LEADERS OF SOCIETY.

Observer, Volume 2, Issue 36, 21 May 1881, Page 389

LEADERS OF SOCIETY.

No. 3.— Mrs. Edward Isaacs

We have been fortunate in this city in our Jewish firms and houses. The Nathans and the Isaacs, who represent to us the Itothschilds of greater cities, have stood unshaken amid .all the storms which have passed over our Colonial life ; and if I wished to name one of the most distingue and refined ladies in Auckland, whose quiet and unassuming manners are a perfect refreshment amid the loudness and fastness of too many of our society belles, I should certainly point to Mrs. Lawrence Nathan. But to Airs. Edward Isaacs belongs the honour of being our representative Jewess, and one of the leaders of our society. For more than twenty years her house has been an open house to all denominations of Christians. It would have fared ill with the ofliccrs of the men-of-war sometimes if it had not been for her and her generous hospitality. She has even displeased some of the ladies of her own persuasion by kindness to our people. Her name has been associated with almost every public amusement or work of charity set on foot by ladies. She dances as well and as lightly as any of her own daughters, and thoroughly enjoys herself at a party or ball. Visitors to the rink used to dread, the glances of her argus eyes (glasses I should have said), for she was always down on them if they had not paid up or had skated more than the prescribed number of times. She has been famous for her card parties, and at her house some of the richest, and fairest, and greatest ladies of Auckland have lost and won. The Isaacs have made their money here, and they have honestly spent it. here, and not gone home Avhen a fortune was acquired. Mrs. Isaacs has a sharp, quick manner, but one forgets it in the warmth of her welcome. Her family so far have done well. Her eldest daughter married Sir Saul Samuel, AgentGeneral for New South Wales, and her second daughter is Mrs. Haines. I Jut of this second marriage we must not speak before the -Jewesses — it is bitter herbs to them. l)ut (hey

will get over it. Dr. T fames is a splendid fellow, lias a good practice and a. private income, and can allbrd his brougham and a spanking pair of greys, M rs. Isaacs' eldest .son, jolly Alf — a first-rate actor and singer — has a model farm at Remuera. Her younger son and daughters keep her house lively, and tell amusing and pleasant stories to the rising generation. Go, sir or madam, yourself and .see. If you are the right sort yon will not need to wait long for a hearty invitation there. I will now relate an anecdote characteristic of the early days of the Colony, and especially characteristic of the Isaacs. There was a meeting called for some purpose (I really forget what) in the drill-shed, a tumble-down old building of corrugated iron, over which Archdeacon Lloyd — a truly good man, now gone to his rest — was presiding. Towards the close the young men got. rather rowdy, and one of them, Mr. Owen Jones, proposed daiir.iiu/, at which the Archdeacon had the lights lowered. Then one of the Isaacs who was present got up and said that the meetinghad better adjourn to their house, and linish up there. Assent, went by acclamation, and at least two-thirds of that meeting did go down to the Isaacs', and had a jolly wind-up. You could never take Mrs. Isaacs unawares. The house seemed to enlarge itself to accommodote the incoming crowd. Refreshments appeared as if by magic, dancing began, and the young men arrived at their respective homes in the small hours, crowing over the fact that, thanks to the Isaacs', they liad circumvented the Venerable Archdeacon. Esmond.