The Washington herald., 1911-09-09

The power Of personality Is indicated
in the steady retention Of Daniels He
brew name. When the four young He
brews carried away captive to Babylon
were brought into the kings household
they were given Chaldean names. The
prince of the eunuchs gave Daniel the
name Belteshazzar; Hananiah he called
Shadrach; Mishael he called Meshach,
and Azariah he called Abednego. The
three latter names were accepted and
adopted by the three young men who
were afterward cast into the fiery fur
nace-to-day we know them only by the
names Of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-
nego
But Daniels force of character was
such that the Chaldean name Belteshaz-
zar, given to him, was overborne by his
own Hebrew name. He was Daniel,
which means Gods Judge" in his youth.
He was Daniel in the day Of his matur-
ity, the designation of the heather
court to the contrary notwithstanding.
He is Daniel to this hour. There are
natures so robust that they show them
selves immune to all manner Of disfigur-
ing influences which an untoward envir-
onment might fasten upon them.
1t was natural that this young man
of sturdy build should furnish the name
Cor the book where these narratives to
be studied for several weeks are found.
He would easily serve as a suitable fig
ure around which to group these stirring
accounts of moral heroism in the teeth
Of the most terrifying opposition. How
ever modern scholars may differ in their
estimates of the actual historicity OF all
the details, the stories themselves
breathe an atmosphere of devotion to
principle which each succeeding genera
ton OF aspiring men called to fight
against heavy odds has found inspiring
The man who could not be robbed either
ter may well stand at the center Of the
group.
The ceremonial requirements Of the
Hebrew ritual were rooted for the most
part in either moral or hygienic con-
siderations. The directions as to puri-
fication, the distinction between clean
and unclean meats. the minute regula-
tions to be observed in cases of loath-
some or contagious disease, had a solid
foundation in physical fact. God the
Father Almighty is maker Of heaven
and Of earth. He presides intelligently
and beneflciently over our spiritual and
our bodily interests alike. The reliable
vigor and the tough persistence of the
Jewish race though for centuries they
have been men without a country, bears
eloquent testimony to the essential value
OF that ancient and detailed regime
which for thirty centuries has gripped
their habits with the authority of Sinai
When Daniel proposed in his heart
that he would not defile himself with the
portion of the kings meat nor with the
wine which he drank" the primary
ground OF his refusal was ceremonial
He would not eat food which had not
been prepared according to the Jewish
ritual. and thus render himself unfit to
participate in the worship Of his national
church. But his conscientious abstinence
bore other than ceremonial fruit. At
the end Of the time appointed for test
ing his mode OF life, as opposed to that
suggested by the prince. he was found,
at our English cousins say, 1T in
terms Of physical efficiency. He was
'falrer and fatter" than those who did
cat of the kings meat. His steady ex-
ercise Of the spirit Of self-control and his
fidelity to the requirements Of his reli-
gion made answer in sound health as
we'll as in the voice OF an approving
conscience.
The law OF purity for the sexes de-
rives validity from the fact that II brings
the sense Of inner peace and worth. 1t
further shows itself imperative in main
tanning the honor and happiness OF our
fundamental institution, the home. And
1t is also securely grounded in the whole
physical framework OF life. The pepal-
ties and judgment entailed by dLsobe-
dience to this law are the most terrible
known to medical science.
Almighty God writes a very plain
hand" one man said to another as they
stood viewing some pathological speci-
mems in the museum of medical school
Almighty God certainly doesI He has
written out his view of irregular and un-
holy relations between the sexes in the
constitution of things as they are, and
the writing is in characters which even