Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1871-02-10
Y'hrce Popular Supcrstftions.
TIE WANDERING JEW, pnEsrER JOHN AND
ANTICIlRIST.

ANTIc;lRIsr
over all tho a!ldlc ages wc sec the weird
iiEurc OF man, downclst aud grave, who,
unhasting, unrssting, must march on to the
day of doom. The Wandering Jcw, some.
times baricd in Armenian couvcntS or the
deserts of Ccntrn Asia, in the burning plains
OF Africa, or tl3Tsaowy heights of Caucasus,
suddenly nppcpss in the haunts Of more civil.
'Zed Europe, AMI tells, as an eye witness, the
sad story Of the crucifixion, an,l his sll1rc in
the costu'ncly clst upon the G ID man. lie
had thrown himself into the nlmins city of
jerusalem under the Roman swords he had
fought az inst G .uls, Germans and Saracens !;
but no lance would enter his charmed BODY
no arrow pierce Tic heart that longcd to be at
rest. The wild elephant had crushed him
under foot, vcnomrus scrpcnts had bitten
him, the hungry lion had torn him, but he
could not die until Christ himself should re
turn to Judge the world. This legend Glcd
the people with terror and emotion, and prob
ably arose from sane eloquent preacher, who
thus pcrsonGnd the Jewish nation under the
isnrc Of singl. man, scattered through the
world, and unl'stoycl by persecution.
Matthew Paris is the first historian who speaks
OF it: an Arneniln Bishop visiting the
monks Of st. A!bins, had converscd with the
Jew about the year 1928, AMI from that time
he appeared at iut,ry lis in several Of the cities
Of E lrope dressed in the old r ,man ,stume,
'nuah worn, long bc,rl. mixed feet and
sad, mclanchDly expression, lie refused all
presents but few pence, which he gave away
to the p'or. ~ Stnso)urs he appeared in
1897, AMI informed the magistrates that he
had pis'el through their city two hundred
years before, waich WIS verified by refer.
encc to the city registers. Thc list We hear
Of him is in thccity of B,ussels in l77l
Another NJ ess popular superstition was
the existence OLA king and pontin, united iu
one, named Pra;;s%.,r ,hn, who had ruled
vast empire f3r centuries, in which more mar
vc!s were to b, fourl than n Mahommcd's
paradise No traveller to the E,st d .red nut
~ stop to this absurd belief; some even pre-
tend to know the place The kings of portu
gil sent scver. expeditions into India AMI
Abyssihia to assure the selves Of the rc,lity,
| for this immortal pope give many an hours
anxiety to the pipes Of tho West, for fen, lest
schisn should sprny fro u 50 distant G,,r.
ter. There was Il curio.ll letter. written per.
hips by son, p,rtisn Of the R,forn,tion to
the Emperor of Rome aud Kin. Of Franco,
| in the n,me Of Prester John, about 1877, in
vitin then to sattIc in his d, ninoas. whish
he described rs the richest and finest in the
w1rll There they woull see the f.blel
rhn,ix, the gritin, the roe, the savcn horned
ball, ccnt,u;s pig ncs and dragons There
spruay the fountain Of eternal youth, there
grew the Tree OF Life, from which was dra vn
the holy oil used for the slcranients of tho
church and when the king and his court SIT
down to table they needed no cooks, for
spiritual chief prep,rod all their dishes
Another mystical being was Antichrist,
who was supposed to be born IN B,hylon, and
whom the Jews were ready to recognize as
their Messiah. The year 1000 was fixed mp
on by tic most learned doctors us the time
of his appearance, and The end of the world
We have terrible picture given by cotcm-
porary of the dcson,ion which regncd
throughout Europe at the approach Of this
fatal term; there were fearful signs in the
heavens, and on the earth -ccIipscs, comets,
mctcors. foods, tempests, and plaques Su
rerstit.on aggravated the real evils Of public
misery. tho ponrlr spnl n nf fri..ht fnl mira,