deprived of the benefit of common land; so that this
second proposal may also be fikly allowed, as a necessary
branch of the ordinary expenses oE the estate, towards the
due support of the poor labol»'ers by whom it is oultiv»ted|
and not as a • distinct charity. These twv additional
charges to the estate, I propose, not only at a kind of
duty I owe to the natives of it, but also as- bumble ex*
amples to promote similar arrangements on other estates ;
because I conceive that whatever will most effectually
promote the increase of population in any district or
manor, (I mean increase only among industrious and
orderly people,) must be an effectual means of increasing
also the value of the landed property in that district ; and



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1.] &£L1£F OF COTTAGERS. 197

surely a dae oonstant regard and proyision for the in-
slTQctioii of the laboaring poor, as well as for their com-
fortable existence, which are the only objects of my two
additional charges on the estate, seem to be the ^||p8t
natural and obvious means of producing these desirtmle
effects.

I*' Indeed, some such regulations are too generally
wanted thronghont England, for the relief of the poor
cottagers — I mean chiefly those that are employed as mere
day^labovrers in husbandry, whose wages are now become
utterly inadequate to the enormously increased prices of
aU the necessaries of life, and in many counties are not
sufficient to purchase the necessary food and clothing for
the families even of the most industrious and hard-working
men : so that the condition of this most useful and neces-
sary class of the people is certainly too much reduced,
and requires some general reformation, more especially as
the unfeeling advocates of the Slave Trade are continually
vaunting the superior condition of the colonial slaves to

land: — a comparison as
the i^glish labourer is
al ill-usage and outrage,
anty pittance of wages
is employers) is expend-
le additional support for
le lives. (Ne^rtheless,
:tremely uojust that an
[ si:K days in every week,
most humiliating circum-
stance, and thereby lose his elective r^hts as an English
householder, merely because his wages are inadequate to
the necei^fiary expenses of a family. The case of day-
labourers |p husbandry most certainly demands redress,
though not by any means so deplorable as to admit of the



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198 MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IV.

least comparison with the detestable oppression of the
poor strangers nnder our colonial bondage, which is eren
worse in many respects than the hardened Egyptian
tyfltfkny of old, and its retribution most also be more
sig^ly awful.)]

*' If the proposed conditions should be approved by
your Lordship and the rest of the Bight Reverend and
Right Honourable Trustees, I shall immediately prepare
an irrevocable deed of gift of the next reversion of my
whole estate and manor of Fairsted, to be presented to
your Lordship, as ' President of the Society for the
Conversion and Religions Instruction and Education of
the Negro Slaves in the British West India Islands/ «
'< With sincere respect, my Lord, &c. &o." *

Two days after the date of the foregoing letter,
appears the following : —

MS. * 1795, Jan. 16. Lambeth Palace. The

* Bishop of Londc

* estate/



* The original copy i
his first progress in the
former pqft of the Mei
Trade, which being con
the imn^ediate purpose
omissions desired by hi
manly address, which t
of a similar nature in tb

N. B. Two or three paragraphs, inserted between brackets
[ ], ite here restored from the original, because they relate to
facts explanatory of Mr. Sharp's conduct, in th^ endeavour
to discbarge the charitable office bequeathed to^bini by his
friend.



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1.] JMANOB OJP FAIMTEV. 199

Nevertheleas, this attempt also to settle the
revecsion, agreeably to the huniane views of the
testatrix, fiuled of success.

'* The Bishop/' says Mr. Sharp io a letter to a firiend,
'^ consulted some of the highest authorities io the profes-
sion of the law; who were of opinion that the business
could not be established^ because of the laws against
Mortmain ; which was nearly the same opinion that had
before beea given by the Recorder and City OflScers.''

^ In the saaie letter he relates a subsequent expe*
rimenty in which he appears to have given away i^.
part of the revenue during his life-timey but of which
the provisions in future are not mentioned.

*' But I have already disposed of a few acres of land,
by way of experimeati in favour of another very ^Bfferent
charity. The land is laid out in small lots, as eottag^-land;
some lota consistioig of one acre and a half, but mostly of
one s^igle ^re only : w|uch lots are let to a few farmers'
labourers (those that have the largest families in the parish)
at a low rent; the income of which is expended in the
instruotion of all the., poor children in the parish, Whose
parents cannot albrd to pay for their schooling. The
number of children, in general, has been from fifteen to
twenty ; and the cottagers are perfectly contented, and
pay their rents most thankfully*." *

* This experineat it in part^propoaed io his letter to the
Biishop of Loudon. The resole of it does not appear.

The estate aad manor of Fainted have been reclaimed by
the heirs of Mrs. Oglethorpe since Mr« Sharp*a death, and are
now in their possession.



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«;•



200 MEMOIRS OF ORAWILLE SHARP. [IV.

.Mrs. Oglethorpe was not the only person who
imposed on Mr. Sharp die task of providing for a
charitable establishment About the year 1791 he
was named a trustee also by Joseph Wilcocks, £sq.
who left by will a large sum towards endowing an
hospital for the county of Kent ; and^ in pursuance
of the testator's wishes on the occasion, he obtained
a grant of the remains of Rochester Castle for that
purpose. A letter to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury, requesting his advice ^^ for the more eflfectually
promoting the intended charity," discloses these pih
ticulars •.

Nor was the great repute of Mr. Sharp's philan-
thropy productive^f applications merely of a private
nature. Integrity of character exerts a resistless
influence, which is extensive in proportion as time
and opportunity render its possessor an object of
notoriety. In the tumultuary movements which
had begun to agitate France, he was addressed
by several of the most virtuous n^embers of the

• ** We aie limited to the Aeigbboniliood of Roehester for
tlie site; and Mr. Wileockt» who had inaSectioBforthatplaee
oa accovnt of his father, the kte Bishop, iaqaiiied of me some
years ago whether I di4 not think RocketUr Casik would make
a good County Hospital. I answered, that I was sure it would
do extremely well, knowing the great advantage my eldest
brother had in promoting a public charity, by roofing an old
tmver, not near so laige and ^handsome is timt of Rochester.
And I have the pleasare to acquaint your Grnce, that the pro-
prietofs of the Castle, Lady Ducie, Mr. Dent, See. the repre-
sentatives of Mr. Child's house, have very geneiously eoosented
to give the Coitk to the Public Charity*"



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1 .] FESVGH K ATIOKAL AfiSSUBLT. 201

National Assembly ; and be held a continued cor-
respondence with Brissot, La Fayette, Roland, and
others among the principal abettors pf the first revo-
lution, on the most important concerns ; expressing
hb opinions with his asual sincerity and benevolence^
and taking a deep interest in their success.

In his admonitions to the new reformers, the j||K>st
solemn and emphatical warnings respecting West-
Indiaq Slavery, were not omitted ; and their effects
were seen in the declarations of the French Repub-
Ikans on that subject.

The advance of the great work, of which he had
long before laboured to lay the foundation in his
own country (as important to the general interests
of huquanity as to tiie cbaraeter of £nglandX now
demands our attention.



f



^



%



V-



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#



202 MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IV.



CHAR IL

THf« mischiefs which had befallen, and the danger
of entire destruction which had more than once
menaced, the infant colony of Freedom in AAic^f
were, in great part, to be ascribed to the unshaken
vigour in which the detestable Slave Trade still
'continued to flourish. A free settlement, supported
by industry and national commerce, seemed likely
gi^dually to undermine and eventually destroy the
sordid traffic, by opening the eyes of the African
chiefs to their own superior interests, and ^wing
them that the produce of social labour was a fax
greater source of wealth to their revenues, than the
captivity and sale of their subjects. What wonder,
then, if the slave-traders set every engine to work,
to irritate the natives of Africa against the new
colonists, to undermine them in their turn, and thus
pervert the ends of benevolence ?

<' —Out of g^l^Btill to find meaas of ill ! '^

But Providence, in its mercy, was now about t<£eut
the thread of long-suffered iniquity, and to coni^rt
and strengthen those whom it had chosen to be
advocates on earth for their fellow- creatures.

After numerous and unwearied endeayours on a»

4



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2.] ABOLITION OF TH£ SLAVE TRADE. 203

the part of the Quakers in America, and of the

zealous Qarkson and Granville Sharp in England,

in behalf of the wretched, and till of late unpitied,

victims of degraded humanity, the time had arrived, \l

when it appeared to be within the bounds of hope,

that an association of benevolent persons, protected

by a congenial movement in the British Parliament,

might lead to a retrieval of the human' character

from die ignominy of the Slave Trade.

Endeavours were therefore used to collect, and
unite in one body, the various parties who had
severally, and alaypt Independently of one another,
begun to make exertions of a similar nature ; and in >\^*

the spring of 1787 especial meetings were convened
of a few men of eminent character, all of whom
were friendly to the cause. One of their meetings
was held almost in the same month in which the
little fleet set sail, which carried the first banner ci
English liberty to the coast of Africa ; and it was
at this meeting that an event took place, which gave
preponderance to the scale of African freedom;
Mr. Wilberfbrce was t^iere solicited to take the lead
in a parliamentary effort for the abolition of the ^
cruel traffic in our species ; aod, in that communion ^
of benevolent minds, the corresponding impulse of
his heart prompted him to yield a ready assent to
an engagement of no common magnitude*.



* The meeting was at tbe hoaie of Bennet Langtoii, Esq. :
the persons present were. Sir Charles Middleton, Mr.
Wilberforce, Mr. HawJuns Brown, Mr. Windham^ Sir Joshna



/



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20I HSMOIR& OF OKAJfVlhLE SHARP* [IV*

The fint importaot point Uemg happily secored,
the next step was to arrange measures for prose-
ctttmg the scheme In soch a manner as should be
V; most conducive to the great end in yi^. Many

days did not elapse before the design was carried
itato execution. On the 2£d of May, a Committee
was chosen, consisting of twelve members, whose
declared duty and purpose it was to promote, by
every means in their power, an abolition ofthetri^
in the hunum race. GraaviUe Sharp was included
in the Committee.



-^if



Reynolds, and Mr. Boswell. Mr. Clarkson remarks, that Sir
J. Reynolds and Mr. H. Brown gave their wnqualified upprfh-
h^/tkm of the aboKHim ifihe trade. Mr. Windhami and Mr.
Boswell spoke on the same side, though they afterwards
became inimical to the cause.

The following are among the reasons given by Mr. Clarkson
for consideriag Mr. Wilberfocce as the most proper pariia*
mentary leader in the caus^ of t)ie Abolition.—

** His habits of diligent and persevering inquiry made him
master of all the knowledge that was requisite for conducting
it. His talents, both in and out of Pailiament, made him a
poweifiil advocate in its fatwiir. His character, free from the
usual spots of human imperfection, gave an appropriate lustre
to the cause, making it look yet more lovely, and enticing
others to its support. Bnt, most of ail, Hie motive on which
be undertook it, ensured its progress : for this did not ori|pnate
in views of selfishness, or party, or, popular applause, but in an
awful sensc'of his duty as a Chrisdnn. It was this which gave
him alacrity and courage in his pursuit. ' It was Ais which,
when year after year of unsuccessful exertion returned, occa-
sioned kirn to be yet firesh and vigoioos in spirit, and to per-
severe till Oie day of trinmph.*— fltsfory ofAe AbotiHm t^the
aittoe Tnde.



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S.] SLAVE TRADE FIRST OPPOSED. 205

The incipient labours of the Association were
cheered by an important coincidence, which occurred
at this time. The efforts of the humane Anthony
Benezet, and other American Qnakera, had, by
gradual advances, at length effected a general ma»
numission of slaves among the whole body of men of
their persuasion; and the year 17879 in which the
Committee was appointed in En^and for promoting
the abolition of the trade, was the first year distin-
guished in America by the gratifying circumstance
of there not remaining a single slave in the possession
of an acknowledged Quaker. The superstition of
ancient times would have hailed this coincidence as
an auspicious omen ; the sensibility of modem ones
perceived its influence.

Eleven years had now elapsed since the crimi-
nality of the Slave Trade was first adverted to in the
House of Commons. It was in 1776, that a motion
was made by Mr. David Hartley, (a son of the cele*
brated pbysidan and metaphysician, and) Member
for Hull, the purport of which was, ^ That the
Slave Trade waa contrary to the laws of God and to
the rights of men." The motion was seconded by
Sir George Saville. But the proposition failed en-
tirely of support, and its very memory had nearly
vanished. It was now resumed with a happier
prospect. The trials which had occurred with re-
gard to Negroes in this country, had awakened a
very general attention to the subject of African
slavery ; and although prejudice to a great degree,



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4

206 MEMOIES OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IV.

and interest to a much greater^ still guarded the
ground ^^ with Gorgpnian terrors " ag^tinst the at*
tempts of the philanthropists, considerable access to
liberal minds had been gained by the assiduous and
affecting eloquence of these new pleaders in the
cause of humanity. They could not, indeed, ad-^
dress themselves so long in vain to the naturally
reflective disposition of our nation \

The progress of this humane, and finally powerful
association, is so well known from Mr. Clarksoo's
faithful and interesting history, that it will merely '
be requisite, in this place, to give such a summary
notice of its actions, as may serve to connect the
thread of Mr. Sharp's Memoirs during his parti-
cipation in its labours. The rapid progress of public
sentiment is deserving of our attention.

The Committee for effecting an Abolition of the
Slave Trade assumed its denomination in June 1787,
and immediately dispersed circular letters, giving an
account of the Institution. These letters soon pro-
cured the friendly notice of the Quakers at large ;
and a deputation also from the General Baptists
informed the Committee of their wish and intentions
to labour with them in the cause of human freedom.



* ** Men's minds began to be impresied with the mortl
necessity of the abolition of the Slave Trade ; an impression
which had been gradually brought on by the public labours of
Mr. Sharp ; and several had become inclined to unite for the
extirpation of this gigantic evil.'*— C^rAson's ERstory of the
AboUium.



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S.] ABOLITION OF THE SLABE TRADE. 207

A correspondence was likewise quickly opened with
the Societies established at New York and Phila*
delphia for the Manumission of Slaves and Abolition
of Slavery.

In order to difinse a more general knowledge of
the subject) the Committee de^ed it right to adopt
the publication of a work which Mr. Clarkson had
presented to them, entitled, ** A summary View of
the Slave Trade, and of the probable Consequences
of its Abolition." Numerous copies of thb useful-*
tract were dispersed, and the curiosity of the public^'
became every^H^y more excited by the authentic
information thus unexpectedly laid before them.

The new class of moral revolutionists in France
warmly espoused the cause of the abolition. Brissot,
and Claviere (his fnend, and afterwards his fellow-
sufferer under Robespierre's tyranny), requested to
be admitted members of the Association.

The well-known John Wesley and Dr. Price next
appeared as correspondents, with expressions in the
highest degree friendly ; and a letter from the Rev.
Robert Boucher Nicholls, dean of Middieham in
Yorkshire, was ordered by the Committee to be
printed, and five thousand copies to be dispersed.

Dr. Watson, bishop of Landaff, also added his
support.

In October, the Society adopted their present
seal, which represents an African in chains, kneeling
on one knee, and lifting both his hands in the act of
supplication, with this motto,— *M»i I not a man



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208 MEMOXBAOF GRANViLLE SHARP. [IV.

. and a brother?** This simple but striking design
appeared to have a very extensive effect.

About the end of November, two thousand more
copies of Mr. Clarkson's tract were printed, and the
Sodei^'s circular lelter prefixed to each. AU these
having been eagerl^ accepted by the individuals to
whom they were addiessed, new impressions of the
circular letter were ordered to the. number of three
thousand, prefixed to lists of the siriacribers to the
^Institution ; to which were added, one thousand five
^bundled copies of Benezet's Acamnt of GidneUf
three thousand of the Dean of Mi^|||||^ham's Letter,
five thousand of Mr. Clarkson's Tract, and two
thousand of another work of the same writer, ^ on
the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Specks**

£x€ited by tibia efifective cbculation of att the
knowledge which the Conumttee continued to oci-
lect» on the subject of the Slave Tradb, the feelings
of a generous people sieon began to be openly
expressed^ Meetings were called in various towns^
to discuss the* information which had been thus
dfiused ; and by the middle of the ensuing February
(1788) thirty-five petitions, praying for the Aboli-
tion of the Trade, were pcesenfced to the House of
Commons. New correspondents had in the mean
time offered themselves to the Committee of the
Society ; among whom were Dr. Home, the presi-
dent of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Dr. Bathurst,
(afterwards bishops of Norwich) ; Mr. Lambert, of
Trinity Collie, Cambridge; and Dr. Hinchdiffi



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2,] SOCIETT FOE ABOLITION OF SLAV£RY. 209

bishop of Peterboroagh, who presented a. plan^ called
** Thoughts on the Means for abolishing the Slave
Trade." Mr* Newton, also, the rector of Saint Mary
Woolnoth, in London, who had in his youth been
in Africa, addressed to the Committee ^' Thoughts on
the African Slave Trade ;' of which work three thou-
sand copies were ordered to be printed.

The extensive disclosure of public sentiment was
no less felt by the Government than by the Society
itself; and in the same month of February, the
King, by an Order of Council, directed that a Com*
mittee of Privy Council should sit as a Board of
Trade, *^ to take into consideration the present state
of the African trade, particularly as to the manner
of obtaining Slaves^ their importation and sale both in
British and ForeigA settlements, and the consequences
of the trade to the commerce of the kingdom/'

In the sittings of this Committee of Privy Council,
no less than one hundred and three petitions wer«)
presented from various places and bodies of men,
including the City of London, the two Universities,
the large manufacturing towns, whole counties, the
several dioceses of the Established Church, the
Quakers, and Dissenters of other denominations.
Additional letters and offers of service were (among
others, nearly at the same time) received from the
Rev. C. Wyvil; from Archdeacons Plymley and
Paley (both proposing assistance in the great cause) ;
from Dr. Sharp, prebendary of Durham; Dr.
Woodward, bishop of Cloyne; and from the Marquis

VOL. II. p



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210 MEMOIRS OF GRAI7VILLE SHARP. [IV.

de la Fayette, who informed the Comnrittee of his
intention to establish a similar Society in France.
The two latter persons having solicited to be ad-
mitted associates, were accordingly enrolled among
the honorary and corresponding members of the
Society.

Numerous other lettei*s from various parts an-
nounced intentions of calling public meetings, to
petition the Parliament in favour of the desired
abolition.

The examinations before the Committee of Privy
Council still continued ; and the time was now ap^
proaching when it had been proposed to bring the
subject forward in the Uoose of Commons. The
anxiety of the members of the Abolition Society wlas,
of course, great ; and their utmost diligence was
exerted in maintaining the correspondences which
bad been so usefully and honourably opened. They
learned, with great satislsK^tion, that the Society which
bad been proposed at Paris, for abolishing the Slave
Trade, was actually established ; that Condorcet w«s
the president; that the Duke of Rochefoucauld and
the Marquis de la Fayette stood first in the list of
the members, and were followed by Petion, after*
wards mayor of Paris, and other men of eminence.

New correspondents, also, continued to present
themselves ; among whom was Mr* Jay, the presi*
dent of the Society before mentioned at New York ;
and the exertions of the Committee required a still
greater degree of labour and attention. Additional



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S.] SOCIXTT FOR ABOLITION OF SLAVSRY. 211

works, which were esteemed useful to tbeir cause,
were printed, and more than nioe thousand copies
of different tracts were distributed in the most
extensive manner possible. Sub-Committees were
formedi who were charged to draw up a just state-
ment of all the fitcts and arguments that had been
brought forward against the Slave Trade, with a
view to tbeir translation into other languages, in
order to give foreigners a suitable knowledge of the
subject, as well as to confute many false reports
which had been maliciously propagated concerning
the object of the Institution*

One of the most powerful weapons that had heed
employed against the efforts of the Society, was a
pamphlet entitled '^ Scriptural Researches on the
licitness of the Slave Trade" The writer was an
Ex-Jesuit of the name of Harris, who was at that
time a clerk in a slave*house at Liverpool, and
engaged as a mercenary on the present occasion*
His pamphlet was now ably answered by the ReT«
James Ramsay, vicar of Teston in Kent, who had
resided nineteen years in the island of Saint Chris*
topfaer, and in that period bad been a frequent eye«
witness of the cruel treatment of the Negroes*

Unfortunately, during the continuance of these
important transactions, Mn Wilberforee was de^
prived by illness of the power of attending, or in
any manner assisting, the Committee in its anxious
progress ; and two-thirds of the sessioB of Parliament

p8



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212 MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IV.

had thus passed by, without any step ha^ng been
taken in the House of Commons to advance the
claims of the Society on the attention of the
public.

But the alarm experienced from these cireum*
stances was unexpectedly relieved by a message
from the Prime Minister to the Committee, desiring
a conference with their Chairman, and by the sub^
sequent assurance which they received of his inten-
tions (on account of Mr. Wiiberfbrce's absence
through indisposition) to bring forward the subjecti
himself, in the House of Commons. Agreeably to
his promise, on the 9th of May^ 1788, Mr. Pitt
proposed for the consideration of the House the
actual state of the Slave Trade, and, reserving
wholly his own opinion on it, desired merely to
pledge the House to a full discussion of the subject
In the next session. This motion, though agreed to,
disappointed many, who were impressed with a