The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1893-01-21
rHE WANDERING LEW.
A Legend supposed to Have OrIgina
,,f,nuatonti,nnIa-

Ihe legend OF the wandering jew, OF
which everyone has heard, but Of which
most persons know so little, is not
found either in the apocryphal evange-
lists or in the Latin fathers of the
church. According to the best authori-
ties, it originated at Constantinople.
There are two versions--the oriental,
in which the Jew is called Carthaphilus
and that of Europe, in which he is
calledsAhasuerus In the eastern ver-
sionsu he is represented as porter of
| Pontius PLATE; in the western as cob
bier, living on the slope of Mount Cal
vary, by whose door Christ passed bear
ing his cross to the place of crucitixion.
The oriental legend attributes to him q
wife and five children, details omitted
in that of the occident. The offence
committed was the same in both cases,
brutal refusal to permit the Saviour to
enter into the residence of the porter
or cobbler--a favor asked by himself of
the Roman soldiers who were guarding
him-accompanied with the suggestion
that he had better walk on. With the
greatest gentlencss of manner, accord
ing to the legend, Christ informed the
inhuman jew that as punishment of
his unkindness it would be his fate to
walk on till the day of Judgment, a SEN
tence he has since been and is believed
by many to be still expiating. Accord
ing to some authorities he started on
his travels within an hour. Others
assert that he was given till the follow
ing day to bid farewell to his wife and
children and arrange his scanty bag
gage.
No route appears to have been indi-
Gated for that endless journey, but
Ahasuerus appeared to consider 1t the
most natural to make tour of the
globe, no forest or desert being path
less to him, and the ocean being to him
as easily traversable as the dry land.
According to Eugene Sue he had q
preference for the land as presenting
the fewer obstacles, this author in the
introduction to his work, "The Wan
dering jew" representing him crossing
Bering straits accompanied by his wife.
This is believed to be the only appear
nnce of this lady in literature. In the
thrice nth century a knowledge of the
wanderer began to be diffused by means
of the bards and popular ballads among
the common people of Europe, but it
was only some 200 or 300 years later that
the extraordinary tale of his sufferings
became universally known, and his per-
son was made familiar to all by the
accounts of those who had seen and
conversed with him. No one appears
to have met him until late in the six
teenth century, but after that date he
was often seen by persons of rank and
education in England, Scotland, France,
Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Persia, Den
mark and other countries. In 1875 two
ambassadors at the court of the Spanish
monarch met him at Madrid. In 1899
he was seen at Vienna, and in 1901 at
Lubbock. In 1916 many persons saw and
talked with him in Livonia, Gracovia
and at Moscow. The German cities
were particularly favored with his fly
ing visits, for he is heard of at Rostock
Weimar, Dantzig and Konigsberg, at
each of which places he was treated
with all the hospitality the brief time
at his disposal permitted.
His positively last appearance was at
Brussels in 1774. He would probably
have passed by this city with his usual
haste had not the burgesses, attracted
by the great venerability of his appear
ance, asked him to stop moment He
at first replied that he could not stop,
but, being urged, paused briefly. Being
invited into an inn to partake of pot
of Flemish beer he consented to drink
the beer, but positively refused to sit
down. However, he delayed long
enough to tell of the entire history of
his sin and its l,S00 years of eXpiation.
From his personal explanation it ap-
peared that he crossed seas, rivers, riv-
ulets, deserts, mountains, hills, valleys
and plains with the same facility lie
passed through fire and water without
harm. He had passed among warning
hosts in Europe and Asia without devi-
alton from his course, and witnessed
many deaths in America and Africa.
He had neither house nor land nor any
sort of personal property, and his only
financial resources were five cents,
which, when spent, were constantly re-
newed in his pocket Many consider
the Wandering Jew to be typical of the
people of which he is 4 representative,
compelled to wander without pause or
rest in foreign lands, always, ncverthe-
less, with something in the purse sym
bolized by the five cents replaced as
fast as expended in the pocket of the
eternal wanderer Recent events in
Russia have given new meaning and u
wider suggestiveness to the legend,
which bids fair to last as long as there
shall rem ain vestige of Christian lit
erature -Glaspow Mail