ABSALOM'S TOMB.

THE above remarkable monument which bears this name makes a conspicuous figure in the valley of Jehoshaphat, outside Jerusalem, and has been noticed and described by almost all travellers. It is close by the lower bridge over the river Kedron, and is a square block of stone, hewn out from the

rocky ledge, which our young friends will observe near the monument. The body of this structure is about twenty-four feet square, and is ornamented on each side with two columns and two half columns of the Ionic order, with pilasters at the corners. The elevation is about eighteen or twenty feet to the top of the architrave, the foundation, or that on which the head or capital of the column rests. It consists, first, of two square layers, of which the upper one is smaller than the lower; and then a small dome or cupola runs up into a low spire, which appears to have spread out a little at the top, like an opening flame. The mason-work is nearly twenty feet in height, giving to the whole an elevation of about forty feet.

Old travellers who have referred to this tomb, as well as Calmet, are satisfied that they find the history of it in 2 Sam. xviii. 18, to which we hope our juvenile readers will refer. It is there stated that Absalom, having no son, built a monument to keep his name in remembrance, and that this monument was called "Absalom's Hand," for so the word which is rendered "place" literally means, implying an index or a memorial. The first mention of the existence of a tomb of Absalom is by Benjamin of Tudela, a very great traveller; and from that time to the present, the accounts of tourists respecting this relic of ancient days have been very varied and inconsistent. The remarks of professed architects on things requiring a real knowledge of the Scriptures, and of the ancient Hebrews, are generally so unsound and trivial, that

little can be expected from them in such matters. Yet with the clear information on some points which we now possess, it is surprising to hear so learned an architect as Professor Cockerell, speak of this alleged tomb of Absalom as a most precious monument of antiquity, and insist on its undoubted identity, and its "perfect correspondence with holy writ."-Kitto.

MISSIONARY PIGEONS AND PIG.

THE children belonging to a Maternal Association at —, have a Missionary station of their own in Jamaica; a school taught by a Christian man and his wife, who were formerly slaves. The whole expense of the school is borne by these children. They paid in £30, as their annual subscriptions in January. Some have exercised self-denial, that they might have money to give. One boy last year, of his own accord, went and sold a pair of beautiful pigeons of which he was very fond, and he told his mother that he never felt such a glad heart as when he was giving the money for the children's Mission. He said, "You know, mother, they were the only thing I had of my own to give." She replied, "Yes, my dear boy, they were entirely your own; so you had a right to do as you pleased with them."

This year the same boy asked his parents if they would allow him to feed a pig, to be sold for the Mission-school in Jamaica. They gave him leave, and he has for some months past taken

great pains to collect food for the pig. At the monthly meeting of the Maternal Association, he sent a request by his mother that the ladies would buy the pig, which they instantly agreed to do. His father advanced him £1. 10s. upon the pig, that he might pay his money at the same time with the other children; but he hoped when the pig was sold to get rather more than this.-Missionary Newspaper.

POETRY.

A CHILD'S EVENING THOUGHTS.

ALL the little flowers I see

Their tiny eyes are closing;

The birds are roosting on the tree,
The lambkins are reposing :

The sun, where that dull streak of red
Is faintly glimmering still,
They say, has gone to seek his bed

Behind the purple hill.

And I, through all the quiet night,

Must sleep the hours away,

That I may waken, fresh and bright,

To live another day.

And well I know whose lips will smile,
And pray for me, and bless me;
And who will talk to me, the while
Her gentle hands undress me.

She'll tell me there is One above,
Upon a glorious throne,

Who loves me with a tender love,
More tender than her own.

He made the sun, and stars, and skies;
The pretty shrubs and flowers;
And all the birds and butterflies
That flutter through the bowers.

He keeps them underneath his wings,
And there they safely rest;

Yet, though they're bright and lovely things, He loves us far the best.

For when the birds and flowers are dead,

Their little life is past;

But though we die, yet He has said,

Our life shall always last.

And we shall live with him in heaven;

For He has sent his Son

To die, that we may be forgiven
The sins that we have done.

He'll make my heart grow like his own,

All loving, good, and mild;

For He will send his Spirit down,

And take me for his child.

Then happily I'll lie and sleep

Within my little nest;

For well I know that He will keep

His children while they rest.

M. B.