Ordeal of the Cross.
When a person accused of crime had declared his innocence upon oath, and appealed to the cross for its judgment in his favor, he was brought into church before the altar. The priest previously prepared two sticks exactly alike, upon one of which was carved the figure of a cross. They were both wrapped up with great care and much ceremony in a quantity of wool, and laid upon the altar, or upon the relics of the saints. A solemn prayer was then offered up to God, that he would be pleased to discover, by the judgment of his holy cross, whether the accused person was innocent or guilty. A priest then approached the altar and took up one of the sticks, and the assistants reverently unswathed it. If it was marked with the cross, the accused person was innocent; if unmarked, he was guilty. It would be unjust to assert that the judgments delivered were in all cases erroneous, and it would be absurd to believe that they were left altogether to chance.