lainly declaring to him, "That he should be driven from the company of
men for seven years, should be reduced to the condition and fellowship of
the beasts of the field, and feed upon grass like an ox; that his kingdom
nevertheless should be preserved for him, and he should repossess his
throne, when he should have learnt to know and acknowledge, that all power
is from above, and cometh from Heaven. After this he exhorted him to break
off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the
poor."

All these things came to pass upon Nabuchodonosor, as the prophet had
foretold. At the end of twelve months, as he was walking in his palace,
and admiring the beauty and magnificence of his buildings, he said: "Is
not this great Babylon, which I have built for the house of the kingdom,
by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" Would a
secret impulse of complacency and vanity in a prince, at the sight of such
noble structures erected by himself, appear to us so very criminal? And
yet, hardly were the words out of his mouth, when a voice came down from
Heaven, and pronounced his sentence: "In the same hour his understanding
went from him; he was driven from men, and did eat grass like oxen, and
his body was wet with the dew of Heaven, till his hairs were grown like
eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws."

After the expiration of the appointed time, he recovered his senses, and
the use of his understanding: "He lifted up his eyes unto Heaven (says the
Scripture) and blessed the Most High; he praised and honoured him that
liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his
kingdom is from generation to generation:" Confessing, "That all the
inhabitants of the earth are as nothing before him, and that he doeth
according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of
the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?"
Now he recovered his former countenance and form. His courtiers went out
to seek him; he was restored to his throne, and became greater and more
powerful than ever. Penetrated with the heartiest gratitude, he caused, by
a solemn edict, to be published through the whole extent of his dominions,
what astonishing and miraculous things God had wrought in his person.

One year after this he died, having reigned forty-three years, reckoning
from the death of his father. He was one of the greatest monarchs that
ever reign