Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1872-02-08
The Rothschilds.

AAo IsuIooCuilus.
Money-making was the one pursuit
and sole enjoyment Of Nathan Roths-
childs life. When Louis Spohr, the
great German musician. called on him
IN the summer OF 1870, with letter OF
Introduction from his brother Am,chel,
OF Frankfort, he said 10 INN. Il under
stand nothing of music. Thts'-pat-
ting his pocket. and rafting the loose
CONS tnercln-'thls IS my music. which
we understand on Change 1t was iii
the scramblings and tiLhtings, the plots
and tricks Of money-makinL, not At all
IN tue spending, AMI not much in the
boarding OF it, that his soul delighted.
Il hope said dinner companion on
one occasion, Il hope that Your chill
drcn are not too fond OF money and
business, to the exclusion OF more i'm
portant things. am sure YOU would
not wish that Il am sure | po,d!
wish that replied Nathan Il wish
them TO give up mind and BODY. heart
and soul, 10 business. This is the way
to be happy. 1t requires 4 deal Of
caution TO make good fortune, and
when YOU have got it. it requires ten
times as much wit 10 keep it. Hence.
when two eminent clergymen. who took
warm interest III the Jews, called
upon him with view 10 induce him 10
aid in the restoration 10 Palestine, rs
M. urpaf WAalfh fbn-t
iniluence the Sultan, Nathan declined.
upon the all-potent plea that 'Lonloa
was his Palestine, and that he could
not further such an object IN any way.
On another occasion a German
prince visiting Lonlon brought letters
Of credit to the house of RothschiiI.
lie was shown into the private room
OF the famous counting house in ~.
Sslthln's Lane, where Nathan sat
absorbed with heap of papers before
HIM. The name being announced,
Rothschild nodded, offered his visitor
a chair, and went on with the work be-
fore him. For this treatment the
prince, who expected that everything
should give way 10 one OF his rank ana
dignity, was not prepared. Standing
n minute or two, he exclaimed, Did
you not hear, sir, who am? l am
repeating his titles at full lengths =
oh, very well ! exclaimed Nathan,
with sly humor, take two chairs. then
AT another time two strangers were
admitted into the same private room.
They were tall foreigners, with boards
and moustaches, such As were unknown
in the CITY before the beard mania set
in SO powerfully as it has done of late
and Nathan was frightened at their
appearance. He put his own interpre-
tation upon the excited movements
with which they fumbled about iu their
pockets, and. before the expected
pistols could be produced, he had
thrown a great ledger in the direction
of their heads, and brought in bevy
of clerks by his loud cries of Murder =
The strangers were pinioned, and after
long questionings and explanations, it
appeared that they were wealthy bank
ers from the Continent, who, nervous
in presence of banker SO much more
wealthy than themselves. had found
some difficulty in producing the letters
of introduction with which they were
armed!
A terrible anecdote of another sort
is recorded of Nathan's son during his
election as one of the Members for the
City. We all recollect the persistent
way in which the electors returned him
to Parliament for years before the
Legislature threw open its doors to the
long-despised Jew. At his first cleo
ton, when on the hustings, he boasted
that he stood there as the free choice
of the people. so stood Barabas !
deliberately exclaimed a deep stern
voice from the crowd-a sarcasm which,
for its cruel vindictiveness, perhaps
stands without a parallel.
The same intense spirit of money
making appears to have been equally
the mania of all the Rothschilds. OF
James, the youngest son of Never,
and heard Of the Paris house, who once
entertained Napoleon Ill. in such an
imperial manner at his Chateau Fer
riero, and died IN 1868. leaving, ac-
cording to public rumor, the colossal
fortune of A, 300, ,000i., it is related, as
a proof Of the ruling passion within
him, that foreseeing his death would
cause a great fall in the shares of the
Lombard Company, Of which he was
the president and chief support, he
speculated largely for the fall just be-
fore be died by which means the i'm
mense profits accruing therefrom went
to the benefit of his heirs.