any being but to thee, O king, he shall be cast into a den of lions."

Darius

sents. Darius, whose vanity was flattered, assented to the decree, and ratified it with the royal seal.

What followed.

Daniel heard thereof; but, notwithstanding, retired three times a day into his chamber to worship God, a proceeding directly contrary to the royal mandate.

Daniel

arrested.

The jealous nobles forthwith accused him to the king of high treason; and Darius, though very sorry, could not rescue his favourite from the snare.

Cast to

the lions.

Daniel was accordingly let down into the midst of the lions, and the mouth of the den sealed with the imperial signet ring.

conduct.

The king's Darius, having retired to his palace, passed the whole night fasting; but at break of day hastened to the den, and called out: "Daniel, Daniel, hath thy God saved thee from the lions ?"

21

Daniel's reply.

Daniel replied from the bottom of the den: "O king, live for ever! my God hath sent his angel to shut the lions' mouths."

What followed.

The king was transported

with joy; commanded him to be drawn up; and the nobles, his accusers, to be thrown into the same cave.

Their fate.

Before they reached the bottom, the hungry lions seized upon them, and broke their bones in pieces.

Daniel honoured.

Daniel was then made president of the whole empire; and the king made a decree that all his subjects should worship the God of Daniel. Successor On the death of Dari'us without issue, Cyrus, his nephew, inherited the empire of the Medes, which thus became a part of the Great Persian empire. (B.c. 545.)

of Darius.

His conduct.

to the Jews.

Cyrus liberated the Jews, and gave them leave to return to their own country. (B.C. 543.)

A.C. 544-525.]

The length of

their captivity. They had at the time been in captivity for 70 years, according to the prediction of Jeremiah, the prophet.

What became

of Daniel.

Cyrus, it would seem, treated Daniel with the same degree of honour as his predecessor had done; but it is probable that the prophet died in BabyIon before the restitution. (Dan. i. 21.) Daniel's He was so learned and pure in office, that his wisdom and justice became proverbial. His piety was uncorrupted by the court, and his conduct so clear that even his enemies could find no fault in him.

character.

APPENDIX TO THE HISTORY OF DANIEL.

From "BEL and the DRAGON.”

Just prior to the liberation of the Jews, the incidents occurred between Daniel and the two false gods, one called Bel and the other the Dragon, if indeed the account given in the Apocrypha may be accepted. Bel, the chief god of

Babylon, was kept in a magnificent temple, where he was furnished daily with an immense supply of dainty food and drink. Cyrus asked Daniel why he refused to worship so great a god; and, when Daniel replied he was no god, the king appealed to the quantity of food consumed by him daily. Daniel assured the king this consumption of food was a priestly artifice, which he could readily expose. Accordingly, when the food was brought, Daniel strewed the floor with sifted ashes, and locked the doors of the temple. Next day, footmarks were traced in the ashes to a secret passage through which the priests carried off the provision, which they declared their god had consumed. The king now ordered the false priests to be put to death, and permitted Daniel to destroy both the idol and its temple.

Some time after the temple of Bel was thrown down, the people deified a monstrous serpent, or Dragon; and Cyrus asked Daniel what objection could be made against such an object of worship, Daniel replied, that the serpent could be no god, as he himself could kill him if the king would permit. Cyrus gave his assent; and Daniel threw balls of pitch, grease, and hair to the serpent, which being swallowed, the monster burst asunder. The people now rose in rebellion, and insisted that Daniel should be delivered into their hands. Cyrus, willing to gratify his new subjects, and affected, perhaps, with superstitious dread, bade them take him and do with him what they liked. Upon this they seized him, cast him, for seven days, into a den of lions; and, to make sure of

his death, starved the beasts all the time. On the seventh day Cyrus went to the den; and, looking down, saw Daniel sitting amongst the hungry lions unhurt. He commanded him instantly to be drawn out, and magnified the God of the Hebrews.

If these incidents be true, it may in some measure account for the extraordinary interest which Cyrus took in the welfare of the Jews.

Josephus mentions another circumstance: While Cyrus began to interest himself in the Hebrew captives, some of the prophets showed him this passage from Isaiah written 200 years previously: Cyrus is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure; saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid." (xliv. 28.)

N.B.-Some ascribe to the prophet Daniel himself the narrations contained in the book entitled Bel and the Dragon. But as no such book is extant in Hebrew or Chaldee, but only in Greek, great doubt exists as to its authenticity.

Section IV.

DANIEL'S PROPHECIES.

DANIEL VIII., XII.

prophesied.

What Daniel Daniel predicted the restoration of the Jews, and the exact year of the death of Jesus Christ.