The First Report of the Society contains the
following letter : —
Lard Ttignmouiht Preiidentg to OranvUle Sharp, Esq.
'< Sir, '* Clapbam, Janiiary 9. ISM.
''It 18 with the sincerest satisfactioDy I execute the
instmctions of the Committee of the Bible Society, in
retnming their most cordial thanks to you, for the very
â–¼alaable collection of Bibles, Testaments, and Psalters, in
different langaages, which you have presented to them.
'' I cannot, indeed, bat feel a pecaliar gratification in
the opportanity thas afforded me of expressing the sense
entertained by the Committee, of the great yalae of the
donation itself, as well as of the high estimation in which
they hold the donor.
** That Proyidence may long continue to yoa^ with every
• << History of the Bible Society." vol i. p. 61.
" f n Granville Sbaq>y who presided at the Society's forma-
tion," adds Mr. Owen, '* the cause obtained a temporary
patron, in whom the members of the Establishment acknow-
ledged a true Churchman, and real Christians of every deno«
mination a friend and a brother. PerhajM it would not have
been possible to find, throughout the British dominions, a man
in whom the qualities requisite for the first Chairman of the
British and Foreign Bible Society were so completely united as
they were in this venerable philanthropist A churchman in
faith, in charity a universalist, he stamped upon the institution,
while it was yet tender, those characters which suited its con-
stitution and its end ; and while he made it respected by the
sanction of bis name, be improved it by the influence of his
example.'*— Pflgr^ 83.
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7.] BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 261
blessing, the eojoyment of a life which you have adorned
no less by your talents than your Tirtnes. is the unanimous
wish of all» and of none more sincerely thaq of him who
has the honour to subscribe hijoselC with the greatest
regard and esteem. Sir,
** Your most obedient humble servant,
" TBIGNBIOUTH.**
The eoUectioD alluded to in the President's letter
contained nearly forty different printed versions of
the Bible and New Testam^ot, either .whole or ip
parts*.
DAT>»
* Arabic .••..New Testament, pablished by
£rpeaiiis. Smdl 4to. Leidm. 1610
Psalter. 4to JRome. 1519
Batavi AK (or jDalcA) Old and New Testament. SmaO
8vo looe
New Testament. 24mQ. 1609
New Testament, with French and
English Versions. 12mo 1684
Caudoniah ( or
Seaidk Goefo}...*. New Testament, with Rules for
reading that Language at the
end. 8vo , 1767
Eotpti AN (or CopHe)
and Latin Pentateuch (curi^ D.Wilkins). 4to. 1731
Ethiopic & Latin Psalter (curt Ludolphi). 4to. ... 1701
Ebsb (or iWik).......p English liturgy, in Saxon cha-
racter. At the end are the
elements of the Irish langjoage,
8vo , , 171»
CrOTHic ••••.«•.•• New Testament, translated by
Bishop Ulfila, A. D. 360 ; to
which are added. Versions in
Islaadic, Sbethic, -and Latin.
1671
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MEMOIES OF GftAVTII.LE 8HAEF.
[IV.
Mr. Sharp's diligence aod libenii^, in behalf of
racceediog inslitotioas formed with similar views^
appear in Tarioas docnments : —
The foUowiDg Memorandam is thus marked, ^ to
Gbbek {Modem, or dats,
Vnlpar) The Epi8tk»-'(die fint toI. cod-
taiong the GospebbeiDg kmt)
— colhUed with the onfinal
Greek. 4to 1638
UuMOARiAN Bible and New Teslamenf. 8vo.
Uireeki. 1747
N. B. Of this edition 3000
copies were bnmt by the Papbts.
sJ.|
â– s
» 5
!3
bohemiam
Danish
English
French
German
Hebrew
Italian
Latin
Polish
Spanish
Striac
' of Matthew and Mark. 4to.
Nmmberg. 1619
Italian.
Malabar.
Bible» with marginal referencef
to parallel Text 8» cited by the
Rev. Mr. Cratwell» in his Con*
cordance of Parallels. Folio. 1562
Bible, translated by Deodati. .
Folio 1607
New Testament, with margiivil
references to parallel Texts,
12mo« Pinerd. 1576
. New Testament, Malabar cha-
racter. Small 4to. ... Madroi. 1777
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7i} BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOGIETT. 268
be enclosed in the little parcel of books presented to
the Bible Society at Calcutta^ by G. Sharp.**
*' MfiMORAJNI>UM.
" The Author of the books enolosed in this parcel ha$
beeQ uid«eed to present them to the Bible Sooiety at
DATS.
Malatan............. Four Gospels, English character.
Small 4to • Oxford. 16T7
Makks Bible and Testament. Folio.
Whitaiatm. 1776
MoflAWit St. Mark's Gospel; also Prajer-
book, Mohawk and English. 1787
Primer. 12mo L^dan. 1786
Spanish... New Testament (Castilian). l2mo.
Venice. 1556
Old and New Testament, with
marginal references^ collated
by Mr. Crntwell, ia his Coa-
cordance of Parallels. Folio. 1560
Apocrypha and New Testament,
by Cyji^Fiaa de Valem. Folio.
Amsterdam. 1609
New Testament, by Ditto. Small
Bvo....w*ro.*»* DiHo. 1Q25
Penta|teueh» by Yossepb Franco
Serrano. 4to. Ditto. 1695
Version of the English Liturgy.
8vo 1715
Striac. New Testament. 12mo. iTam^ttr^A. 1663
Virginian Indian. Bible, by Elliot, of America. 4to.
Cambridge. 1685
Wblsh Bible and Prayer*booh. i2mo.
London. 1630
Ditto aad Ditto.. 8vo. Caer Grant. 1746
AppekdktoikeBrBtkiipcn
efik^»»k 8oek$f.
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264 MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IV.
Cdcntta for their public library, by an earnest desire and
hope, that two of them may prove useftil to the Eastern
translators of the holy Scriptnres, because they contain
rules of syntax drawn from examples in the original text
both of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures ; — rules which
have never been fully explained in any other grammars, as
the Author has been informed by several competent judges*
'' At the end of the Hebrew Tracts, the Author has
added, in MS., an account of one additional rule of He>
brew syntax, which was proposed to him by the late
Bishop of St. Asaph, the learned Dr. Horsley, with the
remarks made upon it by 6. S. ; which addition, he hopes,
will render the system of Hebrew syntax perfecdy com-
plete, so as to enfranchise the students of Hebrew ip
future from the arbitary shackles of that most perplexing
and unreasonable system of vowel points^ by which our
Hebrew Bibles are disfigured* See Tract I. pp. 63, 64 ;
and Tract III. pp. 88, 29, on that subject*.''
JiSl—' 1812. October 5. Bible Society. Re-
' ceived thanks for advice in printing Hebrew and
' Greek Scriptures/
[This advice was contained in a letter addressed
to the Secretaries of the Society.]
SOCIETY FOR TH£ PROPAGATION OF TH£ GOSPEL
IN FOREIGN PARTS.
Of this venerable Society, established in 1701,
Mr. Sharp became one of the members in the year
* Notice of these works will be found in the account of
Mr. Sharp's Writings. The concluding remark is repei^ted iq
Another Memorandum on the same subject.
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7.] 80CUTT rOB PROPAGATION OP GOSPEL. 265
1785, and took ah active part in their proceedings.
His Manuscript Notes give frequent evidence of hb
regular attendance on the meetings ; but they con-
tain no allusion to any particular transactions of the
Society, excepting what has been seen in a preceding
part of these Memoirs, in a letter to the Archbishop
of Canterbury *• It does not appear that he spoke
in the meeting on the subject alluded to in that
letter.
The only record in the Reports of the Society^ in
which he is in any degree particularly concerned^
relates to the success of his solicitation, in the same
letter, for the appointment of the Rev. Mr. Fraser to
accompany the first expedition to Sierra Leone f .
* See part III. chap. I. p. 8.
t '' At a meeting of the Society, 20th October, 1786; the
Archbishop of Canterbury having acquainted the Board, that
Mr. Richard Fraser had been ordained Deacon and Priest by
the Bishop of Ely, in order to accompany a number of Blacks
going to settle at Sierra Leone in Africa as their minister ; and
a letter being also read from George Peters, Esq., recom-
meQdiag him to the benefolence of the Society ; it was resoked.
That the Society do appoint him their Missionary, with a
salary of fifty pounds per annum, to commence at Michaelmas
last ; and that the Society furnish him with some books.**-*
ibporlf ofAiB SoaOy.
The object of the Society b limited by charter to Foreign
Parts, and more especially to the plantations, colonies, and
CMtories beyond seas, belonging to the kingdom of England.
Missionaries, Catechists, and Schoolmasters are employed by
this Socit^ in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Bruuswick,
Vpper and Lower Canada, Cape Breton, the Bahama Ishuidsp
tbe Coast of Africa, New South Wales, and Norfolk Islapd. The
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286 UEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SEARF. [IV.
He made a donation to the Society of the works
of his father, the Archdeacon of Northumberland^
and likewise of several of his o^n tracts.
In the year 1808, his aid was solidiled towards the
establishment of another religious charity, for the
Conversion of the Jews. The proposal is contain*
ed in a letter from which the following is an extract :-—
The Rev. Thomas White to GranviUe Sharp, Esq.
** loth December, 1806.
' ** At this time I am particularly interested by the bene-
Yolent attempts T^hich yoa have made to attract the atten-
tion of the Jews to the evidence which their own Scrip*
tares afford to the Messiah. The addresses to them, wliicb
yott have interwoven with the critical part of your work
[on the Hebrew Fan], convince me that you would re-
joipe to .forward their conversion. Various circumstances
induce me to think that the present is a favourable season
for atti^mpting. it.; aud, from oonversations which I have
bad with several benevolent and pious persons on the sub^
Ject, I feel persuaded, that, were a society instituted, con-
l^isting of members of our Established Church, for the sake
of promoting the conversion of the Jewish nation, it would
meet with considerable encouragemen c. Your exertions in
one noble work of charity have been rewarded by the most
glorious success, and will, 1 doubt not, add unspeakably to
Missionaries hre supplied with hofHts for a Hbrary, and Bibl^i,
Prayer- books, and small religions tracts, to dntribute amoDf^
tbeif people, as occasioii may require. The Society is directed
entirely by Members of the Established Ciureh of Englaad.
^SeeHhioiyeffhe Bible Society, vol. i; p^ 2i?.
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.7;] S0GJ«X7 FOB P|tOJPAj:?AW0K OF eoi>PEL, 267
the j^J reeved for you in a better world. The objeet
to wbidbi .1 DOW take the liberty of calliDg your atteDtion«
is one even more important ; it is one which the Diving
promise assures us shall ultimately succeed ; it is one of
which the promoters will, I am persuaded, obtain the
Messing of the Most High.
** It would give me* great satisfaction to converse with
yon on this subject, and I shiall feel much obliged by year
naming a time when I might wait upon you.
" 'V^ith sincere esteem and respect," &c. &c.
It is to be remarked, that this letter was written a
few months after the first meeting of several bene-
volent individuals, whose object was then declared
to be that ^' of visiting and relieving the sick and
distressed, and instmcting the ignorant, especially
such as are of the Jewish nation," but who, in the
ensuing year, were finally designated by the name
of " The Londok Society for promotintg
Christianity among the Jeavs." There is
much obscurity in the early history of this institution.
One of its nK)st liberal and active patrons has slated
in a late publication *, that it is difficult to trace
clearly the progress of the Society from its origin. Its
cbaritable intentions appear tx> have been announced,
at its rise, under various descriptions ; and it does
not seem unlikely, that the communication of the
.Mntimeots contained in the above letter, if aided by
* Letter to the Kshop of St. Da?id s, by the Rev. Lewis Way,
ofStansted.
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268 MEMOIRS OF GRAKVILLE flHARF. [IV.
Mr. Sharp's approbation, might have contributed to
fix the unsettled designs of the associated members
under the title which they now bear *• No reply to
* The first meetiDg above alluded to took place in August
1808; and that in which the resolution was carried for adopt-
ing; the present title of Ihe Society was held in March i800«
The designs of the Society were at the beginning carried ob
under the influence of Joseph Samuel Frey» a native of Ger-
many, who had renounced Judaism, and had been sent over to
this country, on the request of the London Missionary Society^
to receive ordination (as a Dissenting Minister), and thence to
proceed to preach the Gospel to the Hottentot Africans, at a
settlement which the (Missionary) Society had formed in the
South of Africa, for the purpose of offering instruction in Chris-
tianity to the Natives. But after Frey*s arrival in England, he
fek a strong propensity to endeavour the conveision of hm
fellow- Israelites in this country ; and his efforts receiving the
countenance of several benevolent persons, he was ultimately
induced to separate himself from the Missionary Society, and
was elected president of the small association above alluded to^
for promoting the temporal comfort and religious instruotioBof
the Jews. His conduct was at first exemplary, but did not
afterwards correspond with the respect due to his situation.
The Lomdim Society, as it was at first composed of Church-
men and Dissenters vrithout distinction, was conducted under
their joint management; and for some years the instruction
imparted by its agents was of so general a nature as not to call
any differences of doctrine into question ; but when, on the en-
largement of its funds, its plans were extended to the educatioB
of youug men as preachers of the Gospel to the Jews, the unit-
voidable distinctions of opinion m the different parties were
found materially to embarrass its operations. At length, at a
General Meeting, in 1816, the Dissenters, engaged io the bm»
nagement, agreed to retire, and to leave the Society entirely
under the direction of Members of the Church of England ; al
ihe same time promising (a promise which they afterwards ful-
filled) to recommend the Society^to their respective bodies.
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7*] AFRICAN INSTITUTION. 269
tile letter appears among Mr. Sharp's papers. He
presented to the Society one of bis tracts, entitled
** Jerusalem ; " and bis name is in tbe list of sub-
scribers (as is Mr. Whitens also), to tbe year of his
decease.*
AFRICAN INSTITUTION.
The life of Granville Sharp is but a history of the
continued progress of Christian charity and human
amelioration. In his high example we may discern
the value of a single step of virtue. His early action
of humanity to a distressed Negro brought on the
freedom of slaves in England, and, in its conse-
quences, led to the Abolition of the Slave Trade,
and to the other singular events which have been
rdated. His charitable attempt to restore to social
comfort those whom he had rescued from slavery,
imd to provide a home for them in their native land,
laid the foundation of African culture and com-
merce ; and by having given birth to the establish-
ment at Sierra Leone, which is still the central spring
of our benevolent action in that part of the globe,
he will justly be entided to be called, in future ages,
the^r^* civilizer of Africa. If the important efforts
now making for the improvement of Africa should
ultimately attain their end, and diffuse over an im*
mense continent that light, and those blessings, from
^ Reports of the London Society for promoting Christianity
among the Jews. .
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270 MEMOIHS OF GHANVILLE SHARP. [iV.
which it has been so long excluded, to GranviBe
Sharp the gratitude of future generations must be
offered. That bis thoughts were long turned to that
object, various papers, superscribed " African Civi^
lizatioTiy^ sufficiently demonstrate.
When the Directors of the Sierra Leone Com-
pany declared the surrender of its rights to the
British Government, they, almost at the same mo-
ment, announced the birth of another institutioHi
formed for the purpose of saving from the power of
fortune those advantages which, in spite of every
discouragement and of failure itself, had been de-
monstrably proved to have been gained to the general
condition of humanity. The Sierra Leone Company
bad fixed the basis of African civilization; and,
though unsuccessful in the full attainment of the
original plan, and finally driven, like its Founder,
to the necessity of resigning the establishment into
more powerful hands, it had formed a necessary
ground-work for the beneficent advance of that
strength to which it appealed for the protection of
its invaluable purposes. It had ascertained the
power of introducing agriculture, friendly commerce,
and freedom itself into Africa, It had shown, that
all the various natural products, brought from the
West Indies, might be raised on the African soil ;
that the Native Chiefs might be made to perceive
the full interests of peaceful communication; and
that Negroes, in a state of freedom, might be
habituated to labour in the fields, and were capable
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7«] AraiCAN IN8TIVUTION. 271
of being governed by nild laws, without whips, tor-
tures, or chains to enforce submission to civil autho*
rity, . If insubordination appeared for a time dnfong
a part of ttie settlers, their conduct in those circum-
stances, when compared with European colonists in
other parts of the globe, afibrded a result even
advantageous to the African character.
But, what surpassed all otlier benefits, the esta*
blishment of the Sierra Leone Company had created
a point of confidence for the Natives in the sound of
friendly intentions, when professed by an English*
num. Although a sceptic of Africa might still doubt
the existence of an anxious disposition to diffuse
improvement and knowledge among the natives of
his country, independently of all views of interest,
the experience of twenty years had yet made it
possible for him to believe, that British voyagers might
court his acquaintance without designing to kidnap
his family, or betray himself into slavery ; and be
might, Kke Felix, be *^ almost persuaded'' that the
blessings of mutual benevolence and good faith
were not universally denied by nature to European
traders *.
* See First Report of the African IostitatioB> p4 4d.
I shaU add one mojr^ anecdote to tbe many already eitaait
'00 this subject. It was related to me by an amiable and highly
respectable nobleman, lately deceased, the early part of whose
life bad been passed in bis M^esty's sejrvice in the Navy ; and
1 shall give it in his own words.< —
I <* 7he late Admiral Matthew Buckle commanded a small
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272 MEMOIRS OF ORANYILLE SHARP. [IV*
In undertaking the relief and future support of the
Colony of Freedom^ the Company had engaged to
bear the whole expense of the enterprise; and, if
the richest channels of wealth had been opened^ the
mother country could not have failed to reap the
fruits of success, though she incurred no charges of
government or protection. When the Company was
afterwards compelled, itself, to solicit relief from the
Minister, it received a liberal pecuniary aid; but
it still wanted the desirable protection of the state
from that devastating traffic, in the pl^ce of which it
strove to substitute the natural relations of human
intercourse. It in vain solicited Parliament to banish
the horrid trade from that narrow region of Africa,
in which the settlement was formed. English slaver
mongers were permitted, to the last*, to trade even
squadron od the coast of Africa, and had a broad pendant on
board the A$aMUance of fiflly guns. One day, while at anchor
on the coast, a Negro came off with hb canoe, loaded with
iVuitSy and all that he had that was yaluable. The Commodore
bebg on the quarter-deck, the Negro accosted him with'* What
tkip ihiM?* — ^The other replied, in the jargon of the country,
' King George lAtp, moii of war MpJ — ^The Negro replied,
doubting, ' No, yon BriMol tAtp.' — ^The Commodore repeated
what he had said ; but the Negro felt his fears increase, and,
exclaiming * Dom your heart, you Briitol ihip,^ leaped over-
board, leaving his canoe to its fiite.«,.,I scarcely need add,
that the canoe was humanely towed on shore, where the owner
was most likely to find it.**
* The Act for prohibiting the Slave Trade was passed on
the 26th of March 1807. The Directors of the Sierra Leone
Company agreed to the surrender of the colony into the hands
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7.] AFRICAN INSTITUTION. 273
in the river of Sierra Leone^ and, by every means of
artifice and malice> often to divert the unfortunate
settlers from their better views.
Yet even on the ruins of the fabric, in which the
hopes of the individual philanthrophist who bad
planned, and the liberal and powerful Company who
had fostered, the design, had alike expired, a new
association dared to found its structure, as on a
basis at once of convenience and security, on which
** schools might be maintained, useful arts might be
taught, and an emporium of commerce established,
by those whom its patronage might animate, or its
information enable, to engage in such under-
takings*."
With sentiments of this nature, and renovated
hopes, the African Institution presented itself
to the public. It announced its design, *^ to improve
the temporal condition and the moral faculties of
the natives of Africa ,* to diffuse knowledge, and
excite industry, by methods adapted to the peculiar
situation and manners of the inhabitants ; to watch
over the execution of the laws that have been passed
in this and other countries, for abolishing the African
Slave Trade ; and, finally, to introduce the blessing^
of civilized society among a people sunk in ignorance
of Government on the 7th January 1807, and the Bill for its
surrender was brought into Parliament on the 8th of August
following. The actual surrender was made on the 1st of January
1808.
^ First Report of the African Institution.
VOL, IT. T
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274 MEM0IR6 OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IV .
and barbarisiiii and occupying no less than a fourth
part ei the habitable globe *."
To accomplish these stupendous views, it proposed
no purchase of territory, no commercial speculation,
no colonial settlement, no religious mission; bat
^' to collect and diffuse instruction concerning the
natural productions of the country, its agricultural
and commercial capacities, and the condition, as well
intdlectaal as political, of its inhabitants ; to intro-
duce and promote among them letters, arts, medical
discoveries, improvements of husbandry, and methods
of useful and legitimate commerce; to establish
amicable correspondences ; to encourage enterprise
in exploring the unknown interior, not merely to
gratify curiosity, but to obtain and disseminate
useful knowledge; and to open sources of future
intercourse *f."
This IdstUution was formed in April 1807; at a
period which ** appeared eminently fitted for pro-
secuting itis benevolent designs ; since the suspension,
^luring the war, of that large share of the Slave Trade
commcMily carried on by France, Spain, and Holland,
might naturally be expected, when Combined with
the effect of the abolition laws of Great Britain,
America, and Denmark, to produce nearly the
entire cessation of that horrid traffic, along a line of
coast extending between two and three thousand
miles in length, and thereby to afford a pecuUarly
* Second Report of the African Institution. t ibid.
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7.] A1FM0AK JWWIWTMOW^ - 276
ftroamUe oppcyrtiinity ibir givhig a new dtreetion to
the industry and commerce of Africa* ^
Of the progress and effects of this Association
likewise), while it is hourly exerting itself in the eyes
pf I^urope and of the worldi any recital would be
here auperfluooA.
Mn Sharp was chosen oae of the first Directory at
the advanced age <if seventyHhree; and tlie dutlfes,
which it was occasionally bis part to execute, were
performed by him with the same zeal and activity
which had distinguished the early part of his life.
He assisted regularly at every meefing, even to the
last but one previous to his decease.
In the year preceding that event, he was called