ouse by the Commercial Travellers'
Society, under the presidency of Sir Chapman Marshall, at which Sir
Moses was present. Two hundred persons sat down to table, among whom
L1200 was collected for the benefit of the institution. This entry is
followed by an account of a narrow escape of Sir Moses and Lady
Montefiore. "We have been much alarmed," he writes, "by some person
firing a pistol at us, near Welling, on the road from Rochester to
London; happily it missed both horses and carriage; the postboy was
much frightened."

CHAPTER XVI.

1838.

DESTRUCTION OF THE ROYAL EXCHANGE--CITY TRADITIONS--"JEWS' WALK"--SIR
MOSES DINES AT LAMBETH PALACE.

The diary of 1838, like that of the preceding year, abounds in
descriptions of Sir Moses' official duties, as well as records of
events.

_January 11th._--Early in the morning, before he was dressed, Sir
Moses was informed that the Royal Exchange had been burnt down in the
night. He at once rode to the Alliance, and found the news true; only
the walls of the Exchange were still standing. "I called at the
Mansion House," he says, "and accompanied a deputation of the Gresham
Company to see the ruins; the loss of books, papers, and securities is
said to be immense. In the evening I repaired again to the Mansion
House to attend a Court of Aldermen, which sat till after ten. It was
a full meeting; the Town Clerk and all the Law Officers of the city
were present. There were long and grave discussions respecting the
making of a new city seal, the old one, as it was thought, having been
destroyed in the fire at the Royal Exchange."

On January 14th he was present at a meeting of the Elders of his
community at Bevis Marks. The resignation of the Deputies was
received, and a resolution passed, that "for the future Deputies be
elected by the Elders and seat-holders, generally known by the
appellation of 'Yehidim,' and out of either body." After the meeting
he called at Newgate, and went over the female wards and the
infirmary.

It may interest some of my readers to hear that the ancient custom of
presenting each of the Sheriffs with three does by the Crown is still
kept up. When Sir Moses was told that those intended for him were at
Richmond, he sent a person (authorised by the Ecclesiastical Board) to
kill the does in accordance with the Jewish custom, and then
distribute them among his friends.

He attended the first dinner given by the new Lord Mayor at the
Mansion Hou