|
The following from the Montreal Herald has been
published in most of the city papers:—
“An Israelite Indeed In Whom There Is No Guile.—We
have much pleasure in mentioning that our friends of
the Jewish persuasion in Montreal, on Sunday last
(27th October), presented a handsome piece of silver
plate to their pastor, the Rev. A. De Sola, as a
token of their esteem and respect for his
character—a sentiment in which, we feel sure, all
their Christian fellow-citizens who know Mr. De
Sola, very cordially participate. The following is a
copy of the inscription engraved upon the plate:—
Presented to the
REV. ABRAHAM DE SOLA,
By the members of the
KAHAL KADOSH SHEARITH ISRAEL,
As a token of their esteem and appreciation of his
exertions on all occasions to promote the welfare of
his flock.
Montreal, 28th October, 5611-1850.”
A
deputation having waited on Mr. De Sola for the
purpose of presenting the piece of plate, which is a
beautifully chased silver salver, Mr. Sol. Benjamin
addressed Mr. De S. in an appropriate speech,
informing him that he had but just then been
honoured with the pleasing task of offering, for the
acceptance of Mr. De S., the piece of plate he then
held in his hand. “I regret much,” said Mr. Benjamin
“that the unexpectedness of the call made on me will
not, I fear, enable me to express, as I would wish,
the sentiments of unqualified satisfaction with
which your congregation contemplate the zeal and
ability you have undeviatingly sought to promote the
highest interests of ourselves and our children. Let
this inscription in some degree assure you that we
have not uninterestedly watched your exertions, and
that we have endeavoured to appreciate them; let it
farther serve, as we wish it should, to assure you
of our full confidence in and appreciation of your
abilities to perform with credit to yourself and
profit to your congregation, the
<<523>>duties of
your office. It is with much pleasure I state that
you have proved yourself fully able as well as
desirous to teach us and our children in the way we
should go.
“With respect to the trifle by which we have sought
to give you some small yet permanent proof of our
regard, we have flattered ourselves that you will
preserve it as a relic, as a small but sincere token
of the esteem of your flock, who only regret that it
is not one more commensurate with your merits and
their good wishes.”
To
which Mr. De Sola replied in nearly the following
words:—
Mr. Benjamin and My Kind Friends:—I receive your
very beautiful gift with the most lively feelings of
pleasure and gratitude. I am delighted to find that
the humble efforts I have, under Divine favour, been
permitted to make, duly to discharge the duties of
my office, have met with your approbation, and I am
truly grateful for the kind cordial, and flattering
manner in which this approbation has been conveyed.
Believe me, sir, when I tell you that I did not
expect, nor did I need that the kindly expressions
you have just uttered should be accompanied by
additional kindly expressions engraved on silver.
Not that I cannot appreciate your generous gift;—no,
so long as I have an eye to see and a heart to feel,
I shall ever regard it with pleasure, and with, I
trust, a not sinful pride; and in future years,
though you, my kind friends, may not be near me, yet
will you have supplied me with a lasting source of
comfort; for I shall read this inscription and
reflect that for at least some few years of my
life—and those the earlier years, too—I had acted in
a manner satisfactory to some of my
fellow-creatures, and I venture to flatter myself,
in some degree approved of by my Creator, if there
be any truth in the saying that ‘the voice of the
people is the voice of God.’ And with so cheerful a
prospective before me, you may be sure I will carry
out your kind intentions just expressed to me by our
worthy president, and shall preserve it as the most
cherished relic of the good feeling and kindness of
my flock, ‘my first love,’ as a proof that the words
of Solomon, ‘I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is
mine.’
“This inscription, I perceive, speaks of my efforts
to promote the welfare of my flock. Now it would be
worse than affectation in me to say I have not done
all I could to forward the interests of the
Congregation whenever and wherever possible. I can
with some confidence, and I trust without
presumption, say, that I have so done; but I can
with greater confidence promise you that so long as
the Divine Disposer of all events shall determine
that you shall be my congregation, and I
<<524>>your
minister, you shall not find me unfaithful to my
trust while I am spared mental and physical ability
to keep it.
“Of course, in discharging the duties of an office
as responsible as mine, it is quite possible, nay,
becomes almost necessary that I should, either in or
out of the pulpit, be occasionally misunderstood,
and even give offence to some; ‘for to err is
human.’ If there are (though I hope and believe
there are not) some who fancy I have insulted or
injured them without cause, I am quite ready to
undeceive them, if possible, and in any case to hold
out the hand of good-fellowship to them, as it
becomes one Israelite to do with another.
“I
have ventured to say this much about myself. With
respect to you, my kind friends, be assured that my
firm persuasion is that I can never meet with
friends more kind, more liberal, more considerate
than you have proved yourselves, from the first day
we knew each other to the present time. Pray pardon
me,—I cannot pursue this subject; I deeply feel my
inability to do so, and can only give you my
heartfelt thanks for all your kindness, praying
Almighty God ‘to bless you all, to prosper you all,
and to sanctify you to his service.’”
A.
H. D. |
