"O Babylonians, an imminent calamity, which neither Belus my progenitor, nor queen Beltis can perfuade < the fates to avert: A Perfian mule fhall come affifted by your demons, and impofe fervitude upon you; whofe coadjutor fhall be a Mede, the boast of the Affyrians.' And foon after he died. Herodotus, who was a much older hiftorian than Megafthenes, relates that a Delphic oracle was given to Crofus king of Lydia, that (2) when a mule fhould rule over the Medes, then he should not be afhamed to fly away. Which oracle was afterwards thus interpreted by the Pythian prieftefs; Cyrus (3) was this mule: for he was born of parents of different nations, the mother the better, and the father the meaner; for the was a Mede, and the daughter of the king of the Medes, but he was a Perfian and fubject to the Medes. If any credit is to be given to these stories, if any fuch prophecy was uttered by Nebuchadnezzar a little before his death, if any fuch oracle was received and believed of Cyrus and the Perfians fubduing Afia, the notion, the tradition may very well be fuppofed to have been derived originally from this prophecy of Daniel, which being fo folemnly delivered to a great king, and publifhed in Chaldee, might come to be generally known in the eaft; and the event foon afterwards evinced the truth of it. It was from this prophecy too, that the diftinction firft arofe of the four great empires of the world, which hath been followed by moft hiftorians and chronologers in nec Belus generis noftri auctor, nec regina Beltis perfuadere unquam poterunt. Perficus veniet mulus, qui dæmonum veftrorum ufus auxilio, durum cervicibus veftris jugum imponet. Atque hujus cladis auξtor etiam Medus quidam erit, quo ante Alyrii magnopere gloriabantur. Eu: feb. Præp. Evang. Lib. 9. Cap. 41. p. 456. Edit. Vigeri. (2) ̓Αλλ' όταν ήμιονος βασιλευς Μήδοισι γενήλαιο Και τότε και το λο Herod. Lib. 1. Cap. 55. p. 21. Edit. (3) ny yag δη ο Κύρος έτος εγεγόνεε, μητρος άμεινονος, πατρός δε υποδεέσερε. ή μεν γαρ ην Μηδίς, και Αςυαεος θυγαίης τε Μήδων βασιλέως ὁ δε, Περσης τε ην, και exomers UT EXEIVOLOL. Nam mulus hic, Cyrus erat: quippe qui duobus diverfarum gentium parentibus ortus fit, generofiore matre quam patre. Nam illa quidem, Medea erat, Afty Regis apud Medos mulo jam fede agis Mederum regis filia: hic autem, potito, Lyde fugam, &c. Perfa, et Medis fubjectus. Herod. ibid. Cap. 91. p. 39. their diftribution of times. These four empires, as they are the fubject of this prophecy, are likewife the subject. of the most celebrated pens both in former and in later ages. The hiftories of these empires are the best writ, and the moft read of any; they are the ftudy of the learned, and the amufement of the polite; they are of ufe both in schools, and in fenates; we learn them when we are young, and we forget them not when we are old; from hence examples, inftructions, laws and politics are derived for all ages; and very little in comparison is known of other times, or of other nations. Not but there have been empires as great or greater than fome of thefe, as thofe of the Tartars for inftance, and of the Saracens, and of the Turks; and you may think perhaps, that they are as well deferving of a place in this fucceffion of kingdoms, and were equally worthy to be made the objects of prophecy, being as eminent for the wisdom of their conftitutions, the extent of their dominions, and the length of their duration. But these four empires had a particular relation to the church and people of God, who were fubject to each of them in their turns. They were therefore particularly predicted; and we have in them, without the intermixture of others, a line of prophecy (as I may fay) extending from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the full and complete establishment of the kingdom of the Meffiah. He who is arbiter of kingdoms, and governor of the univerfe, can reveal as much of their future revolutions as he pleafeth: and he hath revealed enough to manifeft his providence, and to confirm the truth of religion. What Daniel said upon the first discovery of these things, well may we fay after the completion of fo many particulars: (ver. 20, 21, 22.) Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever; for wifdom and might are his. And he changeth the times and the feafons: he removeth kings, and fetteth up kings: he giveth wifdom unto the wife, and knowledge to them that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and fecret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. XIV. XIV. DANIEL'S VISION OF THE SAME. WHAT was revealed unto Nebuchadnezzar in the fecond year of his reign concerning the four great empires of the world, was again revealed unto Daniel (Chap. VII.) with some inlargements and additions in the first year of Belshazzar, that is about eight and forty years afterwards. But there is this difference, that what was exhibited to Nebuchadnezzar in the form of a great image, was reprefented to Daniel in the shape of great wild beafts. The reafon of which is ingenioufly affigned by Grotius, and after him by (1) Mr. Lowth, "that this image appeared with a glorious luftre in the imagination of Nebuchadnezzar, whofe mind was wholly taken up with admiration of worldly pomp fplendor; whereas the fame monarchies were repre"fented to Daniel under the fhape of fierce and wild "beafts, as being the great fupporters of idolatry and "tyranny in the world." 6.6 and Daniel dreamed, and the angel interpreted. These great beafts, which are four, (fays the angel ver. 17.) are four kings, or kingdoms, as it is tranflated in the vulgar Latin, and the Greek, and Arabic verfions, and as the angel himself explains it, (ver. 23.) The fourth beaft fhall be the fourth kingdom upon earth. They arife out of a stormy and tempeftuous fea, that is out of the wars and commotions of the world: and they are called great in comparison of other leffer states and kingdoms, as they are denominated beafts for their tyrannical and cruel oppreffions and depredations. Thefe beafts are indeed monstrous productions; a lion with eagle's wings, a bear with three ribs in the mouth of it, a leopard with > four wings and four heads, and a beaft with ten horns: but fuch emblems and hieroglyphics were ufual among the eaftern nations; a winged lion and fuch fictitious (1) Lowth's Comment. on Chap. II. 31. Grotius ibid. animals animals may ftill be feen in the (2) ruins of Perfepolis; horns are attributed to beafts, which naturally have none; and thefe figures were, as I may fay, the arms and fymbols of fuch and fuch nations, and are no ftranger than feveral which are ftill ufed in modern heraldry. We will confider them in order, and take notice only of fuch interpretations as carry in them fomething probable and plaufible, to the end that we may establish what is more certain. To recite all the various opinions of commentators would be but heaping up a monument of the abfurdities of former ages. We may collect fomething from one, and fomething from another, and yet in all refpects perfectly agree with none. I. The firft kingdom is reprefented by a beaft, (ver. 4.) that was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: and I beheld till the wings thereof were pluckt, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made ftand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. This is the kingdom of the Babylonians: and the king of Babylon is in like manner compared to a lion by Jeremiah, (IV. 7.) The lionis come up from his thicket, and the deftroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; and he is faid to fly as an eagle, (XLVIII. 40.) Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall Spread his wings over Moab; and he is alfo compared to an eagle by Ezekiel, (XVII. 3, et 12.) Thus faith the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings, &c. The lion is esteemed the king of beafts, and the eagle the king of birds: and therefore the kingdom of Babylon, which is described as the firft and nobleft kingdom, and was the kingdom then in being, is faid to partake of the nature of both. Instead of a lion, the Vulgar Latin, and the Greek, and Arabic verfions have a lioness; and it is (3) Jerome's obfervation, that the kingdom of Babylon for its cruelty is compared not to a lion, but to a lionefs, which naturalifts fay is the fiercer of the two. (2) See Sir John Chardin and other travelers. (3) Regnum Babylonium propter fevitiam et crudelitatem,non leo, fed. læana appellatur. Aiunt enim hi qui de beftiarum fcripfere naturis leænas effe ferociores, &c. Hieron. Comment. in locum. Vol. 3. p. 1099. Edit. Benedict... The The eagle's wings denote its fwiftnefs and rapidity: and the conquefts of Babylon were very rapid, that empire being advanced to the highth within a few years by a fingle perfon, by the conduct and arms of Nebuchadnezzar. It is farther faid, the wings thereof were pluckt, and it was lifted up from the earth, that is, it was taken away from the earth, as it is commonly understood, and as it is tranflated in almost all the (4) ancient versions: or it may be rendered thus, the wings thereof were pluckt wherewith it was lifted up from the earth, as (5) Grotius explains it, and as we read it in the margin of our bibles, the conjunction copulative fometimes fupplying the place of a relative. Its wings were beginning to be pluckt at the time of the delivery of this prophecy; for at this time the Medes and Perfians were incroaching upon it; Belfhazzar the king now reigning was the laft of his race; and in the (6) feventeenth year of his reign Babylon was taken, and the kingdom was transferred to the Medes and Perfians. And it was made ftand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. It is not eafy to fay what is the precife meaning of this paffage; unless it be an allufion to the cafe of Nebuchadnezzar, when in his madness (IV. 6.) a beaft's heart was given unto him, and after he was reftored to his fenfes, a man's heart was given to him again. What appears most probable is, that after the Babylonian empire was fubverted, the people became more humane and gentle; their minds were humbled with their fortune; and they who vaunted as if they had been gods, now felt themselves to be but men. They were brought to fuch a fenfe as the Pfalmift wifheth fuch perfons to have, (Pfal. IX. 20.) Put them in fear, O Lord; that the nations may know themselves to be but men. (4) Et fublata eft, inquit, de terra; fubverfo videlicet impio [imperio] Chaldæorum. Hieron. ibid. xa ngon aжо Tns yns. Sept. Videbam evulfas effe alas ejus, et ab humo fublatam. Syriac. et egreffa eft de terra. Arab. (5) Et fublata eft de terra. Verte: 9 per quas efferebatur fupra terram. Sæpe enim Chaldæis, ut et Hebræis, copula vim habet relativi. Grot. in locum. (6) Jofeph. Antiq. Lib. 10. Cap. 11. Sect. 4. p. 462. Edit. Hudion. Ufher, Prideaux, and other chronologers, IL. The |