an didn't. He was daring in its use--he had the courage to take
risks. His was a quest for power.

When about twenty, he traveled as far as Hanover to visit a kinsman, and
there he served for several months in a bank. He had a mind like those
Japanese who travel to absorb, and waste no time in battling error.

Returning to Frankfort he transformed his father's little store into a
bank and filled the window with real money, to the great delight and
astonishment of the neighbors. From Hanover he brought a collection of
rare coins. The business his father had established gradually took on a
cosmopolitan look. The house of the Red Shield became a sort of center
of trade for the whole Judengasse.

And all the time the friendship with the Landgrave and his son had
continued. Commissions were given to Mayer to buy certain coins and
pictures. Finally he was entrusted to collect the rents of the Red
Shield. He did this so thoroughly and well, and was so prompt in his
reports, that he was finally named as custodian of the property. Other
property was given to him to look after.

Jews came to him for advice, and Christians counseled with him as to
loans.

He became known as the "Honest Jew," which title, we hope, carried with
it no reflection on his co-religionists. There are men--a very, very
few--who are thus honored with the title of "Honest John." Gamblers can
be recalled whose word was worth more than their bond. There are
horsemen--gamblers, too, if you please--who have little respect for the
moral code, but who never prove false to a trust.

Mayer Anselm had the coolness and the courage of a good gambler--in
business he surely was ever ready to back his opinion. He would pay five
hundred thalers for a jewel, give the man his price and pocket the gem
silently, while the hagglers and quibblers were screwing up their
courage to offer a hundred for it. But here was the difference--Mayer
Anselm knew what he was going to do with the jewel. He had a customer in
mind. He knew the customer, he knew the jewel, and he knew his own mind.

The Landgrave grew to lean on Mayer Anselm of the Red Shield. He made
him "Court Jew," or official treasurer of the principality. This carried
with it "the freedom of the city," and being a free man--no longer
technically a Jew--he had a name, and the name he chose was
"Rothschild," or the Red Shield, Mayer Anselm Rothschild.

He no longer wore the yellow badge of a despised race. Yet he refus