The death, on Tuesday, of Baron Lionel Nathan Rothschild, the
last of the four sons of the founder of the firm, and the ultimate head of the House—which is believed to be governed, like an Eastern family, by a family council, with a veto reserved to the eldest male—is a considerable event, even in politics. All great measures require money, and the Rothschilds take the initiative in finding money for all great Governments except that of Russia. The head of the House is, therefore, necessarily consulted in large affairs, and has an influence which may be best weighed when we remember the Jewish clauses of the Treaty of Berlin. This influence is believed to have been specially great with Lord Beaconsfield, a life-long personal friend, and may well be imagined to have been exerted in favour of the Turkish interests, which the Jews of Europe have, in the late struggle, steadily upheld. Influence of that kind is only partly transmissible, and the Baron's death will, we suspect, be severely felt in Constantinople. The deceased financier was a man of considerable ability and great knowledge of affairs, though we have heard he was utterly taken by surprise by the revelation of Prussian strength in 1866, and the universal -voice of his people. pronounces him to have been munificently charitable. It is certain that the ladies of the house have been so for two generations, giving immense labour, as well as money, to good works ; and they must have had the full appro- bation of their chief, who, like most millionaires, dreaded to appear as liberal as he was, lest he should be drowned in appli- cations.
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