"Addington Park, Croydon,
"1882."My dear Sir Moses,—I cannot refrain from writing to you, knowing how your heart must be torn by the distressing news from Russia. It is as if the enemy of mankind was let loose to destroy the souls of so many Christians, and the bodies of so many of your people.
"I cannot but hope that a united cry of indignation from England will, by God's blessing, stop this mad wickedness.
"With my daughter's kindest regards and my own.—Ever yours,
(Signed) "A. C. Cantuar."
His Grace expressed himself on that subject in a similar spirit in his letter to the Lord Mayor, which his Lordship read to the meeting. It ran as follows:
"My dear Lord,—It is a distress to me that I am forbidden by my medical attendant to take part in the meeting your Lordship has undertaken to call together to enter an emphatic protest against the recent outrages to which the Jewish people had been exposed. Unable to attend myself, I have asked Canon Farrar to be present and express the horror with which I contemplate the disgrace brought on the Christian name by these shameful persecutions—Yours sincerely,
"A.C. Cantuar."
The number of emigrants exceeded all expectation, and the committees had to contend with the greatest difficulties in order to meet the requirements of the various cases. Heavy contingents came from all parts of Europe to London en route for America, but soon the order came from the United States only to forward working men and mechanics. Others were dispatched to the Holy Land, and on May 4th, 1882, Sir Moses received letters reporting the foundation of the first Colony, "Rishon Lezion" ("The Pioneers of Zion"), 3550 doolams of land having been purchased for the purpose near Jaffa for the sum of 42,900 francs.
In the course of time the London Committee was able to cope with the distress by means of its admirable arrangements, and by a wise distribution of the emigrants in different directions, with a view to stemming the current, which at first threatened to resist the efforts of the band of philanthropists who worked night and day to help their unfortunate brethren.
The attention of the reader is now again directed to the records of Sir Moses' Diary. Under date of March 2nd he expresses his sorrow at an attempt on the life of Her Majesty the Queen, and on hearing that she was mercifully spared, he immediately sent a telegram to Jerusalem, requesting the Spiritual Heads of the several congregations in the four Holy Cities—Jerusalem, Hebron, Tiberias, and Safed—to have special services held in their Synagogues for the purpose of offering their deep gratitude to heaven for the preservation of Her Majesty's life. A few days later a reply reached him from Jerusalem, in which he was informed that all congregations had cheerfully joined in their attendance in the house of prayer, and that they were preparing special letters of congratulation, which they asked Sir Moses to present to Her Majesty.
Knowing the great interest the Archbishop of Canterbury took in the Holy Land, he informed his Grace of the result of his recent communication with Jerusalem, and the Archbishop, in reply, promised to report the circumstance to Her Majesty.
On the 1st of April an event took place at Tisza-Eszlar, in Hungary, which gave rise to one of these most extraordinary trials ever recorded in the annals of modern administration of justice. "A series of sensational incidents," says A. Hartleben in his "Chronik der Zeit," "forcibly brought together in order to lend to the proceedings the imprint of something unusual, an apparently inextricable coil of intrigues and machinations awaiting a strong hand ready to loosen it. Personal malice, religious hatred, national prejudice, ignorant superstition—these, and many other circumstances, unite to make the whole of the trial a most extraordinary one.