grew dark and troubled
as that of the king.

"Do not be distressed by the dream or its interpretation, Belteshazzar,"
Nebuchadnezzar said in his gentlest tones; for he saw that the dream
meant something bad, and that Daniel did not like to tell him. "Show me
the interpretation."

"My lord," the Jewish prophet replied sadly, "it is a dream that will
please only your enemies; and all those who hate you will rejoice at
it." And then he went on to explain to the king that the great tree that
he had seen towering towards heaven, and spreading itself over the whole
earth, with its fresh green leaves and abundance of fruit, with its
thousands of beasts taking refuge under its spreading branches, and its
myriads of feathered songsters nestling amongst them, was himself. "It
is thou, O king," he said; "for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth
unto the heavens, and thy dominion to the end of the earth."

By the coming down of the holy watcher, and his commanding the tree to
be despoiled of its glory, and hewn down, Daniel showed the king was
meant his own humiliation. He should be driven from the abodes of men,
his dwelling should be with the beasts of the field; he should eat grass
like an ox, and his body should be wet with the dew of heaven.

But he was not to be for ever removed from his place. The malady was to
continue only for seven years; for as the stump of the tree was left in
the earth, so that it might some day put forth its branches again, and
once more abound in foliage and fruit, so his terrible affliction should
only last until he should acknowledge that it was not by the strength of
his own arm, but by the power of God that he had been raised to so great
a height of glory; that the kingdoms of the earth belong to God, and
that He raises up whom He will to govern them.

"Oh, learn this lesson in time, mighty king," Daniel pleaded; "that
supreme power belongs alone to the living God. Humble thyself before
Him. Put away every iniquity; and begin to show mercy to the poor and
the defenceless, who have hitherto cried to thee in vain. For it is in
mercy that God has sent thee the dream, to show thee how thine heart has
been lifted up, and to give thee an opportunity of averting the
punishment by timely and sincere repentance."

Oh, if Nebuchadnezzar had but heeded the warning dream! If he had but
taken his kingdom and his glory, his riches and his honour, and laid
them all at the footstool of the great King in H