182 FLORAL EMBLEMS. 



rise to a proverb ; to praise a work, it was said, 

 ^' It is worthy of being cased in cedar." The 

 ancients also drew a juice from the cedar, 

 with which they smeared their writings to 

 preserve them from decay, and which is al- 

 luded to by Horace ; by means of which it is 

 said, that Numa's books were so wonderfully 

 preserved. The Egyptians used this extract 

 of the cedar with other drugs, to embalm 

 their dead bodies, believing it would make 

 them incorruptible ; and a 3000 years expe- 

 riment has proved them tolerably correct : 

 hence the emblem. It was customary with 

 the Jews to plant a cedar at the birth of a son, 

 which was cut to form his nuptial bed ; and 

 on this account, the Israelites considered it 

 symbolical of constancy and purity. Were 

 the works of men imperishable, the globe 

 would be covered with monuments of folly. 



