It was now high time for him to think of the trust he held of the benevolent Juda Touro legacy, and to commence the building of almshouses in Jerusalem. He gave orders to a Ramsgate architect, Mr W. E. Smith, to prepare a plan for a number of such houses at a cost not exceeding £6000.
Mr Smith's son at once proceeded to Jerusalem, to obtain information respecting the cost of labour and materials.
Within a month after the departure of the Egyptian Prince, Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore received letters of thanks from the Princess, the wife of the Viceroy; from the mother of the young Prince, and from the Viceroy himself, who officially acknowledged the kindness shown towards his son, the letters having been forwarded through the Foreign Office in London. They were at the same time informed that the marble bust of the young Prince, executed by Miss Susan Durant, had been submitted to Her Majesty. The year, however, did not end without causing Sir Moses some uneasiness, occasioned by the unsatisfactory state of Lady Montefiore's health and by financial matters. There was a great monetary crisis which threatened to affect many banks. A deputation from the bankers and discount houses of Lombard Street had been to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to endeavour to induce him to authorise the Bank of England to make an issue of notes regardless of the Act of Parliament. As one of the directors of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, Sir Moses had some anxious days, the run for gold having alarmingly increased at Dublin, Limerick, and Cork, until the Bank of England announced the receipt of a letter from the Government, authorising them to extend the issue of bank notes on undoubted securities, not under the rate of 10 per cent. This notice stopped the panic in England, and it was hoped would have the same effect in Scotland and Ireland.
Sir Moses says: "We have made every arrangement to send 50 mille gold to-night; if needful, 100 mille to-morrow, and 50 mille on Thursday. This is, I think, all that caution and prudence can require for the week, and hope all demand for gold will cease before that time; if not, we have plenty of Consols, new Three Per Cent. Bank Stock, and India Bonds, besides an immense amount of bills we have discounted. I wish every bank was as well prepared for a severe run as, thank God, we are." Still the anxiety must have been very great.
The panic in England was followed by a monetary crisis at Hamburg, and there was great apprehension of many failures in London and other commercial places. During this time Lady Montefiore had been suffering from illness, and was still very poorly. She was frequently attended by eminent physicians, who recommended her a change of climate.
At the beginning of 1858, just as they had arranged to return to East Cliff to allow Lady Montefiore the benefit of rest, Mr Arthur Cohen (the present Queen's Counsel and Member of Parliament) and his brother called on them with a message from his parents, to the effect that they were desirous of passing a couple of months with them in a warmer climate. Both Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, ever delighted to have an opportunity of evincing their affection towards their brother and sister, at once changed their plans, and made arrangements to take a trip to Italy, and thus avoid the inclemency of an English winter.
Lady Montefiore, recording the day of their departure in her Diary, invokes the blessing from Heaven. "May every evil," she prays, "be averted from us, and may joy and thankfulness fill our mind throughout our projected journey."
Sir Moses, wishing good acts to accompany them, as it were, like guardian angels, handed on that day a cheque for £100 to the treasurer, as his donation to the Lord Mayor's Commemoration Scholarship for the Jews' College, and bestowed various gifts on charitable institutions and deserving individuals.
They then left London for Dover.