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to explain the words that had been written on the wall, and the king declared that the man who found out the meaning of them should be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and be made the third ruler in his kingdom.

But the wise men of Babylon could not even read the writing. The king's distress, when he found this, was great indeed, and the news of his grief having been told to the queen his mother, who does not seem to have been at the banquet, she came immediately to put him in mind of Daniel, whom Nebuchadnezzar had set over all the other wise men, because he had found in him light, and understanding, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods.

Daniel was accordingly sent for, and brought into the king's presence, who little thought what a solemn message he was to receive from the lips of this holy man.

E. Why, what did Daniel tell him, mamma?

M. He began by repeating to him the melancholy story of Nebuchadnezzar's fall; how he had had his glory taken from him, and been driven from the sons of men, and then he said to him, “And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this : but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven, and hast brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, and thy wives, have drank in them, and thou hast praised thy gods of silver, of gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, thou hast not glorified, therefore was the part of the hand sent from him, and this writing was written.

Then Daniel read to him the awful words which were written in the Chaldean language on the wall. They were these, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." And the meaning which Daniel gave to them was this:

1st. God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. That is, he hath set bounds to it, and brought it to an end.

2d. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; which means, that the Almighty had weighed, or considered carefully, the conduct of Belshazzar, and that he found him wanting in every thing which he required of him, and unworthy of the high station in which his Providence had placed him.

3d. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

Such were the mysterious words, the mere sight of which had so terrified the king. What, then, must have been his feelings, when he heard their meaning? E. Perhaps, mamma, he was foolish enough not to believe them.

M. In this case, Edward, there was no time for unbelief; the words were fulfilled as soon as spoken. Cyrus, with his Medes and Persians, had, by this time, entered the city; they now surrounded the palace on every side, and Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans was slain that very night, being surprised in the midst of all his revelry.

Even as God had foretold by his prophet Jeremiah, saying "I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware; thou art found and also caught; and I will make

drunk her princes and her wise men, her captains, her rulers, and her mighty men, and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the king, whose name is the Lord of Hosts."

THIRTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY EVENING.

DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN.

M. I TOLD you last Sunday evening, Edward, how Cyrus, with great skill and wisdom, managed to take the city of Babylon, and how Belshazzar was slain in the midst of his unholy feast. With this king, the Babylonian empire ended, and with it all the power and pride and glory of that famous city; this event happened just fifty years after Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Judea, and carried the people of God captive into Babylon; and thus were fulfilled many prophecies which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Daniel had spoken against it; as you will one day be able to observe for yourself.

E. Did the Persian empire begin now, mamma, as the prophet Daniel had said ?

M. Yes, my love; the Medo-Persian or the kingdom of the Medes and Persians took the place immediately of the Babylonian empire, and Cyaxares, or as he is generally called, Darius the Mede, became king of Babylon, in the stead of Belshazzar. This Darius was the uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus, and the king of the Medes. There were many other kings afterwards in that country of the same name, but he

is generally distinguished from the others by the name of Darius the Mede.

E. Why did not Cyrus become king of Babylon, for you know he had all the trouble of taking the

city ?

M. Yes, the trouble and the glory of taking Babylon belonged most certainly to Cyrus, but the Medes were at that time a greater people than the Persians, and Cyrus thought it better, during his uncle's life-time, to give up the crown to him, especially as he was to succeed him in the whole empire when he died, for he had married his only child.

So Darius the Median took the kingdom : and he endeavoured immediately to settle the affairs of it in the best and wisest manner. In order to do this the better, he divided the whole kingdom into a hundred and twenty prorinces, over which he set as many princes to govern them, and over these princes he set again three presidents, or chief ministers, whose business it was to see that the government of each province was properly attended to, and that the king's commands were obeyed in every part of the empire. Now who do you think was chosen by king Darius to be the first of these three presidents ?

E. Perhaps it was Daniel, mamma, if he were still alive?

M. You are right; Daniel was the person chosen, for accounts of his great wisdom had reached the ears of king Darius, and he was glad to give the charge of his new empire into the hands of a person in whom so excellent a spirit had always been found, and who had so long been accustomed to conduct public affairs. He made Daniel, therefore, the first of the three pre

sidents which were over his vast empire, and so great was the value which the king had for him, that he thought to advance him still higher, and to set him alone over the whole kingdom; with none greater than himself, excepting only the king upon the throne.

So greatly did God make this pious Jew to prosper, although a captive with his people in a strange land.

To see a captive Jew raised by his sovereign to such honour and greatness was likely, you may be sure, to stir up the envy of the other great men in the kingdom. We are told in the Bible, that the spirit within us lusteth to envy; our desires of worldly good are so strong as to fill our hearts with envy towards those who possess more of them than we do. Instead of rejoicing, as we ought to do, in seeing our neighbours respected and prosperous, we are too apt to grieve at their success, particularly if it stand at all in our way, and seems to hinder us from getting on too. This is a sad picture of our fallen nature, my child, but I am afraid it is too often shown to be true.

Well, in this unhappy spirit the princes and presidents of Babylon set themselves against Daniel. He, a stranger, and a captive, to be raised above them! they could not bear the idea of it; therefore they did all they could to bring him down.

E. How did they do that, mamma? I hope they were not able to hurt him. · M. In the first place, my love; they tried to find some fault with him as to his public duties in the kingdom, that they might accuse him to the king, and have him disgraced and humbled. But they tried in vain; they could find no real fault in him, no just cause of complaint against him. Daniel was faithfv

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