Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/857

 SHARP works, and grandson of Dr. John Sharp, arch- bishop of York. He quitted the study of law for a place in the ordnance office, which he resigned at the commencement of the American war, from disapprobation of the course pur- sued by the government. In 1769 he befriended a negro slave named Somerset, who had been brought to England, and on falling ill had been turned into the streets by his master. When two years later the negro's master claimed him, and had him arrested and imprisoned, Sharp summoned them both before the lord mayor, who discharged the slave ; but the master re- fusing to give him up, Sharp brought the case before the court of king's bench, the 12 judges of which, in May, 1772, decided that a slave could not be held in or transported from Eng- land. From this time Mr. Sharp devoted his powers to the overthrow of slavery and the slave trade. He wrote numerous pamphlets on the subject, and was chairman of the meet- ing held in London, May 22, 1787, which formed the " Association for the Abolition of Negro Slavery." He was one of the founders of the British colony of Sierra Leone, drew up a plan for its temporary government, and sent many negroes there at his own expense. He also opposed the impressment of seamen, and advocated parliamentary reform and the ex- tension of privileges to Ireland. Besides pam- phlets, he published " Representation of the Injustice and dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery in England" (8vo, London, 1772); " Declaration of the People's Natural Right to a Share in the Legislature" (1774); "The Law of Retribution" (1776); "Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article in the Greek Testament " (1798) ; " Account of the Ancient Division of the English Nation into Hun- dreds and Tithings, and View of Frankpledge " (1784) ; and " Three Tracts on the Syntax and Pronunciation of the Hebrew Tongue" (1804). His biography was written by Prince Hoare (4to, London, 1810). SHARP, James, a Scottish prelate, born in the castle of Banff in May, 1618, assassina- ted on Magus Muir, near St. Andrews, May 3, 1679. He was educated for the church in the university of Aberdeen, and was one of its students who in 1638 declared themselves against the " Solemn League and Covenant." In 1640 he was chosen professor of philoso- phy in St. Leonard's college, St. Andrews, and shortly after became minister of the parish of Crail. In 1656 he was chosen to plead for the Presbyterians before the protector ; and in 1660, when Monk marched upon London, he was regularly accredited to that general as their representative, and was sent over to Charles II. at Breda to procure the establish- ment of presbytery. He was received very favorably by the king, and obtained the royal word " to protect and preserve the govern- ment of the church of Scotland, as it is settled by law, without violation." The next Scottish parliament however repealed all acts passed 737 VOL. xiv. 53 SHASTA 831 since 1633, the church " settled by law " thus becoming the old Episcopal church ; and it was asserted that Sharp was an accomplice in this scheme. While in London he had been elected professor of divinity in St. Mary's col- lege, St. Andrews, and also appointed the king's chaplain for Scotland with a salary of 200. In December, 1661, he was consecrated arch- bishop of St. Andrews, an appointment which rendered him excessively odious. The wanton cruelty with which the Covenanters were per- secuted was attributed to him, and it is certain that, after the rout at Pentland hills, when he had received the king's order to stop the exe- cutions, he kept it for some time private. A creature of Sharp's named Carmichael had made himself particularly obnoxious to the Presbyterians, and nine men formed a plan to waylay and murder him. While they were waiting for this person, the archbishop passed by with his daughter and a few attendants ; shouting, " The Lord has delivered him into our hands," they dragged him from his coach and despatched him. SHARP, John, an English prelate, grandfather of Granville Sharp, born in Bradford, York- shire, Feb. 16, 1644, died in Bath, Feb. 2, 1714. He entered Christ's college, Cambridge, in 1660, was ordained in 1667, was made arch- deacon of Berkshire in 1672, prebendary of Norwich in 1675, rector of St. Bartholomew's, London, in 1676, of St. Giles-in-the-fields in 1677, and dean of Norwich in 1681. He was chaplain to Charles II., and attended as court chaplain at the coronation of James II. For a sermon in 1686 against the claim of the Ro- man church to be called " the only visible Catholic church," the king suspended him, but he was reinstated in 1687. In 1689 he was made dean of Canterbury, and in 1691 arch- bishop of York. His sermons have appeared in several editions (7 vols., 1729-'35 ; 5 vols., 1829). His son THOMAS (1693-1758), archdea- con of Northumberland, wrote his life (edited by Dr. Newcome, 2 vols., 1825), and published works against Hutchinsonianism, on " The Rubric and Canons of the Church of Eng- land," "Antiquity of the Hebrew Tongue and Character," &c. (collected, 5 vols. 8vo, 1768). SHARPE, a N. E. county of Arkansas, bor- dering on Missouri, and intersected by Spring and Strawberry rivers, tributaries of Black river; area, about 600 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 5,400, of whom 114 were colored. The surface is a plateau, divided into a series of ridges by numerous clear streams, with much good soil. Iron, lead, and zinc occur, and the last is mined. The chief productions in 1870 were 13,443 bushels of wheat, 200,090 of Indian corn, 13,447 of oats, 56,600 Ibs. of butter, and 1,046 bales of cotton. There were 1,704 horses, 2,004 milch cows, 3,376 other cattle, 4,837 sheep, and 9,581 swine. Capital, Evening Shade. SHASTA, a N. county of California, bounded W. by the Coast mountains, and intersected by the Sacramento river ; area, 4,500 sq. m. ;