The Jews are here very numerous. Many of them are bankers, at the head of which is the original house of Rothschilds. In the same neighborhood has recently been erected an immense freestone synagogue.
In the Burger Verein, or Citizens’ Club, an institution established on an extensive scale, I find among other correspondence some of our New York papers.
Frankfort and Leipzic are celebrated in Europe for their fairs. Two are held here yearly. The Oester Messe, or Easter Fair, now exists, and lasts three weeks. The quay along the River Maine and the public squares are occupied with booths filled with wares from all parts of the country. The concourse of merchants and buyers from neighboring towns gives activity to the place. Of course amusements are provided for guests, and America comes in for a part. There is an immense circus from Berlin, in which Jas. Robinson, the most celebrated bareback rider in the world, is employed, making his summersets over star-spangled flags and ribbons, backwards and forwards, with the agility of a cat. Bands of volunteer musicians from other cities, and Tyrolese minstrels, find themselves here, who make the rounds, and whose notes are heard from morn until late in the night, and who adopt this method of picking up the crumbs. The theatre is crowded; the flying horse machines and puppet shows please the children; gaping crowds are listening to the marvellous tales of outcriers at the entrance of travelling menageries, museums, camera obscuras, and of the fat girl nineteen years old, weighing six hundred pounds; the railroads profit by freight and traffic, and lager beer, sausages, and cheese are in the ascendant.
The political situation of Europe exerts a baneful influence upon all general trade. The complaint on all hands is prostration of business. The game of chess now playing between France and Austria is discouraging to all classes. They would prefer open hostilities to indecision. The belligerent parties have gone so far that we must soon see the bloody sword of war, or the olive branch of peace.
CLIII.
Paris, May 24, 1859.
I find myself once again in the great European capital. It is now a month since you heard from me last at Frankfort, Germany. I then left for Baden-Baden soon after the opening of the season. I never saw the country look more smiling and lovely. Nature had put on her most beautiful spring attire, and indeed nothing in Europe can surpass the natural scenery of the suburbs of this renowned watering-place.
The little city was brushed up as usual, and every hotel and lodging-house awaiting anxiously the arrival of guests, but in this I fear they will be woefully disappointed this year. The anxieties and financial difficulties growing out of the war, and the bitter feeling manifested by Germany towards the French, will prevent the usual rush of visitors. Few persons were there, and the magnificent gas-lighted saloons, with their bands of music, had few occupants. The employees of the gambling tables looked wistfully at every stranger, hoping their business will soon commence.
The past month has been full of exciting events. Austria has renounced negotiation. The war decree has gone forth. Sardinia has been invaded. The French Emperor with his troops has been called upon for relief. Austria is intriguing and stimulating the German powers to unite with her in fortifying the Rhine. The German press was most violent against the French Emperor, giving him the most opprobrious names and calling it a war of conquest. Austrian securities have fallen from eighty-five to thirty-eight. Frankfort held some fifty million florins of that national paper. The war loan was rejected and Austria made an arrangement with the National Bank, which only last year resumed specie payments, to grant a loan of a hundred millions in small circulating notes, making the same a legal tender. Up went the price of specie. The bankers and commercial classes suffered, and large failures occurred. Commerce and trade were paralysed. I met two Hungarians, who were leaving for the United States, who were fortunate enough to obtain specie at a loss of thirty-five per cent, against paper. This stubborn act of Austria lost her the sympathies of Europe, excepting the small German states, Bavaria, Wirtemburg, Hesse Cassel, Baden &c., some of whom are connected by family ties. Prussia has stood and still stands firm in resisting the warlike disposition of the small states of the confederation, observing an armed neutrality until the real interests of Germany proper are attacked.
The French people who opposed the war are now almost universally in its favor. The triumphal departure of the Emperor, his reception in Piedmont, the subscription to the French loan of more than four times the amount, justifies this belief. The report of a secret alliance between Russia and France, and the advancement of a corps of observation upon the Austrian and Prussian frontier, caused great consternation on the continent. The English funds fell five or six per cent., and many dealers and brokers were ruined by the panic which ensued. The Tory cabinet was denounced by the English. The report proved untrue. Then came the declaration of neutrality by England.