The Washington herald., 1913-10-10
Court Gossip of Interesting
Events on Two Continents

Urnr,nEht. 1915 by 4 j. Jacor-onN
The alleged spparitions of Jeanne
! dare at AlZonnc are continuing. and
| now not only the two little girls first
mentioned. but a hundred persons are
/ reported to have had visions Some al
| leGe that they have only seen virgin,
! which might mean the Virgin Mary.
| Others state distinctly that what the be
! li.vc they saw was Jeanne dare. Some
perceived her As shepherdess, others on
| horseback with banner. and others
again in shining mail. proceeding to the
coronation Of King Charles at Rheims.
| priest, who spent his vacation near
the spot, has questioned many of the
persons who had visions and he
| states that what surprises him is the
| large number OF persons who seem to
! have seen something. Up TO July II diff
I ferent people saw" as the children had
| seen, vague figures, white robes, heads
crowned with roses, blue GRIZZLIES. two
maidens clad in white linen, and so on.
But on July II two little girls, on the
bank. OF the Fresquel, saw Il woman
standing upright. clad in shining armor.
! with lowered visor. her sword by her
| side, and a banner in her hand"
From that time the alleged appariuOns
have continued. They have differed in
character. but have always been con-
nected with Jeanne dare, or her history.
Other curious stories come from AlZOnne.
miIler's wife has a field near bridge
over the Fresquel close to where the ap-
partitions were seen. This woman knew
nothing OF the apparitiOns. On July II
she saw a stcel-Clad man.
A butchers apprentice in CarCassonne
saw her first dressed as warrior. then
as a shepherdess, and then again as a
warrior Il was surprised. but had no
fear, although her white horse advanced
toward me. Some days after, when
came to pay for some oxen that l had
bought at Alzonne, l returned to the
banks OF the FresqueL and this time l
saw the Holy Virgin.
A retired teacher of the Lyric at Per-
pisnan, who lives at Castelnaudary,
saw" on the square opposite the sta
ton at AIzonne, between an opening in
the poplar trees the figure Of the Virgin,
clad in a white robe and reposing on the
greensward. and A miller's daughter as
serts that on the evening of August y
she saw in the sky flaming letters, which
she copied. and which are Latin invo-
cation to the Maid of Orleans.
II is not my province to argue pro or
con as TO these so-Called apparitons
But all this recalls to my mind similar
occurrence which years ago, as college
student I read in an old volume on re
Iigious history in the library of the
Hradshin at Prague. Let me give You
the story just as l read it, Withholding
all comment:
1t was in the eleventh century, and
the then elector of Mayence. who. as was
usual in those days also was the arch
bishop of the territory, was urged by
powerful influences, reaching to the steps
c the papal throne at the Vatican, TO
issue an edict that all Jews residing at
Mayence, under penalty of expulsion, or
worse, had to adopt the Christian rell-
gion. But that prelate was not only
man OF liberal views, but his best friend
and steady companion happened to be
the rabbi of the local Jewish congrega-
ton. perhaps this very fact was the
cause of the pressure brought upon him.
However, after spending a sleepless
night, he sent for his friend and ac-
quainted him with the terrible news.
This rabbi, well up in the teachings of
the Talmud, plainly told the archbishop
that the whole persecution resolved itself
into the basic question of belief that
is, in other words. Of what the masses
can be made to believe. Far be 1t from
me-" he said, ito argue the great ques-
tiOns of Judaism and Christianity with
my best friend, especially at this late
Nshy- ASuN IL 1 dll dDle 10 COuNlllCc YOU
that there is nothing easier than to make
the people see and believe things, even
things that do not exist. so that they will
positively affirm that and what they saw
and go so far as to assail in their fury
any one who gainsays them, would you
then recall your order of expulsion and
let the Jews alone?''
To this the archbishop cheerfully
agreed. never for an instance believing
that any intelligent Christian community
could be so deceived and misled. In
fact, his opinion was that his poor friend
was merely sparring for time in the hope
that tie matter would blow over. depend
ing upon the archbishops friendship for
him and his race.
Next afternoon, toward evening. a SOL
itary man was observed in one of the
main streets OF Mayence steadily look
ing into the sun. After a while Curl
Gus bystander went up to him and asked
why he did so and what he saw. OH
replied the man, nothing much-only I