CHAPTER IX.

THE SMITTEN TREE.

NEBUCHADNEZZAR the king unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. I Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in mine house and flourishing in my palace: I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore I made a decree to bring all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation thereof. Then came the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known the interpretation thereof."

Again, those who put their trust in nature, genius, and the magic movement of sympathetic laws, have failed. To play upon the mysterious, to excite the marvelous and awe the unlearned and inexperienced were not difficult, but to coin

truth from the unbroken mine, or even from reflections, determine the cause and thence the results, was beyond their philosophy.

"But," says the king, "at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and before him I told the vision, saying, Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed; I saw, and beheld a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of the earth: the leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadowed under it, and the fowls of heaven dwelt. in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the vision of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven; he cried aloud and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off the branches, shake off his leaves and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches: nevertheless, leave the stump and his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the earth: and let it be wet with the dews of heaven: and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart be

changed, and let a beast's heart be given unto him. This matter is by decree the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

"This dream I,, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee." Daniel, ch. iv.

From demonstration, the king proves his wise men unable to reveal the secret or interpret the dream, thence for the solution he is compelled to seek Daniel, who was a worshiper of the God of heaven, with whom he declares the spirit of the holy gods to be. In other words, he acknowledges Daniel in communion with the spirit of Holiness and divine Wisdom. It is observable, also, that the astrologers and soothsayers depended upon a power whose existence was in a sphere more immediately connected with the natural, for Daniel's God, the opposite of theirs, was declared the God of heaven. From this it is certain that the king understood Daniel's profession to differ widely from that of his wise men and to embrace the Divine. Moreover, the king

proves his inclination to seek wisdom from the astrologers, etc., for he first gave them the dream, nor did he call upon Daniel until compelled by necessity. When he saw Daniel his consciousness prompted his frank acknowledgement of the presence of the Divine with the Hebrew. The history, therefore, has a direct bearing upon the question at issue. And when viewed in their several aspects, the circumstances afford an exposition of the two principles thus far traced.

After hearing the dream "Daniel was astonished for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him." As his soul was in sympathy with divine Truth, and as heaven had purposed to shake the king and his dominion unless he (having so much light) repented, he saw the dark cloud which encompassed the king, and his soul was troubled. But the king said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered, The tree thou sawest, strong, luxuriant, and laden with fruit, whose boughs were a habitation for the fowls of the heaven, and a shelter for the beasts of the field. It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong. (See Daniel, iv., 22, 23.) This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the Most High, which is come upon my lord, the king: that they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the

field, and they shall make thee eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be secure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thy iniquity by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.

"All this came upon king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. And while boasting of his power and dominion, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is dedeparted from thee, and they shall drive thee," etc. "The same hour the thing was fulfilled, and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dews of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that

And