saw, in the Museum of St. Germain, an ancient divinity of Gaul, before
the conquest of the country by Julius Caesar, wearing a garment on
which was woven a cross. In the same museum an ancient altar of Gaul
under Paganism, had a cross carved upon it. That the cross was not
adopted by the followers of Jesus until a later date may be inferred
from the silence of the earlier gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, on
the details of the crucifixion, which is more fully developed in the
later gospel of John. The first three evangelists say nothing about
the nails or the blood, and give the impression that he was hanged.
Writing of the two thieves who were sentenced to receive the same
punishment, Luke says, "One of the malefactors that was _hanged_ with
him." The idea of a bleeding Christ, such as we see on crosses in
Catholic churches, is not present in these earlier descriptions of the
crucifixion; the Christians of the time of Origin were called "the
followers of the god who was hanged." In the fourth gospel we see the
beginnings of the legend of the cross, of Jesus carrying or falling
under the weight of the cross, of the nail prints in his hands and
feet, of the spear drawing the blood from his side and smearing his
body. Of all this, the first three evangelists are quite ignorant.

[Illustration: Pagan Priest of Herculaneum Wearing the Cross.]

[Illustration: Cross of the Chinese Emperor Fou-Hi,2953 Years Before
Christ.]

[Illustration: Discovered in Newgrange, Ireland. An Ancient Pagan
Cross.]

Let it be further noted that it was not until eight hundred years
after the supposed crucifixion that Jesus is seen in the form of a