the Baltic, from
Texel to Terracina, the great empire reached, while
in Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, and Sicily he had
292 THE HOUSE OF EOTHSCHILD.
vassals and allies who trembled beneath his sway.
In Sweden the succession to the throne had
been conferred on a French marshal; Prussia was
exhausted; Austria appeared fettered by family ties ;
only two European Powers withstood and defied the
power of France Russia and England.
However greatly the fame and dominion of the
empire had grown abroad, the condition of the
country itself was of the worst possible description.
The imperial subjects were burdened and oppressed
by all sorts of tyrannical impositions, by taxes
which steadily grew in amount, and by a budget
yielding a revenue considerably exceeded by the
expenditure. In 1804, when France became an
empire, the country was by the decree of the 23rd
February called upon to face a budget in which the
expenditure amounted to no less than 700 million
francs. This was for a war year. For a peace
year 79 millions would have to be deducted, so
that 621 millions would still weigh on the country.
In addition must be reckoned the Emperor's civil
list, which, with the domains left at his disposal,
the appanage of his brothers, and the pay of the
grand officers of the Crown, amounted to 30 millions.
Included in this, however, were 7 millions for the
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 293
Emperor's household, so that to the 621 millions
we have really to add another 23 millions, to which
we must still add the expenses of the Departments,
79 millions; the cost of maintaining the roads, 15;
the expense of collecting, 80 ; the secret police, 5 ;
so that the total expenditure for a peace year may
be put down at 823 million francs, or about 376
millions more than under the monarchy. Year by
year the budget grew, being estimated in 1809 and
1810 at 740 millions, whilst in the following year it
was reckoned at 954 millions. The preparations
for the campaign against Russia the most gigan-
tic military expedition of modern times swallowed
up million after million.
" Napoleon had collected the most powerful army
the world ever saw ; from all parts of the Continent
had he summoned his forces for the struggle; every
variety of blood, of complexion, of language, of
dress and arms, were to be found in its ranks. The
auxiliaries from whole provinces were led through
kingdoms that respected his arms ; the artillery of
entire fortresses ploughed across the fields ; cattle
from a thousand hills were collected for the support
of myriads who spread themselves like a plague
across the plains of eastern Europe, where blood
294 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
flowed in streams, and where the earth became
blanched with the men's bodies. But this gigantic
expedition, although successful, gained no object,
since the enemy was vanquished, but the conqueror
in vain tried to secure peace. The ancient capital
of the Czars in Moscow was in his power, but the
capture was profitless to him, owing to the refusal
of the enemy to come to peaceful terms, and the
barrenness of the neighbourhood. The burning of
Moscow in one night began Napoleon's downfall,
which the frost of a second completed. Upon all
the pomp and material of numerous warriors, upon
their cavalry, their cannons, their magazines, and
their baggage fell thickly and steadily the snow-
flakes of a northern night ; the retreat of the armed
hordes was cut off, and their destruction as effectually
achieved as if it had been on the battle-field. All
Napoleon's endeavours to regain his lost power were
never able to remedy the effect of that Russian
night. The fire of his genius still burned as
brightly as ever ; in two campaigns his efforts were
superhuman ; his resources were even more remark-
able than before ; his courage deserved the reward
and prize of victory for which he played but all
was in vain. The weapons remained only a short
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 295
time longer in his hand ; his army was scattered to
the winds ; his opponents no longer bowed beneath
his superior nature, for they discovered that he,
like themselves, could be conquered, and they in
their turn became bold. Such was the great cap-
tain, and such the destiny into which he plunged.
"A mighty genius of the first rank; one of the
greatest masters in the art of war, he occupies a
place among the generals of the highest class. His
genius, however, was not confined to war. In the
circumstances of government he showed himself
equally sharp as quick in deciding his procedure
in politics as in the field. But with all these quali-
ties he was a conqueror, he was a tyrant.
"In order to appease his thirst for power, in
order to satisfy his ambition for empire an ambi-
tion no conquest could still he trod freedom be-
neath his feet. He enveloped the world in flames,
which the blood of millions was unable to extin-
guish. Honesty, truth, pity, and sense of duty
were cast aside by him, who pursued a single and
selfish policy. Enghien's death, Wright's horrible
sufferings, Pichegru's mysterious death, Palm's
punishment, Toussaint's martyrdom, are all blots
on his fame."
296 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Equally characteristic is the opinion of Lord
Brougham concerning him : " He sacrificed to his
ambition three milliards in money as the acknow-
ledged cost of the wars of 1802-1814 to France
alone, and five-sixths of three million men, who
were called out for active service."
Following upon his memorable campaign against
Russia and his disastrous retreat came his dethrone-
ment and banishment to Elba, whence he issued to
try his fortune once more against the whole of
Europe. The sequel to this attempt is too well
known to need repetition, leading as it did to his
final overthrow, and to the restoration of Bourbon
rule in France, with a constitutional government,
under Louis XVIII.
When the Chambers met for the first time after
the restoration, Montesquieu laid before them a
report of the condition of the country, describing in
very striking language the evils arising from the
imperial form of government. Still more gloomy
was the picture painted by the Minister of Finance
of the State's finances and requirements. The
arrears amounted to more than 1,308 millions,
which, however, were afterwards reduced to 759.
The funded debt amounted to only 93 millions. To
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 297
provide means to discharge these liabilities, it was
decided to sell the domain forests and common
lands. The abnormal and provisional budget of
1814, and the normal budget of 1815, estimating
the receipts at 618 million francs, and the expendi-
ture at 547 millions, were passed on the 23rd Sep-
tember, 1814; the civil list of 33 millions, and an
additional vote of 30 millions for the debts incurred
by the Bourbons abroad since their expulsion, were
likewise voted.
Then came Napoleon's sensational return, with
his brief enjoyment of power, cut short by the
efforts of the allied forces. Nearly a million foreign
troops entered the French territory, and de-
manded an indemnity of 100 million francs at the
expiration of the one hundred days. The budget
for 1816 estimated the ordinary expenditure at 548
millions, and the extraordinary expenditure at 290
millions, in addition to that for the Consolidated
Fund of 125,500,000 francs. Taken all in all, the
expenditure amounted to 1,069,261,826 francs as
given in the law of the 25th March, 1817. The
indemnity of a milliard francs claimed by the emi-
grants, and the war indemnity of 700 millions
claimed by the Allied Powers, were enormous items
293 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
in the State accounts, in addition to the cost of
maintaining the foreign army of occupation for five
years.
In the following years both the receipts and the
expenditure rose and fell. In 1824 the Chambers
put the civil list for the King at 25 millions, and
that for the Princes at 7 millions. The budget
grew steadily under the different ministries until
the July revolution. Under Martignac in 1828 the
expenditure was estimated at 980 million francs,
whilst the receipts reached only 986 millions.
During the reign of the Orleans family the State
finances, in spite of the enormous receipts, were
far from flourishing. The indirect taxes exceeded
a total of 12 milliard francs, whilst the yearly ex-
penditure amounted to from 1,000 to 1,200 millions.
The chief cause of this lay in the lasting " armed
peace." In 1841 a deficit of 1,000 millions was
declared. The system followed by Louis Philippe
had already brought the country to the verge of a
financial crisis. The city of Paris was burdened
with a debt, now considerably increased, of 1 2 mil-
lions, and the State budget with a rente of 600,000
francs. The distress among the working classes
was -fearful ; in commercial circles bankruptcy was
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 299
the order of the day. Under the fraudulent system
then generally prevailing persons had carried on
business without any capital at their backs, by
means of credit, ill-deserved but too readily ob-
tained. The revolution came without any warning
to complete the feeling of anxiety and uncertainty
prevailing at the time. A provisional government
was placed at the head of affairs, and issued decrees
one after the other dealing with all subjects, from
the abolition of the monarchy down to the assign-
ment of the millions of the civil list to the relief of
the working classes. The indebtedness of the State
was fearful ; the financial disorder unlimited. Even
without the revolution a State loan of 600 millions
would have been absolutely necessary. There were
but two means of saving the newly-created repub-
lic a dictatorship, or in other words, exaction, or
credit. If the State had displayed the slightest
hesitation in meeting its engagements the word
bankruptcy would have been on every lip. Goud-
chaux, the Finance Minister, resigned ; he felt him-
self unequal to the difficulties of the situation. A
man of ability, capable of manfully grappling with
and mastering the dangers of the impending crisis,
was above all things required. Gamier-Pages -sue-
300 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
ceeded Goudchaux as Finance Minister. One of his
first proceedings, after his accession to office, was
to sell the forests belonging to the old civil list. Ha
decreed a voluntary loan, but, as the coffers remained
empty, he had recourse to the most pitiable of all
financial measures : he laid an additional 45 cen-
times on the four instalments of the direct taxes, a
measure which severely hit the already heavily-
burdened peasants and the small landowners. The
expenditure amounted to 1,700 million francs, and
the State debts, which had increased by nearly a
million in seven years, to 5 milliards 170 millions.
The additional tax brought in 150 millions, whilst
the Bank advanced 230 millions upon the State
forests. By these means the State was saved from
bankruptcy.
Under the Presidency of the Eepublic, which ere
long was converted into the Empire, the indebted-
ness of the State continued to increase steadily.
The war with Russia required one sacrifice after
the other. In April, 1856, the State expenditure,
the revenues and the State debts were estimated by
the Minister of Finance to be as follows :
" The regular expenditure amounts to 1,598
million francs. The first portion of this consists of
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 301
the interest on the debt, which takes 342 millions
for the dividends, and the redemption of the con-
solidated debt; lOf millions for the interest on the
special loan for canals ; 33| millions for the interest
on the floating debt, the guarantees, and finally 68
millions dette viagere, together 455 million francs.
The supplies are 25 millions for the Emperor ; 1|
millions for the Princes and Princesses of the Im-
perial house; 6| millions for the Senate; 2i mil-
lions for the Legislative Body, and 3i millions for
the Legion of Honour; making in all 38| millions.
The collection of the taxes costs 165 millions; 4
million francs are set apart for the completion of
the Louvre." In a word, taking the population of
France at 35 millions, the average contribution per
head to the State treasury was about 46 francs for
the year 1856.
The fortunes amassed by individuals bankers
and financiers, more particularly resident in France,
or rather in Paris, cannot be described nor esti-
mated. In June, 1848, when the proposed decree
for the conversion of the floating debt into a con-
solidated debt was brought before the National
Assembly, a Paris paper, published under the title
of " The Organization of Labour," gave the follow-
302 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
ing details respecting the wealth of the leading
houses in Paris :"The firms Laffitte Frere and
Delamarre are estimated at 10 millions ; Baudon at
12; Rougemont and Lafond at 15; Dourand, De-
lessert, Aquirrevengon and Halphen, each at 20;
Hottinger and Pellaprat each at 25 ; Fould at 30 ;
Hoop at 40 ; Baron Gressulhe at 100 ; Eothschild
at 600 million francs/' The King was put down as
worth 800; the Due d'Aumale and Madame Adelaide
each at 70; and the Due de Montpensier at 20
millions. According to this estimate the combined
wealth of the above well-known banking-houses
amounted only to 362 millions, a total which
Rothschild exceeded by no less than 238 millions.
It was by means of this immense capital at their
command that the Rothschilds gained that con-
sideration and influence which no other firm has
ever yet equalled or approached.
" Involuntarily/' wrote the " Augsburger Allge-
meine Zeitung/' " one is forced to ask the question
how it was that the house of Rothschild managed
to maintain its distinguished position undisturbed
throughout the manifold changes of government in
France ? The explanation is easy," continued the
writer : " the house belonged to no political party ;
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 303
the Rothschilds are the friends of the kingdom, of
law and of peace, and as such could maintain their
preponderating influence equally as well under the
heterogeneous ministries of a Decazes, Villle,
Martignac, or Polignac, as under the government
of Louis Philippe."
When we remember the disturbed state of Europe
in 1812, and how much the Rothschild family had
suffered at the hands of Napoleon, we cannot but
wonder what could have been the reasons which
induced Baron James de Rothschild to determine
opening a branch house in the French capital. That
he did so in spite of the unpropitious aspect of
affairs speaks volumes for both his boldness and
foresight. It may have been that he had already
made sure of his prospects by having rendered the
Emperor some services, for few had more need of
financial assistance than Napoleon I., and Baron
James, we may presume, was not unwilling to
secure himself substantial advantages at the expense
of the French nation. This is, of course, all sur-
mise on our part, but, when we recollect that the
supplies entrusted by the British Government to
Nathan Mayer Rothschild for the army in Spain
were conveyed to their destination through France,
304 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
it does not seem altogether improbable that Baron
James must by some means or other have obtained
a certain degree of influence with the French
Government, or he could never have executed the
business with such success. Money is proverbially
all-powerful, and in this case certainly did not belie
its reputation. A more favourable period, as events
proved, could hardly have been chosen for establish-
ing the new firm in Paris. It was started in 1812.
In 1815 Napoleon was deposed and business at
once poured in upon Baron James de Rothschild.
Thanks to the influence and warm recommendations
of the Elector of Hesse, Baron James de Rothschild
was empowered to receive the milliard of francs war
expenses claimed by the Allied Powers when they
entered Paris. In the same way the two milliards
war indemnity passed through his hands, and we
may feel sure that the transaction was most profit-
able. For some years afterwards we do not find
him engaged in any great financial operation ;
indeed until 1823 his name is altogether lost sight
of. In that year, however, he took up the whole
of the French loan at the price of 89 fr. 55 cent. ,
and the " Gentleman's Magazine " in chronicling
the occurrence testifies to the confidence and in-
BARON JAMES DE EOTHSCI1ILD. 305
flucnce enjoyed by the firm, by stating that the
immediate effect on the French Rentes was that
they rose to 90 frs. 25 cent.
In 1824, the Marquis de Villele, the Minister of
Finance at that time, projected the conversion of
the whole of the French Five per Cent, debt into a
Three per Cent. debt. Those who were so disposed
could exchange the old Five per Cent, stock into
bonds of the new Three per Cent, stock by accept-
ing the exchange at the rate of 100 francs new
stock for every 75 francs of the old. The whole
debt amounted to 3,066,783,560 francs, and it was
estimated that perhaps only one-third of the stock-
holders would accept the conversion ; consequently,
to satisfy the State creditors, no less than
1,055,556,720 francs would have to be paid them in
cash. In order to collect this immense sum, the
assistance of all the great financiers on the English,
Dutch, and French markets was sought. Subscrip-
tions were received in Paris, London, and Amster-
dam by the firms of Baring Brothers, J. Laffitte and
Co., and N. M. Rothschild and Sons. A committee
under the presidency of Alexander Baring, with
Baron James de Rothschild and Jacques Laffitte as
his colleagues, was then formed to determine the
x
306 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
conditions to be made with the Minister, on which
they would provide the cash required for the re-
demption of the old Five per Cent, bonds. Their
plan was to sell the new Three per Cent, stock, as
soon as created, at the price of eighty. At this
price purchasers would receive 3f per cent, interest
on their money, and if the paid off debt could only
be replaced by bonds of the Three per Cent, stock
purchased at 80, it necessarily followed that the
Five per Cent, stock, before the proposed conver-
sion, would be relatively worth 106.66, in order to
yield a corresponding rate of interest.
Operations based on this calculation were ac-
cordingly made on the three markets. The capital
required in Paris for the conversion was estimated
at 1,000 millions. The speculators, thinking that
the contractors would not put the new Three per
Cent, stock into circulation under 80, bought in
Amsterdam and Frankfort at 81 83 , whilst at
the same time immense sales of the French Five
per Cent, debt at the relative price of 106.67 to 110
were effected. Higher prices than these could not
be obtained.
Villele's project in order to become law required
the sanction of the two Chambers. After a very
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 307
stormy debate, it passed the Chamber of Deputies
by a Ministerial majority of 68. In the Chamber of
Peers it encountered a vigorous opposition, secretly
promoted by the Viscount de Chateaubriand, who
harboured a private grudge against Villele. By a
majority of 12 votes the proposal was rejected. The
Five per Cents., which the day before were quoted
at 106, fell at once to 98, and an extraordinary
excitement ruled on the stock markets. Chateau-
briand resigned, and the day following at the
opening of the market the Five per Cent. Rentes
were dealt in at 104 j then they receded again to 98,
and remained for some time stationary.
The rejection of the Finance Minister's scheme
was a severe blow to speculators, who had operated
freely in the anticipation of the conversion being
accepted. Those who had bought largely for the
settlement were compelled to sell out again at a
loss. Baring and Laffitte were severely hit; the
Rothschilds, however, emerged from the fray unin-
jured, owing to their having confined their opera-
tions to selling simultaneously large amounts of the
new Three per Cents, and of the old Five per
Cents. As the Three per Cent, debt was not to be
created, none of this stock could be delivered, whilst
308 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the Five per Cent, stock, which they had sold at 104
or more, could be bought in again at 98.
In 1830 the well-known banker, P. J. Ouvrard,
in Paris, obtained trustworthy information, a week
before their publication, of the coming decrees of
the Polignac Ministry, decrees, as is well known,
resulting in the July revolution and the fall of the
Bourbon dynasty. No sooner was Ouvrard certain
of his information, than he summoned to hi confi-
dence several bankers and bill brokers, and then
hastened to London. On reaching that capital he
at once began to effect such heavy sales of stock at
ever falling prices that the Rothschilds, who, being
among the first purchasers, were interested in the
maintenance of the prices, became quite alarmed,
and immediately despatched a courier to Paris to
learn the real reason of the immense sales that had
taken place. The Paris house, however, were no
better informed than the London house, and were
unable to give the key to the enigma. Baron
James, who a few months previously had contracted
for the last Government loan of Four per Cent.
Rente at the price of 102 francs 7 cents., at once
betook himself, in a state of violent excitement, to
Polignac, and requested the Minister to enlighten
B AEON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 309
him as to the real state of affairs. The possibility
of the Ministerial decrees being issued had already
become a subject of discussion on the Stock Ex-
change, but no one could speak with any certainty
on the matter. When the Baron returned from his
interview with the Prime Minister, he made no
secret of the fact that the latter had given him his
word of honour that the decrees were nothing but
an empty scheme which had never been seriously
considered, and which would now remain a dream.
The next day it became known that they had been
signed by Charles X. after mass, and the following
day they appeared in print in the columns of the
" Moniteur."
The immediate effect of their publication was that
the house of Rothschild and its partners in the trans-
actions found themselves saddled with the whole
loan of 78,373,750 francs, which fell to a discount
of 20 or 30 per cent. For a long time afterwards
this stock remained in such bad odour that buyers
were difficult to find. The business, however, was
far more prejudicial to Rothschild's partners than
to Baron James himself, as the bulk of the stock had
already been taken off his hands. He was severely
reproached at the time for the part he had borne in
310 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the business, as it was generally held that he had
abandoned his friends and left them helpless ; still
it must not be forgotten that till the time of the
July revolution he had always shared his enormous
gains with his partners. That event came quite
unawares upon them, and at once changed what had
promised to be a most profitable undertaking into a
most costly and ruinous one.
Ouvrard had at a stroke won an immense sum,
which his broker Amet set down at 2 million francs.
As soon as he had carried out his successful com-
bination, he returned from London to Paris and
commenced operations. They were all calculated
for the fall. As the Rente, even after Casimir
Perier joined the Ministry, fell to 52, and in
February, 1831, to 48, some slight estimate may be
formed of the extraordinary profits Ouvrard must
have realized.
It was mainly by the influence of the house of
Rothschild that the fall of M. Thiers in 1840 was
brought about. Whether right or wrong, Thiers
thought he was acting as beseemed a Frenchman,
whose only object was to uphold the honour of
his country. This consideration, however, never
troubled the Rothschilds; for they supported no
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 311
nationality. They are although by some the asser-
tion may be opposed cosmopolitan, or at least
European, neither German, French, English, Italian,
Turkish, nor Russian, and, as they possess immense
influence in diplomatic circles, they help to main-
tain peace at the expense of all princes. In his
opposition to Thiers Rothschild bore himself as
king of the Stock Exchange, and Austrian Consul-
General. Thiers in the columns of the " Consti-
tutionnel " pointedly asked Rothschild, of what con-
cern was the honour of France to him, seeing that
he was a German? Baron James replied, in a
letter which he had published in all the papers, that,
if he were a German, so must his brother Frenchmen
be Germans. However, it was in the interests of
Germany that he acted in the matter of the Rhine
frontiers, then under discussion. Thiers resigned,
and was succeeded by Guizot, whose proceedings
were always of a somewhat cosmopolitan, anti-
national character, so that it was not altogether
inappropriate when his Ministry was nicknamed the
Ministers de VEtranger. It was naturally under the
monarchy, where power centred in one person, that
the influence possessed by the Rothschilds dis-
played itself most conspicuously and undeniably.
312 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Few were the public men who did not feel and
own that influence. The majority of the deputies,
we may say, without fear of contradiction, were
more or less under obligations to the firm, and
ready to assist in promoting its interests and views.
Still, although in diplomatic circles Baron James de
Rothschild was a personage of such importance
that his opinions could never be altogether disre-
garded, it was upon the Stock Exchange that his
rule was most powerfully felt and universally recog-
nized. Nor did he hesitate to use the sovereignty
he possessed to further his purposes, as he could
raise or depress prices at his pleasure. His sway
was indeed despotic, and none were found bold or
rash enough to dispute or oppose his arbitrary
edicts, as the gigantic nature of his operations
effectually prevented anything like systematic oppo-
sition being offered, and induced others to lend
him their co-operation by following in his steps.
It cannot be denied that the Stock Exchange can
boast of intellects which in diplomatic skill and
artifice would do credit to a Talleyrand, and it is
equally certain that for boldness in conceiving and
for vigour in carrying out a plan none could excel
Baron James, whose operations were the talk and
BARON JAMES DE ROTUSCHILD. 313
wonder of Europe. Seeing the facility with which
at a stroke fortunes may be won on the Stock
Exchange, it is not surprising that speculation
should have a strange fascination over the public,
nor that the Stock Exchange should become a
training school for the development of every kind of
trickery and deceit, the centre of genuine business,
and of endless swindling.
To live we require the necessary means, and it is
the fate and calling of everyone to strive after the
acquisition of wealth, and, when he has succeeded,
to use the utmost care and thought in the preserva-
tion of his gains. There are many ways of attaining
this object, since it is possible to acquire riches either
by labour, industry, or speculation. Naturally every-
one, being more or less anxious to become wealthy,
prefers the way which leads most directly and with
least trouble towards the goal. The outcome of
this innate desire to grow rich speedily and with-
out effort was the invention of games of chance,
which have been in vogue from the earliest ages ;
the dice were as familiar to the Greeks and Romans
as they are to us in the nineteenth century. It was
the desire for gain which led the people of the
Middle Ages to place such faith in the black arts,
314 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
and in the power of the divining rod. The in-
fatuated and ignorant belief that many had in the
boasted powers of the alchymists and astrologers
was owing to the latter taking advantage of the
cupidity of their dupes, who, in the anticipation of
becoming suddenly rich, were ready and willing to
place implicit reliance in their mysterious advisers.
But the philosopher's stone and all such trash are
now discarded, and instead of it we have specula-
tion, stock-jobbing, gambling and swindling; all
being different modes of attaining the same object,
the acquisition of wealth with the least possible
trouble or exertion.
Real gain is that which arises from industry
backed up by capital and credit, the latter of which
is proportionate to the industry and capital com-
bined. In many countries credit is the basis of
all business, which is facilitated and developed by
its means. According to the estimate entertained of
the credit and character of the individual, the credit
of a State is formed ; this in earlier times was so
slight that oppressive measures had to be resorted
to in urgent cases to procure the necessary funds to
meet the State's requirements. For the same purpose
recourse was often had to the reduction of theinterest
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCUILD. 315
on the debt, and to the issue of base money. As years
rolled on the evils arising from these practices were
recognized, and sounder principles of finance and
administration were, by degrees, adopted. Thence-
forward the public were induced to confide in the
Government, and invest their money in the purchase
of the Government stocks, which became at once
the basis of a speculation similar to that in private
shares. The funded debts of a State, especially of
one whose credit has decayed, are, in disturbed
times, the most prolific source of that species of
gambling for the differences in the quotations,
which is known in England as stockjobbing. In
every country the Government stocks are used as
the means of gambling. The Stock Exchanges of
London, Paris, Frankfort and Vienna are crowded
with persons who have neither stock to sell, nor
money to pay for their purchases, but who yet em-
bark in large speculations for the rise or fall, hoping
to pocket, before the settling day, a handsome profit
by the difference that takes place between the prices
at which they buy and those at which they sell.
The usual mode of conducting speculation on the
Stock Exchange is by means of "time-bargains,"
i.e., bargains which are not settled before a certain
316 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
day, usually termed the " account," or settling, day.
Naturally during the interval between the closing
of a bargain and the account day, prices may
experience considerable fluctuations, on which specu-
lators greatly rely for the success of their dealings.
For instance, a person may sell an amount of stock
for the "account," and owing to a fall of prices
may be able to buy that amount in again at a
considerably lower price, thereby pocketing a
handsome profit in the shape of the difference
between the two prices. On the other hand it
frequently happens that the market disappoints the
expectations of speculators, who are consequently
unable to settle their transactions by delivering the
stock they have sold, or by paying over the cost
of their purchases ; in such cases the transactions
are usually arranged by the defaulters paying the
differences between the prices at which the bargains
were struck and those ruling on the account day.
From this explanation it will be at once seen how
speculation is encouraged, since it is possible for
persons without capital or stock to embark in
speculations for large amounts, and these specula-
tions, if luck attends them, return fabulous and
easily earned profits.
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 317
No wonder that this sort of business has its
fascinations. It is, indeed, neither more nor less
than gambling pure and simple, and is so considered
by the law. There can be no doubt that this gigantic
system of speculation is prejudicial to the public in-
terests, as it seduces business men from their own
legitimate business, which they neglect in the hope
of gaining larger profits, with greater ease, on the
Stock Exchange. Were this system of buying and
selling for future delivery confined to the Stock
Exchange there would be less reason to complain j
but, unfortunately, it is practised upon all our
produce markets, where panics are by its means
created with far too great a frequency. The public
are the greatest sufferers in such cases, as the prices
of commodities which they require, and with which
they can ill dispense, such as corn, tea, coffee, etc.,
are often forced up to an extraordinary height by
the efforts of unscrupulous and greedy schemers.
The want of principle and the readiness of specu-
lators to attain their ends at all hazards, is shown
by the many artifices they employ to effect a re-
action on the market. It often happens that the
market, contrary to their sanguine expectations,
makes a movement which if maintained is sure to
318 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
bring about their ruin ; consequently they strenuously
endeavour to remedy the evil by the fabrication and
circulation of false news, by the publication of lying
statements in the newspapers, and by any other dis-
honest means which appear likely to produce the
desired result. These tricks are bad and objection-
able enough, but in more than one instance ruined
speculators have as a last resource tried to re-
establish their shattered fortunes by forgery and
other fraudulent means. In 1803, when the greatest
anxiety prevailed in London as to the result of the
negotiations then pending between the French
Republic and the English Government, the whole
city became elated and joyous owing to a statement
contained in a letter, posted in a prominent position
on the Mansion House, to the effect that : " the
negotiations were brought to an amicable con-
clusion." As this letter purported to be written by
Lord Hawkesbury, implicit faith was at first placed
in its genuineness, especially as it seemed to enjoy
the sanction of the Lord Mayor. The Funds rose at
once with a bound. Presently, however, when the
matter was quietly considered, grave doubts began
to be entertained as to the authenticity of the letter.
Many (and among them perhaps the authors) boldly
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 319
declared it fictitious : a reaction forthwith set in, and
was intensified when the forgery was exposed. A
similar incident occurred only a year or two ago when
a letter pretending to be written by Lord Granville's
authority, and stating that the settlement of the
bondholders' claims against Chili had been satis-
factorily arranged, was placed in a prominent
position on the Stock Exchange. It is needless to
say that this likewise was a hoax, or rather a for-
gery. Nor is the pernicious practice of fabricating
false news by any means confined to the members of
the Stock Exchange ; all who operate in the Funds
and are interested in bringing about a certain move-
ment in the quotations resort to these objectionable
devices. Members of Parliament are not above
stooping to such meanness ; indeed more than one
Stock Exchange scandal has originated in the dis-
honest practices of honourable members. Few
trials created greater sensation in England than
those of Mr Walsh, M.P., and Mr Cochrane John-
stone, M.P., at the beginning of the present cen-
tury. Impelled by their fatal love of specula-
tion Cabinet Ministers and other persona holding
high official rank have been known to take advan-
tage of their position and turn to profitable account
320 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the information which has reached them through
official channels. Nothing shows more clearly the
baneful effects attending the mania for speculation
than the deplorable fact that ministers have been
led by its influence to abuse the confidence placed
in them, and subordinate the public interests to
their own. Take for instance the case of the Count
de Guisne, the French ambassador in London at
the early part of the present century. Profiting by
intelligence received in virtue of his office, he
speculated in the Funds with great success for
a time, but afterwards his good fortune deserted
him, and he was unable to meet his engagements.
As long as he was lucky he was willing to ac-
knowledge the contracts made with his broker,
but when his luck changed he disowned all know-
ledge of the transactions, refused to pay the balance
due, and quitted the country. Apart from the evils
directly traceable to speculation, the amount of
bribery and corruption it engenders cannot be
estimated. In order to obtain the earliest informa-
tion of all that passes in political circles, speculators
spare neither trouble nor expense. By means best
known to themselves, but which may be expressed
by the conventional term "value received," they
BARON JAMES VON ROTHSCHILD.
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 321
manage to obtain from subordinate officials and
court attendants early and reliable reports of all that
it concerns their interests to know. The famous
Duke of Marlborough is indeed said to have so far
forgotten his station as to have accepted an annuity
from the great speculator Medina, who found the
outlay extremely remunerative, as it enabled him to
have the exclusive privilege of forwarding from the
field of battle reports of those great successes which
fired the spirit of the nation with enthusiasm and
joy. Formerly the advantage of possessing reliable
information of any important event, such as the decla-
ration of war, the resignation of a cabinet, the illness
of a sovereign, was very considerable, since, owing
to the slowness of communication, the truth or false-
hood of the reports promulgated by speculators
could not be ascertained until they had affected the
market and brought about the movement in prices
which inevitably filled the pockets of those who
were in the secret. Thanks to the invention of the
telegraph, these lying rumours are now exposed
almost as soon as circulated, but twenty or forty
years ago it would have taken days or weeks to
ascertain how true or false they were.
The year 1847 was a most evil year both for
T
322 TEE SOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
commerce and State finance, especially in England
and France. So severe, indeed, were the financial
pressure and the scarcity of money in England,
that during the month of October bills drawn upon
and accepted by first-class firms, with only a week
to Tan, were discounted at the rate of 13 per cent,
per annum. The banks in Liverpool and New-
castle, owing to a run of unprofitable business,
were forced to suspend payment, thereby causing
ruin and distress in every direction. The pressure
arose more from want of confidence than from any
other cause. Everyone had more or less caught the
speculation fever raging for railways and corn, and
had become liable for sums far beyond his ability to
pay; consequently the value of all railway securi-
ties fell rapidly, whilst vast amounts were lost in
the corn speculations.
During the following months the prices of the
Government stocks rose in a strange fashion, de-
spite the well-known scarcity of money prevail-
ing at the time. Chance and an unlooked-for
succession of various causes, rather than the power-
ful manipulation of the Rothschilds, brought about
this unusual phenomenon. Extensive dealings had
taken place in the Three per Cent. Rentes, and it
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 323
was found on settling-day that those securities
were greatly over-sold. A large portion which re-
mained uncovered figured in the names of the Roth-
schilds. Since the latter had endeavoured to force
prices to take a certain path, this amount had been
considerably augmented, and, according to estimate
made, it was thought that the average price would
work out about 75 francs 50 cents. From the
systematic sales effected by the Rothschilds, it
seemed that their principal object was to maintain
this quotation, and that their speculations would
prove unprofitable were the prices to rise beyond
75.75, which to all appearances was their limit.
The great herd of speculators who faithfully fol-
lowed all the movements of Baron James, whose
actions inspired all their operations, were now
placed in an awkward position. They had sold
very heavily for the account, but when settling-day
arrived stock proved exceedingly scarce, and it
became an easy matter for the " Bulls" to raise the
price to 76 francs 40 cents., as they were assisted in
their efforts by the absence of fresh sellers, the
scarcity of stock, and the readiness of persons
to buy. Shortly afterwards the price rose to 77
francs, apparently quite contrary to the interest of
324 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the house of Rothschild and to the desire of all
well-wishers of the new project for a State loan of
250 million francs. Then there ensued an un-
expected revival of confidence among the public,
similar to that which had occurred the year
before; the public entered into the speculation,
wrested the sceptre of power from the hands of the
Rothschilds, and showed them that at times the
public is able to set a limit to their rule. In order
to counteract the influence brought to bear upon
the market, Baron James determined suddenly to
unload on it some 450,000 francs Three per Cent.
Rente, which he had borrowed from the three great
insurance companies, the Compagnie Generate, the
Royale, and the Union, against the deposit of
500,000 francs Five per Cent. Rente. Apparently
his object was by this sudden delivery for cash to
beat down the price to his old limit, but in this
calculation he was mistaken, as means were found
to relieve the market of all this stock, and so the
operation failed. The " Bulls," who had hardly dared
to expect the disappearance of so large an amount
of stock, took heart of grace, and kept the quota-
tion up almost to 77 francs. Unwittingly they had
helped Baron James to win his game. Dealing
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 325
in the new loan first took place at 76 francs 50,
then the price sank 1 franc, or 75 cents., about the
price at which Baron James contracted for the loan
in November, 1847, namely, 75 francs. Baron
James had scored another victory over the whole
financial world in Paris. Directly he undertook the
loan he issued a circular calling upon all subscribers
to pay an immediate instalment of 5 francs upon
every 100 allotted to them, failing which their
applications would be disregarded. Speculation
had been so rife that Baron James may have decided
upon this measure from mistrust of the subscribers'
ability to fulfil their obligations ; or his object may
have been to increase the firmness of the new loan
on the market.
While Louis Philippe occupied the throne, money
was supreme ; riches alone ruled in the land which
was credited with possessing thanks to the system
of so-called popular representation bestowed upon
it all the blessings and advantages supposed to
attend a constitutional monarchy. In the Chamber
of Peers the interests and aims of every class had
representatives, the second Chamber, elected under
a high census, being the reflection of the rich bour-
geoisie. Such an Assembly of representatives was,
326 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
however, as regards the people, a fiction. More-
over, Stock Exchange speculation formed the chief
occupation of the rich bourgeoisie, while Louis
Philippe and his Prime Minister Thiers led the van
in this playing with fortune. The financial situa-
tion was for ever growing worse in consequence of
the rapid spread of corruption, especially in the
practice of buying votes. The demands of those
who allowed their votes to be bought kept becom-
ing more and more exorbitant, but, as the means at
the command of the corrupting parties did not
increase in the same proportion, the court favourites
had to make free with the State treasures to supply
the deficiencies. Fearful scandals were brought to
light, until the feelings and good sense of the
nation could suffer the evil no longer. Stronger
and stronger waxed the cry of corruption with
which the Guizot Ministry was assailed. In spite
of all that he had done for them, by degrees even
the bourgeoisie began to desert Louis Philippe, and
united in the demand for a reform of the electoral
system. The whole tone and manners of society
were affected by the universal corruption, and to
what a depth of vice and degradation the public
morality had fallen was shown by the revelations
BARON JAMES DE ROTUSOUILD. 327"
that took place. So far had many persons gone that
the Government were forced to disown them and their
practices. Like shipwrecked mariners, the Govern^
ment consulted their own safety by sacrificing their
weaker comrades, and prosecuted numbers who had
high rank, and were at the same time friends or
relations of the King ; such persons, for instance,
were Teste, formerly in the Ministry, and Cubieres,
an old Court favourite, both of whom had either
made away with the State moneys or had allowed
themselves to be bribed ; lastly came Praslin, an old
friend of the King.
The monopoly of the State loans which the house
of Rothschild had in the course of time secured to
itself, and which afforded strong evidence of the
immense financial power at its command, has, in
consequence of the new principles of finance by
which the Government has been guided since 1848,
come to an end. At one time it would have been
thought a piece of madness to oppose or compete
with the Rothschilds in their operations, but now,
owing to the powerful and active coalitions formed
among many of the leading banking and financial
houses, the power and influence of the Rothschilds
have received a severe check. They are no longer
323 THE SOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the all-puissant despotic firm they once were;
younger and equally energetic rivals have forced
them to descend from the platform they once occu-
pied alone, and they now stand on the same footing
as other financial houses. Their influence is of
course still immense and powerful, but it no longer
secures them the precedence they so long held in
monied circles. The effect of the new principles
of finance upon the privileges and influence of the
house of Rothschild was clearly shown in 1855 when
the national loan was issued. The Rothschilds
were no longer allowed to pocket, by contracting
for the whole loan, all the profits attending the
issue; they were forced to subscribe on an equal
footing with every other citizen for whatever share
they wished to obtain. The policy and wisdom of
the Government in taking this bold measure cannot
be doubted, as it enabled the public to share in the
profit attending the issue a profit which on previous
occasions the contractors had exclusively enjoyed.
The loan was issued to subscribers at 63 francs
27 cents, but long before the allotments took place
it was dealt in on the Exchange at 65 francs 90 cents.
In addition to the Government business, as we
may call it, Baron James engaged in many com-
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 329
mercial and industrial undertakings. To him France
is in a great measure indebted for the construction
of most of her principal railroads. He may indeed
be called the " Railway King " of France, as Hudson
was the " Railway King " of England. To quote
the " Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung " once more :
" When during the last few years the speculative
mania turned towards industrial enterprises, and
railways became a necessity on the Continent, the
Rothschilds took the initiative and placed them-
selves at the head of the movement. The Versailles
Railway on the right bank of the Seine is their
creation, and in Austria they gave the first impulse
to enterprise of this description by building the
magnificent Northern Railway."
The greatest of Baron James's railway under-
takings was perhaps the construction of the Northern
Railway of France, which was attended by so many
scandals and productive of such widespread specula-
tion that some description of it may not be out of
place. In order to secure the country all the benefits
supposed-to result from unlimited competition, a law
had been passed by which it was decreed that the
construction of railways in France was not to bo
effected by granting concessions to particular per-
330 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sons, but was to be confided to those companies
whose tenders proved most acceptable. In the case
of the Northern Railway, these prudent precautions
proved unavailing", as Baron James secured before-
hand the co-operation of all who might have been
his rivals, and, his being the only tender, there was
no alternative but to accept it. The capital of the
company consisted of 300,000 shares of 500 francs
each. Baron James had no sooner got his company
fairly started than he inaugurated a wholesale specu-
lation in the said shares. Every trick and artifice
known was employed to force them up to a fabulous
price ; they were given away broadcast to the news-
papers, in order that the praises of the latter might
be won for the undertaking, or their opposition at
least silenced. There was scarcely a person of any
importance but received a present of a number of
shares, in some cases five, in others fifty, and often
more. Ministers, deputies, journalists, everyone, in
fact, of any note was bribed to lend his support to
the new railway. Naturally the shares soon rose to
an enormous premium, and the ignorant and infa-
tuated public, gulled by the reports of the enormous
sums already won, and still to be won, hastened to
participate in the speculation. The premium on
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 331
the shares was at one time as much as 348 francs,
when Baron James thought it time to realize the
profit arising from the operation, and accordingly
began to sell out the shares he held. By selling
heavily he forced the prices down, ruining the igno-
rant persons who had purchased the shares at a high
premium. He was thus enabled to buy in at a
price which left him a handsome profit on the shares
he had sold. And so the speculation went on,
Baron James, backed up by the immense support
he had secured, raising and depressing the market
by his manoeuvres just as it suited his purpose.
His gains were set down by popular estimate at
140 million francs, but that may be an exaggera-
tion. On the 15th June, 1846, the line was opened
with great pomp, and amidst universal rejoicings.
Amiens on that day presented a grand spectacle,
crowded as it was with princes of the royal family,
marshals and generals, deputies, peers, members of
the bar, and others who had been invited to take
part in the opening ceremony. Unhappily the line
inaugurated under such brilliant auspices was, a
month or two later, the scene of a terrible accident,
by which some thirty persons lost their lives, and
an equal number were more or less injured.
332 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
The great success and immense fortune gained
by Baron James could not fail to win for him a
large amount of jealousy and envy, which displayed
itself in the combinations formed by rival firms, all
anxious to deprive him of some portion of the large
profits attending his operations. Among the many
formidable rivals with whom he had to contend,
none perhaps proved himself so capable and dan-
gerous as Emile Pereire, the head of the firm of
that name. So bitter was the rivalry between the
two that neither lost a chance of damaging or
spiting the other; indeed, so far did matters go
that Baron James and Pereire allowed their rivalry
in business to grow into a personal enmity, which
displayed itself on every possible occasion. Neither
hesitated stooping to enter into any intrigue or
doing any mean trick if he thought he could thereby
damage his rival, either in reputation or pocket.
As Pereire's means alone would have been insuffi-
cient to attain the objects he had in view and com-
pete with the influence and fortune of the Roth-
schilds, he sought the co-operation of other influen-
tial firms, not only in Paris but in other great
capitals. So powerful was the coalition thus
organized that even the vast influence of the Roth-
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 333
schilds was ineffectual in the attempt to procure its
overthrow. Some idea of the strong opposition with
which Baron James had to contend may be formed
from the credit and capital possessed by the coali-
tion, which included such well-known and wealthy
firms as Barings of London, Hope and Co. of
Amsterdam, Stieglitz of St Petersburg, and many
others. The rivalry between Rothschild and Pe 1 -
reire was carried on vigorously, and with ever-
increasing bitterness and warmth. Rothschild on
the one hand was jealous and annoyed by the young
upstart Pereire, whilst the latter, conscious of his
exceptional energy and abilities, was anxious to force
the wealthy and despotic Rothschild to abdicate the
lofty position he had gained on the Paris money
market. On more than one occasion Baron James
exerted himself to the utmost to crush and annihi-
late his young rival, but Pereire's strong will and
financial skill were more than a match for the ability
of Rothschild and his millions. In these contests
for supremacy it was not always Pereire who had
to yield. More than once Baron James found him-
self out-manoeuvred, and compelled to retire from
the arena. In 1856, for instance, Pereire, in con-
junction with Hottinger Thurneysser in Paris, and
334 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Stieglitz in St Petersburg, succeeded, in spite of
all the frantic efforts and the immense and varied
influence brought into play by Baron James, in
gaining a concession for the construction, during a
period of eighty-five years, of a network of railways
throughout the Eussian empire. This enterprise is
certainly one of the greatest and most lucrative of
the present century.
Having been thus defeated in his endeavours to
secure the concession for the Russian railways,
Baron James revenged himself by founding the
Vienna Credit Bank. The different offers that
were laid before the Austrian Ministry of Finance
resolved themselves into two groups, at the head of
which stood the Rothschilds on the one hand, and
Pereire on the other. In the position it held on
the European money market each of these two
great houses possessed material advantages, which
brought out prominently its individual character.
The name of Rothschild had about it a sound of
historic fame, of well-merited popularity, and of
world-wide wealth which carried with it immense
weight, whilst, in addition, its interests and busi-
ness were looked after by the different members
of the family residing in all the great capitals of
5 ARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 335
"Europe. The house of Pereire, on the other hand,
had in its favour the greater energy, the higher
administrative ability, and the superior capacity of
its chief. Both houses were all powerful on the
great European markets, and for the sake of the
new institution it was eminently desirable that the
rivalry between the two should cease and a fusion
of interests take place. This to all appearances
was the opinion of the Finance Minister, who wished
to give no decision as to the merits of the two pro-
posals until every effort to secure the alliance of the
rival firms had been exhausted. There seemed to
be some probability of the much-desired union being
consummated, but Pereire, in a letter from Paris,
declared he would not undertake the establishment
of the new bank in conjunction with Rothschild,
unless the latter promised to abandon his oppo-
sition to the Credit Mobilier, another of Roth-
schild's powerful rivals. Baron James positively
refused to give the promise, and the negotiations
fell through, the ultimate result being that the
establishment of the new bank was, as we have
said, entrusted to the house of Rothschild.
That Baron James was not successful, in spite of
his most careful calculations and circumspection, in
336 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
all his enterprises, the reader knows. Unforeseen
circumstances will crop up at times to mar the best-
laid plans, and the Baron, like others, was not exempt
from Fortune's freaks. Great as his winnings
were, his losses were on a correspondingly large
scale whenever his usual luck deserted him ; the
amounts he lost at a single stroke were indeed so
enormous that they can scarcely be credited. One
of his heaviest losses was undoubtedly that caused
by the frauds of Carpentier, the accountant or
cashier of the North of France Railway. The
particulars of this gigantic robbery, without a
parallel in the history of crime, were published in
one of the papers, and were as follows :
" The mystery surrounding the theft from the
Northern Railway is by degrees being cleared up.
The directors try to furnish as few details as possible
regarding this event, which does poor credit to
their prudence and watchfulness. They at first
desired to give no publicity at all to it ; the Paris
press had been won over, but, as the foreign journals
would not allow the occurrence to be buried
in silence, the Northern Railway was forced to
step forward with its explanation, in which the
losses were set down at six million francs. This
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 337
estimate is, however, far from correct; it speaks
only of the theft of shares, whilst the thieves also
emptied the safes of all the money they contained.
It has not been ascertained what is the exact loss
the Railway will have to suffer; indeed it is a
matter of some difficulty to discover the extent of
the frauds, as the thieves have destroyed nearly all
the papers which could help to elucidate the precise
nature of their proceedings. The amount stolen is
estimated to amount to from 30 to 32 millions. The
loss will not fall on the Northern Railway alone, as
Messrs Rothschild, Andre, and De Morny will have
to bear their share. Carpentier, Grellet, and their
accomplices must have been planning the execution
of their project for a long time past, for they had
already previous to their flight realized large sums,
and six months ago purchased a steamer in England
for 1,800,000 francs. From papers discovered after
their flight it would appear that they have bought
a house in New York, which is, perhaps, the reason
why they have left England for America. How far
back the embezzlements extend is not yet known,
although it has been discovered that the fugitives
have been selling shares on the money market here
for a long time past. In order to be able to produce
z
338 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
the proper number of shares when an examination
of those left in their care took place, they adopted a
very clever artifice. The shares deposited with the
administration were kept tied up in packets of
1,000 each, and the thieves with the assistance of
some of the subordinate officials, who were all more
or less in the swim, abstracted from each of these
packets 200 or 300 shares and tied the packets up
again. When the examination, which to all ap-
pearances was very superficial, took place, the full
number of shares was seemingly forthcoming, and
the embezzlement remained undetected. In this
way the thieves were able to realize a considerable
sum before they carried out their grand and final
stroke. Carpentier was the first to quit Paris ; he
had solicited leave of absence for four days from
Rothschild, who readily granted the favour. On
this occasion Carpentier had a long conversation
"with Rothschild, with whom it is well known he
was a great favourite. Baron James had just done
a fine stroke of business and told Carpentier that
his winnings amounted to some five millions. 'If/
continued the rich banker, ' my Algerian Railway
speculation turns out all right, I hope to add three
more millions to my five/ ' Will you put them
BAEON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 339
before or after your five millions ? ' asked Carpentier;
' will you pocket thirty-five or fifty-three millions ?
Put them in front, and hand me your five millions,
you will still have a nice little sum left for your-
self.' Rothschild laughed at the joke, but would
not surrender his five millions. ' I cannot give you
my five millions, but here, take my chain ; it may
serve as a friendly souvenir of this day, which has
brought me so much pleasure and profit/ The
chain was, we need hardly say, of great value, and
Carpentier, although he had already provided him-
self with far greater wealth, did not despise the
offer, and sent the chain as a present to his brother
before leaving Paris. From the above conversation,
which Rothschild communicated to his friends, it
will be seen that he and Carpentier were on the
most confidential terms. It was Rothschild who
had obtained Carpentier his appointment as chief
cashier in the Northern Railway Company, and his
rage and fury on learning how his protege" had
misconducted himself were terrible. He tried every
possible means to secure the capture of his un-
grateful and dishonest favourite, and when, ac-
companied by detectives, Monsieur T of the
Northern Railway started off in pursuit of Carpen-
340 THE HOUSE OF EOTHSCHILD.
tier, Rothschild opened an unlimited credit in his
agent's favour, saying he was to hesitate at neither
expense nor means that he, Rothschild, would
readily give ten millions to get Carpentier in his
power. From Paris Carpentier proceeded direct
to London, and thence to Liverpool, where the
steamer he had purchased was lying. He had her
got ready at once and gained the high seas. He
there waited for his accomplices to join him. During
Carpentier's absence Grellet was placed in charge
of the cash. On the day the clerks and workmen
of the railway were to be paid, he was not at his
post. Information was sent to Rothschild that
he had not appeared. Rothschild, who had no
suspicions of anything wrong, proceeded to the
offices of the Company, and by means of the dupli-
cate keys in his possession opened all the safes, in
order to give out the sums required for the payment
of the workmen. He opened the small safe, only to
find it quite empty. His suspicions were at once
aroused, and he ordered the manager to observe
strict secrecy, as he would bear all responsibility ;
he then opened the large safe ; that was likewise
empty. The loss of shares was not discovered till
later. Measures were at once taken to procure the
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 341
arrest of the thieves, but they had got so good a
start that Grellet was able to join Carpentier
unmolested. With Grellet and Carpentier, four
subordinate officials disappeared; Carpentier like-
wise took with him his mistress, a Mademoiselle
Georgette, who had been living in Paris in a very
extravagant style. Carpentier and Grellet are still
very young men ; the former is fair, looks exceed-
ingly delicate and pale, and appears to be in a con-
sumption. Grellet belongs to a very good family,
and has a large private fortune, said to amount to
500,000 francs. The statement that he and Car-
pentier were driven to their crime by losses on the
Stock Exchange and fast living is false ; both, on
the contrary, led very regular and quiet lives, and,
if they lately have been spending money freely,
that is only a consequence of their criminal con-
duct. They were in no way driven to crime ; they
simply plunged headlong into guilt."
The immense services rendered by Baron James
de Rothschild to the State were recognized and
rewarded by the Government, who showered upon
him titles and decorations of every description.
During the reign of Louis XVIII., when the proud
aristocracy had its own way in everything, the
342 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
Baron was not on the most friendly terms with the
Government, owing to a slight which he received at
their hands. It is said that, as a modest re-
ward for his services, he asked that his wife might
be introduced at Court; but, when the haughty
Duchesse d'Angouleme was consulted, the favour
was refused, as she declared that she was quite
scandalized at the suggestion. " It must not be
thought of," said she ; " you must not forget that
the King of France is the most Christian King."
However, Baron James punished this narrow-
minded prejudice in his own way : during the re-
mainder of the reign he withdrew his support from
the King, and quietly declined to aid either finan-
cially or by advice a Government swayed by such
mean and paltry principles. The revolution of
1830 made amends for the slight he had suffered.
He welcomed the new Government, which he sup-
ported with all his influence and money, and became
on the most intimate and friendly terms with the
new Court. He dined regularly every week at the
Palais Royal, and the King's sons never failed to be
present at the soirees held in the Rue Laffitte.
During the reign of Louis Philippe the influence of
Baron James was all-powerful ; the reign has been
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 343
called the reign of stock-jobbing and speculation.
It was no longer Baron James who had to solicit
favours from the aristocracy; it was the aristo-
cracy who sought the patronage and aid of the rich
banker. The splendour and luxury of the enter-
tainments given in the Chaussee d'Antin were
never equalled by any given by the Court. The
banker's house on such occasions was thronged
with a crowd of persons distinguished in the diplo-
matic and financial worlds. To procure an invitation
from. Baron James was almost more highly thought
of and sought for than a presentation at Court.
Smarting, perhaps, under the recollection of the
snub once given him, Baron James took a delight in
humiliating those who now cringed to him. His
roughness of manner, and his blunt if not coarse
mode of speaking were well known, and many
anecdotes of his utter disregard of politeness have
been published . The higher the rank of the victim
the greater the pleasure Baron James derived from,
the confusion and pain caused by what he regarded
as his blunt and outspoken manners. Sometimes
he met his match, and would receive a severe
rebuff, but even that only disconcerted him for a
moment. Amongst his guests at the Rue Laffitto
344 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
on one occasion was Prince Paul of Wurtem-
berg, who had honoured him by accepting an invi-
tation for dinner, during which Baron James per-
sisted in disregarding all etiquette and in address-
ing the Prince in a most annoyingly familiar tone.
At first the Prince treated his host's conduct with
contemptuous silence, but, as that proved insuffi-
cient, he at last rose from the table and left.
A Conservative deputy met Baron James at the
Opera, and inquired how he was. " Not so bad."
" And the Baroness ? " " What concern is that of
yours ? " replied the Baron, turning his back
roughly on the speaker.
Those who suffered most from this objectionable
practice of Baron James were artists, journalists,
and others, who, being indebted to him for his
patronage, hardly felt bold enough to rebuke his
unmannerly behaviour. Jadin was painting some
frescoes in the dining-room belonging to Baron
Salomon de Rothschild, when Baron James entered
and caught him accompanying himself in his work
by singing and whistling different airs.
" Holloa ! you workman with the decoration,
come down a bit ; I want to speak to you."
Jadin gave no reply, shrugged his shoulders to
show his indifference, and continued his singing.
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 345
This behaviour naturally created for Baron James
many bitter enemies, who lost no opportunity of
holding him up to ridicule in the press. No doubt
much that was printed to his disadvantage had no
better authority than the writer's imagination, but
still Baron James's character offered many oppor-
tunities of attack to those who wished to irritate
and annoy the great banker. There was in Baron
James's character a peculiar combination of seem-
ingly opposite and antagonistic qualities. On the one
side there was the shrewd man of business, ready to
sacrifice thousands, if by so doing he could gain
millions ; while, on the other, stood his well-known
benevolence and charity. True to his keen business
instincts, Baron James showed in the most trivial
matters an anxiety and a determination always to
obtain as cheaply as possible what he bargained for.
This niggardly spirit was naturally ridiculed by his
calumniators in the press. The story of the gar-
dener Paquet is not unworthy of reproduction here.
By a process little known at that time, but com-
mon enough now, Paquet succeeded in obtaining
three magnificent peaches in the month of January.
All interested in horticulture hastened to inspect
such a marvellous proof of his skill, and among the
visitors was Baron James. The following conver-
346 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sation then took place between the great gardener
and the great millionaire. The story reads so much
better in French, that we may be excused for
printing it in that language :
" Fraiment, Monsieur le chartinier," dit-il, " vos
beches sont atmiraples. Gombien en voulez-vous ?"
" Quinze cents francs, Monsieur le Baron."
"Bar exemble!"
" C'e&t tout au juste," dit Paquet. " Je ne vou-
drais pas vous surfaire."
" Drois beches, quinze cents vrancs, Mein Gott!
Et drois beches qui beut-etre ne falent rien."
"Oh! pour cela, jevous arrete," dit 1'horticul-
teur pique. "Vous allez avoir immediatement la
preuve du contraire."
He at once plucked one of the peaches, cut it in
two, and offered one half to the Baron, whilst he ate
the other himself.
" Qu'en dites-vous, Monsieur le Baron ? Vous
6tes connaisseur ; je m'en rapporte a la finesse de
votre palais."
" Dres-ponne ! Telicieuse ! " dit Rothschild cro-
quant la peche.
" Oui, c'est de la meilleure espece. Chair ferme,
saveur exquise. En plein air, cette espece-la ne
murit qu'au commencement de Septembre."
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 347
" Foyons, Monsieur le chartinier, ce n'est bas
fotre temier brix ? "
" Pardonnez-moi. Quinze cents francs, comme
j'ai eu 1'honneur de vous le dire."
" Eh," s'ecria le juif, " blaisantez-vous ? II y a
une beche te moins ! "
" N'importe, c'est toujours quinze cents francs
pour vous, Monsieur le Baron. Ce sont la des fruits
de millionaire ; je n'en rabattrai pas un centime."
Rothschild finally bought the peaches, when the
meaning of the gardener's conduct became clear to
him.
The well-known anecdote of Vernet the painter
did not end so pleasantly for the Baron. When he
called and inquired how much the painter would
charge to execute his portrait, he was told
" For you, Monsieur le Baron, it will be four
thousand francs."
"The devil ! It will cost you only two or three
hasty strokes from your brush. Come, now, that
strikes me as being rather dear."
" Ah, you deal in the arts, do you ?" exclaimed
the artist, with a shrug of his shoulders. " All, well,
it will be four thousand francs, not a centime less."
And, when Rothschild manifested his surprise, the
painter continued : " If you add another word it
348 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
will be three times the sum. Am I to paint it or
not?"
Baron James hastened to quit the studio, appa-
rently alarmed at being in company with one who
was, he believed, perfectly mad.
" Wait a moment ! " cried the artist after him,
" I will do your portrait for nothing."
And he kept his word. In his picture called
" La Smala " can be seen a hideous-looking Jew,
running away with a casket of jewels and money,
his face expressive of the most sordid avarice and
ill-concealed fright. That portrait is a gross
caricature of Baron James de Rothschild.
However illiberal he was in matters of business,
Baron James could display bounteous liberality on
occasions when his business instincts were not
touched. But even his immense and well-known
beneficence was misconstrued and attributed to
interested motives, owing to the belief that a man
could not be so lavish in his gifts who was known
to be so close in his e very-day conduct. For many
years the greatest suspicion and disbelief of the
purely disinterested nature of the Baron's charity
prevailed among the public, and this opinion was
fostered and encouraged by the vile calumnies
BARON JAMES DE EOTUSCHILD. 349
printed in the press. In 1847, Baron James, fore-
seeing the distress and want likely to result from
the poor harvest of 1846, took energetic measures
to provide a remedy for the evil. He bought, in
the European and American markets, prodigious
quantities of corn, which he afterwards sold at an
immense loss in Paris. An enormous bakery was
started in the Chapelle Saint-Denis, where the
starving poor were able to procure bread at a large
reduction. But the most generous plans, the most
charitable projects, prove abortive when they
emanate from the brain of a man in bad odour with
the public. No trust was put in the good nature
of the great Jew; the most violent diatribes ap-
peared in the papers every day, telling the public
to be on its guard ; that his bread was not bread
at all ; that his flour was not flour. It was bran ;
it was plaster, mixed with arsenic. Others asserted
that Baron James had bought large quantities of
damaged flour and that he concealed its bad
quality by mixing with it sweet almonds, his
calumniators quietly ignoring the fact that sweet
almonds are far more costly than the best flour.
In addition to the enormous sacrifices made in
supplying corn to the distressed population, Baron
350 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
James, in 1848, subscribed no less than fifty-
thousand francs in aid of the wounded and the un-
employed workmen. This was certainly a display
of the most liberal generosity, seeing that he had
himself much to fear from the excesses of the
excited populace during the outbreak of the revolu-
tion. It must have been an anxious time for him
as he learnt of the excesses of the mob, every
moment expecting it would be his turn to receive a
visit from them. But among those having influ-
ence and control over them was Marc Caussidiere,
who was not unmindful of the charitable munifi-
cence of Baron James. By his orders guards were
stationed not only round the hotel, but also round
the suburban villas of Baron James, whose anxiety
was relieved by the grateful thoughtfulness of the
citizen. Less than a year after, Baron James
proved that he was capable of appreciating the
admirable conduct of Caussidiere, who, when he
reached London, an exile and a beggar, received
the following note from Paris :
" SIE,
" Allow me to place at your disposal the sum of
thirty thousand francs. This little capital will
B AEON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 351
enable you to start some business in the hard land
of exile. You may return it to me in ten, twenty,
or any number of years you please. It is a feeble
testimony of my gratitude for the great services
you have rendered the country.
" I am, &c. &c.,
" ROTHSCHILD."
Even this display of gratitude was reported
to be owing to prudential and selfish motives, for
it is asserted the Baron said : " The devil is
never conquered j who knows but that he may
return?" It is, however, satisfactory to learn
that these thirty thousand francs paved the way
to Caussidiere's fortune, as he started a wine
and brandy business, which eventually proved
very lucrative.
If all the stories related of him be true, Baron
James displayed remarkable skill in being chari-
table at the expense of others. He was fre-
quently reproached with his disregard of, and want
of sympathy with, his co-religionists in misfor-
tune, and it was suggested to him that he might
at least give them the benefit of some Stock
Exchange operation. The hint was taken : a
352 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
manoeuvre was carried out one fine morning to
effect a rise in the market and was followed almost
immediately by a fall which enabled the Baron
to make a profit of 850,000 francs, which sum
he devoted to the construction of the Jewish
Home in the Rue Picpus.
On another occasion he granted an interview to
Felix S , a man of considerable talent, who
laid before him the plan of a vast undertaking,
which as Baron James acknowledged appeared both
novel and ingenious as well as possessed of every
quality necessary to secure its success. But,
although entertaining so favourable an opinion of
the scheme, he positively declined to embark any
money to float it. He said, however, " Follow me,
and the capital will soon be forthcoming." He
then made his visitor enter his carriage and drove
to the Bourse, where they walked up and down,
arm in arm, together. They had scarcely separated
ere several capitalists hastened to surround the
man honoured with the friendship of the king of
finance, and after an explanation they assured him
of their readiness to support him both by their
influence and their capital.
Heine, in referring to his friend and patron, thus
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 353
described Baron James de Rothschild : " He was
a remarkable personage, whose financial abilities I
do not pretend to analyze, but they must have been
considerable, if their results are any criterion to go
by. He possessed the peculiar gift or instinct of
observation, by which he was enabled to discover
the capacities of other people in every sphere of
life. Many persons have on this account compared
him to Louis XIV., and truly, in contrast to his
colleagues who surround themselves with a gene-
rality of mediocrity, Baron James was always to be
seen on the most intimate footing with the nota-
bilities of every rank and station. He always
knew who was the best man in any business, even
if that business was a mystery to him. Though he
probably possessed little knowledge of music, Rossini
was his constant companion ; Ary Scheffer was his
family painter ; Care"me was his cook. He certainly
understood not a word of Greek, and yet the
Hellenist Latrone was the scholar whom he favoured
mostly. His physician was the genial Dupuytren,
and the most brotherly affection existed between
them. At an early date he duly appreciated the
worth and ability of Cremieux, whom he found to
be a trusty advocate. At the very outset he
A A
354 THE HOUSE OF BOTHSCHILD.
recognized the political abilities of Louis Philippe,
and was always on confidential terms with that
great master of the arts of diplomacy."
Baron James de Rothschild died on the 15th
November, 1868.
The present head of the firm in Paris is Baron
Alphonse de Rothschild, the eldest son of Baron
James. He inherits much of his father's financial
talent, and is acknowledged by the rest of his
relatives as the shrewdest and most able man of
business among them. He is the head of the
family not only on account of his ability, but also
on account of his seniority, as he is the oldest of
Mayer Amschel Rothschild's grandsons. For some
years before his father's death he took an active
part in the conduct of the firm's business, whence
we may infer that he is indebted to the careful
training he then received for much of the remark-
able skill he has since displayed in operations of
the greatest magnitude. All grand international
loans, i.e., loans issued on behalf of a particular
Government in several countries simultaneously,
are invariably submitted first to Baron Alphonse,
as he is known to be the best judge of the time and
conditions most conducive to the success of such
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 355
undertakings. The number of loans issued under
Baron Alphonse's management is large and em-
braces almost every nationality in Europe. The
good fortune attending these financial operations is
proved by the numerous decorations and orders
which he has received from the hands of monarchs
anxious to recognize the obligations they feel they
owe to the head of the Rothschild family. The
business of the Paris firm is by far the largest and
most extensive of all the Rothschild firms; it
embraces not only loan operations, but commercial
speculations and undertakings of every description.
Its banking business is enormous, and in this
respect it differs from its colleagues in London,
Frankfort, and Vienna, whose business is more
purely mercantile, or limited to bill discounting
and Stock Exchange operations. The most re-
sponsible undertaking of the Paris firm under
Baron Alphonse's management was the payment
of the indemnities to Germany at the conclusion of
the Franco-German War. This immense operation
called into play all the resources and energies of
the Rothschild family and its allies. The mere
anxiety and mental labour connected with this vast
undertaking would have prostrated any man of
356 TEE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
inferior calibre. For months Baron Alphonse
and his clerks worked incessantly day after day,
Sundays included, to almost midnight. The strain
on the brain and the constitution was fearful ; many
even now feel the effects of this trying period.
Great as was the anxiety connected with this
business, Baron Alphonse no doubt considered it
nothing in comparison with that which the lawless-
ness and violence of the Commune inspired. To
curry favour with the mob, Baron Alphonse was
compelled to serve, as he had done in 1848, as a
volunteer on the ramparts. But even that did not
render the property of his family secure from the
attacks of the petrolists. More than one of the
mansions belonging to members of the family were
invaded and despoiled by bands of those wretched
fanatics. In one instance the house had been be-
smeared and sprinkled with petroleum with a view
to its being set on fire, but the presence of mind
displayed by the butler averted this catastrophe.
He hinted to the unwelcome visitors that the
cellars contained a large stock of the finest wines ;
the hint was acted upon at once, and ere long the
butler had the satisfaction of seeing the whole
of the ruffianly crew in a state of intoxication. He-
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 357
then sent to the military for aid, the result being
that the petrolists were all carried off to pay the
penalty of their wanton deeds. Baron Alphonse,
in common with his fellow citizens, found that much
greater harm was to be expected from the enemies
of order living within the walls of Paris than they
had ever reason to dread from the shells of the
invading Germans. During the siege, the Roth-
schilds felt no very serious apprehension, seeing that
they had secured the safety of the bulk of their
property by transferring it to the care of their
relatives in London or elsewhere. To them even
the privations of the siege were mitigated, as they
were able, thanks to their influence with both the
German and French staff, to pass convoys of pro-
visions through the lines. It is well known that
the utmost care was taken by the Germans that
no injury should be done to Baron Alphonse's
chateau at Ferrieres. This chateau was made
the German head-quarters. It was here that
Jules Ferry came to arrange the terms of the
capitulation with Prince Bismarck and the Prussian
generals. The strictest orders were given respect-
ing the preservation of the building. None of the
furniture, nor any of the valuable paintings and
358 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
sculptures were allowed to be displaced or re-
moved. It was even forbidden to shoot any of
the game in the park without special permission.
This act of favour gave rise to a certain amount of
grumbling and heartburning among the German
soldiers. Provisions, especially meat, were none
too plentiful in the German lines, and it was not
considered just to let the troops want, simply to
confer a favour on one whom all regarded as an
enemy. In their advance to Paris the soldiers
had been allowed to seize cattle and sheep, but
now, with the prospect of a long siege, they were to
suffer hunger when plenty was before their mouths.
Nothing could demonstrate more clearly the im-
mense influence commanded by the Rothschilds,
than this scrupulous regard shown by the Germans
in preventing the spoliation of their property. But,
however safe his property outside Paris may have
been, it was different with that inside, and Baron
Alphonse knew little peace of mind as long as the
siege and the Commune lasted. So intense was
the anxiety he suffered during this trying period,
that his hair, from being jet-black, was turned
to grey in a single night. Since the war France
has been blessed with peace, which has greatly
BARON JAMES DE ROTHSCHILD. 359
contributed to the re-establishment of her fallen
fortunes. How long this will continue we cannot
say, as she seems ordained to suffer from internal
troubles at certain intervals.
CHAPTER X.
KOTHSCHILDIANA.
the foregoing pages we have endea-
voured to present the reader with a
clear insight into the characters of the
heads of the different firms by means
of a number of anecdotes which are both more effec-
tive and more entertaining than mere description.
The anecdotes already given we have good reason
to consider authentic, but there are many others
which are undoubtedly the creation of lively imagi-
nations, and have little foundation in fact. The
Eothschilds have so long held a prominent place
in public affairs, their sayings and doings have
been so closely watched and reported, that it is
not surprising to find that innumerable tales have
been published about them. A large number of the
anecdotes are, as we have stated, quite unreliable,
ROTHSCHILDIANA. 361
still there are some so highly characteristic, that it
is difficult to believe them entirely devoid of truth.
This state of things was somewhat embarrassing.
We were at first inclined to omit all anecdotes
about the authenticity of which we did not feel con-
fident, but, as their perusal is pretty sure to afford
some amusement, we have, on second thoughts,
deemed it our duty to bring them together in a
separate chapter, without pledging ourselves in any
way for their truthfulness. With this reservation
we submit the following stories to our readers, who
can decide whether we were justified or not in our
course of procedure.
Baron Anselm von Rothschild on one occasion
lost a ring which he prized very highly, not on
account of its intrinsic value, but because it had
been given him by the Emperor of Austria in
recognition of the valuable services rendered by
the family to the imperial monarchy. The Baron
offered a reward of three hundred and fifty
florins a year to the person who should restore the
cherished ring. The daughter of a humble publican
proved to be the lucky individual. She pre-
sented herself with great humility at the residence
of the wealthy financier, who recognized the article
362 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
with demonstrations of the liveliest pleasure, and
caused five hundred florins to be paid the girl in
advance, though that was something beyond the
amount of the annuity. He also gave instructions
for a bond to be drawn up to secure the regular
payment of the allowance in future. Having
received her recompense, the girl ran home to
her parents, in order that they might share in her
happiness and good fortune. The old people could
scarcely believe that their daughter had received
so handsome a reward for the discovery of an article
of such little value. After some consideration they
concluded that, rather than wait for the annual
allowance, it would be more advantageous to obtain
a lump sum down, as they might thereby be enabled
to purchase the house in which they lived. The
girl returned to Rothschild, who received her very
affably, and, having learnt her object, was pleased
to give her the sum of seven thousand florins in
ready money in lieu of the promised annuity.
Dr Busch, the biographer of Prince Bismarck,
records, in his well-known work " Our Chancellor,"
an amusing anecdote of Baron Anselm, which
deserves reproduction in these pages. He says :
" At dinner, at which were Marshal of the House-
ROTHSCHILDIANA. 363
hold Perponcher, and a Herr von Thadden, who
was designated as a member of the administration
in Rheims, the Chief told several good anecdotes of
Baron Rothschild in Frankfort. On one occasion
he had spoken in his presence with a corn merchant
about a sale of wheat, when the merchant said to
Rothschild, that being so rich a man he would never
think it necessary to put the highest price on his
wheat. ' What rich man do you mean ? ' replied
the old gentleman; 'is my wheat worth less be-
cause I am a rich man ? ' He used to give dinners
sometimes which were quite worthy of his great
riches. I remember once when the present King
was in Frankfort I invited him to dinner. Later
in the day Rothschild also asked His Majesty to dine
with him, to which His Majesty replied, that he
must settle matters with me ; for his own part he
did not care with which of us he dined. The
Baron now came and proposed that I should
cede His Majesty to him, and that I should join
them at dinner. I refused this, and he had the
naivete to suggest that his dinner might be sent to
my house, although he could not eat with us, as he
partook of only strictly Jewish fare. This proposal
also I begged leave to decline naturally, though
364 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
his dinner, doubtless, was better than mine. Old
Metternich, who, by the way, was very kind to me,
told me that once when he had been visiting Roth-
schild, the Baron gave him some luncheon to eat on
the way back to Johannisberg. With the luncheon
were packed six bottles of Johannisberg wine.
When Johannisberg (Metternich's estate) was
reached, these bottles were taken out unopened. The
Prince then sent for his wine steward and inquired
how much that wine cost him a bottle. ' Twelve
guldens/ was the answer. ' Well, take these bottles,
and the next order you get from Baron Rothschild,
send them back to him, but charge him fifteen
guldens, for they will then be older/ "
Dining on one occasion with Baron James de
Rothschild of Paris, Eugene Delacroix kept his
eyes turned upon his host in so marked a manner
that when the company rose to leave the dining-
room Baron James could not help asking his guest
what it was that so attracted his attention. The
painter confessed that for some time past he had
vainly sought a head to serve as a model for that
of a beggar he intended to hold a prominent posi-
tion in a painting on which he was then engaged,
and that, as he gazed at his host's features, the idea
ROTHSCHILDIANA. 365
suddenly struck him that the very head he so much
desired was there before him. With this explana-
tion, he ventured to ask whether the Baron would
do him the favour to sit to him as a beggar. Roth-
schild, being a great admirer of the art in all its
forms, and pleased to be considered one of its chief
patrons, readily consented to sit in a character pro-
bably never before assumed by a millionaire. The
next day found him at the painter's studio. Dela-
croix placed a tunic round his shoulders, put a
stout staff in his hand, and made him pose as
if he were resting on the steps of an ancient
Roman temple. In this attitude he was discovered
by one of the artist's favourite pupils, who alone
had free access to the studio at all times. Struck
by the life-like excellence of the model, the new-
comer congratulated his master at having at last
found exactly what he wanted. Naturally con-
cluding the model had only just been brought in
from some church porch, and never dreaming the
character assumed by him was far from his true one,
he seized an opportunity when his master's eyes were
turned to slip a piece of money into the beggar's
hand. Rothschild thanked him with a look, and
kept the money. The pupil soon quitted the studio.
366 THE HOUSE OF EOTHSCHILD.
In answer to inquiries made, Delacroix stated that
the young man possessed great talent but no means;
that he had, in fact, to earn his livelihood by
giving lessons in painting and drawing. Shortly
afterwards the young fellow received a letter stating
that charity bears interest, and that the accumu-
lated interest on the amount he had so generously
given to one whom he supposed to be a beggar was
represented by the sum of 10,000 francs, which were
lying at his disposal at the office in the Rue Laffitte.
Amongst the endless number of rich and hand-
some articles Baron James had diligently collected,
his guests seldom failed to be struck with admira-
tion by a magnificent porcelain service, of singular
beauty and design, and remarkable for the superb
paintings which adorned its exterior. The history
attached to the acquisition of this service is as sin-
gular as its beauty. One day an old man, feeble,
decrepit, and to all appearance on the verge of the
grave, solicited an interview with the Baron. At
the very outset the old man's careworn looks and
destitute condition awoke the latter's lively sym-
pathy, and this sympathy was strengthened on
learning that his visitor was a co-religionist. The
old man produced from a bag a plate of such exqui-
EOTHSCHILDIANA. 867
site design and finish, that Baron James, with the
instinctive envy of a virtuoso, felt he must at any
cost become the owner of such an artistic treasure.
After stating he was in a most destitute condition,
the visitor proceeded to say that want had com-
pelled him to part with many articles which he had
regarded as heirlooms. The plate, he declared,
belonged to a service which he had reserved to
the last, hoping against hope that necessity would
never compel him to part with it, but alas ! the
time had come when the claims of his starving
family could be stopped only by relinquishing pos-
session of this, the last resource against famine.
" I come to offer this service to you, M. le Baron,
thinking that so beautiful a work of art can find a
fitting resting-place only in the midst of your well-
known collection. Will you buy it ?"
" It is indeed beautiful ; what do you ask for
it?"
" Look you, sir," said his visitor, " I am now
an old man, bowed down with years, and have not
long to live. I am poor, but I wish if possible to end
the few remaining years of my life as comfortably as
I can. Will you, in exchange for this valuable porce-
lain service, give me an allowance for life of one
368 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
hundred francs a month ? It is a trifle to you, and
I am so old ! "
The Baron reflected a moment, examined the
plate afresh, and at length answered : " Well, be it
so ; here is the first payment ; send me the service,
and leave me your name and address, that the money
may be sent to you regularly."
The porcelain service was duly delivered. A
month later, as the Baron was sitting in his office, a
man entered, and claimed payment of the allowance
then due. The new-comer was young, stoutly
made, of a vigorous constitution, and likely to live
for another fifty years.
" But you are not the man to whom I promised
the allowance ! " said the Baron.
" Excuse me, I am indeed the man."
" But he was at least eighty years of age."
"You are mistaken, I am but thirty."
" But your aged appearance and careworn looks
were certainly unmistakable."
" Thanks to your great generosity, my recovery
has been rapid and surprising."
The Baron smiled at the remark, and gave orders
for the payment of the money, exclaiming as he did
so:
EOTHSCH1LDIANA. 369
" Ah ! you are an excellent comedian, and have
taken me in completely."
" You flatter me ; I am probably the first who
has done so," answered the Jew, politely bowing
to the millionaire.
Strange as were the circumstances and terms on
which the service was bought, Baron James had
little reason to repent of his bargain.
This reference to objects of art reminds us of
another anecdote, of which, if we remember rightly,
Baron Alphonse was the subject. On one occasion
he started out for a walk, and presently found him-
self in the district immediately behind the Pan-
theon. As the neighbourhood was quite strange to
him, he soon lost himself. No cabs or omnibus
were to be seen anywhere, nor did anyone pass of
whom he could inquire his way. At first the situa-
tion rendered him somewhat nervous, but presently,
when he thought of the strange novelty such a pre-
dicament was to him, he became reassured, and
laughed in anticipation at the amusement the
adventure would afford him. He therefore con-
tinued to walk on without troubling himself as to
his whereabouts. Presently he passed a shop for
the sale of second-hand goods, and his quick eye
B B
S70 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
caught sight among the rubbish of an article which
struck him as worth inspection. It proved to be an
antique barometer of the time of Louis XVI. It
bore no trace of its original gilding, although the
carving was still in a perfect state of preservation.
Being a good judge of such things, and an ardent
collector, the Baron determined to buy it. The
price asked was ten francs, and the Baron congra-
tulated himself on having secured so great a bargain.
On patting his hand into his pocket, he discovered
that in his hurry he had forgotten to bring his
purse with him. It was a day of accidents.
" Well, it does not matter ; I will take the baro-
meter at all events/' he said to the shopkeeper.
" Send it up to my hotel ; I am Baron Rothschild ;
you will receive the money when you deliver the
barometer."
" I do not know either your name or address, sir,
nor do I ever send things out that are not previously
paid for."
This was a startling rebuff for Baron Rothschild.
It was a perfectly novel experience to meet with
anyone ignorant of his great name. Being, how-
ever, in a good humour and regarding it as part of
the day's adventure, he was only the more amused.
ROTHSCHILDIANA. 371
He was about to explain who and what he was, when
he happened to notice a porter passing on the op-
posite side of the road. Beckoning to the man,
he asked him : "Have you ever heard of Baron Roth-
schild ? "
" Well, that is a queer question ! Heard of
Baron Rothschild ? Of course I have ; but why
do you inquire ? " said the man, somewhat crossly,
as if he suspected his interlocutor was jesting.
" Because madame here has just refused to trust
him for ten francs," was the reply.
" Is that really true, Madame Duclos ? " said the
porter, in great astonishment.
" Yes, to be sure, Monsieur Pierre ; one cannot
know everybody/' answered the shopwoman with a
shrug, " but I know you, and if you will become
guarantee "
At these words the Baron interrupted the woman
with such a hearty burst of laughter that it was
some minutes before he could recover himself.
" Well, Monsieur Pierre," he said, still laughing,
" if you will kindly become surety for me, will you
go and call a cab, and then we can take the baro-
meter home/'
The porter required no second bidding ; he
372 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
hastened off and soon returned with the cab. They
then drove to the Baron's house, where the porter
received a handsome reward for his exertions.
Attempts to ruin the Rothschilds as well as to
frustrate and wreck the operations undertaken by
them have frequently been made by persons jealous
of their extraordinary success. It is needless to
say that all such attempts have signally failed. At
the outset luck has sometimes favoured these bold
but reckless opponents, but it has been owing to the
sufferance of the Rothschilds, who, conscious of the
enormous power at their command, knew they
could crush their upstart rivals at any moment
they pleased. Such attempts would be more com-
mon were it not known that the only chance of ren-
dering them successful would be to operate on as
extensive a scale as that habitually adopted by the
great financiers. One of the boldest of these
would-be rivals was a Mr James H , who
bought and sold enormous amounts of stock in
a very brief period, and, so far from imitating the
secrecy marking Rothschild's operations, deemed
it essential to the success of his scheme that all his
dealings should be done as publicly as possible.
He was the son of a wealthy country banker,
EOTHSCHILDIANA. 373
and at the time he commenced speculating on
'Change had 50,000 stock inscribed in his name,
though the stock was really his father's. The
reputation of owning so large an amount of stock
was very useful on 'Change, as it conferred upon
him and his transactions an importance which would
otherwise have been wanting. After some time had
elapsed the stock was transferred back into his
father's name. At the outset, and until he had per-
fectly mastered all the rules and usages of the House,
he acted with the greatest prudence and discretion,
confining himself to transactions of a very humble
nature. Gradually he enlarged his operations, and
the " natives," as the members of the House were
called, began to look upon the boldness of his deal-
ings with mingled surprise and admiration. Suc-
cess attending his speculations, he was watched and
followed in them by a crowd of persons such as will
always hang about a successful man. He became a
power on 'Change ; bulls and bears alike dreaded
him, for he was as independent in his dealings as
Rothschild himself.
Consols, at the time of which we are writing,
were quoted at about 9G. A few months later
symptoms of a panic set in, and the unfavourable
374 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
tendency of the market was aggravated by the
fulminations hurled, for reasons best known to him-
self, by a well-known writer on money matters
against the Bank of England. In spite, however,
of these adverse circumstances, prices showed a
decided unwillingness to fall. Mr H studied
the state of the market closely, and, being convinced
in his own mind that a leader alone was wanted to
carry on a successful war against the Rothschilds,
determined that he himself would be that leader.
He at once began his attack by selling out 200,000
Consols at 96. This operation concluded, he ad-
vertised it well, and made known his willingness to
sell 1,000,000 more. Purchasers were found for
the whole at prices varying from 94 to 90, at which
price Consols closed for the day. The next day he
resumed his tactics to depress the market, and so
successful were they that Consols closed at about
84. As might have been expected, a run on the
Bank of England took place, simultaneously with
this sudden and unlooked-for fall in the price of
Consols. He then repurchased so largely that
when a reaction set in and prices recovered, his
gains amounted to more than 100,000. But the
rivalry of Mr H did not long continue to
ROTHSCHILD1ANA. 375
trouble Rothschild. Emboldened by the success
of his first effort, he tried to repeat his attack two
years later, and even on a larger scale. Rothschild,
however, had his eyes about him, and, divining his
rival's plans, laid a trap into which that rival fell.
The result was that Mr H was utterly ruined.
He was declared a defaulter and his name stuck up
on the black board of the Stock Exchange. Then,
and not till then, was it discovered that the 50,000
stock was not his own, as had been supposed, but
his father's.
At a charitable sale, held in 1858, at the Hotel
Lambert in Paris, by the Princess Czartariska, in
favour of the distressed Poles, an incident took
place between Georges Sand and Baron Rothschild.
Madame Dudevant (Georges Sand) had a stall on
the occasion, and displayed a number of fancy
articles for sale. Baron Rothschild happened to
pass, and the fair saleswoman addressed him with
the usual request to buy something. " What am
I to buy?" said the Baron; "you have nothing
at all suitable for me. But stay an idea strikes
me. Give me your autograph. Sell me that."
Madame Dudevant took a sheet of paper and wrote
upon it as follows : " Received from Baron Roth-
376 THE HOUSE OF EOTHS CHILD.
schild the sum of one thousand francs, for the benefit
of the distressed Poles. Georges Sand." Baron
Eothschild read it, thanked her, and, handing her a
note for the amount named, went away highly
gratified.
It is well known that the life-long ambition of
all true Americans is to do Europe before they die,
and none can vie with them in the thoroughness
with which they do do the sights and places of
interest they may happen to visit. Their curiosity
is insatiable, and is only equalled by their irre-
sistible determination to satisfy it at all costs.
No false modesty deters them from questioning
strangers. They will accost the first man they
meet, if they think he can remove their doubts or
add to their knowledge. The following account,
written by an American, confirms our statement,
and explains itself:
"When I arrived in England I set myself to
work to accomplish the object of my journey to
see all that I could ; and in doing so I attracted
much attention. I made many acquaintances, and
was told by them that I was the best representative
of my nation they had ever seen. In curiosity,
and a determination to gratify that feeling I think
ROTHS CHILD1 ANA. 377
I was. I spared no pains to see all the sights and
hear all the gossip that came in my way. This
characteristic at last brought me into an awkward
predicament, which I purpose to describe in the
following anecdote. One morning, while I was in
London, I started out for a walk. I had heard a
great deal about the famous place which the Roth-
schilds were building, and I sallied forth on this
particular morning for the purpose of seeing it. I
soon reached it; and through the kindness of the
master builder was shown over it. I had finished
my inspection, and was standing on the side walk
gazing at it with undisguised admiration, when I
noticed a gentleman a few feet from me, watching
the building. He was a fat, portly old fellow, with
a good-humoured face, in spite of hia haughty look,
and I thought from his appearance he might be the
contractor for the work, so I determined to accost
him and gain what information I could.
" ' Good morning, sir/ I said, approaching him.
He bowed politely, but without speaking.
" ' I am a stranger here/ I went on ; ' I have
been looking over this building, and I would like
to ask you for some information concerning it.'
"'I shall be happy to oblige you/ taid he,
376 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
politely. He was very kind in telling me much
that was of interest. At last I said, abruptly,
" ' I suppose you have seen Rothschild, sir ? '
" ' Which one ? ' he asked.
" ' The old cock/ I replied.
" ' I see the old cock every day/ he answered,
giving me a strange glance.
" ' By George/ I went on, ' I should like to have
a look at him ! People say he is a gay old chap,
and lives high. I wish I had him in my power
I'd not let him get away until he had shelled out a
pile of his money/
" The old gentleman burst out into a laugh.
" ' Baron Rothschild had to work for his money,
and deserves to enjoy it,' he said, at length, when
he had got over his merriment.
" ' May be so/ I remarked ; ' but I reckon he
did a heap of squeezing to get it.'
" The old man's face flushed.
" ' I never heard the honesty of the house called
in question/ he said, stiffly.
" ' Didn't you ? Well, to tell you the truth, neither
have I. But I wouldn't be surprised if I'm right,
after all.' The old man's face grew as black as a
thunder-cloud, and he bit his lip without speaking.
EOTRSCE1LDIANA. 379
" ' People tell me/ I continued, not heeding this,
for I thought it natural that the old fellow should
be annoyed at anything said against his employers,
'people tell me the Rothschilds have made two
fortunes. Now, as most people can make only one,
I feel somewhat interested to learn the manner in
which this was done. Can you tell me, sir ? '
"The old man's face brightened instantly, and he
replied, smilingly, with more politeness than ho had
as yet manifested:
" ' Certainly, sir. People do say the house of
Rothschilds made one fortune by being careful to
mind their own business, and the other by letting
that of others alone. Good morning, sir.'
" With an elegant bow he turned and left me staring
at him in blank amazement. I began to smell a rat,
and I looked for someone of whom to ask the old
gentleman's name. He had stopped at the upper
end of the building, and was giving some directions
to a workman. I saw a handsome man of about thirty
standing a short distance off. He, too, was looking at
the building. I liked his face and went up to him.
" ' Excuse me for troubling you, sir/ I said, ' but
I am a stranger in this country, and would like to
ask you a question/
380 THE HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD.
"']. shall be happy to give you any information
in my power/ he said, politely.
" ' Then can you tell me the name of that old gentle-
man/ I asked, pointing to my sarcastic acquaintance.
" ' Certainly/ he replied. ' That is Baron Roth-
schild, the head of the house of that name.'
" ' Whew ! ' I exclaimed in astonishment, e I've
got myself into a scrape then/
" ' What is the matter ? ' asked my friend,
curiously.
" I told him what had occurred between the Baron
and myself. He laughed heartily, and remarked
pleasantly when I had concluded :
" ' That was awkward/
" ' He's a crusty old chap/ I said, considerably
vexed j f he's as cross as a bear.'
" f Oh, that's only his way/ replied my companion.
' He is a good, kind-hearted man, but is rather
eccentric/
" ' I should say so/ I replied.
" The gentleman asked me a great many questions
concerning America, and seemed interested and
amused by my answers.
" ' Do you know Baron Rothschild ? ' I inquired,
at length.
EOTHSCHILDIANA. 381
" ' I have met him several times/ was the reply,
1 and I have an appointment to wait upon him
to-day/
" ' Then I wish you'd say to him,' I went on, ' that
I did not know to whom I was talking this morning,
or I would not have said so much ; and that he need
not have been so huffish about it.'
" ' I will do so/ said my acquaintance, laughing.
' You must not mind him. He was a little nettled
at it, but will be the first to laugh at the adventure
when he recovers his good humour. Good morning/
" With a bow and a pleasant smile he left me.
Just then a workman passed by. I stopped him
and asked if he could tell me the name of the
gentleman who had just left me.
" ' That was one of the younger Rothschilds/ he
said, ' and '
" I waited to hear no more, but, pulling my hat
down over my eyes, set off at once for my lodgings.
I was absolutely afraid to speak to a stranger for a
week, for fear he might be a Rothschild/'
CH1SWICK PRESS :-C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COUBT,
CHANCERY LANE.
HG Reeves, John
1552 The Rothschilds
1837a
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