hath man of his labour?" And, finally, as in the first, (ii, 24,) so in the second, (iii, 12, 22; v, 18, 19,) we find that "it is good for man to enjoy." Hence the three chief views of "the Preacher" are repeated in this second discourse.

Looking at its contents as a whole, we find the objection raised in chap. ii, 24, that "a tranquil life must be God's gift, and, hence, man's striving for it must be vain," is done away by the doctrine that "God has ordered all things well and beautifully, and his restrictive laws are laid down that men may learn to fear him." But other difficulties spring up. The oppressor's wrongs, that must be endured by helpless weakness, the pain of isolated life, or the distractions of society-all are obstacles to enjoyment. These obstacles again may be met "in the fear of God" with steadfast equanimity. But a new one occurs in the enigma that man should be allowed to amass riches, and yet not enjoy them. A new solution to this enigma is hinted at-and is afterwards made the basis of the third discourse, just as we found man's dependence on the Divine will made the starting-point of the second. What, therefore, in chap. v, 13-17 is introduced incidentally, is made the complete theme of the THIRD DISCOURSE, which, with the FOURTH, will be exhibited in our next number.

ART. II-PHYSICAL CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

A Treatise on the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ, and its Relation to the Principles and Practice of Christianity. By WILLIAM STROUD, M. D. 8vo., pp. 496. London. 1847.

DR. STROUD was well qualified, no less by his piety than by his distinguished attainments, for the production of a treatise upon this subject. Nor was the work before us hastily prepared. The author had been gathering his materials and forming his opinions for more than a quarter of a century. As early as 1830, an outline of the work, comprising, as he tells us, "its principal facts and inferences," was published in the Evangelical Register. Since that time it has been repeatedly revised and enlarged, as new facts and principles, having a bearing upon the subject, were developed in medical science.

From these facts, the reader would be led to expect a valuable treatise; nor will the reading disappoint that expectation. Even though he should fail to reach the same conclusion as the author upon some points, he will scarcely fail of being pleased and profited.

The tone of unaffected piety that pervades the work is not among the least pleasing of its characteristics. The arguments are mainly physiological, but there is everywhere a deferring to "the written Word." We have been the more struck with this, as no class of men are more dogmatical in whatever concerns their profession, or more ready to array themselves against Revelation, when it conflicts with their notions upon certain mental and physiological subjects, than those of the medical profession. Many younger members of the profession would do well to take a hint from so eminent a practitioner and so sound a philosopher.

In this article we propose to confine ourselves mainly to a development of Dr. Stroud's theory respecting the physical cause of the death of Christ. We should, however, do injustice to our own discrimination or candour, did we not confess that the author, in his repeated revisions of the work, has by no means sought condensation. It is not, therefore, free from prolixity and tautology, especially in the second part of the work, where the discussions are mainly theological and speculative. In passing from the sphere of physical and scientific researches, in connexion with Scripture facts, to that of speculative theology, the writer evidently entered upon a terra incognita, where he is often confused and baffled. An elimination of some of the speculative portions of the work, and a condensation of other parts, so as to reduce it to half its present bulk, would certainly add to its permanent value.

The object of the work is twofold: First, "To demonstrate an important physical fact connected with the death of Christ;" and, Secondly, "To point out its relation to the principles and practice of Christianity." In the discussion of the first, the author is perfectly at home, and here the great value of the work lies. As to the manner of proceeding, he says, speaking in the third person :

"The fact is not indeed now conceived for the first time, having been more or less correctly anticipated by several pious and excellent writers during the last century; but as, in matters of such solemn import, conjecture and probability are not a sufficient ground for conviction, the author has laboured to supply a demonstration of the fact, which he trusts will be both new and satisfactory. He has accordingly been careful not to assume anything which is not generally acknowledged; and has supported every point of the argument with proofs and evidences so combined, as apparently to leave no other alternative than that which is here mentioned. Should the attempt have been successful, it will furnish fresh proof of the value of inductive reasoning:which, like a sounding-line let down into the ocean of time, has thus, from the depth of eighteen hundred years, brought up to the surface a pearl of great price."-Preface, p. 6.

Regarding the "Crucifixion of Christ" as the central fact of the gospel system, and remembering that it has ever been the theme and

the hope of the Church, we cannot but deem it remarkable, that, "of this cardinal fact, the precise nature and the immediate cause have never yet been fully explored." One reason for this has undoubtedly been, the real difficulties that lie in the way of investigation; but a more formidable one is to be found in the fact, that commentators have continued, age after age, servilely to copy each other's expositions, with scarcely a single deviation from the beaten track. Probably, also, the ill-founded apprehension that such inquiries are either presumptuous or impracticable, or, at best, rather curious than useful, has had much to do with the comparative indifference with which the subject has been treated. The author, in prosecuting his investigation, has brought to his aid the light which physiological and mental researches have thrown upon the relations which subsist between body and mind. He has also ventured to bring to the test of a rigid criticism the stereotyped exposition of commentators upon the subject.

In the very prime and vigour of life, and in the full possession of all his faculties, the Saviour entered upon the scene of his last sufferings. The last supper, the departure of Juda's, the discourse of the Saviour, the agony of the garden,-are so many striking acts in the drama. His mortal agony upon the cross was of six hours' duration. The divine Presence, restored to him after his agony in the garden, was again withdrawn upon the cross, and the anguish of his spirit led him to exclaim, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" His death was sudden. Nor was his strength exhausted, for he had just cried with a "loud voice." The centurion could hardly believe that he had so soon died; and yet the fact was so evident, that his legs were not broken, as were those of the two thieves. But a soldier pierced his side with a spear, whereupon, says St. John, who was an eye-witness, "immediately there came forth blood and water." Here was evidently a combination of mental and physical causes attendant upon, if not producing, his death. Having assumed, then, the death of Christ upon the cross, the question arises, whether his death was superinduced by the agony and exhaustion of crucifixion. In order to the determination of this question, a brief inquiry into that mode of punishment and its effects will be necessary.

Crucifixion, as a mode of punishment, prevailed among many nations from the remotest antiquity. The first instance of it on record, probably, is that of the chief baker of Pharaoh, who, Josephus says, was crucified; which by no means contradicts our authorized English version of the Bible, which says simply that he was “hanged,” -the two words being interchangeable in the Scriptures. The

Greeks and Romans were accustomed to inflict this punishment upon criminals, especially upon slaves. It was not, as many have supposed, a Jewish mode of execution. The only instances of crucifixion allowed among them was that of the dead bodies of those who had been stoned for blasphemy; hence it was that the "nailing to the tree" was regarded by them as so peculiarly "accursed." And even in that case, the Mosaic Law required that the body should be taken down before sunset of the day on which the criminal had been slain. The instigators of the death of Christ were indeed Jews, but he was condemned by a Roman tribunal, and executed by a Roman law. His death was therefore most ignominious. Under sentence for alleged sedition against Cæsar, he suffered the death the Romans were accustomed to inflict upon their slaves and the vilest of malefactors; and then, also, being "nailed to the tree," in the eyes of the Jews he suffered the most execrable of deaths,-the punishment for blasphemy.

The infliction of punishment by crucifixion continued to be practised till the time of Constantine, by whom it was abolished throughout the Roman Empire:

"His respect for the cross of our Saviour made him abolish crucifixion. He would not suffer the instrument of our salvation to be dishonoured by any use, not only proper, but capable of making men look upon it with horror. He thought it indecent and irreligious that the cross should be used for the punishment of the vilest offenders, while he himself erected it as a trophy. and esteemed it the noblest ornament of his diadem, and military standards.”P. 34.

From that time forward, a period of fifteen centuries, crucifixion has been rarely witnessed in Europe; and the prevalent ideas of it were derived from painters, poets, or devotional writers, who followed imagination or tradition, rather than the evidence of facts. For correct notions upon this subject, the Christian world is greatly indebted to Salmasius and Lipsius, two eminent scholars of the seventeenth century, who with great industry and perseverance collected and brought together the authentic records of antiquity upon the subject. From their researches, we learn that the cross consisted, in addition to the upright and transverse bars, of a short bar projecting from the upright post, on which the crucified person was seated. "The structure of the cross," says Irenæus, "has five ends or summits, two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on which the crucified person rests." Justin Martyr also speaks of the "end projecting from the middle like a horn, on which crucified persons are seated." Tertullian, a still later authority, speaks of the "projecting bar which serves as a seat." This important part of the cross has been almost entirely overlooked, and the crucified individual

described as having his whole weight suspended on the nails which pierced his hands and his feet.

The process of crucifixion is thus described by Dr. Stroud :—

"The criminal condemned to this dreadful mode of death, having first been scourged, was compelled to carry the cross to the place of execution,—a circumstance which implies that the scourging was not excessively severe; and that the dimensions of the gibbet did not much exceed those of the human body. On arriving at the spot he was stripped of his clothes, and, after a cup of wine,-sometimes medicated, with a view to impart firmness, or to alleviate pain, was speedily nailed to the cross, either before or after its erection. In either case he was made to sit astride on the middle bar; and his limbs, having been extended and bound with cords, were finally secured by large iron spikes driven through their extremities, the hands to the transverse beam, and the feet to the upright post."-P. 36.

In this condition, intense and generally protracted suffering was endured, before death came to the relief of the victim. Indeed, crucifixion was a very lingering punishment, producing death generally by the slow process of nervous irritation and exhaustion. The duration of its agonies would, of course, be more or less protracted according to the age, sex, constitution of the individual, and other circumstances connected with the case. "In many cases death was partly induced by hunger and thirst, the vicissitudes of heat and cold, or the attacks of ravenous birds and beasts; and in others, was designedly accelerated by burning, stoning, suffocation, breaking the bones, or piercing the vital organs." Instances have occurred in which individuals, after being for some time upon the cross, were taken down, and, by careful medical treatment, restored to health. The usual duration of life under the torture inflicted by crucifixion may be set down as from two to three days; and cases are on record where life was protracted to five, and even nine days.

Jacobus Bosius, in his "Crux Triumphans et Gloriosa," as quoted by Stroud, says, that Victor, bishop of Amiterna, though crucified with his head downward, survived two days. He also gives an account of a married pair, crucified in the Diocletian persecution in 286, who hung alive upon the cross nine days and nights, mutually exhorting and encouraging each other, and both expiring on the tenth day. In the year 297, under the emperor Maximian, seven individuals, after being subjected to protracted and cruel tortures, were crucified at Samosata. Of these, "Hipparcus," a venerable old man, "died on the cross in a short time. James, Romanus, and Lollianus expired the next day, being stabbed by the soldiers while they hung on their crosses. Philotheus, Habibus, and Paragrus were taken down from their crosses while they were still living. The emperor, being informed that they were yet alive, commanded that huge FOURTH SERIES, VOL. L-13