nk not," answered John, calmly, with that sweet smile and gentle
voice which gained him so many hearts; "I have much to learn and much to
do before I shall be fitted for the office of a missionary. It is not a
task to be undertaken lightly and without consideration. When a man
charges among a host of foes, he must be armed at all points. A
missionary, too, should be like a light shining amid the surrounding
darkness; he should be able to show the heathen how to improve their
moral and physical, as well as their spiritual condition. He should be
fairly versed in the most useful mechanical arts, and possess especially
some knowledge of medicine and surgical skill."

"Well, it will take you a good many years before you can do all that,
and perhaps you will change your mind before the time comes," said one
of the younger ones, who did not, as indeed they could not be expected
to do, enter into John's thoughts and feelings on the subject.

I may say from that very moment John devoted all the energies of his
mind and body to preparing himself for the high and holy calling he had
undertaken. Long, I know, that night he knelt in prayer for grace, and
wisdom, and strength to direct, fit, and support him for the work.
Besides giving much time to his studies at the theological college, he
gained a considerable knowledge of medicine and surgery, and was to be
seen now with saw and plane labouring with a carpenter,--at the
blacksmith's anvil, with hammer in hand, forming a bolt, or hinge, or
axe,--and now at the gardener's, with hoe or spade, planting or digging,
or pruning. Many wondered how his mind could take in so many new
things, or his slight frame undergo so much labour. Few could
comprehend the spirit which sustained him. He grew indeed stronger and
more robust than any one would have supposed he would become.

I had since my childhood wished to go to sea, and my father allowed me
to follow the bent of my inclinations. I now and then thought that I
ought to go forth as a missionary also; but when I compared myself with
John, and considered his great superiority to me, I gave up the idea,
which I had mentioned to no one, as preposterous. My first two voyages
were to India and China, and when I came back from the second John was
still at college. I remember thinking that he was losing a great deal
of time in preparation. He, however, said that he was gaining time. "A
blunt tool can never properly perform the work