always came in and consumed all the meats and wine sent in for Bel. So as soon as they had left the temple, the king set the meats before Bel as usual; and then Daniel ordered his servants to bring a quantity of ashes, and in the king's presence he sprinkled them all over the floor of the temple. Then the king and he went out of the temple, and shutting the door, they sealed it with the king's signet ring, and departed. And when night came and all was dark, the priests came with their wives and children, according to their custom, and creeping into Bel's temple by their underground passage, they eat up all the provisions and drank up all the wine. Early in the morning the king arose, eager to find whether his god was not the powerful being he supposed; and taking Daniel with him, they proceeded to the temple. And as they approached the door, the king said with anxiety, "Are the seals whole, Daniel?" and he answered, "They are whole, O king." And as soon as they had opened the door, the king looked upon the table, and seeing all the provisions eaten and drunk as usual, the king cried out with a loud voice, "Great art thou, O Bel, and there is not any deceit with thee!" And Daniel laughed, and holding the king back from entering the temple, he pointed to the floor where the ashes were spread, which were covered with footmarks, and said, "Behold the pavement, mark whose footsteps these are." Then the king looked down and said, "I see the footsteps of men, and women, and children:" and seeing how he had been deceived, he was filled with anger, and he sent at once and had these deceitful priests with their families arrested, and compelled them to show him the private doors by which they entered the temple of Bel and practised these frauds. After which the king had them all put to death, and delivered Bel and his temple over to Daniel, who destroyed them both.

And besides Bel there was a great dragon which the Babylonians 'worshipped; and the king finding Bel was a cheat, turned with greater honour to this beast, and said to Daniel, "Behold, thou canst not say now that this is not a living god: adore him, therefore." And Daniel replied, "I adore the Lord, my God, for He is the living God; but that is no living God. But give me leave, O king, and I will kill this dragon without sword or club." And the king said, "I give thee leave." Then Daniel took some pitch and fat and hair, and boiled them together, and made them into lumps which he put into the dragon's mouth; and the dragon burst asunder. Then Daniel, pointing to the dead carcass of this wretched beast, said, "Behold him whom you worshipped."

And upon this the Babylonians were much enraged, and they conspired together against the king, who they said had become a Jew; for that he had destroyed Bel, killed the dragon, and put the priests to death. So they came to the king and said, "Deliver Daniel into our hands, or else we will destroy thee and thy house." And the king, alarmed and constrained by the threats of so large a body of his powerful nobility, gave Daniel up to them. Whereupon these men cast him into a den of lions for six days, and they gave the lions no food, in order that, being hungry, they might the more surely devour Daniel. But God shut the mouths of these fierce beasts, that they harmed not His holy servant, and sent His angel to supply Daniel with food till the six days were over; when the king coming to bewail Daniel's fate, looked into the den, and saw Daniel sitting unhurt amongst the lions. Then the king drew him out, and acknowledging the power of Daniel's God, he had the wicked nobles, who had put Daniel in, cast into the den, and they were devoured at once.

THE BANQUET OF KING BALTASSAR. KING Baltassar is said to have been the son and successor of King Evilmerodach, of whom we have read in the last chapter; he was also a great and magnificent prince, and his court was no less splendid than the other Babylonian kings' had been; indeed, he seems to have been yet more given up to the pomps and luxuries of it than his predecessors.

One day he made a grand feast for a thousand of his nobles, and every one drank according to his age. And the king, being heated with wine, commanded that they should bring the vessels of gold and silver which his grandfather Nabuchodonosor had brought away out of the Temple of Jerusalem to Babylon, and set them on the banqueting table, where they were all feasting; and filling them with wine, the king, with all his heathen wives and nobles, drank out of them to the honour of their gods of gold and silver, brass and iron, wood and stone, singing the praises of these dumb idols. But God, Who is every where and sees all things, beheld His Majesty thus outraged and insulted, and at once decreed the punishment of this king who had dared thus openly to profane the sacred vessels consecrated to His special service in His sacred dwelling-place. While the revelry of this banquet was at its height, and the king and his companions were in the very act of raising the sacred vessels filled with wine to their lips, and singing their impious songs, lo! a hand appeared on the palace-wall opposite to the king as he sat, and over against the great chandelier of lights, so that it was as it were illuminated by their brilliancy; and the fingers of the hand traced words, wonderful and unintelligible words. And as the king gazed horror-stricken at this awful appari

tion, he saw the very joints of the hand, which was as that of a man. Then Baltassar's eyes were fixed and strained on this fearful sight, the blood forsook his face, his whole body trembled, and his knees struck each other, his guilty soul was troubled with remorse and filled with mortal terror.

And as soon as Baltassar could gasp out words, he cried aloud to have the wise men, the Chaldeans and soothsayers of Babylon brought in. And as soon as they appeared, the king said to them, "Who soever shall read this writing and shall make known to me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and shall have a gold chain on his neck, and shall bethe third man in my kingdom."

Then all the wise men tried to make out the mysterious words on the wall; but they could neither read the writing nor declare the interpretation to the king. Then the king was more dismayed than ever, and the nobles too were filled with equal terror. At this moment the queen his mother, hearing what had happened to her son and his nobles, came into the banqueting room, and spoke thus to Baltassar:

"O king, live for ever; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor thy countenance be changed. There is a man in thy kingdom that hath the spirit of the holy gods in him, and in the days of thy father knowledge and wisdom were found in him." The queen-mother was speaking of Daniel, and she went on to tell her son how his grandfather, king Nabuchodonosor, had found Daniel so wise and so learned in divine things, that he had appointed him prince over the wise men, and Chaldeans, &c.; and she urged the king to send for this Daniel, who, she assured him, would tell him the interpretation of the wondrous writing on the wall. So Daniel was sent for; and when he appeared, the king said to him, "Art thou Daniel of the children of the captivity of Juda,

whom my forefather the king brought out of Judea? I have heard of thee that thou hast the spirit of the gods, and excellent knowledge and understanding and wisdom are found in thee; and now the wise men, the magicians, have come in before me to read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof; and they could not declare to me the meaning of this writing. But I have heard of thee that thou canst interpret obscure things and resolve difficult things. Now if thou art able to read the writing, and to show me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and shalt have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third prince in my kingdom."

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To which address Daniel replied, "Thy rewards be to thyself, O king, and the gifts of thy house give to another; but the writing I will read to thee, Ŏking, and show thee the interpretation thereof." Daniel, as the servant of God, did all at God's command, and desired not the rewards of a heathen prince for executing the behests of the King of heaven. He then told Baltassar how great was the magnificence which God had given to his grandfather Nabuchodonosor, and yet when his heart was lifted up with pride on account of these gifts, God cast him off his throne and drove him out amongst the beasts of the field. "Thus," he said, "did the great God punish pride. And thou also, O Baltassar," said he, "hast not humbled thy heart, whereas thou knewest these things, but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and the vessels of His house have been brought before thee, and thou and thy wives and nobles have drunk wine out of them, singing the praises of thy gods of wood and stone, that neither see nor hear nor feel; but the God that hath thy breath in His hand, and all thy ways, thou hast not glorified.

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