Le Juif errant. English

  CHAPTER XVIII. DEBIT AND CREDIT.

  For some seconds, Samuel and Bathsheba remained motionless, with theireyes fixed in fear and uneasiness on the seven luminous points,which shone through the darkness of the night from the summit of thebelvedere; while, on the horizon, behind the house, a pale, rosy hueannounced the dawn of day.

  Samuel was the first to break silence, and he said to his wife, as hedrew his hand across his brow: "The grief caused by the remembrance ofour poor child has prevented us from reflecting that, after all, thereshould be nothing to alarm us in what we see."

  "How so, Samuel?"

  "My father always told me that he, and my grandfather before him, hadseen such lights at long intervals."

  "Yes, Samuel--but without being able, any more than ourselves, toexplain the cause."

  "Like my father and grandfather, we can only suppose that some secretpassage gives admittance to persons who, like us, have some mysteriousduty to fulfil in this dwelling. Besides, my father warned me not to beuneasy at these appearances, foretold by him, and now visible for thesecond time in thirty years."

  "No matter for that, Samuel, it does strike one as if it was somethingsupernatural."

  "The days of miracles are over." said the Jew, shaking his headsorrowfully: "many of the old houses in this quarter have subterraneouscommunications with distant places--some extending even to the Seine andthe Catacombs. Doubtless, this house is so situated, and the persons whomake these rare visits enter by some such means."

  "But that the belvedere should be thus lighted up?"

  "According to the plan of the building, you know that the belvedereforms a kind of skylight to the apartment called the Great Hall ofMourning, situated on the upper story. As it is completely dark, inconsequence of the closing of all the windows, they must use a light tovisit this Hall of Mourning--a room which is said to contain some verystrange and gloomy things," added the Jew, with a shudder.

  Bathsheba, as well as her husband, gazed attentively on the sevenluminous points, which diminished in brightness as the daylightgradually increased.

  "As you say, Samuel, the mystery may be thus explained," resumed theHebrew's wife. "Besides, the day is so important a one for the familyof Rennepont, that this apparition: ought not to astonish us under thecircumstances."

  "Only to think," remarked Samuel, "that these lights have appeared atseveral different times throughout a century and a half! There must,therefore, be another family that, like ours, has devoted itself, fromgeneration to generation, to accomplish a pious duty."

  "But what is this duty? It will perhaps be explained today."

  "Come, come, Bathsheba," suddenly exclaimed Samuel, as if roused fromhis reverie, and reproaching himself with idleness; this is the day,and, before eight o'clock, our cash account must be in order, and thesetitles to immense property arranged, so that they may be delivered tothe rightful owners"--and he pointed to the cedar-wood box.

  "You are right, Samuel; this day does not belong to us. It is a solemnday--one that would have been sweet, oh! very sweet to you and me--ifnow any days could be sweet to us," said Bathsheba bitterly, for she wasthinking of her son.

  "Bathsheba," said Samuel, mournfully, as he laid his hand on his wife's;"we shall at least have the stern satisfaction of having done our duty.And has not the Lord been very favorable to us, though He has thusseverely tried us by the death of our son? Is it not thanks to Hisprovidence that three generations of my family have been able tocommence, continue, and finish this great work?"

  "Yes, Samuel," said the Jewess, affectionately, "and for you at leastthis satisfaction will be combined with calm and quietness, for onthe stroke of noon you will be delivered from a very terribleresponsibility."

  So saying, Bathsheba pointed to the box.

  "It is true," replied the old man; "I had rather these immense richeswere in the hands of those to whom they belong, than in mine; but, today, I shall cease to be their trustee. Once more then, I will check theaccount for the last time, and compare the register with the cash-bookthat you hold in your hand."

  Bathsheba bowed her head affirmatively, and Samuel, taking up his pen,occupied himself once more with his calculations. His wife, in spiteof herself, again yielded to the sad thoughts which that fatal date hadawakened, by reminding her of the death of her son.

  Let us now trace rapidly the history, in appearance so romantic andmarvellous, in reality so simple, of the fifty thousand crowns, which,thanks to the law of accumulation, and to a prudent, intelligent andfaithful investment, had naturally, and necessarily, been transformed,in the space of a century and a half, into a sum far more importantthan the forty millions estimated by Father d'Aigrigny--who, partiallyinformed on this subject, and reckoning the disastrous accidents,losses, and bankruptcies which might have occurred during so long aperiod, believed that forty millions might well b e considered enormous.

  The history of this fortune being closely connected with that of theSamuel family, by whom it had been managed for three generations, weshall give it again in a few words.

  About the period 1670, some years before his death, Marius de Rennepont,then travelling in Portugal, had been enabled, by means of powerfulinterest, to save the life of an unfortunate Jew, condemned to be burntalive by the Inquisition, because of his religion. This Jew was IsaacSamuel, grandfather of the present guardian of the house in the RueSaint-Francois.

  Generous men often attach themselves to those they have served, as much,at least, as the obliged parties are attached to their benefactors.Having ascertained that Isaac, who at that time carried on a pettybroker's business at Lisbon, was industrious, honest, active, laborious,and intelligent, M. de Rennepont, who then possessed large propertyin France, proposed to the Jew to accompany him, and undertake themanagement of his affairs. The same hatred and suspicion with which theIsraelites have always been followed, was then at its height. Isaac wastherefore doubly grateful for this mark of confidence on the part ofM. de Rennepont. He accepted the offer, and promised from that day todevote his existence to the service of him who had first saved his life,and then trusted implicitly to his good faith and uprightness, althoughhe was a Jew, and belonged to a race generally suspected and despised.M. de Rennepont, a man of great soul, endowed with a good spirit, wasnot deceived in his choice. Until he was deprived of his fortune, itprospered wonderfully in the hands of Isaac Samuel, who, gifted with anadmirable aptitude for business, applied himself exclusively to advancethe interests of his benefactor.

  Then came the persecution and ruin of M. de Rennepont, whose propertywas confiscated and given up to the reverend fathers of the Company ofJesus only a few days before his death. Concealed in the retreat he hadchosen, therein to put a violent end to his life, he sent secretly forIsaac Samuel, and delivered to him fifty thousand crowns in gold, thelast remains of his fortune. This faithful servant was to invest themoney to the best advantage, and, if he should have a son, transmit tohim the same obligation; or, should he have no child, he was to seek outsome relation worthy of continuing this trust, to which would moreoverbe annexed a fair reward. It was thus to be transmitted and perpetuatedfrom relative to relative, until the expiration of a century and a half.M. de Rennepont also begged Isaac to take charge, during his life, ofthe house in the Rue Saint-Francois, where he would be lodged gratis,and to leave this function likewise to his descendants, if it werepossible.

  If even Isaac Samuel had not had children, the powerful bond of unionwhich exists between certain Jewish families, would have renderedpracticable the last will of De Rennepont. The relations of Isaac wouldhave become partner; in his gratitude to his benefactor, and they, andtheir succeeding generations, would have religiously accomplished thetask imposed upon one of their race. But, several years after the deathof De Rennepont, Isaac had a son.

  This son, Levy Samuel, born in 1689, not having had any children by hisfirst wife, married again at nearly sixty years of age, and, in 1750, healso had a son--David Samuel, the guardian of the house in th
e Rue SaintFrancois, who, in 1832 (the date of this narrative), was eighty-twoyears old, and seemed likely to live as long as his father, who had diedat the age of ninety-three. Finally, Abel Samuel, the son whom Bathshebaso bitterly regretted, born in 1790, had perished under the Russianknout, at the age of thirty-six.

  Having established this humble genealogy, we easily understand how thissuccessive longevity of three members of the Samuel family, all of whomhad been guardians of the walled house, by uniting, as it were, thenineteenth with the seventeenth century, simplified and facilitatedthe execution of M. de Rennepont's will; the latter having declared hisdesire to the grandfather of the Samuels, that the capital should onlybe augmented by interest at five per cent.--so that the fortune mightcome to his descendants free from all taint of usurious speculation.

  The fellow men of the Samuel family, the first inventors of the bill ofexchange, which served them in the Middle Ages to transport mysteriouslyconsiderable amounts from one end of the world to the other, to concealtheir fortune, and to shield it from the rapacity of their enemies--theJews, we say, having almost the monopoly of the trade in money andexchanges, until the end of the eighteenth century, aided the secrettransactions and financial operations of this family, which, up to about1820, placed their different securities, which had become progressivelyimmense, in the hands of the principal Israelitish bankers and merchantsof Europe. This sure and secret manner of acting had enabled the presentguardian of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois, to effect enormousinvestments, unknown to all; and it was more especially during theperiod of his management, that the capital sum had acquired, by the merefact of compound interest, an almost incalculable development. Comparedwith him, his father and grandfather had only small amounts to manage.Though it had only been necessary to find successively sure andimmediate investments, so that the money might not remain as it wereone day without bearing interest, it had acquired financial capacity toattain this result, when so many millions were in question. The last ofthe Samuels, brought up in the school of his father, had exhibitedthis capacity in a very high degree, as will be seen immediately by theresults. Nothing could be more touching, noble, and respectable, thanthe conduct of the members of this Jewish family, who, partners in theengagement of gratitude taken by their ancestor, devote themselves forlong years, with as much disinterestedness as intelligence and honesty,to the slow acquisition of a kingly fortune, of which they expect nopart themselves, but which, thanks to them, would come pure, as immense,to the hands of the descendants of their benefactor! Nor could anythingbe more honorable to him who made, and him who received this deposit,than the simple promise by word of mouth, unaccompanied by any securitysave mutual confidence and reciprocal esteem, when the result was onlyto be produced at the end of a century and a half!

  After once more reading his inventory with attention, Samuel said to hiswife: "I am certain of the correctness of my additions. Now pleaseto compare with the account-book in your hand the summary of theinvestments that I have just entered in the register. I will assuremyself, at the same time, that the bonds and vouchers are properlyarranged in this casket, that, on the opening of the will, they may bedelivered in order to the notary."

  "Begin, my dear, and I will check you," said Bathsheba.

  Samuel read as follows, examining as he went on, the contents of hiscasket:

  Statement of the account of the heirs of M. DE RENNEPONT, delivered byDAVID SAMUELS.

  DEBIT.

  2,000,000 francs per annum, in the French 5 P. C., bought from 1825 to 1832, at an average price of 99f. 50c............ 39,800,000 900,000 francs, ditto, in the French 3 P. C., bought during the same years, at an average of 74f 25c........ 22,275,000 5;000 shares in the Bank of France, bought at 1,900 9,500,000 3,000 shares in the Four Canals, in a certificate from the Company, bought at 1,115f..... 3,345,000 125,000 ducats of Neapolitans, at an average of 82. 2,050,000 ducats, at 4f. 400....... 9,020,000 5,000 Austrian Metallics, of 1,000 florins, at 93 --say 4,650,000 florins, at 2f. 50c........ 11,625,000 75,000 pounds sterling per annum, English Consolidated 3 P. C., at 88 3/4--say 2,218,750, at 25f......... 55,468,750 1,200,000 florins, Dutch 2 1/2 P. C., at 60-28, 860,000 florins, at 2f. 100........... 60,606,000 Cash in banknotes, gold and silver........ 535,250 ------ Francs 212,175,000

  Paris, 12th February, 1832. CREDIT.

  150,000 francs received from M. de Rennepont, in 1682, by Isaac Samuel my grandfather; and invested by him, my father, and myself, in different securities, at Five per Cent. Interest, with a settlement of account and Investment of interest every six months, producing, as by annexed vouchers, 225,950,000

  Less losses sustained by failures, expenses of commission and brokerage, and salary of three generations of trustees, as per statement annexed 13,775,000 ---------- 212,175,000

  Francs 212,175,000

  "It is quite right," said Samuel, after examining the papers, containedin the cedar-wood box. "There remains in hand, at the absolute disposalof the heirs of the Rennepont family, the Sum Of TWO HUNDRED AND TWELVEMILLIONS, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FRANCS." And the old manlooked at his wife with an expression of legitimate pride. "It is hardlycredible!" cried Bathsheba, struck with surprise. "I knew that you hadimmense property in your hands; but I could never have believed, thatone hundred and fifty thousand francs, left a century and a half ago,should be the only source of this immense fortune."

  "It is even so, Bathsheba," answered the old man, proudly. "Doubtless,my grandfather, my father, and myself, have all been exact and faithfulin the management of these funds; doubtless, we have required somesagacity in the choice of investments, in times of revolution andcommercial panics; but all this was easy to us, thanks to our relationswith our brethren in all countries--and never have I, or any of mine,made an usurious investment, or even taken the full advantage ofthe legal rate of interest. Such were the positive demands of M. deRennepont, given to my grandfather; nor is there in the world afortune that has been obtained by purer means. Had it not been for thisdisinterestedness, we might have much augmented this two hundredand twelve millions, only by taking advantage of a few favorablecircumstances."

  "Dear me! is it possible?"

  "Nothing is more simple, Bathsheba. Every one knows, that in fourteenyears a capital will be doubled, by the mere accumulation of interestand compound interest at five per cent. Now reflect, that in a centuryand a half there are ten times fourteen years, and that these onehundred and fifty thousands francs have thus been doubled and redoubled,over and over again. All that astonishes you will then appear plainenough. In 1682, M. de Rennepont entrusted my grandfather with a hundredand fifty thousand francs; this sum, invested as I have told you, wouldhave produced in 1696, fourteen years after, three hundred thousandfrancs. These last, doubled in 1710, would produce six hundred thousand.On the death of my grandfather in 1719, the amount was already near amillion; in 1724, it would be twelve hundred thousand francs; in 1738,two millions four hundred thousand; in 1752, about two years after mybirth, four millions eight hundred thousand; in 1766, nine millions sixhundred thousand; in 1780, nineteen millions two hundred thousand; in1794, twelve years after the death of my father, thirty-eight millionsfour hundred thousand; in 1808, seventy-six millions eight hundredthousand; in 1822, one hundred and fifty-three millions six hundredthousand; and, at this time, taking the compound interest for ten years,it should be at least two hundred and twenty-five millions. But lossesand inevitable charges, of which the account has been strictly kept,have reduced the sum to two hundred and twelve millions one hundred andseventy-five thousand francs, the securities for which are in this box."

  "I now understand you, my
dear," answered Bathsheba, thoughtfully;"but how wonderful is this power of accumulation! and what admirableprovision may be made for the future, with the smallest presentresources!"

  "Such, no doubt, was the idea of M. de Rennepont; for my father hasoften told me, and he derived it from his father, that M. de Rennepontwas one of the soundest intellects of his time," said Samuel, as heclosed the cedar-box.

  "God grant his descendants may be worthy of this kingly fortune, andmake a noble use of it!" said Bathsheba, rising.

  It was now broad day, and the clock had just struck seven.

  "The masons will soon be here," said Samuel, as he replaced thecedar-box in the iron safe, concealed behind the antique press. "Likeyou, Bathsheba, I am curious and anxious to know, what descendants of M.de Rennepont will now present themselves."

  Two or three loud knocks on the outer gate resounded through the house.The barking of the watch-dogs responded to this summons.

  Samuel said to his wife: "It is no doubt the masons, whom the notary hassent with his clerk. Tie all the keys and their labels together; I willcome back and fetch them."

  So saying, Samuel went down to the door with much nimbleness,considering his age, prudently opened a small wicket, and saw threeworkmen, in the garb of masons, accompanied by a young man dressed inblack.

  "What may you want, gentlemen?" said the Jew, before opening the door,as he wished first to make sure of the identity of the personages.

  "I am sent by M. Dumesnil, the notary," answered the clerk, "to bepresent at the unwalling of a door. Here is a letter from my master,addressed to M. Samuel, guardian of the house."

  "I am he, sir," said the Jew; "please to put the letter through theslide, and I will take it."

  The clerk did as Samuel desired, but shrugged his shoulders at whathe considered the ridiculous precautions of a suspicious old man. Thehousekeeper opened the box, took the letter, went to the end ofthe vaulted passage in order to read it, and carefully compared thesignature with that of another letter which he drew from the pocketof his long coat; then, after all these precautions, he chained up hisdogs, and returned to open the gate to the clerk and masons.

  "What the devil, my good man!" said the clerk, as he entered; "therewould not be more formalities in opening the gates of a fortress!"

  The Jew bowed, but without answering.

  "Are you deaf, my good fellow?" cried the clerk, close to his ears.

  "No, sir," said Samuel, with a quiet smile, as he advanced several stepsbeyond the passage. Then pointing to the old house, he added: "That,sir, is the door which you will have to open; you will also have toremove the lead and iron from the second window to the right."

  "Why not open all the windows?" asked the clerk.

  "Because, sir, as guardian of this house, I have received particularorders on the subject."

  "Who gave you these orders?"

  "My father, sir, who received them from his father, who transmitted themfrom the master of this house. When I cease to have the care of it, thenew proprietor will do as he pleases."

  "Oh! very well," said the clerk, not a little surprised. Then,addressing himself to the masons, he added: "This is your business, myfine fellows; you are to unwall the door, and remove the iron frame-workof the second window to the right."

  Whilst the masons set to work, under the inspection of the notary'sclerk, a coach stopped before the outer gate, and Rodin, accompanied byGabriel, entered the house in the Rue Saint-Francois.