Mr. URBAN, Bedford-row, Dec. 1. Tace of the late Granville HE accompanying Profile (See Sharp, was the identical one from which the medallion on his Monument in Westminster Abbey was taken, and gives as striking a likeness of him as such a style of portraiture is calculated to convey. It is not my intention to enter into any detailed particulars of his character or actions: a short sketch of them, with a list of his works, will be found in the Gent. Mag. for August 1813, and a fuller account in the 27th volume of the Biographical Dictionary, in addition to which the publick may shortly expect, from the pen of Mr. Prince Hoare, a more elaborate and satisfactory Memorial of the veteran Philanthropist; but while so much of what is either read or written is devoted to the recital of acts of cruelty and crime, the mind avails itself with peculiar satisfaction of any opportunity for recording the triumphs of religious sanctity and moral worth. While the contemporaries of Granville Sharp will to the latest moment of their lives retain the liveliest sense of that singleness of heart and warm benevolence, which prompted him to exertions of unbounded private and public charity in every department of humanity; history will record, and posterity to the latest period of British freedom, will celebrate and applaud the Patriot, who by unprece dented exertions of mind and body, and by great personal sacrifices of fortune and repose, established the glorious principle that Slavery cannot exist on British ground. The better to understand the extent of his labours in this cause, it will be necessary to state, that previous to the commencement of the last century it had become a practice with Planters returning to England from the Colonies to bring some of their Slaves, principally children, with them: these, as they grew up, were of course impatient of their servile state, when contrasted with English domestics, and many cases of desertion took place. The Newspapers teemed with advertisements of rewards for the apprehension of runaway slaves, and as often for the sale of them. The publick appeared uneasy at this state of things, and readily adopted a sugges GENT. MAG. December, 1818. tion thrown out that baptism conferred freedom; many negroes were in consequence christened, and benevolent individuals, with a view to their future protection, stood spon sors. Several contests as to the effect of the ceremony took place *, but no certain rule was established, and slavery prevailed, and was a growing practice. With a view to the system being formally recognized, some planters in England laid a statement of their case in 1729 before Mr. Yorke and Mr. Talbot (both afterwards Chancellors) the then Attorney and Solicitor-General, for their consideration; and, almost incredible to relate, the following cruel and illegal opinion was given: "We are of opinion, that a Slave by coming from the West Indies into Great Britain or Ireland, either with or without his Master, does not become free; and that his Master's right and property in him is not thereby determined or varied; and that baptism does not bestow freedom on him, nor make any alteration in his temporal condition in these kingdoms. We are also of opinion, that the Master may legally compel him to return again to the Plantations. "P. YORKE. "C. TALBOT." The above opinion, which reflects greater disgrace on the lawyers who gave it, than upon the Law which they thus dared to distort to their unhallowed purpose, afforded a triumph to the Planters, who gave it every publicity, and wantoned in the full exercise of their usurped dominion. Such continued the professed opinion of the Lawyers, to which also Sir W. Blackstone lent his powerful sanction, and such ultimately was the strong bias of Lord Mansfield, until the point was first legally raised by Granville Sharp, in the year 1765, in the case of one Jonathan Strong, an African Slave, over whom his importers claimed an absolute right of disposition, as of their own goods and chattels, until he was fortunately res cued from their grasp by the efforts of Granville Sharp, whose interposition in similar cases was frequently claimed, and as often proved successful; but these cases were still considered as determined on partial grounds, and induced a wish on his part to bring before the Court some case, involving the single issue, "Whether a Slave by coming into England became free?" This issue was taken in the celebrated case of James Somerset, in the year 1772, when after three solemn arguments the point was reserved for the opinion of the Judges, who after much deliberation recognized the principle sought to be established, "That as soon as any Slave sets his foot upon English territory, he becomes free" an axiom now to be considered as forming an integral part of the British Constitution, "Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs [free: Receive our air, that moment they are They touch our country, and their shackles fall." In the prosecution of this great cause, Mr. Sharp had to encounter every obstacle arising from legal chicane, and with characteristic patience endured many insults and personal indignities, both from the Bench and from the Bar; but he availed himself of his superior unsophisticated knowledge of the principles of the Common Law of England, tothe study of which he had for this purpose, during nearly three years, devoted himself t. Thus, at an expence of several thousand pounds, unaided and alone, did he succeed in obtaining a decision, but for which we should have incurred the disgrace and guilt of domestic slavery, and human creatures have been bought and sold as cattle in pens at Smithfield. So great a victory at once entitled the peaceful hero to a distinguished place in the short list of those practical philanthropists who have achieved triumphs over the cruel and selfish prejudices of mankind. Mr. Sharp was not of a disposition to remain in an inactive enjoyment of the distinction thus acquired; he preceded, and afterwards zealously cooperated with Mr..Clarkson and Mr. Wilberforce in their indefatigable exertions for abolishing the Slave Trade; but he was farther desirous of extend ing the sacred privilege of British soil to the whole circle of British Sovereignty, being firmly persuaded of the fact, which subsequent events have unfortunately too fully verified, that as long as slavery is permitted to exist, solong a Slave Trade will be carried on, and be productive of all those crimes and vices which flow from its polluted and contaminating source, and which attach to every description of persons directly or indirectly interested in the conduct, or participating in the profils, of the hated traffick, and therefore selfishly advocating its continuance. Mr. Sharp was on every occasion the consistent advocate of the legal rights of his fellow-subjects; and his time, fortune, and literary talents, were liberally and efficaciously exerted in remonstrance or legal resistance to acts of oppression, from whatever source they originated: yet with such temper did he conduct himself, and such implicit confidence was reposed in the integrity of his motives and principles, that in a period of unexampled political acrimony, he escaped the rancour of party zeal, and was permitted to do good to all descrip The names of the Counsel engaged and instructed by Mr. Sharp were Serjeants Davy and Glynn, and Messrs. Hargrave, Mansfield (now Sir James Mansfield), and Alleyne. + The result of these studies was the publication of a book in the year 1769, which he called "A representation of the injustice and dangerous tendency of tolerating Slavery in England." In this Work he refuted in the clearest manner the opinion of the Attorney and Solicitor-General, producing against it the opinion of Lord Chief Justice Holt, who many years before bad determined, that every Slave coming into England became free. He attacked it again by a learned and laborious inquiry into all the principles of Villenage, demonstrating it to be an axiom in the British Constitution, "That every man in England was free to sue for and defend his rights, and that force could not be used without a legal process," leaving it to the Judges to determine whether an African was a man. He therein also refuted the opinion of Sir W. Blackstone, shewing where his error lay.-Clarkson's History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, vol. I. 5 tions tions of persons who needed his assistance, without incurring the displeasure even of those with whom he contended. In addition to various publications on the subject of the Slave Trade, Mr. Sharp was the Author of several valuable tracts on the subject of Impress ing Seamen, on the Militia Laws, and on the Encroachments on the River Thames effected by the Adelphi build ings. He likewise used his best endeavours to extend and improve the system of the London Workhouse, which he proposed largely to endow, but was baffled in his scheme by the narrow and exclusive system of municipal legislation. Among his later labours of benevolence was the share he took in the establishment of the African Institution, who, in expression of their gratitude, raised a marble tablet Monument to his memory, in Westminster Abbey, with the eloquent and characteristic inscription inserted at the conclusion of this Memoir. Granville Sharp closed his active and useful life at the advanced age of 79, with a mind unimpaired, although it had outworn his feeble frame; but in the general decay of nature, the brilliant expression of his eyes shone with undiminished lustre, appearing to anticipate the only reward he ever sought. Having thus briefly sketched the most prominent only of his public services, we turn with increased satisfaction to the bright but placid tenor of his private life, his piety towards God, his beneficence towards man, combining the most fervid zeal with the most unbounded charity; firmly attached to the Church of England, but uniting with all denominations in acts of charity and love. His numerous theological tracts evince considerable biblical erudition, and were principally intended to detect and refute the dangerous errors of Popery, of which none of our earlier Reformers could entertain a more sacred horror, unleavened, however, by a single particle of bigotry or malevolence. In purity of life and conversation, and by pursuits of innocence and mercy, Granville Sharp evinced all the graces of a Christian life, and crowned it with a Christian death, meekly resigned to the inevitable lot; and never having trusted to the world, or been influenced either by its smiles or by its frowns, his gentle soul drew largely on those Scriptures which he loved, and which he had long experienced as the only sure source of comfort in this life, and of hope for a better. The good things of this world he received with gratitude, and enjoyed with chearful moderation; well aware of the uncertain tenure of this world's goods, and of the comparative insignificance of the period of threescore years and ten, assigned for their enjoyment; even if that period should be one of uninterrupted health and happiness; but this the world has never yet bestowed, in all its plenitude of pomp, and boast of promise, to any one of its votaries, while millions after millions of its deluded followers have experienced all the pangs of disappointment for the misapplication of their time to vanities, if not crime, to the exclusion of every serious thought, and to the dreadful hazard of their eternal interests. a In short, Granville Sharp was sensible that the religion of the divine Saviour and Redeemer of the world requires something more than cold and indolent assent of the understanding; that it imperiously calls for an entire change in the dispositions of the heart, for a sacrifice of many darling propensities of our nature, and for an habitual subservience of worldly interests and worldly pursuits to the concerns of immortality. What a contrast does such a character present to that of persons, who with lofty pretensions to genius and philosophy, would affect to laugh to scorn the pious life and labours of Granville Sharp; while tossed in the turmoil of that world which forms the boundary of all their views and wishes, they are themselves objects of pity or derision, wasting their limited existence in objects of vanity and contention; and not unfrequently under the bitter influence of the mortifications and disappointments which such worthless objects of pursuit must necessarily entail, raise their desperate hands against themselves; thus closing their career with death, the double death of suicide, extinction of life here, and of all hope of happiness hereafter. Honoured from an early period by a familiar intercourse with the subject of this imperfect Memoir, those who knew |