Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-07-10

cedarS, the Lord breaketh the cedars OF
Lebanon !; =" and its loftiness and upright
ness of growth are described in Ezekiel
xvii. - Il will also take of the
highest branch Of the high cedar; and in
Psalm xcii. II: The righteous shall
flourish like the palm-tree, he shall grow
like cedar in Lebanon.
In early times the cedar appears to have
grown so abundantly on Mount Lebanon,
that it formed one Of its most distinguish
ed and characteristic ornaments. Hence
it is called in Scripture the glory Of
Lebanon Butwhether or no the cedar
of Lebanon wer ethinned to exhaustion by
the four-score thousand axes Of king Sol
omOn, who employed their timber in the
building of the temple at Jerusalem, or
whether this forest Of ancient cedars has
decayed and disappeared through a change
Of climate Of one fact we are assured BY
modern travellers, that but few Of these
venerable trees are now left standing In
1896 MaUndrell counted ouly sixteen, and
in 1918, according to DR.. Richardson,
there were still seven Of them left There
can be no doubt as to the great age Of
these trees. Maundrel mentions the size
Of one of them, which was 30 feet Is
inches in circumference and III feet in
the spread Of its boughs. In fact, there
are now growing in England more Of
these noble ced4rs than are at present
found on its native mountain Tor the ce-
dar Of Lebanon, if the soil Is good, the
situation sheltered, and the space ample
always forms a grand and glorious pyra-
of Ha~Lr f,l1o1,. -hs .
advantage especially in winter, when the
trees are deprived Of their leaf ornaments
and the ground covered with snow. and
conferring as it were especial dignity on
the park or mansion to which it belongs
The wide-spreading branches of the
cedar are very apt to be weighed down
and broken by heavy falls Of snow in win
ter There is a very fine cedar growing
in Abney-park Cemetery, in the nelghbor
hood of Stoke Newington, which a few
years ago was injured in this manner
The long, far-spreadng lower branches of
this tree are now sustained bv numerous
props, security being thus afforded against
any further fracture or separation OF them
from the trunk The oldest cedar in Eng
land are those growing in the Botanical
Gardens at Chelsea
oLEA EURoPFA-oLIvE TREE.
The olive tree belongs to the natura
Oleacep. It Is q small evergreen tree. /
usually attaining the height of 80 feet.
much branched and covered with greyish
bark. The olive Itself Is q drupe or stone
fruit, with a feshy covering about the size
shape, and color OF damson, which when
ripe contains an abundance Of olive oil.
The olive is one Of the first plants men
toned in the Scriptures Gen. viii I)whcre |
the dove sentou by Noah returns 10 him in !
the evening with an olive leaf pIucked
of an olIve-tree which had survived the /
angry storm of the dliuvial waters. Hence /
the OIive-tree has ever since been the em- /
olem Of peace The oil expressed from
the olive was used for the lamps In the /
Tabernacle, which were kept continually /
burning Exodus xxx. 50 The olive |
tree Is very abundant in the Holy Land /
which Is called for that reason ia the I
Scriptures a land Of olive oil Dcut. viii /
Sd Olive-trees tDeut. vi ll1 and olive /
yards Exodus XIII. ll,H The Mount OIL
Olives was so called from the abundance I
7f olive-tree- which formerly grew there /
1t was favorite spot near Jerusalem 10 I
which our Saviour frequently retired with F!
ais diciples. See Matt XXI. J.. XIV. ;. /
XVI 30, Lake VI. xxi. 39.
The olive tree grow very slowly and .
sometimes attains an age OF upwards OF @ /
thousand years, 1t is a remarkable fact +
hat there are still some very old olive trees I
which are yet GROWN. on the slopes oil
OIivet. When we think Of the successive /
storms OF war which have swept over the +
,oii Of Palestine, that this small patch of /
country -comparativc.y speak in---has been .
leld successfully by Hebrews, A~syrian-. /
Romans, Moslems and Christians. who
nave occupied in turn the hills and .
around Jerusalem. destroyed I
heir vegetation, and cur down their timber, I
loes it notseem strange that nature should
hus persistoutly have withstood tac injuries
If man, and that there should be growing on I
hose ancient site. of O.iyct and the Mount
If Olives. known as such eleven centuries
before the Christian era, even now those
,rand OLD olive-trces, as if they were
.ctually there TO vindicate their right to
heir paternal soil What botanst or
christian can view or even think Of these
rees without emotion, the undoubted de-
cendants Of a dynasty more ancient than
hat ofthe Pharaohs. Man and his works,
lowevcr noble, perish, and therefore doubts
IS to whether he secs the true sites Of the
'epuchre and the Temple arise in the mind
# the intelligent traveller who visits
Palestine, when he is shown them for the
irst time, when he thinks of its revolution
.ry history; but he has no such doubts as
0 Olivet and the Mount Of Olives, monu-
nents Of nature far grander and more
with their glorious old olive.trecs