to our evil doings, but spare us, good Lord-spare this people, and leave us not to continue in sin and carelessness. Thou hast given us many means of grace, for which we desire to thank Thee; and Thou dost now afford a special opportunity for the people of this parish to turn to Thee, and declare that they are Thy people. We pray Thee to send the Holy Spirit at this season. Give wisdom to the minister whom Thou hast placed amongst us, that he may know how to instruct the young and ignorant; and do Thou draw them to Thee. Give grace to all who have not yet been confirmed; and, by Thy Holy Spirit, make them serious, sincere, and firm in the profession of religion; and so bless them, and us, that we may all henceforth live in this world as Christians ought to live, and in the world to come, may live with Christ for ever. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. OUR FATHER, &c. THE grace of our Lord, &c. XIX. A WORD FROM THE PASTOR TO HIS FLOCK. The present truth. 2 Pet. i. 12. 30 Aug. 1835. THERE are many persons in the parish, not confirmed, who have not yet come forward to express any desire upon the subject: these must be informed of the situation in which they will stand, if they continue to refuse or neglect to avail themselves of the opportunity now afforded them; and for this purpose, two more tracts will be printed upon the subject. The persons who have already expressed a desire to be confirmed have been classed into seven different portions, or classes. For convenience sake these are numbered: the numbering has nothing to do with any difference in knowledge, or merit; but the numbers stand as the classes will come in the week; thus, CLASS No. 1 will attend at the Rector's room in Sutton, every Tuesday evening, at six o'clock exactly. CLASS No 2 will attend at the Rector's room, every Tuesday evening, at eight o'clock exactly. CLASS No. 3 will attend at the Rector's room, every Wednesday afternoon, at one o'clock. CLASS No. 4 will attend at the school-room, every Wednesday afternoon, at half-past five o'clock.. CLASS No. 5 will attend at the Rector's room, every Thursday afternoon, at two o'clock. CLASS No. 6 will attend at the Rector's room, every Thursday evening, at half-past six o'clock. CLASS No. 7 will attend at the Rector's room, every Friday evening, at six o'clock. The parents and sponsors of the candidates are requested to urge them to attend regularly, every time the class to which each belongs is appointed; and, as the time for seeing each will be but short, and as there will be some occupation immediately after most of the hours fixed for the classes, the candidates ought to take care to be as exactly in time as possible. Make it a subject of your secret prayers, while you are engaged in your daily work, that the instruction given to the persons to be confirmed may be blessed to each of them, by the gracious power of the Holy Ghost. XX. A WORD FROM THE PASTOR TO HIS FLOCK. The present truth. 2 Pet. i. 12. 20 Sept. 1835. WHEN there was a Confirmation three years ago, there were in the parish 141 persons of proper age to be confirmed. Exactly 100 of these applied to the minister, but forty-seven of that number left the instruction, and declined Confirmation; so that only fifty-three were confirmed; and there then remained eighty-eight persons in the parish who allowed the opportunity to pass. Since that time fourteen of these have left the parish, and three have died; so that only seventy-one of these persons remain. Of these, twenty-one have come to the Rector to take advantage of the present opportunity for confirmation, seventeen of whom had applied before, but declined, and four had not applied at all upon the former occasion. Within the last three years, no less than sixty-one persons have been added to the number of those who are of proper age to be confirmed; either by the children growing up, or by new persons coming into the parish. This makes the whole number 132. Of those who have been added in the last three years, thirty-five have now applied to be confirmed; making in all fifty-six who are at present under instruction, and leaving seventy-six persons in the parish who have hitherto declined to come forward and shew their desire to make the profession that they are Christians. These thirty-six persons (and especially the fifty who have been spared to have another offer) after neglecting the first are earnestly desired to consider what they are doing. By not expressing a wish to be admitted amongst the body of pro fessing Christians they plainly shew that their inclinations lies in the opposite direction; for there is no such thing as remaining neuter between God and his enemies. Every man and every woman must give up the devil, the world, and the flesh, or they must give up Christ. If any one has an excuse to make, he will find his case considered in the first part of the Tract No. V, which will be sent round this week. Those that have no excuse to make may look for their case in the second part of the same tract. If after reading this, any person who is not yet confirmed has any objection to make, with a sincere desire to find out the right way, I invite every such person to come to me and state his difficulty: you may be sure of being kindly received. It is better to fix a time for this purpose; and therefore I appoint Wednesday next, at the vestry room, in the church, either half an hour before the evening service, or immediately after the lecture. I besides give notice, that, though little time is left for preparation, I am still ready to receive the names of every person who may now desire to be confirmed; and that I will do my best, by additional instruction, to make up to them for the time which they have allowed to pass by. Make it the subject of your secret prayers, while you are engaged in your daily work, that God may put it into the hearts of the seventy-six people in this parish, not to neglect the opportunity of professing, with sincerity, that they are Christians. XXI. A WORD FROM THE PASTOR TO HIS FLOCK. The present truth. 2 Pet. i. 12. 27 Sept. 1835. As the instruction to the candidates for Confirmation proceeds, and is drawing to an end, your minister reminds you of the duty of prayer which he pointed out to you in "the Word," on the 23rd of August last; and he desires to stir you up by way of remembrance. By the word of God, success is made to depend more upon the prayers of the people, than upon the instruction of the minister, as means which are used to produce a blessing. Instruction has been given to the candidates—have earnest and faithful prayers been offered up by the people? Let nothing prevent this, nor slacken your diligence and earnestness in fulfilling this duty; especially in the use of the family prayer with which you have been furnished. There is much to encourage us-the candidates have hitherto attended the classes very regularly; and have not only listened very attentively to the instruction, but most of them have shewn much seriousness, and have remembered what they have heard. This should encourage us to continue instant in prayer, that God, for Christ's sake, would give the Holy Spirit to bless the present means of grace. Several more persons have, during the last week, expressed a desire to come to Confirmation. The Tract No. VII. will be sent round the parish with this Calendar. It contains a short account of the instruction last given to the candidates, and it may be profitably studied by all the flock. The three last sermons explained the subject it refers to; and as there were no text papers for those sermons, the texts pointed out in this |