On a previous occasion, at a meeting held at the house of Mr Moses Mocatta, Mr Montefiore, I. L. Goldsmid, D. Brandon, J. M. Pearce, and others being present, it was resolved to advertise that petitions to both Houses in favour of the Jews were lying for signature at several places as named.
For his own community, the Spanish and Portuguese, and for the German Jewish congregation, he worked with equal zeal. On the 14th we find him, together with several other members of a Committee appointed for that purpose, visiting the houses of all the Jewish poor. "We were," he says, "from soon after 10 in the morning till 5 p.m. about Petticoat Lane and the alleys, courts, &c. We there visited the rooms of about 112 persons. To 108 we gave cards to obtain relief from the General Committee on Thursday. We witnessed many very distressing scenes: parents surrounded by children, frequently six or seven, seldom less than two or three, with little or no fire or food, and scarcely a rag to cover them; without bed or blanket, but merely a sack or rug for the night, a bed being almost out of the question. Few had more than one room, however large the family. The rent was from 1s. 6d. to 3s. per week. Of those who had two rooms, the upper one was most miserable, scarcely an article of furniture. In fact, the distress and suffering appeared so great, that although we had agreed, according to a resolution of the General Committee, only to give cards, we could not refrain from giving what money we had in our pockets. We only met with six or eight cases of sickness, which is really surprising, considering their destitute condition."
He attends a meeting of the Elders, where he strongly supports a resolution for the delivery of a moral discourse every alternate Saturday afternoon in the Synagogue; he is also present at a meeting of the Society for the cultivation of the Hebrew language and its literature, where he offers encouragement to those who excel in literary work.
Mr Montefiore seeks the society of learned and distinguished men of all classes, and is elected on the 3rd of July a member of the "Athenæum."
In the month of July he sets out, in company with his wife, on a tour through France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany.
In September we find them again in England, and Mr Montefiore is presented by the Duke of Norfolk to the King at the levee, "on his return from the Continent."
It was in this year that Mr and Mrs Montefiore first visited East Cliff Lodge, which was about to be sold by auction. They felt a great desire to purchase it, although much out of repair. After discussing with his wife the probable price it would fetch, he said, "If, please God, I should be the purchaser, it is my intention to go but seldom to London, and after two or three years to reside entirely at Ramsgate. I would build a small but handsome Synagogue, and engage a good and clever man as reader." Leaving the limit of his offer with an agent in Broadstairs, Mr and Mrs Montefiore left Ramsgate and proceeded on a journey to the Continent.
Whilst in Berlin they received information that the estate had been bought by the Duchess of St Albans. "It fetched so much more," he says, "than I had anticipated, that I can only regret it was thought so valuable." He, however, soon recovered from his disappointment, and took a suite of rooms for business purposes in the new house of the Alliance Marine Assurance.
Politics again caused considerable uneasiness in the financial world. Dr Hume informed Mr Montefiore that the Duke of Wellington and all the ministers had resigned, and that the Duke would communicate the fact to the Lords on that day at four o'clock, the King having accepted their resignation. Mr Montefiore, notwithstanding, did not for a moment cease in his exertions on behalf of the Emancipation, and on November 18th, he and Mr Mocatta signed the Jews' petition to both Houses, it being the same petition as that of last year.
Serious disturbances having taken place, he left London, at the request of his wife, without entering into any speculations, and proceeded to Hastings, where they remained till the end of December. We find an entry at the conclusion of his diary for that year, to the effect that he had resolved to persuade a few of his friends, as well as two gentlemen well versed in the Law of Moses and Hebrew and theological literature, to dine with them regularly every week, for the purpose of conversing on those subjects.