be to
you a Husband, and to this child a Father." Not long after this, the
home was beset by a company of soldiers. That very night his wife had
constrained him to retire to his hiding-place near by. The soldiers
rudely rushed into the house, expecting to pounce upon him as their
prey. Not finding him they were enraged. Seizing the infant, they held
the struggling form up in the face of the frantic mother, and, flashing
a glittering sword, threatened to cut it into pieces, if she did not
reveal the hiding-place of her husband. At that moment the father, who
had been attracted to the door, seeing the manoeuvres, rushed in. His
soul was on fire; he was just then strong as ten men; he feared not
consequences. "Hold, ye murderers! Back! back!" cried he, waving his
sword in their faces. He sprang toward his babe and rescued it, while he
used his sword with telling effect upon the intruders. The soldiers
retreated, leaving the floor sprinkled with their blood. The family soon
afterward removed to Holland.

A Home near Closeburn. James Nivison was a farmer whose hospitable home
afforded comfort and shelter to many who were houseless. He was an
unbending Covenanter. Nothing could daunt his noble soul. Being
threatened with trouble and loss, he once replied, that if the turning
of a straw, in obedience to unprincipled and arbitrary rulers, would
save him from harm, he would not comply. His wife was of equal heroism.
His home was so often beset by soldiers in search of him, that he had to
retire to the solitudes. He one day said to his wife, "My dear wife,
stern necessity demands our temporary separation. God will be with us
both--you at the home, and me in the wilderness." "I will accompany
you," she firmly replied; "I will accompany you. If the archers hit
you, I will be there to staunch your wounds and to bind up your bleeding
head. In whatever danger you may be, I will be at your side, your
affectionate wife, in life or in death." They went out together. Sadly
they closed the door of their pleasant home, to wander, not knowing
where. The mother carried a tender little babe in her bosom. Their first
retreat was found in the woods, then in different caves. They made a
basket of twigs for the infant. The mother, sitting in the mouth of the
cold cavern, would rock her little darling, and sing the soft lullabies
that mingled with the sighing of the winds. They survived the
persecution.

Sweet home! The Covenanted home is but an