DEMONSTRATION OF THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

SECTION I.

In the preceding chapter it is presumed to have been demonstrated that neither the ordinary sufferings of crucifixion, nor the wound inflicted by the soldier's spear, nor an unusual degree of weakness, nor the interposition of supernatural influence, was the immediate cause of the Saviour's death. The first of these conditions was inadequate, the second followed instead of preceding the effect, and the third and fourth had no existence. What then, it will be asked, was the real cause? In conformity with the inductive principles announced at the commencement of this inquiry, it must have been a known power in nature, possessing the requisite efficacy, agreeing with all the circumstances of the case, and by suitable tests proved to have been present without counteraction. It will be the object of the ensuing observations to show that the power in which these characters perfectly and exclusively concurred, was agony of MIND, PRODUCING RUPTURE OF THE HEART. To establish this conclusion numerous details will be adduced, but the argument itself is short and simple.

In the garden^of Gethsemane Christ endured mental agony so intense that, had it not been limited by divine interposition, it would probably have destroyed his life without the aid of any other sufferings; but having been thus mitigated, its effects were confined to violent palpitation of the heart, accompanied with bloody sweat. On the cross this agony was renewed, in conjunction with the ordinary sufferings incidental to that mode of punishment; and having at this time been allowed to proceed to its utmost extremity without restraint, occasioned sudden death by rupture of the heart, intimated by a discharge of blood and water from his side, when it was afterwards pierced with a spear.

In reference to their influence on the functions of body and mind, the human passions are naturally divisible into two opposite classes, the exciting, and the depressing; the former giving rise to energy and animation, the latter to debility and torpor. Provided they are sufficiently strong or long continued, passions of either class may induce death, either by simple exhaustion of vital power, or by some special injury to the heart, brain, or lungs. Agony, or the conflict between two exciting passions having opposite objects, is in this respect peculiarly efficacious; and when intense, produces violent palpitation, bloody sweat, oppression of the chest, loud cries, and ultimately rupture of the heart. Such rupture is usually attended with immediate death, and with an effusion into the pericardium (the capsule containing the heart) of the blood previously circulating through that organ; which when thus extravagated, although scarcely in any other case, separates into its constituent parts, so as to present the appearance commonly termed blood and water. In support of these statements several proofs and illustrations will now be proposed, and others will be inserted at the end of the volume. It must not however be expected that many distinct examples of this kind can be cited; since whilst few it may be hoped have occurred, still fewer have been duly authenticated and recorded. For the satisfaction of persons not familiar with anatomy, it may be proper to premise that the heart is a double muscular bag, of a conical form, lined within and without by a dense membrane, and loosely inclosed in a receptacle of similar material, called the pericardium. It consists of two principal sacs, the right and the left, which lie side by side, and adhere firmly together, so as to form a strong middle wall, but have no internal communication. Each of these is subdivided into two connected pouches, or chambers, termed auricle and ventricle, whereof the auricle is round and thin, the ventricle long and fleshy; the two former constituting the base, and the two latter the body of the organ. Placed in the centre of the vascular system, the heart promotes and regulates the circulation of the blood, received on each side from two or more large veins of a soft and compressible texture, and discharged through a single artery which, being firm and elastic, is kept constantly pervious. Returning from all parts of the body except the lungs, blood of nearly a black colour, and become unfit for the purposes of life, is poured by two principal veins, called venæ cavæ, into the right auricle, whence, after a momentary delay, it is transferred to the corresponding ventricle, its reflux being prevented by a membranous valve interposed between them. By the powerful contraction of the ventricle it is transmitted through the pulmonary artery to the lungs, where by minute subdivision, and contact with atmospheric air inhaled through the wind-pipe, it is purified, and acquires a bright crimson colour. Returning from the lungs by the four pulmonary veins, the renovated blood next passes into the left auricle, and from thence in a similar manner and at the same time as on the right side into the left ventricle, by the contraction of which it is distributed with great force through the aorta to the remaining parts of the body, whence it was originally derived.

Whilst undisturbed by accident or disease, the actions just described are maintained during the whole of life with admirable energy and regularity, but are liable to be deranged or interrupted by various causes, and particularly by the passions of the mind. Thus it is observed by Baron Haller, the father of modern physiology, that excessive grief occasions palpitation, and sometimes sudden death; that the corporeal effects of anger and terror are nearly alike, including increased strength, and violent motions both in the heart and throughout the body, and producing bloody sweats, and other kinds of hemorrhage.¹— "Anger "— says Senac, — "has in certain cases torn the fibres of the heart, and even opened the ventricles. It is not therefore extraordinary that it should be followed by palpitation, and accordingly, various physicians have observed such a result . . . . . . But fear and terror are not less powerful causes, especially when they seize suddenly. In that case the nerves act with violence on the heart, and derange the order of its movements. The blood is at the same time propelled in these passions by a general shock, or commotion of all the parts of the body: it therefore necessarily accumulates in the two trunks of the venæ cavæ, rushes into the auricles, and overcharges them, as well as the ventricles. Here then are two causes, one the consequence of the other, which, as is proved by numerous examples, produce palpitation. Dilatations are, as we have already stated, frequent results of fits of passion. Grief and sadness do not act so suddenly, nor with equal force; but, as we have said, these secret and silent passions induce similar disorder."² — "If any one "— remarks Corvisart, — "can seriously deny, or even doubt the fatal physical influence of the passions on the heart, let it suffice him to know that a fit of anger may produce rupture of the heart, and cause sudden death . . . . . . Complete rupture of the heart has rarely been observed in the sound state of this organ: some examples may however be cited of this lesion, in consequence of a violent effort, a fit of anger, an epileptic paroxysm, &c. . . . . . . But of all the causes capable of producing organic diseases in general, and more especially those of the heart, the most powerful beyond dispute are mental affections . . . . . . No mental affection can indeed be experienced without the movement of the heart being either augmented, accelerated, retarded, weakened, or disturbed, without its force in fact being increased, enfeebled, or almost annihilated. Pleasure, pain, fear, anger, in short all the powerful passions, cause the heart to palpitate, to beat more or less frequently, strongly, slowly, or regularly, or to suspend its action momentarily, sometimes even mortally."³

In his admirable dissertations on the nervous system. Sir Charles Bell has not only confirmed these statements, but explained them. — "The language and sentiments of every people" — he observes, — "have pointed to the heart as the seat of passion, and every individual must have felt its truth. For, though the heart be not in the proper sense the seat of passion, it is influenced by the conditions of the mind, and from thence its influence is extended through the respiratory organs, so as to mount to the throat, lips, and cheeks, and account for every movement in passion which is not explained by the direct influence of the mind upon the features. So we shall find, if we attend to the expression of grief, that the same phenomena are presented, and we may catalogue them as it were anatomically. Imagine the overwhelming influence of grief. The object in the mind has absorbed the powers of the frame; the body is no more regarded, the spirits have left it; it reclines, and the limbs gravitate; the whole frame is nerveless and relaxed, and the person scarcely breathes. . . . . . . Although the heart has not the common sense of touch, yet it has an appropriate sensibility, by which it is held united in the closest connexion and sympathy with the other vital organs, so that it participates in all the changes of the general system of the body. But, connected with the heart, and depending on its peculiar and excessive sensibility, there is an extensive apparatus which demands our attention. This is the organ of breathing, a part known obviously as the instrument of speech, but which I shall show to be more. The organ of breathing, in its association with the heart, is the instrument of expression, and is the part of the frame by the action of which the emotions are developed, and made visible to us. Certain strong feelings of the mind produce a disturbed condition of the heart, and through that corporeal influence, directly from the heart, indirectly from the mind, the extensive apparatus constituting the organ of breathing is put in motion, and gives us the outward signs which we call expression. . . . . . . The heart and lungs, though insensible to common impression, yet being acutely alive to their proper stimulus, suffer from the slightest change of posture, or exertion of the frame, and also from the changes or afflictions of the mind. . . . . . .  But it is when the strong are subdued by this mysterious union of soul and body, when passion tears the breast, that the most afflicting picture of human frailty is presented, and the surest proof afforded that it is on the respiratory organs that the influence of passion falls with so powerful an expression of agony."⁴ — Precisely similar, and some what more explanatory, is the testimony of Crichton. — "The internal gratifications and uneasinesses which we call mental, are all" — says he, — "felt about the praecordia, [the region of the heart,] and strictly speaking therefore, are sensual. It would appear that the sensorial impressions, which all ideas belonging to these causes produce, are communicated by a necessary law of our economy to these parts, affecting particularly the heart, diaphragm, and organs of respiration. It is there that the pleasure or pain is experienced. Nothing can be a more convincing proof of this than the common expressions and actions of mankind when under the influence of one or other of these feelings. Our heart, we say, is relieved from a load f— it is light, — it jumps for joy, — it is oppressed, — it is full, — it is ready to break, — it is touched with sorrow."' — The involuntary effects of terror on a man are thus described. — "His heart is thrown into greater and more violent action than usual, but the arterial system, so far from corresponding with it in a general sense, is either rendered torpid at its extremities, or else is affected with a spasm; a sudden paleness spreads itself over his countenance, his lips lose the coral tint, and the whole body of the man seems to shrink into a smaller compass, a tremor agitates his whole frame, and he feels as if he had suffered a great diminution of strength. . . . . . . It happens now and then, when the whole play of the mental faculties is as it were destroyed by the impression of the dreadful object, and no possibility of escape appears, that, volition being then without a stimulus, a person drops down on the earth, as if suddenly bereft of all his animal powers. . . . . . That the sanguiferous system does sustain great and sudden changes from the influence of the passions, is a fact which common observation is sufficient to prove. In all those which are the offspring of desire it is accelerated, and in all those which spring from aversion it is slower. In sudden joy, in eager hope, in the expectations of love, in the endearments of friendship, the pulse beats quick, the face glows, and the eyes glisten. In grief and sorrow, extreme anger, hatred, jealousy, and envy, the blood stagnates about the heart, a chilling cold spreads itself over the whole surface of the body, the blood forsakes the cheeks, and a tremor ensues. . . . . . . The general corporeal effect of all the modifications of grief and sorrow is a torpor in every irritable part, especially in the circulating and absorbent system: hence the paleness of the countenance, the coldness of the extremities, the contraction and shrinking of the skin and general surface of the body, the smallness and slowness of the pulse, the want of appetite, the deficiency of muscular force, and the sense of general languor which overspreads the whole frame. As the action of the extreme branches of the arterial system is greatly diminished, the heart, and aorta and its larger vessels, and the whole system of the pulmonary artery become loaded and distended with blood. The painful sense of fulness which this occasions gives rise to a common expression, which is in some degree descriptive of what really exists. In sorrow the heart is said to be full, and in deep sorrow it is often said to be like to burst. A sense of oppression and anxiety, a laborious and slow respiration, and the remarkable phenomena of sobbing and sighing, naturally arise from this state of torpor and retarded circulation. . . . . . . The debilitating powers of grief seem to exhaust the irritability of the system, without a previous increase of vascular action. When a person is suddenly informed of some melancholy event that deeply affects his life, fortune, or fame, his whole strength seems at once to leave him, the muscles which support him are all relaxed, and he feels as if his knees gave way under him. In some people the sensorial impression exhausts the irritability so completely, as to cause the action of the heart and arteries and organs of respiration to cease, and the person then falls into a swoon, as it is called. . . . . . . When a person is suddenly terrified, the motion of the heart is generally quickened, a kind of spasmodic contraction seizes all the arteries, especially the extreme ones, causing an accumulation of blood in the larger vessels. The sudden and forcible distension of the heart makes it move on its basis, and produces that peculiar sensation, which most people endeavour to express by saying that their heart seems to jump to their throat. . . . . . . In some cases the debility which is produced is so great as to render it impossible for the person to support himself in an erect posture, and he therefore falls down, apparently senseless and speechless, on the ground. In this way the strongest man is often deprived in a few seconds of almost the whole of his natural strength. . . . . . . As soon as burning anger is excited, the impressions are directed to the heart and arteries, and they are stimulated to a preternatural degree of action, the blood is propelled with violence to the surface of the body, and circulates with force and rapidity through the smallest and most extreme arteries, and hence the burning heat which characterizes this sort of passion."⁵

Of rapid death occasioned by the direct operation either of joy or grief, Robinson, in his work on the spleen, furnishes two examples. — "Mrs, Davise, a lady of consummate virtue, was so sensibly touched with excessive joy on suddenly hearing of the return of her son from the Indies, that the passion was too big for her soul to struggle with, which in a moment disconcerted all the animal springs, and put an everlasting stop to all their motions. . . . . . . Mrs. Chiswell was so extremely affected with sorrow at the departure of her son for Turkey, that she expired that very moment she was about to withdraw her hand from a parting farewell."⁶ — The increased influence of these passions, when they abruptly succeed one another, is thus noticed by Dr. Cogan. — "There are many instances on record of sudden death having been occasioned by the hasty communication of very joyful tidings. Like a stroke of electricity indiscreetly directed, the violent percussion has probably produced a paralysis of the heart by the excess of its stimulus. These incidents are most likely to take place in subjects who were at the instant deeply oppressed with the opposite passions of fear and anxiety, by which the natural and salutary action of the heart and arteries was greatly impeded. This of consequence will- create a resistance to the impulse, and render it more liable to destroy the tone of that sensible organ. In most of the instances recorded, the persons who have fallen a sacrifice to the excess of joy were in this particular situation, nor was there an opportunity given to soften the agony of fear by a cautious manner of communicating the tidings. . . . . . . Historians present us with many instances of fatal effects from the excess of joy; but it plainly appears from their narratives that the subjects were at the instant preceding under the pressure of extreme anguish of mind. Pliny informs us that Chilo the Lacedemonian died on hearing that his son had gained a prize in the Olympic games. We may consider the excess of joy in this case as an indication of his previous solicitude concerning the issue. (Lib. vii. sect. 7.) But the following instances are more express. Valerius Maximus tells us that Sophocles the tragic writer, in a contest of honour, died in consequence of a decision being pronounced in his favour. (Lib. ix. cap. 12.) Aulus Gellius mentions a remarkable example of what may be termed accumulated joy in [the sudden death of] Diagoras, whose three sons were crowned the same day as victors, the one as a pugilist, the other as a wrestler, and the third in both capacities. (Noct. Attic, lib. iii. cap. 15.) Livy also mentions the instance of an aged matron who, whilst she was in the depth of distress from the tidings of her son's having been slain in battle, died in his arms in the excess of joy on his safe return. (Lib. xxii. cap. 7.) Not to enumerate more examples, we are told by the Italian historian Guicciardini that Leo X. died of a fever, occasioned by the agitation of his spirits on his receiving the joyful news of the capture of Milan, concerning which he had entertained much anxiety. (Lib. xiv.) In all these instances, the previous state of mind, with its pathological effects on the body, made the impulse of joy the stronger, and contributed to render it fatal."⁷

From the foregoing testimonies of eminent authors, to which many more might be added, it thus appears that one of the principal corporeal effects of the exciting passions is palpitation, or vehement action of the heart; and it will now be shown that, when this action is intense, it produces bloody sweat, dilatation, and ultimately rupture of the heart. By those acquainted with the structure and functions of the animal frame such results might readily be anticipated; but to others, authentic records of their actual occurrence will furnish the best proof of the fact. Perspiration, both sensible and insensible, takes place from the mouths of small regularly organized tubes, which perforate the skin in all parts of the body, terminating in blind extremities internally, and by innumerable orifices on the outer surface. These tubes are surrounded by a network of minute vessels, and penetrated by the ultimate ramifications of arteries which, according to the force of the local circulation, depending chiefly on that of the heart, discharge either the watery parts of the blood in the state of vapour, its grosser ingredients in the form of a glutinous liquid, or in extreme cases the entire blood itself. The influence of the invigorating passions, more especially in exciting an increased flow of blood to the skin, is familiarly illustrated by the process of blushing, either from shame or anger; for during this state the heart beats strongly, the surface of the body becomes hot and red, and if the emotion is very powerful, breaks out into a warm and copious perspiration, the first step towards a bloody sweat. Of the latter affection several instances are related in the German Ephemerides, wherein Kannegiesser remarks, — "Violent mental excitement, whether occasioned by uncontrollable anger, or vehement joy, and in like manner sudden terror, or intense fear, forces out a sweat, accompanied with signs either of anxiety or of hilarity." — After ascribing this sweat to the unequal constriction of some vessels and dilatation of others, he further observes, — "If the mind is seized with a sudden fear of death, the sweat, owing to the excessive degree of constriction, often becomes bloody." — The eminent French historian De Thou mentions the case of — "an Italian officer who commanded at Monte-Maro, a fortress of Piedmont, during the warfare in 1552, between Henry II. of France and the emperor Charles v. This officer, having been treacherously seized by order of the hostile general, and threatened with public execution unless he surrendered the place, was so agitated at the prospect of an ignominious death, that he sweated blood from every part of his body." — The same writer relates a similar occurrence in the person of a young Florentine at Rome, unjustly put to death by order of Pope Sixtus v. in the beginning of his reign, and concludes the narrative as follows. — "When the youth was led forth to execution, he excited the commiseration of many, and through excess of grief, was observed to shed bloody tears, and to discharge blood instead of sweat from his whole body; a circumstance which many regarded as a certain proof that nature condemned the severity of a sentence so cruelly hastened, and invoked vengeance against the magistrate himself, as therein guilty of murder." — Amongst several other examples given in the Ephemerides, of bloody tears and bloody sweat occasioned by extreme fear, more especially the fear of death, may be mentioned that of — "a young boy who, having taken part in a crime for which two of his elder brothers were hanged, was exposed to public view under the gallows on which they were executed, and was thereupon observed to sweat blood from his whole body." — In his Commentaries on the four Gospels, Maldonato refers to — "a robust and healthy man at Paris who, on hearing sentence of death passed on him, was covered with a bloody sweat." — Zacchias mentions a young man who was similarly affected on being condemned to the flames. Schenck cites from a martyrology the case of — "a nun who fell into the hands of soldiers; and, on seeing herself encompassed with swords and daggers threatening instant death, was so terrified and agitated, that she discharged blood from every part of her body, and died of hemorrhage in the sight of her assailants;"⁸ — and Tissot reports from a respectable journal that ofr— "a sailor who was so alarmed by a storm, that through fear he fell down, and his face sweated blood, which during the whole continuance of the storm returned like ordinary sweat, as fast as it was wiped away."⁹

That several of the instances on record of sudden death from exciting passions were occasioned by rupture of the heart, the circumstances which attended them render it impossible to doubt; although, owing to the neglect of examination, the decisive proof afforded by actual inspection is seldom attainable. The following examples may however suffice; but, previously to stating them, it seems proper to explain the manner in which, under such agency, rupture of the heart takes place. The immediate cause is a sudden and violent contraction of one of the ventricles, usually the left, on the column of blood thrown into it by a similar contraction of the corresponding auricle. Prevented from returning backwards by the intervening valve, and not finding a sufficient outlet forwards in the connected artery, the blood reacts against the ventricle itself, which is consequently torn open at the point of greatest distension, or least resistance, by the influence of its own reflected force. A quantity of blood is hereby discharged into the pericardium, and having no means of escape from that capsule, stops the circulation by compressing the heart from without, and induces almost instantaneous death.¹⁰ In young and vigorous subjects, the blood thus collected in the pericardium soon divides into its constituent parts, namely, a pale watery liquid called serum, and a soft clotted substance of a deep red colour termed crassamentum; but, except under similar circumstances of extravasation, this distinct separation of the blood is seldom witnessed in the dead body. When, however, the action of the ventricle is less violent, instead of bursting under the continued injection from the auricle, it merely dilates; but, as in consequence of this over-distension its power of contraction is speedily destroyed, death takes place with equal certainty, although perhaps with less rapidity, and in this case as well as in the former one, the blood remaining within the heart has been found divided into serum and crassamentum.

In exact conformity with the foregoing statement Dr. Hope observes, — "It is generally in the left ventricle that the rupture [of the heart] takes place; a circumstance which at first appears remarkable, since this ventricle is the stronger, but for the same reason it contracts more energetically, and.... it is only strong muscles which undergo rupture from the energy of their own contraction. Hence rupture of the auricles is much more rare than that of the ventricles. The exciting causes of rupture are generally considerable efforts, paroxysms of passion, external violence, as falls, &;c. . . . . . . Rupture of the heart or great vessels into the pericardium is not always immediately fatal, as a solid coagulum or a fibrinous concretion has in several instances been known to arrest the hemorrhage for a few hours. Of ten cases mentioned by Bayle, eight died instantaneously, one in about two hours, and another in fourteen." — Amongst the causes of rupture of the heart Dr. Copland enumerates, — "violent mental emotions, especially anger, fright, terror, unexpected disappointment, distressing intelligence abruptly communicated, anxiety, &c., sudden and violent muscular efforts, and laborious or prolonged physical exertions of any kind, particularly in constrained positions. . . . . . . In some cases," — he observes, — "inexpressible anxiety and pain have been felt in the prgecordia and epigastrium, with cold extremities, and cramps, shortly before dissolution. In the majority rupture has produced instant death, but in some this has not been the case. . . . . . . In most of the cases in which the rupture is preceded by violent pain, M. Ollivier thinks that it is produced gradually from the successive laceration of several layers or fasciculi of muscular fibres, and that the pericardium becomes only gradually distended by the effused blood. Where the laceration and aperture are at once large, a copious effusion instantly occurs, fills the pericardium, and abolishes the contractions of the organ."¹¹ — The distinguished Italian anatomist Morgagni judiciously remarks, that the cause of death on such occasions is not the mere loss of blood, since under different circumstances a greater quantity may be lost without destroying life, but the sudden compression of the heart, and stoppage of the circulation, in consequence of which, as he says, — "a small hemorrhage within the pericardium causes death far more rapidly than a much larger one in most other parts of the body."¹² — This is proved by several examples, in which without any obvious rupture of the heart, blood effused into the pericardium induced sudden death. One is mentioned by Christian Vater, in the German Ephemerides, and another by Van Geuns, in a separate work. Both the subjects were robust soldiers who died of excessive joy, and in whose bodies no morbid condition was afterwards found, except a large quantity of clotted blood in the pericardium, by which the action of the heart had been suppressed. The latter author ascribes the effect to sudden distension of the exhalants opening on the inner surface of the membrane. This would correspond to the manner in which bloody sweat is produced; but, as the exhalants of the pericardium are very inferior both in size and activity to those of the skin, it is more probable that in such cases the effusion is due either to rupture of some of the nutrient vessels of the heart itself, termed its coronary vessels, or to hemorrhage from without, penetrating by a minute or circuitous passage into its capsule. Such at least is the opinion of Morgagni, Zecchinelli, and other anatomists. Of blood thus finding its way into the pericardium by a small aperture, which without great attention might easily escape notice, the former gives several examples; and in the Ephemerides, Dr. Daniel Fischer mentions the case of a soldier who died suddenly after eating a hearty dinner, and in whose body the only morbid appearance discovered on inspection was, — "the pericardium filled and distended with very fluid and florid blood. The membrane having been divided longitudinally, in order to trace more exactly the source of the hemorrhage, this was found at the base of the heart, where a branch of the coronary artery had ruptured, and from which blood was still actually flowing."¹³

The lower and more common degrees of injury of the heart from passions of the mind are well adapted to illustrate the higher ones, which are necessarily rare. Thus, Harvey relates the case of a man who, under the long-continued working of indignation which he was compelled to restrain, and of vindictive feelings which he was unable to gratify, fell after some years into a scorbutic or hemorrhagic state, attended with extreme oppression and pain of the chest, owing to an immense enlargement of the heart and principal arteries, entirely occasioned by mental emotion. Had this emotion been more intense, it is easy to conceive that, instead of a slight oozing of blood from the cutaneous vessels, and a mere enlargement of the central organs of circulation, the result would have been bloody sweat, and rupture of the heart. Dionis gives an interesting account of a French naval officer who laboured for several years under disease of the heart, to which he at length fell a victim. On subsequent examination, the right auricle was found as big as the head of a new-born child, and contained nearly a pint and a half of blood, the greater part of which was coagulated. He uniformly ascribed his complaint to the strong efforts which he used twelve or thirteen years before, in suppressing the first motions of a violent fit of anger; for at that time the cardiac symptoms commenced, and continued ever after till the day of his death. In like manner, Tissot quotes from Viridet the case of a merchant, who in consequence of violent grief was seized with constriction and severe pain of heart, terminating in death. On inspection of the body, — "the heart was found twice as large as it should have been, and the whole of its left cavity filled with blood strongly coagulated." — In another merchant aged sixty-two years, who suddenly died of grief, Bonet states that the heart and lungs were found greatly distended with blood, which in the right ventricle was almost entirely coagulated. Of the separation of the blood in some of these cases into its constituents, the same author gives two examples. — "A paralytic orphan girl, seventeen years of age, suddenly died of suffocation without any obvious cause. On dissecting the body, I found the heart of twice the usual size, its auricles very large, and like the veins and arteries, much distended with water, and black clotted blood. . . . . . . . In a soldier who suddenly died after long-continued grief, whilst all the other viscera were healthy, the pericardium was found to contain not only water, but also much coagulated blood."¹⁴ — The popular use of the terms blood and water, or their equivalents in different languages, to signify the dissevered crassamentum and serum of the blood, is thus explained, and the expressions are natural and reasonable; since the crassamentum, or red clotted portion, comprises nearly all the more essential ingredients of the blood, and the serum, or pale yellow liquid, consists chiefly of water. In commenting on the last case, Morgagni makes the following apposite remark. — "Although you will see it repeated in a note that the heart was loaded both with blood and water, it is by no means necessary that you should believe this water to have been any other than the serum of the blood separated from the coagulated part, as not unfrequently happens to a considerable amount." — An interesting example of the same kind is furnished by Mr. Bedingfield, who observes, — "In persons who die of what is called a broken heart, the auricles will sometimes be found much distended. I remember examining a case of this description in which no trace of disease could be detected except in the right auricle of the heart. This compartment was of three times its natural dimensions. It contained a large quantity of blood which had separated into serum, crassamentum, and coagulable lymph, as perfectly as inflamed blood does when drawn from a vein." — In such circumstances the cause of death is, as Haller and others have explained, a sudden and excessive distension of the cardiac cavity, which thereupon loses its power of contraction, more especially when the contained blood coagulates, and the circulation is in consequence permanently stopped.¹⁵

When, however, the distension is followed by violent contraction, the result may be rupture which, as before stated, generally takes place in the left ventricle; and, unless the vital force happens at the time to be much depressed, the blood thus discharged into the pericardial sac divides into its constituents more readily than when it remains within its natural receptacles. These constituents are commonly termed blood and water; but in medical writings there is reason to believe the same separation is sometimes intended by the less accurate expression, — "coagulated blood;" — as perhaps in the following examples of rupture of the heart recorded by the late Dr. Abercrombie of Edinburgh. A man aged thirty-five years, on stooping forwards to lift something, died suddenly. As he had made little previous complaint except of headache, the case might have been mistaken for apoplexy. On dissection, however, all was sound in the brain, but the pericardium was found distended with coagulated blood. A woman aged twenty-eight years died suddenly, after complaining of pain extending from the left side of the chest to the left shoulder. On inspection, the pericardium was found distended with coagulated blood, but there was also some bloody fluid in the left cavity of the chest, and the right lung adhered extensively to the side. In an old man aged seventy-seven years, who died suddenly owing to a rupture of the heart from accidental injury, the cavities of the pleura contained about three pounds of fluid, but the lungs were sound. The pericardium appeared greatly distended, and when opened, was found to contain an immense quantity of coagulated blood. The heart was much enlarged, and very flabby. Dr. Thurnam reports a similar — "case of rupture of the heart from external violence, but without any penetrating wound. The pericardium contained several ounces of serum and coagulated blood. There was a considerable rupture of the right auricle, and a smaller one at the apex of the heart." — He also mentions an instance — "of spontaneous rupture of the right auricle and ventricle, attended with great and general softening. The pericardium was fllled with liquid blood," — coagulation having apparently been prevented by the feebleness of the heart's action, which is usually attended with a corresponding condition of the blood.¹⁶ Dr. Elliotson relates the case of a female who died suddenly with severe pain of the heart. On opening the body, the pericardium was found distended with clear serum, and a very large coagulum of blood which had escaped through a spontaneous rupture of the aorta near its origin, without any other morbid appearance. This author is nevertheless of opinion that — "ruptures of the heart and aorta rarely occur under the most violent impulse, unless there be disease of substance;" — but the contrary is proved by several eminent pathologists, particularly Portal, and Rostan, who have written distinct treatises on the subject, containing the results of numerous observations, which decidedly show that rupture of the left ventricle may take place without any previous alteration of tissue, and whilst the walls of the heart are perfectly sound.¹⁷ The following case, furnished by Dr. Fischer, a German physician, confirms this view, and is at the same time a good example of rupture of the heart, occasioned by the slow operation of continued grief. — "A gentleman aged sixty-eight, and apparently possessing every claim to longevity, was, after having spent many years at court, compelled to quit it, and retire to a country residence. . . . . . . Towards the close of life his attention was occupied by an unpleasant business which, as interfering with the indulgence of his propensity for solitude, had the effect of aggravating his melancholy. . . . . . . On the 16th of October, 1817, he was seized whilst walking with a severe pain, which he supposed to be cramp at the stomach. [This pain,] after returning repeatedly, attended with violent agitation and agony, proved fatal on the evening of the 20th. On examination of the body eighteen hours after death, the only morbid condition of any importance was rupture of the heart. On puncturing the pericardium, which had the appearance of being distended by a substance of a dark blue colour, a quantity of reddish fluid escaped, and afterwards florid blood to the amount of two or three pounds. The membrane was then slit up, and the heart seen surrounded by a coagulum more than three pounds in weight. This having been cleared away, a rupture was discovered in the aortic [left] ventricle, which extended upwards from the apex, about an inch and a half on the external surface. The internal wound was found but about half an inch in length, and its lips [were] at least as wide again asunder as those of the external breach."¹⁸ — Owing to the smallness of the aperture the fatal result was more protracted, the discharge of blood into the pericardial sac less rapid, and its consequent separation into its constituents less complete than would otherwise in all probability have been the case.

In his treatise on the Influence of the Passions, Mr. Townsend, of New York, remarks, — "Anger, fear, and grief always occasion distress. The diseases which they produce must necessarily correspond; hence, those which accompany these passions are of the most dangerous and fatal kind, as rupture of the heart, and of the large blood-vessels, &c. . . . . . . An unfortunate female of this city . . . . . . literally and truly died of a broken heart, as was found on dissection; and there was every reason to believe that this consummation of her misery was the unavoidable consequence of her exquisite dejection of mind at that particular moment." — In this instance, — "the subject was a robust and plethoric female, aged twenty-two years, long addicted to dissolute and intemperate habits. For some time previously to her decease she had complained only of slight, and apparently rheumatic pains; but, within a day or two of the fatal event, she had been deserted by a man to whom she was engaged in marriage. In consequence of this, her mind became very deeply affected. After having supped on the preceding night, she retired to rest as usual, and in the morning was found dead in bed. She lay in a bent position on the left side, and was hence supposed at first to be in a profound sleep. Neither the countenance nor the limbs were at all contorted. On dissection, the sac of the pericardium was found filled with about ten ounces of coagulated blood, and two of serum. The heart, on all sides covered by it, was of the ordinary volume, but much loaded with fat. At the summit of the aortic [left] ventricle was discovered the breach, from which the effused blood had issued. It was irregularly lacerated, and measured about half an inch in diameter."¹⁹ — In this case, the rupture of the heart was combined with some degree of inflammatory affection attributable, it may be presumed, to the same mental cause; but in the ensuing one, communicated by Dr. Williams of Southampton, and never before published, the rupture, besides being much more extensive, was free from any material complication. — "R. W., a labourer, aged fifty-six years, had generally enjoyed good health, but for ten years had suffered great despondency of mind, owing to the unfaithfulness of his wife. About six months before his death he was troubled with severe cough, which came on in paroxysms, generally at night and early in the morning, and after a fit of this kind was found one morning dead. A post-mortem examination took place in the presence of Mr. Boulton, surgeon, of Leamington. On opening the chest, the bag of the pericardium appeared much distended with fluid, and was of a dark blue colour. On cutting into it, a pint at least of transparent serum issued out, leaving the crassamentum firmly attached to the anterior surface of the heart. On further examination to ascertain the source of this hemorrhage, we found the left ventricle, from the origin of the aorta downwards to within an inch of the apex, ruptured. The heart appeared in no way disorganized, there was no softness of its walls, the internal membrane was healthy, and so were the valves of each cavity. Some portions of both lungs were found slightly bepatized," — that is, consolidated, so as to present an appearance like that of the liver. The following case, related by Mr. Adams, is remarkably similar.' — "Thomas Treacher, forty-six years of age, a stout muscular working man, who had laboured for many years under great mental anxiety, was attacked with severe cardiac symptoms on Sunday evening, November the 5th, 1826, and after great agony of body and mind, died on November the 9th. On opening the thorax, the pericardium was found distended, and emitted when divided a quantity of serous fluid; but the heart was entirely concealed by an envelope of coagulated blood in three distinct layers, owing to rupture of the left ventricle close to the septum, and nearer the apex than the base of the heart,"²⁰

SECTION II.

By the facts and reasonings above adduced it may be regarded as proved that, owing to the natural constitution of the human frame, the exciting passions when violent, and especially when accompanied with agony or conflict, are capable of inducing bloody sweat, and when still more intense, rupture of the heart; both effects depending on an excessive and irregular action of that organ, occurring in a lower or higher degree. The next step in the process of demonstration is to show, that this natural and adequate agency was really present and operative in the sufferings and death of Christ, — a task which, owing to the fulness and precision of the evangelical narrative, is by no means difficult. The peculiar sufierings of the Saviour commenced in the solitude of Gethsemane, as if it had been the divine purpose to prove, by the absence of every other cause, that at this time they were wholly occasioned by mental distress. His enemies had not yet arrived, and he was still attended by his three principal apostles, Peter, James, and John, when retiring at a late hour of the night to a lonely spot in the garden, — "he was seized with consternation and distress: and said to them, — 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. Remain here, and watch with me.' — And he hastily withdrew from them about a stone's cast, and kneeling down, threw himself on his face, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him, saying — 'Abba! [that is] Father! if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." — The terms used by the evangelists on this occasion are, as competent judges have often noticed, the strongest which the Greek language, one of the most expressive which ever existed, could supply.²¹ Thus the Rev. Archibald M'Lean, in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, judiciously remarks, — "We have an account of the exceeding greatness of his soul-sufFerings in the garden, as related by the evangelists, and expressed by himself.— 'He began to be sorrowful, and very heavy,' — and this he expressed by saying, — 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death,' — Matt. chap. 26, v. 37, 38. On which we may observe, 1. That the seat of his sufferings at this time was his soul, his body being no otherwise concerned than as it was affected by the distress of his mind, for as yet there was no human hand upon him. 2. The words set forth the greatness of his soul-sufferings. His soul was not only sorrowful, but (περίλυπος,) exceeding sorrowful. The word signifies to be beset with sorrow round about, and is well expressed in the Psalms, — "The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.'— Psalm 18, v, 5, 6, Psalm 116, v. 3. His soul was now besieged with sorrow and sore amazement on every side, so that there was no evasion for him. Turn which way he will, nothing but the bitter cup presented itself to him, in all its dreadful ingredients. His soul was thus sorrowful, even unto death. It was a deadly sorrow, the sorrows of death; and this sorrow seems actually to have killed him before the time in which the tortures of the cross could have effected his death. He is said to be sore amazed, and very heavy, Mark, chap. 14, v, 33; which sets forth the greatness of his fear, terror, and consternation. This we may conceive to arise from his clear apprehensions of the evil and demerit of sin, of the infinite opposition of the divine holiness and justice to it, and of the power of God's wrath as the curse threatened against it, which he now saw ready to be inflicted upon him as the devoted victim; for — 'the Lord made to meet upon him the iniquities of us all.' — Isaiah, chap. 53, v. 6. In the full view of all this, it is no wonder that his human soul was-filled with the most dreadful amazement and fear."²²

To the same effect are the observations of the acute and pious Rambach. — "' The sorrow of the blessed Jesus is further represented as very bitter and vehement. The evangelists use different phrases to express the anguish of his soul. He began to be overwhelmed with sorrow, to be sore amazed, to be troubled, and seized with fear and dread; as it is said of St. Paul when, frightened by a sudden flash of lightning, he spoke trembling and astonished; and likewise of the women, when surprised by the appearance of an angel at the sepulchre. He began to be sore amazed; which word in the original denotes the most painful anguish of soul, and depression of spirit. . . . . . . The chief seat of his agony was his soul, which was subject to the like passions with ours. See Psalms 18, 40, 69, and 88. And this sorrow was unto death; that is, it was so great that it might have broken his heart, and thus have brought on his death; or because it would not cease till death put an end to it. . . . . . He prays that, if it were possible, this hour might pass from him. He calls the suffering allotted to him, and of which he had already a foretaste, an hour. It had before been said. His hour was not yet come; but now it was come, as our blessed Lord himself says in his prayer, — 'Father, the hour is come.'. . . . It more particularly denotes the present hour of his inward agony, his anguish of soul, when the floods of God's wrath were discharged on him, when he stood before the divine tribunal as the greatest criminal j loaded with the oppressive weight of the sins of the whole world. . . . . . He does not properly petition his Father that all the sufferings he was to undergo may pass from him, as it is commonly expounded; but he means only to obtain, in the present hour of extreme inward trouble and anguish, an abatement and shortening of the dreadful agony he felt, which might have given offence even to his disciples, who were unacquainted with the mystery of his sufferings. . . . . By the cup is to be understood the present excruciating sense of the wrath of God, and the withdrawing of the sensible and comfortable assistance, which at other times his human nature used to enjoy from the divine. Hence, all the evangelists subjoin — 'this cup.' — All the other cups of his passion he was most willing and ready to drink; but this cup, which he now first began to taste, in which were poured the dregs of the wrath and curse of God, was so extremely bitter that his spotless and feeble humanity shuddered at it. Hence he cries out, — 'Let this cup pass from me;' — in which words he only prays for the shortening of the duration of his painful inward agony, that it might soon pass over."

It can scarcely fail to be noticed that under the influence of a sort of pious instinct or sagacity, the result of long- continued and ardent contemplation, these and other authors almost divined the latent cause of the Saviour's death, without possessing a distinct knowledge of those physical facts by which alone it can be fully demonstrated. Thus M'Lean observes that the sorrow of Christ — "seems actually to have killed him before the time in which the tortures of the cross could have effected his death;" — and Rambach affirms, — "it was so great that it might have broken his heart, and thus have brought on his death." — Even Dr. Priestley says the agony of Christ — "affected him so much, that it would not have been extraordinary if he had actually died in consequence of it; since such consternation and terror as he appears to have been in, is well known to have been of itself the cause of death to many persons."²³ — A still nearer approximation to the truth, although intermixed with some errors of detail, was attained by the celebrated President Edwards, who in his Sermon on the excellency of Christ makes the following observation, — "In Christ's great sufferings did his infinite regard to the honour of God's justice distinguishingly appear; for it was from regard to that that he thus humbled himself. And yet, in these sufferings, Christ was the mark of the vindictive expressions of that very justice of God. Revenging justice then spent all its force upon him, which made him sweat blood, and cry out upon the cross, and probably rent his vitals, broke his heart, the fountain of blood, or some other blood-vessels, and by the violent fermentation turned his blood to water; for the blood and water that issued out of his side when pierced by the spear seems to have been extravasated blood, and so there might be a kind of literal fulfilment of Psalm 22, v. 14; — 'I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels."²⁴ — But the most complete statement of this kind has been given by an eminent living divine, Dr. Russell, of Dundee, whose remarks on the subject, had they been accompanied by a competent demonstration of the facts, would have superseded the present work. Speaking of Christ's sufferings at Gethsemane, he says, — "His heart was preternaturally fired within him, so as to force a passage through the body for his rarefied blood; for his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. The agony of his soul must have been bitter beyond conception, when such was its effect upon his body in the open air, at midnight, and when they who were within found it necessary to defend themselves against the cold. His firm heart was ready to break, and immediate death was threatened; but knowing that much remained to be accomplished, it was his prayer that the cup might for a time pass from him. His prayer was heard. An angel appeared to strengthen him, and he regained composure to act with propriety before his judges and the people, and to suffer what he endured before he reached the cross. On the cross the scene of Gethsemane was renewed; — the cup was again presented to him, and there he drank it to the very dregs. On Calvary his distress reached its height, and drew from him the bitter exclamation, — 'My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?' — Matt. chap. 27, v. 46. Mysterious dereliction! only to be accounted for by the nature of his death. . . . . . . He at last expired under the curse, not so much in consequence of the exhaustion of nature by bodily pain and the loss of blood, (for in the article of death he cried with a loud voice, and Pilate marvelled when he heard of it,) as in consequence of the extreme pressure of mental torture; Matt. chap. 27, ver. 50; Mark, chap. 15, v. 44. This was too racking, too exquisite for nature to support, — it literally broke his heart. That sorrow which is the very soul of the curse terminated his life, and thus discovered the nature of his sufferings, together with their great and glorious design."²⁵

The mortal tendency of the mental sufferings of Gethsemane is, however, placed beyond all doubt by the authority of the apostle Paul, who in his epistle to the Hebrews states of Christ, that — "in the days of his flesh he offered prayers and supplications, [accompanied] with tears and loud cries, to him who was able to save him from death, and was heard on account of [his] pious fear: [that thus,] although he was a son, he learnt obedience from his sufferings, and when [at length] perfected, became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him, having been proclaimed by God a high-priest after the order of Melchisedek." — This interpretation of the passage is adopted by the writers above-mentioned, and by many others. — "I apprehend" — says McLean, — "that the deprecations and supplications here mentioned, are chiefly those which he offered up in the garden of Gethsemane, and also on the cross." — "It must have been" — 'observes Rambach, — "a petition in which he was heard, which cannot be said if he prayed for the removal of all his sufferings in general."— "I do not suppose" — remarks Dr. Doddridge, — "our Lord here prayed to be excused entirely from sufferings and death. It appears to me much safer to expound it as relating to the terror and severity of the combat in which he was now actually engaged. This throws great light on Heb. chap. 5, v. 7; — "He was heard in that he feared."²⁶ — "What then" — asks Dr. Moses Stuart, — "was it in respect to which he was εἰσακουσθεὶς, heard or delivered? The context necessarily limits the hearing or deliverance to something in his petitions which appertained to suffering, which was an object of dread. What could it be but the dread of sinking under the agony of being deserted by his Father? Matt. chap. 9,1, v. 46. Great as his agony was, he never refused to bear it, nor did he shrink from tasting the bitter cup. Luke, chap. 22, v. 42; Matt. chap. 26, v. 39. And does not Luke, chap. 22, v. 43, explain our εἰσακουσθεὶς ἀπὸ Εὐλαβείας, [he was heard on account of his pious fear,] — 'There appeared unto him an angel from heaven strengthening him, ἐνισχύων αὐτόν.' — This was the only kind of deliverance he sought for, or on the whole desired; Luke, chap. 22, v. 42. πλὴν μὴ τὸ θέλημά μου, ἀλλὰ τὸ σὸν γενέσθω· [nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.] The dread in question was, like all his other sufferings, incident to his human nature, and the fact shows that he suffered under it to a high degree; but he did not shrink from it, and so he was heard or delivered in respect to the object of his petition in regard to it."²⁷

It is indeed sufficiently evident that in this remarkable passage the apostle is speaking of the peculiar mental sufferings of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, and not of the ordinary sufferings attending his seizure, trial, and crucifixion; which, as is manifest from the sacred narrative, he endured not only without dismay, but with the utmost dignity and firmness. That his mental sufferings proceeded not from men or demons, but from God, was stated by himself, when on his way to the garden he said to his apostles, — "All of you will this night be offended by me, for it is written, — 'I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will he scattered;'' — when he afterwards entreated the Father to withdraw from him the fatal cup; and when, as this was impossible, he meekly asked, — "The cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" — This language exactly corresponds to his affecting demand on the cross, — "My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" — and shows that in their general nature his mental sufferings in both instances were identical. Too violent to last long, they began and ended abruptly, continuing in the first case one hour, in the second three hours, leaving his mind during the interval comparatively calm and self-possessed. The scene at Gethsemane was a wise and necessary prelude to that at Calvary, a foretaste or trial, which prepared him for the last awful conflict; and his conduct on the two occasions exhibits a marked and corresponding difference. In the garden these sufferings were absolutely new" to him. Never before had his filial communion with God been interrupted. On suddenly losing it, and finding himself exposed without protection to the horrors of his responsibility, and the malignity of the powers of darkness, he was as it were taken by surprise, and nearly destroyed by consternation and distress. So the terms used by the evangelists literally imply. According to the apostle Paul, he had now for the first time to learn this peculiarly difficult lesson of obedience to the divine will, and found it almost insupportable. With tears and cries, he repeatedly prayed for relief to him who alone was able to save him from death, and by supernatural aid was strengthened and delivered. Thus instructed and experienced he endured these sufferings, when renewed on the cross, with less consternation and greater energy than before. Until near the end, when he uttered a few fervent exclamations, he was silent, and opened not his mouth; and instead of being delivered from death, was left to bear the full weight of the divine malediction in helpless agony, till by the rupture of his heart he completed that atoning sacrifice which he had undertaken to offer, and by which, as the high-priest of his people, — "he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him."²⁸

The more minutely the subject is examined, the more perfect will be found the accordance between the sufferings of Christ, and the cause here assigned for them. These sufferings presented two successive stages, — consternation, and agony, — conditions which, although frequently confounded by commentators, are not only different, but actually opposite to each other. The natural contrast which subsists between the exciting and the depressing passions, as likewise between their respective effects, has been already mentioned. Excessive fear and grief debilitate and almost paralyse the body, whilst agony or conflict is attended with extraordinary strength. Under the former the action of the heart is enfeebled; and if, owing to constriction of the cutaneous vessels, perspiration ever occurs, it is cold and scanty. Under the latter the heart acts with great violence, and forces a hot, copious, and in extreme cases a bloody sweat through the pores of the skin. The testimony of Crichton on this subject is so apposite and decisive, that it deserves to be repeated. — "In grief and sorrow." — he observes, — "in extreme anger, hatred, jealousy, and envy, the blood stagnates about the heart, a chilling cold spreads itself over the whole surface of the body, the blood forsakes the cheeks, and a tremor ensues," — On the contrary, under anger and other invigorating passions, — '^ the heart and arteries are excited to a preternatural degree of action, the blood is propelled with violence to the surface of the body, and circulates with force and rapidity through the smallest and most extreme arteries, and hence the burning heat which characterizes this sort of passion." — When Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall, his — "countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another."— When Daniel was accosted in vision by an angel of surpassing majesty,—"his comeliness was turned into corruption, and he retained no strength;" — and when the apostle John saw Christ in his glory, — "he fell at his feet as dead." — On the other hand, when Samson, labouring under the united stings of shame, indignation, and revenge, agonized in the temple of Dagon, he recovered all his original might, threw down the two massy columns which supported the building, and together with himself, buried thousands of his own and his country's enemies under its ruins.²⁹ It has been suggested that the bloody sweat of Christ might be attributed to relaxation of the cutaneous vessels, in conjunction with a dissolved state of the blood; but the explanation is inadmissible, since, as has been shown, his condition at the time was not that of weakness, but of strength, and the blood which issued with his sweat was not liquid, but clotted. Besides, except under peculiar circumstances, and in connection, there is reason to believe, with violent action of the heart, relaxation of the cutaneous capillaries is not productive of bloody sweat, which on the contrary requires and implies a strong expulsive force. — "In all hemorrhage"— says Harvey, — "the more vehemently the arteries pulsate, the more speedily will the body be emptied of its blood. Hence also, in all fainting, fear, and similar affections, when the heart beats languidly, weakly, and without impulse, all hemorrhage is checked and restrained."³⁰ — The natural association of bloody sweat with agony and exertion is well exemplified in the case of Charles ix. of France, a prince of execrable cruelty, but at the same time of great energy, both of mind and body, who died of a singular complaint in his twenty-fifth year. — "The disease which carried him off" — says Voltaire, — "is very uncommon; his blood flowed from all his pores. This malady, of which there are some examples, is the result either of excessive fear, furious passion, or of a violent and melancholic temperament." — The circumstances of the case are graphically described by the old French historian, De Mezeray. — "After the vigour of his youth and the energy of his courage had long struggled against his disease, he was at length reduced by it to his bed, at the castle of Vincennes, about the 8th of May [1574.] During the two last weeks of his life, his constitution made strange efforts. He was affected with spasms and convulsions of extreme violence. He tossed and agitated himself continually, and his blood gushed from all the outlets of his body, even from the pores of his skin, so that on one occasion he was found bathed in a bloody sweat."³¹

The intense grief and consternation which the Saviour experienced at the commencement of his sufferings in the garden, and under the shock of which he fell prostrate to the earth, might possibly have destroyed him by simple exhaustion, but would never have produced the bloody sweat reported by Luke; who, independently of his guidance by the Holy Spirit, was, as a physician, peculiarly well qualified to notice and record such an occurrence. He therefore ascribes this sweat to a cause by which it is fully and solely explained, namely, the communication of supernatural strength; — "There appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him." — It was then that, — "falling into an agony, [Christ] prayed most earnestly, and his sweat became as it were clots of blood dropping to the ground:" — implying that he was no longer prostrate as at first, but on his knees. Attempts have been made to explain away the strong terms used by the evangelist, but they certainly denote a sweat mixed with blood in a half-coagulated state, so profuse as to fall from the head and neck, (the parts chiefly liable to be uncovered, and from which sweat of any kind is most readily furnished,) in thick and heavy drops to the ground. Unless Luke meant to convey this meaning, his employment of such expressions is unaccountable.³² The fact is well stated by M'Lean. — [Christ] "is said to be in an agony. An agony is the conflict of nature in the extremity of distress. The Lord was now bruising him, and putting him to grief. So great was the agony and conflict of his soul, that it produced the most wonderful effect upon his body; for we are told that — 'his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.' — A common sweat in the open air, and exposed to the cold damp of night, when those within doors required a fire of coals to warm them, must have been the effect of very great fear and agony. What then must his agony have been, which induced a bloody sweat, and so copious as to fall down in great drops to the ground?" — It was then that, as intimated by the apostle Paul, — "he offered prayers and supplications, [accompanied] with tears and loud cries, to him who was able to save him from death, and was heard on account of his pious fear;" — in other words, these peculiar and overwhelming sufferings were by divine interposition suddenly terminated, leaving him with restored strength, ready to undergo the trials which next awaited him.³³

Since the scene at Gethsemane was, as has been shown, a prelude and foretaste of that at Calvary, the same explanation is applicable to both. In both, mental sufferings of a peculiar character and of extreme severity produced on the body of Christ their natural effects, — in the garden a bloody sweat, — on the cross sudden death, followed by an effusion of blood and water from his side, when it was afterwards pierced by a spear. In both, the immediate cause of these effects, the link which connected them with their more remote cause, the mental anguish, was violent action of the heart, ultimately proceeding to rupture, the proof being that, of all the causes which can be assigned, this alone fulfils the requisite conditions, having been at once present, adequate, and in strict accordance with the circumstances. The death of Christ cannot be ascribed to the ordinary sufferings of crucifixion, because, far from destroying life in six hours, they often allowed it to be protracted for three or more days; nor to miraculous interposition, because he was slain by his enemies, and died the death of the cross; nor to original feebleness of constitution, because, as the priest and victim of an atoning sacrifice, he was perfect in body and mind; nor to temporary weakness resulting from his recent agony, because his strength was sustained by angelic agency. That his mental sufferings were, on the contrary, adequate to the effect, is evident from their influence at Gcthsemane, where, had he not received supernatural aid, they would apparently have proved fatal without the addition of any others; and, if in a lower degree they excited palpitation of the heart so violent as to occasion bloody sweat, it is equally evident that, when aggravated and longer continued, they were capable of producing rupture. That the same sufferings were present in both instances, and arose from a sense of the divine malediction, is proved by his referring them in both to the immediate hand of God, by his allusion in the garden to the cup given him by his heavenly Father, and to the ancient prophecy, — "I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will he scattered;" — and by his final exclamation on the cross, — "My God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" —That rupture of the heart thus induced was in conformity with the circumstances, and actually implied by them, will now be demonstrated.

The ordinary sufferings incidental to crucifixion have been minutely analyzed by Richter, the Bartholines, Grüners, &c., and are often injudiciously exaggerated, in order to account for the speedy occurrence of the Saviour's death. Richter's explanation of them, as quoted in a note of the Pictorial Bible on John, chap. 19, v. 18, is somewhat fanciful and overstrained; yet, after all, the author acknowledges that they were not calculated to occasion rapid death, and concludes as follows: — "The degree of misery is gradual in its increase, and the person crucified is able to live under it commonly until the third, and sometimes till the seventh day. Pilate, therefore, being surprised at the speedy termination of our Saviour's life, inquired in respect to the truth of it of the centurion himself who had the command of the soldiers. (Mark, chap. 15, v. 44.) — Concurring in this opinion, the editor of the Pictorial Bible observes,— ''It may be added, that no act in the punishment of crucifixion was in itself mortal, the sufferer died rather from the continuance and increase of the unutterable anguish and exhaustion of his torturing position;" — and then subjoins the account, already cited from Josephus, of a person known to that historian, who had been crucified apparently for several hours, but having been taken down from the cross, and committed to medical care, survived and recovered. In their laborious attempts to prove that for some time before his death Christ was reduced to a state of extreme debility, the Grüners strongly insist on the accessory or subordinate sufferings of crucifixion, as materially concurring with the principal ones in producing this effect; but, on an impartial examination of the matter, their insufficiency is obvious. The scourging, mockery, and labour of carrying the cross, were not in themselves more distressing to Jesus than to the malefactors who accompanied him; — his fasting and watching had not, at furthest, continued longer than from the preceding evening; — his removal from place to place was not likely to be attended with much fatigue, since all the places lay within a narrow compass; — and heat of climate could not have been very oppressive in Jerusalem at the vernal equinox, to a native of the country; more especially when it is considered that, during the last three hours of his life, from the sixth to the ninth hour, the sun was obscured, and that in the much hotter climate of central Africa crucified persons usually live three days on the cross.³⁴

But, whatever may have been the severity of the ordinary sufferings of crucifixion, whether principal or accessory, the sacred writers of the New Testament uniformly represent Christ as bearing them with becoming dignity, and without betraying the least weakness either of body or mind; for the circumstance of Simon the Cyrenian having been compelled to assist in carrying his cross, furnishes no sufficient proof that Christ was disabled by mere weakness from carrying it alone. Whilst undergoing the very act of crucifixion, which occurred at nine in the morning, he prayed -for his executioners, and during the three following hours evinced the utmost patience and self-possession, assured the penitent malefactor that he should that day be with him in Paradise, and committed his afflicted mother to the care of the beloved disciple, John. At noon, however, a remarkable change took place in this respect, evidently owing to a renewal of the mental sufferings of Gethsemane. On both occasions these sufferings were distinguished from all others, by beginning and ending abruptly, as well as by their peculiar circumstances and effects. On both occasions, the gloom which oppressed the Redeemer's soul was by divine appointment accompanied with external darkness, as its appropriate sign and illustration. When he was in the garden the preceding evening, it appears from astronomical calculation that the paschal full moon underwent a natural eclipse; on which account, perhaps, the numerous party which went forth to seize him were provided with lanterns and torches.³⁵ Twelve hours later on the same day, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, a preternatural darkness overspread the whole land, from the sixth to the ninth hour. Hereby were realized several prophecies of the Old Testament, particularly, a most important prediction of Joel, cited by the apostle Peter in his discourse at Jerusalem on the subsequent day of Pentecost, when describing the principal signs of that eventful time, which intimated the end of the Mosaic, and the commencement of the Christian dispensation. — "It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, that I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And also on my servants and on my handmaids will I pour out of my Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coining of the great and illustrious day of the Lord; and it shall be that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." — In conformity with this prophecy, on one and the same day, the day of Christ's death according to Jewish reckoning, the two luminaries of heaven were successively darkened; first, the moon by an ordinary eclipse, which on account of the dusky red colour with which it is attended, is in figurative language compared to blood; and afterwards, the sun, most probably by a dense shower of volcanic ashes, accompanying the repeated shocks of earthquake by which, owing to divine interposition, Palestine, and perhaps some of the adjacent countries, were then convulsed.³⁶ Such at least is the scriptural explanation of a similar occurrence exhibited amongst the apocalyptic visions to the apostle John, when, on the central pit or abyss of the earth being laid open, it is said, — "there came up a smoke out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit." — Such also is the description, addressed by God himself to the prophet Ezekiel, of the prodigies which would mark the downfal of Pharaoh Hophrah; and a similar explanation may be given of — "the palpable darkness," — which constituted one of the plagues of Egypt at an earlier period. — "And when I shall put thee out I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God."³⁷

The darkness which now enveloped the cross of Christ but faintly represented that which overwhelmed his soul, under a renewed sense of the divine abandonment. During three hours he endured in silent agony the tremendous infliction. At length about the ninth hour, the hour of sacrifice, feeling his end approach, he uttered the loud cry which expressed the most exalted piety combined with the severest mental anguish; and having committed his spirit into the hands of his heavenly Father, suddenly bowed his head, and expired. At the same time the darkness cleared away, the mystery which had so long veiled the scene terminated, and the evening sun, shining on Golgotha with renovated splendour, revealed to the world the momentous fact of the Saviour's death. The solemn spectacle was not however to be long contemplated. That day was the preparation-day, and at six in the evening the sabbath began; previously to which it was necessary, in compliance with the laws of Moses, that the crucified persons should be despatched and removed. The Jewish authorities therefore made the usual application to Pilate, and obtained the necessary order. It was probably between four and five in the afternoon when the Roman soldiers came, and broke the legs of the two malefactors who were crucified with Jesus. On finding him already dead, they abstained from offering this needless violence to his corpse; but, as if to make sure, one of them with a spear pierced his side, whence, says the beloved disciple, an eye-witness of the transaction, — "immediately there came forth blood and water," — and with peculiar solemnity remarks that the whole took place under the superintendence of divine providence, in fulfilment of two ancient prophecies concerning Christ, one of which declared that none of his bones should be broken, and the other, that the guilty people of Israel should look on him whom they had pierced. Like the brazen serpent in the wilderness he was now lifted up from the earth, that whosoever looked to him with sincere penitence and cordial faith might not perish, but have eternal life.³⁸

Taken in conjunction with the events, these predictions imply that the Saviour's death happened in an extraordinary manner, and earlier than could naturally have been expected. Its immediate cause was more fully intimated by the flow of blood and water from his wounded side, a remarkable occurrence, with which a true explanation must of course perfectly agree. Owing to the necessary exclusion of all other causes, as formerly shown, two only now remain to be considered; namely, exhaustion, and rupture of the heart. That death may result from exhaustion, or simple failure of vital power, occasioned either by loss of blood, over-excitement, violent exertion, or depressing passions, cannot be doubted, since many cases of this kind are on record, but the circumstances which attended the death of Christ are incompatible with such causes, and with such an effect; whilst on the other hand they are in perfect accordance with rupture of the heart, followed as a necessary consequence by effusion of blood into the pericardium, and sudden suppression of the circulation. That the ordinary sufferings of crucifixion were not sufficient to destroy a young and vigorous person, either by exhaustion or in any other manner, within the short period of six hours, has already been demonstrated; as likewise that, with the exception of his first feelings of consternation at Gethsemane, which seem never to have recurred, the mental sufferings of Christ were not of a debilitating, but of an exciting nature, consisting in a severe agony or struggle between two opposite motives, the desire of deliverance from the intolerable sense of divine malediction, and the desire of fulfilling the will of God by enduring the malediction even unto death, that by the atoning sacrifice thus offered he might accomplish the work of human redemption, which was the great object of his coming into the world. Had this struggle been much longer continued, it might possibly have proved fatal by exhaustion, but not within the period of three hours indicated in the sacred narrative, which moreover plainly proves by the occurrences preceding and following his death, that it was occasioned, not by weakness, but by violence. His energy of mind and body immediately before his death was evinced by the most perfect self-possession, and by loud and fervent exclamations. The expressions used by the evangelists in describing his last moments are, it is well known, emphatic. — "About the ninth hour," — says Matthew, — "Jesus cried with aloud voice, Eli! Eli! lamma sabachthani? that is, my God! my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" — Even in this mortal struggle his mind was neither paralyzed, nor engrossed by his sufferings, but full of intelligence, piety, and love, engaged in earnest meditation on the prophecies of Scripture, and taking an active part in their completion. For it was chiefly on this account, and not merely to satisfy a natural want, which in such cases is exceedingly urgent, that for the first and only time he complained of thirst. — "Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst." — Hereupon a sponge dipped in vinegar, probably mixed with water, was applied to his lips by one of the soldiers, and he soon afterwards — "cried again with a loud voice, saying, [All] is accomplished: Father! into thy hands I commit my spirit. Having thus spoken, he bowed his head, and resigned his spirit."³⁹ — The energy of mind and body thus displayed by the Saviour in the very act of dissolution, proves beyond all contradiction that his sudden death was the result, not of exhaustion, but of some latent and destructive agency. Such was the impression which it made on competent and unprejudiced spectators, the Roman officer on duty, and his soldiers; for we are told that — "when the centurion who stood opposite, and those who were with him guarding Jesus, observed the earthquake, and the [other] events, [and] that he expired with such a cry, they feared greatly, [and] gave glory to God, saying, Certainly this man was a Son of God."

Respecting the final exclamation of Christ, the younger Grüner has made an apposite remark, which is confirmed by other authors. — "It is common" — say she, — "for persons whose heart is oppressed by excessive congestion of blood, with anxiety and palpitation, and who are threatened with suffocation, to cry out with a loud voice."⁴⁰ — Assuming that the heart of Christ was ruptured, the suddenness of his death implies a rapid and extensive rent, the natural result of violent action. That even during so brief an interval there would be sufficient time for his uttering the few words ascribed to him by the evangelists, appears from several recorded examples, amongst others, from a case mentioned by Mr. Griffiths of Hereford, in the following terms. — "A stout man, forty- three years of age, fell from the height of about five feet on an iron spike, which wounded his left breast. Getting up without assistance, he staggered towards me, made one or two exclamations, and died in my arms about two minutes after the accident. On examining the body, it was found that the sixth rib on the left side had been fractured, and that in penetrating the thoracic cavity, the iron spike had driven in the pericardium without tearing it, whilst the heart itself had been ruptured, and its bag completely filled with blood." — A similar instance is related by Christian Vater, in the German Ephemerides. — "I examined" — says he, — "the body of a woman about thirty years of age, who, on the 9th of April, 1695, was struck on the chest, and killed by a carriage running over her. I observed that on the left side the upper ribs near the breast bone, together with the clavicle, were fractured, but scarcely depressed, whilst the pericardium was not at all injured. The right ventricle of the heart was, nevertheless, found ruptured to the extent of more than an inch not far from the apex, and the pericardium was fully distended with blood. Hence I concluded that the rupture had been occasioned, not so much by the fractured ribs, as by the reaction of the blood, which, under the sudden concussion and compression of the chest, had yielded a proportionally greater resistance." — Another case is given by Ludwig, in his Adversaria. — "A robust young man nineteen years of age, employed as a groom, received a violent kick on the breast from a furious horse, by which he was thrown backwards on the ground. He speedily, however, got up, and evinced a feeling of indignation; but on hastening shortly after towards the stable, dropped down dead. On inspecting the body, the sternum was found fractured transversely, about four inches and a half above its point, the lower portion having been forced in so as, without injuring the pericardium, to occasion a rupture of the right auricle of the heart. The pericardium was so distended by a large quantity of transparent serum and coagulated blood, as to push the lungs upwards. The yellowish serum contained in its cavity exceeded half a pound. The heart was encompassed by much clotted blood, which adhered to it on all sides, and was perceived to have escaped slowly through a fissure detected in the margin of the right auricle." — These cases afford a further proof that in such occurrences death is less attributable to the rupture of the heart, abstractedly considered, than to the extravasation of blood into the pericardial sac.⁴¹

SECTION III.

The flow of blood and water from the side of Christ, when pierced some time after his death by the soldier's spear, has been a source of difficulty and perplexity both to ancient and modern commentators. To account for so extraordinary a circumstance, many of the former had recourse to their favourite expedient of miraculous interposition, designed, as they imagined, to convey important symbolical instruction. Several of the latter, amongst whom the Bartholines and the Grüners are the most considerable, have on the contrary ascribed it to serous effusion, either into the pericardial or pleural sacs, naturally produced by that extreme debility which they suppose to have attended the Saviour's death. The two opinions are, it is evident, mutually destructive, and for the refutation of both, the arguments already proposed might perhaps be deemed sufficient, but others will here be added. In favour of miraculous agency for such a purpose, neither necessity nor proof can be alleged, and that which really occurred on this occasion was of a widely different character. It will now be shown that serous effusion into the pectoral cavities did not take place, and, if it had, would not account for the fact; whilst rupture of the heart, which furnishes a complete solution of it, is distinctly intimated by all the circumstances. In order to explain the effusion of blood and water from the side of Christ, it is necessary to understand the nature of the wound inflicted on him, namely, that it was a stab to the heart. This appears from the prediction of Zechariah quoted by John, — "They shall look on him whom they pierced;" — for in this passage both the Hebrew and the Greek terms signify a fatal wound, and in the Old Testament the meaning of the former is almost always that of stabbing to the heart, a practice familiar to the ancient Israelites, on which account mention is so often made in that portion of Scripture of smiting under the fifth rib; so that the prediction might with perfect propriety have been rendered, — "They shall look on him whom they pierced to the heart."⁴² — It appears also, from the circumstances of the case, and the evident intentions of the soldier in wounding the body of Christ; not, as some have supposed, through mere wantonness or insolence, but for a very reasonable and even necessary purpose, namely, to ascertain, or insure his death. For the soldiers had received a command from the Roman governor to despatch the crucified persons, in order that their bodies might be removed and buried before sunset, then rapidly approaching. After breaking the legs of the two malefactors they came to Jesus, whom in appearance as well as in reality, they found already dead. But the sudden death of a young and robust man, after a crucifixion of only six hours, was extraordinary, and to them unaccountable. Like the Grüners, and other modern authors, the soldiers might readily have suspected that he was not actually dead, but only in a tainting state, and they had good reason to make sure of the fact; for, if through carelessness or mistake they had suffered any of the crucified persons to escape, they would have been answerable for the neglect with their lives. An example of such severity occurs in Luke's account of the persecution of the early Christians at Jerusalem by Herod Agrippa I., who, having been disappointed in his designs against Peter, owing to the deliverance of the apostle from prison by miraculous interposition, ordered the guards, although perfectly innocent in the matter, to be put to death.

The Roman practice of despatching in some instances crucified persons by breaking their legs, stabbing them with swords or spears, &c., is well known, and, as above noticed, has been fully described by Salmasius, Lipsius, Bosius, and others. When the soldier, therefore, pierced the side of Christ, he did nothing more than w^hat was usual, and, having such an object in view, would naturally inflict a decisive wound, that is, a stab to the heart. This opinion has accordingly been adopted by a great number of theological writers, many of whom are cited by Thomas Bartholinus, a Danish physician, w^ho, however, in an express treatise on the subject follows the guidance of his father Caspar, and objects to this opinion for no better reason than that, when speaking of the wound, and of the scar which remained after Christ's resurrection, the evangelist John mentions the side only, and not the heart. As a faithful witness of the transaction, John of course relates only what he saw, but leaves his readers to draw a rational inference from the facts described, which can be none other than that here stated.⁴³ The subject is treated with considerable accuracj^ in the Pictorial Bible, from which the following is an extract: — '^ In the accounts of our Lord's crucifixion there are several circumstances which exhibit differences from the customary practice of the Romans, and which were in fact so many points of accommodation to the peculiar notions of the Jews, and operated rather favourably for the condemned persons. In the first place, the Romans usually left the crucified ones to linger on in their tortures till life became extinct, and this commonly did not happen till the third or fourth day, and some even lingered until the seventh. Soldierswere stationed to prevent interference or relief from friends, till they were dead, and a guard was even afterwards maintained, that the bodies might not be stolen away and buried. For the Romans left the bodies to consume on the crosses, as formerly [happened] on gibbets in this country, by the natural progress of decay, or from the ravenings of birds, or, if the cross were low, beasts of prey. But, as such lingering deaths, as well as the continued exposure of the body, were most wisely and mercifully forbidden by the letter and spirit of the law of Moses, which directed that criminals — 'hanged on a tree '— should be taken down before sunset, the Roman soldiers in Judea were directed to extinguish, on the approach of sunset, what remained of life in those upon the cross. We see that the two thieves were thus despatched by their legs being broken, and the body of Christ would doubtless have been thus treated; but it had been foretold that not a bone of him should be broken, and he expired before this became necessary. The spear-thrust given him by the soldier was doubtless to ascertain whether he were really dead, or only in a swoon, and the resulting evidence that life had departed from him rendered further measures unnecessary; indeed, the wound then inflicted, being in the left side, piercing the pericardium, as evinced by the outflow of blood and lymph, would have been sufficient, and was no doubt intended to produce death, if Jesus had not been dead already. (See John, chap. 19, v. 33.) Piercing the side is said to have been one of the common methods of accelerating the death of crucified persons, as well as the breaking of their bones."⁴⁴ — Nearly similar is the view taken by Rambach. — "The indignity" — says he, — "offered to our Saviour's body was this: a soldier with a spear stabbed it in the breast, or side. This was done, indeed, out of wantonness or insolence; or perhaps the soldier might at the same time have an intention of trying whether Jesus was really dead, or only in a swoon. He therefore stabs him with a spear near the heart, that he might see whether he had still any life in him; so that by giving him a wound he designed to despatch him, in case any life remained in him. That it was no small wound which the spear made in the breast of our blessed Lord, but a large incision, appears from what he says to the incredulous Thomas after his resurrection, — 'Reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side.' — What followed this injurious piercing of our Saviour's side is likewise mentioned by St. John in these words; — 'And forthwith came thereout blood and water.' — This was undoubtedly an extraordinary event, since the providence of God directed the soldier's spear to make an incision in the place where these different humours were lodged, and at the same time hindered these two fluids from intermixing; for St. John, who stood by, could plainly distinguish both blood and water issuing from the wound." — On a subject of this kind, the opinion of Dr. Priestley is not undeserving of notice. — "The death of Jesus" — he observes, — '*was so evident to the soldiers who attended the execution, and who no doubt (being used to the business) were sufficient judges of the signs of death, that, concluding him to be actually dead, they did not break his bones, as they did those of the other persons who were executed along with him. One of them, however, did what was fully equivalent to it, for he thrust a spear into his side, so that blood and water evidently flowed out of the wound. Now, though we may be at a loss to account for the water, it was certainly impossible so to pierce the body as that blood should visibly and instantly flow from the wound, without piercing either the heart itself, or some large blood-vessel, the rupture of which would have been mortal."⁴⁵ — The views of the Grüners concerning this point are to the same effect, and on account of the medical character of the authors, are perhaps still more entitled to attention.

Admitting therefore as a fact, that not long after the death of Christ his heart was pierced by a spear, the next inquiry relates to the blood and water which immediately flowed from the wound. On this subject two opinions have prevailed in modern times: the one, that the blood and water were mixed, and derived from one or both of the pleural sacs; the other, that they issued separately, the blood from the heart, the water from the pericardium. The former opinion was supported by the Bartholines, the latter by the Grüners. Before entering into this discussion, it may be proper to state for the information of readers not familiar with anatomical details, that as the heart is surrounded by the pericardium, so each lung is enveloped by a double membrane or bag, called the pleural sac, adhering by its outer surface to the lung and side, and inclosing between its layers a space or cavity, which in health is merely bedewed with a little watery fluid or vapour, serving the purpose of lubrication; but in certain morbid states is capable of containing a considerable quantity of serous liquid, either pure, or tinged with blood. In reference to the effusion of blood and water from the side of Christ, the Rev. Mr. Hewlett, a commentator of judgment and research, expresses himself in the following dubious manner. — "Medical writers afford numerous instances of a large effusion of bloody lymph into the cavities of the pleura, from diseases of the lungs, and in cases of violent death with long struggling . . . . . . A skilful and learned physician informed the editor that in cases of violent and painful death there is usually an effusion of lymph, or of lymph mixed with blood, into the cavities of the chest and abdomen. . . . . . . It is, however, reasonable to acquiesce with those who are of opinion that the evangelist here intended to express more than a pathological fact." — The physician meant in this passage was no doubt the late Dr. Willan, who — in his "History of the Ministry of Jesus Christ," — makes a similar remark, equally indicative of doubt and uncertainty. — "We have instances of watery effusion into the cavities of the pleura to a considerable amount, in cases of violent death with long struggling. . . . . . . The phenomenon here mentioned by the evangelist is generally looked on as miraculous."⁴⁶

Hieronymus Bardus ascribes the blood to the heart, and the water to the pericardium, both of which he supposes were pierced by the soldier's spear; but is at a loss to understand how the two liquids could have issued separately without a miracle, which to this extent he consequently admits. His correspondent Thomas Bartholinus judiciously rejects supernatural agency altogether, but his own view of the matter is equally inadmissible. He objects to the notion that the heart and pericardium were wounded, because in that case he imagines their contents would not have flowed out immediately nor completely, but that a part of them would have escaped into the bottom of the chest. He therefore prefers the explanation proposed by his father Caspar, and previously mentioned; namely, that the spear opened one of the pleural sacs, and discharged a collection of bloody serum, which he thinks would naturally have been formed there during the sufferings of crucifixion, especially in a person of delicate frame and feeble constitution, which, like Priestley and others, he improperly attributes to Christ. The Grüners, on the contrary, maintain the opinion of Bardus, with the addition of some erroneous notions of their own. Thus, in commenting on John, chap. 19, v. 31, the elder Grüner observes, — "It was doubtless the left side that was pierced by the soldier's spear. According to the testimony of John, immediately after the infliction of this wound there flowed out blood and water. Such an effusion could scarcely have taken place except from the left side, under which, besides the lung, lies the pericardium full of water when a person dies after extreme anxiety, as likewise the heart, connected with the arch of the aorta. The lung slightly wounded might have yielded a little blood, but certainly not water. That conjecture is therefore the most probable, and the most in accordance with forensic medicine, which derives the blood from the [left] ventricle of the heart, and the water from the pericardium."⁴⁷ — In a special treatise on the cross and crucifixion, Kipping draws the same conclusion, with the exception of regarding the water poured out on this occasion as naturally contained in the pericardium. — "The soldier" — he remarks, — "pierced with a spear the Redeemer's left side, not to try whether he was dead, but, supposing that he was in a dying state, to deprive him entirely of life, and put an end to his pains; also, that he might thus be [legally] removed from the cross, on which according to the Jewish law he could not be left. lie transfixed the heart, for it was from thence that the blood flowed, and by the same stroke previously wounded the pericardium, which contains a quantity of water for the purpose of cooling the excessive heat of the heart." — This opinion has been adopted by Bishop Watson in his Apology for the Bible. — "John"' — says he, — "tells us that he saw one of the soldiers pierce the side of Jesus with a spear, and that blood and water flowed through the wound; and lest any one should doubt of the fact from its not being mentioned by the other evangelists, he asserts it with peculiar earnestness; — 'And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.' — John saw blood and water flowing from the wound; the blood is easily accounted for, but whence came the water? The anatomists tell us that it came from the pericardium. So consistent is evangelical testimony with the most curious researches into natural science."⁴⁸ This consistency is indeed perfectly admirable, and extends much further than the learned bishop could have imagined, but not exactly in the manner which he supposed: for in the ordinary state of things the quantity of water found in the pericardium after death is so minute, that in a case like that under consideration it would have been absolutely imperceptible. Haller states that a small quantity of water, not exceeding a few drachms, has frequently been found in the pericardium of executed persons; but, except under very peculiar or morbid circumstances, the eminent anatomists John and Charles Bell deny the occurrence altogether.— "If" — they observe, — "a person have laboured under a continued weakness, or have been long diseased, if a person have lain long on his death-bed, if the body have been long kept after death, there is both a condensation of the natural halitus in all the parts of the body, and an exudation of thin lymph from every vessel, there is water found in every cavity from the ventricles of the brain to the cavity of the ankle-joint, and so in the pericardium amongst the rest. But, if you open a living animal, as a dog, or if you open suddenly the body of suicides, or if you have brought to the dissecting-room the body of a criminal who has just been hanged, there is not in the pericardium one single particle of water to be found. When such fluid is to be found, it is of the same nature with the dropsical fluids of other cavities. In the child, and in young people, it is reddish, especially if the pericardium be inflamed; in older people it is pellucid, or of a light straw colour; in old age, and in the larger animals, it is thicker, and more directly resembles the liquor of a joint." — The slight discrepancy observable between writers on this subject may, as Klefeker has remarked, be referred to their having described the state of the pericardium under very different circumstances. Naturally it exhibits scarcely anything which deserves the name of liquid; but after some forms of violent death, more especially when attended with obstructed circulation, it may contain a little serum, either pure or mixed with blood. An effusion of the latter kind is said to have been noticed in stags killed after a hard chase; and in some rare instances of sudden death occasioned by strong mental emotion, the pericardium has been found distended with blood, owing probably, as Morgagni suspected, to organic disease, and the rupture of vessels; but for the statement of the Grüners, that after death accompanied with anxiety the pericardium is full of water, there is no evidence.⁴⁹

Whether, however, such conditions are of common occurrence or not, their occurrence at the death of Christ is disproved by the well-known facts of the case. Neither the period of three hours occupied by his peculiar mental sufferings, nor that of six hours which comprised the entire crucifixion, were sufficient to occasion in a young and vigorous person such an effusion of blood or serum into the pectoral cavities as is here supposed. Had it really happened within so short a space of time, it would have produced symptoms of debility and suffocation, quite incompatible with the intelligence, the presence of mind, and the loud and pious exclamations which immediately preceded his death; and the manner of that death, instead of being sudden and unexpected, would have been slow and progressive. Still less, if possible, would such an effusion have accorded with the discharge of blood and water from the side of Christ, when afterwards pierced by the soldier's spear. As this remarkable fact was witnessed by the apostle John, a person of humble rank, destitute of medical or other learning, and at the time of observation probably removed to some distance from the cross, whilst the soldiers were occupied in despatching the crucified persons, it is obvious that the discharge of blood and water must have been considerable, and the distinction between the two substances strongly marked. Bloody serum, whether originally effused in that state, or resulting from subsequent mixture, would not have presented this character; for it would neither have issued rapidly, nor in sufficient quantity, nor would its distinction from ordinary blood have been so striking as to have attracted the attention of an uninformed, and somewhat distant spectator. Moreover, unless blood has been previously extravasated, little or none can by any kind of wound be extracted from a dead body, except by the action of gravity, the heart being usually empty, or, if otherwise, devoid of power to expel its contents. This important fact, overlooked by most other writers, was perceived and acknowledged by the Grüners, who nevertheless failed to discover the true explanation, and were induced to adopt the inadmissible opinion, that Christ was not actually dead when pierced by the soldier's spear, but merely in a faint and languid condition, which allowed the heart to act feebly, and, on being wounded, to pour forth its blood preceded by the water, which they suppose had previously collected in the pericardium. — "Blood and water" — they remark,— "flowed from the wound together, and as it appears with force, which is the act not of a dead, but of a living body. Therefore, when Christ on the cross was stabbed by the soldier, he still retained a degree of life, although extremely feeble and ready to expire; but on receiving the wound in his breast, he must be regarded as having truly and suddenly died, for by this wound the fountain of life must have been exhausted, and its small remaining force entirely extinguished." — In confutation of this opinion it is sufficient to adduce, as has been already done, the testimony of the evangelists, that the condition of Christ immediately before his death was not that of debility, but of agony, and that he died some time before receiving the wound with the spear, and not of course, as the Grüners and others pretend, in consequence of that wound. The statement of John on this point is clear and decisive. — "So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first and of the other who w^as crucified with Jesus; but on coming to him, as they perceived that he was already dead, they did not break his legs: one of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came forth blood and water." — But supposing, for the sake of argument, that Jesus was really although feebly alive at the time, there could have been little or no effusion of any kind, and certainly none of blood and water from his side when it was pierced with a spear; for in such cases there is little or no serous fluid in the pericardium, the blood does not separate into its constituents, and the heart is nearly empty, and scarcely able to maintain the slightest motion in its contents, much less to discharge them with force from the body; so that, after all, nothing is gained by this extravagant and antiscriptural supposition. The neglect or contradiction by these otherwise estimable authors of the narratives of the evangelists, as if they were not entitled to the fullest confidence, is much to be regretted, since it vitiates their reasonings on the subject, and leaves a painful impression that they were not entirely free from the lax and neological sentiments which they undertook to oppose.⁵⁰

It will now be shown that the effusion of blood and water from the side of Christ, whereof no satisfactory solution can otherwise be given, is fully explained by the rupture of his heart; and that the exact and critical accordance of this presumed event with all the circumstances of the case, taken in conjunction with the arguments previously adduced, may justly be regarded as completing the demonstration that it was the true and immediate cause of his death. It has been already proved that in such cases rupture of the heart is the result of its own violent action, and generally occurs in the left, or principal ventricle. Of such action the mental agony endured by Christ during the last three hours of his crucifixion, and which not long before forced from him a bloody sweat, was a real and adequate cause; and the rapid manner of his death implies that the rent was large and sudden. Rapid as it was, the space of a minute or two would naturally however intervene, and this would afford a sufficient time for his uttering the two short sentences ascribed to him by the evangelists, — [" All] is accomplished: Father! into thy hands I commit my spirit;" — as likewise for a discharge of blood from the ruptured heart into its inclosing capsule. The excessive excitement which led to this catastrophe would occasion the words to be pronounced with vehemence, and the previous accumulation in the heart and great vessels produced by such excitement would cause the effusion to be copious. From the researches of Lancisi, Ramazzini, Morgagni, and other anatomists, it appears that a quart of blood, and sometimes much more, might thus be collected in the pericardium, where it would speedily separate into its solid and liquid constituents, technically called crassamentum and serum, but in ordinary language, — "blood and water."⁵¹ — Several instances have been adduced of the common use of such language even by medical writers, and, as before observed, it is not less natural than common, since the crassamentum contains the greater part of the solid and more essential ingredients of the blood, whilst, with the exception of albumen, the serum consists chiefly of water. Accordingly, in the book of Exodus, the blood of the paschal lamb sprinkled at evening on the lintel and door-posts of the Israelitish dwellings in Egypt, is still termed blood when viewed by the destroying angel at midnight, although at that time nothing but the solid coagulum could have remained.⁵² Other examples of a similar kind will be subjoined. It has also been shown that, as the object of the soldier in wounding the body of Christ must have been either to ascertain, or to insure his death, he would purposely aim at the heart, and therefore transfix the lower part of the left side, an act sufficiently intimated by the statement of the evangelist, — "They did not break his legs: one of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear." — In so doing he would open the pericardium obliquely from below; and, supposing that capsule to be distended with crassamentum and serum, and consequently pressed against the side, its contents would by the force of gravity be instantly and completely discharged through the wound, in a full stream of clear watery liquid intermixed with clotted blood, exactly corresponding to the remaining clause of the sacred narrative, — '"and immediately there came forth blood and water." — The amount of such contents must of course vary with the circumstances, but may be very considerable, and therefore, when outwardly discharged, sufficiently conspicuous. In one of the instances on record it was — "about a quart of blood and water; "— in another, — "five or six pounds by weight;" — in a third, — "an immense quantity of coagulated blood;" — and in two cases of spontaneous rupture of the left ventricle of the heart described by Taxil St. Vincent, — "an enormous collection of half-coagulated blood."⁵³ It will next be shown that, whilst such an effusion would necessarily have followed rupture of the heart, it could not have occurred under any other conceivable circumstances; thus proving, by a sort of experimentum crucis which leaves no alternative, that the former was truly and exclusively the immediate cause of the Saviour's death. The laws which regulate the separation of the blood into its constituents are still involved in some degree of obscurity, partly, because the process is connected with the mysterious principle of life, which the blood possesses in common with the solids of the body. In its perfect and living state the blood is a complex but uniform liquid, composed chiefly of water, albumen, and fibrine, holding in solution minute quantities of saline matters, and having diffused through it numerous organized particles, which, being the source of its colour, are called the red globules. This constitution of the blood is maintained more or less completely as long as it remains within the vascular system, and during life; but on the failure of either of these conditions, it undergoes a remarkable change. In ordinary circumstances, the blood when discharged from its vessels soon loses its vitality, and not long after becomes dissevered. The fibrine spontaneously concretes into a soft spongy mass, within the interstices of which the red globules are entangled and detained. The other ingredients, namely the water, albumen, and saline matters, continue liquid; and as the specific gravity of the two portions is different, they necessarily separate from each other, and there results a large quantity of transparent straw-coloured liquid, in which a smaller quantity of dark red coagulum sinks or swims, according as it is more or less firmly consolidated. The blood retained in the vascular system after death often undergoes a somewhat similar change, but neither so rapidly, nor so completely. The coagulation of the fibrine takes place more slowly, the red globules are more uniformly diffused amongst the other ingredients, and the consequence is, that in the heart and vessels of dead bodies pale or red coagula often occur, but clear and colourless serum is very seldom found. If, however, at or before death blood is extravasated into the pericardium, or any of the other serous capsules, it suffers the same change as if it were removed from the body; that is to say, it speedily separates into serum and crassamentum.

In confirmation of these statements, some authorities and examples will now be cited. The influence of vital conditions in modifying the spontaneous decomposition of the blood is mentioned by several physiologists. — "In persons killed by lightning," — says Mr. Mayo, — "by blows on the stomach, by the bite of venomous serpents, or through the influence of acrid vegetable poisons, or in persons dying from violent mental emotion, the blood is said to be found fluid, and the muscles do not become rigid."⁵⁴ — The principle was more fully expounded by the celebrated John Hunter, who writes as follows: — "In many diseases not inflammatory, namely, those called putrid, where the solids have a tendency to fall into those changes natural to animal matter deprived of its preserving principle, the blood has no disposition to coagulate. . . . . . . Many kinds of death, as well as putrid diseases, produce this effect on the blood, an instance of which was met with in a gentleman, who, being in perfect health, died instantaneously from passion; this having been so violent as to produce death in every part at once, and his blood did not coagulate. A healthy woman was taken in labour of her fourth child. As the child was coming into the world, the woman died almost instantly. On opening the body next day, there appeared no cause for death whatever, every part being natural and sound; but the blood was in a fluid state, nor did it coagulate on being exposed. A soldier, a healthy young man, confined for desertion, received a blow on the pit of his stomach from one of his comrades, from which he dropped down, and died almost instantly. On opening the body no preternatural appearance was observed, but the blood was in a perfectly fluid state, and did not coagulate when taken out of the vessels, and exposed a considerable time. In animals struck dead by lightning the blood does not coagulate, nor [do] the muscles contract, both being killed at once. There are other instances. Two deer were hunted to death, in which case they acted till the very power of action ceased, and of course death ensued. On opening them the blood was fluid, only a little thickened, and the muscles were not rigid, as we find them where they are capable of acting from the stimulus of death. In both cases the life of the solids and of the blood was destroyed at the same time, and at once."⁵⁵ — These observations strongly support the conclusion already established, that the death of Christ was not the result of simple exhaustion, occasioned either by the ordinary sufferings of crucifixion, or by the influence of powerful passions, independently of rupture of the heart; since in the former case he could neither have exhibited for so long a time the signs of mental and bodily energy, nor could his blood after death have divided into its constituents; a process which the opposite state of agony must on the contrary, by exalting vital action, have tended to promote. In mentioning the flow of blood and water from the side of Christ, it is most probable that the apostle John was at first unacquainted with the nature and import of the fact which he related; but that by meditation and inquiry he subsequently became aware of the different conditions assumed by blood under different circumstances; and hence, in Rev. xvi. 3, when describing the visionary conversion of the sea into liquid blood, he says, — "Ἐγένετο αἷμα ὡς νεκροῦ; It became blood like that of a corpse."

The fact that clear serum is very rarely found within the heart and great vessels, and consequently that the blood of Christ, which actually separated into its constituents, must have been previously extravasated into some internal cavity where that change might have taken place, is proved by the most satisfactory evidence. Schwencke, one of the earlier writers on this subject, briefly remarks, — "In dead bodies the separation of the blood into its parts is not strictly observed, for within the vessels it is found mixed and fluid." — Mr. Paget, of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, who has witnessed several hundreds of dissections, and taken accurate notes of the condition of the blood found after death in nearly a hundred and fifty of the bodies which he examined, intimates in a published report, and still more explicitly in a letter to the author, — "I have never found clear serum, such as I could suppose to be separated from the blood in its coagulation, collecting in any part of the body after death." — Dr. John Davy, whose practice as an army physician has been most extensive, was for many years accustomed in the examination of dead bodies to pay attention to the condition of the blood in the heart and great vessels, especially in reference to coagulation, and of about two hundred of these inspections he has published detailed accounts. The result is that, although he has found the blood either wholly solid, wholly liquid, or in various intermediate conditions, he met with only a single instance, and that under very peculiar circumstances, in which a portion of clear serum was detached from the crassamentum.⁵⁶ In his excellent work on Human Physiology, Dr. Carpenter remarks, — "Instances occasionally present themselves in which the blood does not coagulate after death, and in most of these there has been some sudden and violent shock to the nervous system, which has destroyed the vitality of solids and fluids alike. This is generally the case in men and animals killed by lightning, or by strong electric shocks, and in those poisoned by prussic acid, or whose life has been destroyed by a blow on the epigastrium. It has also been observed in some instances of rupture of the heart, or of a large aneurism near it, and a very interesting phenomenon then not unfrequently presents itself;— the coagulation of the blood which has been effused into the pericardium, (the effusion having taken place during the last moments of life,) whilst that in the vessels has remained fluid."⁵⁷ — The variable tendency of blood in dead bodies either to separate into its constituents or not, according as it is situated within or without the vascular system, and the occurrence of a complete division into crassamentum and colourless serum in extravasated blood only, are here stated so distinctly as almost to preclude the necessity of any further quotations; but for the sake of illustration a few examples will be annexed.

The Commentaries of the Academy of Bologna, for 1757, contain an account by Galeati of a man who, after having long enjoyed good health, and taken much equestrian and other exercise, adopted a sedentary mode of life, in consequence of which he laboured for more than thirty years under various pains and ailments, and at length died suddenly. Besides several other lesions observed in the body, a small rupture was found in the left ventricle of the heart; and the pericardium was so distended as to occupy a third part of the cavity of the chest. On opening it, a large quantity of serum was discharged, and two pounds of clotted blood were seen adhering at the bottom. — In the London Medical Repository for 1814, Mr, Watson relates the case of a gentleman between fifty and sixty years of age, who died suddenly from the rupture of an aneurism of the aorta; and observes, — "The sac had burst by an aperture of nearly three fourths of an inch in length into the pericardium, which, as well as the sac itself, was filled with coagula and serum, to the amount of about five pounds." — The London Medical and Physical Journal for May, 1822, reports from the Paris Atheneum of Medicine, an instance of spontaneous rupture of the heart in a gentleman aged about sixty-five years, of moderate habits, and in the full enjoyment of health. With the exception of the rupture, the heart was in every respect perfect, its substance being neither softer nor thinner than usual. — "The pericardium, which appeared much distended, had a blueish colour, and presented an evident degree of fluctuation, contained a quantity of serum and coagulated blood." — The same Journal, for April, 1826, mentions a case, in which a small aneurism of the aorta burst by a minute orifice into the pericardial sac, and occasioned immediate death, — "On opening the body, the pericardium was found to be distended with blood; separated however into coagulum and serum."⁵⁸ — Wheeler's Manchester Chronicle, for November 22nd, 1834, describes a diseased aorta, which had ruptured by a small aperture into the pericardium, and must have induced almost instantaneous death. On inspection the heart was found enlarged, and — "the pericardium" — says the surgeon, Mr. Oilier, — "contained about a quart of blood, and water;" — which he afterwards explains by saying,— "The blood was separated, although indistinctly, into serum and crassamentum." — Morgagni relates a similar case; also another, in which an aneurism of the aorta produced sudden death by bursting into the left pleura, which inclosed a large quantity of clear water and coagulated blood, whilst the blood in the heart and vessels was liquid and black. The late Sir David Barry died suddenly, owing to the bursting of an aneurism of the aorta into the right pleural sac, which contained a great quantity of clear serum, intermixed with large coagula of blood, the whole effusion amounting to full five pints. A parallel case is reported in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal for January, 1843, in which, — "the cavity of the right pleura was found to be almost filled with blood, which had separated into serum and crassamentum; the former amounted to three pints, and the coagulated portion, which was exceedingly firm, weighed about three pounds." — The Dublin Medical Transactions, for 1830, mention the case of a robust man who died suddenly from pulmonary hemorrhage bursting into the left pleural sac, which on examination was found to contain — "about three quarts of blood, the serum supernatant to a great degree, as in blood allowed to stand after venesection, and the clot in considerable quantity, but very soft, occupying the most dependent portion of the cavity. . . . . . . The heart was sound, and empty of blood, and the blood of the body generally was fluid."⁵⁹

The facts above stated are, it is presumed, sufficient to prove that the blood and water which flowed from the side of Christ, when pierced by the soldier's spear, were the result of a previous effusion into the pericardial sac of a quantity of blood, which had there separated into serum and crassamentum, and was derived from rupture of the heart. The only conceivable alternatives are simple hemorrhage into the pericardium, and dilatation of one or more of the cardiac chambers; each of which conditions might, like rupture itself, be induced by violent action of the heart owing to agony of mind, and in each of which the blood might be found after death divided into its constituents. Of these alternatives the former is liable to the objection, that the few instances of the kind placed on record seem to have depended either on the rupture of a blood vessel, or on some peculiar laxity of the pericardial capillaries, implying local debility or disease. But, as no defect of this or any other description could have existed in the body of Christ, which was perfect and vigorous, and when previously tested in the garden of Gethsemane had been proved to be free from such predisposition, this solution is inadmissible. Objections still stronger apply to the other alternative, namely, dilatation of one or more of the cardiac chambers, for in that case neither would the mode of death have been equally speedy and sudden, nor would the quantity of blood retained in the heart have exceeded a few ounces; and, as even of this small quantity the whole could scarcely have been discharged through the wound made by the spear, the consequent flow of blood and water would not have been sufficiently conspicuous to attract the attention of the evangelist John, and induce him to insert it in his narrative. A weightier objection is suggested by the different time required for the coagulation of blood, according as it is situated within or without the vascular system. When effused into the pericardium, owing to a rupture of the heart which proves almost immediately fatal, its mode of concretion cannot materially differ from that which occurs when it is drawn from the body during life. In the latter case it happens, generally speaking, in a few minutes, and the complete separation of the serum and crassamentum in an hour; the process being more rapid when the original temperature of the blood is maintained, than when it is allowed to cool.⁶⁰ From a great number of accurate dissections, Mr. Paget has ascertained that this change takes place much more slowly in blood remaining after death within the heart and great vessels, than in that which has been removed from them. — "In the majority of cases" — he observes, — "the blood does not coagulate in the body for the first four hours after its rest has commenced, and in many it remains fluid for six, eight, or more hours, and yet coagulates within a few minutes of its being let out of the vessels."⁶¹ — This important fact, not hitherto generally known, is decisive of the point now under consideration. For the death of Christ happened at the ninth hour, that is about three o'clock in the afternoon, on Friday, the first day of the paschal festival, which as is well known was celebrated at the vernal equinox; and his body was embalmed and laid in the tomb before six the same evening, when the sun set, and the Jewish sabbath began. Between the time of his death and that when his side was pierced by the soldier, the longest interval which can with any probability be assigned is two hours; an interval which, although abundantly sufficient for the separation of extravasated blood into its constituents, more especially in the pericardium of a body still warm, and fixed in an erect posture on a cross, was, as it now appears, far too short for the coagulation of blood still remaining in the heart.

In conclusion it may therefore with certainty be affirmed, that between the agony of mind which the Saviour endured in the garden of Gethsemane, and the profuse sweat mixed with clotted blood which so rapidly followed it, violent palpitation of the heart must necessarily have intervened; this being the only known condition which could have been at once the effect of the former occurrence, and the cause of the latter. In like manner, when on the cross this agony was renewed, and by the addition of bodily suffering was increased to the utmost intensity, no other known condition could have formed the connecting link between that mental anguish and his sudden death, preceded by loud exclamations, and followed by an effusion of blood and water from his side when afterwards pierced with a spear, than the aggravation even to rupture of the same violent action of the heart, of which the previous palpitation and bloody sweat were but a lower degree, and a natural prelude. If, whilst every other explanation hitherto offered has been shown to be untenable, the cause now assigned for the death of Christ, namely, rupture of the HEART FROM AGONY OF MIND, has been proved to be the result of an actual power in nature, fully adequate to the effect, really present without counteraction, minutely agreeing with all the facts of the case, and necessarily implied by them, this cause must according to the principles of inductive reasoning be regarded as demonstrated.

1) Haller, Element. Physiolog. Corp. Human, vol. v. pp. 50, 583, 586, 587.

2) Senac, Traite du Coeur, vol. ii. p. 515.

3) Corvisart, Sur les Maladies du Coeur, &c.; Discours Preliminaire, p. xli, pp. 259, 369, 370.

4) Sir Charles Bell, On the Nervous System of the Human Body, pp. 170-172; — The Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression, pp. 90-92.

5) Alexander Crichton, On Mental Derangement, vol. ii. pp. 119-121, 127-134, 178, 183, 184, 260, 288, 289.

6) Nicholas Robinson, System of the Spleen, &c. pp. 91, 92.

7) Dr. Cogan, Philosophical Treatise on the Passions, pp. 285, 363, 364.

8) Ephemerid. Acad. iNatur. Curios. Ann. 2, p. 34; — Dec. ii. Ann. 10, p. 354; — Dec. iii. Ann. 1, Append, pp. 124, 125; — Ann. 7 and 8, Append, p. 124; — Ibid. edit. 2da, vol. i. p. 84; — vol. viii. p. 184; — Thuanus, Hist, sui Temp. vol. i. p. 373; vol. iv. p. 300; — Joannes Maldonatus, Comment, in quatuor Evangelist, p. 601; — Paulus Zacchias, Qiisestiones Medico-legales, lib. iii. p. 154; — Joannes Schenck a Grafenberg, Observ. Medic. &c. lib. iii. p. 458.

9) Tissot, Traite des Nerfs, &c. pp. 279, 280.

10) Allan Burns, On Diseases of the Heart, pp. 181-186, 223, 224, 254, 255.

11) Dr. Hope, On the Diseases of the Heart and great Vessels, pp. 198, 199; — Dr. Copland, Diet, of Practical Medicine, Part v. p. 224.

12) Morgagni, De Caus. et Sed. Morb. vol. iii. pp. 433-445, 465467; — vol. vii. pp. 654-657.

13) Ephemerid. Acad. Natur. Curios. Dec. iii. Ann. 9 and 10. — p. 293; — Ibid. Edit. 2da. vol. v. pp. 141, 142; — Matt. Van. Geuns, De Morte Corporea, &e. p. 591; — Zecchinelli, Sulla Angina del Petto, &c. vol. i. pp. 95, 96; — Thurnam, in Lond. Med. Gazette, 1838, pp. 813-817; —Curling, ibid. pp. 894, 895; — Fitzpatrick, in Lond. Med. Repository, vol. xvii. pp. 295-298.

14) Harvseus, Opera, pp. 127, 128; — Dionis, Anatomy of Human Bodies, pp. 270, 445-451, — Tissot, Traite des Nerfs, &c. p. 361; — Bonetus Sepulchretum, vol. i. pp. 585, 887, 899.

15) Morgagni, De Caus. et Sed. Morb. vol. iii. p. 465; Bedingfield, Compendium of Medical Practice, p. 154; — Haller, On the Motion of the Blood, &c. p. 111; — Senac, vol. ii. p. 540.

16) Trans, of the Medico-Chirurg. Society of Edinburgh, vol. i. pp. 60-63; — Dr. Thurnam, in the London Med. Gazette for 1838, pp. 813-817.

17) Dr. Elliotson, Lumleyan Lectures on Diseases of the Heart, pp. 30-34; — Portal, Sur la Nature de plusieurs Maladies, vol. ii. pp. 7-12, 17; — Rostan, Memoires sur les Ruptures du Coeur, p. 10.

18) Dr. Fischer, in the London Medical Repository, &c., vol. xi. pp. 422-427; vol. xii. pp. 164-168.

19) P. S. Townsend, On the Influence of the Passions in the production and modification of Disease, pp.51-56, 65. — London Medical Repository, vol. xi. pp. 427, 428.

20) Journal of Morbid Anatomy, Ophthalmic Medicine, &c. Art. v.

21) Matt. chap. 26, v. 36-42; — Mark, chap. 14, v. 32-36; — Luke, chap. 22, v.39-42. — Mark's statement, probably derived from Peter, an eye-witness of the scene, is perhaps the most striking, — "Καὶ ἥρξατο ἐκθαμὲεἳσὲαι καὶ ἀδημηνεῖν, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς,—Περίλυπός ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή μου ἕως Εταιίἱνουε μείνατε ὦδε, καὶ γρηγορεῖτε"— Mark, chap. 14, v. 33, 34.

22) Archibald M'Lean, Paraphrase and Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, vol. i. pp. 163, 164.

23) J. Rambach, Considerations on the Sufferings of Christ, translated from the German; vol. i. pp. 35 — 37, 48, 49, 55, 56. — Dr. Priestley, Discourse on the Evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus; p. 12, 13.

24) President Edwards, Works, in eight vols. 8vo. Lond. 1817; vol. vi. pp. 413, 414.

25) Dr. David Russell, Letters, chiefly practical and consolatory, &c.; vol. i. pp. 7-9.

26) M'Lean, vol. i, p. 163; — Rambach, vol. i. p. 56; — Dr. Doddridge, Family Expositor of the New Testament, vol. ii. p. 483. — Hebrews, chap. 5, v. 7-10.

27) Dr. Moses Stuart, Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, vol. ii pp. 126, 127, 420-422— See also Poole's Synopsis.

28) Matt. chap. 26, v. 30, 31, 36-44; chap. 27, v. 45, 46; — Mark, chap. 14, v. 26, 27, 32-39; chap. 15, v. 33, 34; — John, chap. 18, v. 11; — Heb. chap. 5, v. 7-9.

29) Crichton, On Mental Derangement, &e, vol. ii. pp. 134, 288, 289; — Judges, chap. 16, v. 23-30; — Daniel, chap. 5, v. 1-6; chap. 10, v. 7-11, 15-17; — Rev. chap. 1, v. 12-17.

30) Harvseus, de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus; pp. 118, 119;— Kuinoël, Lib. Historic. Nov. Test. Comment on Luke, chap. 22, v. 43, 44.

31) Voltaire, Œuvres completes; vol. xviii. pp. 531, 532. — De Mezeray, Histoire de France; vol. iii. p. 306.

32) Ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἅγγελος ἀπ’ οὐρανοῦ ἐνισχύων αὐτόικ καὶ, γενόμενος ἐν ἀγωνίᾳ, ἐκτενέστερον προσηύχετο: ἐγένετο δὲ ὁ ἱδρὼς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἓρόμέοι αἵματος καταὲιιίνοντες ἐπὶ τήν γῆν Luke, chap. 22, v. 43, 44. See, also, Coloss. chap. 4. v. 14; Poole's Synopsis, Schleusuer's Lexicon of the New Testament, &c. The force of the term ὡσεὶ, frequently used by Luke in a similar sense, evidently is, that Christ's sweat on this occasion consisted of clotted blood, not pure, but mixed with the usual watery liquid.

33) " M'Lean, On the Epistle to the Hebrews, vol. i. pp. 163, 164; — John. chap. 16, v. 31, 32;— Heb. chap. 5, v. 7-9.

34) The Pictorial Bible, by Knight and Co. Note on John, chap, 19, v. 18; — Kuinoël, Lib. Historic. Nov. Test. Comment on Matt, chap. 27, v. 50.

35) John, chap. 18, v. 1-3.

36) Joel, chap. 2, v, 28-32; — Amos, chap. 8, v. 9; — Zeehar. chap. 14, v. 3-7;— Matt. chap. 27, v. 45, 51; — Luke, chap. 23, v. 44, 45; — Acts, chap. 2, v. 14-21; — Rev. chap. 6, v. 12. — In the last passage the phraseology is more adapted to European usage; — "The sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.''

37) Exodus, chap. 10, v. 21-23; — Ezek. chap. 32, v. 1-8; — Revel, chap. 9, v. 1, 2.

38) Exodus, chap. 12, v. 43-46; — Numb. chap. 21, v. 4-9; — Deut. chap. 21, v. 22, 23;— Zechar. chap. 12, v. 10; — John, chap. 3, v. 14, 15; chap. 12, v. 30-34; chap. 19, v. 31-37; — Revel, chap. 1, v. 7.

39) Περὶ δὲ τήν ἐννάτην ὥραν, ἀνεβόησεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, λέγων, &c. . . . . . Ὀ δὲ Ἰησοῦς, πάλιν κράξας φωνῇ μεγάλῃ, ἀφῆκε τὸ πνεῦμα. Matt. chap. 27, v. 46, 50; Luke, chap. 23, v. 46; John, chap. 19, v. 28-30.

40) Matt. chap. 27, v. 54; — Mark, chap. 15, v. 39; — Luke, chap. 23, v. 47; — Kuinoël, Comment in Lib. Hist. Nov. Test., Matt. chap. 27, v. 50.

41) Miscellan. Acad. Curios. Naturae; Dec. 3; Ann. 9 et 10; pp. 293, 294; —C. D. Ludwig, Adversaria Medico-Practica; 3 vols. 8vo. Lipsise, 1769; vol. i. pp. 136, 137.

42) "דקר, to thrust through, to pierce, stab, as with a sword or spear." — Gesenius's Hebrew and English Lexicon; — "Ἐκκεντέω, pungo, stimulo, transfigo, transverbero; — Νὑττω, vel Νύσσω, pungo, punctim cœdo, vulnero, fodico;" — Schleusner's Lexicon of the Greek Test. — See also Numbers, chap. 25, v. 6-8; — Judges, chap. 9, v. 53, 54; — 1 Sam. chap 31, v. 3, 4; — 2 Sam. chap. 2, v. 22, 23; chap, 3, v. 27; chap. 4, v. 5, 6; chap. 18, v. 14; chap. 20, v. 9, 10; — 1 Chron. chap. 10, v. 3, 4; — Prov. chap. 12, v. 18; — Isaiah, chap. 13, v. 15; — Jerem. chap. 37, v. 9, 10; chap. 51, v. 4; — Lament, chap. 4, v. 9; — Zechar. chap. 12, v. 10; — John, chap. 19, v. 34, 37; — Revel. chap. 1, v. 7; &c.

43) Thomas Bartliolinus, De latere Christi aperto, &c,, pp. 17-22, 45," &c.; — Idem. Epistola ad Hieron. Bardium, pp. 565-570. — Acts, chap. 12, v. 18, 19.

44) Pictorial Bible; Note on Mark, chap. 15, v. 43.

45) Rambach, On the Sufferings of Christ, vol. iii. pp. 271, 272; — Dr. Priestley, On the Resurrection of Jesus, pp. 12, 13.

46) Hewlett's Bible, &c.; Notes on John, chap. 19, v. 34, and Acts, chap. 1, v. 18; — Dr. Willan, History of the Ministry of Jesus Christ, &c.; p. 195. — Mr. Hewlett also regards Luke, chap. 22, v. 43, 44, as of doubtful authority.

47) Thomas Bartholinus, De Latere Christi aperto, &c. pp. 1 7 — 22, 45, 165; — Hieron. Bardus, Epist. ad Thorn. Bartholinura, ibid, pp. 553-656; — Thorn. Bartholinus, Epist. ad Hieron. Bard, rescripta, pp. 565-570; — Kuinoël, Comment, in Lib. Historic. Nov. Test., John, chap. 19, v. 34.

48) M, H, Kipping, De Cruce et Cruciariis, pp. 187-195; — Bishop Watson, Apologies for Christianity, and the Bible, pp. 313, 314.

49) Haller, Element Physiolog. Corp. Human, vol. i. pp. 282, 283; — John and Charles Bell, Anatomy of the Human Body, vol.. ii. p. 53-55; — Johan Bohn, De Renunciatione Vulnerum, pp. 226, 227; — J. P. Klefeker, De Halitu Pericardii, pp. 25-28; — G. M. Zecchinelli. Sulla Angina del Petto, &c. vol. i. pp. 95, 96;— Morgagni, De Causis et Sedibus Morborum, vol. iii. pp. 462-467,

50) Kuinoel, Comment, in Lib. Historic. Nov. Test., John, chap. 19,v. 31-34.

51) B. Ramazzini, Opera, p. 171; — J. M. Lancisi, Opera, vol. i., pp. 157-159, &c.; — Morgagni, De Causis et Sedibus Morborum, vol. ii. pp. 296, 297; vol. iii. pp. 442, 443; vol. iv. p. 557.— See also Dr. Fischer's case, at pp. 97, 98.

52) Exodus, chap. 12, v. 21-23.

53) Journal Universel des Sciences Medicales, vol. xix. pp. 257-260,

54) Herbert Mayo, Outlines of Human Physiology, pp. 30,31.

55) John Hunter, Works, vol. i. pp. 238, 239.

56) Thomas Schwencke, Haematologia, pp. 90, 91; — Dr. John Davy, Researches Physiological and Anatomical, vol. ii. pp. 190-213.

57) Dr. W. B. Carpenter's Principles of Human Physiology, &c. pp. 475, 476.

58) Comment, de Rebus in Scient. Nat. et Medicina gestis. 8vo, Lipsiae, 1758: vol. vii. pp. 389, 390. — London Medical Repository, vol. i. pp. 99-102; — London Med. and Phys. Journal, vol. xlvii. pp. 432, 433; vol. lv. pp. 271—274.

59) Morgagni, De Caus. et Sed. Morb. vol. iii. pp. 116-118; 433-436. — Medico-Chirurg. Review for 1836, vol. xxiv., pp. 298—300. Edinb. Med. and Surg. Journal; vol. lix. pp. 115-117. — Dublin Med. Trans. New Series, vol. i. part i. pp. 11-16.

60) Hewson on the Blood, pp. 1, 5, 25, 26, 120; — Hey, pp. 37, 38; — Hunter, pp. 19, 21, 22; — Wilson, pp. 28-1; — Thackrah, pp. 33, 34, 67, 91.

61) James Paget, Esq. On the Coagulation of the Blood after Death; in the London Medical Gazette for 1840; — New Series, vol. i. pp. 613— 618.