to look upon its building as the fulfilment of the prophecies in the
Scriptures for a city of that name.[4] A verse of the sibyl was also
remembered or composed, which, like all predictions after the event,
tallied in a surprising manner with the holy object so happily revealed.
The greater share of the Cross was left at Jerusalem, set in a case of
silver, and the remainder was sent to Constantine, who, in hopes of
securing the prosperity and duration of his empire, enclosed it within
his own statue on the Byzantine Forum. The pilgrims also, who thronged
to Jerusalem during a long course of years, were always eager, and often
successful, in obtaining a small fragment of the cross for themselves;
so that at length, according to the strong expression of St. Cyril, the
whole earth was filled with this sacred wood. Even at present, there
is scarcely a Roman Catholic cathedral which does not display some
pretended pieces of this relic; and it has been computed, with some
exaggeration, that were they all collected together, they might prove
sufficient for building a ship of the line. To account for this
extraordinary diffusion of so limited a quantity, the Catholic writers
have been obliged to assert its preternatural growth and vegetation,
which the saint already quoted ingeniously compares to the miracle of
the loaves and fishes.[5] That the guardians of this cross at Jerusalem
should have had recourse to such evident and undoubted falsehood,
should, I think, very much increase our doubts whether the Cross itself
was genuine, and whether the old age and credulity of Helena, may not
have been grossly imposed upon. Where we see one fraud, we may justly
suspect another. From this period, however, the history of this
fragment of wood may be clearly and accurately traced during the
twelve succeeding centuries.

In spite of its frequent partitions, the Holy Cross, say the monkish
writers, thus remained undiminished at Jerusalem, receiving the homage