and tragical. Many of his prophecies are obscure. The last nine chapters, furnish a description of a new temple and city, seen in vision, under which seems to be shadowed the glorious Church universal.

But the most eminent saint and the most exalted personage in the Church at this time, was the prophet Daniel. He was descended from the kings of Judah, and was carried captive in the fourth year of Jehoiachin. He flourished during the reigns of several monarchs, and died in old age, after the capture of Babylon by Cyrus. Because of his birth, beauty and wisdom, he was selected among others to receive a princely education, and stand in the presence of Nebuchadnezzar. By his extraordinary quali ties, he conciliated the favor of monarchs, and was elevated to great rank and power; but, sanctified by the Spirit, he maintained a close walk with God, professed his religion and continued steadfast in prayer, in defiance of the greatest dangers. Often were he and his companions tempted by the greatest possible allurements-by life itself, to renounce their religion and become idolaters, but nothing could move them. They feared God rather than man. And their heroism and fortitude spread the knowledge of God among all nations.

History presents no greater exhibition of moral sublimity, no greater triumphs of faith than are to be witnessed in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Throughout the east, idolatry was at its height, and God was unknown. Vast kingdoms were summoned by Nebuchadnezzar, the haughtiest of monarchs, to the plains of Dura, to bow down before an immense idol, which he had set up. These companions of Daniel* were accused and brought before the king as disobedient to his command. A tremendous fiery furnace was prepared for the disobedient, and they were threatened with being instantly cast into it. Had these pious youths yielded, Satan's triumph would have been complete. But the seed of the woman was to bruise the head of the serpent, and they stood firm. The mighty mass of idolaters gnashed on them with their teeth. they stood firm. They were cast into the furnace. But God was with them. One like to the Son of Man was seen walking with them in the fire, and the fire was not permit

But

* Where Daniel was at this time, is uncertain; probably he was absent, or so much in favor at court, that the idolaters durst not touch him.

ted to singe their garments, or the hair of their head. The king, astonished, called them forth and cast their accusers into the furnace to their immediate and awful destruction. And behold the result! "I make a decree," said this mightiest of human monarchs, "That every people, nation, and language which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dung-hill.” It was a glorious triumph over the powers of darkness. The prophecies of Daniel are the most magnificent and extensive of any which were ever delivered. They chiefly respect the rise and fall of the four great monarchies of the world, which were to be succeeded by that kingdom which should not be destroyed. They furnish a striking exhibition of the power and destruction of Antichrist, and distinctly assure men of a general resurrection to a life of everlasting shame, or everlasting blessedness. Before him was the map of divine providence; and with such accuracy did he delineate future events, that Porphyry, a bitter enemy of Christianity, could only maintain his cause by the assertion that his prophecies were written after the events had occurred.

His first prophecy was contained in his explanation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream. This mighty monarch beheld in vision, a great image, whose head was of fine gold; whose breast and arms were of silver; whose belly and thighs were of brass; whose legs were of iron, and whose feet were part of iron and part of clay. He saw, till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote and destroyed the image, and became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. In his explanation, Daniel showed that the head of gold represented the Babylonian empire, which was renowned for its riches; the breast and arms of silver, the Persian empire; the belly and thighs of brass, the Macedonian empire, which, under Alexander, ruled the whole earth; and the legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay, the Roman empire, which was stronger than any that had gone before it, but which was composed of a mixture of all nations, and which, therefore, was partly strong and partly weak. Having thus clearly pointed out these four great empires, he uttered an illustrious prediction of the kingdom of Christ which the God of heaven should set up, and which, imagined by the stone, should break all these kingdoms to pieces, and stand forever.

Forty-eight years after, the same things were revealed to Daniel, and by him to the Church, under the similitude of wild beasts. By a lion, who shadowed out to him the Babylonian empire; by a bear, the Medo-Persian; by a leopard, with four heads, the Macedonian, which after the death of Alexander, was divided into four kingdoms; and by a beast which was dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and which had great iron teeth, and ten horns, the Roman, which should be divided into ten kingdoms. While he was considering, a little horn arose, in which were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, shadowing forth the Man of sin, the papal hierarchy; which should speak great things against the Most High, and wear out the saints. To this succeeded a most sublime view of the universal reign of Christ, and of the coming of the ancient days to judgment. "Thousand thousands ministering unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened."

Besides these, Daniel had other visions of the events of nations, which have long since been realized, and of some, probably, which are yet to come to pass; but there is one class of his prophecies peculiarly interesting to the Church. By Gabriel was revealed to him with great exactness, the time when Messiah, the Prince, should appear. "Seventy weeks," said he, are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision of prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that, from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks. And after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself." A day, in prophetic language, is a year. The period predicted therefore, was 490 years from the commission given to Ezra by Artaxerxes, to the crucifixion of Christ; or 434 years from the completion of the second temple, which was exactly. fulfilled. With the like accuracy, also, did this prophet predict the duration of the Man of sin and the reign of the prince of darkness; which will be fully seen when the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, shall be given to the saints of the Most High.

What a view had this prophet of events in the womb of time! How clearly manifest it is that "known unto God are all his works, from the foundation of the world; that he works by a fixed plan, that he determines the end from the beginning; and that while man is perfectly free and pursues his own pleasure, God sits on the throne, accomplishing, in his own time and way, and through the instrumentality of man, his glorious purposes. Well might Daniel exclaim in prospect, and we, in the fulfilment of these purposes, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. And he changeth the times and the seasons; he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness, and light dwelleth with him."

In the land of bondage the Church might have been left to perish, but God was with her; and when the time for her deliverance had come, so clearly and fully predicted by his prophets, He provided means for its accomplishment. One hundred and fifty years before, he had declared by Isaiah, that he would raise up Cyrus, who should deliver this people. In the ordinary course of human events, this distinguished man came to the height of power. He was the son of Cambyses, the king of Persia; and as he advanced in life, became an eminent warrior. In conjunction with his uncle Darius the Mede, he besieged Babylon. But it was a city of amazing strength, and its conquest appeared beyond the power of man. Under its walls and through the centre of the city, ran the Euphrates. This had once been turned into a vast lake excavated for its reception, while a passage could be made under its bed to unite two palaces, which stood on its opposite banks. Cyrus resolved to break down the embankment which had been formed, turn the water into the old excavation, and march into the city in the dry bed of the river.

Having fixed his plan, he determined to prosecute it on a night when Belshazzar and all his court were engaged in rioting. This Belshazzar was one of the most impious princes who had filled the throne. That night he drank from the gold and silver vessels which were taken out of the temple at Jerusalem, he, and his lords, and his concubines,

*Isaiah, xlv. 1.

making a mock of the God of heaven. For such impiety, Jehovah awfully chastised him. For he caused a hand to appear and write on the wall. At beholding it, fear and astonishment seized the king, he called his magicians, and diviners, and astrologers, but none could read the writing. Daniel, the prophet, was instantly summoned, and he read, "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN," giving the interpretation, "God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." No sooner was the warning given, than Darius and Cyrus entered the city, and Belshazzar was slain. Thus ended the Babylonian empire. Thus was destroyed the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar's image, 539 years B. C., and thus were fulfilled the many prophecies which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Daniel, had delivered against it.

Of the new kingdom of the Medes and Persians, the arms and breast of the great image, Daniel was made prime minister. His exaltation excited the envy of the presidents, and princes; and when they could find nothing against him, they artfully laid a plan to destroy him for his religion. To the great grief of Darius, he was cast into the den of lions because he would go to his chamber and three times a day pray to the God of heaven. But God shut the mouths of the lions, and he was brought out in safety. His enemies were destroyed, and his influence at court was greater than ever.

In a few years, Cyrus succeeded to the throne. Daniel had carefully computed the seventy years of Judah's captivity, predicted by Jeremiah, and had made earnest supplication unto the Lord that he would remember his people. He showed the king, we have reason to suppose, the predictions of Isaiah respecting him, and the purpose for which God had raised him up, and earnestly interceded with him to affect the deliverance on which his heart was placed. The king's heart was in the hands of the Lord, and he excited that heathen prince to make this wonderful proclamation: "The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem.”

Atheists ascribe all things to chance, and earthly politi