Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/825

Rh CLARKE 811 auctce. It was translated into English by Dr John Clarke, dean of Sarum, and published in two vols. 8vo. Clarke afterwards turned his thoughts to divinity, and iu order to qualify himself for the sacred office, devoted himself to the study of Scripture in the original, and of the primitive Christian writers. Having taken holy orders, he became chaplain to Moore, bishop of Norwich, who was ever afterwards his constant friend and patron. In 1699 he published two treatises, one entitled Three Practical Essays on Baptism, Confirmation, and Repentance, and the other, Some Reflections en that part of a book called A myntor, or a Defence of Milton s Life, which relates to the Writings of the Primitive Fathers, and the Canon of the New Testament. In 1701 he published A Paraphrase upon the Gospel of St Matthew, which was followed, in 1702, by the Paraphrases upon tlie Gospels of St Mark and St Luke, and soon afterwards by a third volume upon St John. They were subsequently printed together in two volumes 8vo, and have since passed through several editions. He intended to have treated in the same manner the remaining books of the New Testament, but something accidentally interrupted the execution of his design. Meanwhile Bishop Moore gave him the rectory of Drayton, near Norwich, and procured him a parish in the city. In 1704 he was appointed to the Boyle lectureship, and chose fur his subject the Being and Attributes of God. Having been appointed to the same office in the following year, he chose for his subject the Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion. These lectures were first printed in two distinct volumes, but were afterwards collected together, and published under the general title of A Discourse concerning the Being and Attributes of God, the Obligations of Natural Religion, and the Truth and Certainty of the Christian Revelation, in opposition to Hobbes, Spinoza, the author of the Oracles of Reason, and other Deniers of Natural and Revealed Religion. In 1706 he wrote a refutation of some positions which had been maintained by Dr Dodwell on the immortality of the soul, and this drew him into controversy with Collins. He also at this time wrote a translation of Newton s Optics, for which the author presented him with 500. In the same year also, through the influence of Bishop Moore, he obtained the rectory of St Bennet s, Paul s Wharf, London ; and he soon afterwards appeared at the court of Queen Anne, who appointed him one of her chaplains in ordinary, and afterwards, in 1709, presented him to the rectory of St James s, Westminster. On his elevation to this latter office, he took the degree of doctor in divinity, defending as his thesis the two propositions : &quot; 1. Nullum Jidei Christiana dogma, in Sacris Scripturis traditum, est recta; rationi dissentaneum ; no article of the Christain faith, delivered in the Holy Scriptures, is disagreeable to right reason, and 2. Sineactionum Jiumanarum libertate nullapotest esse religio, without the liberty of human actions, there can be no religion. During the same year, at the request of the author, he revised and corrected Winston s English translation of the Apostolical Constitutions. In 1712 he published a carefully punctuated and annotated edition of Caesar s Commentaries, adorned with elegant engravings. It was printed in folio, 1712, and afterwards in 8vo, 1720, and dedicated to the duke of Maiiborough. During the same year he published his celebrated treatise on The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity. It is divided into three parts. The first contains a col lection and exegesis of all the texts in the New Testament relating to the doctrine of the Trinity ; in the second the doctrine is set forth at large, and explained in particular and distinct propositions ; and in the third the principal passages in the liturgy of the Church of England relating to the doctrine of the Trinity are considered. Whiston informs us that, some time before the publication of this book, a message was sent to him from Lord Godolphin and other ministers of Queen Anne, importing &quot; that the affairs of the public were with difficulty then kept in the hands of those that were for liberty ; that it was therefore an unseasonable time for the publication of a book that would make a great noise and disturbance ; and that therefore they desired him to forbear till a fitter opportunity should offer itself,&quot; a message that Clarke of course entirely dis regarded. The ministers were right in their conjectures ; and the work not only provoked a great number of replies, but occasioned a formal complaint from the Lower House of Convocation. Clarke, in reply, drew up an apologetic preface, and afterwards gave several explanations, which satisfied the Upper House ; and on his pledging himself that his future conduct would occasion no trouble, the matter dropped. In 1715 and 1716 he had a discussion with Leibnitz relative to the principles of natural philosophy and religion, which was at length cut short by the death of his antagonist. A collection of the papers which passed between them was published in 1717. In 1719 he was presented by Lord Lechmere to the mastership of Wigston s hospital in Leicester. In 1724 he published seventeen sermons, eleven of which had not before been printed. In 1727, upon the death of Sir Isaac Newton, he was offered by the court the place of Master of the Mint, worth on an average from 1200 to 1500 a year. This secular pre ferment, however, he absolutely refused, a circumstance which Whiston regards as &quot; one of the most glorious actions of his life, and affording undeniable conviction that he was in earnest in his religion.&quot; In 1728 was published &quot;A Letter from Dr Clarke to Benjamin Hoadley, F.R.S.. occasioned by the controversy relating to the Proportion of Velocity and Force in Bodies in Motion,&quot; printed in the Philosophical Transactions. In 1729 he published the first twelve books of Homer s Iliad. This edition was printed in quarto, and dedicated to the duke of Cumberland. &quot; The translation of Homer, whp was Clarke s favourite author,&quot; says Bishop Hoadley, &quot; with his corrections, may now be styled accurate ; and his notes, as far as they go, are indeed a treasury of grammatical and critical knowledge. He was called to his task by royal command, and he has performed it iu such a manner as to be worthy of the young prince for whom it was laboured.&quot; The year of its publication was the last of Clarke s life. Hitherto, though not robust, he had always enjoyed a firm state of health ; but on the morning of Sunday, llth May 1729, when going out to preach before the judges at Sergeant s Inn, he was seized with a sudden illness, which caused his death on the Saturday morning following. He died, May 17, 1729, in the 54th year of his age. Soon after his death were published, frum his original manuscripts, by his brother Dr John Clarke, dean of Sarum, An Exposition of the Church Catechism, and ten volumes of sermons, in 8vo. His Exposition is composed of the lectures which he read every Thursday morning, for some months in the year, at St James s church. In the latter part of his life he revised them with great care, and left them completely prepared for the press. Three years after his death appeared also the last twelve books of the Iliad, published in 4 to by his son Mr Samuel Clarke, the first three of these books and part of the fourth having, as he states, been revised and annotated by his father. Clarke was of a cheerful and even playful disposition. An intimate friend relates that happening to call for him he found him swimming upon a table. At another time, when Clarke and several other men of ability and learning were indulging in diversion, on looking out at the window he saw a grave blockhead approaching the house ; upon which