482 
SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING. 
Greece, whether on her hills, beside her 
streams or mossy fountains, trees had a pro- 
minence and importance such as they have 
never had since. In that country, Nature was 
not only allowed to make herself heard and 
seen, but she was energetically encouraged. 
Her umbrageous valleys and odoriferous up- 
lands were filled with gods. Woodland temples 
rose on all hands. Every leaf which expanded 
itself was appropriated to religion ; so that, 
independent of her usual verdant covering, 
she wore here a rich mythological tissue. 
Hence it was that a wreath of an evergreen 
formed the noblest reward that could be con- 
ferred on the most distinguished citizens. 
That circumstance alone will give all " possible 
eternitie" to the laurel. 
One of the first trees in sacred association 
is the Cedar, a native of a lofty ridge of 
mountains in Syria. In winter, Lebanon is 
always clad with snowf which, towards the 
north-east, where it is sheltered from the sea- 
breezes and sunshine, remains sometimes 
during the whole year. The tree is therefore 
perfectly hardy in the climate of England, and 
is, of course, appropriate for that description 
of planting now%nder review. Perhaps the 
most promising young plantations of this tree 
in Britain are those of Sir George Macpherson 
Grant, of Ballindalloch, in the north of Scot- 
land. The cedars are planted on the sides of 
sandy hills, which before were partially covered 
with trees sufficient to cause shelter, but not 
so close as to interfere with the proper de- 
velopment of the cedars. This, in my opinion, 
is the best way to get up a crop of this tree ; 
for it is naturally disposed to become merely a 
spreading bush, without any stem ; but when 
the chief supply of air is overhead, it naturally 
forms a good leading shoot. Technically, it 
requires to be drawn up. A new and grand 
feature in scenery is sure to be the result 
of an elevated plantation of this tree in 
maturity. 
Gazing upon this object, the reflections 
which it excites are numerous : — It was seen 
from Jerusalem, casting a " weight of glory " 
over the lofty mountains which environed that 
city like a magnificent rampart. It grew on 
that site whence the eye commanded a spec- 
tacle more glorious, perhaps, than was ever 
enjoyed from any other spot on the globe, 
embracing a view almost without interruption 
from the waters of the Mediterranean to the 
confines of the Persian Gulph. It was pecu- 
liarly the tree of Palestine. It was the be- 
lief, that God loved it more than any other 
tree. It was seen on all the hills of the holy 
city, — planted extensively by Solomon around 
his seat there, and personally recommended by 
him, as a most desirable ornament throughout 
Judea. Figuratively, this plant seems to have 
formed the general standard of excellence, — 
the Hebrew poets having had continual re- 
course to it as a fitting source of illustration. 
Had the graces of the Church to be described, 
it was by a reference to Lebanon and its 
cedars; — the prosperity of the righteous, it 
was by a metaphor borrowed from this tree — 
" He shall grow as the cedar of Lebanon ." 
Whatever was comely and majestic in the 
human countenance, or whatever commanded 
the love and reverence of the beholder, was 
aptly illustrated by this celebrated object. To 
see Lebanon and its cedars was, in ancient 
times, accounted a great privilege ; and the 
anxious desire with which Moses and the 
people of Israel, whilst journeying in Egypt, 
looked forward to this favoured part of the 
Land of Promise, may be gathered from the 
earnest language of the patriarch : — " I pray 
thee," he says, "let me go over and see 
the good land that is beyond Jordan, that 
goodly mountain, and Lebanon." In its living 
state, the cedar, no doubt, conferred a very 
peculiar and striking character to the scenery 
of the East ; its depth of green, and the dis- 
position of its branches, rendered it " for glory 
and beauty" unequalled amongst all the objects 
of the vegetable kingdom. Mechanically con- 
sidered, it was equally sought after and prized. 
Jupiter's sceptre was attributed either to the 
cedar or cypress, a symbol of the. eternity of 
his empire, because the tree was considered 
free from corruption. In the temple of Apollo 
at Utica, the wood of this tree was found 
nearly 2,000 years old. Sesostris, king of 
Egypt, built a vessel of 280 cubits, gilded 
without and within, with the cedar wood. It 
is highly probable, too, that king Solomon, who 
" made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which 
is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea," 
drew largely upon Lebanon for such an under- 
taking ; but whilst there is some doubt on 
this point, it is certain that the timber em- 
ployed in building the sumptuous Temple and 
palace of Jerusalem was of this tree, and 
of the growth of Lebanon. " All was cedar, 
— there was no stone seen." It appears, 
further, that the infatuated idolator chose this 
wood for forming his favourite images ; for it 
is recorded, that in a Spanish oratory, conse- 
crated to Diana, some centuries before the 
destruction of Troy, beams and figures of this 
wood were found of great antiquity. In the 
famous Ephesian temple, the statue of the 
goddess, " whom all Asia and the world wor- 
shipped," was reputed to be of this material, 
as was the most of the timber-work of that 
glorious structure. The idol, too, " which 
fell down from Jupiter," so closely consulted 
by those at Ephesus, was fashioned of the 
same wood ; and it is probable that the most 
of the "graven images" of all idolatrous 
