to him, and having made his scribe read a few leaves of it, in which were transcribed " wars, desolations, and calamities," be cut it pieces with a knife, and cast it into the fire that was burning before him, as he sat in the winter parlour of his palace. We tremble even at the recital of an act so audacious; "yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words."*

After his departure from the holy city, Ne buchadnezzar prosecuted the war against the Egyptians, and brought back to his subjection all the countries which had formerly pertained to Assyria, from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt. There, hearing of the death of his father Nabopolassar, at Babylon, the young and victori ous monarch left his army under the command of his generals, and chief officers, with directions to bring up the prisoners, and the spoil which he had taken in the war; and accompanied by a few faithful followers, he hastened across the desert, by the nearest route to Babylon, impatient, doubtless to ascend the vacant throne.

• Jer. xxxvi.

In the course of this history we have often regretted that a detail of events is utterly unattainable, and that all which antiquity has left us, is little more than a faint outline of dynasties, potentates, and thrones,a brief sketch of war, plunder, and oppression,—of aggressions and reprisals, victory and defeat. Yet there are few characters in ancient history which excite so intense an interest in the mind of the reader, as that of Nebuchadnezzar, because there are none whose actions have borne so affectingly upon the destiny of the people of God. Neither is there any who has embodied and individualized in his own person, so much of all that we can conceive of the pride, luxury, dominion, and glory— falsely so called of heathen antiquity. Perhaps there are few scenes in the life of this man more strikingly poetical in its nature, than that which we have this moment related; and of all the groups which have passed solitary, or in caravans, through the arid wastes of the deserts of Asia, that which took its way from Egypt to Babylon," in the suite elite of the young and ardent Assyrian, would certainly be in point of character, if

not of equipment, the most superb, picturesque, and interesting.

When Nebuchadnezzar arrived at his palace at Babylon, he received the government from the hands of those to whom it had been entrusted in his absence, and succeeded to the throne, rule, and power, of that vast empire, over which Nabopolassar had reigned for twenty-two years; and which embraced the extensive dominions of Chaldea, Assyria, Arabia, Syria, and Palestine. Over this mighty territory he reigned for fortythree years, according to the computation of profane history; but in the chronology of the Jews, there is a trifling discrepance of two years, arising probably from their taking their first date, from the time when this prince was associated with his father in the kingdom, rather than from the moment of his actual accession to the sway of the undivided sceptre.

In the fourth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which filled him with such terror, that when he awoke he was incapable of recalling the circumstances of it to his mind. In this emergency he consulted the wise men,

the diviners, soothsayers, and astrologers of his kingdom, commanding them, with the folly which is too common to absolute princes, to make known to him the subject of his dream. Though compliance with this demand was utterly impossible, the refusal of the astrologers to obey him, rendered them guilty in his opinion either of incapacity or insincerity; and he commanded the whole of the diviners and wise men to be put to death. Daniel and his three companions being, from their talents and acquirements, included in the number of the latter, came under the penalty of this sentence. But Daniel having first applied by prayer and supplication to Him who giveth wisdom and upbraideth not, humbly solicited an audience of the king. On this occasion, the young Hebrew revealed to the imperial despot all the circumstances of his vision, and his thoughts upon his bed, as is related at length in the holy Scriptures.*

"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image: the head of gold,-the breast and arms of

* Dan. ii.

K

silver, the belly and thighs of brass,-the feet part of iron, and part of clay. And behold as the king pondered that vision, a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands; and the stone smote the image upon his feet, and brake them to pieces, and the whole image was ground to powder, and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."

Together with the singular circumstances of the vision, the young and captive prophet shewed the interpretation of all its mystic emblems, declaring, that the image represented the three great empires which were to succeed to that of Assyria, namely, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, or rather that of the successors of Alexander; and after all these "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and which shall break in pieces all other kingdoms, and endure for ever and ever." Here Daniel plainly predicted the coming of Jesus Christ, and the glories of his spiritual kingdom, which shall not only absorb and survive every kingdom on earth, but endure through all the countless ages of eternity.