en he wrote home, he asked his
mother what she thought, for although he was now a young man of
twenty-two, he was still the old Jack that thought father and mother
knew better than anybody else.

His mother wrote back that she thought Thomas a Kempis _was_ mistaken,
for so many texts in the Bible show us that God intends us to be happy
and full of joy. "And," she said, "if you want to know what pleasures
are right and wrong, ask yourself: 'Will it make me love God more, and
will it help me to be more like my great example, Jesus Christ?'"

Jack's father wrote: "I don't altogether agree with Thomas a Kempis; but
the world is like a siren, and we must beware of her. If the young man
would rejoice in his youth, let him take care that his pleasures are
innocent; and in order to do this, remember, my son, that for all these
things God will bring us into judgment."

Some of my readers will hardly understand what Mr. Wesley meant when he
said the world is "like a siren." Most of you have read fairy tales;
well, a kind of Greek fairy story tells of some beautiful maidens,
called sirens, who used to sit on some dangerous rocks, and play
sweetest music. When sailors saw them and heard their singing, they were
drawn by magic nearer and nearer to where they were, until at last their
boats struck on the rocks, and the poor deluded sailors were dragged by
the sirens to the bottom of the sea and were drowned.

Now, do you see why the world is like a siren? Its pleasures all look so
beautiful that we are tempted to draw nearer and nearer, until at last
we are lost to all that is holy and good.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VI.

Jack a minister.--A letter from father.--Jack's
first sermon.--"Mr. John."--Back at
college.--Temptations and persecutions.--"For
Jesus' sake."--Mr. John's long hair.--Clever, but
not proud.--Young soldiers for Christ.

WE all love to get letters, do we not? though some of us are not so fond
of writing them. It was in the year 1725, when Jack was twenty-two years
old, that he became a minister; and just about this time he had a
beautiful letter from his father. In it Mr. Wesley said:--

"God fit you for your great work. Watch and pray;
believe, love, endure, and be happy, towards which
you shall never want the most ardent prayers of

"Your affectionate father,