The Washington herald., 1908-03-15

New York, March lL-One Of the com
monest traits OF human nature is the de-
sire TO keep Souvenirs and relics Of OBJ
jeets or events that deeply interest US.
Thus mother preserves and fOndly
kisses the Tiny wearing apparel OF her
babe. So. too. a great nation ike the
United states preserves. and the people
regard with feelings OF reverence and
awe the ole silk flag Of the First City
Troop Of Philadelphia. which is said TO
De the prototype Of the Stars and Stripes:
the old cracked bell Of the Statehouse.
which proclaimed liberty to all the world;
the faded and decaying parchment on
which was written the Declaration OF In
dependence; the sword, shoulder straps.
coat, stomacher. and even the silk stock
ings and shirt OF Washington. ''the Father
Of His Country"
Hence il was the most natural thing in
the world for the early Christians 10 keen
many souvenirs and relics Of Christ. the
Founder OF their religion, whom they be-
lieeed 70 be not only man. but God; such.
for instance. as the handkerchief loaned
Him by Veronica, which afterward re-
tanned the bloody impression Of His coun-
tenance: the seamless robe" woven by
His mother. for which the soldiers cast
lots" the spear with which Longinus
pierced His side letting out blood and
water" the crown Of thorns which en-
ciroIed His head; Pilates placard in He
brew. Greek. and Latin proclaiming Him
King Of the Jews and. above al. the
cross or gibbet on which He died.
Finding Of True Cross.
The interesting details Of the finding Of
the true cross. A d. s26. by the Empress
l Helena. Qother Of Constantine. after
much searching and excavating. are too
well known 10 need repeating here.
/ What wonder that. after the cross was
brought out from its long hiding place.
popes and emPerors, patriarchs and mon
archs, primates and princes bishops and
mobiles. converts and monasteries. and
even devout laymen begged for small
particles Of the precious wood until. in
/ the course Of centuries. the original cross
was dismembered, divided and subdivided.
and scattered all over Christendom2
Indeed. so numerous are the alleged
relics Of the true cross that A widespread
popular impression exists that they car
not all be genuine. or the sum total OF
the pieces would be sufficient in bulk 10
construct a dezen crosses the size Of
Chrisrs-
All May Be Genuine.
Recent exhaustive researches by n.
Combes mot the ex-premierl and n.
RohsuIt de Fleury. who. some forty years
ago. carefully collected. studied. sifted.
weighed. and compared every shred Of
historical evidence that he could ind on
the subject and personally visited. exam
ined. and measured mSny OF the principal
relies OF the cross, show some surprising
results. Assuming the original cross 10
have been fifteen feet high. the cross
beam seven and one-half feet AMI the
cross seven and One-half inches wide by
six inches thick. which are about the d.
mensions required by the Gospel nara
I tive. the original cross would contain
about six and fve-eighths cubic feet OF
timber or rs cubic inches But as the
ordinary relic. which Is usually bestowed
as a high favor on a bishop, is of micro
scopic dimensions. NJ de F1eUry uses the
smallest French measure. the miliimeter.
OF which there are 5.625 10 the cubic inch.
and no less than 100000 10 the cubic
foot
This. adding the sum total OF all the
known existing and lost relics. gives Us
volume Of 10 0S35.055 cubic miIlimeters. or
about 65l cubic inches. which is Consid-
erably less than half q cubic foot. leaving
more than SIX cubic feet of the original
cross UnaccounJed for. after the most ex-
haustive search and careful investigation.
Relics Really ere Few.
The wonder, then. Is not that there
should be SO many relics OF the cross ex-
isting. but so very few. These relics are
found chiefly in the following places:
Jerusalem, one-third cubic inch; Rome,
thirty-four and two-ffths. Venice. twen-
ty-elght and one-half; the rest of Italy.
seven and One-tenth. Belgium. sixty-one
and two-thirds; Mount Athos. ffty-sIx;
Germany. Holland. &c. sixty-two: Paris.
fifteen and one-quarter; the rest Of
France tWenty-thTee. and England two
A learned and Interesting account OF
this subject in all its details may be
found in a thirty-two-page pamphlet by
Rev. James BellOrd published in q pen
ny edition" by the International Catholic
Truth Society, ArbUckle Building, Brook