Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-03-21

Corbet, but no one has ever been given
any intimation of how the body was
disposed of. II we are to trust to
tradition King Arthur never died, he
was spirited away under supernatural
care to recover from his wounds to
return when his country needed him.
There is no trace Of a tradition that
attempts to point out his burial place.
The problems of royal succession,
the disappearance of heirs and the like
have occasioned bitter dispute and
controversy in every European court.
1t was said at one time that Ivan Nv.
had killed his only son Dmitri. Six
years after Ivan's death Dmitri came
back. His mother. who should have
known, recognized him as her child
and he was crowned, but there were
those in Moscow who were equally
certain that the boy was only Grig-
orly Otrepieff, boy Of the town who
had run away from home. This may
have been a scheme on the part of
the young rulers enemies to depose
him, but it only aroused suspicion at
the time and Dmitri maintained his
seat for time. Then he antagonized
a certain element in the court by
showing favor to certain Poles, and
the Russians were willing enough to
believe him an imposter. He was de-
posed and the question of his iden-
tity was never settled.
The man in the iron mask, whom
Dumas immortaliZed, was, according
to tradition, the elder brother of Louis
XIV, whom the king imprisoned and
masked so that he might reign in his
stead. When Louis XIV. and Marie
Antoinette were beheaded there was
a general impression that the Dau-
phin, Louis XVII. had been murdered
by his jailer, but when 1t became once
more possible for Bourbon to claim
recognition from the French public
half a dozen youths appeared, each
claiming to be the heir to the throne.
One was shown to be Jean Marie
Hervagault, a tailor's son; another
Mathurin Brumeau, the son of a wood
en-shoe maker; another Francois
Henri Herbert. and another Karl
were mostly exposed, but just what
became of the real Louis will never be
known.
For centuries the traditions of
Ursula and her 1000 virgins was ac-
cepted by the church and when q
huge graveyard of women's bones was
uncovered at Cologne some years ago
the massacre Of the fair pilgrims by
the Huns was thought to be substan-
tiated. But the only record Of Ursula
was a Latin manuscript that was so
worded that it might have read
Ursula and 1000 virgins, or Ursula
and Unadecima. virgins" This point
was brought up some years ago and
gave birth to a great scholastic and
clerical controversy. Who can settle
it?
The story of the Wandering Jew
is almost as old as Christianity and is
similar to stories Of pagan peoples
much older than Christianity. But
the puzzle Is. who were the people, or
the long lived person who was able to
demonstrate to the clericals Of the
middle ages that had seen Jesus go to
Cavalry under the guard Of the Ro-
man soldiery and had spoken with
Him.
1928 A. D. an Armenian bishop
visiting in the west told of a man in
his land who had seen the passion of
Christ and was doomed to live until
the NaZarine should appear again
among men. The ecclesiastics story
was doubted at the time, but travel
ers in Armenia and other Armenian
sojourners in the west swore they had
seen the man in Armenia and Syria,
that he spoke many languages, had
Travelled in every quarter Of the earth
and never aged. He had seen all the
great personages Of history since the
beginning of the Christian era and was
able to tell tales of them that were
not then known, but were afterward
found in old and forgotten manu-
scripts. He was known in the east
as Cartaphilus.
Again man was found and inter-
viewed in Hamburg in 1547 who called
himself Ahasuerus. and claimed to be
the Wandering Jew Of tradition. He
was tall, gaunt, bearded man, with
a wonderful knowledge Of all the Ian
guages and peoples of the earth. A
priest first saw him standing in
church listening to the sermon. He
was struck by his appearance and ap-
preached him out Of curiosity. The
story he told created an enormous stir
in the church at that time. But this
was only the beginning of a series of
appearances which recurred in al
most every European city for a CEN
tury after. The man always answered
the same description. Whence he came,
whether it was always the same man,
and whittier he finally disappeared are
unsolved historic mysteries.
Those who know Plato will remem-
ber his reference to the great island
Of Atlantis, lying off Africa and Spain,
in the Atlantic Ocean. 1t was a land
Of the highest culture, according to
Greek tradition, visited by Greek and
Phoenician merchants of remote
historic period and finally 1t sank be-
low the sea. Plato calls 1t Timaeus
and Kritias.
The Celts had a similar story about
the isle of the dead, which, in their
fables, came to be land Of the bless
ed, usually called Avalon. Some have
thought the references were to Ameri-
ca. others have claimed that the char
acter of the Atlantic bottom Is Of
such a conformation that the story
Of great continent Immediately be-
low the surface is more than plaus-
ible. At any rate, the whole series
Of shadowy tales has never been en-
tirely discredited nor substantiated
and Atlantis remains a fascinating
l