258 LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP SHARP. 



party that claimed him, nor the persuasions of 

 the ministry, nor even the personal applications 

 of his royal sovereign, were of wreight and force 

 enough to engage him in any thing that in his 

 own judgment did not well consist with this 

 principle. 



And here we see the whole compass of his 

 politics. But as so short and general an ac- 

 count of them will avail little towards vindi- 

 cating his character from party suggestions, and 

 clearing him of those unjust suspicions which 

 some were pleased to entertain concerning him, 

 it is requisite to be somethhig more particular 

 upon this head, and to make use of all the light 

 that either his diary, or any other testimonies to 

 be met with at this distance of time, can throw 

 i>a upon this part of his character ; and to shew 

 that he followed no scheme but the good of his 

 country, was in no interest but that of the con- 

 stitution, and was a fast friend to the act of settle- 

 ment upon the House of Hanover. 



It may not be amiss to observe, in the first 

 place, how careful he was to avoid all ap- 

 proaches to politics or party concernments in 

 his sermons. He judged the pulpit to be of all 

 places the most improper for the publication or 

 even suggestion of men's private sentiments 

 concerning public affairs or state matters. Much 

 less could he bear to have the doctrines of 



