LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP SHARP. 171 



The first account he received of any such 

 scheme taking place within his jurisdiction, was 

 from Nottingham, where a society was formed, 

 upon certain laws and rules to be observed by 

 the members : and was quickly grown so con- 

 siderable, as to propose, the having a 



quarterly lecture upon the subject of reformation, 

 at which they invited the clergymen of Notting- 

 hamshire to assist in their turns ; who readily 

 promised their assistance, provided the Arch- 

 bishop approved of it. Upon this the society 

 applied to him, begging his licence for such a 

 lecture, and that he would be pleased to signify 

 his pleasure to Mr. Caryl, a very worthy cler- 

 gyman and minister of Saint Mary's in Notting- 

 ham, whom they had pitched upon to open this 

 lecture. Upon this he wrote to Mr. Caryl in 

 the following manner. 



January 29, 1697-8. 



" Good Sir, 

 *• I received a letter about ten days ago from 

 some persons at Nottingham, not named, who 

 call themselves '' the Society for Reformation," 

 I was a little surprised to find that that which 

 not two months before, when Mr. Ellis first gave 

 me an account of the project, seemed to me but 

 an embryo, should so suddenly be grown into 

 a just body. 



