The king answered and said, "The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not."

Then answered they and said before the king, "That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his pet.i.tion three times a day."

Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he labored till the going down of the sun to rescue him. Then these men a.s.sembled together unto the king, and said unto the king, "Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed."

Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spoke and said unto Daniel, "Thy G.o.d whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee."

And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace, and pa.s.sed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him: and his sleep fled from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions. And when he came near unto the den to Daniel, he cried with a lamentable voice: the king spoke and said to Daniel, "O Daniel, servant of the living {209} G.o.d, is thy G.o.d, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?"

Then said Daniel unto the king, "O king, live for ever. My G.o.d hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no harm."

Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his G.o.d. And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came at the bottom of the den.

Then King Darius wrote unto all the peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; "Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the G.o.d of Daniel: for he is the living G.o.d, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end: he delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth; who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions."

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

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BABYLON

Pause in this desert! Here, men say, of old Belshazzar reigned, and drank from cups of gold; Here, to his hideous idols, bowed the slave, And here--G.o.d struck him dead!

. . . . Where lies his grave?

'T is lost!--His brazen gates? his soaring towers, From whose dark tops men watched the starry hours?

All to the dust gone down! The desert bare Scarce yields an echo when we question "Where?"

The lonely herdsman seeks in vain the spot; And the black wandering Arab knows it not.

No brick, no fragment, lingers now, to tell Where Babylon (mighty city!) rose--and fell!

O City, vast and old!

Where, where is thy grandeur fled?

The stream that around thee rolled Still rolls in its ancient bed!

But where, oh, where art thou gone?

O Babylon! O Babylon!

The giant, when he dies, Still leaveth his bones behind, To shrink in the winter skies, And whiten beneath the wind!

But where, oh, where art thou gone?

O Babylon! O Babylon!

Thou liv'st!--for thy name still glows, A light in the desert skies; As the fame of the hero grows Thrice trebled because he dies!

But where, oh, where art thou gone?

O Babylon! O Babylon!

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BELSHAZZAR

Belshazzar is king! Belshazzar is lord!

And a thousand dark n.o.bles all bend at his board: Fruits glisten, flowers blossom, meats steam, and a flood Of the wine that man loveth runs redder than blood: Wild dancers are there, and a riot of mirth, And the beauty that maddens the pa.s.sions of earth; And the crowds all shout, Till the vast roofs ring,-- "All praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!"

"Bring forth," cries the monarch, "the vessels of gold, Which my father tore down from the temples of old;-- Bring forth, and we'll drink, while the trumpets are blown, To the G.o.ds of bright silver, of gold, and of stone; Bring forth!"--and before him the vessels all shine, And he bows unto Baal, and he drinks the dark wine; Whilst the trumpets bray, And the cymbals ring,-- "Praise, praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king!"

Now what cometh--look, look!--without menace, or call?

Who writes, with the lightning's bright hand, on the wall?

What pierceth the king, like the point of a dart?

What drives the bold blood from his cheek to his heart?

"Chaldeans! Magicians! the letters expound!"

They are read,--and Belshazzar is dead on the ground!

Hark!--the Persian is come On a conqueror's wing; And a Mede's on the throne of Belshazzar the king!

--_Barry Cornwall_.

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NEHEMIAH.

THE STORY OF THE BRAVE MAN WHO PREFERRED HARDSHIPS IN HIS NATIVE LAND, TO PLEASURE AND PLENTY IN THE KING'S PALACE.

(Nehemiah is one of the finest characters of which we are told in the Old Testament. He was a true patriot, brave, patient, persevering, fearing G.o.d, and not man. He had an important and profitable position in the royal court, but when he heard how his countrymen were suffering, how the walls of the city of his fathers were in ruins, he did not hesitate, but gaining the permission of the king, he set out to serve his country in its sore distress. How he heard of the need of the city, how he went to its relief, and how the people under his splendid leadership took courage and rebuilt the walls, he himself has told in these words:)--

_The Need and the Man_.

"Now it came to pa.s.s in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, that Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men out of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said unto me, 'The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.'

"And it came to pa.s.s, when I heard these words, that {213} I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days; and I fasted and prayed before the G.o.d of heaven, and said, 'I beseech thee, O Lord, the G.o.d of heaven, the great and terrible G.o.d, that keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments: let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee at this time, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, while I confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: yea, I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the words that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye trespa.s.s, I will scatter you abroad among the peoples: but if ye return unto me, and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts were in the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to cause my name to dwell there. Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.' (Now I was cupbearer to the king.)

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"And it came to pa.s.s in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence. And the king said to me, 'Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart.'

"Then I was very sore afraid. And I said to the king, 'Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?'

"Then the king said unto me, 'For what dost thou make request?' So I prayed to the G.o.d of heaven.

"And I said unto the king, 'If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchers, that I may build it.'

"And the king said to me (the queen also sitting by him), 'For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return?'

"So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Moreover I said to the king, 'If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may let me pa.s.s through till I come unto Judah; and a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the castle which appertaineth to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into.'

"And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my G.o.d upon me. Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me captains of the army and hors.e.m.e.n.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

OUTSIDE EAST WALL OF JERUSALEM, GOLDEN GATE AT LEFT