The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1896-04-02

STORY OF THE CROSS.
1T WAS A SACRED SYMBOL LONG BE-
FORE THE CRUCIFIXlON.
Revcred by the AncIents. It is Found in


Two Letters of the Alphabet, which
Have IA Mystic History. The Mark
Saved Men In Old Testament Times.
No symbol, either in art or in re-
hgion, is 50 universal as the cross, 1t
appears twice in our alphabet, as the
letter I and the letter X. 1t is worn by
priests on their sacriicial robes, by dis
tinguished laymen as sign of distinc-
ton on occasions of state, and by male
and female nonentities as taste may di-
rect. 1t is craven on eucharistic YES
sells, embroidered on altar cloths, and
cut in relief on tombs and monuments.
Some of the greatest churches and ca
thedrals of Christendom are fashioned
in its shape. In European countries it
is common to see large crosses erected
in public places. The famous Charing
(chere reine) Cross. in London, derives
its name from the fact that it was one
of the places at which King Edward l.
set up cross to mark where the body
of his Queen Eleanor rested during the
progress of the funeral cortege to West.
minister
Yet 1t is mistake to suppose that
the cross has only Christian history.
1t was used as a religious symbol by
the aborigines of North and South
America, as well as by the most ancient
nations of the Old World. Prescott
tells us that tho Spaniards found the
cross as an object of worship in the
temples of Mexico. Researches in Gen.
tral America and Peru prove that it
was used in the same way by the in.
habitants of those countries. DR.. Brin-
ton, in Myths of the New World" in
forms us that the Indians regard the
cross as mystic emblem of the four
cardinal points of the compass.
Comparative mythologists draw vari-
GUS deductions from these remarkable
facts. Let US, however, appeal TO
man who is not only a comparative
mytholOgist, but a Christian priest.
For my own part" says the Rev. Bar
ing Gould, Il see no difficulty in be-
lieving that the cross formed a portion
of the primeval religion, traces of which
exist over the whole world, among
every people; that trust in the cross
was part Of the ancient faith which
taught men to believe in Trinity. in
war in heaven, Paradise from which
man fell, a Flood and a Babel, a faith
which was deeply Impressed with O con-
viction that Virgin should conceive
and bear Son, thai the dragons head
should be bruised, and that through
shedding of blood should come remis-
sion. The use of the cross as q symbol
of life and regenera ion through water
is as widely spread over the world as
the belief in the ark of Noah. Maybe
the shadow of the cross was cast fur
ther back into the night of ages, and
fell on wider range of country than
we are aware Of"
1t was only natural that the early
and medieval Christians, finding the
cross a symbol of life among the ma
tions of antiquity, should look curiously
into the Old Testament to see whether
there were not foreshadowings in it of
'the wood whereby righteousness
cometh." Nor was their search unre-
warded. In Isaac leaving the wood of
the sacrifice they saw prefgured both
Christ and the cross. They saw the
cross in Moses with arms expanded ON
the Mount, in the pole, with transverse
bars, upon which was wreathed the
brazen serpent, in the two sticks gath.
cred by the widow of Sarpeta But
plainest of all they read it in Ezekiel,
tx, 4, 6, go through the midst of the
CITY, through the midst of Jerusalem,
and set mark upon the foreheads of
the men" that are to be saved from
destruction by the sword. The word
here rendered mark" is in the Vulgate
''signa thau." The Thau was the old
Hebrew character, shaped like cross,
which was regarded as the sign of life,
felicity and safety.
Yet the cross was not always SYM
Dol of honor. Among the Phenicians
and Syrians and later among the Ro-
mans, it was a punishment inflicted on
slaves, robbers, assassins, and rebels
among which last Jesus was reckoned,
on account of His proclaiming Himself
King, or Messiah. The person sentenced
to this punishment was stripped Of his
clothes, except a covering around the
loins, In state of nudity he was
beaten with whips. Such was the Sc
verify of this hagellation that numbers
died of it. Jesus was crowned with
thorns, and was made the subject of
mockery; but insults of this kind were
not common. In this instance they
were owing to the petulance of the
Roman soldiers.