Part 23 (1/2)
CHAPTER XXV.
1839.
ARRIVAL AT MALTA--HOME AGAIN--BOGHOZ BEY RETURNS NO ANSWER--TOUCHING APPEAL FROM THE PERSECUTED JEWS OF DAMASCUS AND RHODES--REVIVAL OF THE OLD CALUMNY ABOUT KILLING CHRISTIANS TO PUT THEIR BLOOD IN Pa.s.sOVER CAKES.
_July 18th._--About ten o'clock at night we entered the quarantine harbour at Malta, where we were ordered to remain till August 7th. To be confined for twenty days, during the hot summer months, with three hundred pilgrims, at Fort Manoel, was already a cause of great discomfort to Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, but the circ.u.mstances were here made especially painful to them by the loss of a faithful servant, whose death occurred during their stay in the Lazaretto. In addition to this they received news that the Turkish fleet had been delivered up to Mohhammad Ali, in Alexandria, by Kapoudan Pasha; that the Sultan was dead, and 150,000 Russian troops had arrived at Constantinople. This change in the political horizon frustrated almost all Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore's hopes of seeing their schemes for the amelioration of the condition of Syria realised. There was no chance now of receiving letters from Mohhammad Ali.
_August 6th._--The captain of the Lazaretto was there before five o'clock in the morning to give us _pratique_. Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore went to the Synagogue, presented some ornaments for the Ark, and various gifts to the officers. They also called on the Governor, and after paying visits to Sir Hector Grey and their many other friends, went on board our steamer the _Lycurgus_.
_August 7th._--About twelve o'clock the steamer moved out of the harbour, and we all bade farewell to the island. On Sat.u.r.day we cast anchor in the roads of Leghorn. When leaving that place, Sir Moses remained looking at the city as long as it continued in sight. ”Heaven only knows,” he said, ”whether I have seen the place of my birth for the last time; the state of my health and my age would lead me to believe that I can scarcely hope to visit it again. May peace, happiness, and prosperity attend my relatives and all its other inhabitants!”
_August 11th._--At Ma.r.s.eilles, Sir Moses visited the gas-works, and expressed great pleasure at seeing the new gas holder and coal shed nearly finished. In the evening he invited all the gentlemen connected with the Imperial Continental Gas a.s.sociation to take tea with him.
_August 13th._--We left Ma.r.s.eilles and proceeded _via_ Aix, Avignon, Valence, and Lyons to Chalons. Here we had an instance of the great attention which Sir Moses invariably paid to everything he saw. Having noticed a man lighting the street lamps without the aid of a ladder, he sent for the man to come to our hotel, desiring him to bring with him the long stick he had used in lighting the lamps. The man came and showed it to him; it had a small lantern near the top, and was furnished with a hook. In explaining its use the man pointed out that the burners had no taps but valves, which were raised or lowered by the hook. ”It appears to me,” said Sir Moses, ”a very simple and neat contrivance, a saving of time, and consequently expense, both in lighting and extinguis.h.i.+ng the flame.” He requested me to make an exact drawing of the stick, with the lantern and hook attached to it, and before leaving the hotel, made the man promise to bring him one of the burners to look at.
_Thursday, August 22nd._--We reached Paris. Baron Anselm de Rothschild, who had been with the King at Eu, told Sir Moses that the Pasha had refused to give up the Turkish fleet, and the King would not compel him. Sir Moses called on Mr Bulwer, who informed him that the King would probably be in Paris in five or six days, and wished Sir Moses to remain there, so as to be presented to him. Mr Bulwer also promised to take him to an evening party, to be given on September 3rd by Marshal Soult. But Sir Moses was longing to return to England, and would not prolong his stay.
_August 30th._--We left the French capital for Beauvais, where we remained over Sabbath. On Sunday we proceeded to Boulogne, and on Thursday, September 5th, we arrived safely at Dover. Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore continued their journey on the same day to Ramsgate, where they arrived in time to be present at the evening service in their Synagogue, and to offer up fervent thanks to the Most High for their safe return after so long an absence and so dangerous an excursion. The next day they left Ramsgate for Richmond, where they were received with most tender affection by their mother, sisters, and brothers, and every member of their family.
On their return their correspondence with the East increased rapidly, and engaged much of their attention. Messengers frequently arrived from Jerusalem to entreat them to do what they possibly could to improve the condition of the Jews there. Both Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore took great pleasure in relieving, as far as in their power, every deserving case.
At the end of December Sir Moses thought he might, without impropriety, remind His Excellency Boghoz Bey, Minister of Finance in Egypt, of the promise the Viceroy had made him, when he was at Alexandria, respecting the purchase of land in Syria, and the establishment of banks there and in Egypt. He addressed a letter to Boghoz Bey, recapitulating all the particulars which he had verbally explained to him and the Pasha.
Weeks and months pa.s.sed, and no reply came from Egypt. Sir Moses meanwhile occupied himself with other subjects, thinking that perhaps another and more favourable opportunity might present itself for bringing the matter forward again. His duties in connection with his financial companies took up his time till about the month of March, when the report of an outrage in the East roused sorrow and indignation in the heart of every upright man.
In a letter from the Elders of the Hebrew community in Constantinople, addressed to Messrs de Rothschild in London, dated March the 27th, 1840, we read:--
”Independently of the tie which so strongly binds together the whole Jewish community, of which you, gentlemen, are distinguished ornaments, having always been prominent in a.s.sisting our distressed brethren, whose appeals to you are not infrequent, your hearts cannot but be greatly moved to sympathise with two Jewish communities (viz., that of Damascus, under the Egyptian jurisdiction, and that of Rhodes, one of the Ottoman States) oppressed by the tyrannies of the Pashas who govern them.
”These persecutions originated in calumnies, which the oppressors themselves have invented, and which have been long rankling in their hearts, to the prejudice of the Jewish community. Our brethren are accused of being accomplices in murder, in order to make their Pa.s.sover cakes with the blood of the murdered men--a thing in itself incredible, as being forbidden in our holy religion. This report has, however, found credence with the governing Pashas of Damascus and Rhodes, and they have oppressed and incarcerated not only several old men and Rabbins, but even a number of children, putting them to tortures, of which it makes men shudder to hear. Such is the afflicting picture drawn in the letters of our persecuted brethren, of which, with deep regret, we hand you copies.
”The community now addressing you, although implored by the sufferers to put an end to these persecutions, and to prevent, if possible, their recurrence, is deeply grieved to find itself incapacitated from affording any relief, in consequence of being subject to a Government not on friendly terms with the Pasha of Egypt.
”There remain, therefore, no means of salvation for the oppressed, except an appeal to your innate goodness and pity. We entreat you to interpose your valuable mediation, in such manner and with such persons as you may deem most desirable, for the safety of our unhappy brethren languis.h.i.+ng in chains and in prison, so as to obtain, from the Pasha of Egypt, the liberation of the Jews of Damascus, and a compensation, not only from the governing Pasha of Damascus, commensurate with the excesses committed by him, but also from the Consular Agents at Rhodes, who have oppressed persons not subject to them.
”We, the Rabbins and Elders of this place, impressed with the urgency of the case, and moved by compa.s.sion for our brethren, and further induced by the report which is current throughout the world, of the generous and philanthropic sentiments which animate you and fill your hearts, ever open to the miseries of the oppressed, feel persuaded that you will exert yourselves to do all you possibly can, in these distressing circ.u.mstances.
”(Signed) I. Camondo.
Salamon Qm. Mco. Fua.
Samuel de N. Treves.
”The Jews of Damascus, addressing Messrs Abram Conorte and Aaron Cohen, Elders of the Congregation at Constantinople, after expressing their wishes for their health, say as follows:--
”To our deep regret, we address you these few lines to inform you of the continued state of misery in which our brethren, inhabitants of Damascus, still remain, as communicated to you in my letter of the 17th of Adar (February), forwarded to you by the steam-packet. We had hoped to advise you in this letter that the circ.u.mstances of the murder, respecting which the Jewish community were calumniated, had been ascertained, but in this hope we have been sadly disappointed. We will now, therefore, repeat everything in detail, and it is this:--
”On Wednesday, the 1st day of the month of Adar (February) there disappeared from Damascus a priest, who with his servant had dwelt for forty years in the city. He exercised the profession of physician, and visited the houses of Catholics, Jews, and Armenians, for the purpose of vaccination.