Amador weekly ledger., 1858-02-06
Legend of the WANDERING Jew"


middle ages, which personifed the Jewish
nation by the traits of the Wandering jew.
It represents an old man, with naked feet
uncovered head, and long white beard, wan
dering ceaselessly over the earth. His face
is pale; mark of blood is upon his forehead !;
his eyes burn like sapphires beneath their
oblique lids With an eagle-lke nose and
bloodshot eyes, squaid and harsh in features,
and clad in a coarse wooden gown, he ever
pursues, with staff in hand, his interminable
journey Speaking all languages and traver-
sing all lands, knowing not the purpose of
God concerning himself, and ever driven on
ward by secret impulse, he is transported
from place to place with the speed of the
wind; and as the long centuries come success
lively to close, his old age renews itself with
the vigor of youth, in order that he may
complete his weary round of ages. The peo-
pie wonder as he hastens past
Once or twice only has he paused to tell
his story He was of the Jewish nation;
Ahasuerus by name, and shoemaker by trade.
Dwelling in Jerusalem, he prosecuted our
Saviour, and was one of those who cried,
"Crucify him." The sentence of death haV-
ing been pronounced, he ran to his house,
before which Jesus was to pass on his way to
Calvary. Taking his child in his arms, he
stood at the door with all his family, to be-
hold the procession. Our Saviour, weighed
down by the heavy burden Of the cross, lean
ed for q moment against the wall; and the
jew, to manifest his zeal, cruelty struck the
innocent one, and pointing to the place of
execution, bade him go on. Then Jesus
turning to the unfeeling child of Israel, said
"Thou refusest rest to the Son of God;
go, for it must needs be-
But for thee there shall be no rest
Or repose until | return.
Go forth on thy journey:
Leave thine own: traverse mountains and seas,
Pausing neither in the cities nor the deserts,
Nowhere-not even in the tomb.
As an example to the universe, and bearing
Everywhere the weight of my curse,
Much shalt thou long for death, thy deliverance.
But shalt not die until the day of judgment.
He assists at the cruciixion, and then goes
forth, mysterious stranger whose feet shall
become familiar with all lands.
How age after age he longs for the sweets
of death and the repose of the tomb! But
in ep.te of death he must live on; his dust
shall not mingle with that Of his ancestors.
He drags himself from gloomy cavern of
Mount Carmel, shaking the dust from the
beard grown even to his knees Nine grim
ming skulls are before him. He seizes and
hurls them from the top of the mountain,
and they 90 bounding down from rock to
rock. They are the skulls Of his parents, Of
his wife aud six small children, all of whom
have been able to die; but he cannot.
lie rusheS into the flames of falling Jeru-
sol, nd otf .t- To hprv /,
the crumbling ruins Of Rome; but in vain
Flying from cities and men, the wauderer
seeks the solitary places of the earth. He
climbs the everlasting mountains passing
beyond the region Of yerdure and of dashing
torrents, his feet tread the seas Of amethst
and opal aboue him are only peaks shroud-
ed in niss and eternal SHOWS. The daring
eagle scars not so high. There are no sounds
save the cracking of the glaciers The soul
seems almost to touch the heavens above.
There surely the Wandering jew shall rest!
No. A pursuing angel unsheathes sword
of flaming fire, and lol the wanderer beholds
once more in the heavens the drama of the
Cruciiixion. The way from earth to heaven
is storied with myriads Of celestial beings
radeut with light Before him are all the
martyrs and saints and sages who have ever
lived aud died. For moment he gazes
upon the vision; then turns away chased by
lhc sword Of flame and demons of frightful
form.
Again he wanders over the earth, ever
with five pieces'of copper in his pocket, and
the mark of blood upon his forehead Mad
dened with the agony of life, he throws him
self into the crater Of Ktna, but the boiling
liquid and sulphurous flames harm him not.
The floods of lava vomit him forth, for his
hour is not yet come Embarking upon the
sea, the wind raises its surface into mountain
wayes-the vessel divides, and all perish save
the Wandering jew. Too light to sink into
the ocean, its waves cast him upon the hated
shore lie plunges into a hundred bloody
conflicts without sword or shield. All in
vain. The eaden balls rain harmlessly upon
him; battle-axes and scmetars glance from
his charmed body. Where mounted sqaud.
drons fight with the fury Of demons, he casts
himself under the feet Of the horsemen, aud
is unharmed, so riveted are his soul and body
together. lie says to Nero, "Thou art drunk
with blood;p to Christian and Musselman
Drunk art thou with blood" They invent
the most horrible tortures for his punishment
yet injure him not. Leaving, in his vain pur-
suit of death, the lands that throb with life
and industry, the Wandering jew threads
the solitary jungles of the tropics. lie walks
in poisoned air Fierce serpents sport around
him. but none venture to harm him.
And thus he wanders,
"Traversing mountains and seas,
Pausing neither in the cities nor the deserts;
Nowhere-not even in the tomb"
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