Here a committee of the noblest and most distinguished Jews, including Montefiore and Rothschild, had been formed, who, in a meeting held in the vestibule of a synagogue (June 15), passed the following important resolution, that Montefiore, accompanied by a friend chosen by himself, should undertake the journey to Egypt together with Crémieux, "to represent the Jews of England at the court of the Pasha, and to defend their persecuted brethren in the East by means of his weighty influence and his zeal." It was also determined at this meeting to collect large sums of money, because it was seen that they would be wanted, not indeed as bribes in the pending trial at Damascus, but that large rewards might be offered to discover the murderer of Father Tomaso. A thousand pounds sterling were offered as a reward for the discovery of the criminal. The readiness of the Jews to contribute was on this occasion again manifested in a most conspicuous manner. Poor men as well as millionaires contributed to the just cause. The committee also caused unfalsified public opinion, as it exists in England, to make itself heard in Parliament on behalf of the Jews, and Sir Robert Peel, who exercised great influence, undertook this task.
The session of the House of Commons (June 22) affords an interesting contrast to the sitting of the French Chamber of Deputies at the same time and upon the same subject. Peel rightly introduced the questions to the ministers with the words, "that it was merely necessary to mention the matter in the Lower House, to reach the great ends of justice and humanity." Lord Palmerston answered in a totally different manner to Thiers:
"I have already directed the English consul-general Hodges to represent to Mehmet Ali what effect the news of such atrocities must produce in Europe, and that it was in his own interest to inquire into the matter, and hand over to punishment the guilty parties, if they were discovered, whilst the innocent victims should be indemnified, if this were still possible. I have also sent instructions to Her Majesty's consul in Damascus to make a thorough investigation into all that has taken place, and to send home an exact report as to the part which the European consuls had taken in the matter."
The air of England rendered susceptible to feelings of liberty even those who were accustomed to elevate the enslavement of bodies and minds to the rank of a dogma. O'Connell, the fiery Irish agitator for the emancipation of the Catholics in England, advocated in Parliament that a similar privilege be granted to the Jews.
"Observations upon this subject would have been stronger, if a member of this House belonging to the creed of the accused had been able to make them. The Government ought to introduce a bill for the complete emancipation of the Jews."
Thus spake England by the mouths of its worthiest representatives.
Next day (June 23) a numerous assembly of the most distinguished Jews in London was held in the Great Synagogue to make final arrangements for sending Montefiore to Egypt. It was proved on this occasion what a noble circle of Jews England harbored, and that their minds were filled by lofty sentiments of attachment to Judaism and its adherents. Hitherto the English Jews had taken but little part in Jewish history, they had remained passive owing to their insignificant numbers. But when for the first time they asserted themselves, they displayed their independence, and gave a brilliant example to others. Montefiore, De Castro, Rothschild, Van Oven, Salomons, and many others, spoke and acted like Jews conscious of their dignity, who were ready to make the greatest sacrifices, in order to secure the triumph of their impugned belief. Crémieux had come over from Paris to be present. The meeting first acknowledged its gratitude to those men, Christians as well as Jews, who had zealously defended the unhappy people of Damascus, viz., James de Rothschild, who had largely contributed towards the support of the impoverished Jews in Damascus, Metternich and his agents, Laurin and Merlato, and also Hodges, the English consul. Bernard van Oven delivered a glowing speech, which, however, was to the point, and was received with much applause.
Many words were not required at this meeting. All were firmly resolved to make every effort and every sacrifice to obtain satisfaction for those falsely accused of shedding blood. This high-minded Jewish assembly in London was somewhat similar to that held in Alexandria exactly eighteen centuries before, when Judaism, in the time of the Emperor Caligula, was branded with disgrace by shameless, diabolical enemies. At that time, also, the most prominent Jews, famed for their culture, nobility of mind, and wealth, gathered together. But the Alexandrine assembly, surrounded by foes, had met with terror and fear, whilst the one in London was encouraged and supported by the good wishes and sympathy of the citizens of the capital. In the second Jewish congregation, that of Manchester, a similar meeting was held.
Assured of success by these signs, Montefiore set out on his important journey, provided with letters of recommendation from prominent men in the state, and accompanied by the good wishes of millions of persons, foremost among them Queen Victoria. On his departure she gave him audience, and placed at his disposal her vessel in which to cross the Channel—certainly an extraordinary mark of favor and sympathy for the misfortunes of the Jews, but at the time the feeling in their favor was so strong, that it did not create great surprise. Montefiore was accompanied by a gentleman of the legal profession and by his wife Judith, who insisted upon sharing her husband's hardships on this expedition in the cause of her nation. She was the ideal of a Jewish woman, cultured, noble-minded, proud of her confession and devotedly attached to her race, a brilliant contrast to the women of Berlin, who had brought disgrace upon Judaism. Before Montefiore and his escort left England, the two chief rabbis of the German and Portuguese communities, Solomon Herschel (died 1842), and David Meldola, deemed it necessary to repeat the solemn oath which Manasseh ben Israel and Moses Mendelssohn had taken: that the blood accusation against the Jews had not a shadow of support in Talmudical writings, or in fact. In view of the baseness of the clerical French party and the venality of German newspapers, this oath was by no means superfluous. Catholic agitators in France and Belgium reviled the Jews, for a contemptible, yet comprehensible reason, and with a definite plan of entrapping the conscience of the free in their nets. But the German writers acted in this way from low motives, in order to utilize the misfortunes of others as a source of wealth. A certain Dr. Philibert had sent a letter to the house of Rothschild in Paris, stating that for a large sum of money he would undertake the defense of the Damascus Jews in every European journal, adding the threat that if this blood-money were refused he would influence public opinion in the opposite direction. Such miserable creatures were repulsed by the Jews with scorn. They felt that they could rely upon their own strength and the power of truth. Foiled in their expectations, the contemptible scribblers attacked the Jews, and increased the number of lies and slanders which had accumulated around the Damascus murder. The chief rabbis had therefore to swallow their pride, and to take an oath on a matter as clear as daylight.
However, if the Jews were attacked in the French and German newspapers, England afforded them sufficient cause to forget all the sufferings of the Jews throughout fifteen centuries. Distinguished merchants, proprietors of large banking-houses, and members of parliament, about two hundred and ten in all, preferred a request to the Lord Mayor of London, Marshall, to call a public meeting and enable them to express their feelings and their sincere sympathy with the persecuted Jews in Damascus. The Lord Mayor, being of their opinion in the matter, cordially assented, and a brilliant meeting was held in London (in the Mansion House, July 3) which was in itself a victory. Many ladies of rank were among the audience. The chairman, Thompson, remarked at the very outset: