Part 35 (1/2)
_December 25th._--Notwithstanding the multiplicity of matters referring to the North which now filled his mind, he did not for a moment neglect the interest of the East. He made an agreement with a physician, Dr S. Frankel, to allow him a salary for three years, to furnish the requisite medicines, and to pay his expenses to Jerusalem, on condition that he should attend the poor of the Holy Land gratuitously.
CHAPTER x.x.xVIII.
1843.
ADDRESS AND TESTIMONIAL FROM THE JEWS--SIR MOSES' SPEECH IN REPLY--DEATH OF THE DUKE OF SUSs.e.x--THE DEPORTATION UKASE IN RUSSIA--OPENING OF THE NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE--SIR MOSES MADE SHERIFF OF KENT.
_January 26th, 1843._--Sir Moses ordered from the Apothecaries' Hall drugs, surgical instruments, and fittings for a dispensary in Jerusalem, and saw them packed and forwarded to the Holy City.
_February 27th._--A large number of his Jewish brethren in the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Barbadoes, and Gibraltar, presented him with a testimonial of respect and grat.i.tude in commemoration of the many personal sacrifices made, and the philanthropy displayed by him and Lady Montefiore during his Mission to the East, Anno Mundi 5600 (1840).
It was designed by Sir George Hayter, modelled by E. Bailey, R.A., and executed by Messrs Mortimer & Hunt, and is an exquisite piece of workmans.h.i.+p, both as regards the design and execution. It is exclusively ornamental, adapted for no special purpose, and is, as it were, a kind of miniature monument. It is three and a half feet high, weighs 1319 ounces of silver, and has a large base. The most prominent figure, which surmounts the whole work, represents David conquering the lion and rescuing the lamb (as in First Book of Samuel xvii. 34 and 35), and is emblematical of the victory over oppressive force, and the delivery of innocence effected by the Mission. This is the _chef d'oeuvre_ of the work, which is full of fine allegorical details.
Immediately under this figure are four bas-reliefs, representing respectively, (1) the landing of Sir Moses and his party at Alexandria; (2) the audience with the Sultan at Constantinople on the granting of the firman; (3) the liberation of the prisoners at Damascus; and (4) the public thanksgiving on the return of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore to London. On the four corners of the base are exquisite figures in frosted silver, two representing Moses and Ezra, the great deliverers of their people in ancient times, and the other two some of the accused Jews of Damascus, one in chains, bowed down by grief, the other in an att.i.tude of thanksgiving, with the fetters lying broken at his feet.
The chairman (Mr H. de Castro), accompanied by the Committee, prefaced the presentation by reading an address, engrossed on vellum. A vellum scroll was also added, containing the series of resolutions adopted at the public meeting in 1840, and the name of every contributor to the testimonal, copied from the lists furnished to the Committee, and arranged according to residence.
The following is a copy of the address:--
”Esteemed Sir,--We have long looked forward to the present as a moment of high and honourable gratification, when we should come forward on behalf of the Jewish community to present to you this manifestation of their grat.i.tude and esteem. The services which, at a period of excitement, you rendered, in a foreign clime, to religion and humanity, were such as are rarely called into requisition. The alacrity, spirit, and zeal with which you embarked into the cause, were only equalled by the liberality, judgment, and decision you evinced in the accomplishment of the end you had in view. The restoration of the oppressed to liberty, and a full refutation of the vile calumnies brought against our faith--both these great objects, by the aid of Gracious Providence, have been attained. The grateful thanksgivings of the liberated prisoners p.r.o.nounce you their deliverer. The firman of the Sultan, denies these calumnies, of which they had been the unfortunate victims.
”It may be truly said of you, Sir, and of your amiable Lady--the companion of your anxieties and dangers--that your services were 'the labours of the heart,' works of all others most deserving of distinction and reward.
”May you ever be the 'harbinger of glad tidings to Zion,' and long live to continue your watchful care to all who need your solace and support. How will your suffering brethren in Jerusalem hail your late acts of munificence--the founding a dispensary for the poor of our community, now dwelling in the land of our fathers.
”In the name of the Jewish people we present to you this testimonial of your great and successful labours, with the hope that the blessing of our Heavenly Father may vouchsafe, to you and Lady Montefiore, many, many happy years to contemplate and enjoy it.--On behalf of the Committee,
”Hananel de Castro, _Chairman_.”
”27 Adar 5603--27th February 1843.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: Testimonial of respect and grat.i.tude, presented to Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore by their Jewesh Brethen in the United Kingdom and the Colonies. _See Vol. I., page 314._]
To this address. Sir Moses made the following reply:--
”Mr De Castro and Gentlemen,--I receive with unfeigned satisfaction, and, I trust, with humility, the address which you have offered to me. I accepted with fear and trembling the responsible yet honourable task confided to me by my brethren, not trusting in my own strength or wisdom, but relying upon the saving strength of the Lord our G.o.d. I felt that I should be sustained by the prayers and sympathies of my brethren, and of the enlightened friends of humanity throughout the world.
Aided by these prayers and sympathies, and supported by the Government of our country, your Mission was permitted by Divine providence, while in Egypt, to become the instruments of giving liberty to the captive, of opening the prison to them that were bound, of restoring to their wives and families those who, by unjust persecution, had been compelled to abandon their homes. We have everywhere a.s.serted their innocence of the atrocious crime laid to their charge, and in the face of all men have vindicated the purity and divinity of our holy religion.
”At Constantinople our success was complete. There we had the satisfaction of obtaining from the Sultan a Haiti Sherif, which a.s.serts the innocence of our brethren after a full examination of the witnesses against them, and of their religious writings, and declares that the accusations against our religion were based in falsehood, and entertained only by the prejudiced and the ignorant. That n.o.ble writing has also laid the foundation for improving the civil condition of our brethren in the Turkish Dominions. To that, as well as to the doc.u.ments which have been transmitted to the committee, I refer with exultation, as proofs that the rulers of the East have imbibed more liberal notions, have set themselves against the use of torture, have secured to our brethren an equality of civil rights, and thus given them a deeper interest in the prosperity of the countries in which they reside. That you approve of these acts, and testify your approbation of the whole proceedings of the Mission, and believe that I have, to the best of my ability, fulfilled its objects, will be to me a source of continual satisfaction through life, and when I am about to quit this earthly scene will cheer the last moments of my existence.
”You are pleased to speak of the dangers and perils to which I have been exposed. I a.s.sure you that I count them as nothing when I consider the n.o.ble object of the Mission, and the entire success with which it has pleased G.o.d to crown our labours. Without, however, your continual advice and support, I might not have been able to accomplish that which has been done, because, when all around appeared gloomy and dark, and I thought that amidst the contending struggles of nations for power the rights of humanity would be sacrificed and the liberties of our brethren utterly destroyed, I was cheered and sustained by the recollection of your prayers and support, and, relying upon the G.o.d of our fathers, I persevered until I was satisfied that the objects of the Mission had been fully accomplished. Nor is it one of the least consequences attending our labours, that, in accomplis.h.i.+ng such objects, we have been enabled to dissipate prejudice and to remove ignorance, so that now our persecutors are compelled to look with respect upon our nation. May I not, therefore, a.s.sert that a new and brighter era is dawning upon those who have for ages been the subjects of calumny and oppression.
”In prosecuting the labours of your Mission I received most valuable a.s.sistance from our friends the family de Rothschild, from each of its members at London, Paris, Naples, Frankfort, and Vienna, both by introductions to their extensive connections in the East, as well as by their unremitted personal exertions in Europe; nor can I forget my friend Mr George Samuel, who was ever ready to lend his aid at Constantinople. I should also be doing great injustice to my own feelings were I to let this opportunity pa.s.s without referring to the valuable a.s.sistance of my friends, Mr Wire and Dr Loewe, who accompanied me throughout the whole of my long journey, and whom I shall ever esteem as men devoted to the interests of humanity.
”I cannot conclude this short and imperfect reply to your congratulations without referring to the kind expressions in which you speak of my beloved wife, whom you truly characterise as the partic.i.p.ator in all my toils and anxieties. She has, indeed, shared my toils but diminished my anxieties, and aided me in the prosecution of my labours.
”Gentlemen, to you, to your excellent president, but, above all, to the G.o.d of our fathers, I offer thanks that I have been permitted to fulfil the objects of your Mission, and with devout grat.i.tude I resign into your hands the trust committed to my care, praying that peace, prosperity, truth, and union may ever prevail in Israel.”