that not so much as the smell of fire had passed on them. The fire that had consumed their bands, and destroyed their persecutors, had had no power at all over them ; so that the king, who had just before persecuted unto death the adherents of Jehovah, now forbade, under the severest penalties, that a single word should be spoken against him.
What a triumph was here ; and how gloriously attested ! and what a report must now be carried into all the provinces of the empire, by those who had been summoned to attend the ceremony!
But further, these very Hebrews were not only restored to their respective governments, but were promoted to yet higher honours, as a recompence of their fidelity to God. And how they have since been rewarded in a better world, no tongue can express, no human imagination can conceive.]
Amongst the numerous and important reflections which this subject suggests, consider,
1. What a mercy it is that we enjoy civil and religious liberty !
[We have no power over us to make such cruel edicts : we are not subject to the decrees of a capricious tyrant : we all can worship God according to our conscience, without restraint. There are, it is true, some small sacrifices made by those who choose to dissent from the established mode of worship ; but they are small indeed, and required only with a view to the welfare of the State : they are such as no man who is of a spiritual and heavenly mind feels in the least burthensome. b In fact, there is no sacrifice at all, except of a negative kind : all are at liberty to serve God in their own way : the infidel, the Socinian, and the idolatrous Papist, are as free to follow the dictates of their conscience, as the servant and worshipper of our Incarnate God. Let us be thankful for this inestimable privilege. It is not universally so even in what is called the Christian world : there is yet in existence the Popish Inquisi- tion, which is little else than a repetition of Nebuchadnezzar's edict ; and which shews us, how necessary those very tests are, to which we have before alluded : for, were the Papists once to regain the ascendant in this country, we should yet again be subjected to all the bloody edicts of former days. O let us bless our God, that the rights of conscience are respected amongst us ; and that, in relation to the object or manner of our worship, we are left to stand or fall to our own Master !]
2. What a mercy it is, if we are under the influence of divine grace —
[The whole mass of the Babylonish courtiers, being under
b These are now put aside by the repeal of the Test Act in 1828.
i i 2