CHAPTER VI. 

 THE STATUE AND THE STONE. 



" Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, 

 which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, 

 and brake them to pieces." DANIEL ii. 34. 



IN primitive times dreams were often used as the 

 mediums of Divine intimations. " In slumberings 

 upon the bed," says Elihu, " God openeth the ears of 

 men, and sealeth their instruction:" Prophets and 

 others were thus brought into immediate contact with 

 things lying beyond the reach of human discernment, 

 and coming events of weal or woe cast their shadows 

 before. The boundary of reason and consciousness, 

 which hems in men's minds like the glass chimney of a 

 lamp during the waking hours, was removed during 

 sleep, in order that the flame of knowledge might be 

 increased and flicker out farther into the darkness. So 

 was it with Nebuchadnezzar. He saw in a vivid vision 

 of the night, based upon representations of outward 

 things familiar to him in his waking moments, a huge 



Colossus towering up to heaven, and covering with its 



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