outstrip the age. Let him advance slowly but steadily; let him gradually accustom his Christian fellow-citizens to his gradual progress and success in public life, and what may not be obtainable even by an arduous struggle, will, after a certain time, fall into his lap like ripe fruit." Mr. Montefiore thought he saw these conditions fulfilled as he pondered on the subject fifty-six years ago. There was union in the community; many of its members had won for themselves distinguished positions in society, and the tendency of national thought, as illustrated in Parliament by the Catholic emancipation agitation, was distinctly liberal.

The

A representative body charged with the duty of "watching" all chances of emancipation was already in existence in the Anglo-Jewish community. Deputados, or "United Deputies of British Jews," was formed in 1746, when the two houses of the Irish Legislature were quarrelling over a Jewish Naturalization Bill. The Irish House of Commons had twice passed the Bill, and twice it had been rejected by the House of Lords. The Bevis Marks Synagogue formed a Committee of Diligence, to render assistance to the party favourable to Jewish emancipation, but the Bill -was again and finally negatived by the Peers. Undaunted by their want of success, the Jews of London set themselves to organise their forces. From the "Committee of Diligence" was formed in 1760 the "Deputies of the Portuguese nation," and towards the end of the same year that body admitted to its deliberations representatives of the German congregations in

CH. IV.] Joins the "United Deputies."

49

Duke's Place and Magpie Alley. For many years the labours of the "Deputies" were not of any great importance. The presentation of addresses to the Crown, full of assurances of Jewish loyalty, on occasions of public rejoicing or public mourning, formed the staple of their work. In 1795 their representations to Parliament procured the rejection of a clause of doubtful bearing in the Sedition Bill, and in 1805 they prosecuted the St. James's Chronicle for the publication of some offensive articles against the Jews, and obtained an apology from the Editor.

This body, of which Mr. Moses Mocatta had become President, was joined by Mr. Montefiore early in 1828. An inspection of the minutes of the "United Deputies" discloses from this date a sudden development in their corporate activity, which it is impossible not to associate with their new recruit. During the very month of his election he became a member of a sub-committee charged to draw up a petition in reference to the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and to present it to the House of Lords. Indeed in this year the agitation for the removal of Jewish disabilities in England was for the first time placed on a firm basis. The Deputados became the soul of the agitation, and Mr. Montefiore the soul of the Deputados.

Two years later Mr. Montefiore solved one of the Disability problems in his own person, by purchasing the small East Cliff estate, near Ramsgate, notwithstanding that many eminent legal authorities still considered that the Jews could not lawfully possess real

E

estate in England. It is true that in 1818 Sir Samuel Romilly had held that Jews born in England were as much entitled to own land as any other natives, at the same time pointing out that no one had ever objected to a title on the ground that the owner was a Jew; nevertheless, down to the removal of all disabilities in 1853, this point was still doubted under the statutes or ordinances of the 54th & 55th Henry III. (c.E. 1269), which declared that no Jew should hold a freehold, and it was never definitely settled.

East Cliff Lodge is a charming marine villa, in the Strawberry Hill or modern Gothic style. It consists of a centre and two wings, with the summit embattled, and each wing surmounted by an ornamental turret and spire. The dining-room, pronounced by local guidebooks "the most elegant specimen of Gothic domestic architecture in England," is a noble apartment, having a screen of columns at the lower end, and opening from a vestibule by folding doors curiously wrought. The grounds, which cover about thirteen acres, and extend to the verge of the cliff, are laid out with great taste and judgment. Their principal attractions are two subterranean caverns, reputed to be the work of smugglers, which lead from the summit of the cliff by a gradual descent, 500 yards long, to the beach below. One cavern diverges in an easterly, the other in a westerly direction. Both are lighted by a series of arched recesses, excavated out of the solid chalk, and which, carpeted with turf and covered with shrubs and flowers, present a very gay appearance during the

CH. IV.]

summer season.

East Cliff Lodge.

51

The house was built about 1795 by Mr. Benjamin Bond Hopkins, who disposed of it to Viscount Keith, better known as Lord Elphinstone. It then became the property of the Marquis Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington. At one time it was the favourite summer residence of Queen Caroline, when Princess of Wales. Mr. Montefiore rented East Cliff Lodge for some years before he purchased it. One of the first uses to which he put the land when it became his own was the building of a synagogue, which he opened to all comers. The foundation stone was laid in 1831, and the building was consecrated in 1833. Soon after he had thus permanently taken up his abode in Kent he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the county.

CHAPTER V.

THE JEWS OF ENGLAND (750-1837).

Early history-Position in the country previous to the expulsion— Jewish learning-Jewish heroism-Statutum de JudaismoExpulsion by Edward I.-Legend of London Bridge-Secret visits to England-Return under Cromwell-Denied civil rights -Disabilities in 1828-Mr. Montefiore devotes himself to the Emancipation struggle-Early history of the movement not encouraging-The "Jew Bill" of 1753-Mr. Montefiore and the Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts-Interviews with the Duke of Sussex-Agitation from 1830 to 1837-Mr. Montefiore becomes President of the Board of Deputies-Sheriff of London -Knighted-Queen Victoria and Sir Moses Montefiore-Capital punishment Sir Moses Montefiore and Marshal Soult - Sir Moses turns his attention to his foreign brethren.

AT what period the earliest Jewish settlement took place in England is one of those difficult historical questions of which nothing more certain is known than that it is "involved in obscurity." A copyist's error in the Pesiktha Rabbathi, by which "Mauritania " was transformed into "Britannia," has suggested that the Jews were already acquainted with Britain in the Talmudic age. It has also been surmised that Hebrew supercargoes accompanied the Phoenician mariners who traded with the Cimbri and Damnonii of Cornwall before the Roman invasion. The first mention of Jews in any document connected with English history is in the canons of Ecbright, Archbishop of York, which