BOYS OF THE BIBLE. 201

the King, and said, ‘Blessed be the Lord thy God, which
hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hand against
my lord the King.’

“And the Kane said, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe?’
And Ahimaaz answered, ‘When Joab sent the King’s servant,
and me Le servant, I saw a great tumult, but I sn not
what it was.’

“And the King said unto him, ‘Turn aside, and stand
here.’ And he turned aside, and stood still. And behold,
Cushi came; and Cushi said, ‘Tidings, my lord the King:
for the lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose
up against thee.’

“And the King said unto Cushi, ‘Is the young man
Absalom safe?’ And Cushi answered, ‘The enemies of my
lord the King, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt,
be as that young man is.’

“And the King was much moved, and went up to his
chamber over the gate and wept; and as he went thus he
said:

“*Q my son, Absalom!
My son, my son, Absalom!
Would God I had died for thee,
O Absalom, my son, my son!”

Whenever this pathetic scene presents itself to your
thought, think of those other words of David recorded in the
book of Psalms:

‘‘Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth
them that fear him.”

The happiest effort of our honored poet N. P. Willis, in
portraying Scripture scenes, is his poem on David's “Lament
for Absalom.” Mr. Willis has used a poet’s freedom in
imagining that the dead body of Absalom was brought to
Mahanaim, or to Jerusalem to lie in state. Of this there is no