412 THE CEDAR OF LEBANON. 



cedreum, was said to render imperishable all 

 substances which were anointed with it. 



The value of the timber of the Cedar, as 

 a building material, is now thought to have 

 been overrated by the ancients. It is reddish 

 white, with streaks, and does not seem to be 

 much harder than deal. It is sweet-scented 

 only for the first year after its being felled: 

 it soon begins to shrink and warp, and is said 

 to be by no means durable. But this is rather 

 the character of English-grown Cedar than of 

 timber which has come to maturity in its native 

 mountains. 



The prophet Ezekiel," Gilpin remarks, '^has 

 given us the fullest description of the Cedar: 

 ^ Behold the Assyrian was a Cedar in Lebanon, 

 with fair branches and with a shadowing shroud, 

 and of an high stature ; and his top was among 

 the thick boughs. His height was exalted above 

 all the trees of the field, and his boughs were 

 multiplied, and his branches became long because 

 of the multitude of waters when he shot forth. 

 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length 

 of his branches : the Fir-trees were not like his 

 boughs, and the Chestnut-trees [supposed to be 

 the Plane] were not like his branches.'* 



^'In this description, two of the principal charac- 

 teristics of the Cedar are marked : the first is the 

 multiplicity and length of its branches. Few 

 trees divide so many fair branches from the 

 main stem, or spread over so large a compass 

 of ground. ' His boughs are multiplied,' as 

 Ezekiel says, ' and his branches became long,' 

 which David calls spreading abroad. His very 



* Ezek. xxxi. 3 — 8. 



