iron; and I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of
secret places; that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by
thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel
mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee,
though thou hast not known me" (Isa. 45: 1-4).



CHAPTER XXII.

THE army of Cyrus had already reached the capital of Chaldea. The vast
plain before the city swarmed with moving thousands of Medes and
Persians. At this time no warriors were finer in appearance than the
battlemen of the Persian prince. Their discipline had reached to an
almost inconceivable degree of perfection. The wishes and desires of
their great commander had become their law; and each one vied with the
other in rendering obedience to his orders. Their fame had spread
throughout lower Asia, and through many parts of Assyria.

But the Babylonians thought themselves so well prepared for this
emergency that the numerous legions of Cyrus failed to alarm them. Their
walls they considered proof against any attack, and they had a sufficient
amount of provision in the city for twenty years. They laughed to scorn
the demand of the Persians, and loudly ridiculed them from the city
walls. Belshazzar and his counselors, considering themselves secure, gave
way to their depraved appetites. The palace was one scene of debauchery
and revelry by day and by night.

The Persian general soon saw that an assault on such formidable defenses
would be useless. A project was conceived in his mind. He made the