Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-04-10
ST. PETERS HANDWRITING.
The Story Ofa Manuscript Said to Have Been
Written by the Fisher of Galilee.-
Proof of Its Antiquity.

written Dy the ElShef OF Ganlee.-
Proof of Its Antiquity.
The British and foreign Bible society
deny the allegations of certain Italian
sion to inquire into the authenticity of a
manuscript supposed to he written by Peter
the apostle, or that they have ever offered
any sum for it's possession. The allega-
tions appeared in the Seminaratc and FIac-
cola, Protestant Evangelical journals pub
lished at Rome, and, according to their
statement, was copied by them from the
tSabaoth, an organ of the Jewish commu-
nifty printed at Jerusalem, where the manu-
script written by the hand of the Apostle
Peter is said to have been discovered. On
July 49, 1879, so runs the account, there
died in Jerusalem, in the 10th year of his
age, a reputedly poor man of the name of
Core. For fifty years he had led the life of
hermit in grOttO at the foot of the hill
of Gethsemane, enjoying for the greater
part of that period sanity reputation and
looked upon by Christians as one of the
hOliest of men, as in outward appearance
he was one of the poorest. When his death
became known and it was ascertained that
no kinsfOlk claimed his effects and that he
had left no will, the local authorities took
possession of his grOttO. On entering they
were surprised to find it furnished with
considerable luxury. Magnificent tiger
skins were spread over the floor and the
anchOrite's bed was composed of costly
furs. Underneath the skins trap-dOOr
was discovered, leading to an under
ground apartment, sixteen feet square and
twelve feet high. In one corner of this
room stood an iron bound oaken chest.
With some difficulty it was broken open,
when out rolled stream of broad pieces of
various dates, countries and denominations
English sovereigns and shillings, French
gold and silver, Turkish sequins and
Mexican dollars-of total value, as was
estimated, of $4,000. This sum was sup
posed to be the produce Of the aims and
oblations which the holy man had received
from the credulOus faithful during the
half century of his sanity seclusion from
the world. At the very bottom Of the
chest, where it had been covered over by
the hermit treasure, still more impor-
tant find was made-a packet wrapped up
in old and almost rotten newspapers. These
papers contained splendid and antique
cashmere shawl of great value, though
somewhat injured by damp. Inside the
shawl were divers documents from which it
appeared that the deceased anchorite was
a Hebrew, belonging to a rich family of
Stockholm. Among these documents was
a voluminous papyrus manuscript, folded
in green silk, SO old that when touched it
became dust.
The manuscript bore the following in
scription
''Peter the fisherman, disciple Of Jesus
the Son of God, and continuator of his
work, speaks to the people of the earth
who listen to the word of the Lord, ac-
cording to the love, and in the name of
the most holy Gcd.''
The subscription to the manuscript,
'written in u style equally strange and
elegant" runs thus:
81, Peter the fisherman, in the name OF
God, finished the writings of the word of
love in the tiftieth year of my age, the
third Easter after the death of my Saviour
and Master. Jesus Christ, son of Mary, in
the house of Belieri, the scribe, near the
temple of the Lord.'
The papyrus of the manuscript is de-
scribed as being strong and flexible and the
ink very black, from which it was first sup
posed that it might be the work of Core,
but scholars and experts at Jerusalem, by
whom the writing has been submitted to I.
searching exam ulation, are of opinion that
lO lllsH VI CouNA "AAUC ou A1VoAO"
so pure in style with such an intimate
knowledge of the meaning of many
obsolete works and SO complete a
mastery of the archaic forms that
characterized the literature of the epoch
in which the new cpistle purports to
have been produced. A further proof of its
antiquity is that the papyrus of the manu-
script has long ceased to be made. To
solve the doubts which still remained as to
the genunencss of the document, the ac-
count goes on to say that the Bible society
of London were asked to send out COM
mission to look into the matter and deliver
Judgment. This was done, and after long
investigation the commission pronounced
in favor of the authenticity of Cores
papyrus. They considered it to be the
veritable work of the Apostle Peter. 1t
was added that the philosophical, philo-
logical, historical and biblical questions
to which the find will give rise cannot fail
to he of the highest importance and inter-
est