5,--That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sack but, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebu. chadnezzar the king hath set up;

6. And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

7.-Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the lan. guages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Various conjectures have been formed respecting the motives which might have led to this extraordinary proceeding. Some have supposed that it was Nebuchadnezzar's intention to falsify the prediction of Daniel with regard to the demolition of his empire; others that he meant to obviate the jealousies that existed among his people, on account of the eulogistic language he had employed in favor of the God of Israel, and the high distinctions he had conferred on the Jewish captives; others, that the design was to give an ostentatious display of his opulence, and even to render himself an object of public honor and adoration. If this last mentioned purpose had been the real one, it would not have stood alone in history as the single instance of this folly and impiety. Caligula built a temple, where he erected a statue of gold, which was every day clothed in a robe like that of the emperor, and peculiar priests and sacrifices were appropriated to him. Domitian de

manded the appellations of Lord and God, whether addressed orally or in writing. Both Alexander and Darius the Mede received divine honors. There is nothing, however, in this narrative to justify such a conclusion, with regard to Nebuchadnezzar; on the contrary, when the accusation was preferred against certain individuals who declined bowing the knee before the image, the charge was that they had refused "to serve his gods." The most natural interpretation, therefore, is, that the erection of this image was an act of gross idolatry; proving the besotted state of the human mind in general, when embued with false religion, and the criminal forgetfulness of this royal devotee in particular, of the divine monitions he had received, and of his own magnificent pretensions of reverence for the God of Israel. He had before (ch. i. ii.) presented the spoils of the temple of Jerusa lem to the tutelary god of the Babylonians; it is therefore probable that he dedicated this image to the same divinity, to whom he required his people to pay homage.

The surprising dimensions of this statue have induced some to imagine that the elevation included a pedestal or pillar upon which it might be presumed to have stood. Threescore cubits would amount to about thirty yards, or ninety feet; or at the utmost to 105 feet, if the statemont of Herodotus be

admitted, that the king's cubit in Babylon was three fingers larger than the usual one. But the Colossus at Rhodes, dedicated to the sun, was seventy cubits high, and of such a magnitude that its fingers were larger than ordinary statues; and the Colossus at Tarentum, in Calabria, dedicated it to Jupiter, measured sixty cubits.

The dedication was in conformity with the character of those idolatrous times; and the decree which appointed it evinced the spirit of a malignant superstition. The deep degeneracy of our nature, the littleness of human pride, and the intolerance of political and religious despotism are here displayed. Nothing was omitted that could impart celebrity to the transaction, and enstamp it with grandeur. Not content with summoning together his court and the inhabitants of the district of Babylon, the king sent letters to all the provinces, requiring the attendance of all the officers of rank on this magnificent mockery, that he might gratify his sight and sate his ambition, by a kind of convention of all the nations over which his dominion extended. A herald was to notify the precise time when the prostrations of this brilliant assemblage were to be made before the idol-statute; and to render it the more intelligible to people of different languages, the announcement was to be given with the fascinating accompani

ment of the "cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music." Nor was this sufficient to satisfy this ardent idolater; for whoever ventured to disobey the royal mandate, was to be instantly committed to a fiery furnace. No doubt Nebuchadnezzar identified his own authority with the claims of his imaginary deities, and thus made it obvious, to himself at least, that impiety to them and disobedience to him were similar or equal crimes.

It would be difficult to describe or even to conceive the excitement which prevailed throughout the empire of Babylon, and more especially in the plain of Dura, at the dedication of this image; for, though the principal magistrates and nobles were specially summoned, their presence would naturally attract an innumerable multitude of all classes of the people. While the idol was erecting its progress from day to day would be the subject of private conversation, and of public announcement. The spot would be visited and revisited by anxious thousands; who would praise their gods, admire the workmanship, and detail through all the myriad channels of possible communication its gradual progress from cubit to cubit and inch to inch to its final dimensions. It would be pronounced of unrivalled grandeur, the perfection of human art, the glory of the monarch's reign under whose

auspices it was reared. It would be viewed as a monument capable of fixing a character upon the age, promoting the interests of idolatry beyond all former precedent, and furnishing a splendid tale for unborn generations. Nothing was wanting to impart dignity to the occasion, and peculiar pains were taken to secure that uniformity in worship, which was enforced by the king's sanguinary decree. What a pitiable exhibition both of the weakness and wickedness of man was now to be seen in the plain of Dura! What a desecration of the noblest faculties of intellectual and moral beings to the basest purposes! What an atrocious and systematic attempt on the part of a great ruler, to exclude "the blessed and only potentate" from his own world! What a mean and creeping sycophancy on the part of mighty nations to his will, and to the cherished superstitions of a dark age! How exalted were crime and folly! How sunk and dishonored was human nature!

1. The narrative under consideration is calculated to suggest the importance of justly appreciating the character of God, as an infinite and spiritual intelligence. A right idea of his nature and perfections is the element of all true wisdom, and the only source of moral consistency. Our primary thought of God must affect all our thoughts. Error at the outset must issue in continual and multiform