warlike operations. When Napoleon returned from the Isle of Elba, his anxiety knew no bounds, and during the Hundred Days he went to Belgium, following in the wake of Wellington's army. Eager to gather the earliest information of events, which, he felt, would settle the fate of Europe for years to come, he did not even shrink from the perils of the field of battle. On the morning of the 18th of June, 1815, Nathan Rothschild rode, on a quiet horse, hired at Brussels, over the ground in front of the Chateau of Hougoumont, close to the village of Waterloo. He was in company with a number of men well worth noticing. The foremost was the Duke of Wellington, riding his chestnut charger Copenhagen, stern of aspect, his eagle eyes measuring the field in front for miles around, up to the hillock of Rossomme, where, at a table placed upon a mattress, sat a warrior before whose name Europe trembled. Behind the Duke, and nearer to Nathan Rothschild, were a number of diplomatic gentlemen; among them Count Pozzo di Borgo, Baron Vincent, General Alava, Baron Muffling, and others. The banker kept close to the German Baron, eagerly inquiring after the chances of the coming struggle. It was uncertain, alas!

and the fate of the English army and of the house of Rothschild hung in the balance together.

All day long, on the memorable 18th of June, Nathan Rothschild stood on the hill of Hougoumont to watch the progress of the great battle. He saw the French lines advance and retreat; and again advance and again retreat: Napoleon all the while sitting on his mattress on the hill of Rossomme, with a large map outstretched before him. Napoleon Bonaparte on the hill of Rossomme; Nathan Rothschild on the hill of Hougoumont-the picture would be worth painting. From noon till six at night the whole field was enveloped in thick, white smoke, and when it blew off at last the troops of the French Emperor were seen in full retreat. was near sunset; and Nathan perceived at a glance that the great battle of Waterloo was won-was won for him. Without losing a moment, Nathan spurred his horse and rode off to Brussels. Here a carriage was ready to convey him to Ostend. At the break of day on the 19th June, Nathan Rothschild found himself at the coast opposite to England; but separated from the Thames and the Stock Exchange by a furious sea, and waves dashing

It

mountains high. In vain the banker offered five hundred, six hundred, eight hundred francs, to be carried across the straits from Ostend to Deal or Dover, At last he cried that he would give two thousand francs, and the bargain was struck, a poor fisherman risking his life to gain eighty pounds for his wife and children.

The frail bark which carried Cæsar and his fortune sped swiftly over the waves, a sudden change of wind to the east accelerating the progress to an unexpected degree. The sun was still on the horizon when Nathan Rothschild landed at Dover, and, without waiting, engaged the swiftest horses to carry him onward to the metropolis. There was gloom in Threadneedle Street, and gloom in all men's hearts; but gloomier than any looked Nathan Rothschild when he appeared on the morning of the 20th June, leaning against his usual pillar at the Stock Exchange. He whispered to a few of his most intimate friends that Field Marshal Blucher, with his 117,000 Prussians, had been defeated by Napoleon in the great battle of Ligny, fought during the 16th and 17th of June-Heaven only knew what had become of the handful of men under Wellington! The dismal news spread like wildfire, and there

was a tremendous fall in the funds. Nathan Rothschild's known agents sold with the rest, more anxious than any to get rid of their stock -but Nathan Rothschild's unknown agents bought every scrip of paper that was to be had, and left not off buying till the evening of the following day. It was only in the afternoon of the 21st of June, nearly two days after the arrival of Nathan in England, that the news of the great battle and victory of Waterloo, and the utter rout of the Napoleonic host, got known. Nathan Rothschild, radiant with joy, was the first to inform his friends at the Stock Exchange of the happy event, spreading the news a quarter of an hour before it was given to the general public. Needless to say, that the funds rose faster than they had fallen, as soon as the official reports were published of the great battle of Waterloo.

Waterloo enriched the house of Rothschild by about a million sterling, and laid the foundation of a European power for the descendants of Meyer Amschel, the poor broker of Frankfort-on-the-Main.

VIII. NATHAN ROTHSCHILD'S FINAL CAREER.

HAVING gained their first couple of millions, honours and dignities rained fast upon the Rothschild family. The Emperor of Austria, in 1815, made all the five brothers hereditary nobles, and, seven years after, elevated them to the rank of Freiherr, or Baron, which title they still bear. The career of Nathan, after the battle of Waterloo, continued to be eminently prosperous. He made money even in speculations that turned out bad, such as the English loan of twelve millions, for which he became responsible in 1819, and which fell to a discount; but not before Nathan had relieved himself of all liability. But his greatest successes were in foreign loans, which he was the first to make popular in England by introducing the payment of dividends, which formerly took place abroad, in the London market, and fixing the rate in sterling money. Dating from about the year 1819, the transactions of Nathan Rothschild