1. Sharp sent JA The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Sharp, Late Lord Archbishop of York, 7 vols., London, 1754, which are in JA’s library at MB (Catalogue of JA’s Library description begins Catalogue of the John Adams Library in the Public Library of the City of Boston, Boston, 1917. description ends ). In his 23 Jan. reply, JA thanked Sharp for the “valuable present” so “eligantly bound” and invited him to visit him any morning before noon (LbC, APM Reel 113). JA was familiar with the archbishop’s writings, indicating in his Diary entry for 10 Nov. 1761 that he had that day read a number of Sharp’s sermons, characterizing Sharp as “a moving, affectionate Preacher” if “not so moral” as his contemporary John Tillotson, archbishop of Canterbury (JA, D&A description begins Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, ed. L. H. Butterfield and others, Cambridge, 1961; 4 vols. description ends , 1:9–10, 224; DNB description begins Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds., The Dictionary of National Biography, New York and London, 1885–1901; repr. Oxford, 1959–1960; 21 vols. plus supplements; rev. edn., www.oxforddnb.com. description ends ).

Granville Sharp (1735–1813) was a noted philanthropist, scholar, and pamphleteer. Following the American Revolution, which he supported, Sharp became interested in the development of the American Episcopal Church, particularly the nature of its liturgy and the ordination of American bishops. He carried on an extensive correspondence with Benjamin Franklin on the subject and was presumably of assistance to JA in his efforts on behalf of the American church, for which see note 2, below.

Sharp, however, was most noted for his antislavery efforts, in support of which he produced numerous pamphlets, many of which are in JA’s library at MB, but see also JA’s 31 Jan. 1786 letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, below. He also became interested in the settlement of freed slaves in Africa and in 1786 at London published A Short Sketch of Temporary Regulations: (Untill Better Shall be Proposed) for the Intended Settlement on the Grain Coast of Africa, Near Sierra Leona. Prior to its publication, Sharp sent JA a manuscript copy of the pamphlet, dated “Old Jewry / 3 July 1786,” with authorial insertions that were included in the published text (Adams Papers description begins Manuscripts and other materials, 1639–1889, in the Adams Manuscript Trust collection given to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1956 and enlarged by a few additions of family papers since then. Citations in the present edition are simply by date of the original document if the original is in the main chronological series of the Papers and therefore readily found in the microfilm edition of the Adams Papers (APM). description ends ). A copy of the pamphlet’s 3d edition, published in 1788, is in JA’s library at MB.

2. As he wrote to Franklin on 29 Oct. 1785, Sharp supported the American election of Episcopal bishops, provided that they were consecrated at the hands of English clergy and not by Scottish non-juring bishops, whose “popish” practice signified a possible departure from apostolic succession (CtY:Benjamin Franklin Papers). Sharp, who met with the archbishop of Canterbury shortly after JA’s visit, proposed that English clergy forgo the usual oaths of allegiance for American candidates. Through his correspondence with Franklin, Sharp continued to monitor the Episcopal general convention’s revisions to the Book of Common Prayer and liturgy, observing that “America is not the only part wherein Protestant Episcopacy is likely to be extended, when the rights of election are better understood.” Sharp’s reassurances to the archbishop, emphasizing American commitment to the use of standing creeds and the opportunity to counter Socinian growth, likely influenced John Moore’s final assent (vol. 17:540; William White, Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church, N.Y., 1880, p. 370–377).