Government; nevertheless, he was glad he had done it. Sir Moses
gave His Excellency two copies of the firman, with which he seemed
much pleased. The Rev. E. Bondi subsequently related to Sir Moses an
anecdote concerning the Marchese. About three months previously an
Englishman, a Protestant, with a large family, had given much trouble
to the British Government respecting a claim he had on the Sardinian
Government, but not having succeeded in gaining his object, in a fit
of spleen he embraced the Catholic religion with all his family. The
ceremony took place in the great church at Genoa, in the presence of
the King, the Royal family, and the great officers. On the following
day the King inquired of the Marchese Paulucca if he was not delighted
with the beautiful ceremony (supposing him to have been present), but
the latter informed His Majesty that he was not in the church at the
time. The King expressed his surprise, and inquired the reason. The
Marchese replied that he disliked hypocrisy of all kinds. The King was
silent, but did not speak to him for three days."

Monsieur Blaurie, the Consul General of France, sent us the key of his
box at the opera, and begged we would go there in the evening, but Sir
Moses declined the favour.

_Friday, January 29th._--Mr Wire left us to-day to proceed by sea to
Marseilles and thence to England, accompanied by a French courier whom
Sir Moses engaged to attend him. The _Gazette_ of Genoa (a paper which
contained many articles unfavourable to the Jews) now published the
firman, and other journals followed the example. The representatives
of the Hebrew community requested to be favoured with some copies, to
be distributed among their acquaintances, not only in this city, but
in every town where there were Israelites, as they had all suffered
more or less by the infamous calumny. In Genoa a song had been printed
and sung about the streets, relating the particulars of the supposed
murder of Padre Tommaso, and the confessions of the persons accused of
the crime.

_February 1st._--Lord and Lady Roden and Lady Stratford Canning came
to see Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore. They spoke much on the subject
of our Mission. His lordship told Sir Moses that the upper classes
even of that place were ignorant and fanatic. An Italian lady only
three days before told him at a large party that a young woman was
missing in the city, and she believed the Jews had taken her, with the
intention of keeping