PUNISHING BY THE CROSS 
A|j c I i N T Met ii o d s b f Punishing by the C r,o s s . 
TiiE cross was made with two pieces of wood placed crosswise, 
either crossing at right angles at the top with T, or in the middle of 
their length like an X. The cross to which our Saviour was fastened, 
and on which he died, was of the former kind ; being thus repre- 
sented by old monuments, coins, and crosses; and St. Jerome com- 
pares it to a bird flying, a man surviving, or praying with his arms 
extended. The punishment of the cross was common among the 
Syrians, Egyptians, Persians, Africans, Greeks, Romans, and Jews. 
It was the most dreadful of all others, both for the shame and pain 
of it ; and so scandalous, that it was inflicted as the last mark of 
detestation upon the vilest of people. It was the punishment of rob- 
bers and murderers, provided that they were slaves too; but if 
they were free, and had the privilege of the city of Rome, it w'as 
thought too infamous a punishment for such a one, let his crimes 
be what they would. The Mosaic law ordained that the bodies of 
persons executed should not he left upon the tree after sun-set, Dent, 
xxi. 22. The Jew's believe that the souls of those w'ho remain upon 
the gibbet, and without burial, enjoy no peace, but wander up and 
down till their bodies are buried ; which agrees with the notions that 
Greeks and Romans had. The body of the criminal was fastened 
to the upright piece by nailing the feet to it, and on the other trans- 
verse piece, generally by nailing the hands on each side. Now, 
because these parts of the body, being the instruments of action and 
motion, are provided by nature wdth a much greater quantity of 
nerves than others have occasion for; and because all sensation is 
performed by the spirit contained in these nerves ; it will follow, that 
wherever they abound, the sense of pain in proportion must be more 
quick and tender. The Jews confess that they crucified people in 
their country, but deny that they inflicted this punishment upon any 
one alive. Before the crucifixion the criminal was generally scourged 
with cords ; sometimes pieces of bones w'ere tied to these scourges, 
that the condemned person might suffer more severely. It was also 
a custom, that he who was to be crucified, should bear his own cross 
to the place of execution. In this manner Christ was compelled to 
bear his ow'n cross, and as he sunk under the burden, Simon the 
Gyrenian w'as constrained to bear it after him and with him. But 
whereas it is generally supposed that our Lord bore the whole cross, 
i. e. both the long and transverse part, this seems to be a thing 
impossible ; and therefore Lipsius, in his treatise De Supplicio Cru- 
cis, has set the matter in a true light, when he tells us that Jesus 
only carried the transverse beam , because the long beam, or the 
body of the cross ; was either fixed in the ground before, or made 
ready to be set up as soon as the prisoner came ; and from hence he 
observes, that the painters are very much mistaken in representing 
our Saviour carrying the whole cross. There are several ways of 
crucifying ; sometimes the criminal was fastened with cords to a tree, 
sometimes he was crucified with his head downwards. This way 
St. Peter chose, out of respect to his master Jesus Christ, not think- 
ing himself worthy to be crucified like him ; though the common 
