guages at Babel; proving it to have been miraculous, from the essential Difference between them, contrary

monly applied to epitaphs; yet why should not the just and good be told, in the language of tenderness and truth, what their contemporaries think of them? The Doctor's letter to me on that subject breathes a dignified simplicity, which does honour at once to his head and heart. There is not a word in it that a friend would wish to suppress, or any thing on which malevolence could have laid hold, even in his own time. I am advised by very good judges to publish the inscription, for the sake of his letter. I therefore send you the inseription a little varied from its original form, with a copy of the letter.

"May I also request that you would add the inclosed icon, a portrait, of the father of my fellow-traveller, it being mentioned in Dr. Sharp's letter? I sent it him six years before his death, which was as edifying as his life. Any body who has seen (as I often have) the love and affection with which his people re, garded this excellent man, in public and in private, would have thought Goldsmith had him in view when he drew his Picture of a country clergyman. The father translated the New Testament into Galic; and the son has the charge of publishing the rest of the Bible in that language. Two men more amiable and useful in very different lines than he and Dr. Sharp are seldom to be found in the same age and island." Jo. RAMSAY."

Copy of a Letter from Dr. Sharp to John Ramsay, esq. "SIR, You have so overpowered me by the handsome things you have been pleased to write, so far above any deserts of my own, that I am at a loss what answer to give, or how to thank you as I ought. And as you have so kindly interested yourself in what has been done here, perhaps a little history of the gradual improvements will not be disagreeable to you. It was owing to the peculiar situation of this Castle, and accidental circumstances, more than to any other cause, that so many charities have been thought of, and instituted here. In 1757, a part of the old tower being ready to fall, my father, in the last year of his life, got it supported, merely because it had been a sea-mark for ages, and consequently, as such, beneficial to the publick. I succeeded him in the trust. The children of the poor wanted education; therefore schools were necessary; and where so proper as under the eye of the trustees? The rights of the latter were suffering, for want of manor-courts being held; to remedy which, a court-room was fitted up, and other accommodations made for that purpose, where courts are held regularly twice a year. There was no house belonging to the minister of the parish; the trustees therefore (the living being in their gift) consented to be at an equal expence with my brother, who was then the incumbent, in fitting up rooms for that purpose. On

+ See it in p. 442.

my

to the Opinion of Monsieur Le Clerc, and others. With an Enquiry into the Primitive Language

my brother's death, I succeeded to the living; and, as he had left me his library, I sold it to the trustees, in order to its being made a public library; and applied the money, in part of a larger sum, to be laid out by me in land, by a deed enrolled in Chancery, as a fund for the perpetual repairs of the great tower. The poor on this maritime coast were frequently much distressed for want of corn, owing to the convenience the farmers had of exportation. This grievance was alleviated by the erection of granaries, and receiving a part of our rents in corn. Once a vessel was wrecked behind the castle, and the crew saved; but the unfortunate master, after having escaped the perils of the sea, died of a damp bed in the village. That the like might never happen again, all shipwrecked sailors (who come) are received here, and supplied with every necessary. This was the beginning of our little infirmary, which soon suggested the idea of a general dispensary for the poor; which is particularly useful in this part of the country, as there is no other charity of the kind between Edinburgh and Newcastle. The vicinity of the Fern islands, and the want of regular soundings without them, pointed out the convenience of regular firing in a fog; and an old gun found in the sand was applied to that purpose, which has answered our most sanguine expectations. The accidental discovery of the antient well pointed out the convenience of baths, and the infirmary required a variety of them. The number of wrecks on this particular coast, of vessels that had run for Holy Island harbour in a storm, and had failed of getting into it, and the melancholy sights from the castle of persons wrecked on the Islands, and starving with hunger and cold, together with the savage plundering of such goods, &c. as were driven on shore, induced the lords of the manor to try to give every assistance to vessels in distress, and premiums for saving of lives. But how are warlike preparations consistent with charitable purposes? This requires some explanation. The crews of vessels in time of war chased by a privateer are glad to keep as near the shore as they can, and rather run upon it than be taken. Here we have some uncommon local advantages. The decpness of the channel between the shore and the Islands, which is sufficient for the largest ships, and the narrowness of that part of it opposite to us, and the elevated situation of the castle, which an enemy's ship cannot well pass but within gun-shot, demonstrate the utility of a battery, of which we have already had some experience, and in case of war shall perhaps have more. By residing a good deal here, I had an opportunity of raising the rents of the estates considerably, though still with moderation, so as not to distress the tenants; this raised a farther income for charitable purposes. But, as I can do nothing of myself in the trust, without the concurrence of my brethren, if any praise be due, they are entitled to their share of it; for they readily agreed to every proper

plan

before that wonderful Event. By the late learned William Wotton, D. D. Now first published from

plan of charity that was proposed to them. But as for those
improvements which did not strictly come under the denomina-
tion of charity, but yet were necessary for carrying on the repairs
of the Castle, and making it habitable, commodious, and more
extensively useful; I have hitherto defrayed the expence of these,
out of the clear yearly profits of the living of Bamburgh, toge-
ther with some assistance from my relations and friends. One
charity naturally brings on another: and perhaps there are few
situations in the kingdom, where so many and different charities
were practicable, and had so peculiar a propriety, as in this
place, and where every incidental circumstance was made sub-
servient to the general plan. The wrecks (that is, such as were
not, or could not be claimed) supplied us with a considerable
quantity of timber, iron, ropes, &c.; and every thing that came
ashore was applied to the purpose of the building, in the manner
it would answer best. But now, by means of light-houses (in
which we have no concern) and our own institutions for the
safety of navigation, our coast is safer than it ever was before,
and very few accidents happen. I cannot conclude without
repeating my grateful thanks for your very elegant and classical
inscription for this place, &c. (which shall be carefully preserved)
and also for your well-drawn picture of what a minister of the
Gospel ought to be. I am, with compliments to your fellow-
traveller, who, I hope, will inherit his father's virtues, sir,
Your much obliged humble servant,
JOHN SHARP."

"BAMBURGH CASTLE, MDCCXC.
Hanc arcem, O Viator!

antiquitùs unum è regni propugnaculis,
ævo feliciore refecit semirutam
JOANNES SHARP, S.T. P.

cui hospitalitas avari lucro suavior;
cujus labores, ut et otii lusiones,
generis humani amorem redolent.
En horti cultum octogenario delegat,
quia Domino priori † per annos quinquaginta
incassum fuerat fidelis;

eique misellus opitulatur Æthiops,
ob libertatem (mirabile dictu)
è societate propemodum ejectus,
pii fidei commissi pius administrator!
In annonæ penuria,

frumentum vili pretio industriis suppeditat.
Quo cibum animæ salubrem meliùs largiretur,
scholas instituit, et curâ paternâ fovet.
Quâ bonitate, quibusque solatiis,

The late Sir Walter Blackett.

è mart

his original Manuscripts. Printed for S. Austen at the Angel and Bible in St. Paul's Church-yard; and

è mari naufrago elapsos excipere solet
Si verò tormenta bellica

præ pacis amantissimi foribus mireris;
ista ambitionis causâ minimi parantur,
sed naves vel à prædatoribus defendere,
vel nebula oblectis viam comiter monstrare.
O! si pax, ergaque homines benevolentia,
in terris universè regnent!

tunc arces olim munitissimæ,
templa charitatis quoque fierent.
Interea pro talibus operibus
pulcherrima speretur merces:
Veniet enim dies suprema,

quâ totius mundi Judex, majestate mitissimus,
ob ipsius amorem misericordes sic alloquetur;
Vos beatos cœleste manet regnum!"

Sent in December 1783, to the Rev. Mr. James Stuart, Minister of Killin, Perthshire, who died Jan. 30, 1789:

"Vivit, diuque vivat

licet octogenarius,

JACOBUS STUART, apud Killin, V. D. M.
vir utilissimæ popularitatis!
abhorrens enim à factione strepituque,
amoris operâ indefessâ

suos sibi mirificè devincet.
Sive igitur in viâ loquitur,

sive è pulpito sacra exponit oracula,
auditorum corda intus ardent.
Peccato acerbus, peccatori lenis !
In illo conveniunt

doctrina, pudor, suadela,
sanctissimi mores, suavisque hilaritas.
Domo modicâ sed peramenâ,
concordiæ diu mansione,
vicinos, viatores, egenos,
ex animo excipere,

est ei pro

luxuria.

Ultimâ canente tubâ,

(canet etenim, mortuique resurgent)

pro pastore pio ac fideli,

quantuli minuti philosophi,

vel Cæsares, olim orbis terrarum Domini ?”

That the SHARPS are truly a family both of genius and philanthropy, two of the late Archdeacon's brothers, who are still living ornaments of the Metropolis, will testify.

Granville

W. Bowyer, in White Fryars; R. Clements in Oxford; and W. Thurlbourn, in Cambridge."

Granville Sharp, esq. one of the Directors of the Sierra Leone Company, has long been employed in the exercise of benevolence, and in endeavours to meliorate the hardships of the suffering part of mankind. He was one of the first persons who set on foot the enquiry into the African Slave-Trade; President of the Association for its abolition; and the principal agent in the endeavours to establish the Colony in the direction of which he till lately had so considerable a share. His publications areL "Remarks on several very important Prophecies; in five Parts. 1. Remarks on the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th Verses in the seventh Chapter of Isaiah; in answer to Dr. Williams's Critical Dissertation on the same Subject; 2. A Dissertation on the Nature and Style of Prophetical Writings, intended to illustrate the foregoing Remarks; 3. A Dissertation on Isaiah vii. 8; 4. On Gen. xlix. 10; 5. Answer to some of the principal Arguments used by Dr. Williams, in Defence of his Critical Dissertation, 1768," 8vo.-II. "A Representation of the Injustice and dangerous Tendency of tolerating Slavery, or of admitting the least Claim of private Property in the Persons of Men in England; in four Parts; containing, 1. Remarks on an Opinion given by the then Attorney General and Solicitor General, concerning the Cases of Slaves in Great Britain; 2. Answer to an Objection made to the foregoing Remarks; 3. Examination of the Advantages and Disadvantages of tolerating Slavery in England; 4. Remarks on the antient Villenage, shewing that the obsolete Laws and Customs, which favoured that horrid Oppression, cannot justify the Admission of the modern West Indian Slavery into this Kingdom, nor the least Claim of Property or Right of Service deducible therefrom, 1769," 8vo.-III. "Remarks on the Encroachments on the River Thames near Durham-Yard, 1771,” 8vo. IV. "Remarks on the Opinions of some of the most celebrated Writers on Crown Law, respecting the due Distinction between Manslaughter and Murder; being an Attempt to shew, that the Plea of sudden Anger cannot remove the Imputation and Guilt of Murder, when a mortal Wound is wilfully given with a Weapon: That the Indulgence allowed by the Courts to voluntary Manslaughter in Rencounters, and in sudden Affrays and Duels, is indiscriminate, and without Foundation in Law: And that Impunity in such Cases of voluntary Manslaughter is one of the principal Causes of the Continuance and present Increase of the base and disgraceful Practice of Duelling. To which are added, some Thoughts on the particular Case of the Gentlemen of the Army, when involved in such disagreeable private Differences. With a prefatory Address to the Reader, concerning the Depravity and Folly of modern Men of Honour, falsely so called, including a short Account of the Principles and Designs of the Work, 1773," 8vo.-V. "A Dissertation of the People's natural Right to a Share of the Legislature, 1775,"