ROTHSCHILD, METER ANSELM, baron of the Austrian empire, was b. in the Jewa' Alley, Frankfort-on-the-Main, in 1743, and 0. in 1812. He was brought up to be a priest of the Hebrew faith. Being a man of good character, he was employed by the senate to raise a loan in order to save Frankfort from pillage by the French republican army. He obtained a loan from the landgrave (afterward elector) of Hesse-Cassel. The landgrave acquired immense sums by selling his subjects to fight for England and France. Napoleon, after the battle of Jena, pronounced the forfeiture of his estates, and a French army was on the march to his capital. He had accumulated in his palace vaults about a million sterling in silver, and sending for Rothschild to Cassel, he offered him the free use of the treasure, without interest, if he would convey it to a Owe of safety. With the aid of his Jewish friends, Rothschild succeeded in secreting the money, and thus saved it from the hands of the French. At this time he had five sons, three of whom—Anselm, Nathan, and Solomon—being grown up, he associated with himself in business. ANSELM remained with him at Frankfort. NATIIAN came to England in 1800, where he acted as agent for his father, first at Manchester, in the per chase of Manchester goods for the Continent. He then removed to London, where by time agency of his father large sums of money were placed at his disposal, and invested by him with so much judgment that his capital multiplied with great rapidity, lie was appointed, by the interest of the landgrave, agent for the payment of the .4;12,000,000 sterling which, by the treaty of Toeplitz, Great Britain stipulated to pay to her German allies. A large profit accrued to the house by this transaction. Previous to Rothschild's death (which occurred in Sept., 1812) he saw his five sons securely established as the, monarchs of European finance—Anselm in Frankfort, Nathan in London, Solomon in Vienna, James in Paris, and Charles in Naples; all united in the wealthiest copartner ship of the present or probably any other age. Nathan, in London, is said to have known the result of the battle of Waterloo several hours before the English govern ment, and the knowledge is said to have been worth £200,000 to him. The loans contracted by the firm during the great war with France, were not more remarkable for their magnitude than their success. They never took a bad loan in hand, and hardly any good loans fell into other hands. In addition to their five principal establishments they have agencies in many other cities both of the old and new world. On two or three occasions the Rothschilds have successfully exerted themselves to preserve the peace of Europe. Their losses from the French revolution, in 1848, and from the de preciation in the and securities which followed the subsequent disturbances in various capitals of Europe, were estimated at the enormous figure of £8,000,000 sterling --a wild estimate, but proving the popular belief in the immense resources of the firm.
Nathan, after his father's death, was considered the chief of the family. The emperor of Austria made him a baron of the empire in 1822. He died in 1836, at Frankfort, whither he had been called by the marriage of his eldest son, Lionel, to his cousin Char lotte, daughter of the baron Charles. Anselm, Solomon, and Charles all died in 1855, the first-named dying childless at Frankfort, and leaving a fortune valued at from 40.000,000 to 50,000,000 florins. James died in 1808.—Baron LIONEL DE ROTHSCHILD, eldest son, of Nathan, and head of the London house, was born in London in 1808, and educated at Gtittingen. He was early initiated by his father into the business of the firm, and successfully applied himself to extend its colossal operations. He was elected for London in 1847, 1849, 1852, and 1857, and at each election claimed to take the oaths and his seat in the house of commons. The latter words of the oath—" on the true faith of a Christian"—he insisted upon omitting, "as not being binding on his conscience." lie was then desired to withdraw from the house, and patiently awaited the fate of the 1)111 of Jewish emancipation, which usually passed the commons, and was rejected by the upper house. In 1858 he was placed on a committee which was to hold a conference with the house of lords, and this was virtually the means of establishing Jewish eman cipation. The commons sent up another bill, and a general belief prevailed that if it were, like the rest, thrown out by the lords, Jewish members would be admitted by resolution of their own house, instead of by act of parliament. The lords gave way, merely taking measures to prevent the admission of Jews into the upper chamber. Baron Rothschild thereupon (July, 1858) took the oaths and his scat. Ile sat till 1868, when be was rejected, but was re-elected in 1869; and lost his seat in 1874. He died June 3, 1879. His brother NATHAN, his son NATHANIEL, and other members of the Hebrew faith have also been elected to the house of commons. As the members of each successive generation are received into the copartnership, and the cousins usually intermarry, and as their immense wealth is being continually augmented by a profitable business, the name and operations of the firm, as public-loan contractors, dealers•in bullion, and bill-discounters, promise to last as long as some royal dynasties. . It was this firm that, in 1875, supplied the £4,000,000 necessary for the purchase of the Suez canal shares.