most gracious good-will, and we are therefore emboldened most respectfully to make the following proposal. Our brothers, the chiefs of the branches in Paris and London respectively, Jacob M. von Rothschild and Nathan M. Rothschild, honored through the distinction recently received by our family and their gracious elevation into the ranks of the nobility, are inspired by the most zealous desire to be able to devote their energies to the service of the I. and R. Austrian Government. They would feel they had found a means of satisfying these natural desires if one of them were nominated I. and R. Austrian Consul, a position which is at present vacant both in Paris and in London.

This position depends upon the nomination of your Princely Highness, and we therefore most submissively venture to request that your Highness may be pleased to accede to our humble wish. The I. and R. Government can find no more loyal, zealous, and indefatigable servants than our brothers; and we flatter ourselves that the connections which we have established with the governments of France and England would make it easy for us, both in a general way and in individual cases, to be useful to the I. and R. trade with those countries. We should be happy to be placed in a position to do so in this honorable manner, and to receive this further distinction.

Amschel wrote to Stadion at the same time 95 stating that it was not the desire for further honors that caused him to ask that his brothers should be nominated as consuls, but his sincere desire to prove himself of ever-increasing usefulness to the I. and R. Austrian Government. He was certain that the relations which both brothers had established with the governments of the countries where they were living would aid them in being of use to the I. and R. Austrian subjects, especially in commercial matters, and that the granting of their submissive request would enable his whole House to apply all their energies

in the most varied ways to the service of Austria's com

merce.

Carl Rothschild also appealed to Count Zichy," whom he knew through business dealings, informing him that the Austrian ambassador in London, Prince Esterházy, had written to Metternich in support of Nathan's nomination and requested the same favor of him. Zichy forwarded Rothschild's letter to Metternich, with the remark" that although the matter did not come within his province he ventured to observe that this firm already appeared to have rendered important services to the Austrian treasury, and would through its riches and influence, especially in England, be able also in the future to give pecuniary aid to Austria.

It was to be a long time before these requests were granted. The Austrian state machine worked slowly, and several objections and difficulties cropped up, which could be overcome only by years of work. It was only through their close association with Metternich and Gentz, whom the brothers Rothschild cultivated in the ensuing period of congresses, that they were enabled to smooth the way, so that three years later there was no further obstacle to the desired nomination. Before they could achieve their object, however, they had a long row to hoe.

But the brothers Rothschild worked assiduously toward any goal which they had set themselves to achieve, notwithstanding all the difficulties that arose and the years. during which their patience was tried. In the end they got what they wanted. Their unremitting efforts and their persistence in urging their cause, undismayed by any rebuffs, secured for them the unique career that had been destined for their family.

CHAPTER IV

The Brothers Rothschild During the Period of Congresses, 1818-1822

T

HE great fortune of the Rothschilds had been made; it was now a question not only of preserving it but of developing it and of employing it as remuneratively as possible. The convulsions through which all the states of Europe had passed, and the enormous military efforts made during the preceding quarter of a century, had produced general confusion in their finances, which could be straightened out only by hard work in peace conditions.

Every state had been spending money lavishly for a long time, and the resulting shortage of money was very acute. The poverty-struck states had to acquire the cash necessary for their recovery from those who had succeeded in profiting by war conditions to accumulate riches as contractors or through financial operations. Foremost among these was the House of Rothschild, and it gladly lent money to princes and states, as the repayment of such loans through their subjects was secured. Thus it advanced moneys to numerous small princely families, especially to those of the neighborhood, while its relations with the Elector of Hesse remained outwardly unchanged.

Although he was the third son, Nathan incontestably took the leadership among the five brothers. His long and fortunate connection with the English government had taught him both the advantage of concentrating on really big financial operations, and the comparative safety of carrying through such operations with powerful states. For the concern of these for their public credit and their prestige made them regard it as essential to carry out

their obligations punctually. Nathan was not in the least inclined to rest upon his laurels, or to limit himself to the preservation and enjoyment of the family's great fortune. His aim was to increase the power of his House; and he held the view that in order to win a victory, ducats, like soldiers, had to be concentrated in mass suddenly and unexpectedly upon a wisely selected point.1 This was the dominant note in the policy of his House during the following period.

In order to apply this policy it was necessary, now that his firm enjoyed the high regard of the business community, that he should secure his position in society as well. The Austrian patent of nobility had given him a good start in this direction; but his native city and the senate of Frankfort continued to adopt an unfriendly attitude toward the Jews, including the Rothschild family. Amschel at Frankfort, who had been placed in charge of the campaign against the senate, used every opportunity for exerting external pressure upon the authorities of the city, especially through Prussia and Austria. At the beginning of the year 1818 a favorable opportunity occurred for again enlisting the support of the Prussian Chancellor Prince Hardenberg, who was well disposed toward the Jews.

The state finances of Prussia were, like those of Austria, in great confusion. The deficit was large, and it seemed not improbable that the pay of civil servants and of the army would have to be suspended. The treasury lived from hand to mouth, and the king himself was being dunned by small tradesmen. In these circumstances, Barandon, the London representative of the Prussian Mercantile Marine, had recommended that a loan should be raised in England, and that for this purpose recourse should be had to Nathan Rothschild. Hardenberg readily agreed, and asked Amschel at Frankfort, whom he knew personally, to use his influence in favor of securing this loan. Amschel consented, and used this oppor

tunity of again appealing to the chancellor on behalf of the members of his faith at Frankfort.

"At the present time," he wrote, "when his Excellency the Minister and Envoy to the Diet, Count von Buol, is with your Excellency, I beg to renew my most humble representations regarding the fate of the members of my faith here, who are awaiting in great suspense the decision of the diet. We place our greatest hopes in the honored Prussian government, and cherish the most sincere wish that the principles recognized by it will be applied, convinced that your Highness knows too well how to appreciate the cultural progress made by our community during the last forty years to allow the way to their further development and improvement to be barred, or them to be limited in this respect.'

Hardenberg was quite willing to accede to this request, since in doing so he would be acting in accordance with his own personal convictions. He had, however, a difficult task with his king, who was not well disposed to the Jews. The monarch told him the measures he could apply if action were taken by the magistracy of Frankfort, but at the same time expressed the desire that the wishes of the magistracy should be met as far as possible. "In any case," the resolution concluded, "I do not wish Prussia to support the Jews in the diet." 3

On this Hardenberg angrily commented: "First ad acta. We have at any rate the decisions of the Congress of Vienna to go upon."

However, the king came off his high horse, for Hardenberg had made him realize that the Prussian state would need the brothers Rothschild for a loan, and that it would not be good policy for Prussia to alienate them by an attitude unfriendly to the Jews in the Diet of Frankfort. The majority of the diet were in any case in sympathy with the desires of the senate at Frankfort, and the rights which the Jews had acquired in 1811 seemed therefore to be in peril. Only the powerful influence of Metter