XV.

DANIEL AND His FRIENDS.

“We will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set
up.”—Dantiel i22., 78.

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house,
and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his
knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did afore-
time.”— Daniel vi., Zo.

“ Whether we face the lions.in the den,
Or sail o’er martyrdom’s red, fiery seas,
Around us camp, invisible to men,
‘The cloud of witnesses.’
No chains can bind, no flames consume the soul;
God's breath dissolves the avalanche of ill.
When the dark clouds of suffering round us roll,
He sends His angels still.”
—Thomas L. Harris.

“The courage of Daniel is true heroism. It is not physical daring, such as
beneath some proud impulse will rush upon an enemy’s steel; it is not reckless valor,
sporting with a life which ill-fortune has blighted or which despair has made
intolerable; it is not the passiveness of the stoic, through whose indifferent heart no
tides of feeling flow; it is the calm courage which reflects upon its alternative, and
deliberately chooses to do right; it is the determination of Christian principle, whose
foot resteth on the rock, and whose eye pierceth into heaven.”—Wm. M. Punshon.

The Bible is full of stories of heroic men and women.
We have seen the heroism of Samson, the young Hercules of
the Old Testament. We have read of the bravery of David,
who slew the giant of Gath with a pebble from the brook.
But for real heroism—for downright, sterling courage—it is
very questionable if the world has ever seen four braver young
men than Daniel and his friends. The story of these valiant

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