but in the trees of the world, the Cedar is the king. Hoary with antiquity! venerable from Biblical and Historical reminiscences! majestic, and ever verdant; the cedars of Lebanon are without parallel in the vegetation of the world. There is no case of insulated growth more striking than this of the Cedar of Lebanon-which, according to Dr. Milner, "has never been found indigenous in any other locality." From the earliest times, the cedars of Lebanon have been celebrated; their timber was largely used in some of the most famous structures of the ancients, and was highly prized on account of its durability; for though not equal to the oak in absolute wear, it is so bitter that no insect will touch it. When Solomon built his temple, he sent to Hiram, the lord-paramount of Lebanon, to procure the necessary quantity of cedar-wood for the structure; and the thirty-thousand axes of the king of Israel must have deprived heights of some of their noblest trees. Very few of the ancient stock now exist: whether owing to similar ravages, or to some change in the climate, it is impossible to determine. When Ballonius visited them in 1550; there were twenty-eight of the old race remaining. In 1575 Ranwolf found twenty-four; in 1680 Dandini found twenty-three; in 1738 Pococke counted fifteen; in 1811 Burchardt could only number eleven; Dr. Richardson, in 1828, and Lamartine, in 1832, speak only of seven. The age of these patriarchal trees has been variously estimated. The inhabitants firmly believe them to be the remains of the identical forest which flourished in the time of Solomon. Lamartine supposes it a fair presumption, from their rise and appearance, that they go back to biblical times. It is certain that they were regarded as very ancient several centuries ago; nor is it unlikely that they are the surviving relics of a second generation, since the time of the Jewish kings.* The Cedar full grown, with its upward inclining branches, is one of the most majestic and beautiful of the productions of the vegetable kingdom. It will reach the height * Milner's Gallery of Nature. of a hundred and thirty-five feet, and hence became the subject of the sublime comparison in Holy Writ, “I have seen the ungodly lift up his head like the cedars of Lebanon, yet he passed away, and lo! he was not: I sought him, but he could not be found." They are of very quick growth, as appears from the increase of those fine specimens planted in the physic garden, at Chelsea, in the year 1683, and then not above three feet high; in 1762 they measured twelve feet in the girth, at two feet above ground. This quick growth accounts somewhat for the perishable nature of the timber, though instances are on record which show that it occasionally wears well, as that of the Temple of Apollo, in Utica, where was found a trunk of cedar two thousand years old. The ancients believed the cedar to be proof against corruption, for which reason they deposited their most precious manuscripts in coffers made of its wood; thence it became proverbial to say in praise of a literary work, "It deserves a cedar casket." The ornaments in Solomon's temple were of cedar sent to him by king Hiram, as was also the greater part of the timber work in the temple of Diana, at Ephesus. The wood is of so dry a nature, that it will not endure to be fastened with iron nails, from which it usually shrinks, so that they commonly fasten it with pins of the same wood. The branches during growth invariably bend upwards, and the Arabs regard this inclination as a sign of intelligence, answering to instinct in animals, and reason in man; and it is asserted that upward turning of the branch is always greater previous to the descent of snow, as if the tree anticipated and prepared to receive the coming burden. It was a cedar tree, That woke him from the deadly drowsiness; The broad round spreading branches when they felt And, standing in their strength erect, Defied the baffled storm. Various magnificent specimens of the cedar of Lebanon have been reared in England, but it has never been found growing wild apart from the Syrian mountains. SLEEP-SATAN'S FAVOURITE WEAPON. SATAN'S chief object is to get the soul asleep, for it is mainly through sleep that he can expect to conquer. Luther illustrates this very forcibly in one of his sermons. "The devil," he says, "held a great anniversary, at which his emissaries were convened to report the results of their several missions. 'I let loose the wild beasts of the desert,' said one, 'on a caravan of Christians, and their bones are now bleaching on the sands.' 'What of that?' said the devil, 'their souls were all saved.' 'I drove the east wind,' said another, 'against a ship freighted with Christians, and they were all drowned.' 'What of that?' said the devil, 'their souls were all saved.' 'For ten years I tried to get a single Christian asleep,' said a third, 'and I succeeded, and left him so.' Then the devil shouted," continues Luther, "and the night stars of hell sang for joy." It is indeed Satan's only chance of success thus to lull the Christian into a slumber. And this is done not by attacking, but by not attacking. The heart suddenly awakes and finds itself let alone. It is like a convalescent man suddenly relieved from a weight of sickness. It congratulates itself on feeling no temptation, and feels quite exhilarated. But, take care! The want of temptation may be the wiliest temptation of all. The freedom from the atmospheric pressure of sin may, like the vacuum in a bleeder's cup, be the means of drawing your very heart's blood. Do not feel confident except in your want of confidence, or strong except in your weakness. Elation, indeed, is the first stage of slumber, and slumber the period for a fall. SLOW GROWTH OF CHARACTER. A MATURE Christian character is not an instantaneous creation, but a growth, a development. "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." As the mind has to be cultivated, so the character must be perfected by degrees. Indeed, as a perfect character is the noblest thing under the sun, so it is the longest in maturing. Even death does not finish the work. Then the spirit is freed from sin. But the higher development of character will still go on with the expansion of the mind through eternity. We cannot then become perfect in a day. Leviathan is not so tamed. A man who has been accustomed all his life to act from selfish calculations, does not begin at once to act from motives purely good or religious. Nor is Christian perfection a mere rhapsody of the mind, to be attained by an act of contemplation. We need something more than the wing of imagination to bear us to the summit of that mount. The celes tial city is on the top of a hill, and we must go up on foot. We must walk the heavenly road. We cannot fly. Step by step, picking stones out of the way, and singing as we go, must we climb the mount of God. NO MOTHER. SHE has no mother! What a volume of sorrowful truth is comprised in that single sentence,-no mother! We must go far down the hard, rough paths of life, and become inured to care and sorrow in their sternest forms, before we can take home to our own experience the dread reality—no mother—without a struggle and a tear. But when it is said to a frail young girl, just passing toward the life of woman, how sad is the story summed up in that one short sentence ! Who now shall administer the needed counsel,-who now shall check the wayward fancies,-who now shall bear with the errors and failings of the motherless girl? Deal gently with the child. Let not the cup of her sorrow be overfilled by the harshness of your bearing, or your unsympathising coldness. Is she heedless of her doings? Is she careless in her movements? Remember, oh! remember, "she has no mother!" When her young companions are gay and joyous, does she sit in sorrowing? Does she pass with a downcast eye and languid step, when you would fain witness the gushing and overflowing |