love; of the gentle hands that had in other days smoothed his bed and made his bread; yet his heart bloomed with thoughts of the love of Jesus Christ and His sweet promises.  His religion had cost much, but he never regretted the bargain by which he had lost the world and gained his soul.  At length a shepherd found him, and kindly ministered to his wants.  This good boy lived to be an old man, whose grey hair was a crown of glory.

The young people often manifested presence of mind equal to those of riper years.  Bessie Willison was one of those brilliant characters.  Once she heard of a Field-meeting to be held under trying circumstances and resolved to attend it.  It was winter; the ground was covered with snow; the place was distant and difficult to reach; the weather was rough; the journey was perilous; dragoons might be met at any turn of the road.  What girl would brave such hardships for a day’s preaching?  Bessie arrayed herself in her winter wraps, and started early in the morning.  She was willing to endure hardness for the Lord’s sake.  She could face the driven snow, or sit on an icy stone, or laugh at the blasts that reddened her cheeks, in order to hear the Word preached by a true servant of God.  She walked alone; yet not alone, for her heart burned within her while the Lord talked with her by the way.  As the road led around a hill, she suddenly came upon a troop of dragoons.  They drew up their horses, soldier-like, and spoke rudely to her; she replied with much dignity.  They persisted in their vile language, taunting her and railing on the Covenanters.  But even with their horses, guns, swords, and rough speeches, they were unable to daunt the lonely girl.  Conscious of purity, and flaming with indignation, her eyes flashing into their faces, she administered a reproof that cut like a lancet.  They shrank and made room for her to pass on without further molestation.  What inspiration would come to the Field-meeting from the presence of a Covenanter like that!  The Lord was with her, and therefore she brought joy and strength to others.

The little children, too, had their difficult places in Scotland’s hard fight for liberty.  The persecution still increased in violence.  At length when for any reason a town had fallen under the king’s displeasure, all the inhabitants were subject to punishment.  On one occasion, the people had been warned of the coming of dragoons.  The parents, not being able to take their children with them, and hoping the “bairns” would find pity, left them and fled to a hiding-place.  The children were sharply interrogated by the soldiers concerning their parents, but gave no satisfaction.  They were then led to a field and placed in front of the soldiers.  This greatly terrified them, but they would reveal nothing.  The officer commanded his men to take aim.  Up went the guns; the sight was dreadful for children; yet they would give no information.  “Lead us to the hiding-place, or you will be shot,” cried the officer.  There were sobs, tears, and trembling, but no response.