kn{lwn. Yet we err. Every wild phantom of the hum11on mind Is a link In the chain {lf cau~e e.nd effect. Only a poet can fully appreci&te true poetry. Only a man of imaginative genius can resolve the problems of dreams. This is a God-given power- a species of inspiration. 3. The day of p11.blic manifestation at length arrived, AR there is many a starting-point in human aff&il'II, so there is mnny a goal. 'l'he first presupposes and determines the second. "The king c&me ln to see his Hebrew i-:nests." It w&s only fitting that be should. Every part of human life is probation- trial, which he.s respect to honour or to disgrace. Though the end mny seem far distant, yet this is only seeming. The end is really near. Righteous judgment is ever proceeding. This Cheldean monarch was, in this matter, a model prince. In many aspects of this event we have a striking forecast of the final judgment. With ruarked condescension, the king "communed " with these captive He brews, and was so far impartial in his just estimate as to confess publicly their diligent industry and their superior attainments. " He found them ten times better than all the magicians in his realm." Such knowledge as they professed was real. They made no pretensions to what was beyond their power. 'l'hey did not boast of access to arcana of nature or of Divine providence really closed against them. They admitted the confines of real knowledge; they confessed the limitations of the human mind, Pretended skill is only contemptible. The truly great man is as ready to acknowledge his ignorance as his knowledge. Only a fool is unwilling to give this reJlly to 'lllany inquiries," I do not know," 4. The emiMnce which Daniel j'IJ,Stly attained was permanent. Real greatness, like the granite rock, is enduring. SUIIS rose and set; years came and went; kings flourished and fell; changes swept over all the empires of Asia; but Daniel, throughout the allotted period of his life, maintained his power and 1ire-eminence. Nor did his regal influence disappear with his dying breath; 'twas not interred in his tomb. It lived on: i, lives still The noble qualities of Daniel have reappeared in others, age after age. The tyranny of monarchs, in the East and in the West, have been held in check by him. "Being dead, he yet speaks," yet rules I Hie name stands on Heaven's bead-roll among the most saintly of his rac&--with Samuel and with Job. In his own identical person he bas lived a continuous and a progressive life in a higher sphere than this. There he occupies a throne; his hand holds a sceptre; his head is surmounted with a diadem. The voice of the Highest has said to him, "Be thou ruler over ten cities." In his own glad consciousness, hie prophetic words have been fulfilled, "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stare for ever and ever." Evanescence is a quality of what is worthless, Faith ie the seed of which the full development is "life everlasting."-D. Ver. 8.-.A noble ptUrpose the root of troe renown. All real dignity has its begin- ning, not in ancestral fortune, but in righteous purpose. The heart is the seed-plot of all noble deeds. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." L THE COMMONEST KEAL FURNISHES All OCOABION ON WHICH TO DEFILE 0B DIGND"I' THE MAN. Then character is discovered. Then we see, as in a mirror, whether the higher nature or the lower is dominant. Some men live only to eae ; some eat only that they may live. Daniel desired to shun this sudden extreme of good fortune. "It is better to go to the house of mourning than into the house of feasting." Moreover, this participation in royal dainties would he a connivance with idolatry, "Whether therefore ye eat or drink . . . do all to the glory of God." Il. SELF-PURIFICATION II! THE SETTLED PURPOSE OF A BENEWED HEART, What grimy dirt is to the fair countenance, what rust is on virgin gold, what soot is on crystal snow, such is sin on the human soul. Wickedness is defilement, disease, curse, rottenness. If self-preservation be a primary instinct of man as a member of the animal race, the maintenance of purity was originally an instinct of the soul. If we cannot wash out old stains, we can, by Divine help, avoid further contamination. To be pure is to be manly-God-like. HI. Huau.N OPPOSITION MAY USUALLY BE DISARM.ED BY KINDLY SOLICITATION. Love wields a uia;!ic sceptre, and kindness is practical love. If the highest end we seek can!:lot Le gained at a single stride, we may gain a step at a time. 'l'he Christian CII, 11, 1-40.] nm DOOK OF DANU<.:L. 87
pilgrim does not walk in five-leagued boote. Daniel "requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." A request so reasonable, so innocent commended Hself to the judgment of the man.-D. '