Part 3 (2/2)

There they visit the house and garden of the said uncle Racah, Mr Montefiore observing, that it is a good garden, but a small house; thence they continue their journey to Sienna.

”I had a dispute,” he says, ”with the postmaster at a place called Bobzena, and was compelled to go to the Governor, who sent with me two gendarmes to settle the affair.” ”The road to Viterbo,” he observes, ”I found very dangerous; the country terribly dreary, wild and mountainous, with terrific caverns and great forests.”

”On the 15th of January,” he continues, ”we became greatly alarmed by the vicinity of robbers on the road, and I had to walk upwards of seven miles behind the carriage until we arrived at Rome, whither we had been escorted by two gendarmes.”

”In Rome,” he says, ”we saw this time in the Church of St John, the gate of bronze said to be that of the temple of Jerusalem; we also revisited the workshop of Canova, his studio, and saw all that a traveller could possibly see when under the guidance of a clever cicerone.

”We left Rome on the 11th of February, and pa.s.sed a man lying dead on the road; he had been murdered in the night. This incident damped our spirits and rendered the journey, which would otherwise have been delightful, rather _triste_.”

On the 3rd of April they arrive at Frankfort-on-the-Main; in May they are again in London, and on the 13st inst., Mr Montefiore, dismissing from his mind (for the time) all impressions of gay France and smiling Italy, is to be found in the house of mourning, expressing his sympathy with the bereaved, and rendering comfort by the material help which he offers in the hour of need.

It is in the house of a devoted minister of his congregation, the Rev.

Hazan Shalom, that we find him now performing the duties of a Lavadore, preparing the dead for its last resting-place.

The pleasures of his last journey, and the change of scene and climate appear to have greatly invigorated him, for we find him on another mournful occasion, exhibiting a degree of physical strength such as is seldom met with.

His mother-in-law having been taken ill on Sat.u.r.day, the 14th of November, he went on foot from Smithembottom to Town, a walk of five hours, in order to avoid breaking one of the commandments, by riding in a carriage on the Sabbath. Unfortunately on his arrival, he found she had already expired. Prompted by religious fervour and attachment to the family, he attended during the first seven days the house of mourning, where all the relatives of the deceased a.s.sembled, morning and evening, for devotional exercises, and, with a view of devoting the rest of the day to the furtherance of some good cause, he remained in the city to be present at all the meetings of the representatives of his community.

In the month of December he went down to Brighton to intercede with General Bloomfield for three convicts. (The particulars of the case are not given in the diary), and on his return he resumed his usual financial pursuits.

1818 (5579 A.M.). He is elected President of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation. ”I am resolved,” he says, ”to serve the office unbia.s.sed, and to the best of my conscience.” Mr Montefiore keeps his word faithfully, for he attends punctually all the meetings of the elders; and, on several occasions, goes about in a post-chaise to collect from his friends and acquaintances contributions towards the fund required for the hospital ”Beth Holim” of his community.

This was the year in which the political crisis came, when public meetings, in favour of Parliamentary reform were held everywhere, and Parliament pa.s.sed six Acts restricting public liberty. In the midst of these troubles, on the 24th of May, the Princess Victoria, daughter of the Duke of Kent, the fourth son of the king, was born at Kensington Palace.

1820 (5580 A.M.). The Diary opens this year with observations on the life of man, and with a view of affording the reader an opportunity of reflecting on Mr Montefiore's character, I append a record of his pursuits such as we seldom meet with in a man in the prime of life, at the age of 30.

In full enjoyment of health, wealth, and every pleasure a man could possibly desire, he thus writes on the first page:--

”He who builds his hopes in the air of men's fair looks, Lives like a drunken sailor on the mast, Ready with every nod to tumble down Into the fatal bowels of the deep.

”With moderate blessings be content, Nor idly grasp at every shade, Peace, competence, a life well spent, Are blessings that can never fade; And he that weakly sighs for more Augments his misery, not his store.”

CHAPTER IV.

1820-1826.

DAILY LIFE--DEATH OF HIS BROTHER ABRAHAM--AN EARLY PANAMA Ca.n.a.l PROJECT.

Mr Montefiore's occupations may best be described in his own words, and may furnish a useful hint to those who neglect to keep an account of the way in which their time is spent. He writes:--

”With G.o.d's blessing,--Rise, say prayers at 7 o'clock. Breakfast at 9.

Attend the Stock Exchange, if in London, 10. Dinner, 5. Read, write, and learn, if possible, Hebrew and French, 6. Read Bible and say prayers, 10. Then retire.

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