"9th Héshván 5545 A.M., 24th October 1784.
"Unto Joseph, son of Moses Haim, and Rachel Montefiore, a son was born, whom they call Moses Haim."
Sir Moses never signed his name "Haim," nor did his mother in her letters to him ever call him so. His father Joseph, after recovering from a dangerous illness, adopted the name of Eliyáhoo (the Eternal is my God) in addition to that of Joseph.
Various opinions have been expressed respecting the early history of Sir Moses Montefiore's ancestors, and the place whence they originally came, to Modena, Ancona, Fano, Rome, and Leghorn.
A manuscript in the library of "Judith Lady Montefiore's Theological College" at Ramsgate--containing a design of the original armorial bearings of the Montefiore family, surrounded by suitable mottoes, and a biographical account of the author of the work to which the manuscript refers--will greatly help us in elucidating the subject.
The manuscript is divided into two parts: one bears the name of "Kán Tsippor" ([Hebrew]), "The bird's nest," and treats of the Massorah of the Psalms, _i.e._, their divisions, accents, vowels, grammatical forms, and letters necessary for the preservation of the text; and the other, the name of "Gán Perákhim" ([Hebrew]), "The garden of flowers," containing poems, special prayers, family records, and descriptions of important events.
The hereditary marks of honour which served to denote the descent and alliances of the Montefiore family consisted of "a lion rampant," "a cedar tree," and "a number of little hills one above the other," each of these emblems being accompanied by a Hebrew inscription. Thus the lion rampant has the motto--
[Hebrew] HOY GIBOR CAARI LAASOT RATSON AVIKHA SHEBASHEMAIM
"Be strong as a lion to perform the will of thy Father in Heaven."
[Hebrew] ESA AYNAI EL HEHARIM MEAIN YAVO EZRI
"(When) I lift up mine eyes unto the hills (I ask) whence cometh my help? [Answer] My help cometh from the Eternal."
[Hebrew] TSADIK KATAMAR VEFRAKH CAEREZ BALEBANON ISGEH
"The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon."
These emblems are precisely the same as those which Sir Moses had in his coat-of-arms, with the exception of the inscriptions. Probably he thought they were too long to be engraved on a signet, and he substituted for them the words "Jerusalem" and "Think and Thank."