"February 16th.—Present at the Court of Common Council, where they voted the freedom of the City of London to Mr Stephenson, the American Minister, to be presented to him in a gold box of the value of 100 guineas. The following evening I went to Kensington Palace to a soiree given by the Duke of Sussex to the members of the Royal Society. The rooms were crowded. Spoke with a great many persons I knew, Mr Spring-Rice, the Dean of Chester, and others."
February 22nd.—On the occasion of the funeral of a friend which he attended, Sir Moses observes: "It was a funeral such as I much approve. I think no funeral should have more than eight mourning coaches, and the coachmen should wear neither cloaks nor bands; in fact, in my opinion, the less pomp on such an occasion the better." In the evening he dined at the London Orphan Society; "took my own cold beef," he says. The Duke of Cambridge presided. The collection amounted to £1960.
February 27th.—After having been occupied all day with the duties of his office, he went in the evening to a meeting of Conference of all the Synagogues, to consider the subject of the constitution of the new Board of Deputies. "There was a full meeting," he says, "and we remained in debate till after eleven o'clock. The conference was carried on in the most friendly manner; and, with some alterations, the resolutions of the Great Synagogue were agreed to."
I give these entries referring to the Board of Deputies in the interest of those of my readers of the Hebrew community in England who may wish to trace the development and progress of that institution.
The 13th of March is a day which will be remembered with much gratification by the promoters of civil and religious liberty. The occurrence noted in the diary will always remind them of the lesson, never to neglect an opportunity of serving a good cause when it presents itself.
When returning, in company with the Lord Mayor and Sir George Carrol, from the Court of Hustings to the place where the words "Jews' Walk" were written up, Sir Moses mentioned to the Lord Mayor that many persons had complained that, in these enlightened times, the walls of the Guildhall should be disgraced by such a mark of intolerance as the tablet bearing the above inscription. The Lord Mayor very kindly ordered it to be taken down immediately. The same tablet was subsequently given to Sir Moses by the Lord Mayor, and is now preserved in Lady Montefiore's Theological College in Ramsgate as a souvenir of bygone times.
March 16th records an instance of the danger to which, as Sheriff, he was sometimes exposed in the discharge of his official duties, as also his sympathy with others who equally endangered their lives in the service of the Livery. Sir Moses attended on that day a Committee of Criminal Justice, and accompanied them all over the gaol; later he and his colleague had to be present at the inquest on a prisoner who had died of fever. "I am sorry to say," he remarks, "that something like typhoid fever is prevailing in the prison; the matrons and turnkeys are greatly alarmed." On his return home he sent a dozen of port to the keeper of Newgate and a dozen to the matron.
Wishing for a day's repose, he and Lady Montefiore repaired to their favourite spot, Smithambottom. "The appearance of the Red Lion" (the inn in which they usually took up their abode), he says, "we found much altered for the worse. The house, its inmates, and furniture, all wear a decayed look; they have very little custom there. Caroline Paget, daughter of Pearce the landlord, having heard of our arrival, came immediately to see us. She is also much altered; time, poverty, and care have made sad havoc with her appearance. Fourteen years have passed since we were last in Pearce's house, and we viewed the place with mingled feelings of pleasure and pain. In spite of the gloom of the house, I dearly like the place, and shall be most grateful to Providence to be permitted the enjoyment of frequent walks over the Downs. But we must see what we can do for the Pearces."
He assisted both father and daughter by providing for their immediate wants, and, on his return to town, procured, not without great personal exertion, a presentation to the Blue Coat School for Caroline Paget's daughter.
As President of the Jews' Free School, Sir Moses took the chair at a dinner given at the London Tavern in aid of that Institution.