The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-11-04
The Legend ii il Ky n nau.er.

tis amusing to see how fiction sometimes
mixes itself up with history, and. how the
legends Of remote ages can be made to play
an active part in the events of the present
day. This is the case with the legend Of
Frederick the First, Emperor, of Germany,
surnamed .tBarbarossa, or Red Beard. This
most famousfof all the Emperors of medic
val Germany, having become Involved IN a
serious. quarrel with the Church, sought to
avert its anathemHs and conciliate its favor
By ]oining in the third crusade against the
Turks for the expulsion OF those followers
of Mahomed and Termagauut" from Asia
Minor and the Holy Land. But his fortune
was not commensurate with hls zeal, for in
bathing in the icy waters Of the River Cyd-
nus he was drowned, (l0th June, 1lso,) q
fate which Alexander the Great had very
narrowly escaped from in the same stream
fifteen hundred years previously.
The tutelary angels of Germans now ap-
peared on the scene, and Barbarossa was
transported bodily to the Mountain OF kytfT;
hauser, in Thuringia, in state OF semi-con-
seriousness, and 'tin his habit as he lived. "
One side of the mountain was opened by
the same mysterious hands. and toerably
large apartment was eScavated, wherein the
monarch was deposited in comatOse state,
with his attendants, and page, who plays
an important part in the affair. There,
seated before stone table, noddinS drowsii
ly in q. chair, 1.-The drowned Emperor was con-
demneG TO nod aud wink and dream until
the crows, which by thousands had built
their nests in the. old ruined tower on the
top of the mountain, should disappear. Bat
1t was at. the same time decreed that they
should not do so until oil ydiscord had ceased
In Germany; and when that remarkable
state OF things should come about, no mat.
ter from What cause them the Emperor,
weary with long sleeping and.waiting, should
come forth from his prison, and
hire peasant to carry his sword and shield
before him, with the view Of terrifying oil
those who fsncied they had better blood in
them than the peasant had. 1Ithis manner
the Emperor was to so forth and reclaim bis
empire Once. at the expiration of each
century, he was allowed to wake up aud
send his page up to the tower to see ii the
crows haul left it, and this favor he has hith-
crto carefully availed himself Of. Six times
has the page done his errand, only to return
with the answer 1.-The crows are still there"
and six times has the disappointed monarch
fallen asleep for another hundred years
But, on the 18th Of July last, be was awaken
ed in an unusual manner, and he sent his
page up to the tower in haste to look after
the crows. What, then, was his delight when
the page returned with the tidlngs that the
Cows were preparing to leave, as war had
been declared by France and all discord
had ceased in Germany, because the nation
was united under one flag to repel the in
yader! Yes, the hour 'of awakening had
COME and the spirit Of Barbarossa stepped
forth to animate the new Emperor (that ls
to oe,) William the First, while his sword
and shield were borne before him (metaphori-
cally,) not by one peasant, but by every
man in the land-no one, not even duke *or
count, considering his blood any better than |
that OF a!peasant in the cause OF the Father-
land e = T,irs.s ..,s... - -: ~ !
= Sueh,"as narrated by Northern journal
let, Is the wild, yet beautiful. legend which
has suddenly resumed its popularity in the !