At the conclusion of this, which seemed to the multitude an
incomprehensible speech, there were but few present who did not inwardly
pronounce the king to be laboring under a sudden fit of insanity.

[image 6]

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 multitude, in a loud voice exclaims:

"Blessed be the God 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 god except their
own God. Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and
language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces; because there is no other
god 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 assembly was now disbanded and broken up by royal authority. The
masses began to move homeward with deep astonishment. The golden image