THE Croſs on which our Lord and Saviour ſuffered, would, naturally, if properly authenticated, be an object of the deepeſt veneration to all Chriſtian men, be their creed, or ſhade of opinion what it might; but, for over 300 years it could not be found, and it was reſerved for the Empreſs Helena in her old age (for ſhe was 79 years old) to diſcover its place of concealment.[1] That this _Invention_, or finding of the Croſs was believed in, at the time, there can be no manner of doubt, for it is alluded to by St. Cyril, Patriarch of Jeruſalem (A.D. 350 to 386), and by St. Ambroſe. Rufinus of Aquila, a friend of St. Jerome, in his _Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory_, gives an account of its finding, in the following words: “About the ſame time, Helena, the mother of Conſtantine, a woman of incomparable faith, whoſe ſincere piety was equalled by her rare munificence, warned by celeſtial viſions, went to Jeruſalem, and inquired of the inhabitants where was the place where the Divine Body had been affixed and hung on a gibbet. This place was difficult to find, for the perſecutors of old had raiſed a ſtatue to Venus,[2] in order that the Chriſtians who might wiſh to adore Chriſt in that place, ſhould appear to addreſs their homage to the goddeſs; and thus it was little frequented, and almoſt forgotten. After clearing away the profane objects which defiled it, and the rubbiſh that was there heaped up, ſhe found three croſſes placed in confuſion. But the joy which this diſcovery cauſed her was tempered by the impoſſibility of diſtinguiſhing to whom each of them had belonged. There, alſo, was found the title written by Pilate in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew characters; but ſtill there was nothing to indicate ſufficiently clearly the Croſs of our Lord. This uncertainty of man was ſettled by the teſtimoTny of heaven.” And then follows the ſtory of the dead woman being raiſed to life. [Sidenote: _Other Authorities._] Not only did Rufinus write thus, but Socrates, Theodoret, and Sozomen, all of whom lived within a century after the _Invention_, tell the ſame ſtory, ſo that it muſt have been of current belief. [Sidenote: _Puniſhment of the Croſs._] The puniſhment of the Croſs was a very ordinary one, and of far wider extent than many are aware. It was common among the Scythians, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Germans, and the Romans, who, however, principally applied it to their ſlaves, and rarely crucified free men, unleſs they were robbers or aſſasſins. Alexander the Great, after taking the city of Tyre, cauſed two thouſand inhabitants to be crucified. [Sidenote: _Puniſhment of the Croſs._] Flavius Joſephus relates, in his _Antiquities of the Jews_, that Alexander, the King of the Jews, on the capture of the town of Betoma, ordered eight hundred of the inhabitants to ſuffer the death of the Croſs, and their wives and children to be maſſacred before their eyes, whilſt they were ſtill alive.