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. 
