Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, Volume 2 (of 2) / Comprising Their Life and Work as Recorded in Their Diaries, from 1812 to 1883

by Sir Moses Montefiore; Lady Judith Cohen Montefiore

"All the efforts of Sir Moses Montefiore," the daily papers report, "having proved ineffectual in obtaining the restoration of the child Mortara to its parents, a committee of gentlemen in the city felt that some protest was demanded on behalf of British Christians, and the following protest, having been privately circulated, has been most extensively signed, and a copy of if has been forwarded to the French Ambassador:—

"'Whereas a Jewish child, Edgar Mortara, son of Momolo Mortara, late of Bologna, in Italy, was, on the 24th of June 1858, forcibly seized and taken from its parents, by order of the Cardinal Viale Prela, Archbishop of Bologna and Legate of Pope Pius IX.:

"'And whereas the ground of the seizure was, that the said child, Edgar Mortara, had been secretly baptised by a Roman Catholic maid-servant six years previously, being then of the age of twelve months:

"'And whereas the said child was, by the order of the said Cardinal Legate, conveyed by night, under an escort of gendarmes, to the Convent of San Pietro, in Vincoli, at Rome, and is there detained contrary to the wish, and notwithstanding the protestations of his parents:

"'And whereas the Government of France has in vain urged the Court of Rome to restore the said child to his parents:

"'And whereas Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart., at the request of the Deputies of the British Jews, made on the 22nd of December 1858, went to Rome in their name to present a memorial to the Pope, signed by the whole of the said Deputies, asking for the liberation of the said child Edgar Mortara; and whereas the Pope refused even to see Sir Moses Montefiore; and Cardinal Antonelli, Minister of State, has declared to Sir Moses Montefiore that the Roman Government will not release the child:

"'And whereas it is a dishonour to Christianity in the eyes of the Jews among all nations that the seizure and detention of the said child, Edgar Mortara, should be supposed to be consistent with the principles of the Christian religion:

"'Now we, the undersigned British Christians, do hereby protest, and declare that the proceedings of the Pope of Rome, in taking away the Jewish child, Edgar Mortara, from his parents, and educating him, contrary to his parents' will, in the Roman Catholic faith, are repulsive to the instincts of humanity, and in violation of parental rights and authority, as recognised in the laws and usages of all civilised nations, and, above all, in direct opposition to the spirit and precepts of the Christian religion.'"

More than two thousand names of persons of rank and influence were attached to the protest.

I now invite the attention of the reader to the subjects which occupied Sir Moses' mind during the remainder of the year.

It has been stated before that Sir Moses signed the contract with Mr William E. Smith of Ramsgate for building the Juda Touro Almshouses in Jerusalem. The special authorisation from the Turkish Government, as well as the approbation of the former Governor and of every member of the City Council, fully justified Sir Moses at that time in expecting to see the building proceed rapidly. But in this he was disappointed. On the 15th day of June Mr Smith reported that the Governor had ordered a suspension of the works, on the ground that the building would be too near the city fortifications. This was most unfortunate, as nearly all the stone had been prepared, the foundations excavated, the water-receivers almost completed, and all the doors, iron-work, and windows sent out from England. His first step was to address Arabic letters to Sureya Pasha, the Governor of Jerusalem. Subsequently Sir Moses called on the Turkish Ambassador in London, and applied also to the Sublime Porte for renewed instructions to the authorities in Jerusalem. But it was not until the end of December that he received a letter from the Turkish Minister, to the effect that the permission for the continuance of the building would be sent to Jerusalem.

In the meantime the delay of work greatly increased the expense, as the builder had to remain six months longer in Jerusalem than he had expected, and the principal working men had to be retained, not knowing when their services might again be required.

To those who have had some experience of building schemes in the East, such an interruption in the work would not be a matter of surprise. It is the general rule among the natives, in order to be able to proceed peaceably with any private or public building, to secure, in the first instance, the friendly approbation of all the officers connected with the Government; and in this case the superintendents of the works, being Englishmen, may have unintentionally neglected to do so; hence what had been right in the eyes of Kiamil Pasha, was considered wrong in the eyes of Sureya Pasha, the latter acting, as he said, on special orders received from the Sublime Porte.

July 6th.—Sir Moses having ascertained from Mr O. W. Galloway that the Viceroy was anxious for his son, Toussoun Pasha, to spend another summer with him, invited the Prince to London, and the invitation having been cordially accepted, Toussoun Pasha, attended by his physician, Dr Ettienne, Mrs G. Williams, his governess, and the Mamlook, arrived at Park Lane on July 9th. The young Prince looked very thin, but in excellent spirits. "God grant," Sir Moses said, "their stay with us may prove beneficial."

The Prince, as on the two former occasions, improved in health and gained strength during his stay in England under the hospitable roof of Sir Moses, and became every day more cheerful in his disposition.