2 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP SHAKP. 



more for their credit, a taste for letters and po- 

 lite studies ; for there were some among them 

 who were considerable for their writings, inso- 

 much that, he adds, it is rare to meet with so 

 many of the learned authors so nearly allied. 



He tells us likewise, that the family of the 

 Sharp's had been very ancient in Bradfordale ; 

 but that all the writings (except some registers) 

 by which any further knowledge of them might 

 have been gained, were lost or destroyed at the 

 taking of Bradford, in the civil wars. 

 - A loss of no great consequence to the Arch- 

 bishop's character: for it matters not to his 

 character, whether his ancestors were of little 

 figure and note in their age, or were ever so 

 illustrious. 



For though the relative honour that per- 

 sons of rank derive from their house and blood 

 is of use as well as credit to them while they 

 live, and serves, like other civil distinctions 

 from offices and preferments, to procure them 

 precedency and external respects among men, 

 yet neither their extraction nor their station, 

 considered in themselves, contribute any thing 

 to the real advantage of their memory. The 

 respects that are paid by posterity (if any be 

 thought due) arise from other considerations. 

 No recommendation remains acceptable but 

 what is founded on personal merit, which, in 



