Reproduced From A Photograph On Porcelain In The Possession Of Mrs Loewe Taken At The Age Of 80

HELIOG LEMERCIER Et Cie PARIS

DIARIES OF
SIR MOSES
AND LADY MONTEFIORE

COMPRISING THEIR LIFE AND WORK AS RECORDED
IN THEIR DIARIES FROM 1812 TO 1883.

WITH THE ADDRESSES AND SPEECHES OF SIR MOSES; HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH
MINISTERS, AMBASSADORS, AND REPRESENTATIVES OF PUBLIC BODIES;
PERSONAL NARRATIVES OF HIS MISSIONS IN THE CAUSE OF HUMANITY;
FIRMANS AND EDICTS OF EASTERN MONARCHS; HIS OPINIONS ON
FINANCIAL, POLITICAL, AND RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS, AND
ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS REFERRING TO MEN
OF HIS TIME, AS RELATED BY HIMSELF.

EDITED BY
DR L. LOEWE,

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND OF THE SOCIETE
ASIATIQUE OF PARIS OF THE NUMISMATIC SOCIETY OF LONDON, ETC (ONE OF THE
MEMBERS OF THE MISSION TO DAMASCUS AND CONSTANTINOPLE UNDER
THE LATE SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE BART, IN THE YEAR 1840).

ASSISTED BY HIS SON.

In Two Volumes

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

VOL. I.


CHICAGO:
BELFORD-CLARKE CO.
1890.

Ancient Coat Of Arms Of The Montefiore Family, explained on page 6.

(The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved.)
Copyright—Belford-Clarke Co., Chicago.

PREFACE.

In submitting to the public the Memoirs, including the Diaries, of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, I deem it desirable to explain the motives by which I have been actuated, as well as the sources from which most of my information has been drawn.

The late Sir Moses Montefiore, from a desire to show his high appreciation of the services rendered to the cause of humanity by Judith, Lady Montefiore, his affectionate partner in life, directed the executors of his last will "to permit me to take into my custody and care all the notes, memoranda, journals, and manuscripts in his possession written by his deeply lamented wife, to assist me in writing a Memoir of her useful and blessed life."

The executors having promptly complied with these instructions, I soon found myself in possession of five journals by Lady Montefiore, besides many valuable letters and papers, including documents of great importance, as well as of no less than eighty-five diaries of Sir Moses Montefiore, dating from 1814 to 1883, all in his own handwriting.

In addition to such facilities for producing a Memoir, I had the special advantage of personally knowing both Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore for many years. There is an entry in the diaries referring to a dinner at the house of one of their relatives on the 27th of November 1835 (where I met them for the first time), and to a visit I subsequently paid them at East Cliff Lodge, Ramsgate, by special invitation, from the 3rd to the 13th of December of the same year.

I also had the privilege of accompanying them on thirteen philanthropic missions to foreign lands, some of which were undertaken by both Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, and others by Sir Moses alone after Lady Montefiore's death. The first of these missions took place in the year 1839, and the last in 1874.

A no less important circumstance, which I may perhaps be allowed to mention, is, that I was with Sir Moses on the last day of his life, until he breathed his last, and had the satisfaction of hearing from his own lips, immediately before his death, the expression of his approval of my humble endeavours to assist him, as far as lay in my power, in attaining the various objects he had in view.

However desirous I might have been to adhere strictly to his wishes, I found it impossible to write a Memoir of Lady Montefiore without making it, at the same time, a Memoir of Sir Moses himself, both of them having been so closely united in all their benevolent works and projects. It appeared to me most desirable, therefore, in order to convey to the reader a correct idea of the contents of the book, to entitle it "The Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore."

In order, however, to comply with the instructions of the will, I shall, in giving the particulars of their family descent, first introduce the parentage of Lady Montefiore.

To assist the reader in finding the exact month and year referring to Hebrew Communal affairs, I have always given the Hebrew date conjointly with that of the Christian era, more especially as all the entries in the diaries invariably have these double dates.

L. LOEWE.

1Oscar Villas, Broadstairs, Kent,
21st June 1887 (5647 a.m.).

CONTENTS.