In home affairs Sir Moses zealously continued to watch the work of Parliament in so far as it affected the interests of his co-religionists. He procured the insertion of clauses protecting Jewish marriages in the Marriage Act, corresponded with Sir George Grey on the bearing of the law on Jewish Friendly Societies, and induced the Lord Advocate of Scotland to make considerable alterations in a Bill for the Registration of Births in Scotland in order to satisfy Jewish require

ments.

By far the largest portion of his time was, however, given to his brethren in the Holy Land. His labours during this busy decade include no less than three pilgrimages to Palestine. In January, 1849, the

cholera broke out at Tiberias. As soon as the intelligence reached England, Sir Moses Montefiore 'issued an appeal to the Anglo-Jewish community. The period was one of great commercial depression, and the appeal was not successful. The subscriptions fell short of £200. Meanwhile the distress spread in all directions. The Christian Conversionist Societies availed themselves of the opportunity to push forward their propaganda, and, being well supplied with funds, were for a time exceptionally fortunate in making converts. This only added to the distress of the remaining faithful, and in March they addressed a letter to Sir Moses Montefiore, pressing him to come to their assistance. The benevolent Baronet lost no time in responding to this prayer. Accompanied by Lady Montefiore and Colonel Gawler (an ex-Governor

CH. XII.]

Distress in the Holy Land.

169

of South Australia, who had gone deep into schemes for the colonization of Palestine), he started for Jerusalem early in May. He did not go further on this occasion than the Holy City, and confined himself to the distribution of money to the needy of all confessions. The amount he gave away is said to have exceeded £5,000.

The second journey took place in 1855, under much graver circumstances. The outbreak of the Russian war in 1853 had stopped the influx of charitable contributions from Poland upon which a large number of the Jews of Palestine depended for their daily bread. This misfortune was aggravated by a failure of the crops, followed by one of the severest winters ever experienced in the Holy Land. Neither food nor fuel was procurable, and, to crown the misery, a severe epidemic of small-pox appeared in Jerusalem itself. The Chief Rabbi set out for Europe to collect funds, but died on his way at Alexandria. In England, Dr. Adler, and Sir Moses Montefiore, issued an appeal, and succeeded in collecting nearly £20,000. Remittances amounting to £8,000 were made to the distressed communities, and a scheme was drawn up to expend the balance on works of more permanent usefulness than a mere eleemosynary distribution. About this time a wealthy and charitable Israelite of New Orleans, named Judah Touro, died, and, although perfectly unknown to Sir Moses, bequeathed to him 50,000 dollars, to be applied, as he might think fit, for the benefit of his co-religionists in Palestine. Sir

Moses resolved to proceed once more to the East to ascertain personally the best means of expending this legacy, as well as the remainder of the London Fund. Accompanied by his devoted wife, Mr. and Mrs. H. Guedalla, Dr. Loewe, and Mr. G. Kursheedt, one of the executors of Touro's will, he set out in May, 1855. The party journeyed via Hanover, Prague, Trieste, Corfu, and Constantinople. In the Turkish capital a Firman, permitting purchases of land in Palestine, was obtained from the Sultan by the aid of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe. Arrived at Jerusalem, Sir Moses encountered considerable opposition to his determination to devote the funds in his hands to reproductive enterprises. The Jews considered that it was no part of their duty to work or to learn to earn their living, and protested that their task in life was sufficiently fulfilled by prayer and religious exercises. With his usual good sense, Sir Moses persisted in his wise resolution. He laid the foundation-stone of a hospital, planned the Touro Almshouses outside the Jaffa Gate, gave orders for the erection of a windmill, opened a girls' school and an industrial school, had the public slaughtering place removed from the Jewish quarter, where offal had been allowed to accumulate since the days of the Caliph Omar, to a place without the city, and established agricultural colonies at Jaffa, Safed, and Tiberias.

On his way home he stopped for a few days at Alexandria, where he was royally entertained by the Viceroy, Said Pasha, who in 1852 had been his guest

CH. XII.]

The Suez Canal.

171

at Park Lane. A palace was placed at his disposal, and his meals were sent to him daily by the Pasha. Said was then full of his scheme for a canal through the Isthmus of Suez, and at his farewell interview with Sir Moses he asked him to use his influence to raise capital for the enterprise in England. Sir Moses explained how unpopular the project was, but expressed his opinion that if the Khedive would guarantee a dividend of five per cent. English money might still be forthcoming. Highness' answer was worthy of his exalted position. "If that is the only way in which it can be obtained," he answered, "I will do without it. I have already sunk two millions of my own money in the undertaking, and that should be a sufficient guarantee for any investor."

His

The third Mission of this series took place in 1857, but it had no public significance.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE MORTARA CASE, ETC.

Lady Montefiore's health gives cause for anxiety-A winter in Italy -Sad condition of the Italian Jews-Return to England— The Mortara Case-Abduction of a Jewish boy by the Roman Inquisition on the ground that he had been secretly baptisedThe Pope refuses to surrender him-Appeal to Sir Moses Montefiore-Excitement in Europe-Another attempted secret baptism -The pretensions of the Papacy-Action of Christian public bodies in England—Indignation meetings-Consternation among the Jews of the Papal States-Sir Moses Montefiore interviews Lord Malmesbury - Representations to Napoleon III. - The Powers remonstrate with the Papal Government-Non Possumus -Sir Moses Montefiore proceeds to Rome-Negotiations with Cardinal Antonelli-The Pope refuses to see Sir Moses or to surrender the child-Subsequent efforts unavailing-The labours of 1859, 1860, and 1861-Miscellaneous foreign business-The Morocco Relief Fund-Persecution of the Syrian ChristiansAppeals of Sir Moses Montefiore and M. Crémieux-The "Blood Accusation" tablet at Damascus.

Lady Montefiore's health Since the trying journey winter of 1846, she had

TOWARDS the end of 1857, gave cause for much anxiety. to Russia, in the depth of the been more or less ailing, and her indisposition had, unhappily, shown but little sign of yielding to medical skill. The physicians now advised that it would be dangerous to winter in England, and she accordingly repaired with her husband to Italy. Here, during