men dwell, the beast of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, hath He given into thy hand; thou art this head of gold.

"And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth; and the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay."

Startling to the proud Nebuchadnezzar must have been the words, "After thee shall arise another kingdom." Who but a messenger from God would have dared thus to announce the fall of the mighty power of Babylon? In vain should the defences of the glorious city be strengthened, its gates of brass should not shut out the foe; its beauty, its wealth should not save it from ruin. The Medes and Persians, as the arms of silver, should succeed to the head of gold; even they, after a while, must yield to the Macedonian power, under the great Alexander, represented by the thighs of brass. But their rule was not to endure; one earthly empire succeeds another, like billows rolling on to the beach, and there breaking

in foam.

The iron Romans would next bear sway; and then, as that metal was mixed with clay, so would the Romans mingle with the other races of Europe, till out of the one mighty empire, ten smaller kingdoms should arise. We, in these later days, read in history of those events which Babylon's mighty monarch saw in prophetic dream.

But though the empires of this world and the glory of them are to pass for ever away, there is one kingdom which shall ever endure, even the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who was spoken of by David and Peter the apostle as the stone which the builders refused, and by St. Paul as the chief corner-stone, visiting earth in the time of the Roman dominion, should gradually extend His sway over earth, till all its nations should bow down and adore Him! Thus Daniel explained to the king this latter part of his dream.

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the silver and the gold, the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

Great and startling was the effect upon Nebuchadnezzar of the prophecy uttered by those young lips: the monarch fell on his face before the subject, the conqueror before the captive. "Of a truth it is," he exclaimed, "that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a Revealer of secrets, seeing that thou couldst reveal this secret."

Nor was the monarch content with words; at once the young Jew was raised to a high post in the heathen court, magnificent gifts were presented to him, he was made ruler of the province of Babylon, and chief over all the wise men of Chaldea. It was to a giddy height that the young exile was thus suddenly raised, but in his prosperity Daniel was neither forgetful of God, nor neglectful of the friends of his youth. At the moment when Nebuchadnezzar would deny him nothing, Daniel made request for his three companions. Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego were set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

It is not always that we see in this life piety thus openly rewarded, though as regards the best temporal blessings, godliness hath the promise of this world, as well as of that which is to come. But a time is coming when before angels, and archangels, before the countless multitudes assembled for judgment, honour, glory, and immortality will be accorded to the faithful of the Lord. He whose blood hath washed away their sins, He whose grace hath purified

their nature, will then give them the crown of life, which He hath promised to them that love Him. Then the lowliest of the children of light will hear those transporting words, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

VII.

A Tangle.

OLDICH might, since his marriage, have been called a prosperous man. He had reached a position of trust, not indeed

high in respect to his birth, but one which an orphan, beginning life penniless and almost friendless, would have been unlikely to attain to without energy, perseverance, and strict integrity. Mrs. Holdich often indulged a secret wish that her husband's abilities had found exercise in a wider field; but he himself never seemed to regret that he had not made one of the struggling crowd that choke up the way to preferment in each of the "liberal professions." Holdich was useful, independent, and therefore contented. Ambition was no part of his nature. If he could lay down his head on his pillow at night, satisfied that the duties of the day had been faithfully discharged, no restless yearning for higher things disturbed his quiet repose.

But since his arrival at Lestrange, Robert Holdich had found duty wear a more repulsive aspect than mere hard work could have given it, and the cares of