CLARKE. 



Cla/lcr. ployed, by the best rule* of grammar and crit'citm, he 

 ^*Y"* > cnuravoured 10 fix plainly what wa, and what wa not, 

 declaied in ncripture, respecting Father, Son, and Holy 

 Ghost. His work provoked a number nf a.ita^nm-'ts, 

 the most able of whom was Dr Watrrland. with whom, 

 indeed, our author was at length engaged for some time 

 in single combat. Superior to all his opponent* in wield- 

 ing the weapons of controversy, they resolved to over- 

 power him by a more formidable mode of attack. The 

 Lower House of Convocation made a formal complaint 

 to the bishops, in 1714, of the heterodox opinions and 

 dangerous tendency of his obnoxious work. The bi- 

 shops, though they applauded the zeal of the inferior 

 hou>c, and requested them to give in extracts from the 

 book in support of their charges, evinced a very becoming 

 apirit of conciliation and peace ; and when Dr Clarke, 

 at the instigation of some of his friends, gave in a state- 

 ment of his opinions respecting the Trinity, they express- 

 ed themselves satisfied, and dismissed the complaint. It 

 has been alleged, that in this statement Dr Clarke made 

 a sacrifice of his private opinions to the peace and unity 

 of the church ; a sacrifice for which he has been censu- 

 red or applauded according to the different views and 

 tempers of his biographers. He himself is said to have 

 afterwards regretted his statement, and to have been sen- 

 sible, when too late, of the error into which he had fal 

 len. It is certain, that to the last he entertained the 

 same sentiments respecting the Trinity which be had 

 avowed in his Scripture Doctrine. 



He next engaged in a more amicable and pleasant con- 

 troversy with the celebrated Leibnitz, on the abstruse 

 metaphysical doctrines of philosophical liberty and ne- 

 cessity. These were points which he had deeply stu- 

 died, and in the discussion of which he always excelled ; 

 but his excellence never shone more conspicuous than on 

 this occassion, when he was pressed by the strength of 

 co powerful an adversary. His papers on these subjects 

 were inscribed to the Princess of Wales, afterwards 

 Queen Caroline, through whose hands they had all pass- 

 ed, and who was the witness and judge of every step of 

 the controversy. He again exposed himself (in 1718) 

 to theological animadversion, and became involved in an 

 unpleasant controversy respecting apostolical and primi- 

 tive doxologies, by introducing some alterations into the 

 doxologies of the singing psalms, which had been re- 

 printed that year for the use of his church. The altera- 

 tions consisted in ascribing glory to God through Christ, 

 instead of ascribing equal honours to each of the three 

 persons in the Trinity. The bishop of London publish- 

 ed, on this occasion, a pastoral letter to the clergy of his 

 diocese, to warn them against innovations, and to for- 

 bid them to use the new doxologies. Whiston espoused 

 the cause of his friend Dr Clarke, whose conduct in this 

 affair he accounts one of the most Christian attempts 

 towards somewhat of reformation, on the primitive foot, 

 that he ever ventured upon. Hr adds, however, that the 

 bishop of London, in the way of modern authority, was 

 quite too hard (or Dr Clark-.-, in the way of prnmtive 

 Christianity. About this time he was presented, by Mr 

 Lechmere, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, to 

 the mastership of Wigstan hospital a favour which was 

 much enhanced by the handsome manner in which it was 

 conferred. In 1724 he published seventeen sermons on 

 different occasions, eleven of which had never been print- 

 ed. On the death of Sir Isaac Newton (17-7), lie was 

 offered the mastership of the mini ; but a* iliat was a pie- 

 ferment entirely secular, he, with a becoiriii'n respict 

 for the dignity uf hi- clerical charact.-r^ thought prupt-r 

 to decline it. He shewed lug gratitude and aflectiga 



for Ins deceased friend, by publishing, in the PliHosonhi- Clilce. 

 calTrtimactiont (No. -101,) an able vindication of the- *""V** 

 Newtoiiian theory on Hit- velocity and force of bodies in 

 motion, in a letter addressed to Mr Benjamin Hoadly. 

 The last great work which he lived t publish was 1115 

 .ited edition of the twelve first books of the (had 

 of Homer, which made its appearance in the beginning 

 of the year 1729. The value of this work, which com- 

 pn-li- nded an elegant Latin translation, with a number 

 of admirable notes and illustrations, has been fully re- 

 cognised and appreciated by the learned in every coun- 

 try, and one wh<;m Clarke himself had characterised, as 

 Crilicos units wiincs longe longeque antecelletit, honoured 

 it with the concise but high t mvmium, that it was su- 

 pra omnem inviiliam. The twelve last books were pub. 

 lished in 1732 by his son, who assures us that Dr Clarke 

 had himself finished his annotations on the three first of 

 them, and part of the fourth. 



While thus actively and usefully employed, in the 

 full maturity of his intellectual powers, he was fei/ed 

 by a pleuritic affection on the llth of May 1729, after 

 he had gone to preach before the judges at Sergeants 

 Inn. On the afternoon of that day, the pain ab;iU'd : 

 His physicians pronounced him out of danger, and his 

 friends were congratulating themselves on tne removal of 

 their alarm, when, to their incxprt ssibl surprise and sor- 

 row, the pain shifted ironi his side to his head, on the 

 Saturday following, (the 17th Ma),) and terminated 

 that very evening his valuable life. After his death, an 

 " Exposition of the Church Catechi-m," comprising 

 the substance of a course of lectures which h<- had de- 

 livered in the church of St James's, and which he had 

 carefully revised for the press, was published under the 

 inspection of his brother, who likewise gave to the 

 world a collection of his sermons in ten volumes. 



In the bright constellation of genius which adorned 

 what has been called the Augustan ago of Britain, no 

 single star, if we except the incomparable Newton, shone 

 with more distinguished lustre than the subject of this me- 

 moir. Favoured by nature with uncommon powers of mind, 

 he improved them by almost constant exercise, and en- 

 riched them with every thing valuable in literature and 

 science. The knowledge to which ordinary men attain 

 by slow and toilsome steps, he gained as if by intui- 

 tion ; and became eminent in all those great depart- 

 ments of learning, to excel in one of which is account- 

 ed no mean praise. As a profound and acute meta- 

 physician, he has rarely been equalled; as a philolo- 

 gist, he has not been excelled ; and he who, at the age 

 of 17, could clearly comprehend and duly value the new 

 revelation of the Newtonian philosophy, while yet 

 struggling through the mists of prejudice, must be 

 allowed to have possessed a kindred genius with 

 its immortal discoverer. His chief attention, however, 

 was directed to theology ; the sublime doctrines or' 

 which became the favourite themes ot his penetrating 

 and comprehensive mind, and to the study of which 

 he brought all the aids which human learning can im- 

 part. Few men, accordingly, have done more essential 

 service to religion. With regard to his opinions on 

 some difficult points, there will of course be a diversity 

 of sentiment ; but no Christian can withhold from him 

 the tribute of admiration a; d ot gratitude for his power- 

 ful defence of natural and revr.mii r, ngi.,h ag..mst their 

 most formidable advu >anes, and his singular ability ond 

 success in forcing these em-mieu from the strong holds 

 in which they confided most, and in employing their 

 anillery to their own discomfiture. It has been wrll ob- 

 served by one of his biographers, that, " from km first 



