The Young Captives Part 15

"Two men have approached the guard, O king, greatly desiring to be admitted into thy presence."

"Let them be admitted!" was the answer.

With anything but ease of manner, Scribbo and s.h.a.goth walked into the royal presence.

"And what have ye to communicate?" inquired his majesty, eying them as if not quite satisfied with their appearance.

"O king, live forever!" replied the Chaldeans. "Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man shall fall down and worship the golden image; and whoso falleth not down and worshipeth should be cast into a fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon--Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego--these men, O king, have not regarded thee; they serve not thy G.o.ds, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

Then was the king full of wrath and fury. "What!" said he, "is my royal decree to be thus set at defiance? Is this the return they make to the king for their high promotion in the government? By all the G.o.ds, I will bend their stubborn wills, or they will suffer my vengeance to the uttermost! Let them be summoned into my presence without further delay!"

And officers were soon on their march to bring the offenders.

The king, from his elevation, saw them approaching. An innocent smile rested on each countenance; and in spite of his haughty arrogance, the king's heart was touched, and his better feelings for a while triumphed.

They stood in his presence, and respectfully, as usual, made their obeisance.

"Am I rightly informed, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," said the king, "when I hear that ye do not serve my G.o.ds, nor worship the golden image that I have set up? It may be true; yet for your sakes, I will give you one more trial: but beware that ye further provoke not my displeasure! The king's command is not to be trifled with!"

Without the least betrayal of fear, Hananiah, in a firm tone of voice, addressed the monarch:

"O king, it requireth no careful deliberation in this matter. In so plain a case the answer is ready at hand. Thy servants, as thou well knowest, are natives of Judah, and we worship no G.o.d but the G.o.d of our fathers.

As foreigners, we have at all times been careful to use no disrespectful language in regard to the G.o.ds of Chaldea, or those who pay them homage; and hitherto, unmolested, have we paid our simple adoration to the Lord G.o.d of Israel. The law of our G.o.d, with us, is regarded as infinitely superior to all human edicts. In all things pertaining to the government, we have faithfully endeavored to do thy will, and obey the directions of our sovereign. But not until this day have we been required to deny our religion, and insult our G.o.d. To thee, O king, we are much indebted. For many years have we been the objects of thy kind regard. But be it known to Nebuchadnezzar, that the continuance of his favor is not to be purchased by a base betrayal of our principles, or a denial of our G.o.d.

We cannot serve thy G.o.ds, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. We bow the knee to G.o.d Most High alone! To us thy fiery furnace has no terrors! Jehovah, in whom we trust, is able to deliver us. That G.o.d who divided the Red Sea in two parts and made Israel to pa.s.s through the midst of it, and who parted the waves of the swelling Jordan, is able to preserve thy servants alive in the midst of the devouring flames! Yea, he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king! But, if in this we are mistaken, be it known unto thee, that toe can never obey any law of man that requireth a violation of the law of G.o.d. Therefore, we refuse to serve thy G.o.ds, or worship this golden image which thou hast set up."

"Seize the ungrateful wretches!" cried the king, in a rage, while paleness spread over his countenance. "Seize all who set my authority at naught, and who thus insult their king! By the G.o.ds, now shall they feel the weight of my displeasure, and reap the reward of their daring insolence! Let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Let the worthless dogs be thrown in, and let their G.o.d, if he be able, prove himself superior to the G.o.ds of Chaldea! Bind them now, in my presence!"

The three brothers were seized on the spot by several strong men, and bound hand and foot with cords. When this was done, they were conveyed in the direction of the fiery furnace. The news soon spread throughout the a.s.semblage, and pressing thousands urged their way towards the place of execution. The fire raged with fury. f.a.got after f.a.got was thrown in. The flames leaped high above the top of the black walls that surrounded them.

The executioners were strong men of the royal guard. To these were added a number of others, who, to show the strength of their patriotism, volunteered their services. Foremost among these were Scribbo and s.h.a.goth. With what triumphant malignity they gazed on the bound Hebrews!

How complete they considered their own victory!

The word of command was given, and the victims were dragged up the ma.s.sive steps that led to the upper edge of the burning pit. In this the volunteers showed more than an ordinary degree of patriotism. The Hebrews were laid side by side, ready for their awful doom. The stout hearts of the soldiers were touched with pity as they gazed on the n.o.ble forms of their victims, of whom they had never heard aught but good; and they felt loath to perform the awful deed. But not so the patriotic sons of Skerbood.

"Why not throw the guilty rebels in?" cried s.h.a.goth, with an air of importance.

"As ye appear to take far more pleasure in this transaction than we do, we are very willing to bestow the honor of throwing them in on yourselves. So proceed with your delightful performance," said an officer, at the same time giving way, while his companions followed him some two or three steps downward.

"With all pleasure!" answered Scribbo, while, with fiendish eagerness, they both turned to perform the foul deed. With a firm grasp they first laid hold on Azariah, and he was thrown into the midst of the flames. The same was done to Mishael; and, finally, as Hananiah dropped to the burning depth below, the ascending flames became doubly fierce; at the same moment the wind shifted and became strong, and, as sudden as a flash of lightning, the flames poured their awful vengeance on the guilty heads of Scribbo and s.h.a.goth. For a moment they whirled in the midst of G.o.d's avenging scourges, crying loudly for help; but no help could be administered! In another instant they became bewildered, and soon their blackened forms fell on the edge of the furnace, where a few moments before had lain the sons of Judah!

The king had not accompanied the prisoners to the fatal spot, but continued, in a surly mood, to sit on his elevated throne. He was far from being satisfied, and he inwardly regretted his severity toward the best of his officers.

The furnace was a roofless inclosure, twenty feet square, built of very thick walls in solid masonry. At the height of about twenty-five feet from the ground, on the inside, there were ponderous bars of iron, which were made to cross each other at right angles, and which fastened in the walls, forming the bottom of the furnace into which the victims were thrown from above. Below, in different parts, were appropriate places for f.a.gots and light combustibles wherewith to heat the furnace. To the lower story there were eight doors or openings, two on each square, through which easy access was obtained to the fireplaces. On the outside there was but one entrance to the top. This was by means of ma.s.sive stone steps. The depth from the edge of the furnace to the crossbars below was fifteen feet, making the whole height, from the ground, forty feet. From above also, there were steps to descend into the bottom. To spectators, on the ground, the victims were not visible after they had been thrown over the edge.

The king unwillingly turned his eyes towards the fiery furnace, and from his elevation he could see its interior. He suddenly sprang to his feet, lifted his hands on high, and exclaimed, in affrightened tone:

"O ye G.o.ds, what do I behold! What do I behold, O ye G.o.ds!" Then, turning to his n.o.bles, he exclaimed: "Do I fancy, or is it real? Turn your eyes on yonder flames! In their midst what behold ye? Speak!"

The n.o.bles tremblingly replied:

"We see men walking unhurt in the midst of the fire, O king!"

"It is even so!" cried the monarch, in deep agitation. "It is not a delusion! It is a marvelous reality! But did we not cast in three men bound? And I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt! And the form of the fourth is like unto a son of the G.o.ds! Arise, let us hasten to the spot!"

The king, attended by a number of his n.o.bles, and surrounded by the royal guard, was soon on his way towards the furnace. The thronging ma.s.ses divided to give way to their sovereign. There were but few there that knew the cause of the king's agitation. Those who witnessed his countenance attributed it to the awful death of Scribbo and s.h.a.goth.

All eyes are fastened on the king. With a hurried pace he ascends the steps of the furnace. He has nearly reached the top. He stops. Now the vast a.s.sembly eagerly listen for a royal address. But why turns he not his face toward the throng? Regardless of the swaying ma.s.ses, he lifts his hand on high--he speaks! Hark! "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high G.o.d, come forth and come hither!"

At the conclusion of this, which seemed to the mult.i.tude an incomprehensible speech, there were but few present who did not inwardly p.r.o.nounce the king to be laboring under a sudden fit of insanity.

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While all is still and solemn, behold, arm in arm, the forms of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! A heavenly smile rests on their countenances.

Already they have reached the top, and they stand in the presence of the wondering thousands. For a moment they cast a smiling glance on the throng below; then, with that ease of manner which always characterized them, they approach the king, and make their obeisance, with as much apparent good feeling as if nothing of an unkind nature had ever transpired. The king grasps them by the hand, and a mighty shout of good feeling and gladness resounds from thrice ten thousand tongues. The king then, turning to the mult.i.tude, in a loud voice exclaims:

"Blessed be the G.o.d of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any G.o.d except their own G.o.d. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the G.o.d of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces; because there is no other G.o.d that can deliver after this sort. And now, by the command of the king, let that image be taken down, and let it be carried to the temple of Belus, and there, in a secluded part, let it remain."

The a.s.sembly was now disbanded and broken up by royal authority. The ma.s.ses began to move homeward with deep astonishment. The golden image was lost sight of, and the miraculous deliverance of the three Hebrews was the all-absorbing theme. The priests of Belus were utterly confounded. This mighty demonstration of the power of Jehovah soon spread throughout the land. The numerous Hebrew captives were treated with much more kindness; thousands of Chaldeans lost all confidence in their G.o.ds, and learned to pay their homage at the shrine of Jehovah.

Daniel returned from the court of Pharaoh, after having arranged all things to the satisfaction of his sovereign, in whose estimation he now stood higher than ever. The three brothers were held in awe and reverence by all, and the king communed with them freely on all subjects. Their lives were rendered comfortable, and, according to the late decree of the king, whosoever dared to speak disrespectfully of their G.o.d did so at his imminent peril.

The priests of Belus kept much within their temple, and whenever they appeared in public, it was with far greater modesty and much less arrogance. They were fast losing the confidence of the populace, and the worship of the G.o.ds was greatly disregarded. The great Rab Mag was universally admired, and his three companions stood above reproach.

CHAPTER XIX.

FOR some years after that wonderful display of Divine power, as exhibited before vast thousands on the plains of Dura, Chaldea was comparatively free from wars.

The king contented himself with adding to the already magnificent grandeur of the seat of his empire. Thousands were continually employed in carrying out the schemes developed by his inventive mind, and no sooner was one mighty enterprise completed, than another project was brought forward. But the monarch's vast ambition was not to be satisfied by the erection of ma.s.sive walls and costly edifices. The fire of war and the love of conquest were not yet quenched in his soul. He had a strong pa.s.sion for the din of battle.

Tyre was a strong and opulent city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria.

It was one of the most celebrated maritime cities of antiquity, and remarkable for its power and grandeur. Hitherto, it had never been subject to any foreign power. It was built by the Sidonians, two hundred and forty years before the Temple of Jerusalem. For Sidon being taken by the Philistines of Askelon, many of its inhabitants made their escape in ships, and founded the city of Tyre; and for this reason we find it called in Isaiah, the "Daughter of Sidon." But the daughter soon surpa.s.sed the mother in grandeur, riches, and power.

Toward this proud city of Syria, the King of Babylon, in the twenty-first year of his reign, led his conquering legions, with full confidence of a speedy surrender. With a powerful army he encamped before the city, and soon commenced his attack, which was vigorously repelled. It became evident to the Chaldeans that the subduing of Tyre was not the work of a few days, or even a few months. His troops suffered incredible hardships, so that, according to the Prophet's expression, "every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled." Not until after a protracted siege of thirteen years was the city conquered, and even then Nebuchadnezzar found nothing to recompense him for the suffering of his army and the expense of the campaign.

Soon after the surrender of Tyre, the King of Babylon led his forces into Egypt, where he was much more successful than on the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean. A large number of provinces were brought to subjection, and thousands of captives were carried to Chaldea and distributed along the sh.o.r.es of the Euphrates.

The king of Babylon "was at rest in his own house, and flourishing in his own palace." The thoughts of the past, present, and future deeply occupied his mind. The past of his own history had been crowned with unparalleled success. The present was all that his heart could wish. He found himself surrounded with glory and magnificence that completely eclipsed the splendor of all other nations combined. The future--ah, the future! Who could penetrate its darkness? Could it be possible that the predictions of Belteshazzar, in regard to the future, were true? Was the glory of Chaldea to be trampled in the dust? Was the kingly line of Nebuchadnezzar to be broken? Was not the kingdom at last established on an immovable foundation? But, had he not, at different times, been convinced that Belteshazzar had been instructed by the G.o.d of heaven in regard to the future? Tea, truly! But many years had pa.s.sed since then, and his greatness had been daily increasing. The king would have gladly persuaded himself that all was clear in the future, but it was beyond his power, and under a degree of perplexity he threw himself upon his couch.

A few wandering thoughts, and the king was asleep.

"Another dream of troubles!" cried the king, while his countenance bespoke alarm. "Do the G.o.ds, indeed, delight in my misery? Why must I be thus tormented? Aye! a dream big with meaning! A vision surcharged with great events! But who will show me the interpretation thereof? Where is Belteshazzar! But why may not my Chaldean wise men answer the purpose?

Yea! Let them have the first trial. Why do I thus tremble? Whom shall I fear? 'Hew down the tree!' O, ye G.o.ds, how that voice sounded! 'Let his portion be with the beasts, in the gra.s.s of the earth!' What meaneth it?

Why do I fear to call Belteshazzar first? Is it not best at once to know the worst? But let my Chaldeans have the first trial;" and the king called a young page into his presence.

"Young man, where is thy father?"

"My father is in the adjoining chamber, O king."

"Call him hither without delay."