WANDERING JEW.

Shannon News, 29 October 1924, Page 3

WANDERING JEW.

WEIRD LEGEND.' O. Henry's fine short story,. “The Door of Unrest,’’ tells of a mad shoemaker who periodically imagines he is the Wandering Jew, states “John o’London.” . The legend first reached England in 1228, when an Armenian archbishop was aslced W the monks of St. Albans about Joseph of Arimathea, who had spoken to Jesus and was reputed to be still alive. The archbishop claimed to have seen him, had even entertained him at dinner. This man stated, that, he was present when Christ

was on his way to Calvary, and that lit struck Jesus on the back, saying, ' “On with thee, Jesus! Wherefore dost, thou tarry?” Jesus turned and said, with terrible earnestness, “I indeed am . going, but thou . shalt tarry until I come.” The doom remained on the Jew, who ever after wandered oyer . the earth, unable to die, and unable to’ rest,, and after 1228 reports of his appearances are numerous. •' A Chance For Impostors. -

The legend first apepared in print in 3,602, and spread rapidly all over Europe, and naturally was a splendid hint to imposters. In 1542 the Bishop of Hamburg

tells liow he saw ■ listening to a ser-

mon a stranger tail ragged gaunt, barefooted, and unutterably old. He stated that at the death of Jesus he was a shoemaker, named Aliasuerus and that' when Jesus * was weighed down with the burden of tlie Gross,

he said,' “Get on, blasphemer, to thy doom,” to which Jesus replied: “I will stop and rest, but thou shalt . march onward until I return.” This Jew spoke all languages, and rebuked blasphemy with fearful earnestness. He ate and drank little and gave all gifts away in charity. A year ter two later he went to Strasburg and informed the magistrates that he had visited the town 200 years before, and on reference to the registers his statement was proved to be true. In England. When he arrived at Hull he was imprisoned as an impostor, but next morning the door of the prison was open and th e Jew was sitting quietly within. A smith was sent for and strong chains were put on tlie Jew, but to the surprise of thousands of spectators the chains instantly burst asunder. He was in London between 1818 and 1830, but the last report oi his existence came in 1868 from Salt Lake City, where an Irish Mormon declared he had met and converseff with the Wandering Jew. It is impossible to-sort out grains of truth from the mass of impostures, hut the germ of the legend seenis to be a too literal reading of Matthew xvi, 28: “Verily I say unto Vou, there b e ' some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom”; while it has been said that the legend may even have been circulated to support the Protestant idea of the continuous witness to the truth of the Holy Writ.