The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1893-08-19
rns WANDERING JEW.
A Legend supposed TO Have Originate
In (,oustnutiuop1


A Legend Supposed TO Have Originated
in Ooustnntinople.
The legend Of the Wondering Jew, OF
which everyone has heard, but Of which
most persons know so little, Ia not
found either In The apocryphal evange-
lists or in the Latin fathers of the
church. According To the best authori-
ties, 1t originated at Constantinople.
There are two vcrsions-thc oriental,
in which the Jew is called Carthaphilus,
and that of Europe In which he 10
called Ahasuerus. In the eastern YER
sions he is represented "a portor OF
Pontius Plate; In the western as ooh
bier, living on the slope Of Mount Cal.
vary, by whose door Christ passed bear
ing his cross to the place Of cruciaxion.
This oriental legend attributes to him q
wifo and five children. details omitted
IN that of thu occidcnt The offence
committed was the same In both oases,
brutal refusal to permit the Saviour to
enter into the residence Of the porter
or cobblcr-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 tho legend, Christ informed the
inhuman jew that as punishment OF
his unlsindncss 1t would be his fate to
walk on till the day of Judgment. sem
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 scsnty bag
gage.
No route appears to have been indi.
Gated for that endless journey, but
Ahasucrus 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 .
preference for the land as presenting
the fewer obstacles, this author, In the
introduction to his work, 1.-THE Wan
dering Jew," representing him crossing
Bcring straits accompanied by his WIFE
This is believed to be the only appear.
ance OF this lady In literature In tho
thirtec nth century q 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 800 years later that
the extraordinary tale of his suffcringa
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, Dem
mark and other countries. In 1875 two
ambassadors at the court of the Spanish
monarch met him at Madrid In 1900
he was seen at Vienna, and in 1901 at
Lubbock. In 1915 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, ut
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 bur1..sses. Attracted