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WESLEYAN-METHODIST MAGAZINE.

AUGUST, 1873.

MEMOIR OF THE REV. HENRY SHARP:

BY THE REV. J. R. HEWITSON.

THE uses of sacred biography are numerous: the Church is blessed by the memory of the departed as well as by the life and labours of the living. It is often asked, "Is Christianity practicable?" To such inquiries the lives of good men reply that its duties can be performed, and that its spirit can be exhibited. A Christian life commends piety no less than a good sermon, and is a stronger testimony to the divinity of religion than many arguments. The blessings held out to the good man are great; but the experience of the pious point out to us their attainableness. Numerous and competent witnesses testify that the doctrine of entire holiness is not simply an article in our creed, but its realization has been sought, obtained, and kept by many of our ministers and people. The record of faithful Christians often encourages the timid also to hope in God, and to "hold Him with a trembling hand." What, indeed, has stimulated the zeal of our own section of the Church of Christ more than the rich heritage of biography which we possess? It is thus in keeping with the purposes of Heaven to perpetuate, and this by human instrumentality, the memory of the " righteous." "The memory of the just is blessed : " "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance."

It is in sympathy with these important ends that we pen the following sketch of the late REV. HENRY SHARP. He was born at Poole, in Dorsetshire, on the 6th of July, 1883. His parents lived in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. They were members of the Wesleyan-Methodist Society, and by them he was carefully instructed and "trained in the way he should go." He heard their conversation, watched their life, and in their piety saw proof of the power of the Gospel to make man pure. In childhood he was remarkably thoughtful and fond of reading. In youth these characteristics grew; and by these habits of mind, parental influence, and the restraining grace of God, he was kept from much outward sin. But he does not seem to have manifested a real concern for religion till he was about eighteen years of age. At this period he saw, and felt deeply, the importance of personal godliness. His heart was unrenewed, and there

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VOL. XIX.-FIFTH SERIES.

was no peace to his stricken spirit. The Spirit of God seemed to come upon him like the morning light; and as the light grew clearer he became more distressed in mind, for weeks refusing to be comforted. He at length began to cry unto God with all his heart. His conviction of sin was penetrating, and for a considerable time he sought salvation sorrowing. But he realized in his own case the faithfulness of the Lord: "He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up." Mr. Sharp could never point to the exact time, or the very place, where he obtained "the hid treasure; " yet he knew he had come into possession of riches that the weaith of the world could never give. Though he could not name the hour when he received spiritual sight, he could say, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." He never doubted the reality of the change effected in him, feeling that he had "not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but the Spirit of adoption, whereby he cried, Abba, Father." From this period his path was that of the just, which is "as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." He did not attribute his conversion to any one individual, or to any particular sermon, but to a variety of means: like that of Lydia, his heart was gently opened to the "truth" through which he was "sanctified."

He now went on in the warmth of "first love," serving God. After some time he removed to Slough, in the Windsor Circuit, where he began a prayer-meeting, at seven o'clock on the Sabbath morning. At first he was alone, but a few others soon joined him, and up to a recent date that prayer-meeting, thus commenced, was carried on. About four years after his conversion he believed himself to be called by the Holy Ghost to preach, and to urge others to seck the great Christian blessings which he himself enjoyed. But true to his nature, and the humility that always characterized him, he was afraid to undertake a work so important, and for a time he kept his impressions to himself. At length the Church was moved to open the door for him whom the Spirit was urging to warn men to "flee from the wrath to come." In March, 1857, his name was put upon the Windsor plan as a local preacher on trial. It was soon found, in the fruit God gave him in this work, that he had not mistaken his call. The following entry appears in his diary: "I now renew my covenant with God, and am determined to make a full surrender of body, and soul, and all I possess, to Him and His service; and I will rest in nothing short of entire sanctification." Day after day the prayer was on his lips, "O Lord, make me entirely Thine!" and on May 7th he was able to write, "O blessed day! the best I ever had. This morning, when engaged in my daily occupation, lifting

up my heart to God in silent prayer, I felt all at once such a sense of God's love that I scarcely knew what to do. I was enabled to exercise faith in the blood of Christ, and the Lord of Life and Glory entered my poor heart. Truly to-day I have been enabled to live without sin. Glory, glory to Thee, my God! Now I know I shall be useful. Lord, I consecrate all my powers to Thy service: use me for Thy glory." With such self-dedication, and with such a baptism of the Holy Ghost, we cannot wonder that he went forth, Sabbath after Sabbath, with sacred eagerness, to "preach the Word." Nor do we marvel that he brought many to a knowledge of the truth" as it is in Jesus."

A crisis in Mr. Sharp's personal history, only less important than his second birth, had arrived. He felt he ought to take a wider sphere of labour, and devote himself entirely to the work of the Christian ministry. For a considerable time he hesitated, but the way was in the end made plain for him; so that, at the Conference of 1858, he was accepted as a candidate for the Wesleyan ministry, and was sent to the Theological Institution. For two years he studied at Didsbury, with much diligence and perseverance. Often does he record at the close of the day's work: "Several of us met to-night in my study for prayer, and we had a glorious time." During his stay at the Institution, which he always named with gratitude, he often preached on the Lord's-day, and he speaks, in his diary, of his desire to be successful in winning souls to Christ.

His four years of probation were spent in the Shaftesbury, Ludlow, and Evesham Circuits. In Ludlow he was made very useful, and from this scene of labour many will be "the crown of his rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus." At the Conference of 1864 he was appointed to the Knaresborough Circuit. After spending four months there, he was sent to fill the place of the late Rev. L. Railton at Peel, in the Isle of Man. Here he exercised his ministry for nearly two years. It was known that during the first month of his stay in Peel he prayed most earnestly for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and was often in deep distress because he saw little fruit of his labour, not unfrequently weeping bitterly; he literally went "forth weeping, bearing precious seed." The spring-time, however, was at hand. Days of quickening came; the sun of prosperity shone; and a large in-gathering of souls took place. After leaving the service on the Sabbath evening previous to the beginning of a great revival, he was heard to say, "I can do no more. I preach only to save souls; I cannot tell why the work of the Lord does not revive: I must leave it with God." On the following Wednesday showers of blessing came down upon the people. Men wept, and cried for mercy, and multitudes

received a sense of the forgiveness of their sins, and for months "special" services were held. Mr. Sharp, like many others, rejoiced with a holy joy, even "as men joy in harvest."

In 1866 he commenced his work in the Airdrie Circuit, in Scotland, a wide and laborious field of labour. Here, as elsewhere, he afresh devoted himself to God, and resolved to serve Him by serving His Church. With a calm but fervent zeal, he sought to advance the kingdom of the Redeemer. In all that affected the interests of the different Societies in this Circuit he was concerned, and daily did he urge his request for God's blessing to come down upon the "little one," as well as upon the place in which there was strength. When he came to this sphere of toil he witnessed a wide-spread awakening, and with kindred spirits he prayed and preached, and otherwise wrought for its permanent success, as only those who knew him well can understand.

Years of usefulness were thought to be before this promising young minister, but in the summer of 1868 he was not in good health. Partial rest and change of air were tried, and he returned, as the writer well knows, to live, and pray, and labour as he had never yet done, for the salvation of souls. He took cold in October, and again felt unwell, but said little, and performed all his appointed work. On the 8th of November, he preached in the Wallacestone chapel, from the text, "The end of all things is at hand," than which nothing could have been more appropriate to his own circumstances, as the event showed. His manner was unusually earnest and tender, and many will long remember his fervent appeals. The following Sabbath he was unable to preach. The next day it was deemed necessary to call in medical aid; but it was not anticipated that his end was near, until he became delirious. The last words he was heard to articulate were, "I am a poor sinner, but Jesus is my all." He sank into the arms of death, on Thursday night, the 19th of November, 1868, in the thirty-sixth year of his age, and the ninth of his ministry. His life was in harmony with the spirit and precepts of Christianity, and concerning his death, though sudden, his friends are com forted: "He is not," for "God took him."

We have only briefly now to refer to Mr. Sharp as he appeared in his varied relationships. As a son, he was ever dutiful and kind to his parents to the end of his life. As a husband, he was tender, considerate, loving, seeking at all times to promote the happiness and spiritual well-being of her who mourns in widowhood his loss. In his friendships there was a fine combination of the faithful and the kind, and this not only in the presence of his friends, but in their absence. Speak evil of no man" was an article in his creed. often seen others reproved by his

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