His favour to every thing else. Had these three men bowed down before the image, they would have escaped punishment from Nebuchadnezzar; but they. would have lost the approbation of their Creator. God loves good men, and will shew himself their friend: in this world he gives them that peace of mind which the wicked do not possess; and in the world to come he will bestow upon them far greater happiness than what they can now conceive. Oh, let us then serve Him with gladness, and make it our delight to keep His statutes!

NEBUCHADNEZZAR EATING GRASS

LIKE OXEN.

(Daniel iv.)

ONE would have thought, that when Nebuchadnezzar saw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, saved from the fiery fur

nace, he would have humbled himself before the God of Israel, and have walked always as in His sight. But he had a proud and a haughty spirit. Daniel warned him of what would happen to him if he continued to sin; and he exhorted him to turn away from his iniquity, and to be more just and merciful. But he would not mind what the prophet said. He was very vain of his riches and his power; and as he walked in his palace, he said, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ?"

God therefore punished him as he had threatened. This proud king was driven from the presence of men, and did eat grass like oxen; and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails. like birds' claws.

For seven years he continued in this miserable condition; but at the end of

that time his reason returned to him, and he saw how foolish and how wicked he had been. Then he was restored by God to his kingdom; and he issued a decree, in which he praised and honoured the King of Heaven, acknowledging that all His works are truth, and His ways judgment, and those who walk in pride He is able to abase.

There is nothing more foolish than pride; for we are all weak creatures, and have no reason to boast. God, who made us all, can bring down the highminded; and we see that he often does So. He deprives them of that of which they were so vain, and shews them how little strength and power they really possess.

Let us always bear this in mind. Let us remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar, and let us think also of what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has said, "Whosoever exalteth himself shall

be abased; but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." Luke xiv. 11.

THE HAND-WRITING ON THE WALL. (Daniel v.)

A FEW years after Nebuchadnezzar died, Belshazzar was made king of Babylon. One day he gave a grand feast to a thousand of his lords; and he commanded that the gold and silver vessels should be brought out, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple at Jerusalem; and out of these he and all his princes and family drank wine in honour of senseless idols made of gold and silver, and wood and stone, while they despised the true God, and set his authority at nought.

But while they were feasting, there came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick,

on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand which wrote. Then the king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

He could not tell what the writing was; so he sent for his wise men, and promised that he would give a scarlet robe, and a golden chain, and high honour, to him who should read it and tell him what it meant. But not one of them could explain it.

So

Then the queen remembered how Daniel had explained the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar, and that he was esteemed a very wise and skilful man. Daniel was sent for; and when he came he told the king very plainly, that he had not taken warning by the sad punishment of his grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, but had lifted himself up against the Lord of heaven.

He reminded him