Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-08-23

oratcs the event ana connrh' Wv W." VI
For centuries the imperial coronations
were celebrated In the Frankfort caihe1rai.
In the vicinity Of the latter stands 'ns ven
cradle i,omer, which Is one OIL tns ,not ms
toric buildings in Germany. within ts
walls the electors Of the empire were woat
10 meet when an emperor was 70 oe ciosen'
from its balcony tbc'elect exn,o1eu MN
self 10 the applauding muit.'uues' ana Ia
its grand saloon the coronation oanPues
was held. The fuIl.siz'd portraits Of forty
eight German nonarch., painted IN the
costumes OF their time. adorn TINS curious
chamber.
ormies Of Louis XIV, and OF the great Ma
nniaon Here Louis the Pious lived. and
King Gunther died. Here, In one OF the
fantastic rookeries o, the Judengasse, the
Rotbschilds laid the foundations OF the most
colossal fortune IN the world. Here, in
crowdcd and narrow street. stands comey
old house with peaked gables and p-oiect-
ing stories, over whose portal we read this
inscrpiion: I'm dieSem Hduse UUrds
Johann Woifoang cath, an 2Sisn III
0,tsL lT49, gebOren." In this build
Ing the great poet spent his Infancy,
and made the home OF his boy
hood and early manhood. Here later
I'm lie, Lavater, Basedow. and klOp-
stock visited him. and tere. a. we
wander about the curious old chlm1ers.
we recall the names OF Marguerite and
Maxlmiliane. Of Beltina. and Lili, OF Sybtl-
Ia Munich. and Anna Schonemann, and
but the list is too long. Most OF all do we
think here Of her whose Martha Washing
ton-like face appears in portrait on the
woll-the doting mother Of the great
Goethe. OF the spiritual prcScncc- within
these old walls hers il the most pllplolc.
This was. above all, her home-ihe place
where her faithful heart Dei' in motherly
tondness until IT ceased 10 beat for her be-
loved Wolfgang.
In an obscure little park. besid" a mar
row and remote street, IN another part o.
tbc city. Goetho's mother lies buried.
There Is no monument over the grlVc-uo-
thing TO distinguish 1t save plain, wet
ther-wOrn tablet, around whsh few
sprigs of ivy scramble. The spot Vas once
suburban church-yard, but the city swept
over and far beyond il, and now only q
few Of the graves remain undis'urOed.
Unnoted. Goethe's mother sleeps there,
while out in the grand area around which
the life and energy Of the city coIfse and
pulsaie stands Schwa1thaieTs splendid
monument to her Immortal son.
Frankfort has no military fame like May
cncc. Metz. Strasbourg. or Antwerp.
| Though once walled town. 1t was never
q celebrated fortress. Ii has had IL milf
I taiy vcissitIdcs, but they were not con-
/ spicuOus. Goethe narrates in his au,ob'-
( ography that, during his boyhood, he once
! heard the irumpets sounding the alarm al
/ day from the watch-towers, rs the Efench
army approached and invested the town :;
/ that after the city had. wiihou; resistance.
/ Welded to the beleaguerinS arnv, one %
1 the enemy's generals Of division qulTtercd
himself and staif upon the poets reuc-
tant and indignant father, and that 10
young Gocthel turned the Annoyance -
good account by learning trencl from thc
unbiddcu guests. And then we are told
in other annals how, century ana rlf
! before that. the army OF Gustayu. Il IOlp1u'
apuearCd before this even then "opulent
and populous- metropolis and summoned
it to surrender: how the wealthy burghers
hesitated. but at last succumbed: and how
the Triumphant baltalions oil the great
Swede marched through it, gates aud I'M
furled the banners Of Professionalism from
IT, plnnacIes.
Nearly two centuries later Napoleon
nassed through Frankfort on his way 10
conquest and also on his flight from dis
aster. and in one OF the public gardens q
tree is pointed out under which. as tradi-
ton runs, the great Emperor, when at The
zenith OF hIs flme, once stood while NJ
veteran lcgiOns passed in review before
him.
But Frankfort his always been q city Of
trade and finance rather than one OF mill
tary tastes and rcnOwn. lis wealth Ia
been proverbial from its early history unit
now, and the assertion Is made that, il
uroporiIOn 10 population. lis riches sur
lass those Of any other city IN the world
The Rothschids, besides their great bank
ing-house, Standing within a stones throw
OF the hOyel where the family was founded
possess vast estates here, and tie singular
story is told that their first c0n,iderabl.
gains were made with the funds receive,
from Great Britain by the lle->ian Govern
ment Tor the use Of the nerccuar.e, in th'
attempted subjuCatiOn Of the AmcrIc 1.
colonies.
MANY Other families, both German anC
Jewish, possess enormous fortunes, anl
own or control financial. industrial. an'
commercial Interests, radiating to nelri!
every uart OF the civilized world. o
DARN -UpllHtrs iii'tita ~ ~ N''''if 'iiN'' y
no unusual proportion, but the cit,
abounds in dealers in all manner Oi securl
ties, and its Stock Exchange Is one Of Ia
most important in Eur pc. Its clpitlli.t
claim TO have been the first to take the bond
OF the United States offered abroad. during
our civil war. and there have been time
when their holding OF those bonds amount
ed 10 not less than a hundred millions O
dollars. They also deal enormously in ID
railway. State. and local ,ecuritie- OF thi
country. and there i no city In Eur0p
wherein all that pertains to American in
vCstmonts is better understood. several o
the foremost tnancicrs have branch house
In New York, with which ia y are In daii'
communication 10y cable. American in
yostmonts are the iayOrltes. particularly
orr rational bonds, which are prcferrc
even TO those ~ Germany and Grel
Britain, but all the European loan
are placed more or less through FrlnNor
agencies. II Is a notable fact tha' many III
the houses which have acquired gre
wealth IN this business are those OF II
hrcws. who now live in prince.y clegluc.
although il j. less than q century since q
Of that race dwelling in Frankfort Wcg
obliged 10 inhabit the hoyeis OF o.
JUGencassc. and were locked up at Ilgll
in that narrow and oniou' quarter.