THE CROSS

Otago Witness, Issue 2310, 9 June 1898, Page 50

THE CROSS

Thsre are of course countless legends which centre around tbe Cross, most of which are alladed to io noted pictures or in wellknown writings. Sir John Mandeville msn-' tiona these legends, and while it would be too lengthy a process to relate them in detail, as the- old writers loved to do, we here give the outline of the principal one among them. It seems that, although long driven oat of

j the earthly paradise, Adam and Eve still retained a lively recollection of the bliss they had enjoyed there — in the days when they were yst free from the taint of sin. When in the course of years Adam grew very old, and felt that he was about to die, ha was sorely afraid. As yet he had seen no human being bereft of life, except his beloved son Abel, and although several centuries' had passed over his head, and he had eedured many hardships, he lcnged to live on. So he called his son S3th, and bade him go is quest either of the fruit of life, which grew in the middle of the Garden of Eden, or of the oil of mercy, which flowed there, so that he might be cured of his sickness and his life be prolonged. Setb hesitated, because he did not know the way to the first abode of mankind, but Adam told him he need batfollow the traces of bis parents' ftseicg footsteps, which were branded deep in the soil. Thus tracing his way step by step, Sath arrived at last at the gate of the earthly Paradise, where he saw the Oberubim, who held a flishing' sword, which turced every way. This weapon is hence generally represented ia early art as a wheel of fire. As Seth saw that it would ba impossible to pass in without the angel's permission, be now humbly made known his errand, and begged that he might be allowed to get the balm for which Adam longed so ' sorely. - Bat the angel remained at his post, and after gazing Borrowf oily at the pleader, he told him that five long days and half a day (5500 years) mast- elap3&- before the oil of mercy- would fall- upon Adam's sinful head. Seth was greatly disappointed, and was abotit? to turn-away wfien the angel offered to give him a peep into the Garden which his parents bad once inhabited, and which they had forfeited by their disobedience to the Divine commando. The third eon of Adam had so often heard of the glories of Paradise that be eagerly availed himself of this proposal, and while the flashing sword stood still for a moment, he gaz?d eagerly through the open gate. His delighted eyes rested longest, however, upon a tree in the centre of the garden, whose roots leached down to the nethermost depths ofhell, while its branches towered far up into the sky. A later version adds that upon the topmost bough he even beheld a beautiful young woman holding a radiant babe in her arms, and as the glance of the Infant rested for one moment upon him his heart was filled with awe. A'monaent lafee'r the 'nasTsing sword had resumed its swift rotary motion, and Seth learned from the guardian angel that the child whom he . had seen was the Re- ! deemer, whose coming had been foretold when the curse was pronounced upon Adam and E?e, so many years ago. Then the angel stretched -out his hand, plucked three seede from the Tree of Life, and gave them to Setb, bidding him place them under Adam's tongue when, the latter breathed his last and was laid to re3t -in Hebron. Seta went home and carefully carried out the angel's orders. Fromthe seeds — mourisheri by the substance of the corruptible Adam — there soon Sprang up three slender trees, which, joined, together in the coarse of time, formed bntj'ono trunk, which has always been considered' an emblem of the Trinity. This tree grew and spread Us mighty branches' until Abraham came and rested beneath its shadow" when he first came into Palestine, led by the voice of God. The wonder-working rods of Moses and Aaron were both twigs from this marvellous tree, and it is said that the great Jewish lawgiver Bweetened the bitter waters or Marah by dropping a bis of its bark into the fountain. S?me authorities declare that Adam had been buried in Lebanon, and that David, charmed with the beauty of the tree that grew on his grave, had it Iransplanted into his palace gardens at Jerusalem. When Solomon began to build the temple which bore his name, he gave orders that the tree should be cut down and its wood used in the new construction. But in spite of Hiram the architects well-known skill, the tree could never be atilised, for it always proved too long or too short, too thick or too thin, for the purpose for which it was designed. Furioas at this peculiar obstinacy on the part of a mere block of wood, Hiram flang it aside in anger. Some time after a woman (Sibylla, the legends call her) came and sat down upon the discarded log. But her clothing took fire as she cama In contact with it, and as the (lames surrounded her she wildly prophesied that this piece of wood was destined for the utter destruction of the Jews. To prevent the repetition of such an accident as the one described above, the log "was casfe into the brook Osdron, whence the medieval writers gravely inform us that it drifted down into the Jordan and Dead Sea, anJ thence Into the Red Sea or Persian Gulfl Here it was found by the Queen of Sheba on her way to pay ' her memorable visit to Solomon to test! bu

wealth, wit, and wisdom. The Qu«n bad beard of the. KiDg's mania for bnilding, and, anxious to offer him a present, such as she knew he would appreciate, she had the huge piece of timber fiahed out of the waters and brought to Jerusalem, where ahe solemnly presented it to Solomon. Another version of the Btory claims that the log, discarded by Hiram at the timo of the building of the temple, was thrown across a stream, where it served as a bridge. When the Queen of Sheba was about to pass over it, she waa favoured by a vision of the future, and, rather than tread upon the sacred beam, she kilted up her gown and waded barefooted through the stream. The miraculous log was by her order brought to Solomon,' who covered il with plates of gold, and set it directly above the door of the teraple. Here it remained until Abijab, the great KiDg's grandson, .pulled it down for the sake of the gold ; and, hoping to conceal what be had done, ordered it to be buried deep down in the Jadcan soil. Many years later the pool of Bathesda was dug on the very spot where the wood lay buried, and the waters owed their curative powers to ita preaenca only.' It' remained . there unseen until a few days before the Crucifixion, when it mysteriously rose to the surface, was drawn out, and laid on the bank to dry.

The executioners were jast seekitg a piece of wood from which they could make a cress for the torture of the Nazarcne. Christ's sentence, had followed so closely upon His arrest that they had but little time for preparation, so tbey took the traditional' log, from which tbey rudely [fashioned ths cross. Ssrange to relate, the cross was planted upon the very spot where the tree had grown so ma»y years before, and tradition says that the men, in digging, came op?n Adam's skull, which they lsft at the foot of the cross. r Hence the bill was called Golgotha, the place of the skull, and the legend adds that as oar Lord hung upon the cross, some drops of His blood fell, upon the skull of Adam, fulfilling the Cherubim's prophecy. I b is on account of this^ legend that painters so often represent a skull at the foot of the cross, and when it is seen there, it is intended to indicate that the power of the Redeemer extends from the bsginnicg of the world and the first man to all eternity. — From " Legends of the Virgia and Christ," by H. A. Guerbsk.