The Gavelyte, February 1909

l'EDAltVILLE COLLE<;E. . But how soon he utters your doom! How soon you are to be horn of your glory, to be deprived of your elegant attire of royalty and be transformed into a hideous creature, that will eat the grass of the fields and be bathed with the dew of the heavens . The scene ehanges. Belshazzar is giving a great feast to his lords. In the midst of the <lrunken revelry appPar the fingers of a hand writing the signi– ficant inscription: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." Once more Daniel is brought in only to read the doom of the king and his opulent kingdom. Years before. .Jeremiah was ridic-uled, when he prophesied that in later years Babylon would be obliterated and be– come the habitation of wild beasts and dragons. But the prophecy came true A few score years ago our pilgrim fathers founded this country in order to obtain religious freedom, but as civilization sp read over the vast stretches of unclaimed land , man's spirit of conquest over– c,1me the pristine idea of simplicity, morality and peace until to-day we have scattered thronghout the United States, many great cities . uch as Boston, ew York and Chicago, any of whi ch would probably surpass in magnificence the famed capitai of the Chaldeans. They are richer, grander and more gorgeous in every particular. But in our eomparison of ancient Chaldea and modern America, there arises the question: Are we following in the footsteps of the Chaldean.? What are we doing t o perpetuate our nation? Harri– man, R1Jckefeller or any_ of the owners of Wall-street Modern Nebuchadnezzar, what are you doing to make yours an enduring nation'? Will the next generation bring forth the Belshazzars who will )earl our nation into a d1 unken revelry from which it will never reeover? Or do the Old Testament prophecies apply to us? <'enturies ago C'ice ro declared: ''A C'ommonwealth ought to be immortal and forever renew it youth " Rome was then the. full blown rose of ancient C'i vi lization She was the owner of nearly the wholP of thP ]•;astern world, her soldiers trained to the strietest 1li1,('iplirw werP warring vi('toriously in 1nany lands. Hut Cicero was not to Ii!:' <lec,,ived by thP ou1 ward show of strc-'ngth. He cou ld see only th<' il<'<-'Jl lin1•s of tlw ravag<>:-; of demoralization and of ('Ol'– ruption In vain ( 'i<·Pro plt:>a<l<•d for n,form. ~in-_gorgPcl Romp carrd 24