It being customary in that place to send wine and sweetmeats of every description to a person of distinction on the first Sabbath of his arrival, many hundreds of bottles of the best wine, with cakes and sweetmeats from the most skilful confectioners, were sent to us, and these were several times handed round by Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore themselves. The amiability with which they received every new comer induced the visitors to speak without restraint on all subjects.
In the evening a scribe of great ability was summoned before Sir Moses, to prepare a scroll of parchment, upon which the latter was desirous to commence writing the first line of the Pentateuch for Synagogual purposes. The scribe soon made his appearance, and Sir Moses, in the presence of the Chief Rabbi and the principal lecturer of the community, performed the task assigned to him.
Wilna, May 3rd.—Sir Moses paid a visit to the Governor, where he met most of the nobility of the place, and representatives of various communities, who came to pay their respects on the occasion of the birthday of the Czarewitch. Among those present we also noticed the Ecclesiastical Chief of the Hebrew community.
On our return from the Governor, we proceeded to inspect the various colleges and schools, where we examined the pupils, and conversed with the teachers and directors regarding the subjects to which Sir Moses' attention had been called at St Petersburg. From each of these establishments full accounts were given to us, of which Sir Moses made the best use in his report to the Czar.
In the evening, by special invitation from the Governor, Sir Moses visited the theatre, and subsequently, he, Lady Montefiore, and myself attended the ball at His Excellency's. We were received by all present with every possible attention and courtesy, and the appearance of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore made a most favourable impression.
On our return from the entertainment we found some beautiful embroidery, poems, drawings, &c., sent to Lady Montefiore by the pupils of some of the girls' schools of the place. We had had an opportunity, in the morning, of inspecting the schools. In some of them the pupils acquitted themselves satisfactorily in the French, Russian, German, and Hebrew languages; their handwriting was beautiful, and in arithmetic they were far advanced.
Monday, May 4th.—We went to-day to see the printing office of the Brothers Rom, Rundsinsky, Königsberg, and Torkin. Sir Moses was accompanied by His Excellency the Civil Governor Terebzow. They presented us with a number of valuable works, each of which was adorned with a poem written by the gifted poet A. B. Lebensohn. We then proceeded to the Jewish Hospital, the Infant School, under the patronage of the wife of the Military Governor, the Orphan Asylum of Mr Chiya Danzig, and many schools and colleges, everywhere exhorting the pupils to study the Russian language and literature, and everywhere leaving charitable gifts. Sir Moses took every means to make himself thoroughly acquainted with all the matters on which he had been asked to report to the Emperor, and invited ten of the most prominent men of the community to attend morning and evening prayers at his hotel, and afterwards to report and discuss matters generally.
May 5th.—With a view of showing his respect for the Chief Rabbi and the representatives of the community, and, at the same time, of forming an idea of the domestic arrangements for the comfort of their families, Sir Moses devoted many hours to calling on those persons. He had the satisfaction of seeing among them many well-educated wives, sons, and daughters; their dwellings were scrupulously clean, the furniture plain, but suitable for the purpose, and the appearance of the family healthy. Some of them were very good looking.
The number of letters from Jews and Christians hourly increased; whole nights were often devoted to reading them, and making extracts from those which required special and immediate attention.
May 6th.—We were indoors all this day, engaged from morning till evening in conversation with numerous persons on the subject of our journey.