THE Margin is, of course, a regular reader of the New York Review of Books and came across the following in a recent edition, in a review of books dealing with the Rothschilds. The reviewer wrote that in March 1841 a visitor commented on the extraordinary forms of respect accorded to the Paris banker James Rothschild.

He wrote: "Some years ago, just as I was making my way to Herr von Rothschild, a servant in livery carried his chamber pot across the corridor, and a stock market speculator, who was passing at the same time, removed his hat respectfully before the mighty utensil... I noted the name of the devout person, and I am convinced that, in the course of time, he will become a millionaire."