The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1892-03-18

lei, iv., %: "All this came upon the
King, Nebuchudnezzar"
Col Rawlinson, the Oriental traveller,
SAYS that he exhumed bricks, not only
OF Babylon but of 100 towns in an area
OF 100 miles in length and so in breadth,
that were inscribed with the
name of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. lie was
great warrior and at the
glance of his sword nations
Frustrated themselves He was great
king and built city reservoir 80 miles
in circumference and i20 feet deep, and
constructed hanging garden 400 feet
square and - feet high, some say to
please Amuhia, his wife, who had been
born among the hills, and others say to
get a pleasure ground free from the
mosquitoes, which afflict the levels. l
think, from his character, the latter
reason may have impelled him as much
as the former. When he conquered King
Zedekiah so as to have no more trouble
with him, he put his eyes out-a most
barbarous way of incapacitating an
enemy. But Babylon was great place,
the houses surrounded by gardens and
the housetops were connected with
each other by bridges, and one day
Nebuchadnezzar walked out on those
suspension bridges and showed, per-
haps to n royal visitor, the vastness of
his realm as the sun kindles the domes
with glistenings almost insufferable,
and the great streets thunder up their
pomp into the ear of the monarch, and
armed towers stand around adorned
with spoils of conquered empires. Ne
buchadnezzar waves his hand above the
stupendous scene and eXclaims: us not
this great Babylon that l have built
for the house of the kingdom by the
might of my power and for the honor
of my maiestv?" In other words:
"What great man am abylon was
not anything until l adorned it, See
those water works; see those gardens;
sec those forts. / did all this. | shall
never be forgotten. Why, my name is
on every brick in all those walls Just
look at me. ! am more than man."
But, in an instant, all that splendor is
gone from his vision, for a voice falls
from the heavens, saying: 20, King
Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken;
the kingdom is departed from
thee, and they shall drive thee
from men, and thy dwelling shall be
with the beasts of the field; they shall
make thee to eat grass as oxen, and
seven times shall pass over thee, until
thou know that the Most High ruleth
in the kingdom of men and giveth it to
whomsoever He will" One hour from
the time he made the boast he is on his
way to the fields a maniac, and, rush
ing into the forests, he becomes as one
of the beasts, and is after a while COW
cred with eagles feathers for protec-
tion from the cold, and his nails grow
TO look like birds claws in order that
he may dig the earth for roots and
climb the trees for nuts.
The mental disaster that seized him
was what the Greeks called lycan-
thropy, by which a man imagines him
self beast and prefers to 60 out and
mingle with brutes. He who had been
eating pomegranates and apricots off
plates of gold inlaid with amethyst
and diamond and drinking the richest
wines from the royal watts, now brows-
ing on grass and struck by the horn of
the OK as he contends for a better tuft
of the pasturage, and instead of an or
chestra on benches of ivory playing
the national airs, now listening to the
moan and below and grunt of the
beasts This is not hard for me to believe
for the forms of dementia are innumer-
able. A few years ago. arriving In a
city on n summer afternoon, while
waiting for my engagement in the
evening, ! sauntered forth into what
20 10 IN II in n "a large
public building, the use of which ! knew
not. ! met a gentleman, with whom l
fell into delightful conversation, and he
seemed intelligent on all subjects,
After awhile l said: Let us sit down
on this bench and rest awhile and enjoy
the scene of verdure and fountains"
NO" said he, you sit down but can
not. l am made of glass, and II
should sit down / would break to
pieces" Then saw that he was insane
and belonged to the large building just
behind us. After such an interview as
that can easily believe this account of
my text. Here Is Nebuchadnezzar on
all fours. He once prided himself OF
being more than man, and now he
turns out less than n man. The cour-
tiers look out of the windows upon him
as he moved upon the royal herds and
cry: "A BEAST Seven years pass
when suddenly his reason re-
turns, and he comes back to
Babylon "A humble worshiper OF the
God of Heaven. What must have been
the excitement in the royal court as
this restored maniac emperor walks
into the palace. What time they had
in cutting his nails and his hair, which