of self-indulgence seems so
obviously the path to happiness; self-denial is so hard and
self-control so difficult. "The struggle of the instinct that enjoys
and the more noble instinct that aspires" is ever there. The young
soul reaches out after good, but its grasp is weak. It needs much
enlightenment, much encouragement, much inspiration, much patient
tolerance of its faults, much hopeful sympathy with its strivings, if
it is ever to attain the good it seeks. In the past it has met,
without light or aid, unwarned and unprepared, the deadliest foe which
can assail the soul. An appetite which has in all ages debased the
weak, wrestled fiercely with the strong, and vanquished at times even
the noble, is let loose upon an unwarned, unarmed, defenceless child.
Oh, the utter, the utter folly of it!

For life after death the writer has no longing. Immortality, if
vouchsafed, appears to him to be a gift to be accepted trustfully and
humbly, not to be yearned after with a sort of transcendental egoism.
But to him the wish to--

"Join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence"

grows ever stronger as the inevitable end draws nearer.

To save young lives from the needless struggles and failures of my
own, to secure healthy motherhood or maiden life to some whom lust
might otherwise destroy, to add, for some at least, new sanctity to
human passion--these have been my hopes in penning the foregoing
pages. It has been my privilege and joy, in my own quiet sphere, to
preserve boys from corruption and to restore the impure to cleanness
of heart. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity these pages afford
of extending this delightful work. When the hand which writes these
lines has long been cold in death, may the message which it speeds
this day breathe peace and strength into many an eager heart.

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS.

TO BOYS.

I warmly invite any boy who has read these pages to write to me if he
feels inclined to do so. Since this book was first published I have
received hundreds of letters from boys who have, without any definite
invitation, understood that it would please me much to hear from them.
Many boys feel all the better for frankly confessing their
difficulties to a man who fully understands and sympathises with them.
Some desire advice about their own case. Anyone who accepts this
invitation will do wisely to give me a f