But during all these varied activities he never forgot, as he was indeed seldom permitted to forget, that he was a Jew. He had strong convictions on the subject of Jewish nationality and devoted considerable attention to the Jewish question in general. Finally, in 1825, he turned to his long cherished scheme of the restoration of the Jews to their past glory as a nation. For this purpose he acquired, with the aid of some of his friends, an island thirteen miles in length and about five miles broad, called Grand Island, in the Niagara River, opposite Tonawanda, not far from Buffalo, N. Y., and issued a proclamation to the Jews of the world, inviting them to come and settle in the place, which he named “Ararat, a City of Refuge for the Jews.” The plan had its practical side and attracted considerable attention. Noah was at that time perhaps the most distinguished Jewish resident in America, and could by no means be considered a visionary. The tract was chosen with particular reference to its promising commercial prospects, being close to the Great Lakes and opposite to the newly constructed Erie Canal; and Noah deemed it “pre-eminently calculated to become in time the greatest trading and commercial depot in the new and better world.” After heralding this project for some time in his own newspapers and in the press, religious and secular, generally, Noah selected September 2, 1825, as the date for laying the foundation stone of the new city. Impressive ceremonies, ushered in by the firing of cannon, were held, and participated in by state and federal officials, Christian clergymen, and even American Indians, whom Noah identified as the “lost tribes” of Israel, and who were also to find refuge in this new “Ararat.” It was found on that day that there were not boats enough in Buffalo to carry to Grand Island all who wished to go there, and the celebration, in consequence, took place in Buffalo. A procession, headed by a band of music, was formed, composed of military companies and several Masonic bodies in full regalia, after which came Noah, as Governor and Judge of Israel, wearing a judicial robe of crimson silk trimmed with ermine, followed by fraternal officers and dignitaries. After marching through the principal streets of Buffalo, the procession entered the Episcopal Church, where exercises, including a long oration by Noah, were held; the close of the ceremonies being announced by a salvo of twenty-four guns. The celebration in Buffalo was the beginning and the end of the scheme. There was no response to the proclamation, the city was never built, and the monument of brick and wood which was erected upon the island on the site of the contemplated town fell to pieces, and in the course of time wholly disappeared. The only relic of the enterprise is the foundation stone of the proposed city, which is preserved in the rooms of the Buffalo Historical Society, with the inscription of 1825 still legible.