Justina, the granddaughter of the Rev. Abraham Elcostantin of Ancona. With a view of carrying on their business to greater advantage the brothers separated and removed to different parts of Italy, and Joseph himself, guided by the counsel of his wife, left Pesaro for Ancona for a similar purpose.

His brother-in-law died at that time in Modena, and Joseph was in a sufficiently prosperous position to be able to assist the widow and her children.

The latter grew up and married. One of them, a daughter, went with her husband, Samuel Nachman, to Jerusalem, where, from religious motives, they settled.

One of his nephews, Nathaniel Montefiore, became a distinguished poet, and the manuscript in question contains a very beautiful composition of his in praise of the book (Kán Tsippor) and its author.

Joseph Montefiore resided for some time in Rome, also in Fano. There are prayers in the book which he composed during his stay in each of those places.

From these statements it would appear that the family of Montefiore, from which Sir Moses descended, first came to Pesaro.

Signor P. M. Arcantoni, the Syndic of the Municipality of Montefiore dell'aso, in the province of Ascoli-Picerno, expressed his strong belief, on the occasion of his offering to Sir Moses the congratulations of the commune on his completing the hundredth year of his life, that the ancestors of Sir Moses had settled in that place.

From Ancona, as has been stated, several members of the Montefiore family came to Leghorn, from which city at a very early period they emigrated to England.

The grandfather of Sir Moses, Moses Haim (or Vita) Montefiore, and his grandmother, Esther Racah, a daughter of Mássă'ood Racah of Leghorn, also left Italy and settled in London, where their son Joseph (born 15th October 1759, died 11th January 1804) married Rachel, the daughter of Abraham Lumbroso de Mattos Mocatta, who became the mother of Sir Moses.

They resided after their marriage at No. 3 Kennington Terrace, Vauxhall, and were blessed with eight children, three sons, Moses (the subject of these memoirs), Abraham, and Horatio, and five daughters, Sarah, Esther, Abigail, Rebecca, and Justina.

Abraham first married a daughter of Mr George Hall, of the London Stock Exchange; on her death, he married Henrietta Rothschild, a sister of the late N. M. Rothschild, by whom he had two sons, Joseph Meyer of Worth Park, and Nathaniel Meyer of Coldeast, and two daughters, Charlotte and Louise. The latter became the wife of Sir Antony de Rothschild.

House at Leghorn in which Sir Moses was born.
See Vol. I., page 9.

Horatio married Sarah, a daughter of David Mocatta, by whom he had six sons, one of whom (Mr Emanuel Montefiore) is now a lieutenant-colonel in the British Army, and six daughters. After her death he married a daughter of Abraham Montefiore.

Sarah, the eldest daughter of Joseph and Rachel Montefiore, became the wife of Mr Solomon Sebag, and was the mother of Mr Joseph Sebag (now J. Sebag-Montefiore) and of Mrs Jemima Guadalla, who is married to Mr Haim Guadalla. After the death of her husband, Mrs Sebag married Mr Moses Asher Goldsmid, the brother of Sir Isaac Goldsmid.

Esther, the second daughter, unfortunately lost her life at the age of fifteen through an accident she met with during a fire that broke out in the house.

Abigail, the third, married Mr Benjamin Gompertz, a distinguished mathematician.

Rebecca, the fourth, married Mr Joseph Salomons, a son of Levi Salomons, of Crosby Square, father of the late Sir David Salomons, Bart.

Justina, the fifth, became the wife of Mr Benjamin Cohen, the brother of Lady Montefiore, and mother of Mr Arthur Cohen, Q. C., M. P., and Mr Nathaniel B. Cohen.

The reader is now invited to retrace his steps, for it is to Moses, the first-born son of Joseph and Rachel Montefiore, that I have to direct his attention. He must leave No. 3 Kennington Terrace and follow me in imagination to Leghorn.

Mr Joseph Montefiore having some business in that city, informed his wife of his intention to proceed to Italy, and Mrs Montefiore prevailed upon him to take her with him.

After they arrived at Leghorn, we find them in the house of Signer Moses Haim Racah, celebrating the happy event of the birth of a son, destined to become the champion of Israel.

The festivity on the day of naming (the eighth day after the birth of a son) is generally an occasion which brings together relatives, friends, heads of the congregation, and officers of the Synagogue. Offerings are made by all present for charitable institutions, and prayers recited for the life and prosperity of the child. It is therefore not a matter of surprise that there was a large assembly of the Hebrew community of Leghorn on that occasion.

Signor Racah, being his great-uncle, performed the duties of godfather and ever from that day, and up to the year of his death, he evinced the liveliest interest in the welfare of his godson; when the latter was grown up the affection proved mutual.

Sir Moses when speaking of him used to say that he had greatly endeared himself to the people in Leghorn by his abilities and high character. He cherished the most benevolent feelings towards all good and honest men, and often, in times of grief and calamity, rendered help and consolation to all classes of the community. Sir Moses held him in great veneration, and during his stay in Italy gave special orders to have a copy of his likeness procured for him. A facsimile of the portrait is here given, with an inscription in Sir Moses' own handwriting.

In his will, Sir Moses, referring to him and to the Synagogue at Leghorn, thus expresses himself—

"To the trustees of the Synagogue at Leghorn in Italy, of which my honoured godfather (deceased) was a member, in augmentation of the fund for repairing that building, I bequeath £500; and to the same trustees, as a fund for keeping in repair the tomb of my said godfather and my godmother, Esther Racah, his wife, £200."

Two or three years before his death, Sir Moses ordered a coloured drawing of these tombs, with a complete copy of the epitaphs, to be sent to him, and it is now preserved in the library of the College at Ramsgate.

After a stay of several months at Leghorn, Mr and Mrs Montefiore returned to England. I have often heard descriptions of that homeward journey from Mrs Montefiore, when she used to visit her son at Park Lane.

"Moses," she said, "was a beautiful, strong, and very tall child, but yet on our return journey to England, during a severe winter, I was unwilling to entrust him to a stranger; I myself acted as his nurse, and many and many a time I felt the greatest discomfort through not having more than a cup of coffee, bread and butter, and a few eggs for my diet." "No meat of any description," she added, "passed my lips; my husband and myself being strict observers of the Scriptural injunctions as to diet." "But I am now," she said, with a pleasant smile, "amply repaid for the inconvenience I then had to endure." "What I thought a great privation, in no way affected the state of my health, nor that of the child; and I feel at present the greatest satisfaction on account of my having strictly adhered to that which I thought was right."