ord, every thought and imagination is
brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and his whole being
longs to praise Him who has called him "out of darkness into light"--to
praise Him "not only with his lips, but in his life." Then commences the
struggle between light and darkness, between the flesh and the spirit,
between the old and new man; and the results of this conflict are seen
in the outward conduct of the Christian soldier.

The character of the child of God does not essentially alter, but a
new impulse is given him. Whatever good quality was in his natural
state conspicuous in him, will, in a state of grace and newness of
life, shine forth with double lustre; and he will find his besetting
sin his greatest hindrance in pressing forward to the attainment of
personal holiness. The great wide difference is, that he _desires_ to
be holy, and the Lord, who gives him this desire, gives him also the
strength to overcome his natural mind; and the more closely he waits
on his heavenly Father for His promised aid, the more holily and
consistently he will walk; and when, through the deceits of his heart,
the allurements of the world, or the temptations of Satan, he relaxes
his vigilance, and draws less largely from the fountain of his strength,
a sad falling away is the inevitable consequence. This warfare, this
danger of backsliding, ends only with the life, when, and when _only_,
he will be perfect, for he shall be like his Saviour.

As a writer for the young, I dare not plead even the humble pretensions
of my little volume in deprecation of the criticism which ought to be the
lot of every work professing to instruct others. In choosing the arena
of a boy's school for the scene of my hero's actions, I have necessarily
been compelled to introduce many incidents and phrases to which, perhaps,
some very scrupulous critics might object as out of place in a religious
work; but my readers will do well to recollect, that to be useful, a
story must be attractive, and to be attractive, it must be natural; and
I trust that they who candidly examine mine will find nothing therein
that can produce a wrong impression. It has not been without an anxious
sense of the great responsibility dependent on me in my present capacity,
that this little effort has been made. Should it be the instrument of
strengthening in one young one the best lessons he has received, it will,
indeed, not have been in vain. To the service of Him who i