He spoke in this
vein:
"All hail, brave Babylonians! Welcome! Thrice welcome to the presence of
your king! Before me on this night I behold the pride and glory of
Babylon. Here are my nobles who have at all times distinguished
themselves by their valor and great bravery. Let us banish gloom, and let
our hearts overflow with mirth! We may well congratulate ourselves on the
perfect safety of Babylon. Our walls are impregnable and our possessions
are abundant. We laugh to scorn the silly movements of the Persians that
parade before the city. Dark predictions there are, I know, in regard to
the future of Chaldea, but these Hebrew delusions have well-nigh
vanished. I am sorry to confess that my royal grandsire gave too much
countenance to these groundless delusions, in the preferment of the
Hebrew Belteshazzar with his three companions to high offices within the
province of Babylon. This, my lords, was a great mistake of the past, for
which we have already too dearly paid. Since I came to the throne, this
intermeddling of foreigners with the affairs of the nation has received
no countenance; and happy am I to know that to-day all offices under the
government are entrusted to none but native Chaldeans.
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