the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee

to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree and roots, thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities, by shewing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy prosperity."

Notwithstanding his confidence in this prophet, neither the unwelcome interpretation of the dream, nor the admonitions of Daniel, seemed to make a durable impression. Nebuchadnezzar was the most potent sovereign on the face of the earth. He was surrounded with riches and splendour; and with their inseparable companions, the most servile homage and adulation. His frowns were the signal of death, and his smiles ensured the most enviable prosperity. Thus situated, pride and vanity were still his ruling passions; and although he was forewarned that he was soon to be expelled from the throne, his mind. was intoxicated with his greatness, which he

proudly ascribed to his own wisdom and prowess. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon; and the king spake and said, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built, for the people of my kingdom, by the might of my power for the honour of my majesty?" While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee," &c. and the same hour was the thing fulfilled.

Experience is a more effectual teacher than admonitions the most solemn and authoritative. This alone could completely reform the tribes of Judah and Benjamin from the practice of Idolatry; and it was this alone which could inspire the proud king of Babylon with pious humiliation, and profound homage, towards the universal sovereign. The depth of his degradation subdued the haughtiness of his heart. His restoration to the rank of human beings, from which he had been expelled, and to the enjoyment of his sovereignty, filled his breast with devout gratitude. This proud boaster now condescends to make a public statement of the marvellous events which had befallen him; to atkowledge that his humiliating sufferings were the just punishment of his pride; to make

known the ignorance of his magicians, and the other servants of false gods, and to celebrate the wisdom of Daniel, the inspired prophet of the true God; to express his sole dependence upon Jehovah, and to propose his own conduct as an example of the profoundest reverence towards him.

How

The following is the exordium of his public declaration. "Nebuchadnezzar, the king, unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell on all the earth, peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought towards me! great are his signs, and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation." Instead of concealing, he gives the most extensive publicity to the humiliated and insane state to which he had been reduced, and confesses the cause to have been the pride of his heart; closing his narrative in the following strain of elevated Piety: " And at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lift up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from ge neration to generation. And all the inhabitants

of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him what dost thou ? At the same time my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my councellors, and my lords sought unto me: and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol, and honour the king of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase."

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We shall leave it to our readers to meditate upon the natural influence of such extraordinary confessions and acknowledgments, through the extensive empire of this mighty Sovereign. In most arbitrary governments the opinions of the sovereign are adopted by his subjects; and this adoption will be as extensive as the knowledge of his opinions, in states where scarcely an individual has been accustomed to think for himself, The decree of prohibiting "every people, nation, and language to speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, under the severest punishments, would not only

impose silence, but inspire dread; and we may safely conclude, that the God of these Hebrews would, in consequence of such pious declarations, be revered by all the subjects of this great monarch, not only in Chaldea, but in Syria, Arabia, and Egypt; for to those regions did the immediate sovereignty of Nebuchadnezzar, and the power of his conquests extend. Although they, with the king, continued polytheists, the God of the Hebrews must have been considered as the transcendant God; and they must not only have revered him as more powerful, but as more wise and more holy than the Gods they were accustomed to worship. Nor could. such sentiments prevail, without producing a considerable degree of reform in their worship: rendering their superstitious rites less impure and immoral, than those which were transmitted to them from their more barbarous ancestors; and greatly meliorating the state of the moral world.

Of Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, who succeeded to the throne, the scriptures have recorded nothing but his folly and his ruin. He was manifestly a profane volup tuary. He seems to have placed the very extra-: ordinary occurrences of his father's reign among

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