From this circumstance he was brought to acknowledge a Supreme Being, and even issued a decree that any one who spoke amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego should be cut in pieces.  But as he was gazing upon the massy walls of Babylon—­a work of gigantic achievement; as he was surveying, from the height of his palace, the hanging gardens and lofty towers, (an aerial world!) as he was admiring his own magnificence, by the sentence of that God whom he had glorified, he was driven from men, and in the Hebrew style of expression, is said to have eaten grass like oxen.  By this we are to understand that he was suddenly seized with a disease called by the Greeks lycanthropy, and which is known among physicians at the present day by the name of hypochondria.  It is a species of madness that causes persons to run into the fields and streets in the night, and sometimes to suppose themselves to have the heads of oxen, horses, dogs, or fancy themselves to be like some other animal, and doomed to fare like them.  And some have imagined themselves to be made of glass.  At the end of seven years Nebuchadnezzar’s understanding returned to him, and he was restored to his throne and glory.  He died 562 years before Christ in the 43rd year of his reign.

It is our intention to consider this text in a moral point of view, as applicable to all men of all ages, and in all conditions in life.  While pursuing the various occupations to which our inclination, or fancy may lead, we are too apt to lose sight of that Being who holds our destinies in his hand; and more particularly so in seasons of prosperity, when blest with health and other sublunary enjoyments.  Strange as it may seem, yet it is substantially true, that in proportion as man is successful in the accomplishment of his plans, he becomes arrogant and haughty in his feelings, and instead of acknowledging his dependence on God, and feeling the bursts of gratitude for the favors and enjoyments heaven scatters in his path, he loses sight of the benign hand that blesses him, and, like the proud Assyrian monarch, ascribes all his prosperity to his own plans, and to the effect of his own peculiar management.  He surveys the lands he has purchased, the beautiful buildings he has erected, the wealth he has accumulated, and in view of these achievements of his hand, as he is floating on the full tide of prosperity, he is ready to breathe out in exultation,—­“is not this great Babylon which I have built for the house of my kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty.”

When success becomes common, man forgets his dependence on Him who rules in the armies of heaven, and over the affairs of men.  It is our duty as intelligent creatures to exercise our reason in viewing things as they really are.  He, who will not do this, but goes through life thoughtless, so far resigns the man, and assumes the brute.  Even some, who bear the christian name, proclaim against reason, call