opened, a new world of life dawns on him; he sees something worth living for, and life seems all too short, and his purse all too shallow for him to do all he would like. Truly to the thoughtful and farseeing the West gives more anxiety than the East. It is there that our unrepented national sins are thriving and festering. A "black assize" may yet be at hand. Wealth is poisoning the wealthy. We foul our Thames with what would fertilise our fields; and we foul our West with what would fertilise our East. Are we still afraid of trusting ourselves to the deep current that is bearing on England's noblest men and women towards a religion of righteousness, which prophets and apostles and the very Christ Himself proclaimed ? Do we think it will bury us in secularisms and socialisms; tear us from our ancient landmarks; destroy our Church; perhaps dissolve the Rock of Ages? No! it will fill our creeds and hymns and prayers with new meaning; fill our abbeys and cathedrals and churches with new life; make them the fountains and inspiration to righteousness, the parade ground of armies where they hear the words of the Master whom they would die to serve, and whence they issue prompt to do His bidding. Oh! for more faith in the God of righteousness, and more obedience to His word; now in the time of national distress and anxiety let us turn to Him. Our heavenly Father knoweth our necessities; but He has bidden us to "seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness"; and then-it is no mystery it is no miracle-it is the natural inevitable result, "all we need shall be added unto us." K X CONSECRATION OF THE NEW PARISH CHURCH OF ST. AGNES, BRISTOL1 66 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward." THIS is the note which I wish to strike this evening -"Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward." Do you remember the circumstances when those words were first spoken? It was when the Israelites had first got out of Egypt, but were not yet in the promised land; they stood appalled at the dangers and difficulties round them, with the Egyptians behind and the impassable sea in front,—and some hearts were faint. Then came the Word of the Lord, Speak unto them, that they go forward." All the memories of the long past were still doubtless fresh in their minds; the call of Abraham, the promises 1 Preached in St. Agnes's Parish Church on 7th March 1886, being the first Sunday after its consecration. NOTE. The parish of St. Agnes has grown out of the mission district taken up by the masters and boys of Clifton College. The sermon is primarily of local interest only, but there must be corresponding historical associations in every parish, and the sermon may suggest the value of these associations. to him and to his children, the long slavery in Egypt, the salvation under Moses and Aaron. They could look back and see that God's hand had been with them hitherto; and now they were to go forward, little knowing of the long history that would follow -the wanderings in the wilderness, the wars in Palestine, the kingdom, the exile, the return, the coming of the long-promised Messiah, Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, and then these nineteen Christian centuries, ever brightening onwards towards a more perfect day, preparing the way for the Kingdom of God. We too, my friends,—whether I speak to you simply as parishioners of St. Agnes, or as representatives of the great Church of England, or still greater Church of Christ,-have a long history in the past, a history full of memories of God's mercy, and thankfulness, and therefore full of hope for the future; we too have a present, not without its dangers and difficulties; and we too have a long future before us, much to suffer, much to accomplish, many a weary journey to take, ere we or our children inherit the promised land, the kingdom of God on earth; and the call to us also is, "Go forward." Let us glance, first, at the past. How full of historical associations and sacred memories is even this young church and parish! How far back into English history does that word "parish" take us! How it recalls to us God's long-continued goodness to His people of England! If there is now on earth a chosen nation, a nation privileged and pledged to the worship of Christ and to treasure His name, it is our dear nation of the English. I will trace in some slight detail the history of this parish of St. Agnes and its ecclesiastical ancestry; for this will be to give us a fresh interest in our church, a fresh dignity, as we see how far back we can trace its forefathers; it will be to give us a fresh confidence in the permanence of the Church of Christ, fresh resolves that we will be worthy of the great inheritance we have received from the days of old, fresh hope and courage to go forward. Let us begin then, this evening, by tracing the outline of the history of our young parish. It is a specimen, and a very instructive specimen, of the history of the Church of England, of its endowments, and of its antiquity. I am sure it will interest you, and you will not forget it. The parish church of St. Agnes was consecrated last Tuesday, 2d March 1886, the parish being carved out of St. Barnabas, on the recommendation of the bishop's commission. How was it built and endowed? It was built out of a subscription raised in Bristol, not a small portion of it having been contributed by yourselves, for you gave grandly. Part of it will be actually contributed this evening by us who are now assembled. Every penny is as voluntary a gift as what you may yourselves give this evening. How is it endowed? It has been provided with a small endowment in the same way, out of voluntary gifts invested in the Funds. These voluntary gifts have chiefly been made within the last few years by residents in Bristol and Clifton, some of whom are present here to-night, and they are supplemented by grants from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners out of the surplus funds of cathedrals, which were themselves similarly endowed by gifts at various times during our past history. We thus see before our eyes how the endowments of the Church of England have grown and grow from year to year to meet the growing needs of our large cities. And now, what is the story of St. Barnabas ? It was consecrated on 12th September 1843, having been built and endowed in precisely the same way, the parish having been carved out of St. Paul's. And how was St. Paul's parish made and its church built, to go back another step in the genealogy? It was consecrated on 29th June 1794. It has a special interest, as being the church of the first new parish made since the Reformation, for the sake of the population that was then gathering in the eastern part of the city and outside its ancient limits. The parish was carved out of the ancient parish of St. James's, and the church was endowed with the gift of some land close by, on which houses are now built. So we go back a long step farther, and ask what is the history of St. James's Church. It was built shortly before A.D. I 147-that is, about 750 years ago-by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and was served by Benedictine monks from the richly endowed Abbey of Tewkesbury. It was then a splendid church, far finer than it now is. But at the Reformation the endowments were seized by Henry VIII., and the chancel of the church pulled down. Its subsequent history is also instructive. The church was left without endowment, and its advowson was sold by Henry VIII., in 1543, to Henry Brayne. His representatives sold it, in 1626, to the Bristol Corporation, who fixed the stipend of the vicar at £40, being half the profits of the St. James's fair at that time. On the passing of the Municipal Corpora |