BOYS OF THE BIBLE. 237

Belshazzar is King: Belshazzar is lord:

And a thousand dark nobles all bend at his board;

Fruits glisten; flowers blossom; meats steam; and a flood

Of the wine that man loveth runs redder than blood:

Wild dancers are there, and a riot of mirth,

And the beauty that maddens the passions of earth; f
And the crowds all shout °
Till the vast roofs ring—

“All praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the King!”

“Bring forth,” cries the monarch, “the vessels of gold,
Which my father tore down from the temples of old!—
Bring forth! and we'll drink, while the trumpets are blown,
To the gods of bright silver, of gold, and of stone:

Bring forth!” And before him the vessels all shine;
And he bows unto Baal; and he drinks the dark wine;
While the trumpets bray,
And the cymbals ring—
“Praise, praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the King!”

Now what cometh? Look, look! Without menace or call,
Who writes, with the lightning’s bright hand, on the wall?
What pierceth the King like the point of a dart?
What drives the bold blood from his cheek to his heart?
“Chaldeans! magicians! the letters expound.”
They are read: and Belshazzar is dead on the ground.
Hark! the Persian is come
On a conqueror’s wing;
And a Mede’s on the throne of Belshazzar the King.

‘‘And in that night was Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans,
slain.”

And now Darius was King; and a conspiracy was set
on foot to put an end to the power and influence of Daniel.
A decree was sent forth to the effect that anyone who was
found praying to any god, or asking any petition of anybody
save the King, should be cast into a den of lions.

Those who conspired to make this decree evidently
thought that this was a sure way of getting rid of Daniel.
They knew Daniel was a man of prayer, and they did him
the honor of believing that he would go on praying all the