The first intelligence of his death was received by the same method which had so often contributed to his success. Beneath the wings of a pigeon, shot in sport at Brighton, were discovered the words “il est mort.” The intelligence created an intense sensation, as the uninitiated were ignorant that his illness was dangerous, and calculations were plentiful as to the amount of his fortune. A greater tumult than had been produced since the violent death of his predecessor, marked the precincts of the Stock Exchange, as it was impossible to tell the tendency of his speculations, or what effect might be produced by his unexpected demise.[10]
His remains were brought to England. The Austrian, Russian, Prussian, Neapolitan, and Portuguese ambassadors assisted at his funeral; and his sons, who were deeply affected, attended him to his last resting-place. The coffin which contained his massive remains was elaborately carved and gorgeously ornamented, looking like some splendid piece of man’s cunning, destined for the boudoir of a lady, rather than the damp of the grave.
His children inherit his business; but they do not inherit his position in the stock-market. They are competitors for government loans; but, though with the name remains a certain prestige of its former power, they do not appear willing to entertain the extensive and complicated business in the funds in which their father delighted.
The few anecdotes recorded of the gentleman whose life has been so imperfectly sketched, form a portion of many which have been carefully collected. A good life of Nathan Meyer Rothschild would be, to some future Tooke, a complete and perfect key to the financial history of the early portion of the nineteenth century.[11]
The last crisis in the Stock Exchange which it is the writer’s purpose to record was that memorable era, in 1836, when a convulsion—scarcely equalled in degree, though limited in its extent—made bears and bulls alike bankrupts.
For many years previous, the business of Capel Court had been decreasing. The attempts made to excite public feeling were insufficient to produce much result. Consols remained without those great and sudden movements so beneficial to the members; little was done in shares; and it was remarked that the Stock Exchange had become a monetary dead sea; that the carriage seemed likely to be exchanged for the wheelbarrow; the breaking of credit for the breaking of stones; and that, when the eagle eye of the hungry broker and jobber looked round for dupes, all was barren.
At length the spell was broken. The attempt of Don Pedro to seize the crown of Portugal afforded the members an opportunity of exercising their vocation; and it has been confidently said, that, long before a loan was attempted, their money was employed in assisting the above expedition. Every art was used to blacken the character of Don Miguel. Every trick was attempted to excite sympathy for Don Pedro. Private memoirs were published, and anecdotes related. Truths were distorted, and falsehood not unfrequently perpetrated. Paragraphs made their constant appearance, in which “our ancient ally” was represented as suffering from a most intolerable tyranny. Unbearable torture and insufferable trials were the lot of the Portuguese people; darkness and dungeons the doom of the aristocracy. The Tagus was red with the blood of the populace; and the “tower of Belem,” said a writer in Fraser’s Magazine, “emitted more doubtful and indescribable sounds than its predecessor of Babel.”
All these things tended to prepare the mind of the English capitalist. But a further temptation was offered. The revenues of the kingdom were portrayed in glowing colors. It was said that Don Miguel could, but would not, pay the interest of the existing debt, and that Don Pedro could and would. The scheme proved thoroughly successful. The note of expectation being thus sounded, a band of men was engaged, vessels were hired, and, with the aid of English money, English men, and English ships, Oporto was taken. The public mind was now ripe for a loan. The success was magnified, the achievement enlarged on, and £800,000 were demanded on the security of some port-wine. The money was lent; Don Miguel fled to Rome; and the young queen was installed in his place. A further loan of two millions followed; the interest was difficult to pay, the dividends were capitalized, and great excitement pervaded the Stock Exchange at the rumors which were currently circulated.
But another important movement was going on in connection with loans to Spain. The principal powers of Europe had agreed that Spain and Portugal should assist each other in the expulsion from their respective territories of Don Carlos and Don Miguel, and that the other courts should assist the belligerent parties. From this treaty arose an auxiliary force raised in England to assist the youthful queen of Spain, and “The British Legion” is yet named with derision. From the courts and from the alleys of St. Giles’s, from the town jail and from the rural workhouse, came half-clad, wretched, and miserable beings, who preferred being shot to being starved. Efforts to gain commissions were made by as motley a crew. Youths from the counting-house and from the shop were assiduous in endeavouring to attain them. Gentlemen with small incomes and no knowledge of war put forward their pretensions; and the officers were, in their way, a match for the men.
With all these disadvantages, the legion secured the success of the cause for which it fought; and, after a series of battles, Don Carlos was compelled to fly from the territory. A loan of course became advisable; and, although the interest on the previous debt could not be paid, it was proposed to advance an additional four millions. It need scarcely be said that, to procure this, promises were as plentiful as ever. The property of the Church was to be confiscated, and the Church itself to be upset, rather than not remunerate the bondholder. By means of deferred stocks, active stocks, and passive stocks, bargains were concluded, and, for a time, all was excitement in the foreign market. Every kind of security became sought for; however worthless, it had a price; however valueless, it found a buyer; and the debts of states which had never paid one dividend, which were scarcely in existence, and which had not any revenue, advanced 100 per cent.