s did) in obtaining the approbation of her husband.

The conversation of the visitors being frequently in French and
German, many an hour was spent in reading letters and poems addressed
to Mr and Mrs Montefiore in these languages. Mrs Montefiore, however,
was not content with the study of modern languages, and expressed a
wish to acquire also a knowledge of Eastern languages, especially of
Turkish and Arabic.

To give her an idea of the grammatical construction of the latter, I
used to write out lessons for her, and she at once commenced to learn
them. The following morning she surprised the whole party by saying by
heart every Turkish and Arabic word that I had written out.

It was amusing to all of us, and to Mr Montefiore a cause of great
delight, to notice the zeal with which she took up the subject.

One day she produced from her cabinet a scarabaeus and a little
Egyptian clay figure, which had been given to her by Mr Salt, the
English Consul in Egypt.

Both the scarabaeus and the little figure had hieroglyphical
inscriptions, and she requested me to give her a translation of the
same.

In compliance with her request I explained the inscriptions, and gave
her a short account of the Rosetta stone and the works of Young and
Champollion and other Egyptologists.

I concluded my visit to East Cliff Lodge on the 13th of December. Mr
Montefiore requested me to draw up a plan for some future travels in
the Holy Land; I promised to comply with his wish, and then took
leave. There is an entry of this date in the diary, in which he says:

"If my dear Judith consents to our again visiting the Holy Land, I
should be glad to obtain the company of the Doctor on our pilgrimage."

A few days later I sent him the plan for the journey, also a second
copy of the translation which I had made of the hieroglyphical
inscription on the Osiris or sepulchral figure. He acknowledged the
receipt of the same in two letters, one written in Mrs Montefiore's
handwriting, the other in his own. Mr Montefiore subsequently told me
that his wife now commenced to take a special interest in antiquities,
enriching her cabinet with curiosities whenever an opportunity
presented itself. The year 1835 is also noted for the particular
interest which Mr Montefiore took in the affairs of his own community.
He was elected President of the London Committee of Deputies of
British Jews, his predecessor, Mr Moses Mocatta, having resigned the
office.

[I