The ancient hieroglyph of the cross itself is, beyond all contradiction, of the most remote antiquity in the different countries of India; and it is found on most of the Egyptian obelisks--all the three monograms of Osiris, and those of Jupiter Ammon,--the staffs of Isis and Osiris, etc. The pious and orthodox Mr. Skelton, in his "Appeal to common sense," confesses as follows:--"How it came to pass that the Egyptians, Arabians, and Indians, _long before Christ came among us_, paid such a remarkable veneration to the cross, is to me unknown; _but the fact itself is known_." In Dr. Clarke's "Travels," there is an engraved copy of a Phoenician medal, found in the ruins of Citium, and proved by him to be Phoenician, on which are inscribed, not only the cross, but the rosary or string of beads, attached to it, _together with the figure of a Lamb_. The Rev. Mr. Maurice, in his "Indian Antiquities," informs us that the two principal Pagodas of India, Benares and Mathura, are erected in the form of _vast crosses_. The famous crux ansata, says Mr. Higgins, is to be seen on all the ancient buildings of Egypt; and is the mark alluded to by Ezekiel ix., 4. It is as common in India as in Egypt and Europe. Mr. Moor, in his "Oriental Fragments," tells us that, placed in a circle, it was an emblem of eternity, having equally neither beginning nor end. The signing of the cross** on the forehead of individuals, as a token of security for life, is of great antiquity. Cain, it seems, wore this mark of security. * Mr. Barrow, the great astronomer, says that "The Hindu religion spread over the whole earth; that Stonehenge is one of the temples of Boodh; and that astronomy, astrology, arithmetic, holy days, games, etc., may be referred to the same original." ** St Jerome has observed that this mark, or letter, in the true ancient Hebrew alphabet, _was a cross_. With the exception of the sun himself the hieroglyph of the cross has been more generally adored than any other object in nature. Why? Because it is symbolic of two annual periods which mainly affect the condition of man upon this globe--the two equinoctial crossings by the sun.