BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST.

Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the house of God that was at Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines drank in them.

They drank wine and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood and of stone.

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

DANIEL V., 3, 4, 5.

'Twas night, and Babylonia's waters slept
In silent beauty, mirroring the beams
That poured like molten silver from the urn
Of white-robed Cynthia. Not a breath of air
Stirred the soft foliage of the leafy reeds,

Or the long willow boughs, that graceful hung,
Like weeping mourners, o'er the moonlit waves.
The golden fish that gambolled in the stream,
Plashing the silvery spray like tiny gems,
Had all retired within their watery cells ;
No sound was heard of all the insect train,

Whose golden-tinted wings had glanced in life
And joyance through the summer air, and wheeled,
In mazy round, from tempting flower to flower;
The bell and petals of the flowers themselves
Were folded up in nature's soft repose,

Like the fair wings that fluttered round their sweets,
All-all was still—save man, the reveller.

From the high dome of Babylonia's king
A thousand golden lamps flamed radiantly,
Illumining the high arabesque roof,

Studded with sparkling brilliants and rich gems,
The porphyry fluted pillars, and the urns

Of gold-specked porcelain, rife with choicest flowers,
And gods of gold, of silver, iron, brass,

And wood and stone, that sat in marble niche,
Each god on consecrated tripod placed.

Before the statues festive spice-rods burned, Rolling the incense in great dusky spires, That filled the house with odorous perfume. To the gay pageant musick lent its charms:

Flute, sackbut, tabret, dulcimer and harp
Mingled their notes in soft, mellifluous strain,
As the light sandals of the liveried page
Slid o'er the marble pavement, in the dance,
Wheeling in mazy circle to the gaze

Of the proud king, his thousand lords and wives.
Amid the hall the festive board was spread,
The silver platter and the golden vase,

With delicacies piled and choicest viands;
And round it, on their damask couches raised,
The bacchants-higher than the rest, Belshazzar;
And as in lordly state pre-eminent—

E'en so in boisterous revelry and mirth:

66 Bring forth the vessels of the Jewish shrine,
Judea's God shall bow for once to-night;

Fill high with wine the consecrated cups,
Drink full libations to the mighty gods
Of old Assyria."

To the skies a shout

Rose wildly, as the sacred cups were brimmed
With the unholy wine to heathen gods;

L*