Supplementary Notes.

Of the several varieties of the Cross still in vogue as national and ecclesiastical emblems, and distinguished by the familiar appelations of St. George, St. Andrew, the Maltese, the Greek, the Latin, &c., there is not one the existence of which may not be traced to the remotest antiquity. That each known variety has been derived from a common source, and is emblematic, therefore, of one and the same truth, may be inferred from the fact of forms identically the same, found in the Western as well as the Eastern hemisphere. When the Spanish missionaries first set foot upon the soil of America in the 15th Century, they were amazed to find that the Cross was as devoutly worshipped by the Indians as themselves; and, what was more remarkable, the Cross was not only associated with other subjects corresponding in every particular with those delineated in Babylonian and Egyptian monuments, but also with Catholic appelations—the emblem of life, the tree of life, &c.

The war of 'Michael and the Dragon" can be traced to one of the oldest Arayan myths:The feathered serpent of the Pre-historic American corresponds with the dragon and serpent of the Semitic version, although differing in their attributes, Snake and Satan are synonymous, and snake is the literal translation from the Hebrew; although the Genesis account mentions a complete re-construction, yet geology proves that ages before the coal formation, the serpent was of the same species and habit. In the "Apochryphal Book of Wisdom" the first time the Serpent is identified with the "Evil Spirit."

Sir J. Rawlinson, "Antiquarian scholar," shows that in Egyptian and Assyrian mythology the serpent is classed as being the source of all knowledge, intelligence, and life, and is found in all the paintings and sculptures of the Pharaohs, with an egg in its mouth, also forming a circle biting its tail, and as creeping out of an egg, as being the germ of life, the symbol of immortality. The serpent's egg was the crest of the Druids—witness the circle ruins of England, France, India, and most aboriginal people, shaped like a serpent.

From the remotest ages this animal was assigned powers of healing, and must have been held in great reverence by the Hebrews, who worshipped and burnt incense to the brazen serpent for seven centuries.

In records more ancient than Jewish history we find Hercules with his heel assailed by a serpent; also our constellation figures—the first Adam in Opinchus, the serpent-holder. Those signs are generally admitted to be contemporary with the Great Pyramid, 2170 B.C.

For 17 centuries Justyn's works have been accepted as genuine records and preserved as the most valuable legacy of primitive Christian literature. He is the first of the "Christian Fatliers," and our only best authority to bridge over a century-and-a-half of the darkest age in Christendom.

The first we hear of the Athanasian Creed is at the Council of Cressy, 676; its author has always been considered anonymous.

The Nicene Creed, time of Benedict the 8th (called the interpolated faith of the 1501, has been used ever since then at Rome in the Eucharistic Service, but previously as a Baptismal Creed; first known as the rule of faith promulgated by the Council of 325, but in another form existed previously.

Dr. Colenso, Bishop South Africa, says; "Of the three Creeds some Churches adopt all—some one, some another; these, with the Catechisms, are but a set of propositions which men of different natural capacities, educations, and prejuices have fabricated—sometimes on the anvil of sincerity, oftener on that of ignorance or hypocrisy—from the Divine materials furnished in the Bible.

This accomplished Church scholar was hounded to his grave by his ecclesiastic superiors because he had the courage to speak what he believed to be the truth.

Louis the 9th, "Saint of France," who conducted three crusades, was a specimen of ecclesiarch chivalry of the mediæval age. In controversy his theory was, that even clerks, if not properly learned, should abstain from controversy with unbelievers. The layman, however, has but one argument—his good sword. If he heard that a man was an unbeliever, he should at once run his sword to the hilt into his entrails. He relates with special approbation the story of an old knight, who, weary of a disputation betwixt a Catholic doctor and a Jewish Rabbi, terminated it by bringing down his mace on the head of the Jewish teacher.