"SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME."

From the Englishwoman's Magazine.

YOUTHFUL mother, bending low
O'er the cradle of thy boy;
Is there not one drop of woe
Mingled in thy cup of joy?

Is there not one anxious thought
Struggling in thy bosom now?
And has busy fancy wrought

No dark cloud to shade thy brow?

Need we ask? 'tis thine to know
All a mother's boding fears;
And this tender plant must grow,
Water'd by a mother's tears.

Though the folded flower seem pure,
Yet may evil lurk within,
And the tempters's wiles may lure
This frail blossom into sin.

Dost thou fear lest this sweet one

From the Saviour's fold should stray;

And thy path to heaven be lone,

Should thy child forsake the way?

When that Saviour was a guest
In this sinful world of ours,

Often to his loving breast

Did he fold such human flowers.

Mother! trust the Undefiled;

He will save that bud from blight,
Trust Him-He will lead thy child
Safely to the world of light.

ARIMATHEA.-THE BLIND GIRL.

ARIMATHEA.

THE following account of this place, with the engraving, are from Nelson's New Edition of Henry's Commentary:

"Arimathea is generally identified with the existing town of Ramleh, at present one of the most considerable places in Palestine. It is about eight miles south-east from Joppa, and twenty-four miles northwest from Jerusalem. The surrounding country is very fertile; Ramleh lying in the beautiful plain of Sharon. Olive groves and palm-trees are numerous in the neighbourhood, and gardens abounding in fruits and flowers. Arimathea must have been Joseph's birthplace, not his place of residence, otherwise he was not likely to have had a sepulchre at Jerusalem.

From the title 'counsellor,' applied to Joseph both by Mark and Luke, and the statement of the latter, that this just man had not consented to the counsel and deed of them,' i. e. the Jewish authorities, it appears that he must have been a member of the Sanhedrim.

Of his social condition otherwise, nothing is known, but tradition reports that he first preached the gospel in our country."

THE BLIND GIRL.

DEAR Father, I no more shall see
Thy face, though years have fled
Since, when a child, thy hand was laid
In blessings on my head.

I cannot see thy smile, Mother,

But I hear thy voice so kind;

And God will hear my prayer for thee,
The mother of the blind.

I cannot see the Sister dear,
But I feel thy soft warm kiss;
Thy ringlets play upon my cheeks,
And every thought is bliss.

I cannot see thee, Brother dear,
But the trace of tears I find;
They tell how painful 'tis to see
Thy own loved sister blind.

I cannot see the sweet green fields,
The trees and leafy spray;
These eyes will never more behold
The golden light of day.

But O, I have light within,
Sweeter and brighter far;

It points to heaven and whispers peace,
A radiant guiding star.

And often in my dreams, mother,

I see you all once more,

And my heart throbs quick and wild with joy,
Till the short lived bliss is o'er.

Bright angels seem to come, mother,
And fan me with their wings;

I cannot tell of all the joy

The beauteous vision brings.

I often long to go, mother,

For they tell of sunny skies,
Where seraphs tune their golden harps,
And holy anthems rise.

I shall not then be blind, mother,
But see as I am seen;

And walk with joy the holy courts,
And fields of living green.

Then weep no more for me, mother,
But think of that blest day,

When all in heaven shall meet at last,
And tears be wiped away.

AN AMERICAN NEGRO SLAVE.

CHARLES BALL, an American negro slave, published an account of his life at New York in 1832. From this strange narrative we give a few extracts that our young readers may know something of that horrid sin called slavery, as it still exists in America. Let us be thankful that Englishmen have now washed their hands of this foul stain. QUEEN VICTORIA has not one slave in all her vast dominions. May the time soon come when the same may be said of the PRESIDENT of the United States of America!

"I am the son of a negro, and was born in Maryland in the year 1781. My grandfather, father, and mother were slaves, and I was born in the same hopeless condition. While still a child of four years old, I was separated from the other members of my family, and sold to a planter in a distant part of the country. Being the youngest child of my mother,