Hardly any class of men are so difficult to be reached as students, and the undertaking is hazardous; but no class of men are so open to conviction, so alive to manly principle, so susceptible of good impressions, when the effort to aid them is judicious and worthy of their attention. Whether the present attempt is a happy one, the author is not presumptuous enough to say. The highest wish of his heart would be to have its reception and success commensurate with his esteem and love for those for whose welfare he feels the strongest interest, and for whose benefit he has written.<br><br>Scarcely any hour can be more anxious to the parent than that in which he takes leave of his child, after having carried him away from home to some public Institution for the purpose of study. He knows the temptations which will beset his child, without knowing any way by which to shield him. I have tried to make this book such a friend as he will wish to leave with his son, to aid him in forming his character.