quences, it is indispensably necessary that the mind should revert to the operations by which the supremacy of Jehovah was impressed upon Nebuchadnezzar—operations not hid in a corner; and which, together with the public confessions and declarations of this conviction which were extorted from that magnanimous king, must have diffused much formal acquaintance with the name and claims of Jehovah among the Babylonians, with which also the royal family must have been in a peculiar degree familiar, not only through these circumstances, but through Daniel, who had occupied high rank at court in the still recent reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and whose inere presence must constantly have suggested the means to which his advancement was owing. From this it will be seen, that, on the principle of operation which we have indicated in the early part of this chapter, the time was now come for another act whereby Jehovah might vindicate the honor of his own great Name, and enforce his peculiar and exclusive claims to the homage of mankind. Suddenly a mysterious hand appeared, writing conspicuously upon the wall words of ominous import, but which no one could understand; for, although they were in the vernacular Chaldean language, the character in which they were written was the primitive old Hebrew, which differed totally from the Chaldee, and was the original from which that which is called the Samaritan character was formed. The king himself was greatly agitated, and commanded the instant attendance of the magi and astrologers. They came, but were utterly unable to divine the meaning of the portentous words upon the wall. This increased the terror of the impious king, which was at its height when the queen-mother, or rather grandmother made her appearance. She soothed the troubled monarch, and reminded him of the services and character of Daniel; indicating him as one " in whom is the spirit of the holy God; and in the days of thy grandfather light, and understanding, and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods was found in him ;" and therefore one who was likely to afford Belshazzar the satisfaction which he sought. It was probably the custom at Babylon (as with respect to the corresponding officer in other oriental courts) for the archimagus to lose his office on the death of the king to whose court he was attached; and that, consequently, Daniel had withdrawn into private life on the death of Nebuchadnezzar. This will explain how the king needed to be reminded of him, and how the prophet was in the first instance absent from among those who were called to interpret the writing on the wall. Daniel was sent for: and when he appeared, the king repeated what he had heard of him; stated the inability of the magicians to interpret the portentous words; and promised him as the reward of interpretation, that he should be clad in scarlet, with a chain of gold about his neck, and that he should rank as the third person in the kingdom. The venerable prophet modestly waived the proffered honors and rewards, as having no weight to induce his compliance :-" Thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king." But, first, he undauntedly reminded the king of the experience, and resulting convictions of his renowned grandfather-adding, with emphasis, " And thou, his grandson, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, although thou knewest all this." He then read the inscription:"MENE, Number, MENE, TEKEL, [PERES], [Division] UPHARSIN." and Divisions, 46 [Mene], hath finished it.‡ and proceeded to give the interpretation: "Mene, God hath numbered thy reign, and "Tekel, Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. "Peres, Thy kingdom is divided. "Upharsin, And given to the Mede and the Persian [Darius and Cyrus]." The king heard this terrible sentence: but made no remark further than to command that Daniel should be invested with the promised scarlet robe and golden chain, and that the third rank in the kingdom should be assigned to him. The sacred historian adds, with great conciseness, "That same night was Belshaz So she is called by Josephus, h papun avrov; indeed, the part she took on this occasion is so probable of no one as of the widow of Nebuchadnezzar. + It is singular that in Persia scarlet is at this day the distinctive color of nobility. A khan, or noble, is known by the scarlet mantle which he wears on occasions of ceremony. The repetition merely giving emphasis to the signification, indicating its certainty and speedy accom plishment zar, king of the Chaldeans, slain." How, we are not told: but we may collect from Xenophon (Cyrop. lib. vii.) that he was slain through the conspiracy of two nobles, on whom he had inflicted the greatest indignities which men could receive. This was in 553 B. C., in the fifth year of his reign. 46 He was succeeded by his son, a boy, named Laborosoarchod (Joseph. cont. Apion, i. 20); but as he was put out of the way in less than a year, he is passed over in Ptolemy's Canon, as well as in the sacred history, which relates that, as following the death of Belshazzar, Darius the Mede took the kingdom." In fact, the family of Nebuchadnezzar being extinct, Cyaxares, or (to give him his scriptural name) Darius, who was brother to the queen-mother, and the next of kin by her side to the crown, had the most obvious right to the vacant throne; and while his power was so great as to overawe all competition, the express indication of him by the prophet in his interpretation of the inscription was calculated to have much weight with all concerned, and indeed with the whole nation. Daniel, naturally, came into high favor with Darius, to whose accession he had so materially contributed. On making out new appointments of the governors of provinces, the prophet was set over them all: and the king contemplated a still further elevation for him. This excited the dislike and jealousy of the native princes and presidents, who determined to work his ruin. In his administration, his hands were so pure, that no ground of accusation could be found against him. They therefore devised a plan by which Daniel's known and tried fidelity to his religion should work his destruction. They procured from the careless and vain king a decree, that no one should for thirty days offer any prayer or petition to any god or man save the king himself, under pain of being cast into the lion's den. The king at once became painfully conscious of his weak and criminal conduct, when his most trusted servant, Daniel, was accused before him as an open transgressor of this decree, and his punishment demanded. Among the Medes and Persians there was a singular restraint upon despotism-which while at the first view it seemed to give intensity to the exercise of despotic power, really tended to deter the kings from hasty and ill-considered decisions, by compelling them to feel the evil consequences with which they were attended. The king's word was irrevocable law. He could not himself dispense with the consequences of his own acts. Of this Darius was reminded: and he saw at once that he was precluded from interfering in behalf of his friend. It is a beautiful illustration of the great truth, which appears as the main argument of this chapter, namely, that the glory of God was promoted among the heathen by the captivity of his people,that the king himself was already so well acquainted with the character and power of Jehovah, that he spontaneously rested himself upon the hope, that, although unable himself to deliver him from this well-laid snare, the God whom Daniel served would certainly not suffer him to perish. The prophet was cast into the lion's den; and the mouth thereof was closed with a sealed stone. The king spent the night sleepless and in sorrow. Impelled by his vague hopes, he hastened early in the morning to the cavern, and cried in a doleful voice, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, hath thy God, whom thou servest continually, been able to deliver thee from the lions?" To the unutterable joy and astonishment of the king, the quiet voice of Daniel returned an affirmative answer, assuring the king of his perfect safety. Instantly the cavern was opened, the servant of God drawn forth; and his accusers were cast in, and immediately destroyed by the savage inmates of the den. This striking interposition induced the king to issue a proclamation, to the same ultimate effect as that which Nebuchadnezzar had issued in a former time. He wrote unto "all peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth," charging them to "tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the God that liveth, and is steadfast for ever, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end." It would not be easy to overrate the importance of the diffusion of such truths as these through the length and breadth of the Median empire. It was the established policy of the Medes and Persians to conciliate the good will of the subject states, by leaving the practical government in the hands of native princes. Darius, therefore, as we may collect from Berosus, appointed Nabonadius, a Babylonian noble, unconnected with the royal family, to be viceroy, or king under him. This appointment was confirmed on continued by Cyrus, when he succeeded to the general empire on the death of his uncle, in B. C. 551. During the first years of his reign, Cyrus was too much occupied in foreign wars to pay much attention to Babylon; and this gave Nabonadius an opportunity to assert his independence, and to maintain it until the hero was at leisure to call him to account. This was not unil B. C. 538, when this great prince marched against Babylon, with the determination to crown his many victories by its reduction. Nabonadius, on his part, seems to have been encouraged by his diviners (Isa. xliv. 25), to repose much confidence in his own resources, and in the stability of the kingdom he had established. He ventured to meet the Persian army on its advance toward the city; but was defeated in a pitched battle, and driven back to abide a siege within the walls of Babylon. Still all was not lost; for not only was the city strongly fortified, but a siege by blockage was likely to be indefinitely protracted, as the town not only possessed immense stores of provisions, but the consumption of them would be greatly lessened by means of the large open spaces within the city, in which all kinds of produce could be raised to a considerable extent. In fact, the siege continued for two years, and Babylon was then only taken by a remarkable stratagem. Cyrus observed that the town lay the most exposed on the side of the river, and therefore he caused a new bed to be dug for its waters; and at an appointed time, by night, the dikes were cut, and the Euphrates rolled its humbled stream into this new channel; and the old one, left dry, offered a free passage to the exulting Persians. Even yet, however, their condition, in the bed of the river, might have been perilous, and a vigilant enemy might have surprised them as in a net; but that night a public festival was celebrated in Babylon, and all there was confusion and drunkenness. From this, as well as from the little reason to apprehend danger on that side, the gates leading from the quays into the city were that night left open, so that an easy and unopposed access was offered to the army of Cyrus, and the king was horror-struck and paralyzed, as successive messengers arrived in haste from the various distant quarters of the city, to inform him that the Persians had entered there, and thus to learn, that, at both extremities at once, great Babylon was taken, B. C. 536. Daniel was still alive, and there is evidence that Cyrus knew and valued his character. The apocryphal history of Bel and Dragon says that Cyrus conversed much with him, and honored him above all his friends. But we have better evidence in effects which, seeing Daniel still lived, may very safely be, in some degree, referred to the instruction and counsel which the now very aged prophet was able to give. There is an important and most striking prophecy by Isaiah (xliv. 24, to xlv. 6) in which Cyrus is mentioned by name, and his exploits predicted, more than a century before his birth. To him it is expressly addressed, and in terms of tenderness and respect, which was never, in any other instance, applied to a heathen-if it be just to apply that name to Cyrus. In this splendid prophecy Jehovah calls Cyrus "my shepherd, who shall perform all my pleasure;" and, "mine anointed." His victories are foretold, and ascribed to Jehovah; and, in a particular manner, the taking of Babylon by him is foreshown, even to the indication of the very peculiar manner in which that conquest was achieved.* And the object of all this-of his existence, of "Thus saith Jehovah of his anointed, That I may open before him the valves, I myself will march on before thee, And will make the crooked places straight, The valves of brass will I break asunder, And the bars of iron will I hew down. And I will give to thee the treasures of darkness, And stores deeply hid in secret places: That thou mayest know that I, JEHOVAH, That call thee by name, am the God of Israel For the sake of Jacob my servant, And of Israel my chosen one, I have even called thee by name: I have surnamed thee, yet Me thou knowest not. I am JEHOVAH, and there is none else; There is no God besides me. I girded thee though thou hast not known me; That they may know, from the rising of the sun, And from the west, that there is none beside me. I am JEHOVAH, and there is none else: I form the light, and create darkness, 1 make peace, and create evil I, JEHOVAH, do all these things." his acts, and even of this prophecy concerning him and them—is declared, with mark. ed emphasis, to be, that he may be in a condition to restore the captivity of Judah, and that such convictions might be wrought in him as might incline to fulfil this his vocation, and to become acquainted with the supreme and sole power of Jehovah. And the careful reader will not fail to note in this sublime address to one destined to tive in a future generation, not only a clear assertion of the unity of God, and his universal power and providence, but a distinct blow at the peculiar superstition of Cyrus and his people-which consisted in the adoration of two principles-the good and evil, represented by light and darkness. Hence the emphasis of "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil." We can easily imagine the impression which the perusal of these prophecies would make upon the ingenuous mind of this great man, accompanied by the explanations which Daniel could pour into his willing ears, and with the further intimation, collected from the prophecies of Jeremiah respecting the seventy years of the captivity, that the time of the restoration was then arrived, and himself the long pre-determined instrument of giving effect to the Divine intention. His consciousness of all this is evinced in the proclamation, which he issued the same year that Babylon was taken. This proclamation is to be regarded as the final acknowledgment from the conquering foreign kings of the supremacy of Jehovah, and it was most interesting from the distinctness with which this acknowledgment is conveyed-" Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia-JEHOVAH, the God of the heavens, hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build for himself a temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah." In this he manifestly alludes to the charge conveyed in the prophecy→→ Who JEHOVAH] saith of Cyrus. He is my shepherd! Even saying to Jerusalein, Thou shalt be built; Accordingly, the proclamation proceeded not only to grant free permission for such of the seed of Abraham as thought proper to return to their own land, but also commanded the authorities of the places in which they lived to afford every facility to their remigration. Before accompanying them on their return, it may be well to contemplate the results of the circumstances which have been related, as affecting the position of the captive Jews during the period through which we have passed. There is certainly nothing to suggest that their condition was one of abject wretchedness. This is in some degree shown by the high offices enjoyed by Daniel and his three friends; and by the distinction conferred upon King Jehoiachin by Evil-Merodach. He not only enjoyed the first rank over all the kings then at Babylon, but ate at the table of the monarch, and received allowances corresponding to his rank. While these circumstances of honor must have reflected a degree of dignity on the exiles, sufficient to protect them from being ill-treated or despised; we see that there was always some person of their nation high in favor and influence at court, able to protect them from wrong, and probably to secure for them important and peculiar privileges. They, most likely, came to be considered as respectable colonists, enjoying the peculiar protection of the sovereign. Although Jehoiachin did not long survive his release from prison, his son Salathiel, and his grandson Zerubbabel undoubtedly partook in and succeeded to the respect which he received. If the story in the apocryphal book of Esdras (1 Esd. iii., iv.) of the discussion before Darius, in which Zerubbabel won the prize, be a mere fiction, it is still at least probable that the young prince, although he held no office, had free access to the court; which privilege must have afforded him many opportunities of alleviating the condition of his countrymen. It is even not improbable that (as is implied in the apocryphal story of Susannah, and as the tradition of the Jews affirm) the exiles had magistrates and a prince from their own number. Jehoiachin, and after him Salathiel and Zerubbabel, might have been regarded as their princes, in the same manner as Jozadak and Jeshua were as their high-priests. At the same time it can not be denied that their humiliation, as a people punished by their God, was always extremely painful, and frequently drew on them expressions of contempt. The peculiarities of their religion afforded many opportunities for the ridicule and scorn of the Babylonians and Chaldeans, a striking example of which is given in the profanation of the sacred vessels by Belshazzar. By such insults they were made to feel so much the more sensibly the loss of their houses, their gardens, and fruitful fields; the leaving of their capital and temple, and the cessation of the public solemnities of their religion. (See Jahn, theil ii. band 1, sect. 45, Zustand der Hebraer in dem Exilium.) CHAPTER XXIII. THE RESTORATION. WE consider the great argument of the preceding chapter to have been, that the honor of Jehovah was as adequately maintained, and that the knowledge of his claim to be the supreme and only God, to have been even more diffused by the destitution of the Hebrews, than it would even have been by their continuance in their own land. It also appears very clearly to us, that by a succession of such operations as those which elicited the public acknowledgments of Nebuchadnezzar, Darius and Cyrus, and by acts which could not but be known to many nations, these objects might have been promoted as well without as by the restoration of the Hebrew people to their own land, and the re-establishment of the temple service. It may then be asked, why it was expedient that Judah should be at all restored; and, being restored, why Israel-the ten tribes-were not? These interesting questions we can not discuss in the extent which they deserve; but we may suggest, that since, by immutable promises, the privilege had been secured to the seed of Abraham of upholding the standard of divine truth in the world, until "the fulness of times," and since the nationality of Judah, until then, had been anciently secured by the guarantee of the Lord's promise,it was necessary that a restricted restoration, after punishment and correction, should for these purposes take place. This was all the more necessary, as it was from Judah and from the royal house of David that, as was well known, he was to spring who was to enlighten and redeem the world, and to bring in that new creation for which the moral universe groaned as the times advanced to their completion. For his identity, as the ransomer promised of old, it was necessary that the dying struggles of the Hebrew nationality should not be yet permitted to terminate. And further, inasmuch as the bondage of the Hebrews east of the Euphrates, had tended in no small degree to advance in that quarter the knowledge of the great preparatory principles of which the Jews were the commissioned conservators, it remained for the west to be in like manner allowed to catch such glimmerings of light, as might make the nations impatient of their blindness, and prepare them to hail with gladness the future “day-spring from on high." And this was, in fact, accomplished by the intercourse of the Hebrews with the western nations-Egypt, Syria, Asia-Minor, Greece, Rome-in subjection, in conflicts, or in commerce. That Judah was preferred to this vocation, and that the ten tribes were not nationally or formally restored, must be accounted for by the further development of a consideration to which the reader's attention was called in the preceding chapter. The political sins of Judah were there traced to the disposition to lean rather upon men than upon institutions. The sin of Israel was even greater, and merited greater severity of punishment. There, not only was the same disposition exhibited, but the institutions themselves were corrupted, alienated, tortured from the objects for which they were expressly framed, and, with most culpable ingenuity, made subservient to the very circumstances against which they were designed to operate. In Judah, the building of God was indeed often neglected, often allowed to run to ruin; but it was not, as in Israel, made the abiding habitation of unclean and evil things. In Judah, a good king could purge out abuses and correct evils; but in Israel the tampering with institutions was so effective, that the best kings were unable to lay an improving finger on them. For these things Israel was thrown loose from the mercies of God, much sooner than Judah; and the evil had been so heinous and deeply rooted, that no promise or hope of restoration was held forth, nor did any take place. By the attention which, through the captivity and consequent dispersion of the Jews |