FLORAL EMBLEMS. 
181 
INCORRUPTIBLE. 
Cedar of Lebanon.— Pinus Cedrus. 
“ Once were they in their splendour and their pride, 
As an imperial cedar, on the brow 
Of the great Lebanon ! It rose, arrayed 
In its rich pomp of foliage, and of wide 
Majestic branches, leaving far below 
All children of the forest. To its shade 
The waters tribute paid. 
Fostering its beauty. Birds found shelter there, 
Whose flight is of the loftiest, through the sky ; 
And the wild mountain-creatures made their lair 
Beneath ; and nations by its canopy 
Were shadowed o’er. Supreme it stood, and ne’er 
Had earth beheld a tree so excellently fair.” 
From the Spanish. 
The ancients considered the timber of this 
tree to be not only incorruptible, but that 
whatever it inclosed, became imperishable. 
They therefore deposited their precious manu¬ 
scripts in chests made of this tree, which gave 
