USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The Cincinnati miscellany, or, Antiquities of the West, and pioneer history and general and local statistics, Volume I > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
"The emperor cannot be here yet, why not send to your brother ?" asked the imperialist.
"The barriers are, I repeat, closed and guard- ed by the artillery with loaded guns. I applied myself for a passport, and was refused. The gratitude of kings! I was refused this by the Bourbons, who wish naturally to delay the hea- vy tidings of lament for France, until their own personal safety is insured. The peasants love Napoleon, and might arrest them. A hundred millions!"
"And no one can then Icave l'aris? This is
really so!" ejaculated the Bonapartist, begin- ning himself to tremble for the safety of his idol, the house .
"Such is literally the case. None may pass but onc courier for each ambassador. The mes- senger of the English Embassy this moment leaves with despatches for the Court of St. James. I have spoken with him, and offered him £500 to bear a letter to my brother, and the man re- fuses! The post, too, is stopped, or will stop. Five millions of gold !"
"The English courier is a German named Schmidt, is he not?" queried the Bonapartist clerk, by way of saying something.
"He is, may he break his neck on the road! The moment he communicates his news in London, the British funds fall ten per cent., as they will do here to-morrow morning, and in both cities we hold consols to an immense amount. Oh, for some heaven-inspired idea to circumvent this tellow Schmidt! But I talk as a child !- my brain reels! Five millions of Na- poleons in our cellars! Oh, my brother, why cannot the spirits of our father arise and stand before you to-morrow in London, ere the arri- val of this courier ?"
The climax had arrived. Rothschild's heart was full. He sunk into a chair, and hid his face in his hands. The deep silence of pro- found consternation prevailed throughout the office.
Now whatever was the feeling of my fellow clerks I cannot convey to you the slightest idea of the revolution which had sprung up in my breast during the foregoing conversation. I had not spoken, but eagerly watched and devoured every word, every look of the several speakers. I was like the Pythoness of Delphi awaiting the inspiration of her god, my 'Magnus Apollo' be- ing my poor 1500 franc salary. Never was there a more burning genius of inspiration for an en- terprising man than an income limited to 1500 francs! My frame dilated like that of Ulysses in Homer, when breathed on by the sage Mi- nerva; or to pair my Greek with a Latin smile, I might)be likened to Curtius, resolved to save Rome by leaping into the gulf; only, as an im- provement upon this latter hero, I fancied I could take the plunge without breaking my neck ! Any how, I jumped up, kicked my wood- en stool away, and presented myself before Rothschild.
"If being in London three hours before the English courier may advantage the house, cried I, here do I undertake the task, or will forfeit life. Give me some token of credence to hand your brother, sir, gold for my expenses on the road, and trust to me ?"
"What mean you? Are you mad ?" said Rothschild, surprised, while my fellow-clerks began to mutter at my pretensions.
"I have my plan," returned I. "Oh, do but trust me! I am acquainted with this courier- with Schmidt. I have a hold on him-a certain hold, believe me! Though I am but the jun- ior here, I will travel with Schmidt, ay, in his very carriage, and will win the race, though I should be guillotined afterwards for strangling him by the way! Time, flies, sir -- trust me- say I may go!"
Rothschild hesitated .
"Is he trustworthy ?" asked he of the head clerk, with whom I was luckily a favorite, be- cause I was in the habit of mending his pens, and taking his seven children bonbons on New Year's day.
213
"Wolverpenden," answered the head clerk, "isas steady as time. He is prudent and clev- er. I would trust him with my children -- and wife too!"
There was a little time for parley. Great men decide quickly. The truth was, I presented myself as amis aller, a sort of forlorn hope .- Even if I went over to the enemy, nothing could be lost, matters were evidently at their worst & the critical moment all but on the wanc. Mr. R, resolved to trust me. He took from his finger the carbuncle I now wear, the stone cost 50,- 000 francs in Levant, and placed it in my hand.
"Show this ring to my brother," said he; "he knows it well; and stay-quick -- give me the ink !" Snatching up a piece of paper, our chief wrote in the Hebrew character, "Believe the bearer!" "Put that in his hands," said he, "What your plan is I know not. You have carte blanche. Explain all to my brother. He is the genius of the family. The fortunes of the house of Rothschild are in your keeping. Be thou, as David says, 'a dove for innocence, but a very serpent in guile. The courier starts at the stroke of ten. It wants twelve minutes."
"He goes, of course, from the house of the embassy ?" asked I, clapping on my hat, snatch- ing a cloak from the wall, and pocketing a hea- vy bag of gold all in a breath.
"He does -- he does -- away with you -- away !" and Rothschild literally pushed me out at the door, amid the varied exclamations of the elerks, I took the step stair-fall at half a dozen bounds, and in half a dozen more found myself in the Place du Palais Royal.
Through life we find that to narrate impor- tant events frequently consumes more time than their realization. That it was with me at this moment, and I must hazard weakening the in- terest of my narrative to state here the grounds of my calculation. In almost every thing runs an under current, not seen by the world. - Schmidt and I were bound together by but a silken thread, and yet on that I reckoned. We were both frequenters of the Cafe de la Re- gence, and constantly in the habit of playing chess together.
Nobody but a chess player can appreciate the strong tie of brotherhood, which links its ama- teurs. When men spend much time together, they cbcome accustomed to each other, like horses used to run in the same coach. For a fellow chess-player a man will do that which he would refuse his father and mother. The habit of breathing the same air and looking at the same chess- board creates a friendship to which that of Damon and Pythias was mere 'How d'ye do?' It was upon this that I reck- oned. Schmidt and I had played thousands of chess-games together, and barely exchanged three words. He no more suspected me of be- ing a banker's elerk than of being the King of the Sandwich Islands. We had mostly singled out each other as antagonists, because pretty nearly matched; and Schmidt loved me the more, as I know, because it was not every man that could play with him.
Schmidt was the slowest chess-player I have ever seen. He has been known to sit three quarters of an hour on a move, his head cover- ed by his hands, and then to be discovered fast asleep! In every thing he was the same. Cor- rect as the sun ; but a slow sort of person, for all that. Schmidt was the kind of a man who, meeting you in a pouring rain, says, 'What a wet day is this!" A wholesale dealer in prosy
truisms, and nothing brighter; and yet covered all over with a portly assumption of conse- quence, which famously dusted the eyes of the vulgar. I had ever been a judge of physiogno- my, and knew my man. How many Schmidts there are in the world! .
The English embassy at this time occupied a hotel adjoining the Cafe de la Regence; at the door of which latter temple of fame I planted myself in a careless looking attitude, with my pulse beating likea sledge hammer. The night was durk above, but bright below, shining forth in all the glory of lamp light. At the porte cochee of the British envoy's hotel stood a light travel- ling carriage. I was in the nick of time .- Sehmidt was ready, enveloped in a heavy re- dingote. Five horses were being caparisoned for the journey. I went up to the carriage, and addressed my chess friend :-
"How's this, Schmidt? no chess to-night ?-- I've been looking for you in the Regence !"
"Chess! no indeed, I've other fish to fry .-- Have you not heard the news? It's no secret. Bonaparte has landed from Elba on the coast of France. Paris will ring with tidings in an hour or two. I'm off this moment for London with despatches."
"I don't anvy you the journey!" said I - "What a bore! shut up in that machine all night; not even a pretty girl to keep you com- pany !""
"But duty, you know !" said Schmidt, with a smile.
"Duty, indeed! but perhaps, you light up, en grand seigneur, and read all the way? To be sure you can study our new gambit !"'
"What a pity you can't go with me!" respond- ed Schmidt, in the pride of five horses and a carriage all to himself. "What a pity you can't go with me; we'd play chess all the way !"
My heart leaped to my mouth. The trout was gorging the bait. Schmidt had drawn the marked card!
"Don't invite me twice!" said I, laughing, "for I am in a very lazy humor, and no one earthly thing to do in Paris for the next few days." This was true enough.
"Come along, my dear fellow?" replied Schmidt, "make the jest earnest. I've a famous night lamp, and am in no humor to sleep. I must drop you on the frontiers, bceause I dare not let the authorities of Calais or Boulogne see that I have a companion, lest I should be suspected of stock jobbing, but I'll piek you up on my return. Now are the horses ready, there ?"" .'Do you really mean what you say, Schmidt ?' "Indeed I do."
"Then I'll tell you what, said I, "I'm your man, and famous fun we'll have!"
I darted into the Cafe dela Regence, snatched up the first chess equipage that came to hand, and stood in a moment again by the side of my friend. The postilions were on their saddles, in we leapcd, bang went the door, round went the wheels, and away bounded our light calash at the rate of ten French miles an hour!
"Ciel!" said Schmidt with a grin, "what a joke this is! We shall have something in the chess way to talk about for the next hundred and fifty years!"
"We shall indeed !" replied I. For a moment we were stopped at the barrier St. Denis, and here I became sensible of the truth of Roths- child's reasoning. The gates were closed, and a heavy force of horse and loot drawn up by I the portals. My friend's passport was strictly
214
scanned, and we learned that no other carriage jan traveller, laughing in the fullness of his joy, could pass that night, the order being special. while the Thug, his companion, makes ready the fatal scarf wherewith to strangle him ; others would compare him to a calf grazing in a butch- er's field. You may compare him to what you will. I may here say, that throughout the route, thanks to the telegraph, our horses were always chang- ed at the various posts houses with lightning speed.
"Good night, gentlemen!" cried the officer on guard, and away he went through the barri- ers, dashing over stone and sand, rut and road, like the chariot of Phaeton running away with its master. I looked back on Paris for the last time. "Aux grands hommes, la patrie reconnis- sante!" thought 1. Should I succeed, the Roths- childs will at least bury me in the Church of St. Genevive!
Now, at this point, my friends, the chess board, I consider, was in reality placed between Napoleon and myself, its type only being the chequered piece of wood on which Schmidt, poor fellow ! was setting up the chess-men. By the by, it you ever play chess in a carriage, and for want of the men being pegged at their feet, yon cannot make them stand, wet the board with a little vin de Grave, as we did, and you'll find no difficulty .
Yes, Napoleon and I were about to play a game at chess, and, although he might be said to have taken the first move, his attack was necessarily clogged by so much incumbrance, that our chances at least became equal. "To beat the emperor," thought I, "all must be risk- ed in a rapid attack, which shall countermine his plans. The position must not be suffered to grow too intricate. My first stroke must be suc- cessful, or I may as well throw up the game at once. Nothing, however, can be done for some hours ; so voyons! there's a Providence for the virtuous."
Imagine for yourselves the details I am com- pelled to omit. We played chess all night, talk- ed, laughed, and enjoyed ourselves. We supped en route in the carriage ; and, as my courteous antagonist was deeply engaged in discussing the relative merits of a Perigord pate and a bottle of old Markbrunner, I could but sigh that time had been denied me to put a vial of laudanum in my pocket. Schmidt should have slept so sound- İy!
Time wore on. "Shall I pitch him out by main force ?" reflected your humble servant .- "Shall I decoy him forth, leave him like one of the babes in the wood to the care of the red- breasts, assume his name, and daslı on alone ?" Too hazardous. I must take care not to find my way into that dirty old gaol at Calais, where the starving debtors are so everlastingly fishing for charitable pence with red woolen nightcaps. The Code Napoleon does not allow of robbery with premeditated violence. More the pity ! and then, probably, if alone, I could not procure horses. Shall I tell Schmidt the whole truth, and throw myself on his friendship? No; I should be checked and checkmated. We have rattled through Abbeville, we are even passing Montreuil, and I am just where I was. But stop! a thought lights up my brain. Will it do?
Luckily my adversary was, as I have said, the slowest of all slow chess players-heavy, sleek and sleepy. This gave me the more timo to ruminate while he concocted his views upon the chequered field, and'my scheme, such as it was, became at length matured. While Schmidt the innocent, with his fishy eyes was poking over the board, how little he thought upon the real subject of my meditations. At this moment some persons wou'd liken Schmidt to the Indi-
'Do you cross from Calais or Boulogne; Schmidt ?- Check to your king"
'Check ? I shall interpose the rook .- Oh! through the Anglomania of the Bourbons, our embassy has worked the telegraph double duty , and at both ports a fast sailing boat awaits me. - I think I shall win this game. Your queen seems to me not upon roses. If the wind hold strong south-west as now, I shall prefer crossing from Boulonge.'
By this time we had reached that little vil- lage, I forget the name of the dog-hole, seven miles on the Paris side of Boulogne. It was half past four in the afternoon, and we had ea- ten nothing since our scanty breakfast of bread, butter, and cafe au lait, at eight in the morning. Chess, chess, still had our chess gone on. I knew Schmidt was of the gourmand order, and now or never must the buffalo be taken in the lasso; I easily prevailed upon him to alight at the titile inn of the village, which was also, the post house, for a quarter of an hour, to snatch a hot dinner, which I assured him, was far. bet- ter than his dining at Boulogne and crossing the sea on a full stomach ; so, chess-board in hand, away went Schmidt the simple into a dark lit- the back room' to study his coming move while dinner was dishing, 'Now or never!' I say, was my battle cry. I rushed out, and demanded, what think you? a blacksmith! I was gazing on our carriage when the man stood before me. No one was within hearing.
" What a curious thing is a carriage like this, friend ?' said I, musingly.
'It is" responded he, in a tone which seemed to say, "Have you come from Paris to tell me that ?'
'A strange wilderness of wheels and springs, wood and iron. Now what would follow it that large screw there were taken out? Answer me promptly ?'
"What should follow ? Why, the coach would go on very well for a few hundred yards, and then would overturn with a crash, and smash, all to shivers!'
'Hum!' said I; 'and the traveller would doub- less go to shivers, as you call it, also! And what if only that tiny screw there were drawn ?'
'The body of the vehicle would equally fall upon the hind axle, but without material conse- quences; causing, however, somo inevitable de- lay.'
'Are you the blacksmith always in attendance here? I mean, if this carriage overturned in decending yonder hill, would it fall to your lot to right it ?'
'It would" and the Frenchman's eye sparkled with intelligence. I could have hugged the swarty man to my bosom. I love a blacksmith !
·Here are ten Napoleons,' said I; give me out that little screw; I have a fancy for it.' And the screw was in my hand.
. And now,' continued I, here are ten other Napoleons. I hope no incident will happen to us as wo leave the village; but should the car- riage overturn, have it brought back here to re- pair, and take a couple of hours to finish the job in, that you may be sure the job is done proper- fly, you know. And remember, O most virtu- ous of blacksmitha, that a man who earns twen-
215
ty Napoleons se lightly has two ears, but only } to his meditations. I hope, for the hospitality of one tongue." Boulogne, he was taken care of.
'Assez, assez, mon maitre" grinned Vulcan, emphatically ; 'je compends; soyez tranquille! Allez donc !'
I pocketed the precious screw and rushed in to dinner while the horses were putting to .- Schmidt was so tranquil, I felt provoked I had such a lamb to deal with. I intend that screw to go down in my family as an heir-loom.
We left the inn at full gallop. A very small 'quantity of pace like ours proved a dose. The body of the carriage dropped gently into "a critical position," The postilions pulled up.
"We are overset,' cried I.
"God forbid" said Schmidt; "'say it's the Eng- lish courier !" The man was so deep in his dear chess. 'What's to be done?' cried he, coming to his senses.
I had already sprung out.
"There seems little the matter, Schmidt .- Back the carriage to the inn, and all will be right again in a twinkling.'
So said so done. My friend the blacksmith assured us he would pay all damage directly ; and, while he began to hammer away like a Cyclops forging thunderbolts, we philosophers coolly resumed our chess in the inn parlor .-- The position of the game was now highly criti- cal, both for me and Napoleon, and also for me and Schmidt. My latter adversary was deci- dedly under a mate, and his coming move I felt must occupy twenty heavenly minutes! Surely his guardian angel must have just now been ta- king his siesta !
I left the room and darted to the stable. A groom was busy at his work.
'Have you got a saddle horse ready for the road ?'
'Yes, sir, we've a famous trotting pony-won the prize last-'
'Enough! I am sent on in advance. Tell the landlord my friend within settles all. Give me the bridle !'
I mounted my Bucephalus, and galloped off like the wind.
.Boulogne!' cried I. aloud, as I raced through the village in a state of ungovernable excitement. I was playing the great game with a vengeance. If that horse yet lives, be sure he recollects me .
I rattled into Boulogne. the St. Pelage of Great Britain, and the very gendarmerie quailed before me at the gates. In a minute more I had alighted at the water side. The soldiers shout- ed behind for my passport. I threw them some gold, which, as none of their officers happened to be in sight, they were vulgar enough to pick up from the beach . I cast my eyes around. It was six o'clock, and the scene was deeply in- teresting.
The breeze had set in well from the west .- The evening was cold, but bright; the air slight- ly frosty. The sun yet shone, and lighted up the harbor, tinging the far-off waves with ten thousand different shades of emerald hue. It was known already that Napoleon had escaped from his prison house, and was marching on Paris; and the English residents were flying from France like sheep before the wolf. A gol- den harvest was reaping on this narrow sea, and I was hailed in a moment by several bronzed fishermen, with offers of service and vaunts of superior qualities of their several respective ves- sels. I selected at a glance a stout, trim look ing boat, and leaped on board, leaving my horse
'For Dover" cried I to the master of the boat, 'My pay is five guincas a man ; I must have eight men on board in case it comes on to blow. Be smart, fellows, and away!'
The men were active as eels. The police were about to detain me with some infernal jargon about my passport again.
'Cut off" cried I, eagerly.
My captain (if I may so term a Breton sailor, half smuggler, half fisherman,) severed the rope which heid us to the pier head, our heavy brown sails were flung to the wind, and we were sweep- ing across the waters.
We dashed under the bows of a large Eng- lish built packet, straining at her lashings like mad, ready to kick off in ten seconds. Her sails were flying abroad, and several stout hands were at the tacks, ready to sheet them home. The captain was reading the very stones and win- dows of the town, impatiently, through a glass. The mob of idle spectators were so busily en- gaged watching his proceedings, I was hardly noticed.
"A nice craft, that!'
.Yes, sir; waiting for the English courier .-
If he don't make haste she'll lose her tide.' 'I should be sorry for that,' said I. Give her a wide berth, and go ahead.'
And we did go ahead. I have crossed Cala- is Straits many times, but not under such exci- ting circumstances. Every bit of canvass we could stretch was spread, and the billows wash- ed onr deck from stem to stern. The men were on their mettle, and the little vessel answered gloriously to the call, shaking herself after each wash like a wild duck, and dipping her wings again to kiss the briny waters. In one moment I verily thought we should have been swamped. My fellows themselves hesitated and seemed in- clined to take in sail.
'Carry on" cried our Captain.
A little more washing and we were in com- paratively smooth water under the chalk cliffs of Albion. By half past nine I had left Dover, and was tearing away on the London road be- hind fleet horses. Canterbury and Rochester were won and lost. I took the direction of Lon- don, and my carriage pulled up before the gates of Rothschild's villa at 5 o'clock in the morning. I had come from Paris in thirty hours.
The inmates must have thought I had come to take the mansion by storm, so powerful was my appeals to the great bell, as I stood at the gate in the early sunbeams of the morning .- In five minutes more, I found myself by the con- jugal bed of Rothschild. God knows how I got therc.
Assuredly the Rothschilds received me as they had never done visiter before, sitting up both in bed, side by side, rubbing their eyes, as just awakened from a dead sleep. I had made iny entry vi et armis, and, by the time Rothschild was fully wakened up, had handed in my cre- dentials. Without pausing a moment in my hitherto successful career, I rapidly explained the circumstances of the case, and minutely de- tailed the situation of our Paris house. What words I used I cannot remember. I had not slept for two days and nights, and my brain be- gan to reel for want of rest
'Go into my dressing room there,' said Roth- schild, with the most imperturbable sang froid. 'Do me the favor to open the shutters, and in three minutes I will be with you.'
216
I retired mechanically ; a heavy load seemed { already moved from my chest. In every tone of the great man's voice was something more than authority; there was genius, talent and power. I felt that our position was fully un- derstood, and so profound was my confidence in the king of London merchants, I already felt assured weshould find relief in his counsels,- How extraordinary that so much effect should have been produced by half a dozen common- płace words!
I threw myself upon a sofa. Rothschild join- ed me He wore a scarlet night-cap, and en- veloped in the blanket he had hastily dragged off the bed, he looked, with his grisly beard and massive threat, like a chief of the Cherokee In- dians about to give the war whoop. But I thought at the moment of neither nightcap nor blanket, I thought only of Napoleon Bonaparte on the one hand, and Rothschild on the other; and I would have staked my life on the latter, simply because he seemed master of himself .- It is so easy to govern others!
Rothschild was grand, he was sublime! Star- tled abruptly from his sleep, informed that the whole fortunes of his house were trembling in the balance, that the mighty European edifice he had for so many years been laboring to es- tablish was tottering in the wind-that name, fame, and fortune, were being rent asunder, he
Rothschild spoke, and in the same quiet tones which he could have ordered his maitre d' hotel to get him a entlet.
"Return to France,' said he-'to my brother with all speed. Spare no exertions at all haz- ards to be in Paris a little time before Napoleon enters, and all will go well. Your services in this affair will not be forgotten by our house. To thank you here were waste of time. Now mark my words! I have no faith in the Napoleon dynasty. The emperor has returned too soon .-- The army will declare in his favor, but the na- tion, torn by war, will not stand by him. The natural cry of France is, 'Pcace, peace! that we may heal up our wounds.' The emperor may win a battle, but he must fall before numbers, and his fall this time will be forever. I give him a hundred days reign, and no more. Very well. If I believed in the endurance of Napoleon, I should say, 'Make a friend of him -- lend him this gold;' but as it is, the bullion must be pre- served. I know the Bourbons. If the empe- ror borrow the gold, even in the name of the government, and pawn the palaces of Fontain- bleau and the Louvre for the amount, the others are capable of disavowing the transaction. And although the absolute loss of this sum would not of itself shake us, yet the credit of our name would be severely damaged; a run upon our branch houses would inevitably follow, and we should be compelled to stop payment before we could realize our assets. And yet truc policy forbids our now directly affronting the Emperor. How then to act? The problem to be solved is this, -- to keep the gold out of his hands, and yet to remain friends with him. And thus would I have my brothers proceed. Treasure up my every word, sir, and digest it en route. All pa- por money in France will now be depreciated. Any premium will be given for gold to hoard
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.