The Work, under its new title, "THE SHEEPFOLD AND THE COMMON," has undergone a very careful revision; many portions of the original have been re-written, and others omitted to make room for new matter of more interest and importance at the present time. While carrying out the main object of the Work, as already adverted to--namely, to present the grand doctrines of the Christian faith in a pleasing and attractive manner--the Author has also endeavoured to elucidate various topics important to the church at large and to the well-being of society in general; and though he has not plunged into the mazes of controversy, with the obscure and often unintelligible advocates of the theological heresies of the age, yet many of the more prominent of these have been subjected to a severe and, he trusts, an impartial examination. If the re-issue of this Work should prove as successful in conveying spiritual life to the spiritually dead--in relieving the anxious inquirer from his misgivings and perplexities--and in administering the consolations of faith and hope to the devout believer, while passing through the varied seasons of his eventful history, as it proved in its less perfect and less attractive form--then, whether living or dying, the Author will indulge the hope of meeting many, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be to him a crown of rejoicing for ever. [Illustration: decoration] CONTENTS. VOL I. _Page_ The Lonely Widow, 1 The Widow's Son, 11 The Widow's Son Reclaimed, 21 Fairmount, 32 A Morning's Ramble, 43 The Horningsham Sailor, 53 The Rector of Broadhurst, 65 A Visit to the Rectory, 76 Saturday Evening at Fairmount, 92 A Sabbath Morning at Fairmount, 107 Sabbath Evening at Fairmount, 121 The Bible Disdained, 132 The Bible Precious, 149 The Family of the Roscoes, 154 The Social Party, 164 Miss Roscoe, 174 A Village Funeral, 186 Miss Roscoe withdraws from Gay Life, 197 Fresh Perplexities, 209 The Religious Party, 217 Miss Roscoe, 226 The Family of the Lawsons, 235 Calm Discussion, 246 Self-Delusion, 257 A Night Calamity, 266 A Surprise, 276 The Consultation, 287 The Dark Vale Illumined, 297 Intemperate Zeal, 307 Baptismal Regeneration a Fiction, 317