workings were only designed to convince that king? Then to what purpose was it done? for see how soon his son Belshazzar went on in the same practices as before, to worship the gods of gold and silver."

"Now pen thy own observations, and I shall answer thee again; for it was I that worked deeply in thy heart, to observe what is unnoticed by man."

In reading through Daniel, it appeared to me almost incredible to believe, if I did not see the same spirit in mankind now; for when I saw that in the second year of the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar he had a dream, and when he could not remember it himself, he sent for all his astrologers and soothsayers, for them to shew unto him his dream; but all their wisdom was baffled, for they could neither tell him the dream nor interpret it, which raised the king's anger, and he commanded all the wise men of Babylon to be slain. But Daniel had a vision from the Lord, to shew him the dream and the interpretation thereof; for this was done by Daniel to shew the king there was no wisdom in his astrologers, or -wise men; for though they were threatened to be put to death for want of knowledge, as they could not even presume to have that knowledge; this in the first place shewed the king the impossibility of any such knowledge coming from man; yet the king did not say that Daniel had told him a wrong dream, when he told him he had the vision from the Lord. This, in the first place, appeared marvellous in my eyes, after the king's seeing there was no knowledge in his wise men, who worshipped the images which he had set up; and yet wisdom and knowledge was found in Daniel who worshipped them not. How could the king make the decrees he made afterwards, that all those who would not worship his images should be cast into the burning fiery furnace? Here appears great inconsistency in man to threaten such severe judgments against those who worshipped the God of Daniel, from whom he confessed the truth

JOANNA'S OBSERVATIONS ON DANIEL. 389

was told to him, and which saved the lives of his wise men, who worshipped his images, and whom he was before going to put to death for want of that knowledge; and yet these wise men, after their lives had been so saved by Daniel, were equally ready to condemn the Jews, until they had at last provoked the king to have the furnace heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated. Here shews the ingratitude of the wise men, whose lives were saved by the GOD they had set the king against; and here shews the madness of the king, after he had acknowledged to Daniel, that the God he served was a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets; yet when the three Jews told him that he alone was the God they would serve, who was able to deliver them, his anger was then kindled to cast them into the fire; thus his malice would have consumed them, if the Lord had not worked wonders and miracles, that were not common, to preserve them; but when he saw the wondrous work of God, that they were not consumed, he made a decree, that every people, nation, and language, should be cut in pieces, that spoke against the God they worshipped. Here the king seemed truly sensible of the true signs of the God of heaven. After this, he has another vision, which he tells Daniel of; and Daniel tells him what shall befal him if he does not break off from his sins, and know, that the heavens do rule, and that the Lord by more severe judgments, will make him know the heavens do rule, and told him what should come upon him; yet still his heart was hardened through unbelief, and he boasted of his greatness, and said-" Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" Thus was his boasting, till a voice from heaven said, the kingdom is departed from thee; and he was driven with the beasts of the field. Here we see how fast the won

drous works of the Lord came one after the other; and yet immediately followed his son, to call forward and praise the gods of gold, silver, brass, and iron, which had proved his father's destruction, till the handwriting appeared before him; then too late was he troubled and his knees smote one against the other; yet in this confused state he calls forward the same wise men; he trusted to the same soothsayers, that his father had trusted to at first, and called forward; but like his father, he found there was no knowledge in them; they could not make known the hand-writing unto him; yet Daniel, that worshipped the God whom they despised, told him the interpretation, and that the kingdom was taken from him. The truth of his words followed; for in that night the king was slain. Now all these things were known unto them, the wise men, the soothsayers, and the kings; yet Darius took the kingdom, and after possessing it, was incensed by these wretched men, whose lives Daniel had saved, by the power of God; yet they contrived to have Daniel forsake the laws of his God, or be put to death; so they made intercession with the king to make decrees that whosoever worshipped any god, or asked a petition of any god, save the king, should be cast into the den of lions; thus they contrived to seek Daniel's life; but how strong was Daniel's faith! after he knew the writings were signed, he prayed and gave thanks to his God as before. Here his enemies, by their mad and malicious envy they had against Daniel, seemed to have him in their power; forgetting what happened to them who cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego into the fire, they proceeded with all their envy to have Daniel cast into the den of lions; as the king for his own honour could not break the decrees; though he rejoiced exceedingly when he found the Lord had delivered Daniel. But here these ungrateful wretches, whose lives Daniel had saved before, met with their just

ANSWER TO JOANNA'S REMARKS.

391 deserts as the king commanded Daniel's accusers to be cast into the den of lions, with their wives and children; who broke their bones in pieces ere they came to the bottom of the den. Here ingratitude met with its deserts, and Daniel gained himself the more in favour; and the king made a decree, that in every dominion of his kingdom, men should fear the God of Daniel. Here in these chapters the world appears in its true colours, that no judgments, no signs, or wonders, will convince the hardened and unbelieving; for had they not been hardened through unbelief, the judgments they had seen before, and the wondrous working of the Lord, would have deterred them from going further; so their presumption must spring from unbelief, which I should think could not be in any but such heathens as they were, if I had not seen the same again in the Jews; and the same spirit I see now in these days: and this spirit I am convinced will continue as long as the devil hath power to work in the hearts of the sons of men to do evil, and be at enmity against God; for they will be at enmity against his followers. It is fruitless to attempt to pen the deep ponderings of my heart, in reading through Daniel; the depth of which I never looked into in my life before.

THE ANSWER OF THE LORD.

"Now I shall answer thee of Daniel. It was I that worked in thy heart, to make the observations. thou hast made; for thy observations go deep to the end; as thou sayest Daniel saved the wise men at first, by the wisdom and power of God; yet their ingratitude brought on their own destruction. Now I shall answer thee of mankind. The book of Daniel, I have told thee, stands for the end; and know what I said in my Gospel-they should see the things spoken of by Daniel; and now mark what is spoken by Daniel, after he had seen all the unbelief that followed in man. Though they had seen all my wondrous works in the deliverance of my people,

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and the judgments that followed upon their enemies, and what befel their kings; yet, they continued the same, till Daniel was cast into the den of lions ; then after he was delivered from the lions' den, mark his vision of the horns that were plucked up by the roots, which had eyes like men, and mouths speaking great things, till the ANCIENT OF DAYS appeareth. Now mark in what manner he appeareth, with his garments white as snow; the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire; thousand thousands ministered unto him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened; the voice of the great words which the horns spoke, till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed. Now mark from all these visions that Daniel saw, after he was freed from the den of lions-then cometh the HORN of SALVATION to MAN, when he cometh to slay the Beast, and bring in his everlasting KINGDOM of PEACE. Mark what is said further: I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the SON OF MAN coming with the clouds of heaven, and he came to the ANCIENT OF DAYS, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom which shall not be destroyed. Now I shall answer thee why he appeared like the flames, and his wheels as burning fire; yet he is attended by thousands and thousands, coming in Might, Majesty, and Power, to claim the Kingdom, to destroy the Beast, and to establish his Kingdom for his Saints, who shall take the Kingdom, and possess it for ever and ever.

Now to answer I'll begin :

The book of Daniel thou hast seen
Wherein the heathens they were plac'd;
Amongst them was my people cast;
To shew my wonders, I began

From dreams and visions they had seen,