We may now ask the question, who was this _crucified man_ whom the Pagans "_adored_" before and after the time of Jesus of Nazareth? Who did the crucifix represent? It was, undoubtedly, "the Saviour crucified for the salvation of mankind," long before the Christian Era, _whose effigies were to be seen in many places all over Italy_. These Pagan crucifixes were either destroyed, corrupted, or adopted; the latter was the case with many ancient paintings of the _Bambino_,[198:5] on which may be seen the words _Deo Soli_. Now, these two words can never apply to Christ Jesus. He was _not Deus Solus_, in any sense, according to the idiom of the Latin language, and the Romish faith. Whether we construe the words to "the only God," or "God alone," they are equally heretical. No priest, in any age of the Church, would have thought of putting them there, _but finding them there_, they tolerated them. In the "_Celtic Druids_," Mr. Higgins describes a _crucifix_, a _lamb_, and an _elephant_, which was cut upon the "fire tower"--so-called--at Brechin, a town of Forfarshire, in Scotland. Although they appeared to be of very ancient date, he supposed, at that time, that they were modern, and belonged to Christianity, but some years afterwards, he wrote as follows: "I now doubt (the modern date of the tower), for we have, over and over again, seen the crucified man before Christ. We have also found 'The Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world,' among the Carnutes of Gaul, before the time of Christ; and when I contemplate these, and the _Elephant_ or _Ganesa_,[199:1] and the _Ring_[199:2] and its Cobra,[199:3] _Linga_,[199:4] _Iona_,[199:5] and Nandies, found not far from the tower, on the estate of Lord Castles, with the Colidei, the island of Iona, and Ii, . . . I am induced to doubt my former conclusions. The Elephant, the Ganesa of India, is a very stubborn fellow to be found here. The Ring, too, when joined with other matters, I cannot get over. _All these superstitions must have come from India._"[199:6] On one of the Irish "round towers" is to be seen _a crucifix of unmistakable Asiatic origin_.[199:7] If we turn to the New World, we shall find strange though it may appear, that the ancient _Mexicans_ and _Peruvians_ worshiped a _crucified Saviour_. This was the virgin-born _Quetzalcoatle_ whose crucifixion is represented in the paintings of the "_Codex Borgianus_," and the "_Codex Vaticanus_."