HAMBURG: GENERAL IMPRESSIONS 69 



terview this strange man, and obtained the following ac- 

 count: Ahasuems by name, and shoemaker by profes- 

 sion, he had already been living at the time of Christ in 

 the city of Jerusalem, his native place. Like most of his 

 fellow-men, he had mistaken Jesus for a sectarian and 

 a revolutionist and, in unison with many others, had de- 

 manded the crucifixion of the Master. AVhen the proces- 

 sion, headed for Calvary, passed his house, he, Ahasuerus, 

 refused the suffering Savior even a moment's rest, driv- 

 ing him off in a rude manner so as to be esteemed for his 

 cruelty by the Pharisees. Then the Christ, lookly sadly 

 at the infuriated Jew, spake these words: "I only wished 

 to rest a while, but thou hast refused me, wherefore thou 

 shalt wander upon earth until the day of judgment com- 

 eth." After hearing these words, he felt an indescribable 

 longing to witness the crucifixion, during which he ex- 

 perienced so great a change of heart that, repenting his 

 deed, he left Jerusalem to do penance for his sins and 

 has been homeless ever since, a living warning to all 

 unbelievers and scoffers and destined to become a living 

 witness against the Jews on the last day. He suddenly 

 disappeared and visited this city but once more, says the 

 chronicle, and that was in A. D. 1606. 



May 22nd, 1851. 



Yesterday afternoon I met Vogt from Konigsberg and 

 Rudolph Ehlert as well as one Kullack, ex-lieutenant of 

 the Schleswig-Holstein army, with whom I spent a very 

 pleasant evening in the Walhalla, a delightful resort on 

 the Outer-Alster-Basin, where good concerts and moder- 

 ately reasonable priced refreshments help one to forget 

 the time. Sommerfeld is rooming at the same hotel that 

 I am, just two rooms from me. He is awaiting money, 

 like so many other Schleswig-Holstein officers, every one 

 of whom expects to emigrate to America sooner or later. 

 Many of these poor fellows are really stranded bnt man- 

 age in some way to take life easy, true to the oM Saxo- 

 nian saying: 



