the society. In April, in the same year, Mr. Broughton, of Exeter, and Mr. Clayton, of Brazen Noso College, were added to their num tional inducement, in the persuasion, that it will impart to many, some new light on the history of dissent, and the causes of the present prosperous state of the church-ber; also, about the same time, Mr. es of Christ in England. J. Hervey, Mr. Kinchin, and Mr. J. Gambold; but their great acquisition was in the year 1734, when Mr. Whitefield, then a youth about 19, joined himself to the society; of which he was destined to be the great Apollos. At that time they were 14 or 15 in number, all colle thodists. Our Lord's parables of the leaven hid in three measures of meal, and of the grain of mustard seed, are herein strikingly illustrated; for from these very small beginnings, what a great increase has | been given ! "The Rev. Benjamin Ingham was descended from an ancient and respectable family in Yorkshire.Being intended for the church, he was sent at the usual age to Oxford, and entered at Queen's College; where he soon acquired the respect, and attracted the notice of his su-gians, of one heart and mind; and periors. The Rev. John and must be considered as the first MeCharles Wesley, with Mr. Richard Morgan and Mr. Kirkman, of Merton College, and others, the great revivers of heart felt and serious religion, began at that time to associate together, and to be noted for a variety of particularities and devotional exercises, "The irreligion and infidelity of which gained them the name of the nation had extended to such a Methodists. Mr. Ingham being yet dreadful degree when the Methodists a stranger to those evangelical first appeared, that it was high time truths which he afterwards propa- some should arise to stem the torrent. gated with so much zeal and success, Bishop Butler prefaces his Analogy, studiously avoided all connection written about this time, by lamentwith them and their meetings. En- ing it was then taken for granted grossed with the eager pursuit of that Christianity was not so much literature, and having imbibed the as a subject of inquiry; and aohighest sentiments of the ecclesias-cordingly they treat it as if, in the tical hierarchy, he felt no relish for men of a spirituality of temper, which he had not yet learned to cultivate, and from whose reproach, as Methodists, he naturally kept aloof; but those things which he had before counted gain, he began shortly after to count loss for Christ. Jehovah, whose thoughts are not as our thoughts, neither his ways as our ways, beheld, from the height of his glory, this vessel of mercy,' wandering far from him in the pursuit of sublunary bliss, and stopped him in his mad career. He shewed him that he was walking in a path that was not good, and mercifully brought him to the knowledge of himself by a way which he knew not. This happy change took place about the beginning of the year 1732; at which time he joined present age, this were an agreed point among all people of discern.. ment, and nothing remained but to set it up as a principal subject of mirth and ridicule, as it were, by way of reprisals for having so long interrupted the pleasures of the world."-At this awful and gloomy. period, the great Head of the Church interposed, and, out of the Establishment, which had been left a barren desert during the 70 years which had elapsed since the ejectment of the 2000 Nonconformists, he raised up an host of faithful men, for whose labours the wilderness and the solitary place should be glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom like the rose.' 6 In the year 1735 their societies at Oxford were broken up ; for Mr. John Wesley, accompanied by his Prother Cartes aan.. and grievous sufferings: they had to me encounter the very beasts of the people: and their lives were frequently in imminent danger from lawless mobs. They saw, they teli, however, that God was with then the word which they thus preached was attended with a divine unction; and an abundant azres: of immortal souls, redeem by the blood of Jesus, crowned e unwearied exertions!" .. Ingham was a man of strong and sound learning; and sesse & large fortune, which he wen & Ime cause of God. He Es a Lise who were destitute of Last a Domestic MisSicer now is. He apWie Tacs: advised with ten concerns mer sphere of REPES INC erraved all their trawing expenses. And although aut curves went Damer De matter mry Margaret Hastings. harvest was UT DIC the the danger of the Earl of Hunlabourers were ev: net nere- nguo. vet he never on this acfore, payed the Land of the bar-count manifested any airs of supewest, that he would send farm more riority. He tried as brethren, labones in the barves. I mis the mous me they were heard and answered; but in a way that ended a destroy the wisdom of the wise, and to bring to nothing the understand ing of the prudent. Many of thos who were brought to a knowledg of the truth as it is in Jesus, unde the ministry Mr. L and h faithful associa were led to te fily to those grace which tasted. peat; and w brother Charles, Mr. Ingham, and Mr. Delamotte, the son of a merchant in London, in the October of that year, embarked for Georgia, in America. grievous sufferings: they had to encounter the very beasts of the people ;' and their lives were frequently in imminent danger from lawless mobs. They saw, they felt, however, that God was with them the word which they thus preached was attended with a divine unction; and an abundant ed by the blood of Jesus, crowned their unwearied exertions!" Mr. Ingham was a man of strong sense, and sound learning; and possessed a large fortune, which he devoted to the cause of God. He was to those who were destitute of the gospel, what a Domestic Missionary Society now is. He appointed preachers; advised with them concerning their sphere of labours, and defrayed all their travelling expenses. And although he married lady Margaret Hastings, the daughter of the Earl of Huntingdon, yet he never on this ac "In Mr. Ingham the brethren found an able assistant. He went and lived among the Indians for some time, and proved very serviceable in regulating and promot-harvest of immortal souls, redeeming the aim of the school. Having succeeded in his attempt to learn the language, he composed an Indian Grammar for the use of the colony; but he was soon called away to England, where he arrived in the latter end of the year 1736. "After his return to England, Mr. Ingham and his coadjutors visited various parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire; and wherever they proclaimed the salvation of Jesus, the word was owned of God and churches were planted. The harvest was truly great; but the labourers were few: they, therefore, prayed the Lord of the har-count manifested any airs of supevest, that he would send forth more labourers into the harvest. In this they were heard and answered; but in a way that tended to destroy the wisdom of the wise, and to bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Many of those who were brought to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, under the ministry of Mr. I. and his faithful associates, were led to testify to those around them that grace which they themselves had tasted. Having felt the powers of the world to come,' knowing in themselves the terrors of the Lord,' and seeing the world lying in the wicked one,' their spirits were • stirred within them, and they began to persuade men' to re pent; and warned them to flee from the wrath to come.' In this manner Mr. Ingham was assisted; and, in a little time, the number of lay preachers considerably in-ed by the distinguished individual creased. These zealous men prosecuted their labours in the midst of the greatest hardships and most 6 6 riority. He treated as brethren, the pious men, who were enabled by his benefactions to carry the gospel to benighted and distant villages. This lady, who was a female of exemplary piety, was equally attentive to Christians of the humblest condition; she would converse with them in relation to their own experience or on religious subjects generally, with the greatest affability and freedom. Mr. Sharp enjoyed the personal friendship of this excellent man; and during a period of about fourteen years, was engaged in itinerant labours chiefly under his direction. He frequently walked the distance of ten or fifteen miles on a Saturday afternoon to the scene of his public ministrations, and on Monday morning returned to his family. When the distance was greater, a conveyance was provid above mentioned. For all these toils and privations he never received any compensation, He had indeed the testimony of his own conscience that he pleased God; he was highly esteemed for his work's sake; and occasionally he had the delightful evidence that his preaching was not in vain. In these consisted his reward. Could he have looked forward intò futurity, and have seen that other men under more propitious circumstances, would enter into the labours of himself and his associates; and that spacious meeting houses with numerous and solemn hearers, would be substituted for the barn and the private room, it would no doubt have increased the satisfaction which at that period he felt. But what he could not foresee, he actually had the gratification of beholding, before the term of his long protracted ministry expired. On the decease of Mr. Ingham, some of his most popular preachers, having been previously acquainted with Messrs. Glass and Sandeman, became Sandemanians. This produced a schism, which finally terminated in the extinction of the INGHAMITES as a separate body. Several of the Churches embraced the new system introduced by their favourite teachers; and others formed an amalgamation with the Independents. In this conjuncture, although Mr. Sharp received tokens of kindness and confidence from his Independent brethren, and occasionally supplied their pulpits, yet he did not for several years connect himself with any church. For a long period he was greatly perplexed on the subject of Baptism. He did not feel himself at liberty, as formerly, to have his children baptized; and yet the prejudices of early education, and the misrepresentations which had been made to him of the sentiments and character of the Baptists, forbade all thoughts of his joining them. To use his own language, he felt an antipathy against believers' baptism until he heard a sermon from the Rev. W. Crabtree, on the baptism of our Saviour in Jordan. His prejudices were subdued. He examined the Scriptures for himself, and was convinced that his views and practice in relation to baptism had been incorrect. In obedience to the command of Christ, he submitted to this ordinance, and joined the Baptist Church at Halifax about the year 1796. He was immediately ordained as an Evangelist. Having supplied a number of vacant pulpits for several years, he was in 1804, requested to become the Pastor of the Baptist Church at Farsley. He accepted their invitation, and remained with them until his decease. Although he was over 60 years of age when he entered on the duties of this new relation, yet he was enabled to preach with acceptance until he was in his seventy-ninth year. In 1816 he experienced a very heavy affliction in the death of his wife. Being members of the same religious society, they had become acquainted with each other when young. The attachments of friendship were ennobled and regulated by Christian principle; and from the time of their marriage they had walked the journey of life together more than half a century. These and other tender recollections were almost constantly present to his mind. He felt persuaded that she was happy. He had heard her, in her dying moments, after 60 years acquaintance with the power and grace of her Redeemer, rejoice in him as the Rock of her Salvation. But he also felt that he had sustained the greatest earthly loss which could possibly have happened to him; and from this period he went mourning, although not murmuring, to the grave. The powers, both of his mind and body, remained more vigorous than is usual for persons of his years. When he had passed the age of seventy-five, he frequently preached three sermons on the |