1874.
UNVEILING OF THE BUST OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
AT ST PETER'S ORPHANAGE--SIR MOSES ON JEWISH CONVERSION--THE
MONTEFIORE TESTIMONIAL--PREPARING
TO START ONCE MORE FOR THE HOLY LAND.
_November 14th_.--Mr Weekes, the sculptor, who five months previously
had submitted to Sir Moses a model of the bust of the Archbishop
of Canterbury, which, with the consent of his Grace, Sir Moses had
commissioned the sculptor to execute, now reported that it was ready
for being unveiled at the Orphanage at St Peter's, Thanet. Sir Moses,
believing that it would be a source of gratification to the Archbishop
to see the bust of Mrs Tait placed in the same institution, wrote to
that lady, asking her to allow him to give the sculptor an order to
that effect. Mrs Tait's reply is as follows:
"STONEHOUSE, ST PETER'S, THANET, _November 15th_, 1874.
"MY DEAR SIR MOSES,--Most deeply do we feel the kindness of your
request in wishing me also to sit to Mr Weekes for a bust to be
placed in St Peter's Orphan Home. I shall gladly comply, and
thankfully accept your great kindness.
"We are truly grieved to hear of your being so unwell, and I shall
be thankful if you find yourself well enough to join our party at
luncheon on the 17th, without risk.
"Dr Loewe has promised to be with us, and will say a few words for
you, should you be unable. He will also let me know if you have other
friends you may wish to be present.
"The bust of the Archbishop is beautifully executed, and will, I am
sure, be much admired.--Believe me to be, my dear Sir Moses, yours
most sincerely, "CATHERINE TAIT."
"The Archbishop joins in very kind regards."
Sir Moses was too unwell to leave Park Lane, and great disappointment
was felt by all present at the ceremony.
The Archbishop and Mrs Tait, however, were present to witness the
proceedings. The Dean of Canterbury and most of the clergy resident
in the neighbourhood, nearly all the clergy in the Westbere Deanery,
many of the Sandwich Deanery, and a great number from other parts of
the county, also attended. The company included several ladies. The
bust was placed in the dining-hall, and the juvenile inmates of the
institution were seated at one end of the room. A published report says:
"Dr Loewe attended as the representative of Sir Moses Montefiore, and
unveiled the bust. It bore the following inscription:--
A Bust
of ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL TAIT,
Archbishop of Canterbury,
Primate of all England,
Presented to
ST PETER'S ORPHAN AND CONVALESCENT HOME
by
Sir MOSES MONTEFIORE, Bart.
1874.
"Dr Loewe began by reading the following letter from Sir Moses to Mrs
Tait:--
"'I find with sincere regret that the state of my health precludes
the possibility of my travelling, and will thus deprive me of the
great pleasure and privilege of paying my respects to you and to the
Archbishop at the Orphanage to-morrow, but allow me to assure you
that, although I cannot be present, my fervent prayers will be united
to those of your guests, who entreat the blessing of God on the noble
institution in which they are assembled, and on its distinguished and
benevolent founders.'
"Dr Loewe then said he was sure the regret expressed by Sir Moses at
being prevented attending this interesting ceremony was equalled by
that of the company at being deprived of the presence of the great
philanthropist. Sir Moses, whose heart always glowed with love and
zeal for the cause of humanity, had watched with deep interest the
great exertions and sacrifices made by that excellent lady, Mrs Tait,
and her highly-esteemed husband, the Archbishop, for the purpose of
calling this noble institution into existence.
"Dr Loewe then unveiled the bust, and concluded by calling down the
blessings of heaven upon the Archbishop of Canterbury, upon his most
excellent consort, and his most amiable family. 'May he enjoy perfect
health, and be in possession of every prosperity that this world can
possibly give; may he live to see the time "when the earth will be
full with the knowledge of the Lord, even as the waters cover the
sea," when truth, peace, and light will be the guardian angels of
every man's house, when all will be united in enjoying happiness,
sitting, as it were, under their own vine and fig tree, with all
the blessing that God might bestow upon them. I believe, ladies and
gentlemen, I have conveyed the sentiments of Sir Moses Montefiore.
I need only say that I myself, and, I am sure, all of you cordially
endorse the words which have fallen from my lips in the name of Sir
Moses.'
"The Archbishop said--
"'I beg to express my best thanks to all who are here present for their
kindness in coming to this Orphanage to-day, and I would return my
very best thanks to Sir Moses for his great kindness, and for the
very flattering opinion he has formed of our efforts here. Dr Loewe
has most kindly represented him in his absence. This is not the
first instance of his kind consideration for this charitable work
which we have received. On the very first day when the foundation
stone of this building was laid, Sir Moses Montefiore was present,
though at his advanced age he might have well stayed away on a
bleak, wintry day. Five years ago he was present here. Although
prevented from joining our religious services, he showed that he
was desirous of co-operating with us in every way in which he could
do so conscientiously. In his carriage he drove close to where our
Christian meeting was assembled, and joined in those Psalms of David
which have been the solace of his life, and he ended that day by
a large and handsome contribution to the charitable work which we
were undertaking at that time. To-day he has kindly sent you this
work by Mr Weekes, of which of course I can say nothing, except that
I hope I may very faintly reflect the majestic appearance of that
bust. (Laughter.) We have greatly to thank Mr Weekes for the pains
and trouble he has taken with this work. We have greatly to thank Dr
Loewe for the way in which he has performed his part as Sir Moses
Montefiore's representative and friend of many years. But we have
especially to thank the Great Giver of all good that He has so far
prospered this work as to bring it to the degree of accomplishment
it has now attained. I have said it was on a bleak, wintry day, five
years ago, that the foundation stone was laid. I was not present,
for it had pleased God to lay me on a bed of sickness, and I could
hardly have expected I could live to be present five years after on
such an occasion as this. Thank God, as I do with my household, this
day for all His past mercies. Sir Moses Montefiore--and Dr Loewe, in
expressing his sentiments--has been kind enough to speak of me in
this matter. I am glad he has spoken of my wife, because I feel that
it is to her that the whole prosperity of this institution is owing,
and I will venture to say, though her husband, and in her presence,
I believe there is scarcely another woman in England who, under the
difficulties she has had to contend against, would have been able to
bring the institution to that degree of accomplishment to which it
has now attained. In England we still live under the barbarous law
which makes the property of the married woman over to her husband,
and therefore I cordially appropriate all that Dr Loewe has said of
her virtues, and take them as if they were my own.
* * * * *
"'In conclusion I beg to return our best thanks to Sir Moses
Montefiore for his kindness; tell him we shall certainly offer our
prayers that his long life may be blessed, that as he has advanced
far beyond the age which the Psalmist regards as the age of man, he
may have comforts and blessings poured upon him, and may be kept in
such health as his age allows.'"
Sir Moses, to whom I made a full report of the
proceedings at the Orphanage, requested me to call on the Archbishop
and express his gratitude to His Grace for his great kindness towards
him, upon which the Archbishop addressed Sir Moses as follows:--
"STONEHOUSE, ST PETER'S, THANET,
_21st November 1874._
"MY DEAR SIR MOSES,--Dr Loewe called yesterday to deliver your
most kind message. Kindly and well as Dr Loewe performed his part
on Tuesday, there was, I assure you, a universal feeling of regret
that you were not present.
"You have heard from the published account, and privately, how
happily the day passed.
"It was bright sunshine, and all things seemed propitious. Your
absence and its cause were the only drawbacks.
"How different a day it was, through God's goodness, from that day
five years ago when you kindly attended at the laying of the first
stone of the Orphanage!
"Trusting that your health will be restored, and that all the best
blessings from above may rest on you and yours.--I am, my dear Sir
Moses, yours very truly, "A.C. CANTUAR."
"Mrs Tait joins in all best wishes and in thanks."
Some clergymen of the Church of England who were present at the
ceremony called on Sir Moses, and, in the course of conversation, the
question of the conversion of the Jews was raised.
As a proof of how carefully Sir Moses retained in his memory what he
had once read, I will give the reader an opportunity of hearing Sir
Moses' opinion on the subject:--
He said to his visitors: "I have once read a book entitled 'Three
Letters humbly submitted to the consideration of His Grace the Most
Reverend the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England
and Metropolitan, on the inexpediency and futility of any attempt to
convert the Jews to the Christian faith in the way and manner hitherto
practised, being a general discussion on the whole Jewish question.'
The Rev. John Oxlee, Rector of Molesworth, Hunts, is the author. In
it he asks: How can it have happened that for seventeen hundred years
and more the Gospel should have been freely announced and offered to
the acceptance of the Jewish people without any corresponding effect?
what rational hopes may now be entertained of their speedy conversion
by the enthronement of a Protestant Jewish bishop at Jerusalem; and
what proper steps ought henceforth to be taken so as to lead to a happy
consummation?
"I ascertained," Sir Moses continued, "from the perusal of these
letters that even Christians were enjoined not only to inculcate in
others but to perform themselves the very smallest of the Mosaic
precepts (p. 26).
"'The Scribes and Pharisees,' the author, quoting from the New
Testament, says, 'sit in the seat of Moses; all, therefore, whatsoever
they bid you observe, that observe and do.' 'Here,' he says, 'we have
it explicitly enjoined on the disciples not only that they should hold
fast the written law of Moses, but that they should also admit the
authoritative interpretations of the Mishnical doctors, so as to pay
all due deference and respect to their solemn decisions.'
"With regard to the words of the Prophet Malachi, the Rector observes,
'Here in the very last of all the prophetic charges to be found in the
Old Testament, the future and perpetual observance of the Mosaic Law
is solemnly and emphatically enjoined on the children of Israel, as a
thing never to be forgotten, together with all its special enactments
whether relating to faith or discipline.
"'How then,' the Christian divine asks, ' can we conscientiously exhort
the Jew (on his embracing the faith of the Gospel) to forsake and
abandon the law which was not only commanded by God, and enforced by
the very last of the Jewish prophets, but also strictly enjoined and
practised afterwards by the founder of the Christian religion and His
twelve disciples?' 'Christianity,' he says, 'was never intended to
supplant Judaism, nor the Christian hierarchy to interfere with the
sacred functions of the Aaronic priesthood' (p. 29)."
The visitors would not argue the subject in question, but were pleased
to have had an opportunity of hearing Sir Moses' views.
_December 2nd_.--Sir Moses suffered for six weeks from a severe and
troublesome cough, requiring the frequent medical attendance of his
neighbour, Dr Billing, but he was eventually sufficiently restored to
health to leave Park Lane for Ramsgate.
_February 8th_, 1875.--The Sir Moses Montefiore Testimonial Committee,
numbering 102 members, advertised their first list of 412 subscribers.
"Remitted £150 to Jerusalem to complete the Touro Houses. Blessed
be the memory of Mr Touro, nevertheless his legacy has cost me
£5000."--_Extract from Sir Moses' Journal bearing date 18th March_ 1875.
_May 11th_.--He went to London to see Lord Tenterden at the Foreign
Office, informed him of his intentions to go to Jerusalem, and
requested Lord Derby to give him letters of introduction to Her
Majesty's Consuls.
_May 25th_.--Prior to his departure from England he attended the
meetings of all his various companies in the city, thus, at the age
of ninety, giving evidence of his intellectual powers in matters of
finance. We shall now follow him on his seventh journey to the Holy
Land, and find that in all matters connected with the welfare of his
brethren in that country, his judgment and counsel were as clear and
sound as at the time when he was in the prime of life.
On his return from his seventh pilgrimage to the Land of Promise, Sir
Moses printed, but did not publish, a "Narrative of a forty days'
sojourn in the Holy Land," in which he stated what his object was in
undertaking so fatiguing a journey at so advanced an age, and I propose
giving the reader extracts of the most important passages in Sir Moses'
own words.
He says:--
"With the intention of assisting the London Committee of Deputies of
the British Jews in their endeavours to improve the condition of our
brethren in the Holy Land, I presented the reply which I received to
my letter, addressed to the authorities in the Holy Land on the 29th
July 1874, to the Palestine Committee of that Board, by whom they
were subsequently published for circulation among their members.
"However satisfactory," he continues, "these letters may have been
to me, and to all those who, like myself, had the opportunity of
knowing the Holy Land, there were still some who expressed great
doubts regarding the correctness of all the statements made therein,
and being afraid lest such doubts, when spread amongst the Hebrew
communities, might damp the ardour of those who appeared ready
to offer a helping hand in the great object in view, I resolved,
notwithstanding the entreaties and remonstrances of dear relatives
and esteemed friends, to proceed at once to Jerusalem, so as to be
enabled to confer personally with those who had addressed to me
the letters in question, as well as with others whom I had not the
opportunity of seeing during my former visits to the Holy Land."
Sir Moses continues--
"I purpose in this my narrative of a forty days' stay in the Holy
Land, simply to state what I have seen and what I have heard, and to
accompany all important statements by documents emanating from the
several communities, or from other persons of undoubted veracity,
confirming, in every respect, the highly favourable opinion I have
hitherto entertained of our brethren in Palestine.
"_June 15th_.--After having offered up my prayers in the mausoleum of
her who, like a guardian angel, so often sustained me on my journeys
with her loving affection and judicious counsel, I left East Cliff
about mid-day for Dover."
Sir Moses was accompanied on this self-imposed Mission by Ed. Aikin,
Esq., M.R.C.S., Ed. Samuel, Esq., and by the writer of this.