Thursday, 3rd December 1835.—"Walked with Judith to Gracechurch Street. We met Louis and Florette (the late Mr Louis Cohen, of 5 South Street, Finsbury, their nephew, and his wife) and Dr Loewe. We all went with the Tally-Ho at three o'clock; they having the whole inside, and I riding outside on the box seat. We took tea at Sittingbourne, and proceeded from Canterbury about ten o'clock by the night stage coach with post horses to East Cliff.
"I found it extremely cold; it was near one when we arrived at East Cliff, thanks to Heaven, in safety, and found all well. Our library looked delightfully comfortable, with a good fire and lamps. I was almost perishing with cold. We took tea, &c., and when our visitors retired to their chambers it was near two o'clock."
The inconvenient mode of travelling at that time did not prevent his making such journeys whenever required, and however much he may have suffered by taking his seat outside the coach (which he evidently always did from politeness to his visitors), his comfortable home soon made him forget the unpleasantness of a long cold ride.
During my stay in East Cliff, the time of the party was generally devoted either to little excursions in the neighbourhood, or to conversations on literary subjects. Sometimes Mr and Mrs Montefiore entertained us by giving their reminiscences of travels in Italy, France, and Egypt.
There was a kind of charm which the visitor felt in their company; a very short time after his arrival a delightful sensation of comfort overcame him, and soon made him feel at home. The amiability of both the hostess and host made the days pass agreeably and rapidly, and they were always loth to retire when the midnight hour was announced.
Mrs Montefiore showed us all the curiosities she brought with her from Egypt, and told us how much she had been entertained in that country by the number of languages spoken around her. There was an amusing incident that day, which particularly induced her to speak on the study of languages. Mr Montefiore had laid a wager with her to the effect that if, at a stated time, she would be able to pass an examination by him in Italian grammar, he would give her a cheque for £100. She was fortunate enough to acquit herself most creditably in our presence, and received the amount in question.
Mr Montefiore was delighted at the perseverance and ability displayed by his wife, and she was truly happy to have again succeeded (as she always did) in obtaining the approbation of her husband.
The conversation of the visitors being frequently in French and German, many an hour was spent in reading letters and poems addressed to Mr and Mrs Montefiore in these languages. Mrs Montefiore, however, was not content with the study of modern languages, and expressed a wish to acquire also a knowledge of Eastern languages, especially of Turkish and Arabic.
To give her an idea of the grammatical construction of the latter, I used to write out lessons for her, and she at once commenced to learn them. The following morning she surprised the whole party by saying by heart every Turkish and Arabic word that I had written out.
It was amusing to all of us, and to Mr Montefiore a cause of great delight, to notice the zeal with which she took up the subject.