12 THE CEDAR OF LEBANON. 
The Cypress is often a long-lived tree, although it 
will sometimes attain a great size in a comparatively 
short time. A tree of the American variety, planted 
by John Bartram, in his botanic garden near Phila- 
delphia, some 100 years since, now (1859) measures 
about 9 feet in diameter, and over 100 feet in height. 
An old and venerated tree of the Kuropean species 
was some years since standing near Somma, in Lom- 
bardy, which was supposed to have been planted the 
year of the birth of our Saviour, although it is said 
that a record exists at Milan which proves that it 
was a tree in the time of Julius Cesar, B.C. 42. 
So great was the respect shown for this tree, that 
Napoleon Bonaparte, when laying down the plan for 
his great road over the Simplon, diverged from the 
straight line to avoid injuring it. 
In the Scriptures we find frequent allusions made 
to the Pine, the Fir, the Cypress, and the Cedar, all 
of which appear to be natives of Syria. In Isaiah 
xli. 19, the Pine, the Fir, and the Cedar are spoken 
of; and again in lx. 13, “The glory of Lebanon 
shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and 
the box together, to beautify the place of my sane- 
tuary.” But of all the trees of this class, the Cedar 
of Lebanon seems to have been regarded by the 
Sacred writers as a tree of uncommon beauty, and 
was therefore frequently used in the figurative lan- 
guage of the times to convey the idea of majesty and 
power. 
In Ezekiel, chap. xxxi., we have the following 
remarkable expressions: “ Behold the Assyrian was 
