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g 5 g The Leader andSaturdayAnalyst. LAp...
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GLEANINGS FBOM FOREIGN BOOKS. A K.OBLE R...
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FOREIGN COBRESPOKDENCE. Rome, 6tli April...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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G 5 G The Leader Andsaturdayanalyst. Lap...
g g The Leader andSaturdayAnalyst . LApril 14 , 1860 .
Gleanings Fbom Foreign Books. A K.Oble R...
GLEANINGS FBOM FOREIGN BOOKS . A K . OBLE ROTHSCHILD . When , in the year 1792 , the French Army . diew ^ neaiv to the territory of Hesse-Ciisse ) , the Elector was compelled to flee . Passing throush Frankfort-on-the-jraine , he became acquainted with a Jewish banker there—3 Ioses Rothschild . The mm was not rich , but on account of his integrity and business ability had a high reputation ;^ -by reason whereof the Elector intrusted to hmi gold and jewels to the value of several millions of thalers , —the ( xermau thaler or dollar being worth about three shillings . The Jew at first was not willing- to take charge of so large ii sum ; but the Elector persuaded him and left the treasure with him without even taking a receipt . Moses had scarcely buried the treasure m his warden , when the French marched plundering into Frankfort , lo lave the treasure of the prince , Moses abandoned all las own property to the mercy of the foe .. As soon as tranquillity was restored , Moses Rothschild resumed his business as banker and money-changer . This was done first of all on a sinall scale ; , but -with the help of the Elector ' s treasure he gradually extended his affairs , so that by and by he was regarded as a man of vast and solid wealth . When the Elector , in 1802 , returned to- Ins states , he once more went to Frankfort , and called on Moses Rothschild : — " The rascals have no doubt stolen all the treasure which I intrusted to you , Moses ? " ¦ , •'¦ ' Not one thaler , " answered Moses solemnly . " What do you say ?" " What ! I was informed that the Sansculottes hacTrobbed you of everything . I also read the same thing in the newspapers . " _ " All that was mine they certainly took : but your ElectorarHighness s treasure I was fortunate enough to save . Your gold and silver I employed in my affairs , and I am now in . a position to restore it all to you with , interest at five per cent . " ; The Elector , astonished and grateful , gave back the interest as comipensation for Wliat the French had taken from the honourable Jew . As reward for his unexampled integrity , he allowed him the use of the treasurefor twenty years more ; at an ¦ interest of two per cent . The Prince besides sought out every way of being useful to the noble Moses . At the Congress of Vienna , he was enthusiastic to the assembled sovereigns in praise of the Jew ' s spotless uprightness , whereby Moses Rothschild at once gained the confidence of the Emperors of Austria and Russia , and of other European rulers . The Jew ' s sterling honesty , furthermore , laid the firm foundation of the colossal money power of the Brothers Rothschild , his sons , at London , Vienna , Paris , and Frankfort , who reign as kings in every Stock Exchange of Europe . — German Anecdotes .
Foreign Cobrespokdence. Rome, 6tli April...
FOREIGN COBRESPOKDENCE . Rome , 6 tli April , 1860 . THE ROMAN TEOPLE . ? ' Q ENATUS Populusque Romanus . " The phrase sounds O strangely in our ears , like the accents of a lost language , or the burden of a forgotten melody . In those four initial letters is embodied an epitome of the world ' s history—the rise and decline , and fall of Rome . On the escutcheons of the Roman nobles , the S . P . Q . R . still stand conspicuous , but where shall we look for the realities expressed by those world-famed letters ? It is true the Senate is still represented by a single Senator , who is nominated by the Pope ; and , drives in a Lord Mayor ' s coach on , state occasions ; and regularly , on the first night of the opera season , sends round ices as a present to the favoured occupants of the second and third tiers of boxes at the Apollo , This gentleman , by all the laws of senatorial succession , is the heir and representative of the old Romim Senate , who sat with their togas wrapt around them , waiting for the Gaul to strike ; but alas ! the " Populus Romanus" has left no successor . Yet surely if anything of dead Rome be still left in the living city , it should bo found in the Roman people . In the " Mtysteres du Peuple" of Eugene Sub there is a story , that to the Prol et arian people , the boub of toil and labour , belong 1 genealogies of their own pedigrees of families , who from remote times have lived and died among the ranks of industry . We have often thought that these fabulous families should have had their birth in Rome . Amongst tlie peasants that you meet praying 1 in the churches , or loitering in the sun-light , or labouring in the deadly " Campflffna " plains , there must be some ivho , if they knew it , descend in ( firect Uncage from the ancient Plebs . It may be so , or rather it must be so ; but of the fact there is little outward evidence . You look in vain for the characteristic features of the old Roman face , such as you behold them portrayed in ancient ) statues . The broad low brow , ihe depressed scull , the protruding under . jaw , and the thin compressed lips , are to bo seen herp no longer . Indeed , though wo make the remark with the fear of artists before our eyes , we should hardly say ourselves that ; the Roman , people of the present day wore a very handsome race ; and certainly , as a race , they Are inferior both to Tuscans and Neapolitans . The men ore well-formed , and of good height , but not powerful in build or make , awl their features are rattier marked tlum regular . As for the women , when you have onoo perceived tbut hair nifty be blnok ns coal , and yet coarse as string , that bright sparkling eyes may bo utterly devoid of expression , and t ) mfc an olive complexion may bo caused by an absence of washing , you . grow somewhat scqptical ns to the reality of their
vaunted beauty . All this , however , is a matter of personal taste , about which it is useless to express much opinion . We must content ourselves with saying that the . lloinan peasantry , as depicted year after year on the walls of the Academy , bear about the same resemblance to the article provided for home consumption , as the ladies in an ordinary London ball-room boar to the portraits in the " Book of Beauty . " ,., \ , , , . " . , , The peasants * costumes , too , like the scarlet cloaks and smockfrocks of Old England , are dying out fast . On the steps in the ? t' Piazza di Spagna , " and in the artists' quarter above , you see some twenty or thirty models in the braided boddices and the folded linen head-dresses , standing about for hire . The 'braid , it is true , is torn ; the snow-white linen dirt-besineared ; and the brigand looks feeble and inoffensive , while the hoary patriarch plays at pitch and toss . But still they are the same figures that we know so well , the traditional Roman peasantry of the " Grecian" and the " Old Adelphi . " Alas ! they are the last of the Romans . In other parts of the city , the peasant dresses are few and far between . The costume has become so uncommon as to be now a fashionable dress for Roman ladies at Carnival time and other state festivities . On Sundays and " Festas" in the mountains , you still can , find real peasants with real dresses ; but even here Manchester stuffs and cottons are making their way fast , arid every year the original costume becomes : rarer and rarer . A grey serge jacket , coarse nondescript-coloured cloth trousers and a brown felt hat , all more or less dusty and ragged , compose the ordinary dress of the Roman working man . P-rovisions are dear here . Bread of the coarsest and mouldiest quality costs , according to the Governmeut tariff , from two to three baiocchi , that is , front a penny to three halfpence per pound . Meat is about a : third dearer than in London ; and clothing , even of the poorest sort , is very high in price . On the other hand , lodging's of the class used by the poor are cheap enough . There is no outlay for iiring , as even in the Coldest weather , with the thermometer below freezing point , even well-todo Romans never think of lighting a fire ; and then , in this climate , the actual quantity of victuals required by the labourer is far smaller than in our northern countries . From all these causes we feel no doubt that the cost of living for the poor is comparatively small , though of course the rate of wages is low in proportion . For ordinary unskilled labour , the wages at this season of the year are about three pauls or three pauls and a ! half a-day ; in summer about five pauls ; and during the height of the vintage as much as six or seven pauls , though this is only tor a very few weeks . We should suppose , therefore , that from Is . Gd . to Is . 9 d . a . day , taking the paul at 5 d ., were the average wages of a good workman at Rome . Iroin these wa < res , however , there are several deductions . In the first place , the immense number of " festas " tells heavily on the workman ' s receipts . On the more important feast-days all work is strictly forbidden by the Government , and either employer or labourer who was detected in tin infraction of the law would be subject to heavy . fines . On the minor festivals , however , about the observance of which the Church , is not so strict , labour is equally out of the question . The people have got so used to holiday-keeping that nothing but absolute necessity can induce them to work save on working days . All over Italy this feeling is too common . We were informed by a large manufacturer in Florence , that , having a great number of orders on hand , and kiiowing great distress to exist among his workmen ' s families , he offered double wages to any one who came to work on a recent "festa , " but only one or two in a hundred responded to his offer . In Rome , where every moral influence is exerted in favour of idleness against industry , the observance of hojydays is practised most religiously . Then , too , the higher rate of wages paid in summer is counterbalanced by the extra risk to which . the labourer is exposed . The ravages created by the malaria fevers amongst the ill-fed , ' ill-clothed , and ill-cared-for labourex's , are really fearful . The subject , however , of the malaria , and its influence on the population , is too wide a one to bo treated of in this letter . An allusion to the fact is sufficient for the present . The greatest curse of all to the working 1 man at Rome , greater than the " festas " or the malaria , is the middle-man system , which is almost universal . If you require ony work done , from stonecarving to digging , you seldom or never deal with the actual workman . If you are a farmer , and want your harvest got in , you contract months before with an agent , who agrees to supply you with hai'vest-men in certain numbers and at a certain price , out ot which price the agent pockets as large aper-centage as he can . It you are a sculptor , and wish a block of marble chiselled in the rough , the man you contract with to how the block nt certain day wages brings a boy to do tho work at half the above amount , or less . If you wish to make a purchase ,, or effect a sale , you have a whole series of commissions and brokerages to pay before you como into contact with your principal ; ana so on , in every branch of trade or business . If you inquire why tins system is not broken through , why the employer ( loos not deal directly with his workman , you arc told that tho custom ot tl » o country is against nny other method ; that amongst the workmen themselves there is so much terrorism and intimidation that any single employer or labourer who contracted for work directly , wouia run a risk of annoyance or actual' injury---of having 1 , for example , his block of ' marble split , or his tools destroyed , or a Knife stuck into him as ho wont home at night ; and , more than all , that , wituouc the supervision of the actual overseer , your workmen would oiicac you right and loft , no matter what wages you paid , After all , ) t w bettor to bo cheated ; by one man than by a hundred j and , in n \ ov , being at Romo , you must do as the Romans do . , It may possibly have been observed that , in tho foregoing pi "** '
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 14, 1860, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14041860/page/18/
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