SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1990, 9 April 1885, Page 4

SIR MOSES MONTEFIORE.

Tin subject of tins biographical sketch v is, to .ill v. tents and purposes, an unuou in (I inonateh. If he had been at all ambitiously inclined, he might have beCnnvi a King in itality. On the occasion of t!i« h'i->t cil his seven visits to the Holy Lukl, he wns hailed as if his coming was fi.it of the Messiah, and tins soit of adu iitionwas not altogether unacceptable lie ci)]oyeil all the seiene pleasure of occupying an exalted position without li.n ing to encounter the anxieties of an .iLlual ruler. If he ever h.ul .my ambitious longings ho le pit^aed them, and was thus al .ays .it peace 'Vith liimself. Perhaps it is in this seienity that we m:iy look foi the bcuiet ot his long lite. He was not without eneigy, but lie stopped shoit of enterprise. He achieved his p>sition ilmost without opposition because iie n \u inaiutt stcd any dosiu 101 pesonil advancement He was always le.uiy to <h~eliaige his duty whin called upon to .iotas the leadei of his to icligionibts, and for that reason Ins advocacy was iluays invoked. The lite of such a man is of a twofold nattnc, and has to le regarded 111 the tiisfr place as that of ,xn in dividual, and in the second in connection with the fortunes ot the people of whom !k was the le uler. The grandfather and grandmother of Sir Moses had seventeen sons and daughters ; he himself was one of seven ; and jet, after fifty yeais of wedded life, lie was childless. It is a question whether freedom from family cares is a comp' ii:<ation for the absence of its blessings. The fact is worthy of record, but docs not call for comment. His married life wab otherwise one of uninterrupted happiness, and that is all the public need care to know. His father was ,1 London merchant, dealing clmtly in Leghorn bonnets and Carrara in 11 bio He was bom, in one of the journey s of his patents to Italy to pur- ( base tne wares in which they dealt, at Lvghoin, on the :24th of October, 1784, ami the date of iiis birth is fixed beyond t iv d on the put of those who claim the honor of being centenaiians There was nothing rem.it kablc about Ins youthful (1 lys, when he was initiated in the ways of business, until he gravitated to the Stock Exchange, wheiehe became iinpieiscd with the advice of a Scotch incutoi, to the effect that "It is better to earn a pound than toss for two." He nnicnibered this whenever he was tempted to speculate. It cannot be doubted, however, that he indulged a little when it wa3 peifectly safe to do so. His connection with the Rothschilds enabled him to make money without tossing. The time of the Napoleonic wars alloided a host of opportunities for the acquisition, of wealth, and what were chances to the majoitty of speculators woio ceitainties to the ring of h'uancieis in which young Montefioie found himself. The seciet of this lay in the fact that the Rothschilds had organised an intelligence department of their own, wlik h enabled thorn to become informed of the couise of events before the Govern ment itself was in possession of any news. In this way they know of the I scape ol Napoleon from Elba, while all the ie-st of the woild lay asleep in tiauquil ignoiance. The Rothschilds had all the anxieties of the organisation ot tin ir system, while the subject of our memoir hail nothing to do but to make money on their inspiration. Honours as well as money can. c to him unasked for. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society merely because he was one ot the piomotcrs of a gas company, then a novel entei prise. The chief merit of Mr Montefiore as a man of business appears to lie in the fact that h« knew when to leave off. He always rose a winner. He had amisscd a large foitnne before he was forty, and he lesolved at an caily age to retiie fioin business. This showed that he was something better than a meio money grubber. There are very few indeed who ha" c sufficient self control to stop short in a prospeious career of money making so early iv ufe. His biogiapher says: " Without children to work for or partner to ass-iat him he began to consider whether he might not free himself fiom tiie labours and anxieties of money getting. As was his wont he turned to his beloved wife for advice, and her counsel, ' Thank God, and be content,' he followed." It so happened that the next year — 1 82.3 — was one of financial disaster. This eaily letiremeut tiom business should, perhaps, be regirded as an impoitant factor in the iwourable circumstances to which he owes an unusual piolongation of lite. Thus retiiement marks the commence ment ot his career as the leader of his co II liLjioniots tliioughout thewoild. This position and that of a broker on the Mock Exchange would have been alto gether incompatible. 'J here was somet'nni; of novelty in the resolution he had formed, and he had no rival iv his new vocation. Two year 3 aftci wards he and bis witt sot out on their fust journey to .uiusiltm. It does not appear that on this c» .. ision he had any other objict in \Kvv than tho giatiheation of his lehgious ft chn^s, although it is piobable that in di" com ic of hn pioqresj lie acquued .111 uli a th it ho mifli t become the means of h otoi 111^ to tho Jews their ancient in In nt.uu i". On the re tut 11 to London he took an activt pait in the agitation which was thin in piognss foi the lemoval of tic .J. viili dio ibilitieb. In te<;aid to c 1.0 of them —the 1.011 ability of a Jew to I old fiechall ptopeity — he took a bold 10111 .• He puichased the pioperty nt J an .'gate iv which he lived till the ,u coiiipiisini ( ut of hi» hundredth year, in tli li.inec ot the itatute of Henry 111, which dcclaiul that no Jew should hold afuJiold. Iv doing this ho, however, 1 m mi iisk ; fin ten jcais pioviously Sir .l. l .unm 1 Komillv Iv 1 given a deci-iion \ l.ich took the sting out of the piohihi11011, an 1 in doui.,' <•') he mentioned the I iet ti it thci< was not a case on record v Ik hin anyone had ever objected to a title 011 the gioimd that the owner was a ,l<\v. A gieat many objectionable old liw ■> might bo easily disposed of by Minjily ignoi ing them. As a reward foi titating the law with contempt, ho was soon alter appointed n deputy lieutrnant ut tin- county of Kent. Then; are home nld 1 tws, however, with which it is dan11 on , to ti illc In the same town of Rnms ;.ate, an old woman, selling a penn'orth of "ctt. on Sunday, i* lewarded in a ililltieiit way. Mr Montefiore, as a loyal subject, was a bit of a courtier, for he "-cut to the Piince&s Victotia, then ii siding, with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, at Karnsgatc, a key to his garden £rate. These little episodes illustrate the pi.ivub that "one man may steal a noise, wiii'o another daic not look over • huhirlgo." SHU, they were all honourable to Mr Montoh'ore, who is deserving ot commendation for every step he took. They sitvc to show, however, that the persecution of the Jews existed, in some Jt^perts, more in semblance than iv leilitv. It was well, however, that these (Inabilities were formally removed, at mtuvals, till they all disappeared in IS/!. It is worthy of note, in these <l.ivs of political contention, that the gi cat obstacle to their earlier abrogation was the House of Lords, which ltpuatedly thiew out the measures of 1 chef passed l>y the Commons, The lemainder of the life of Sir Moses Montcfioto v\as so clos-ely connected with the modet n hutory of the Jews, that we may pas* over with but brief notice the events in which he took part. Ho resisted all tempt itions to enter Parliament, and took but a secondary interest in the sliiiL.'iflo for the removal of the political (ii ->abihnos of his co religionists. He pre fened to espouse the cause of the Jew? wlio weie sufFer.ng from oppression in fonign countiies. He was a firm believer in the restoration of tho Jews to Palestine, and he spent much money and undo m.inycflmts to promote movements with that object in view; although it ii'it-t l>p confessed that these all resulted 111 f.ubiie. The Jewsof Jerusalem — those «f nnj inflii'-iife — could not bebroHght to pel (i iv c that they had any other duties t<; im foi m than to pa&s then 1 li\cs in the

obseixance of ceienicnies, and so liimoney and pains ueie tliiunn unay His second \iiit to J( ri'snlem liad foi •»■»■ olijt'tt the intioilmtioii of agiieulttue, i which the Jews might tngage, lut although lie was well backed by Sit Ik me* Ah. he could accomplish nothing I 1I 1 1810 he ueut to Damascus to dtfeml ll>Jews fiom tlie chaige of ha* ing muideiei ,1 monk to obt.lill his blood fol thi i' niciiH( ts, and he was sueics.sful in ob taming the lelc.ise of the pimoneis w h writ- in danger from confusions wrun fiom them bj tortnie In thii voik In had to light against the n>ncliinntiot' of the French consul, by whom tli ehaiges h.id besn •jot up. To the d". mace of M Thieis and Loui- Philippe they, fiom political consideiation 1 -, lujked up their consul ttpiinst tin lej'K sentntioiifc of all the other Kuropeai jiow i is. In IS.")G ho went on a mission !o C u Nicholas to ask him to rt\oUi a. dune against the Jews. Ho «.isucoes^ful, although subaeijncnt events lime shown that no puiminunt any h oiation of the condition of the Jew lias takr.i place In IS3S Sii Moses and hi-N lady hpent ?c\eral months in Italy, his health having btcoine pic eanou«, nnd soon after their return home, the Mortal a scandal, in which a Jewish youth was abducted from his patents, on the ground, that a Christian *er\ant had baptised bun, and that he therefoie belonged to the chinch, occurred. Sn Moses returned to Rome, and did all in his power to obtain justice from the I'ope, but he could get no other answer than " Noii possumus " Tho scandal was consummated. Young MoiUra was brought up to a Christian, and finally ordained as apnest. What after wards became of him is not know n. Lady Montefiorc died in 18(52. In the follow ing year news arrived of a gros3 outrage on some Jews in Moiocco at tho instance of the Spanish consul, and Sir Moses immediately pioceeded thither. In this he was succe&sfu 1 in piotcctmg the survivors. Sir Moses Montefioie was f)0 yein of age when he made liib seventh and last sojourn in the Holy Land. llu found that theic h.ul been some improvement in the condition of the Jews, and that they weie moie willing than befoic to listen to his industnal rclkiucs. Tlic woiknm u t now be loft to other hands and it remains to be seen whether the piophct's mantle will descend on woithy sliouldeis. — Leader.