had proved himself to be "King of kings and Lord of lords."

How

Had the king of Egypt, brethren, been but an ordinary mortal-had his lot been cast in an humbler sphere of life, the probability is, that he would not have acted with this foolish arrogance and pride. Presuming, however, upon his elevated rank, he had the audacity to impugn the majesty of the Most High, and, doubtless, in the pride of his heart, and in the height of his self-conceit, he fancied that the power which an earthly king possessed could not be surpassed by that of any being, however great his pretensions might be. The error was indeed great, though by no means without parallel in the history of the world; and, practically speaking, if not theoretically so, by no means an ordinary one. forcibly, indeed, does not the conceit of the Egyptian monarch remind us of the conduct, and subsequent fate of the king of Babylon? It was while luxuriating in sin and iniquity, that the latter experienced a dream which, as he himself expressed it, made him afraid. The interpretation of this dream was given by the prophet Daniel, then a captive in Babylon. The holy man, at the same time that he predicted Nebuchadnezzar's approaching downfall, failed not to exhort the voluptuous monarch to avert his impending fate, by breaking off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor". The caution, unfortunately for Nebuchadnezzar, was disregarded. a Daniel, iv. 27.

Instead of profiting by the advice which he had received, his subsequent demeanour, and his consequent punishment, bear a sufficiently marked resemblance to those of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. "At the end of twelve months" was it, after the caution before alluded to, that "he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. And the king spake, and 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? While the word," however, "was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken: The kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." I think, brethren, it is not possible to read the explanation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, as made in the first instance, and its fulfilment, afterwards recorded by the prophet Daniel, without at once perceiving a striking resemblance in the Almighty's will and intention respecting them, as well as in the feelings of the two monarchs themselves. They were evidently, one no less than the other, raised above the generality of their species, and elevated to the royal dignity, in order that the supremacy of the Divine Power might be reflected upon those who gazed upon the earthly majesty

which alone they were enabled to display. But how totally unconscious they both of them were of the inferiority here implied, is made abundantly evident by their respective histories. The fate, however, of each of these seems to have been awarded with a due regard to the crimes of either. It would be almost impossible to conceive greater obstinacy and sin, than those which were displayed by Pharaoh in respect of his treatment towards the children of Israel. The various promises which he made to comply with the commands of the Almighty, as they became authenticated by the display of miracles, were violated as often as they were made; and the rigour towards the oppressed Israelites was increased instead of being diminished. The consequence of such tyranny and impiety was the complete destruction of him and his entire host in the depths of the sea. The crimes of Nebuchadnezzar, however, great as they evidently must have been, were, notwithstanding, inferior to those of the king of Egypt. He seems not, indeed, to have openly and directly rebelled against the commands of God, so much as to have indulged himself with an undue degree of pride and satisfaction on account of the splendour and luxury with which he was surrounded, and to have attributed to himself, and to his own talent and ability, the power which he possessed, without permitting his thoughts to recur to him from whom, as it must be evident to the most limited capacity, all power and greatness proceed. And, for such sinful and presumptuous vanity, Nebuchadnezzar was de

a

servedly punished; though not to the same extent as he would have been, had he dared to offer a direct resistance to the commands of Heaven, or to deny the supremacy of that power, the existence of which was grounded on the indisputable evidence of miracles. Nebuchadnezzar, it is evident, was not guilty of such folly and impiety as this, for the single miracle which evinced itself by the escape of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the burning furnace, was sufficient to convince him of the supremacy of Jehovah, and to make him admit that there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." He was not, therefore, overwhelmed with utter destruction, like the obstinate king of Egypt, though he was afflicted with a disaster which has already been described in the language of the exiled prophet. He became afflicted with a lunacy of the most lamentable description, in which state he was driven from his house and kingdom by his subjects, who, it seems, had at the same moment rebelled against him for the purpose of making his case still more deplorable. After this, the splendour of his palace became changed for the inclemencies of the atmosphere, and for a habitation with the beasts of the field. In such woful plight, we behold him in no respect different from, if indeed equal to, the most degraded savage which either reading or experience will permit us to conceive"He was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,

a Daniel iii. 29.

till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws." At length, however, the understanding of the unfortunate sufferer was permitted to return. Not merely, brethren, the imperfect understanding which it is evident he had possessed before his downfall, but such as he very properly and consistently termed reason; for this was it which enabled him to see his former errors, and to award glory and honour to Him who alone was entitled to them, in the following memorable declaration," Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase."*

After such reflections as these, how can we hesitate to infer that the king of Egypt and the king of Babylon were alike raised to the pinnacle of honour and distinction which they had attained, for the purpose of making manifest the superior power of the Almighty, and exhibiting his Divine Majesty to the world at large? For this cause, indeed, was it that God himself raised them up, for to shew in them his power; and that his name might be declared throughout all the earth. It is therefore, brethren, of the greatest-the most inconceivable importance that such a design of the Almighty should be honestly admitted and clearly understood by all; by those who are entrusted with authority, no less than by those who are required to submit themselves to it. If it be well understood by the a Daniel, iv. 37.