Barrett, Alfred

Barrett, Alfred an English Wesleyan minister, was born at Attercliffe, near Sheffield, Oct. 17, 1808. When fifteen years of age he united with the Wesleyan Methodist Society; entered the ministry in 1832; was governor of Richmond Theological Institution for many years; spent the closing years of.his life in retirement, and died at Clapton, Oct. 26, 1876. "He was a man of high intellectual capacity and of refined and cultivated tastes. He was a hard student. Some of his works are valuable; and his sermons, carefully prepared and hallowed by much fervent prayer, were remarkable for beauty of language and depth of thought, as well as for energy and unction.

Powerful in the pulpit, unrivalled in the Bible class, and not less remarkable for the faithful and fruitful discharge of pastoral duties, he was also diligent in the more subordinate functions of his office." Mr. Barrett combined dignity and refinement with that courtesy, gentleness, and affection which won him many friends. William Arthur calls him "the lovely Alfred Barrett — a pearl of great price" (Life of Dr. S. D. Waddy, by his youngest daughter, p. 345). Owing to a constitutional tendency, his soul was sometimes for weeks under a cloud of sadness and gloom. Mr. Barrett wrote the following: The Pastoral Office; with Special Reference to the Wesleyan Methodists ( Lond. 1839, 8vo): — Pastoral Addresses (1824; ibid. 1845, 2 vols. 12mo): — Catholic and Evangelical Principles Viewed in their Present Application (ibid. 1843, 8vo): — Life of Mors. Cryer (ibid. 1845, 12mo):Christ in the Storm; or, The World Pacfied (ibid. 1849, 12mo): — The Boatman's Daughter (ibid. 1847, 18mo): — Discourse on Modern Mental Philosophy, with Strictures on Mr. J. D. Morrell (ibid. 1850; 12mo): — Life of Rev. J. H. Bumby, with a Brief History of the New Zealand Mission (ibid. 1852, 18mo): — Devotional Remains of Mrs. Cryer, with an Introduction (ibid. 1854, 16mo): — The Ministry and Polity of the Christian Church, Viewed in their Scriptural and Theological Aspects (ibid. eod. 12mo): — sermon on Ps 119:18, in Sermons by Wesleyan Methodist Mintisters (1850): — Consolator; or, Recollections of the Rev. J. Pearson (ibid. 1856, 12mo): — a sermon on Knowing our Fathers' God. See Minutes of the British Conference, 1877, p. 14; Osborn, Wesleyan Bibliography, p. 66.