The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1873-08-20


; where be lived He said Mohamme,
4 was man of great intellectual abili
{ ty. Once, when be, the pretente(
Jew, heard Mohammed DENY tha
Christ was crueifed, be silenced bin
: by telling him that he, ,he Jew, wa:
. witness Of the event. He related
{ also that be was at Rome when Nero
burned the city He had known
: Saladin, Tamerlane and other Eastern
: Princes. aud could give minute details
, Of the history Of the crasades II
this man was all impostor, he was al
least too cunning and too intelligent
for those who strove TO detect the
fraud Shortly afterward be disap-
, peared from England, ard was seen
/ in Denmark and then in Sweden, after
, which be vanished
Coming down to later times, men
. claiming to be the Wandering Jew
! have appeared at various seasons
| during the present century, but these
have all proved themselves in the
plainest manner TO be either lunaiics
, or humbugs. The last notice that We
have seen Of such appearance was in
! 1870, when many of the newspapers
; contained a floating item to the effect
that the jew had been seen near
, Antwerp, Belgium 1t was pity be
was not seized and dragged before
some intelligent and responsible per-
son, so that be could have been in
vestigated
Ii NAV be interesting. before we
dismiss the subject Of the movements
Of the jew, 70 mention that super
sJitious fancy has connected him with
that terrible plauge, the cholera. The
theory has been advanced that
the disease follows close upon the
track made by the wanderer ia his
pilgrimage over the world, and that q
visitation from him is a certain indi-
cation Of the coming plague Eugene
Sue has made use of this superstition
in his novel founded upon the legend
Of the Jew, work, by the way,
which is far beneath the simple story
Of the Middle A ges 10 dignity, beauty
and mysterious incident
In some accounts Of the s1ferings
Of the aged pilgrim II Is said that be
has, during his long and dreadful ex-
: lstence, siriyen many times to end his
life so miraculOusly extended. He
has gone into the thickest Of the bat
tie and thrown himself upon the
spears Of the enemy, or in later times
I has stood al The cannon's mouth, but
be has always remained unburt. He
has been shipwrecked. bot be alone Of
all his companions has been tossed
ashore by the roaring waves. He has
leaped into burning volcanoes. only
10 be belched forth unscathed: he has
F plunged inlo the fire without suffering
from its fiery tongues; be has sought
the lair Of wild beasts to find the
hyena and tiger docile TO bis touch
and careless Of provoeation Death
has been courted bv him in ererv
conceivable form, but ALWAYS il has
el9ded him, and a terrible DESTINY has
thurst him back into that life which
has al last grown TO be a curse. The
story, il will be seen, does not agree
with those which describe him as an
humble and patient Christian. but il
Is striking and remarkable as embody-
ing an illustration Of what the life to
which men cling 80 desperately might
become prolonged for centuries
There has been a great deal Of con-
lecture as 10 the process bv which the
story Of the Wandering Jew was
formed The scriptural texts. given
al the beginning of this article, sup
ply sufficient reason for that part Of
II which refers 10 the mere prolonga-
iion Of a human life, but thev give
no limit or suggestion Of the material
of which the rest Of the legend is.
composed. Some persons have sup
posed that the jew was the emblem
Of the gypsy race, which al that time.
was thought to be Of Egyptian ori-
gin, and which i nomadic. The
theory was because they refused 10
shelter the Virgin and Child in their
flight into Egypt This. however.
Is not either consistent or satisfacto-
~. The most plausible explanation
Is that the Wandering Jew Is really
the type Of the Hebrew race. The
Jews did offend Jesus, as Ahasuerus
Is said to have done. Thev have !
been driven from their homes. as be
was; they have wandered over the 1
whole earth, as Is alleged Of him:
and they have lived apart, distinct
and peculiar from other men. as be is
said TO DO. The difference between
the type and the reality is that All 4
asuerus became Christian. while
the Jews cling TO their old faith. 4
But the resemblance Is so great that
we think we are warranted in assert
ing that the origin Of the magnificent
fable may be traced TO the historic
fact.-T'o-Day.