iTIII^OLOaiCAL SEMIN iPiY. | 
 
 I - on, IT. J. I 
 
 BX 8495 .C57 L5 1842x 
 
 The life and labours of 
 Clarke, LL. D 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND LABOURS 
 
 ^ 
 
 OF 
 
 ADAM 9LARKE, LL.D. 
 
 " He was a burning and a shining light," 
 
 John v. 35. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 
 
 1842. 
 
ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. 
 
 Printed by Jolm Stephens, 20§, Warwick-lane. 
 
PIIEFACE. 
 
 The present edition of this Volume differs consider- 
 ably from the former. Many retrenchments and many 
 additions have been made. The narrative has been 
 divested of the somewhat controversial aspect which in 
 several parts it bore ; and it now contains nothing that 
 needs give offence to the most sensitive partizan of any 
 class of opinions. Numerous transpositions have been 
 effected, with a view to a stricter chronological arrange- 
 ment. A vast deal of fresh matter has been intro- 
 duced, derived principally from letters and other docu- 
 ments published since the appearance of the first edition. 
 In every respect, the Volume is now much more inter- 
 esting, accurate, and complete. 
 
 The object of the Author, in the first instance, was 
 to produce a popular account of the Life and Labours 
 of Dr. Adam Clarke. He therefore purposely excluded 
 everything that might have been unintelligible or un- 
 interesting to the great mass of unlearned readers. 
 Guided by the same principle in the preparation of a 
 second edition, he has still confined himself to a plain 
 statement of the facts in the Doctor's history, combined 
 with such illustrations of his character as his own 
 writings, or the recollections of his intimate friends, 
 were found to supply. The narrative is wholly unen- 
 cumbered by such trite observations as personal his- 
 
iv . PREFACE. 
 
 torians often have recourse to, in order to disguise the 
 lack of biographical matter. No such lack existed in 
 the present instance. On the contrary, if the work is ob- 
 noxious to criticism, perhaps it is on the score of running 
 in a too constant stream of fact. The common reader, 
 however, for whom it is intended, is not likely to make 
 this a ground of serious complaint : with him, at least, 
 the Author is conscious that this will constitute its chief 
 recommendation. 
 
 Here, in short, is a faithful portraiture of Adam 
 Clarke, — not the less faithful for being painted prin- 
 cipally with his own hand. Such foibles and imper. 
 fections as attached to him never appear more manifest 
 than when he himself exhibits them to view ; but, 
 when we have made every abatement in our estimate 
 which they demand, he still stands out confessedly a man 
 of wonderful attainments, of a sagacious mind, of a large 
 heart, of fervent piety ; and we are only at a loss to 
 decide in which character his excellence was most con- 
 spicuous — whether as a scholar, a philanthropist, or a 
 Christian. 
 
 London^ March 12, 1842. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Preliminary Remarks — Adam Clarke's Birth — Ancestry — Parentage — His 
 Brother Tracy — Adam Clarke's Nephews — His childish Habits — Sin- 
 gular Antipathy — Slowness in Learning — Stimulated by Reproaches — 
 Helps to till his Father's Farm — His Juvenile Observations on the 
 Weather — Open-air Studies — First Attempt at Verse — Juvenile Libraiy 
 — Studies Magic — Judicious Remarks of the " Christian Observer" — 
 Studies Alchymy — His youthful Feats ,.. Pp. 1 — 13. 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Adam Clarke's early religious Impressions — Religious Instractions of his 
 Mother — He learns Singing and Dancing — His subsequent Disappproval 
 of the latter — The " Christian Observer's" Apology for it — His early 
 Desire for the Ministiy — Fall from a Horse — Remarkable Escape from 
 drowning — Adam's Father removes to Agherton — Adam hears the Metho- 
 dist Preachers — Receives Benefit from the Rev. Thomas Barber — Fixes 
 his Creed from reading the New Testament — Attends a Class-meeting 
 — Lapses into Socinianism — Recovery by Prayer — Receives the Lord's 
 Supper — His Conversion — The Rev. Henry Moore's Reminiscences of 
 Dr. Clarke's early Life — Intellectual Enlargement consequent on spi- 
 ritual Emancipation — Studies Astronomy and Natural Philosophy — 
 Conducts Family Worship in his Father's House — His Sisters join the 
 Methodist Society — Is the Means of converting some of his School- 
 fellows — Commences Village Preaching, and leads a Class — Learns 
 Dialling — Studfes French — Is apprenticed to a Linen-merchant — His 
 conscientious Objection to Tricks of Trade — Mr. Wesley offers to receive 
 him into Kingswood School — His Parents object — He is instrumental in 
 converting his Master's Servant — His benevolent Attentions to his 
 Master's Kinswoman — He reproves Sin — His ascetic Practices — Morbid 
 Veracity — Its ruinous Influence on his Memoiy — Recovers by Prayer 
 — Remembers the Substance of Things — Abandons the Linen-trade. 
 
 Pp. 14—36. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Adam Clarke's Call to the Ministiy, and his first Text — Is sent for by Mr. 
 Wesley — Objections of his Parents — They yield — Adam embarks — 
 Arrives at Liverpool — Reaches Kingswood — His unkind Reception, and 
 rough Treatment — Finds a Half-guinea — His first Interview with Mr. 
 John Wesley — And with Mr. Charles Wesley — Different Treatment at 
 Kingswood — Is confirmed by Bishop Bagot — Subsequent Improvement 
 of Kingswood School — Adam Clarke leaves Kingswood Pp. 37 — 45. 
 
vi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Mr. Clarke's first Circuit — His early Popularity and Usefulness — Dr. 
 Clarke's Visit to Frome in 1832 — Mr. Clarke continues his Studies — 
 Discouraging Admonition and rasli Vow — The Vow abjured — Abandons 
 the Use of Tea and Coffee — Great amount of Labour — Mr. Clarke 
 attends the Bristol Conference — Is received into full Connexion — Curious 
 Anecdote — Is appointed to Norwich — Scanty Living — Miserable Lodg- 
 ings — Prevalence of Calvinism — Great Hardships — An early Methodist 
 Preacher's Stipend — Visit of Mr. Wesley to Norwich — Ungodly State of 
 Norfolk — John Hampson and the Mob — Female Preachers — Mr. Clarke 
 coiTesponds with Miss Elizabeth Cooke — His early Knowledge of experi- 
 mental Christianity — His Progress in Study — Immense Labours in 
 Norwich — He is appointed to St. Austell — His Journey thither — His 
 successful labours — He admits jMr. Samuel Drew into Societj^ — Inhos- 
 pital)le Treatment — A Persecutor subdued — Mr. Clarke meets with a 
 dangerous Accident — His great Popularity and Usefulness — His Progress 
 in Study — His Friend Mabyn — His immense Labours — He is appointed 
 to Plymouth- Dock — Improvement of the Circuit — Remarkable Anecdote 
 — Morning Preaching — The turbulent Choir — Dr. Clarke's Sentiments 
 on Sacred Music — Dr. Clarke's Visit to Plymouth in subsequent Years — 
 The abjured Vow — His Colleague Mason Pp. 46 — 68. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is appointed to the Nonnan Isles — His reluctant Acquiescence 
 — Commencement of his Engagement with. Miss Mary Cooke — He sails 
 for Jersey — Remarkable Christians — Mr. Clarke's Health declines — 
 Visits England — Reproves Swearing on his Return — Mr. Wesley visits 
 the Norman Isles — Mr. Clarke accompanies him on his Return to 
 England — Remarkable Answer to Prayer — Visits the Cookes at Trow- 
 bridge — ]Mrs. Cooke's Objections to his marrying her Daughter — Mr. 
 Clarke returns to his Station — Narrow Escapes from Shipwreck — 
 Account of his Studies — Marries Miss Mary Cooke — Persecutions in 
 Guernsey and Jersey — Striking Expostulation with a Mob — Narrow 
 Escape from being frozen to Death — Mr. Clarke the first Methodist 
 Preacher who visited Alderney — His Adventures and Labours there — 
 His subsequent Visits — His want of congenial Society in the Channel 
 Isles — His Progress in Study — Is enabled to purchase Walton's Poly- 
 glott Pp. 69—86. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mr. Clarke leaves the Norman Isles — Is appointed to Bristol — Mr. Moore's 
 Account of his Progress in Learning — Mr. Wesley's last Conference — 
 Mr. Clarke is appointed to Dublin — His Illness — Distracted State of 
 the Society — Mr. Clarke founds the Strangers' Friend Society — Becomes 
 acquainted with a Turkish Janissaiy — Enters Trinity College as a 
 Medical Student — Application of his Chemical Knowledge to Biblical 
 Illustration — Becomes acquainted with an Enthusiastic Alchymist — 
 Death of Mr. Wesley — Mr. Clarke is appointed one of Mr. Wesley's 
 Trustees \ Pp. 87—98 . 
 
CONTENTS. VU 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is appointed to Manchester — His Account of the burning of 
 Dr. Priestley's House and Library — His Opinion of Napoleon and 
 Wellington — His Account of the State of Parties — The Rev. Messrs. 
 Bradburn and Benson — Dr. Clarke's Condemnation of political Preach- 
 ing and religious Newspapers — Mr. Clarke's State of Health — He pre- 
 scribes for the sick Poor — Death of his Son Adam — Mr. Clarke is 
 appointed to Liverpool — His Preaching described by Mrs. Pawson — He 
 is desperately attacked and wounded — His Sentiments on noisy Revivals 
 —Remarkable Anecdote Pp. 99—108. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is appointed to London — His circuit Labours — His Works of 
 Benevolence — Origin of the Methodist New Connexion — Conversion of 
 the late Mr. Joseph Butterworth, some time M.P., and his Lady — Mr. 
 Clarke's Preparations for his Commentary — A poetical Contest — Mr. 
 Clarke nearly loses his Notes on Job — His strict Economy of Time — His 
 social Habits — Makes a country Tour for the Benefit of his Health — 
 Mr. Clarke leaves London for Bristol — Death of his Father — Mr. Clarke 
 feels the general Scarcity — His domestic Habits — Makes a Tour in 
 Cornwall — His literary Friends — Purchases Meninski's Thesaurus — His 
 Views of Salvation — Removes to Liverpool — Forms the Philological 
 Society — Meets with an extraordinary Case — Alarming State of his 
 Health — Decyphcrs an ancient Inscription — Removes to Manchester — • 
 Meets in Class — His Counsel to a young Preacher — Death of his 
 youngest Daughter — His Connexion with the " Eclectic Review"— Forms 
 a Philological Society in Manchester Pp. 109 — 126. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Mr. Clarke removes to London — Attends the Leeds Conference — Is elected 
 President — Visits Stonehenge — Old Sarum — Wilton House — Wardour 
 Castle — Fonthill Abbey — Stourton — Becomes a Member of the Com- 
 mittee of the Bible Society — His gi-eat Services to it — Declines any 
 Remuneration — Becomes acquainted with Professor Porson — Receives 
 the Degree of M.A, from Aberdeen — and LL.D — Corresponds with Dr. 
 Morrison — Proposes to build Almshouses for Methodist Preachers' 
 Widows Pp. 127—138. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Dr. Clarke is engaged by the Commissioners of Public Records to com- 
 plete Rymer's Foedera — Opinions of his Brethren on the Subject — Draws 
 up an Essay on the Work — Is appointed a Sub-Commissioner — Sportive 
 Letter to the Rev. Thomas Roberts — Dr. Clarke's Account of his Labours 
 under the Commission — Extent of his Labours — A private Room in 
 the British Museum is assigned him — Dr. Clarke's Associates — Errors 
 and Imperfections of Rymer — Dr. Clarke repudiates the Letter of Vetus 
 de Monte — His Reasons — He pronounces it a Forgery by Longchamp, 
 Bishop of Ely — Dr. Clarke advises the Omission of Acts of Oblivion — 
 He is appointed Librarian of the Surrey Institution — He negociates the 
 Sale to the Nation of Sir Andrew Mitchell's Papers — His Thoughts on 
 Innovations in the English Language — A Letter to his, Daughter — His 
 
yiii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Controversy with the Rer. T. Scott on the Septuagint — His Scheme for 
 a New Edition of the London Polyglott Bible — His List of Books for 
 Oriental Translators of the Scriptures — Delicate State of his Health — 
 Becomes acquainted with Miss Mary Freeman Shepherd — Account of 
 that Lady — Anecdotes of Cruden — Miss Shepherd's Letters to Dr. 
 Clarke — On Accidents — On Proselytism — On Charles Wesley's Son 
 Samuel's Conversion to Popery — On Imputed Righteousness — On the 
 Trials of Job — On Jacob and Esau — On other Subjects — Miss Shepherd's 
 Death — Dr. Clarke visits Ireland — His Opinion of the Round Towers — 
 The Scenes of his Childhood — He preaches in a Church — And in a 
 Socinian Chapel — Unreasonable Demands upon him — His Benevolence 
 — He holds the Irish Conference — Visits Maynooth — Witnesses the 
 Arrival of the Rebel General Gibbon — Death of Dr. Clarke's Mother — 
 He visits Cambridge — Assists at the Fonnation of an Auxiliaiy to the 
 Bible Society — Second Visit to Cambridge — Origin of the Idea of the 
 Pilgrim's Progi-ess — Dr. Clarke visits Ireland agaig — Remarkable Con- 
 version of a young Lady from Popery — Dr. Clarke attends the Irish 
 Conference — ^Visits Oxford — Occupies the Apartments of Dr. John Uri — 
 Writes an Inscription on a Pane to his Memory — Unintermitted minis- 
 terial and other Labours — Dr. Clarke is elected F.S.A. — His pleasant 
 Style of Letter- writing — He is elected a Member of the Historical 
 Society of New York — Assists in the Fonnation of the Wesleyan Mission- 
 ary Society — Becomes acquainted with Mr. Hugh Stuart Boyd — That 
 Gentleman's Essay on the Greek Article — Dr. Clarke's strong Convic- 
 tion of the Truth of the Scriptures Pp. 139—172. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Broken State of Dr. Clarke's Health — His Friends purchase for him a 
 Retreat near Liverpool — Description of his New Residence — His altered 
 Occupations — Erects a Chapel on his Grounds — Engages in agricultural 
 Pursuits — Distinguished Visitors at Millbrook — Dr. Clarke's Benevolence 
 to some shipwrecked Mariners — Takes a Tour through the West of Scot- 
 land, on his Way to Ireland — State of the Irish Peasantry — Dr. Clarke 
 narrowly escapes from Poison — Visits his native Place — The Scene of 
 his Boyhood — Welcome back to Millbrook — Dr. Clarke's high Opinion 
 of Methodism — Accident at Millbrook — Dr. Clarke becomes acquainted 
 with the Rev. Thomas Smith — Is elected Member of the American 
 Antiquarian Society — Publishes the Traveller's Prayer — The two Budhist 
 Priests — Dr. Clarke undertakes their Instruction — Their Impressions of 
 English Objects — Their Disinterestedness — Dr. Clarke baptizes them — 
 Their Return to Ceylon — Letters from them Pp. 173 — 190. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Dr. Clarke retires from the Record Commission — Visits Cornwall — Attack 
 of Illness — Accident at St. Austell — Letter to the Rev. Robert Newstead 
 
 • — Death of Mrs. Butterworth — Dr. Clarke attempts to procure the Recep- 
 tion of the Address of the Conference to George IV. on his Accession on 
 the Throne — His projected Life of the Rev. J. Wesley — His Lives of the 
 Wesley Family — Visits Ireland — Interesting Scene — The Scene of Dr. 
 Clarke's Boyhood — Fete at Millbrook on the Coronation of George IV. — 
 Dr. Clarke is elected M.R.I.A. — Visits Epworth — Letter to his youngest 
 son — Meeting of his Family at Millbrook — His Condescension to the 
 Young — His Intercourse with H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex — Loses some 
 of his older Friends Pp. 191—209. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ix 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Dr. Clarke is chosen President of the London Conference — Commencement 
 of the Shetland Mission — Dr. Clarke's successful Exertions for it^ — Dread- 
 ful Storm at Millbrook — Dr. Clarke is elected a Member of the Geolo- 
 gical Society of London — and of the Royal Asiatic Society — Letter to 
 the Rev. Mr. Raby — To the Rev. Messrs. Raby and Dunn — To the Rev. 
 Mr. Lewis — To the Rev. Mr. Wears — To Mr. Dunn — Opposition to the 
 Shetland Mission — Dr. Clarke goes to preside at the Irish Conference — 
 Tour through Scotland on his Way — Remarks on the Poet Burns — On 
 Nelson's Monument in Edinburgh — On the City of Edinburgh — On 
 Family Worship in Scotland — On the Comparative Religion of Glasgow 
 and Edinburgh — On the State of Methodism — On visiting the Scenes of 
 his Cliildhood — Disturbed State of Ireland — Oppressive Private Parties 
 — Dr. Clarke's Description of the Irish Roman Catholic Peasantry — He 
 attends the Conference at Sheffield — Opens a new Chapel — Alaraiing 
 Accident — Letter to Mr. Dunn — To Mr. Lewis — To Mr. Raby. 
 
 Pp. 210—225. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Dr. Clarke removes from Millbrook to London — From London to Haydon- 
 hall — Builds a Chapel on his Estate — His continued Interest in the 
 Shetland Mission — Letter to Mrs. William Williams — To Mr. Dunn 
 — The Centenary of John Wesley's Ordination — Declining State of Dr. 
 Clarke's Health — His official Appointment to superintend the Shetland 
 Mission — Progress of his Commentary — Dines a second Time with 
 H.R. H, the Duke of Sussex — Visits Cork on Missionary Business — 
 Attends the Bristol Conference — Makes a Missionary Tour in Yorkshire — 
 His amazing Popularity — He receives good Tidings from Shetland — Is 
 visited by H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex — Letter from Dr. Clarke to the 
 Rev. Mr. Lewis — Dr. Clarke's Opinion on Marriage with Unbelievers — 
 On the Exclusion of the Apocrypha by the Bible Society — Conclusion of 
 the Commentary — Dr. Clarke resolves on visiting Shetland — His Journal 
 of the Tour — His Opinion on the Wedding Ring — Description of a 
 Storm at Sea — Dr. Clarke's Vessel taken for a Smuggler — The first View 
 of Shetland — A Congregation of Shetlanders — Whale-catching — The 
 Shetland Women — Fish Diet — Dr. Clarke is sensible of declining 
 Strength — ^Receives Tributes of Gratitude from the Shetlanders — Leaves 
 Shetland — Lands at Aberdeen — Visits the Colleges — Gives his Opinion 
 on the Education of Children to Archdeacon Wilson — Death of Joseph 
 Butterworth, Esq. — Dr. Clarke's Opinion of Blair's Seimons — Success of 
 the Shetland Mission Pp. 226 — 254. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Dr. Clarke's Popularity as a Preacher of occasional Semons — He is again 
 visited by H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex — Means of avoiding Contagion — 
 The Church and the Methodists — Dr. Clarke is overturned in his Car- 
 riage — Letter to the Rev. Mr. Hindson, Shetland — Dr. Clarke visits 
 Manchester to preach — Meditates a second Visit to Shetland — Chapel- 
 building in Shetland — Dr. Clarke's Letter of Condolence to Archdeacon 
 Wrangham — His solitary Watchnight — More Chapel-building in Shet- 
 land — Dr. Clarke's Map of Shetland — He sets out for Cornwall — Is taken 
 ill at Bristol — Prepares for re-visiting Shetland — Sails from the Thames 
 
X 
 
 COxVTENTS. 
 
 — Circumnavigates the Isles — His cordial Reception and hospitable 
 Entertainment — His extempore Preaching — He maintains the Doctrine 
 of Universal Redemption — Obtains Ground for a Chapel on the northeiii- 
 most Point of the Isles — Effects of his Preaching — He lays the Founda- 
 tion of a Chapel on Ultima Thule — Sails for Whitby — Preaches to an 
 irreverent Congregation — An-ives at Home — Opens a Chapel at Lough- 
 borough — His continued Labours for Shetland — His Objections to a 
 stated Ministry — Remarkable Letter to the Rev. T. Smith — Dr. Clarke's 
 Objections to Chapel Debts — He presents his Volume of Sermons to Dr. 
 Hovvley, Bishop of London — His Letter on the Occasion — Singular 
 Scene at Halifax — Dr. Clarke receives a Present of a Great-coat from a 
 Country Tailor — His Kindness to the Poor — His New-Year's Resolves 
 — His Views of the Leeds Secession — He is elected a Fellow of the 
 Eclectic Society of London — The State of his Health — He stnrts for Ire- 
 land — Singular Effect of an Alann — Makes a remarkable Collection at 
 Manchester — Dr. Clarke visits the Scenes of his Boyhood — Retunis 
 Home — Visits Wales on official Business — Hears his Son's first Sermon 
 in Liverpool — His conversational Powers — Letter from the late Mr. 
 Wilberforce to Dr. Clarke Pp. 255—284. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Dr. Clarke's Influence with rich Christians — His Efforts to promote Edu- 
 cation in Ireland — He foiTns a School at Port Rush — Visits Port Rush — 
 Discipline of the School — Lord Mark Kerr promises Ground for a Chapel 
 and School — Another School at Cashel — Dr. Clarke fonns several new 
 Schools in Person — Dr. Clarke's Retrospect of his Life — His Prejudice 
 against Wigs — Discomforts of Irish Travelling — Dr. Clarke returns 
 Home — The Wesleyan Missionary Committee jealous of him — His De- 
 fence — He resolves to diminish his occasional Labours — His Sentiments 
 on Birthday Festivities — His Letter to Mr. (now Lord) Stanley on the 
 want of Education in Ireland Pp. 285—298. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Conference of 1831 appoints Dr. Clarke a Supernumerary against his 
 Will — Suppression of his Remonstrunces by the Rev. George Marsden — 
 His Feelings under the Wrong — He is w^eary of preaching Collection 
 Sermons — He is invited to the United States — Letter from the Rev. Mr. 
 Case on Dr. Clarke's Biblical Labours — Letter to the Rev. T. Smith — 
 Retrospect of Public Affairs — Dr. Clarke is overturned in the Windsor 
 Coach — Is summoned to the Death-bed of Mr. R. Scott, of Pensford — ■ 
 Receives Mr. Scott's last Cheque for Shetland — His Account of that 
 Gentleman's Death — His admirable Letter to the Diike of Sussex on 
 Occasion of H.R.H.'s Birthday — The Invitation to the United States 
 repeated officially — Dr. Clarke's Letter declining it — He visits H.R. H. 
 the Duke of Sussex — His hopeful Opinion of the improved State of 
 Society — His fervent Appeal on Behalf of Missions — His last Missionaiy 
 Speech — Unreasonable Demands upon his declining Strength — His Feel- 
 ings concerning the demolished Chapels in Jamaica — He visits Ireland 
 — His Illness there — His Opinion of a Poor-Law for Ireland — Of the 
 English Poor-Laws — He is importuned by the Rev. Jabez Bunting to 
 attend the Liverpool Conference — Prevalence of the Cholera — State of 
 Dr. Clarke's Irish Schools — Decay of his Strength — His Views of Life — 
 His Preaching — He goes to the Liverpool Conference — His Conduct in 
 Conference — He delivers over his Irish Schools and the Shetland Mission 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xi 
 
 to Conference — Is indisposed — Is honoured by his Brethren — Is set down 
 as Supernumerary for Windsor with " a roving Commission " — His last 
 Sermon before his Brethren — Remarkable Contributions to Albums — 
 Influence ol Methodist Doctrines on the Duration of Methodism — Dr. 
 Clarke risits his Son Joseph at Frome — His Son's Account of their 
 Meetin£r — Symptoms of old Age — Dr. Clarke blesses his Son and his 
 Son's Wife — His Son's Account of his Speech at a Clerical Society in 
 Frome — His own Account of the Meeting — Preaches for the Society — 
 Singular Analysis of the Collection — Dr. Clarke goes to Weston with his 
 Son and Family — His Feelings towards Methodism — His Opinion of the 
 Irvingites — Final Parting of the Father and Son— 'Dr. Clarke's last Ser- 
 mon — Evil Tidings from Shetland — Dr. Clarke leaves Bath for London 
 — Arrives at Mr. Hobbs's, Bayswater — Visits his Sons and Daughters — 
 Arrives at Home — His Presentiment of approaching Death — Goes to 
 Mr. Hobbs's, Bayswater, to preach — Is attacked with Symptoms of In- 
 disposition — Grows worse — Desires to return Home — Finds this impossi- 
 ble — Medical Advice called in — The Disease pronounced to be Cholera 
 — Medicine fruitless — Mr. Thurston fetches Mrs. Clarke — Fallacious 
 Hopes — Death — Burial — Proposed Monument to Dr. Clarke's Memory. 
 
 Pp. 299—342. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Dr. Clarke's religious Opinions — The Articles of his Creed — Illustrations 
 of Opinion Pp. 343—365. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Dr. Clarke's Works— The Commentary— Dr. Clarke's first Work— Dr. 
 Clarke's Style — His unfinished Literary Projects — His Library. 
 
 Pp. 366— 39 L 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Manner and Matter of Dr. Clarke's Preaching Pp. 392 — 402. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Character of Dr. Clarke, by the Rev. D. M'Nicoll— By the Wesleyan 
 Methodist Magazine — By the Rev. Dr. Beaumont — By the Rev. H, 
 Moore— By the Rev. J. Everett— By the Rev. J. B. Clarke— By the 
 Wesleyan Conference Pp. 403 — 416. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND LABOURS 
 
 OF 
 
 ADAM CLARKE, LL.D. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Preliminary Remarks — Adam darkens Birth — Ancestry — Parentage — His 
 Brother Tracy — Adam darkens Nepheivs — His childish Habits — Singular 
 Antipathy — Sloumess in Learning — Stimulated by Reproaches — Helps to 
 till his Pather^s Farm — His Juvenile Observations on the Weather — Open- 
 air Studies — First Attempt at Verse — Juvenile Library — Studies Magic — 
 Judicious Remarks of the " Christian Observer'*^ — Studies Alchymy — His 
 youthful Feats. 
 
 The great use of biogi-aphy is to place before our eyes models 
 worthy of imitation. Sometimes distinguished men write their 
 own histoiy ; hut such histories are usually written by others. 
 In either case, — in the former, through intentional concealment ; 
 in the latter, through unavoidable ignorance, it seldom happens 
 that the narrative includes a sufficient notice of their early hfe. 
 Thus, while we are informed that they acquired distinction and 
 deserved it, it does not appear by what steps they began their 
 successful career. The result is, that we are inspired with won- 
 der instead of emulation. " By themselves or contemporaries," 
 writes one on this very subject, " their public transactions have 
 been in general amply recorded, with the apparent motives which 
 led them to their particular lines of action, and the objects they 
 aimed at by thus acting ; but how they became capable of acting 
 such pai'ts, how their minds acquired that impulse which gave 
 them this direction, what part an especial Providence, parental 
 influence, accident, singular occurrence, and education, had in 
 foi-ming the man, producing those habits which constituted his 
 manners, and prepared him for his future lot in life, we are rarely 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 told. Hence tlie main benefit of biography is lost : emulation, 
 leading to imitation, lias no scope. We cannot follow the man, 
 •because we do not see his previous footsteps. To us he is inimi- 
 table, because he is enrobed with all his distinguishing perfections 
 and eminence before we are introduced to liis acquaintance." The 
 defect which the subject of the following memoir has here so well 
 described, happily does not exist with respect to himself. We 
 shall be able to trace liim fi^om the first dawnings of his intellect 
 to the period when it attained the rank, and exerted the influence, 
 of a master-mind ; and, in doing this, we shall perceive how truly 
 he has said, that " those who have reached the highest degi-ees of 
 elevation beyond those who were bom in the same circumstances 
 and line of hfe, were not indebted so much to anytliing extraor- 
 dinary in themselves, as to a well-timed and sedulous use of their 
 own powers, and such advantages as their circumstances afforded ; 
 and that what occur to others as mere accidents, were by them 
 seized and pressed into theii' own service, and showed them the 
 necessity of attentive obseiTation, that neither occuiTence nor 
 moment should pass by unnoticed or unimproved." It will ap- 
 pear, in short, that, by mere dint of patient industiy and an exact 
 economy of time, attended with the Divine blessing, he rose to 
 be the first biblical scholar of his own, if not of any, age. Thus 
 he will be exhibited as an instance of imitable gTeatness, and 
 that principally in three respects : for the character of his know- 
 ledge enhanced the gloiy of its extent, and his piety shed a lustre 
 on his learning. 
 
 Adam Clarke was bom in the obscure village of Moybeg, in 
 the county of Londonderry. He himself could never ascertain 
 either the day or the month, or even the year, of his birth. " It 
 was," he says, " either 1760 or 1702, most probably the foiTuer."* 
 We owe this wide uncertainty to the neglect of the clergyman 
 of the parish, during whose incumbency no register was kept. 
 " This," says a clerical critic, " is a veiy characteristic, but un- 
 happily not rare, specimen of the attention formerly j^aid [in 
 plain English, disgi'aceful neglect] in many comitry parishes to 
 those parochial documents which affect the property and the an- 
 cestry of every family in the kingdom. Even to this moment, the 
 system is most inefficient ; and often the details are incoiTcct and 
 slovenly, particularly for the want of due care in seeing that cor- 
 rect duplicate copies are provided, and made available in case of 
 any accident happening to the parish record." The wisdom of 
 Parhament has provided an effectual baiiier against the recun-ence 
 of these evils. 
 
 * " I have heard my mother," observes Dr. Clarke, in one of his Journals, 
 "say I was born in the year that the French took Carrickfergus ; hut my 
 fathet was wont to contest this, saying, I was honi two yeais later." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 3 
 
 Dr. Clarke speaks with miicli complaconcy of the purity of 
 his descent : his ancestors " came from a pure and ancient stock ; 
 they liad never been in bondage to any man, had never been 
 legally (hsgraced, and never forfeited their character." They 
 went over to Ireland in the seventeenth century, and settled in 
 the county of Antrim, wliere they had considerable estates, .and 
 formed honourable matrimonial connexions. As those estates 
 had been irrecoverably lost to the family before Adam was born, 
 the non-existence of a register of Ids birth occasioned him no 
 inconvenience. William Clarke, his great- great- grandfather, was 
 a Quaker.* John, the son of William, mju-ried Miss Horseman, 
 the daughter of the mayor of Caiiickfergus ; and they had issue, 
 eighteen sons and one daughter. Of these, WilHam, it is believed 
 the eldest, a builder by trade, and an intelligent, religious man, 
 manied Miss Boyd, of the Boyds of Ealmarnock, whose living 
 representative is Mr. Hugh Stuart Boyd, a well-known Greek 
 scholar. This maniage was productive of four sons and two 
 daughters. John, the eldest of the former, was intended by liis 
 father for the Church. He studied at Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 successively, and finally at Trinity College, Dublin. At Glas- 
 gow he took his degree of A.M. But severe illness, followed 
 by a premature marriage, put an end to his prospects in the 
 Church ; and he became a licensed parish schoolmaster.f His 
 wife was a descendant of the M'Leans, of Mull, in the Hebrides. 
 Shortly after the birth of the eldest son, who was called Tracy, 
 
 * He was appointed in 1690 to receive the Prince of Orange, when he 
 came to Carriclcfergus. He had imbibed the principles of George Fox ; 
 and, as he could not uncover his head to any man, before he came near to 
 the prince, he took off bis hat, and laid it on a stone by the wayside, and 
 walked forward. When he met the prince, he accosted him thus, " William, 
 thou art welcome to this kingdom." " I thank you, Sir," answered the 
 prince ; to whom the interview was so satisfactory, that he pronounced Mr. 
 Clarke to be " the best-bred gentleman he had ever met." 
 
 f Mr. C.'s school was of a mixed nature. He taught by himself alone, 
 reading, writing, and arithmetic, comprising book-keeping, trigonometry, 
 and navigation ; together with the Greek and Latin classics. The price at 
 which each was taught may be reputed a cmiosity :— reading, l|^d. per 
 week; writing, 2d.; writing and accounts, 4d. ; and Greek and Latin, 7s. 
 per quarter. These were the highest terms in that countiy towards the close 
 of the eighteenth century. Among his pupils was the son of Dr. Barnard, 
 the rector, afterwards Bishop of Kilaloe and of Limerick. Many persons 
 of considerable eminence in various departments of science and literature 
 received their rudiments from Mr. Clarke, — clergymen, Presbyterian minis- 
 ters, and Popish priests ; lawyers, surgeons, physicians, and schoolmasters. 
 Both in summer and in winter he began school at eight in the morning, con- 
 tinuing till eigjht in the evening in summer, and till near four in the depth 
 of winter. From May till September, he allowed one hour for dinner : 
 durinpf the rest of the year, school was continued without any intermission. 
 He allowed but two vacations in the year, amounting to three weeks in the 
 whole ; eight davs at Easter, and a fortnight at Christmas. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 after an uncle in the Church, Mr. Clarke was persuaded, 
 like multitudes of his ill-conditioned countr^^men, to emigi'ate 
 to America, having the expectation, if not the promise, of a Pro- 
 fessorship in one of the Universities then rising on that conti- 
 nent. He broke up his establishment, converted all his property 
 into money, provided himself with the' necessary equipment, and 
 was on the eve of saiHng, with his wife and son, from the port of 
 LondonderiT, when liis father, who had followed him from the coun- 
 try, went on board, and, by the joint force of tears, entreaties, and 
 commands, prevailed upon liim to relinquish liis design, and, for- 
 feiting his passage, return into the country. He never recovered 
 from the effects of tliis shock. The small remnant of his property 
 was exhausted, wliile as yet he w^as undetermined as to his future 
 course ; and, in tliis destitute condition, he retired to Moybeg, in 
 the parish of Kilchronaghan, of which Mr. Tracy, his brother-in- 
 law, was rector ; and here, as already stated, Adam, his second 
 son, and the immediate subject of these pages, entered upon the 
 stage of life. 
 
 Tracy Clarke was three years older than his brother Adam. 
 The uncle after whom he was named, being childless, engaged to 
 educate him at his own expense ; but death, with whom no con- 
 tracts are sacred, released Mr. Tracy from all earthly obligations 
 shortly after he had assumed the charge of his nephew. Tracy, 
 returning to liis father's house, received from liim a classical edu- 
 cation ; and, at an early age, was appomted and licensed, to act 
 as schoolmaster in a parish contiguous to that in which Mr. 
 Clarke himself had fomierly held a similar station. Weaiy of 
 this office, which promised neither comfort nor emolument, he 
 turned his attention to the study of medicine. Having seized 
 an apprenticeship to Mr. Pollock, a sldlful and well-educated 
 practitioner in the town of Maglierafelt, he proceeded to Dublin, 
 where he studied anatomy under Dr. Cleghome, the celebrated 
 professor of that science. Failing in his endeavours to obtain an 
 appointment in the navy, he went out in a slave-sliip ; but, after 
 two voyages to the coast of Guinea, he resigned his post, filled 
 with hoiTor and disgust at the inhuman traffic. He then manied, 
 and commenced practice at Maghull, eight miles from Livei-pool, 
 where, during many years, he was successful in his profession, 
 and was universally respected. The excessive labour's of a large 
 and wide-spread practice ultimately undeimined his constitution, 
 till consumption supeiTcned, and terminated his useful career in 
 the 45th year of his age. He died on the IGth of September, 
 1803.* Mr. Adam Clai-ke frequently attended his brother dur- 
 
 * A most singular circiinastance occurred a short time before Mr. Tracy 
 Clarke's death. He had gone to tlie Isle of Man for the benefit of liis 
 health, having with him one of his sons. During the night which had pre- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 5 
 
 ing liis illness, and had the melaneholy satisfaction of adminis- 
 tering to him the Ijord's Supper the day before he died, when, 
 though in great bodily pain, he was steadfast in his confidence in 
 God. Deep was the grief into which the surviving brother wns 
 plunged by this pjiinful dispensation ; but he found consolation 
 and repose in the hope of meeting the departed in the paradise of 
 God. Mr. Tracy Clarke left behind him four sons nnd a daugh- 
 ter. The boys had the advantage of being educated by their uncle 
 Adam. The oldest is a learned man, and author of a remark- 
 able work, entitletl " An Exposition of the False Prophet, and 
 the Number of the Apocalyptic Beast." Two of his brothers 
 embraced the medical profession, one of whom is a surgeon in 
 the navy. 
 
 Having given this brief account of the family connexions of 
 Adam Clarke, it now remains for us to trace his own eventful his- 
 tory. Hardily brought up, he could w^alk at the age of eight 
 months, and, when only nine months old, was permitted to run 
 about unattended. One of his earliest amusements was to dig 
 holes in the snow and sit down in them, with no other covering 
 than his shirt. By these and other means he acquired uncom- 
 mon strength, though his natural constitution was but mode- 
 rately strong. In fulfilment of a promise, his grandparents, at 
 whose request his uncle Tracy christened him by the name of 
 Adam, took charge of him as soon as he was old enough to dis- 
 pense mth a mother's care. They had engaged to rear him 
 as their own, and to defray the expenses of his education ; but 
 his bold and adventurous disposition w^as not compatible with his 
 gi'andmother's peace of mind; and, fearing that he would one 
 day be drowned in a draw-wTll into which he was apt to peep 
 whenever it was left uncovered, she returned him to his parents. 
 When about five years old, he took the small-pox in the natural 
 
 ceded his return to England, he dreamed that he had been to see Mrs. 
 Clarke, and that, contrary to custom, she was sleeping in the best bed-room ; 
 and, as they walked to the place of embarkation, he communicated this 
 dream to his son. On arriving in Liverpool, Mr. Tracy Clarke was pre- 
 vailed upon to pass a night at his brother's house, while his son went forward 
 to Maghull, to announce their safe arrival to his mother. When she saw 
 him coming without his father, she fell into a paroxysm of grief, and could 
 not without great difficulty he persuaded of her husband's safety. The 
 cause of these misgivings was not a little remarkable. During the same 
 night in which Mr. Clarke had dreamed his dream, she fancied she heard 
 him ride up to the stable, bring his saddle and hridle into the house, and 
 hang them up as usual. She then heard him ascend the stairs, enter the 
 room in which she lay, which was indeed the T)est bed-room, and walk round 
 the hed. All this, she assured her younger son, on rising in the morning, 
 she had heard distinctly, affirming that she could not be deceived in think- 
 ing the footsteps those of his father, and expressing her fears that some mis- 
 fortune had befallen him. 
 
6 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 way, inoculation being then but little known. Had it not been 
 for his unusual love of the open aii", he would probably have 
 fallen a victim to the disorder, or, at least, to the absurd mode of 
 treating it then common. This consisted in an accumulated load 
 of bed-clothes, and the administration of spirituous hquors instead 
 of cooHng medicine. Adam, however, would not submit to con- 
 finement; but, as often as he found an opportunity, he left his 
 bed, and ran, naked, out of doors. By the adoption of " this cool 
 regimen," he passed safely tlu'ough the crisis, and, though covered 
 with the disease from head to foot, ultimately escaped without a 
 single mark. 
 
 About tliis time Adam discovered a strange antipathy, by re- 
 jecting the friendly overtures of Mr. Pearce Quinlin, a neighbour, 
 merely on account of liis excessive coi-pulence. Tliis aversion to 
 men of the Falstalf stamp was accidentally deepened. Mrs. 
 Clarke, partaning of the foolish superstition which ascribed to 
 dumb persons the faculty of foreteUing events, took advantage of 
 a call made by a dimib man, to inquire into Adam's destiny. 
 After looking at the boy some time, the man signified that he 
 would be veiT fond of the bottle, and also have an enormous 
 belly. Adam was young enough to fear the absurd prediction 
 might prove true ; but, also belie^-ing God could avert the 
 thi-eatened calamity, he immediately retired into a field, and fer- 
 vently prayed that " he might never be suffered to be like Pearce 
 Quinlin !" He had his desii'e : though tolerably stout, he was 
 never coi-pulent ; and of temperance he afforded a constant ex- 
 ample. 
 
 Adam was naturally an inapt scholar. It was not without 
 difl&culty that he acquired a knowledge of the alphabet, and his 
 teacher made matters worse by strong censures and unseasonable 
 chastisement. He had nearly become a dunce for Ufe, when 
 rescued by means of a visit from a neighbouring schoolmaster. 
 When he had hobbled through liis lesson," his teacher apolo- 
 gised by saving, that " he was a giievous dunce." But the other, 
 far the wiser man, clapping Adam on the head, replied, " Never 
 fear, Sii' ; this lad wiU make a good scholar yet." Tliis predic- 
 tion was more fortunate than that of the spaeman, and contri- 
 buted, no doubt, to its own accomplishment. It was the first 
 tiling which checked Adam's despaii' of making progress in know- 
 ledge. Learning alone will not fit a man to be a teacher of 
 youth : a certain tact and a good temper are quite as essential. 
 " Many children, not naturally dull, have become so under the 
 influence of the schoolmaster."* 
 
 But, though Adam was inspired ^\ilh a httle hope by the en- 
 
 * Dr. A. Clarke. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 7 
 
 couraging remark of the stranger, it did not endow him with 
 greater abihty. When he could read with tolerable ease, his 
 father, who wished to make him a scholar, put him into Lilly's 
 Latin Grammar. His natural slowness of understanding again 
 displayed itself, and was not assisted by the pecuhar construction 
 of Ids book. By gi'eat exertion ho reached the middle of " Aa 
 in praesenti." Here, however, ho came to a dead pause. More 
 than two days were spent in vain attempts to commit to memory 
 two of those abominable hexameters, and the poor student liad 
 tln'owu down his book in despjur, when the threats of his teacher, 
 who told him he should be a beggju' all the days of his life, joined 
 to the jeei-s of liis fellow-pupils, roused him as from a lethargy : 
 " he felt," as he expressed himself, as if something had broken 
 within liim." " What !" said he, shall I ever be a dunce, and 
 the butt of these fellows' insults ?" He resumed his book, 
 speedily conquered the unconquerable task, and went fonvard 
 with an ease he had never known before. " The reproaches of his 
 schoolfellows," says he himself, " were the sparks which fell on 
 the gunpowder, and inflamed it instantly." To many boys, who 
 eventually became chstinguished men, the same sudden awaken- 
 ing of the intellectual faculties has happened. 
 
 Notwithstanding tliis happy change, young Clarke ever found 
 a difficulty in his first attempts to master anything. This might 
 arise from his determination to comprehend fully eveiything to 
 which he apphed his mind. He could not rest satisfied without 
 understanding the reason of a thing, and thus assuring himself that 
 he was upon firm gi'ound.* In arithmetic, he made but httle pro- 
 gress, owing in a great measure to the imperfections of the trea- 
 tise, which was Fisher's. But the gTeat hindrance was his father's 
 poverty. To eke out the pittance he derived from tuition, Mr. 
 Clarke found it necessary to take a small farm. He himself as- 
 sisted in tilling it before and after school-hours, and his sons 
 
 * Such, in fact, was the case during the entire progiess of his life and 
 writings. Whenever he met a difficulty, he waited to examine and go through 
 it in the true spirit of patien t investigation, never leaping over obstacles which 
 he could, by learning or lahour, remove out of the way, or render subser- 
 vient to his great object, — the instruction and benefit of mankind. The 
 late Rev. John Newton, calling one day upon the Rev. Eli Bates, and see- 
 ing the first part of Dr. Clarke's Commentaiy lying on the table, happened 
 to open it in the place where the Doctor makes such large disquisitions and 
 calculations, in reference to the size of Noah's ark ; and argues from these, 
 contrary to the opinion of some critics, that the ark was, in point of size, not 
 only amply sufficient to contain the animals themselves, but the sustenance 
 requisite for them during their sojourn. When Mr. N. had finished read- 
 ing the criticism, he closed the book, exclaiming, " Thank God, I never 
 found these difficulties in the Sacred Record ;" to which Mr. Bates replied, 
 " Yes, Sir, you have found them as well as Dr. Clarke ; but the difference 
 is, you always leap over them, while he goes through them." 
 
8 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 attended to it alternately dming the day. They consequently 
 shared between them an amount of instruction winch each, in 
 happier circumstances, would have had to liimself. To supply 
 this deficiency, each on leaving school used to commimicate to 
 the other whatever he had learned during the day. The farm was 
 cultivated by the schoolmaster and his sons according to the rules 
 laid down in Virgil's Georgics, " the finest production," says Dr. 
 Clarke, " of the finest poet that ever hved." Notwithstanding 
 the difference between Ireland and Italy, Mr. Clarke's crops were 
 equal to his neighbours'. Had Dr. Clarke entered into details, 
 instead of merely mentioning the fact, it would probably have ap- 
 peared that liis father, in following the rales of Virgil, made due 
 allowances for differences of soil and climate. 
 
 In later fife, Dr. Clarke gave the following curious account of 
 his juvenile observ'ations on the weather: — 
 
 " From my earliest childhood I was bred up on a little farm, 
 which I was taught to care for, and cultivate, ever since I was 
 able to spiing the rattle, use the whip, manage the sickle, or 
 handle the spade ; and, as I found that much of our success de- 
 pended on a proper knowledge and management of the weather, 
 I Vv'as led to study it ever since I was eight years of age. I be- 
 heve meteorolog}' is a natui'al science, hnd one of the first that are 
 studied ; and that ever}' child in the country makes, untaught, 
 some progress in it : at least, so it was with me. I had actually 
 learned, by silent observation, to form good conjectures concern- 
 ing the coming weather; and, on tliis head, to teach wisdom 
 among them that were perfect, especially among such as had not 
 been obhged, like me, to watch earnestly, that what was so neces- 
 saiy to the family support, should not be spoiled by the weather 
 before it was housed. Many a time, even in tender youth, have 
 I watched the heavens with anxiety, examined the different ap- 
 pearances of the morning and evening sun, the phases of the 
 moon, the scintillation of the stars, the course and colour of the 
 clouds, the flight of the crow and the swaUow, the gambols of 
 the colt, the fluttering of the ducks, and the loud screams of the 
 sea-mew, — not forgetting even the hue and croaking of the frog. 
 From the little knowledge I had derived from close obser\'ation, I 
 often ventured to dii'ect our agiicultural operations in reference 
 to the coming days, and was seldom much mistaken in my 
 reckoning. When I thought I had a pretty good stock of know- 
 ledge and experience in tliis way, I ventured to give counsel to 
 my neighbours. For my kindness, or perhaps officiousness, on 
 this head, I met one day Avith a morticing rebuff. I was about 
 ten yeai'S of age ; it was haiTest time, and ' what sort of a day 
 to-morrow would be,' was the subject of conversation. To a \ery 
 intdhgent gentleman who was present, I stated, in opposition to 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 9 
 
 liis own opinion, * Mr. P., to-morrow will be a foul day! — To 
 which he answered, 'Adam, how can you tell?' I answered, 
 without giving the nile on which my prognostication was founded, 
 * O Sir, I know it will l)e so.' * You know ! how should you 
 know ?' ' Why, Sir,' I pleasantly rephed, * because I am 
 weathei'-vi'i^e.' ' Yes,' said he, ' or othei'-^'i&e.' The next day, 
 however, proved that my augury was well di'awn.'* 
 
 The school in which Adam acquired his classical knowledge, 
 was situated on the skirt of a wood, upon an eminence command- 
 ing a rich variety of prospect. Into that wood, as into the groves 
 of Academus, those of the boys who would not abuse the privilege 
 were occasionally permitted to retire with their books ; and here 
 young Clarke read the - Eclogues and Georgics of Virgil, with 
 living illustrations of their contents before his eyes — illustra- 
 tions which, in after life, he declared to be finer and more im- 
 pressive than those of the Delphin Edition and the Variorum 
 Critics. Here, too, he made the first trial of his own poetic 
 powers, in a satire on one of his schoolfellows. 
 
 It was entitled, " The Parallel, a Poem : or Verses on William 
 W — k — n, of Portglenone, in the county of Antrim, describing 
 the base extraction, high insignificance, and family connexions, 
 of the said Wilham W — k — n, alias. Pigmy Will." Avaihng 
 liimself of the story of the pigmies and the cranes," as refeiTed 
 to in Homer, Pliny, and Juvenal, he described his antagonist, 
 " the pigmy," as falling into the hands of a crane. The follow- 
 ing lines may suffice as a specimen : — 
 
 " At this unhappy change of place, 
 Will made a haggard, rueful face, 
 And earnestly desired to be 
 Rid of his potent enemy. 
 The ci-ane fast sped, now high, now low, 
 With her poor caitiff screaming foe ; 
 Till coming o'er Portnegro town, 
 She loosed her fangs and let him down ; 
 And he, poor wight, like old King Log, 
 Came plump directly to a hog." 
 
 In a boy not nine years old, these verses evince considerable in- 
 genuity. The rest abound in classical allusions, the young author 
 having made himself master of Littleton's Classical Dictionaiy, — 
 an acquirement which enabled him to gain credit among his 
 schoolfellows, by explaining to them the historical passages in 
 
 * In the year 1824, he published, with alterations and improvements, the 
 weather-table attributed to the late Dr. Herschel, but afterwards disclaimed 
 by the son as his father's work. This table, the accuracy of which Dr. 
 Clarke had tested by long observation, he entitled " Tabula Eudicheimonica, 
 or the fair and foul weather Prognosticator." It has since been printed 
 periodically in several almanacs. 
 
10 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 their lessons. Nor was this the only instance in which he at 
 tempted verse. He often amused himself with making hymns 
 and versifying the Psalms ; and he even turned the first four 
 chapters of Solomon's Song into stanzas. Adam was, indeed, 
 pre-eminently self-taught. The Rev. Hemy Moore,* who knew 
 his parents well, declares that he could not have got the teaching 
 from them. No wonder that he who, when a hoy of eight years, 
 could conquer the whole classical mythology and biography, should 
 afterwards have coped so successfully with the fohos of sacred 
 antiquity. 
 
 Both Adam and his brother were passionately fond of reading, 
 devoting all their spare pence to the prnx-hase of books, and all 
 their spare hoiu'S to their perusal. It is curious to notice what 
 materials composed the libraiy of that boy, who, when he became 
 a man, possessed " one of the most select and valuable private 
 libraries in the kingdom. "f Dr. Clarke was so far from regretting 
 or feeling ashamed, that his first collection of books consisted 
 chiefly of such legendary lore as Tom Thumb, Jack the Giant- 
 Killer, and other w^onderful histories of the same stamp, that he 
 attributed to his early knowledge of their contents the formation 
 of a hterar}^ taste and liis firm belief in spiritual agency. Having 
 imbibed, from his father's oral descriptions of the Trojan war, a 
 great admiration for the character of Hector, he retired into the 
 fieids, and, prescribing time and place, invoked the spirit of the 
 departed chief to appear to him. He used to refer his courage to 
 the habit of pondering the achievements of nursery heroes, alleg- 
 ing that he was by natiu'e veiy timid. Hearing of the wonders 
 of magic, and that a gentleman who lived about eight miles off 
 had a book upon the science, he obtained leave to go and sohcit 
 the loan of it, confidently expecting that it would teach him " to 
 
 * The friend and biographer of the Rev. John Wesley. 
 
 f A catalQgue of Dr. Clarke's juvenile library, which has been preserved, 
 is here given as a curiosily. After the Reading Made Easy and Dilworth's 
 Spelling, there were the famous and delightful histories of Tom Thumb ; 
 Jack the Giant Killer; Jack Homer; Rosewall and Lilly Ann ; Guy Earl 
 of Warwick ; the Seven Wise Masters and Mistresses ; the Nine Worthies 
 of the World ; Thomas Hickatlirift ; Captain James Hind ; the Babes in 
 the Wood; the Seven Champions of Christendom; Sir Francis Drake; 
 the New World, i.e. America; Captain Falkner ; Montelion,or the Knight 
 of the Oracle; Robinson Crusoe; Valentine and Orson; Parismus and 
 Parismenos ; the Tale of the Three Bonnets ; the Fairy Tales ; Peruvian 
 Tales ; Tartarian Tales ; Arabian Nights' Entertainments ; the Destruction 
 of Troy; Robin Hood's Garland ; the History of Adam Bell, Clim of the 
 Clough, and William of Cloudesly ; the Life of Sir William Wallace ; a 
 Groat's Worth of Wit for a Penny; Chevy Chase; the Cheny and the 
 Sloe; the Gentle Shepherd; the Pilgrim's Progress; ^Esop's Fables, by 
 L'Estrange; the Holy War; — " Cum multis aiiis, qiue nunc prcscribere 
 lowjum e67," says the Doctor. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 11 
 
 get home without touching the ground ;" but the owner judiciously 
 refused to gi'atify his curiosity. A wliilo after, he fell in with 
 some travelling tinkers who dealt in such mysteries ; and they 
 allowed him to read and talvc notes from their copy of Cornehus 
 Agrippa's Occult Philosophy, the hook wliich he had formerly 
 gone eight miles to see. Unfortunately, as he then thought, these 
 tinkers had not the fourth part of the work, which contains the 
 practical portion of the science, without which the instructions 
 gjiined from the first three parts could not be applied. As every- 
 thing in the ait magic was to be done with a reference to God, 
 and in dependence upon him, Adam conceived that he was acting 
 even commendably in studying it, until he met with something in 
 which Matthew vii. 22 and 23, was quoted in condemnation of 
 all such practices. After this, he abandoned the pursuit, but not 
 before his fame as an enchanter had spread so wide, as, by a dread 
 of being spell-bound, to secure his father's premises from mid- 
 night depredators, from whom they had previously suffered. 
 Education will banish these superstitious fears, and, with them, if 
 rightly directed, the disposition to dishonesty. To the Arabian 
 Nights' Entertainments, which formed a part of his juvenile 
 library, he attributed that decided taste for oriental history on 
 which his subsequent fame depended. From Eobinson Crusoe he 
 conceived himself to have derived so much moral improvement, 
 that he was careful to place it in the hands of his own children. 
 He was also particularly fond of ^sop's Fables, which he read 
 not without a due perception of the morals inculcated. 
 
 Upon this part of the history of Dr. Clarke's early life, 
 some judicious remarks appeared in the Christian Observer ; 
 and, as they may tend to guard the minds of young persons in 
 particular from adopting an erroneous opinion, merely because 
 it has the sanction of a great name, we inten^upt the narrative 
 in order to introduce them. Aided by the brief account which 
 we have given, they sufficiently explain themselves : — 
 
 Did it never occur to Dr. Clarke," inquires the enlightened 
 critic, that, if the Sadducean education left an awful blank, the 
 superstitious education prepared the way for a perilous recoil ? 
 For if a child ^ was led to beheve in a spiritual world, and that 
 there w^as a devil to hurt and a God to help,' by reading ' books 
 of enchantment,' was there not the obvious danger, that, when he 
 saw that the records which had ' led,' in whole or in part, to this 
 behef, were merely works of idle fiction, he might begin to sur- 
 mise that the belief itself was founded on no better basis, and 
 thus discard the revelation of God as he discarded the fables of 
 the nursery ? So far, indeed, from habits of credulous wonder 
 being favourable to the cause of true religion, they prepare the 
 mind for everything absurd, superstitious, and fanatical ; but they 
 
12 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 have no tendency to spiritualize the affections, or to open the 
 understanding to receive the blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
 We need not add, what a powerful weapon they furnish to the 
 scorner ; for what wdll the scoffers at Christianity say, when they 
 find Dr. A. Clarke seriously asserting, in his matured years, that 
 he ' much doubts whether he should ever have been a religious 
 man,' but for reading Jack the Giant-Killer and similar produc- 
 tions ? It was not thus that the Lord opened the heart of Lydia : 
 and, since it is the Holy Spirit who alone can make any one ' a 
 religious man,' it is, to say the least, not a httle strange to sup- 
 pose that he should employ ridiculous fabrications to aid his 
 pui-pose. We can readily believe that Dr. Clarke received, as he 
 says, his first taste for oriental literature by reading the Arabian 
 Nights' Entertainments ; and that he wished to acquaint himself 
 more particularly with a people whose customs and manners, both 
 ci\i\ and rehgious, were so strange and curious ; and never lost 
 sight of this object ' till Divine Providence opened the w^ay, and 
 placed the means in his power, to gain some acquaintance with 
 the principal languages of the east.' Nor shall we question the 
 extraordinary benefits which he says that he received from the 
 Fables of ^sop and the Adventures of Kobinson Crusoe ; the 
 latter of wliich he read as a real histor}^, and from it ' learned 
 more expressly his duty to God and to his parents, and a firmer 
 belief in Divine Providence, than fi'om all he heard or read from 
 books or men during his early years ; so that he took care to put 
 this work into the hands of his OAvn cliildi'en as soon as they 
 could read.' But his mixing up idle romances with the work of 
 the Divine Spirit, as he appears to do in the above statement, by 
 making the one assist the other, we can only ascribe to that occa- 
 sional eccentricity of opinion from which this excellent, and 
 learned, and exemplar)^ man was not exempt, and which we attri- 
 bute to the defects of his education and the disadvantages of his 
 early life. Wlien we read the catalogue of his juvenile Hbrary, 
 and reflect upon the darkness and prejudices of the people among 
 whom he spent his infant years, we rather wonder that he ever 
 emerged from his intellectual prison, and became remarkable for 
 strength of understanding and solidity of judgment, than that he 
 retained an air of originahty, and sometimes allowed himself to 
 take up opinions far removed from common-place, and which it 
 required some genius or curious research to hit uppn, and 
 considerable moral courage to avow and defend." 
 
 Many years after, the hero of this narrative, in his ovm words, 
 " investigated this subject still more minutely, and saw all that 
 could be teiTued the use and abuse of it." The writer just quoted, 
 conceiving that the " subject" referred to is magic, complains that 
 Dr. Clai'ke has not specified "the use," and adduces it as an 
 
DR. ADAM CLAKKE. 
 
 13 
 
 instance of " the baneful effect of wrong early associations," tliat 
 a mind so powerful should have thought " a matter which in- 
 volves only an abuse of reason and common sense, and which 
 receives no sanction from Divine revelation, worthy of serious 
 investigation." But it is doubtful whether it was magic which he 
 investigated in his maturer years ; for he assigns as his reason 
 for giving an account of his study of that branch of occult sci- 
 ence, that "many young minds have been led astray by its 
 promises and apparent piety, and have been thereby plunged 
 into soiTows and disappointments." This passage the writer in 
 the Christian Observer seems to have overlooked. And besides, 
 we meet with no more mention of magic m the history of Dr. 
 Clarke, while, as it will be seen, he did enter upon the study of 
 alcliymy. Of tliis science he probably obtained some slight 
 knowledge when he studied magic; and, though he does not 
 mention the fact, there is ground for supposing it was to alchymy 
 that he indirectly attributed utility. 
 
 Among the youthful accompUshments of Adam Clarke may be 
 numbered various feats of strength and agility : such as putting 
 the stone, lifting gi-eat weights, and balancing ehairs, sledge- 
 hammers, &c., on chin, nose, or forehead. 
 
14 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Adam darkens early religious Impressions — Religiom Instructions of his 
 Mother — He learns Sincjing and Dancing — His subsequent Disapproval of 
 the latter — The " Christian Observer^s^^ Apology for it — His early Desire 
 for the Ministry — Fall from a Horse — Remarkable Escape from drowning 
 — Adam's Father removes to Agherton — Adam hears the Methodist Preachers 
 — Receives benefit from the Rev. Thomas Barber — Fixes his Creed from 
 reading the New Testament — A ttends a Class-meeting — Lapses into Socini- 
 anism — Recovery by Prayer — Receives the Lord's Supper — His Conversion 
 — The Rev. Henry Mooreh Reminiscences of Dr. Clarke^s early Life — 
 Intellectual Enlargement consequent on spiritual Emancipation — Studies 
 Astronomy and Natural Philosophy — Conducts Family Wmship in his 
 Fathei'^s House — His Sisters join the Methodist Society — Is the Means of 
 converting some of his Schoolfellows — Commences Village Preaching., ami 
 leads a Class — Learns Dialling — Studies French — Is apprenticed to a 
 Linen-merchant — His conscientiou.<i Objection to Tricks of Trade — Mr. 
 Wesley offers to receive him into Kingswood School. — His Parents object 
 — He is instrumental in converting his Master^ Servant — His benevolent 
 Attentions to his 3Iaster^s Kiiuwoman — He reproves Sin — His ascetic 
 Practices — Morbid Veracity — Its ruinous Influence on his Memory— Re- 
 covers by Prayer — Remembers the Substance of Things — Abandons the 
 Linen-trade. 
 
 Adam Clarke received his first impressions concerning the eternal 
 world when six years old, at which period his father lived at Mag- 
 liera. With one of liis father's pupils, James Brooks,* Adam 
 fonned an intimate friendship. One day, as they sat upon a bank, 
 conversing on the subject of eternity, and the dreadful nature of 
 eternal punishment, they were so affected that they wept bitterly ; 
 
 * He was the tenth son of his parents. Mrs. Brooks, having gone to the 
 rector's one morning, to pay her tithes, took little James in her hand : when 
 she laid down her money, she observed : — " Sir, you have annually the tenth 
 of all I possess, except my children ; it is but justice you should have the 
 tenth of them also. I have eleven, and this is my tenth son, whom I have 
 brought to you as the tithe of my children, as I have brought the tithe of 
 my grain. T hope, Sir, you will take and provide for him." To this sin- 
 gular address, the rector found it difficult to reply. He could not, at first, 
 suppose the woman to be in earaest ; but, on her urging her application, 
 and almost insisting on his receiving this tenth of her intellectual live-stock, 
 both his benevolence and humanity were affected ; — he immediately ac- 
 cepted the child, had him clothed, &c., let him lodge with the parents for a 
 time, and sent him to school to Mr. John Clarke. In a short time Mr. C. 
 removed from that part of the. country ; and what became of the interesting 
 young man is not known. He was always called " Tithe " by the school- 
 boys. 
 
THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 15 
 
 and, after praying God to forgive tlieir sins and making mntual 
 promises of amendment, separated with sad hearts. Adfim, upon 
 whose mind the sin of disobedience to his parents weighed heavily, 
 made known his feehngs to his mother, who, after encouraging 
 him and praying for him, communicated the intelhgence to her 
 husband. But lie, though a conscientious Churchman, thought 
 little of the matter ; and the yoimg penitent was discouraged. 
 
 His parents were of different rehgious denominations; Mr. 
 Clarke being a Churchman, his wife a Presbyterian. They 
 had too much sense to allow this difference of opinion to affect 
 their behaviour to each other. The parish clergyman and the 
 Presbyterian minister received from each an equal welcome ; the 
 husband and the wife allowed each other to go to church or 
 meeting-house as each thought fit ; and no means were used on 
 either part to determine their children's choice. 
 
 " The family," says Mr. Moore, spealdng from personal know- 
 ledge, "were what is generally called good sort of people — 
 honest people, clearing their way by sober, honest industiy. 
 They thought they must be good in order to go to heaven ; and 
 they had a wholesome fear of being found wicked. They like- 
 wise embraced the common forms of rehgion." 
 
 They taught their children, however, to fear God, and to ex- 
 pect redemption tlu'ough Jesus Christ, considering everything 
 else in religion comparatively unimportant. Sometimes the 
 young folk went to the meeting-house, but more frequently to 
 church, for which, indeed, " they all felt a decided preference."* 
 It would seem, therefore, as if the father had exercised a superior 
 influence, though this is not apparent from any information which 
 we have acquired. Indeed, according to the testimony of Dr. 
 Clarke himself, he owed his early religious impressions, as well as 
 his early rehgious knowledge, to his mother's instructions exclu- 
 sively. It is more than probable that those rehgious impressions, 
 which he gives his legendary lore the credit of having produced 
 in his mind, resulted,, under the blessing of God, from her teach- 
 ing. Though a Presbyterian, yet, according to her son, she was 
 not a high Calvinist. If, hke the people of her country, she was 
 superstitious, like theirs her superstition took the form of religious 
 veneration. Nor was her awe of God, and of the unseen state, 
 based upon vague notions of his nature, and of that of the 
 invisible world. Her knowledge of liim was derived from his 
 word, with which she was intimately conversant. She strove to 
 inspire her children with the same reverence for the lively oracles, 
 that she felt ; not only by reading to them, and causing tliem to 
 read, the sacred page, but by appealing to the Bible — to the law 
 
 * Dr. A. Clarke. 
 
IC 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 and to the testimony — as often as it was needful to administer 
 reproof, or to strengthen her authority. For eveiy occasion she 
 could immediately quote an appropiiate text. This promptness 
 and facility her son properly attributed to her intimate knowledge 
 of the Scriptures ; but she was apt to attribute her ready dis- 
 covery of Scripture authorities as occasion required, to the special 
 guidance of God. In either case, her end was answered ; for, 
 though her own unaided reproofs could be borne, when she sup- 
 ported them by the Divine word, they became overwhelming. 
 An instance will make this appear the less wonderful. Her son 
 Adam having on one occasion committed an offence against her 
 authority, she immediately read from Proverbs, " The eye that 
 despiseth to obey liis mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick 
 it out," &c. Whether she intended liim to intei'pret this homble 
 denunciation literally or not (but, if not, she ought to have 
 explained its meaning), he did so interpret it ; for, at the sound 
 of the croak of an impending raven, wliich, most ominously, 
 assailed liis ear shortly after the severe rebuke had been adminis- 
 tered, he retreated with all haste to the house, covering his eyes 
 with his hands. But it was characteristic of Mrs. Clarke's 
 rehgious instructions, that, by dwelling more on the severe jus- 
 tice than on the boundless mercy of God, she gave her children 
 no motive to obedience but fear. Such views of the Divine cha- 
 racter are not without their use in deterring from open sin ; but 
 why should it not be presented in its milder aspects to the con- 
 templation of the young disciple ? " We love him," says an 
 apostle, because he first loved ws ;" and children especially are 
 susceptible of gi'ateful feeling. 
 
 At an early period, the young Clarkes were taught to repeat 
 the Lord's Prayer, with short petitions for their relatives and 
 friends. To these, in process of time, were added the Apostle's 
 Creed, and a morning and an evening prayer in verse. These 
 verses, which were simple and evangeUcal, Dr. Clarke infonns us 
 he continued to repeat " as long as he could with propriety use 
 the term youth :" so that his strong attachment to foims of prayer 
 was the gTowth of his whole hfe. 
 
 The Sabbath-day was strictly observed in Mr. Clarke's house ; 
 but, even then, the instruction of his cliildren devolved wholly 
 upon their mother, who read to them, catechised them, sang with 
 them, lectured them, and prayed with them. She made them 
 get by heart the Church Catecliism, and the shorter Westminster 
 Catechism, thus furnishing their minds both with her ovm creed 
 and with her husband's. Besides this, she inspired them with 
 such a reverence for the Bible, that, if disposed mth their class- 
 fellows to wliistle a tune, or to be facetious, they dared not do 
 either while the sacred book was open in their hands. In such 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE 
 
 17 
 
 cases, tlioy always shut it and laid it down beside them. Who," 
 demands Dr Clarke, "will dare to lay this to the charge ot 
 superstition V 
 
 According to the custom of the country, Adam Clarke attendt^d 
 a singing school, where he received instructions in what was 
 called sacred music. But the master, regardless of the incon- 
 gruity, began to give instructions in dancing as well as music. 
 It was some time before this seductive art made any favourable 
 impression upon Adam. Endued already with a manly turn of 
 mind, he regarded it as at best a silly mode of employing time. 
 But, as he still attended to tiike lessons in psalmody, he was con- 
 tinually Hable to the solicitations of his companions, who at 
 length overcame his steadfastness, and induced him to learn 
 dancing. According to his wont, he applied himself diligently to 
 his new study, of which, as he grew more and more skilful, he 
 became increasingly enamoured, until it absorbed a great portion 
 of his time and of his thoughts ; or, rather, prevented him from 
 thinking steadily on any subject of real utility. But of its moral 
 effect upon him, the reader shall judge from his own dehberate 
 testimony in the retrospect of years : — 
 
 " I began now to value myself, which, as far as I can recollect, 
 I had never thought of before. I grew impatient of control, was 
 fond of company, wished to mingle more than I had ever done, 
 with young people. I got also a passion for better clothing than 
 that which fell to my lot in life, was discontented when I found a 
 neighbour's son dressed better than myself. I lost the spirit of 
 subordination, did not love work, imbibed a spirit of idleness, and, 
 in short, drank in all the brain-sickening effluvia of pleasure. 
 Dancing and company took the place of reading and study ; and 
 the authority of my parents was feared indeed, but not respected. 
 Dancing was to me a perverting influence, an unmixed moral evil : 
 for, although, by the mercy of God, it led me not to depravity of 
 manners, it greatly weakened the moral principle, drowned the 
 voice of a well-instructed conscience, and was the lirst cause of 
 impelling me to seek my happiness in this life. I consider it as a 
 branch of that worldly education which leads from heaven to 
 earth, from things spiritual to things sensual, and from God to 
 Satan. Let them plead for it who will ; I know it to be evil, and 
 that only. They who bring up their children in this way, or 
 send them to those schools where dancing is taught, are conse- 
 crating them to the service of Moloch, and cultivating the pas- 
 sions, so as to cause them to bring forth the weeds of a fallen 
 nature, with an additional rankness, deep-rooted inveteracy, and 
 inexhaustible fertihty." 
 
 In somewhat less than two years, however, he escaped from 
 the circle of this enchantment. After what has been said of hia 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 motlier, it may appear singular that she should have allowed him 
 to leam an art so injurious. But those who are aware that it is 
 not proscrihed in the famiHes of many rehgious professors of 
 the present day, will not he surprised that Mrs. Clarke should 
 have tolerated it in her son. Happily, the Wesleyan Methodists 
 have avoided this snare. At one time, indeed, there was reason 
 to apprehend that it would be introduced iato several hoarding- 
 schools kept by members of the Wesleyan-Methodist Society ; 
 but the evil was nipped in the bud, principally by the efforts of 
 Dr. Clarke, who, in the pages of the Arminian Magazine * de- 
 nounced the ill-considered project. 
 
 Strong as are Dr. Clarke's animadversions on dancing, we 
 could not have beUeved that any writer, professedly rehgious, 
 would have thought it necessary to enter a caveat against them, 
 had we not seen the singular observations contained in the pub- 
 lication akeady cited. A writer in that work has devoted several 
 pages to an effort to prevent his readers from la}ing too much 
 stress upon Dr. Clarke's opinion. He begins by saying he " is 
 no advocate for danciag," and yet he warmly deprecates the 
 unqualified censiu'es which have been pronounced upon it. It is 
 obvious, however, that any censures, to have a good effect, must 
 be at least as strong as the amusement is fascinating ; and, this 
 being admitted. Dr. Clarke, we think, is justified. To enter into 
 a particular examination of the apologetical remarks in the 
 Christian Observer, would detain us too long from the immedi- 
 ate purpose of these pages. Sufiice it to notice those of them 
 which more immediately concern the subject of this memoir. 
 The critic appears to tliink it not improper that children of tender 
 years should be taught to dance, in order to improve their 
 carriage, and for the sake of exercise. He states, that Adam 
 Clai'ke began to leam the art just when he ought to have desisted 
 from it ; but here he has supposed that he was older than he 
 really was : for he was yet but a mere boy. Dancing, again, he 
 conceives to be fraught with more mischief as practised among 
 the lower classes than as practised in the liigher circles ; and, 
 therefore, he conceives that the Doctor's censui'es ought either to 
 have been confined to village revels, or, if apphed to all dancing, 
 considerably modified. But, in expressing this opinion, he takes 
 it for granted that tlie company in which young Adam exercised 
 his skill, was composed of the loose and dninken frequenters of 
 ale-house revels. This, however, is altogether a gi*atuitous sup- 
 position ; for the Doctor expressly states, that, with all the mis- 
 chief that dancing did him, it did 7wt lead him into any actual 
 depravity of manners. It appears, indeed, to have made him in 
 
 * Vol. XV., pp. 264—267. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 19 
 
 almost every respect, except his abhorrence of actual sin, the very 
 reverse of what he was before — frivolous, vain, indolent, and ambi- 
 tious of external distinction ; to use an expressive vulgarism, " it 
 turned his head." And, after all his special pleading, the writer 
 in the Christian Observer comes to a very similar conclusion. 
 " Upon the whole," he says, we would banish dancing as a 
 social amusement, because of its frivohty and its habiUty to 
 abuse ;" and, though he is disposed to tolerate it as a domestic 
 or scholastic exercise," yet, if, even in tliis form, it can be shown 
 that it is productive of any "moral evil," on the principle of 
 avoiding the appearance of evil, he would proscribe it altogether. 
 
 Young Adam was at first designed for the Church, and he him- 
 self aspired to the ministry, but, like many others, "without 
 knowing what he desired." To tliis scheme, the number of liis 
 father's children — five daughters and two sons, and the narrow- 
 ness of his pecuniary resources, presented insuperable obstacles ; 
 for he could not be maintained at a University. The medical 
 profession was next thought of, but with no better success. It 
 was then determined that he should assist his father in tuition. 
 For this employment, he had no inclination. It involved much 
 labour, with little profit. 
 
 In the mean time, a severe fall from a horse threatened to 
 supersede all speculations concerning his future occupations. It 
 rendered him insensible for some time ; but he was at length re- 
 stored by bleeding. In allusion to this restoration, he has 
 remarked, " Had I not been designed for matters of great and 
 high importance, it is not likely, in the ordinary course of nature, 
 I could have survived this accident." There can be no question 
 among those who beUeve in an overruling Providence, especially 
 as such a Providence is revealed in Scripture, that Dr. Clarke was 
 " a vessel chosen to honour," and that his life was preserved for 
 the edification of the Christian church. But, d priori, there was 
 nothing in the accident in question, or in his recovery from its 
 effects, to lead to such a conclusion. Many have been the« 
 remarkable recoveries from extreme danger which have not been 
 followed by anything remarkable in the lives of the restored indi- 
 viduals ; and it was neither a natural nor a necessary inference, 
 that, because Adam Clarke survived a hurt which threatened to 
 prove fatal, he must be " designed for matters of great and high 
 importance." That there is nothing in the order of God's pro- 
 vidence without its end, is readily admitted ; and, d posteriori, it 
 is but reasonable to argue that Adam Clarke's life was preserved 
 that he might be a burning and a shining hght in the church of 
 Christ, and especially that he might transcend all previous com- 
 mentators in illuminating the sacred page. The reflection which 
 suggested these remarks, would, perhaps, have been more appro - 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 priate to a second instance in wliicli the life of Adam Clarke was 
 presented in cii-cumstances of extreme danger, In tliis case, no 
 human aid was nigh. With the imprudence natural to youth, he 
 ventured, in wasliing his father's horse in the sea, to ui'ge the 
 animal heyond the breakers into the swell. Both were over- 
 whelmed ; and the rider was ultimately cast on shore ahve, the 
 horse having recovered the dry land some time before. 
 
 But this remarkable occuiTence demands a more extended 
 relation ; which, though rather long, shall be given in Dr. 
 Clarke's own words. On the moniing of Sunday, March 25, 
 1(S32, he was preaching in London, in the City-road chapel, on 
 behalf of the Eoyal Humane Society for the recover}' of persons 
 apparently di-owned, and was approacliing the close of liis dis- 
 course, when he introduced the follo-^ing stiiking nan-ative : — 
 
 " I said I was acquainted with some of the principal originators 
 of this Society, and I need not say I was well acquainted with 
 Dr. Letsom. I will tell you a stor>^ relative to that good man. 
 — 'Doctor,' said I, 'you have been veiy much conversant vdili 
 everything respecting the Eoyal Humane Society. You have 
 been now long engaged in that work, and you and your friends 
 have been principally active in cari'ving on its pro\isions and 
 plans and management, and dispersmg its blessings thi'oughout 
 the land. Pray, what does youi" experience. Doctor, teach you 
 respecting the state of those that evidently have been dead, and 
 would have continued under the power of death, had it not been 
 for the means prescribed by the Eoyal Humane Society ? Have 
 you ever foimd any that were conscious of the state into which 
 they had departed ?' ' I have never found one,' said he. ' Not 
 of all those that have been revived, to your own knowledge, that 
 were dead as to all human appearance, where the heait had 
 ceased its pulsation, the lungs no longer played, the blood no 
 longer circulated, and there was every evidence that the person 
 was finally deceased ?' He again answere-d, ' No.' ' Doctor,' 
 continued I, ' I have not been so long conversant with these mat- 
 ters as you have been ; but my experience in things of that kind 
 has led me to different information. I knew a person that was 
 drowned ; and that person, to my own knowledge, had a perfect 
 consciousness duiing the whole interim, and also declared many 
 things concerning the state through which he passed.' ' But was 
 the person drowned ?' said the Doctor. ' Yes,' said I, ' com- 
 pletely drowned. I have no doubt of it whatever.' ' Had you 
 the testimony fiom himself ?' he inquired. 'I had, Sir.' 'Could 
 you tiTist in him?' 'Most perfectly.' And then, assuming an 
 attitude he was accustomed to assume when making anxious 
 inquiry respecting anything, he said, ' I should wish to have the 
 examination of that person,' I looked Idm steadfastly in the 
 
DR, ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 21 
 
 face, and I said, * Face homo ! Coram quern qitieritis adsum ! I 
 am the very man that was thus drowned !' He ai'ose immediately 
 ' Well,' said he, ' what were the circumstances ?' * I will tell you 
 them simply,' said I : * I was a fearless lad, and I went to the 
 shore of a fine river that pours itself into the Irish sea, riding a 
 mare of my father's. I was determined to have a swim. I rode 
 the mare, and we swnm on till we got beyond the breakers 
 entirely ; but, when we had got over swell after swell, and were 
 proceeding still onward to the ocean, the mare and myself were 
 swtmiped in a moment. I was soon disengaged from the mare ; 
 and, as I afterguards found, she naturally turned, got ashore, and 
 went plodding her way back to home. In a moment, I seemed 
 to have all my former views and ideas entirely changed, and 
 I had a sensation of the most complete happiness or felicity that 
 it is possible, independent of rapture, for the human mind to feel. 
 I had felt no pain from the moment I was submerged ; and at 
 once a kind of representation, nearly of a green colour, presented 
 itself to me ; multitudes of objects were in it, not one of them, 
 however, possessing any kind of likeness or analogy to anything 
 I had seen before. In tliis state how long I continued, He only 
 knows who saved my hfe ; but so long did I continue in it, till 
 one wave after another (for the tide was coming in) rolled me to 
 the shore. There was no Eoyal Humane Society at hand ; I 
 beheve the place is not blessed with one to the present day. The 
 first sensation, when I came to life, was as if a spear had been 
 run thi'ough my heart. I felt this sensation in getting the veiy 
 first draught of fresh air, when the lungs were merely inflated by 
 the pressure of the atmosphere. I found myself sitting in the 
 water, and it was by a very swelhng wave, that I was put out of 
 the way of being overwhelmed by any of the succeeding waves. 
 After a little time, I was capable of sitting up. The intense pain 
 at my heart, however, still continued ; but I had felt no pain 
 from the moment I was submerged, till the time when my head 
 was brought above water, and the air once more entered into my 
 lungs. I saw the mare had passed along the shore, at a 
 considerable distance ; not as if afraid of danger, but walking 
 quite leisurely. How long I was submerged, it would be impos- 
 sible precisely to say ; but it was sufficiently long, according to 
 my apprehensions and any skiU I now have in physiology, to 
 have been completely dead, and never more to breathe in this 
 world, had it not been for that Providence which, as it were, once 
 more breathed into my nostrils and lungs the breath of this ani- 
 mal life, and I became one more * a living soul.' And, at the 
 space of threescore years, you have this strange phenomenon 
 before you." 
 
 In another place, the Doctor has given a less graphic account 
 
22 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 of his "wonderfol presentation, wliich he thus concludes : — " ' My 
 preservation might have heen the effect of natural causes ; and 
 yet it appears to he more rational to attribute it to a superior 
 agency. Here, then, Dr. L., is a case widely different, it 
 appears, from those you have witnessed; and which argues 
 very httle for the modish doctrine of the materiahty of the 
 soul.' Dr Letsom appeared puzzled with this relation, but did 
 not attempt to make any remarks on it. Perhaps the subject 
 itself may not be unworthy the consideration of some of our 
 minute philosophers."* 
 
 At this time, Mr. Clarke had removed to Agherton in the 
 vicinity of Coleraine. 
 
 Except the instructions of his mother, Adam Clarke had not 
 enjoyed many rehgious advantages. There was httle of personal 
 rehgion in the parish ; and even Mrs. Clarke herself became 
 infected with the general forgetfulness of God. Nor was this 
 attributable to the iifluence of Popery ; for the inhabitants were 
 all either Churchmen or Presbyterians. The latter, pastor aa 
 well as people, were verging towards Socinianism, and, as 
 to piety, hving upon the godliness of their ancestors. The 
 Rector, the Rev. W. Smith, was a benevolent and good man; 
 but he was either ill-informed as to the way of salvation, or 
 failed to make it known in his discourses. This deplorable 
 
 * To the case of Dr. Clarke may be added one not less remarkable, and 
 one, too, which affords grounds for every inference which might be deduced 
 from his. It is that of a lady who formed one of a party in the pleasure 
 "boat, which, a few years ago, was run down by the Fox cutter, while crusing 
 off the Isle of Wight, and is related by Mr. Jones, the ingenious author of 
 a " History of the Waldenses," and other works, he having received it from 
 the lady's own lips. Her husband was saved. " As for myself," said she, 
 " I went plump down to the bottom of the sea, and was for some time com- 
 pletely under water. I had time enough for refl ection, and I well remember 
 what my reflections were. Convinced that my end was come, my first 
 thoughts were, ' Was I in a fit state to die ?' This was no pleasant subject 
 to me. I had often heard it said, that drowning was the most desirable of 
 all deaths ; and I had full proof of the fact : for never shall I forget the 
 harmonious sounds which seemed to fill my ears, and the ecstatic feelings 
 of which I was the subject ; my sensations and impressions were indescrib- 
 ably delightful. I had time also to recollect having been told by some one, 
 that, if I fell into the water, there were two things of the last importance to 
 attend to ; one was, if possible, to keep my head above water, and the other, 
 to keep playing with my hands as I had seen a little dog do with his fore-feet, 
 when thrown into a pool. I began playing with my hands ; my silk dress 
 became buoyant ; I rose rapidly to the surface ; and there, by persevering 
 in the same course, throwing back my head, and paddling with my hands, 
 I supported myself from sinking, until the boats had time to put off from 
 the shore, and i was picked up. The space of time that I was kept in this 
 state could not be less than fifteen minutes." This (adds Mr. Jones) is a 
 brief narrative of the incidents attending that melancholy catastrophe, and 
 the whole goes to justify the points insisted on by Dr. Clarke. 
 
DR. ADAM. CLARKE, xv '^ 
 
 23 
 
 deadness and darkness, Methodism was the means of reviving 
 and enlightening. 
 
 About the year 1777, the Methodist preachers, who had been 
 in Coleraine for some time, visited Agherton ; and Adam Clarke 
 wont to hear them. The first he heard was Mr. John Brettell, 
 " a tall man, lank-sided, with long sleek hair." He found him 
 preaching in a bam. His educational creed was attacked, the 
 preacher placing the Scriptures in opposition to the Assembly's 
 Catechism, as to the doctrine of indweUing sin ; and, Adam's, 
 opinions not having yet acquired the strength of prejudices, h© 
 readily preferred the Scripture doctrine of "salvation from all 
 sin." It has been affirmed that he "Hved to learn better;" but 
 the evidence of such improvement has not been pointed out. 
 What he heard made so much impression upon him, that he con- 
 tinued to hear those Methodist preachers who visited the parish, 
 but without any remarkable effect until the arrival of Mr. Tho- 
 mas Barber.* Many were awakened under his ministry. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Clarke were among the number, each of them recog- 
 nizing in what they severally heard the distinguishing doctrines of 
 their respective churches. They invited Mr. Beirber to their 
 house ; which, from that time, was ever open to him and to hia 
 brethren. Under his preaching and advices, the mind of young 
 Adam gradually opened to receive the seeds of Divine truth. To 
 Mr. Barber and liis colleagues, or, by prayer and reading the hear 
 Scriptures, to attend to the welfare of liis soul, the young peni- 
 tent gave up all his boyish diversions, continuing, however, to 
 discharge with unremitted zeal and assiduity his duties in con- 
 nexion with the farm. 
 
 He had not yet obtained that sense of the pardoning love of 
 God, which, as the Methodists, following the light of Scripture, 
 taught, is not a privilege confined to a few, but a common 
 blessing fi-eely ofiered to every man and every woman upon earth. 
 To this, his friend Mr. Barber taught him to aspire. He had 
 learned to pray, and bowed himself morning and evening at the 
 throne of grace ; but during the day he prayed not, contenting 
 himself with sending up occasional inarticulate ejaculations. 
 The good man showed him that this could not be the habit of 
 one ardently seeking the salvation of his soul, and, above all, the 
 sense of that salvation. Other advisers less informed, and his 
 educational creeds among the rest, erroneously told him, that the 
 faith of assurance, or, in Scripture phraseology, the witness of 
 
 * Mr. Barber had himself been brought to God by the ministry of Mr. 
 Wesley, in Sidare, in the county of Fermanagh ; and was then, at his own 
 expense, acting as a missionary through an extensive tract of country, near 
 the sea-coast, in the county of Antrim, which embraced part of the London^ 
 derry circuit. 
 
24 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the Spirit, was not to be attained by Christians in general, but 
 was confined to a select number. From these jarring interpre- 
 tations, he appealed to the word of God itself, determining to read 
 the New Testament regularly through. This he did with much 
 prayer; and thus, as he informs us, he " acquired and fixed his 
 creed in all its articles, not one of which he ever after found rea- 
 son to change." At this time, he adds, " he had read none of 
 the writings of the Methodists ;" and from them, therefore, he did 
 not learn " that creed wliich, on after examination, he found to 
 be precisely the same with theirs." " Precisely the same/' was 
 certainly too unquahfied a phrase. 
 
 By this time, a Methodist society had been formed in the 
 neighboming village of Mulhhicall. Mrs. Clarke attended a 
 class-meeting at this place ; and, approving of the proceedings, 
 desired Adam to accompany her on her second visit. He did so, 
 and was much struck by the confidence with which several 
 declared their consciousness of the favour of God. The contrast 
 between his own state and that which he heard described, made 
 him feel himself an intruder ; and ' he turned homeward melan- 
 choly and unhappy. The leader overtook him, and exhorted 
 him to give his heart to God, saying, " You may be a burning 
 and a shining hght in a benighted land." These words, which 
 do not speak much for the discretion of the man, might have 
 been expected to please the vanity of a youth Hke Adam ; but 
 they had the contrar}^ efi'ect, of humbhng him deeply, and leading 
 him to loathe and abhor himself. It has puzzled a learned 
 theologian of no little acumen to discover the connexion 
 between cause and effect in tliis part of Dr. Clarke's history. 
 Doubtless it was the work of the Spirit on his heart. These 
 strong convictions, which, to use his own figure, " made nature a 
 universal blank to him," were the precursors of that peace which 
 passes understanding ; but this was not immediately the result. 
 
 Mr. Barber had formed a class of young penitents, and, with- 
 out Adam's leave, had included him in the number. He was not 
 pleased at this, and his permission should certainly have been 
 obtained in a matter of so much importance ; but, nevertheless, 
 he consented to meet with the rest. After having attended regu- 
 larly several weeks, he was once prevented by illness, then by a 
 more trifling hindrance, and finally by pure disinclination.* 
 
 * Subsequently, however, Adam met in class again, and always held this 
 means of grace in high estimation. " When I first heard the Methodists," 
 he observes in a letter, " I heard them gladly, and followed the preachers 
 far and near ; but though by this my mind got light, yet my heart got no 
 heat nor life, till I met in class : then I learnt more in a week than I had 
 learnt before in a month; and I understood the preaching better; and 
 getting acquaintance with my own heart, and hearing the experience of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 25 
 
 As if to complete and pei-petuate his alienation from the means 
 of grace, lie fell into tlie society of a Socinian family, with the 
 members of wliich he conversed on the atonement. His mind 
 hecame infected with their infidel notions ; and, believing that to 
 worship Christ was idolatry, he prayed the forgiveness of God for 
 having fonnerly given his glory to tmother. Not content with 
 this, he even omitted the name of the Son of God in his prayers, 
 and hated the sight of it in any book. It was happy for him that 
 he took up whatever opinions he embraced, heartily and in a can- 
 did spirit. An ordinai-y Socinian would have effected a species 
 of compromise between mere humanity and pure divinity ; but 
 he was honest enough to perceive, that Christ was either a man 
 like liimself, or was truly and properly Divine. By adopting the 
 former alternative in all its naked infidelity, he produced in his 
 mind a revulsion. Hardly confessing it even to himself, he 
 found that without the atonement Christianity was all darkness. 
 His prayers were sapless forms, and his reading without unction. 
 This was a state with which he could not rest satisfied ; and he 
 resolved to try what effect a return to his former habit of impor- 
 tunate petition might produce. Eetiring to a convenient place, 
 he poured out his heart in earnest supplication for the guidance 
 and mercy of God, concluding by asking these favours for the 
 sake of Jesus Christ. This was entirely unpremeditated ; and, 
 as if the words had broken the fatal spell, his soul was immedi- 
 ately filled with light, and he was enabled to throw himself 
 unreservedly on the merits of the Saviour's blood. From this 
 time he was in no danger of falling into Socinian error. On the 
 contrary, he was led to examine into the evidences of the divinity 
 of Christ — an examination wliich resulted in a thorough con- 
 viction of his true and proper Godhead, and, also, in the adop- 
 tion of those views concerning liim as the Son of God, which 
 have made so much noise in the Methodist Connexion. Still he 
 had not received the witness of the Spirit ; and short of this he 
 could not rest. While panting after it as the hart after the 
 water-brooks, he applied for leave to present himself at the table 
 of the Lord. After due examination, he received permission ; 
 and, having prepared himself by a diligent perusal of that delu- 
 sive work, the Week's Preparation, he partook of the sacred ele- 
 ments. The clergyman, knowing how sincere and devout were 
 the feelings of the young communicant, and struck with the 
 solemnity of his deportment, was affected even to tears. By this 
 act Adam considered that he had solemnly bound himself to be, 
 
 God's people, I soon got acquainted with God himself. Had it not been 
 for class-meetings, under God, I fear I never should have been a Christian, 
 and I am sure I never should have been a preacher." 
 
THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 with the assistance of God, all that Christianity requires ; but he 
 did not \dew it as securing his salvation. 
 
 After many vain efforts to obtain the pearl of great price, the 
 day at length arrived on which it was to be freely given him of 
 God. He was working in the field, when such were his anguish 
 and distress of soul that he was obhged to desist from labour. 
 Heaven seemed to be closed to the voice of his suppUcation ; and 
 he began to be persuaded that there was no mercy for him. 
 But, while his soul was enveloped in this thick darkness, it was 
 suggested to him to pray to Christ. Obe^TDg the inward moni- 
 tor, he felt instantly a glorious change. To use his own words, 
 " A glow of happiness seemed to thrill through his whole frame : 
 all gmlt and condemnation were gone. He examined his con- 
 science, and found it no longer a register of sins against God, 
 He looked to heaven, and all was sunshine ; he searched for his 
 distress, but could not find it. He felt indescribably happy, but 
 could not tell the cause : a change had taken place within him, 
 of a nature wholly unknown before, and for which he had no 
 name. He sat down upon the ridge where he had been working, 
 full of ineffable dehght. He praised God, and he could not 
 describe for what ; for he could give no name to his work. His 
 heart was hght, his physical strength returned, and he could 
 bound like a roe. He felt a sudden transition from darkness to 
 light, from guilt and oppressive fear to confidence and peace. 
 He could now draw nigh to God with more confidence than he ever 
 could to his earthly father : he had freedom of access, and he 
 had freedom of speech. He was Hke a person who had got into 
 a new world, where, although every object was strange, yet each 
 was pleasing ; and now he could magnify God for his creation, a 
 thing he never could do before ! Oh ! what a change was here ! 
 and yet, lest he should be overwhelmed with it, its name and its 
 nature were in a great measure hidden from his eyes." 
 
 At threescore and ten the impression produced by this spiritual 
 change remained as fresh and deep upon Dr. Clai'ke's mind as 
 it was " when he first beheved." A sermon preached at that ad- 
 vanced stage of his hfe contains the following reminiscences : — 
 Would you let an old man, that will not trouble you very 
 long, just tell you how he felt when God shone upon his soul ? 
 Wherever I looked, I had God's holiness and my own heart 
 brought, as it were, parallel ; there was not a charge that God 
 had against me registered in his book, but I felt, as it were, here, 
 in my conscience and heart ; when, in crying to him for mercy, 
 after a deep night of repentance, which I shall explain in a little, 
 in reference to yourselves, I found all my load of anxiety, and 
 fear, and dismay, removed from my mind : I looked up to heaven, 
 and saw nothing but glory there — I looked up to God, and saw 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 27 
 
 nothing but my Father there — I looked up to Jesus, and saw 
 nothing but my Saviour there — I looked up to the Holy Ghost, 
 and saw him smilingly registering my salvation there — I looked 
 witliin, I saw not a character to charge me tliere. I felt as if I 
 had never sinned against my Maimer, and yet conscious tliat I 
 had done so ; with the fullest consciousness, at the same time, 
 that all was blotted out from God's book and my own too." 
 
 Shortly after this happy transition, his friend Mr. Barbef 
 visited the house, and was acquainted with the joyful news. The 
 man of God gave tlianks on account of it, and led the convert to 
 infer that the event wliich he knew not how to characterise, was 
 that "being justified by faith" which brings ''peace with God." 
 On the following Sabbath Adam attended a love-feast at Cole- 
 raine, at which, during prayer, he obtained a still clearer sense 
 of the favour of God : " the Spirit of God," to use his own 
 words, "bore this witness in his conscience, and he could no 
 more have doubted it, than he could have doubted of the reality 
 of his existence, or the identity of his person." 
 
 " He had now found," as he himself remarks, " true happiness 
 in reUgion ; and this he knew it must afford if it were of God : 
 for he saw that rehgion was a commerce between God and man," 
 — an infeUcitous phrase ; for commerce imphes an interchange 
 of equivalents : and how can man, who has nothing which he has 
 not received, establish such a connexion with his Maker ? But 
 this is only one of those strong expressions into which men of 
 vivid feelings are sometimes betrayed (and few men more frequently 
 than Dr. Clarke) without the approbation of their better judgment ; 
 and, almost as soon as the Doctor has uttered the words, he pre- 
 cludes an inference unfavourable to his orthodoxy, by adding that 
 " all notions of religion, merely as a system of duties which we 
 owe to God, fell, in his apprehension, infinitely short of its 
 nature and intention:" a clear proof that he entertained no 
 such idea as that of a reciprocity of interests between God 
 and man. 
 
 Of this epoch in Adam's life, Mr. Moore has favoured the 
 public with some interesting reminiscences. 
 
 *' Of all my associates in the work of the ministry who yet live, 
 he was my earhest friend. He was received as a member of our 
 Connexion in the first year of my appointment to the care of a 
 circuit ; being sent by Mr. Wesley to Londonderry, in the year 
 1772, in the place of a preacher, Mr. Gaffiiey, who had fallen 
 imder the fatigues and privations common at that day. 
 
 " Coleraine was the second place on the circuit ; and, as there 
 was a preacher at Londonderry when I arrived there, the former 
 became my place. I soon learned something concerning the 
 people, and, among others, of our deceased fnend and brother. 
 
28 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 He was mentioned to me as a remarkable young man, tlie son of 
 a schoolmaster, who lived in the village about four miles from the 
 town. It was said that he had made some progi'ess in classical 
 learning, and had lately begun to attend our then generally- 
 despised ministry. But how was I surprised when he was intro- 
 duced to me ! Our dear friend to the last day of his Hfe manifested 
 but little care about his person ; but at that interview he appeared 
 at the extreme of distance, not only from ever^^thing fasliionable, 
 but from everv^thing that has usually been considered as having 
 any connexion with letters. He was then, as I learned, seven- 
 teen years of age, as thin as it was possible for any one to be who 
 had any portion of health ; and, although his appearance was 
 not calculated to attract general attention, it interested me 
 exceedingly, having not long before escaped from the world in 
 something of the same plight. But the spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus had not yet made him free from the law of sin and death. 
 His soul was in bondage ; and fear prevailed over hope, notwith- 
 stanchng all the encouragements held out to him in the Gospel, 
 which he heard at every opportunity. In a little time, a degree 
 of intimacy took place between us ; and, as he recalled to my 
 remembrance a short time ago, he followed me about to all my 
 appointments, hungering after the word of life ; attending also 
 the ministry of the tliird preacher, tlie late Mr. Thomas Barber, 
 who chiefly laboured in the country parts of the circuit, and of 
 whom he always cherished a grateful remembrance. Through 
 me he also became intimate in Mrs. Young's family, where I had 
 been received, not as a common visitor ; and he was one of the 
 last I saw, when he came to take leave of me, and of the partner 
 of my suffering hfe and labours, the eldest daughter of that re- 
 spectable lady. 
 
 " Mr. Rutherford remained on the circuit another year, and 
 the intimacy continued in the same hne. Through him and 
 through Miss Isabella Young, (aftei*wards Mrs. Rutherford,) 
 I received an account of our deceased friend fr'om time to time." 
 
 The immediate consequence of Adam's spiritual emancipation 
 was intellectual enlargement. Emulation, as we have seen, over- 
 came that native stoHdity which made him incapable of acquiring 
 without difficulty the first mdiments of leaiTiing ; but he never 
 manifested much quickness of apprehension or expansion of 
 mind, until he had entered into the liberty of the sons of God. 
 Lucian and Juvenal, the authors he was studying, still tasked his 
 powers ; but they were henceforth easy in comparison with what 
 they had been. According to his own testimony, he now learned 
 more in one day than formerly in one month. His mind became 
 enlarged to take in anything useful. He saw that rehgion was 
 the gate to true learning and science ; and he was accustomed to 
 
DR. AD.VM CLARKE. 
 
 29 
 
 affirm, that those who went througli their studies without rchgion, 
 had, at least, douhle work to do ; hesides that, in the end, they did 
 not reaUze an equal produce. The ti'uth of this doctrine will 
 be questioned by many, who will be ready to refer to numerous 
 examples of intellectual eminence even among avowed infidels, 
 much more among men who, whatever their creed, had no pre- 
 tensions to that vital religion which is the subject of the Doctor's 
 remark. On his side, however, be it remembered, there arc 
 ranged names of the very highest eminence. If minor mathe- 
 maticians have been infidels, Newton was a Christian ; if inferior 
 poets have despised revelation, Milton made it the theme of his 
 eulogy ; and, if orcUnaiy linguists have employed their skill in 
 neuti'alizing the scheme of human redemption, Clarke made all 
 his acquirements subservient to the confirmation and exposition 
 of that scheme, and to the glory of its great Author. But the 
 principle on which the Doctor would have defended his assertion, 
 is this : that the Christian's mind is most easily divested of 
 those cares and perturbations which will insinuate themselves 
 into the study of the most abstracted scholar, if he has not fled 
 for refuge to the hope of the Gospel. Not only is the man who 
 has been adopted into the favour of God freed from those things 
 which would impede his studies, by disturbing his peace, or by 
 debasing his mind ; but he is encouraged and assisted by the 
 grace and the blessing of Christ : for, convinced that studies 
 which are not connected with religion, or which do not ultimately 
 lead the mind to God, can never be sanctified, he confines him- 
 self strictly to those pursuits, upon which, as they are directed to 
 the promotion of the Divine glory, he may confidently expect 
 the Divine benediction. 
 
 Tliis was the principle which now regulated the studies of 
 Adam Clarke To his other pursuits he added that of astro- 
 nomy ; but, except the actual inspection of the heavens through 
 a telescope wliich was given to him, he acquired his knowledge 
 of the science from Derham's Astro-theology, which also he did 
 not read but in connexion with the Bible. The perusal of Bay's 
 Wisdom of God in the Creation, gave him more particular 
 information, and led him to natural philosophy. By the aid of 
 Kersey's and Martin's dictionaries, he conquered the technicali- 
 ties of liis learned authors ; who extended his knowledge, and 
 strengthened his conviction of the universal and co-ordinate 
 greatness and goodness of God. 
 
 His religion showed itself to be of the right kind, l)y seeking 
 to communicate itself to others. Churchman as the father was, 
 Sunday was the only day on which he had family prayer. The 
 son could not rest satisfied without daily attention to tliis duty. 
 He was given to understand, that, if his wishes were complied 
 
30 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 with, he must himself officiate. Some time elapsed before Adam 
 could summon resolution enough to pray before his father, Ms 
 mother, and his sisters ; but his sense of duty triumphed ; and, 
 having once undertaken the office, he continued to be their chap- 
 lain so long as he remained with them. " A prayerless family," 
 says he, reflecting on this period of his life, " has God's curse. 
 If the parents will not perform family prayer, if there be a 
 converted child in the family, it devolves on him ; and, should 
 he refuse, he will soon lose the comforts of religion." 
 
 Adam soon received his reward in the increase of spirituality 
 among his relatives. His prayers, his conversation, and his ex- 
 ample, made a serious impression on them all. His sister Han- 
 nah, indeed, entered the Methodist Society at the same time as 
 he did.* The next fruit of his labour was his eldest sister, who 
 carefully deferred joining the Methodists till thoroughly persuaded 
 of the truth of their doctrines and the excellence of their disci- 
 pline.f The rest became constant hearers among the Methodists, 
 and most of them members ; but Adam did not remain long enough 
 beneath his father's roof to witness all the results of his instrumen- 
 tahty. His parents continued through life to entertain the Metho- 
 dist preachers ; and most of their children followed their example. 
 
 Among his schoolfellows, as well as in his family, Adam was 
 a successful instrument in the hands of God. He persuaded 
 Andrew Coleman, his companion, to hear the Methodist preachers ; 
 and this youth afterwards became one of their number :| but his 
 
 * She was afterwards married to Mr. Thos. Exley, M.A.; and, after bearing 
 him several children, all of whom became pious, she died happy in the Lord. 
 
 f This lady is still living. She is the wife of the Rev. W. M. Johnson, 
 LL.D., rector of St. Perrans-Uthno, in Cornwall, and has a numerous family. 
 
 X Dr. Clarke furnished an account of this interesting young man for the 
 Methodist Memorial. His career was cut short by lying in a damp 
 bed, which has caused the premature death of some of the most eminent of 
 the Methodist preachers. He was a giant both in body and in mind. 
 When only fourteen years of age, he had the whole of the Common Prayer 
 by heart. At the same age, he had made himself such a master of the 
 .^neid of Virgil and the Paradise Lost of Milton, that, on the mention of 
 any line in either of those poems, he could immediately tell the book in 
 which it occurred, and the number of the line. But his learning, which, 
 for a youth, was extensive, was his least recommendation. Previous to being 
 a preacher, he taught a small school ; and often, that he might assist his 
 parents, who were in reduced circumstances, he went whole days without 
 food. His piety and his zeal were the most remarkable and valuable traits 
 of his character. To these, in connexion with the cause already specified, 
 he fell a victim, in the eighteenth year of his age, and after nine months' 
 labour in the ministry. The evening before he died, he desired to be car- 
 ried out in his chair, to see the setting sun. His desire was granted ; and, 
 having beheld it with pleasing emotions, till it sank under the horizon, he 
 obsen ed, " This sun has hitherto been partially obscured to me, but it shall 
 be no more so for ever." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 81 
 
 course, though hright, was brief. Adam extended his efforts to 
 his neighbours, and, indeed, went several miles into the country 
 round about, exhorting all who heai'd him to turn to God. In 
 > these labours he spent the Sabbath ; and, in all weathers, went 
 regularly, on each return of that day, a distance of more than six 
 miles to meet a class, which assembled so early, that, in the win- 
 ter season, he must needs set out two hours before day. When 
 he had met the class, he proceeded to the nearest village ; and, 
 entering the first open door, accosted the iimiates with Peace 
 be to tliis house !" If they consented that he should pray with 
 them and that the neighbours should be called in, he prayed ac- 
 cordingly, and offered a short exliortation. This done, he pro- 
 ceeded to another village, and repeated the same plan, and so on 
 through the day. He has stated that he never met with a refusal. 
 He frequently visited nine or ten villages in one day, avoiding 
 those which he had reason to believe would be supphed with 
 preachers, and confining himself to such as would not otherwise 
 have received the Gospel invitation. *'It seems," says Mr. 
 Moore, " he not only received the full and free spirit of the Gos- 
 pel adoption, but, to the astonishment of all, began to preach in 
 some parts of the circuit ; and generally to the admiration of all 
 who heard him. His preaching, it seems from the account given, 
 had Uttle more of polish than his external appearance ; but tliere 
 was a Ufe and energy in his plain and sometimes rough address, 
 which humbled curious hearers, and greatly edified those who 
 waited upon God in the true spirit of the Gospel. He himself 
 spoke of this epoch of his Ufe with his usual simplicity, pleasantly 
 saying, in answer to some curious questions from those who 
 seem to think that the Gospel spirit should be subject to tradi- 
 tion, ' O Sir, it was Mrs. Kutherford that made me a preacher 1' 
 After my removal, she used kindly to converse with him, and to 
 lend liim books ; and, as the fire was hot within him, a Uttle en- 
 couragement caused it to break forth, for which thousands, I 
 doubt not, wiU have to praise God in the day of assembled 
 worlds."* 
 
 While he was thus engaged, his father, at his own desire, 
 placed liim under an emiuent mathematician, from whom he was 
 to have learned some of the more ornamental branches of mathe- 
 matics ; but aU he had time to acquire was a general knowledge 
 
 * This amiable lady was remembered by Dr. Clarke with much esteem, 
 especially as having lent him two books from which he derived much ad- 
 vantage ; namely, Baxter's Saints' Everlasting Rest, and Brainerd's Journal. 
 "If I continue to be a Christian," he observes, "I owe it, under God, to 
 the former ; and, if ever I was a preacher, I owe it, under the same grace, 
 to the latter." From Mr. Rutherford's preaching, also, he derived great 
 good^ for he was a man whose precepts were well enforced by his example. 
 
32 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 of dialling. The last secular act by whicli lie endeavoured to 
 " gain his bread/' was the manufacture of a small horizontal 
 brass dial for a gentleman's garden. 
 
 In 1778, Adam conceived a wish to study French — an acqui- 
 sition so rare at that day in Ireland, that, in order to make it, he 
 was obhged to leave home. His master was one Mr. Muq)hy, 
 who kept school in the church of Desart Martin. 
 
 The time having anived, when it was necessaiT that he should 
 learn some trade by which he might acquire a Hvelihood, his 
 parents gladly accepted the offer of Mr. Francis Bennet, a Hnen 
 merchant, of Coleraine, and their kinsman, to take him as an 
 apprentice. Tliis was done in opposition to all his reUgious 
 friends, who were persuaded that Divine Providence designed liim 
 for the ministry. As for Adam himself, he was entirely passive. 
 His master and he being mutually satisfied after a month's trial, 
 they continued together. Meantime, those who thought he was 
 destined to preach the Gospel, incessantly urged liim not to 
 bind himself to Mr. Bennet; but his parents, not having the 
 means of sending liim to college, and beHe\'ing that with their 
 kinsman he would have an opportunity of gaining a competency, 
 peremptorily insisted on his remaining. Eleven months had 
 elapsed, and yet he was not bound. Though passive in the first 
 instance, he now began to have Ids opinion. He found he could 
 not with a clear conscience do several things required of him ; 
 and it was evident, that, in attending fairs and markets to buy 
 linen from the weavers, he would be much exposed to tempta- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Moore has thrown a Ught upon the otherwise inexplicable 
 conscientious fears of his friend and brother. "Mr. Bennet 
 knew well that liis clerk and overseer was a rehgious man, but 
 was not sensible of the depth of principle which actuated him. 
 Some differences arose at tnnes about the way of conducting the 
 business, which were settled pretty amicably. * But the time 
 of the gi-eat Dubhn maiket approached, and IVIi'. Bennet was 
 busy preparing for it. The master and man were together in 
 the folding room, when one of the pieces was found short of the 
 required number of yai'ds. ' Come,' says !Mi'. Bennet, ' it is but 
 a trifle. We shaU soon stretch it, and make out the yard. Come, 
 Adam, take one end, and pull against me.' Alas I Adam had 
 neither ears nor heart for the proposal, and absolutely refused to 
 touch what he thought an unclean tiling. A long argument and 
 expostulation followed, in wliich the usages of the trade were 
 strongly and variously enforced ; but all in vain. Our brother 
 kept to liis text, resolving to suffer rather than sin. Mr. Bennet 
 was therefore obhged to call for one of his men less scrupulous, 
 and Adam retired quietly to his desk. Many years after this, I 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 33 
 
 was in company at Bristol, wlicre some friends of his and mine 
 were assembled. The praise of my absent friend was very gene- 
 ral ; but one of the company ohser\'ed that ' Mr. Clarke was veiy 
 positive, and even obstinate in his opinion.' Another of the 
 company immediately replied, ' If men should want those whom 
 they hope to manage, I would not have them meddle with a man 
 of God : a man who desires to walk worthy of the Lord unto all 
 pleasing, can never be managed but in and for God.' There was 
 no reply to this." 
 
 Whilst considerations arising from his tenderness of conscience, 
 and his dread of the danger of worldly associations, were re- 
 volving in liis mind, Mr. John Bredin, an eccentiic man, but a 
 preacher of considerable talent, who was then on the Coleraino 
 and Londonderr}' circuit, paid him many attentions, lending him 
 books, and giving him instructions; and, believing God had 
 called him to the ministiy, he wrote to Mr. Wesley concerning 
 liim. That great man immediately offered to receive Adam for 
 a time into Kingswood School, near Bristol, that he might in- 
 crease his classical and other knowledge, and, by preacliing in 
 the neighbourhood, quahfy himself for the office of an itinerant 
 preacher. This proposal was communicated to his parents, 
 who not merely received it with dissatisfaction, but rejected it 
 with indignation. Mr. Bennet had ascertained the youth's 
 disinclination to the linen trade : he handsomely offered to ad- 
 vance him money to embark in some other branch of business ; 
 but Adam gratefidly declined the offer. 
 
 Though the immediate end of his residence with Mr. Bennet 
 was not answered, the period of their connexion was not lost 
 time. He had the advantage of sitting under able preachers, 
 and of associating with intelligent and pious Cluistians. Among 
 his chief friends were, Mr. Robert Douthitt, Messrs. Andrew and 
 William Hunter, ^Ir. John M'Kenny, whose son is now a mis- 
 sionary in Ceylon, and Miss Isabella Yoimg. 
 
 But all was not thus smooth with him. One of his master's 
 maids was a very profane person, and evinced a deadly hatred 
 towards him, entirely on account of his rehgion. He frequently 
 expostulated with her ; and, at length, the grace of God arrested 
 her, and, after passing through great agony of mind, from the 
 strength of her convictions, she found redemption in the blood of 
 the Lamb. Her subsequent conduct, both immediately and after 
 the lapse of a great number of years, attested the soundness of 
 her conversion. 
 
 Nor were the persecutions of this woman his only cross. In 
 his master's house was an old female relative, who, bedridden and 
 helpless, was neglected by those who ought to have waited upon 
 her. Adam was accustomed to visit her nightly, that he might 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 converse and pray with her. But this was not all. During 
 several months, he perfonned offices for her which were prohahly 
 such (for he did not tliink proper to specif}^ them) as none hut 
 persons of her own sex ought to have performed. At length she 
 died, and he was reUeved fi'om an oppressive load, " under whicli 
 (he declared) nothing hut the gi'ace of God, working on a nature 
 full of henei'olence and charity, could have supported him." 
 
 He felt constrained, young as he was, to reprove sin, whenever 
 committed in his presence. If the siimer was his inferior, he 
 spoke to him at once ; if his equal, he sought an early opportu- 
 nity of speaking to him in private ; if his superior, he wrote to 
 liim, always signing his name. He did not do this from forward- 
 ness, hut to reheve his conscience. In those times, indeed, the 
 Methodists in general, hut particularly the preachers and their 
 wives, held it a sacred duty (as most assuredly it is) not to 
 suffer sin upon their brother. Many was the delicate and help- 
 less woman that rehulced the daring sinner in the highways, she 
 standing alone, and he smTOunded hy his applauding companions ; 
 hut there are now few of either sex who thus deny themselves 
 and take up their cross daily. 
 
 But the principles wliich regulate moral conduct, if often de- 
 nied their just influence, are sometimes pushed beyond proper 
 limits. Conscientiousness, without the curb of a sanctified rea- 
 son, may degenerate into superstition. Tliis was the case with 
 Adam Clarke, as it has been with many young men of ai'dent dis- 
 positions. By fasting and abstinence, he reduced his body to a 
 skeleton ; and liis regard to truth became so scrtipulous, that he 
 was not satisfied with intending to speak the truth. From a deep 
 sense of the truth and justice of God, he became painfully afi^aid 
 of speaking, lest he should utter aught not perfectly and indubi- 
 tably true. He acquired the habit of qualifying all his assertions. 
 He thought he had done, and beheved he had heard things, 
 concerning wliich there was no doubt, except in his own morbid 
 mind. He became a systematic doubter, and distmsted both his 
 memory and his senses. The former, as if resenting the affront, 
 ceased to add to the number of its records, and the latter served 
 for pei'sonal presentation only. He appeared to himself a visi- 
 onary being, and the whole world little else than a congeries of 
 ill-connected ideas. He thought at last that the whole of hfe, 
 and indeed universal nature, was a cbeam. He could recollect 
 having had what were termed di'eams, and in them all appeai'ed 
 to be realities ; but when he awoke he found all to be unreal 
 mockeries : and why might not his present state be the same ? 
 At length he doubted whether he ever had such dreams ; 
 whether he ever made such reflections ; or whether he even 
 now thought or reflected I Bishop Berkely might have tra- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 35 
 
 versed the globe without finding so promising a disciple. 
 Painfully conscious of the pci-plexities in which this miserable 
 state of mind involved him, he attempted to lay his case before 
 one of the Methodist preachers ; but the good man treated him 
 as a madman. Discouraged by this reception, ho resorted to 
 prayer ; but, immediately forgetting that he had done so, he 
 prayed again. Sometimes he omitted to do what he had been 
 ordered, and sometimes he returned to do what he had already 
 performed. 
 
 With all his dubiety, he was comparatively a happy sceptic ; 
 for he nevei" doubted the being of God, or the truth of Scripture. 
 Wliile his Christian experience, saving the very foundations, was 
 thus in ruins, he still punctually used the means of grace ; and 
 at last they became to him the means of re -edification. At the 
 prayer-meeting, one besought the Lord, that, if there were any 
 present against whom the accuser of the brethren had stood up, 
 he would succour that soul, and cast down the accuser. The 
 petition was eagerly appropriated by young Clarke, who had 
 always considered his deplorable condition as the result of Satanic 
 malevolence ; and, as he echoed the words of the speaker, with a 
 strong confidence in God, the consolations of Divine grace re- 
 visited liis breast. 
 
 The ruins of his memory were repaired by the use of outward 
 means ; but it never wholly recovered its former retentiveness. 
 Dr. Clarke, however, had the happy faculty of seeing good in 
 everything. Had he remembered words as before, instead of re- 
 taining ideas only as now, he might, he thought, have been be- 
 trayed into the disreputable habit of retailing the compositions 
 of other men instead of his o^vn. Through distrust of his me- 
 mor)% he was also driven to the severer exercise of higher facul- 
 ties, in the study and composition of his sermons, and, above all, 
 to that wliich is necessary to make any sermon useful. Divine 
 assistance. He has been heai'd to say, that, though he had 
 preached, perhaps, five thousand sermons, he never knew before- 
 hand one single sentence that he should utter.* His friend Mr. 
 Everett must, therefore, be in error, in the following statement : — 
 "Never was man more faithful to instruction imparted; his 
 stores continued to accumulate till the close of his Hfe. It was 
 not barely a subject in the mass, that he could grasp and retain, 
 but in its minutest details, recollecting the identical words in 
 which several sentences might be expressed, with the intonations 
 of the voice, the point, and paiticular bearing of those words, 
 both in his native tongue and in foreign languages." 
 
 Dr. Clarke considered the singular state to which his mind 
 
 * According to his son's calculation, he preached 6615 sermons, from 
 1782 to 1808, exclusive of exhortations. 
 
 D 
 
36 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 had been reduced, as ha\ing contribated, like every other temp- 
 tation and trial, to the fonnation of liis ministerial character. 
 He viewed aflfliction, in all its various foiTQS, not merely as a 
 means of personal improvement ; but, in the case of ministers, 
 as necessary to qualify them for the due discharge of their office 
 towards others similarly afflicted. He who is to be a judge of 
 so many cases of conscience, should clearly understand them. 
 But is this possible, unless he have passed through those states 
 and circumstances on which these cases are founded ?" Certainly 
 not ; and thus it was that the preacher to whom he himself re- 
 sorted for advice, treated his singular ahenation as a common 
 case of lunacy. 
 
 Such is the history of Adam's spiritual Hfe whilst with Mr. 
 Bennet. He parted from that gentleman in the most friendly 
 manner, and corresponded with him till his death. " Mr. Bennet," 
 observes Mr. Moore, visited England many years after, and 
 sought us both out very dihgently ; observing to me how much 
 he and others were mistaken when they attempted to make our 
 young friend a tradesman." 
 
87 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Adam darkens Call to the Ministry^ and his first Text — Is sent for by Mr. 
 Wesley — Objections of his Parents — They yield — Adam embarks — Arrives 
 at Liverpool — Reaches Kinystvood — Uis unkind Itccejitlon^ and rough 
 Treatment — Finds a Ilalf-yuinea — His first Interview with Mr. John 
 Wesley — And with Mr. Charles Wesley — Diffei'ent Treatment at Kings- 
 wood — Is Confirined by Bishop Bagot — Subsequent Improvement of Kings- 
 wood School — Adam Clarke leaves Kingswood. 
 
 Although Adam Clarke had frequently exhorted sinners to re- 
 pentance, he did not yet think liimself called to the ministry. 
 Others were persuaded that he was ; but that did not suffice for 
 him. The peremptory manner in which his father had rejected 
 Mr. Wesley's offer, was calculated to make him distrust the opi- 
 nions of his friends. Perhaps he was also distrustful of himself; 
 he was certainly far fr'om indulging in self-confidence. Often as 
 he had stood up in the name of God, he had never dared to take 
 a text. He considered that a man might be quite competent to 
 exhort, though not to preach ; and there appeared to him an 
 audacity amounting to impiety in the individual who, without a 
 certain share of theological knowledge, should presume to under- 
 tfdie the exposition of Scripture. But the time was approach- 
 ing when he himself would be constrained to make the attempt. 
 
 Shortly after leaving Coleraine, his parents persuaded him to 
 accept an invitation to visit Mr. Bredin, then on the London- 
 derry side of his circuit. He performed the journey, a distance 
 of thirty miles, on foot. Before he set out, he besought the Lord 
 to direct liim to some passage of Scripture, upon which he might 
 meditate by the way. Then he opened the Bible ; and the words 
 that first met his eyes were, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have 
 chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth 
 fi'uit, and that your fruit should remain : that whatsoever ye 
 shall ask of the Father, in my name, he may give it you." The 
 day after his arrival, Mr. Bredin desired him to preach at New 
 Buildings, a village about five miles from Derry, and bade him 
 take a text. To this Adam demurred ; but, his friend being im- 
 portunate, he yielded. Accordingly, the first sermon of Adam 
 Clarke was preached June 19, 1782, the text being, "We know 
 that we are of God, and the whole world Heth in wickedness." 
 On this occasion, a young man of the Society said to him, " You 
 are very young to take upon you to imravel the word ;" but the 
 generality of his hearers were so well pleased that they entreated 
 
38 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 him to preach to them again. He consented, and preached 
 afterwards five several times in the same village, during his stay 
 with Mr. Bredin. 
 
 He returned to his father's house, with a settled persuasion that 
 God had called him to preach his word, regarding that passage 
 of Scripture to which his attention had been directed a fortnight 
 before, as the evidence of his call. Remembering Mr. Wesley's 
 invitation, he indulged the prospect of going to England, and 
 obtained a certificate of character fi'om the rector of the parish. 
 This document was readily granted.* Scarcely had he taken 
 tliis precaution, w^hen Mr. Bredin received a letter from Mr. 
 Wesley, appointing him for England, and desuing liim to 
 bring Adam Clarke with liim, that he might be sent to Kings- 
 wood School. This brought matters to a crisis with liis family. 
 His father would neither speak to liim nor see him. His 
 mother urged him with many arguments, beginning with the 
 fifth commandment, but finally quitting the ground of Scrip- 
 ture, and threatening him with her curse. Adam rephed, that 
 he wished to do nothing contrary to the will of God ; but he 
 could not think of leaving home without the approbation of his 
 parents. In this dilemma he had recourse to prayer, the Chris- 
 tian's method of untpng the Gordian Knot ; and, by-and-by, on 
 retmning fi-om Coleraine, whither he had gone on business, he 
 was pleasingly surprised to find that his mother had imbibed the 
 persuasion that God required her to give up her son to his work, 
 and also that she had conquered the repugnance of his father. 
 "His father," says Mr. Moore,t "who had no objection to his 
 being a hnen merchant, and who, after that failure, had rejoiced 
 in the prospect of his completing his education, so as to be re- 
 ceived into one of the Scotch Universities, the great ambition of 
 the fond old man, was utterly confounded at the issue. He 
 
 * On his requesting a certificate, the rector, the Rev. Wm. Smith, said, 
 " Write anything you please, Adam, and I will sign it." This he declined, 
 and said, " Anything from you, Sir, will be sufficient :" on which Mr. S. 
 sat down and wrote the following lines, which the R€v. Mr. Hezlet, Rector 
 of a neighbouring parish, seeing, subscribed: — 
 
 "Millbum, July 29th, 1782. 
 
 *' The bearer's father, John Clarke, M. A., has, for several years, kept a 
 school in the parish of Agherton, of which I am rector ; and during that 
 time, both he and the bearer, Adam Clarke, have maintained a fair and ex- 
 ceeding good character : and I do believe the bearer worthy of the confi- 
 dence of any person who has occasion to employ, or have any intercourse 
 or connexion with, him. 
 
 " Wm. Smith, Minister of Agherton, 
 "RoBT. Hezlet, Rector of Killowen." 
 f Mr. Moore, who at this time was re-apprinted to the Coleraine circuit, 
 states, that "he lost his teacher as well as his friend," when Adam was sum- 
 moned to Kingswpod. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 39 
 
 wrote a letter to me, bitterly lamenting his disappointment, and 
 the blasted hopes of his favourite son. He followed up the let- 
 ter by a visit ; in wliicli I was obliged for some time to listen to 
 liis painful strains, all to the same effect. I liad but Httle hope of 
 giving any satisfaction to such a disturbed mind. I therefore 
 shortly replied, that I doubted not a day would come when he 
 would thank God for what he now deplored ; and added, * Sir, Mr. 
 Wesley has put great honour upon your son, in appointing him 
 to a fellowsliip in the ministry, by his own order, and without the 
 usual preliminary trial. There are very few persons whom he 
 would thus distinguish.' This seemed a httle to touch the chord 
 wliicli made most hannony or discord within him ; and he de- 
 parted, seemingly resolved to hope the best. The hope was veri- 
 fied. I afterwards saw this disappointed man himself appointed, 
 cliiefly through love to that son, to an honourable station in that 
 very seminary, whence he thought his son had been so dis- 
 honourably removed. The marriage of his two daughters, also, 
 with honourable men, both employed occasionally in the same 
 institution, was found in the train of that remarkable provi- 
 dence." 
 
 In a few days, Adam set off to the city of Londonderry, the 
 place of embarkation. He had little money, and few clothes ; 
 but he requested nothing of his parents. His religious friends, 
 however, put some money into his purse. Mr. Bredin had 
 agreed for their passage in a Liverpool trader, then waiting for a 
 fair wind. In the mean time, Mr. Wesley countermanded Mr. 
 Bredin's appointment ; and, the wind being fair, Adam embarked, 
 friendless and alone, taking with him, as provision for the voyage, 
 a loaf and a pound of cheese. The vessel sailed on the 1 7th of 
 August, 1782, and reached Liverpool on the 19th. Adam re- 
 proved the sailors for swearing ; which they, seeing he was re- 
 spected by their commander, took in good part. 
 
 On arriving in the Mersey, they were boarded by a press-gang. 
 The other passengers secreted themselves ; but Adam, saying, 
 with Nehemiah, " Shall such a man as I flee ?" sat down upon a 
 locker in the cabin, in the spirit of prayer and submission to the 
 will of God. One of the passengers, who had hid himself, 
 was discovered and impressed. Adam, too, was overhauled. 
 One of the party took him for a young priest ; and the lieutenant, 
 finding he was not hard-handed, cursed him and let him go. 
 
 Of the cruel and unconstitutional practice of impressment. Dr. 
 Clarke says, — 
 
 What Briton's bosom does not bum against this infringe- 
 ment of British hberty ? this unconstitutional attack on the 
 liberty of a free-bom subject of the sovereign of the Bri- 
 tish Isles ? While the impress sei*vice is tolerated, in vain do 
 
40 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 we boast of our constitution. It is an attack upon its vitality, 
 ten thousand times worse than any suspension of the Habeas 
 Corpus Act. Let Britons know, that it is neither any part of our 
 constitution, nor any law of the land, whatever some venal law- 
 yers have said, in order to make it constructively such. Nothing 
 can be a reason for it, but that which justifies a levee en masse 
 of the inhabitants of the land. It is intolerahle to hear those 
 jjlead for it, who are not exposed to so great a calatnity." 
 
 When Adam went on shore, the Captain invited him to his 
 house, where he was hospitably entertained by Mrs. Cunningham, 
 who introduced liim to a Scotch lady and a naval captain. Their 
 conversation turned on the subject of religion ; and, the Scotch 
 lady using frequently the asseveration " upon my conscience," 
 Adam, who, as we have seen, always held it his duty to reprove 
 sin, took an opportunity of reproving her in private. Without 
 being hurt, she defended herself by the example of other rehgious 
 professors ; and, at supper, mentioned the subject to their hostess. 
 Tliis led Adam to assign his reasons for considering all oaths 
 sinful, reasons the force of wliich some of the company seemed 
 to acknowledge. The strange captain, who was a Papist, called 
 upon Adam for his opinion concerning the peculiar points of 
 Koman Catholic behef. The young preacher accepted the chal- 
 lenge ; and, after having shown how unscriptural were the no- 
 tions wliich he attacked, ghded involuntarily into the language 
 of exhortation. He was heard, not only with fixed attention, but 
 with tears ; perceiving which, he seized the occasion of proposing 
 prayer, and, kneehng down, in which he was imitated by the 
 company, he prayed with much fervour and energy, and had 
 reason to believe that a beneficial impression was made upon his 
 hearers. When he inquired for his bill, Mrs. Cunningham re- 
 fused to make any charge, acknowledged that she and her family 
 were deeply in his debt, and begged that he would write to them 
 when he reached Kuigswood. 
 
 It was Adam's intention to walk from Livei'pool to Bristol ; 
 but he was persuaded to go by coach. He reached Birmingham 
 after being a day and a night upon the road. During the jour- 
 ney, he reproved a young gentleman, one of his fellow-travellers, 
 for swearing. The giddy sinner took him for a Presbyteriau, 
 and was uncommonly entertained when he avowed himself a 
 Methodist. On returning to the inside of the coach, which he 
 had quitted for one stage, this young scolfer excited the curiosity 
 of the other inside passengers to such a degree, that they would 
 not rest satisfied without Adam's company. He resisted their 
 entreaties, till informed that the genteel young sinner was the 
 person who would give place to him. A gentleman and a lady, 
 who had been most pressing in the invitation, made several in- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 41 
 
 quiries, to wliich, probably, his youth, his seriousness, and his 
 accent, prompted tliem ; Jind were so well pleased with him, that 
 they tried to persuade him to ti\ke London in his way to Bristol, 
 offering to pay the whole of his expenses. He felt it his duty to 
 decline their kindness. On ahgliting at Lichfield, they made 
 him dine with them, and would not allow him to pay liis part. 
 The gentleman, who was an educated and rehgious man, conversed 
 freely with him. Adam quoted Horace to prove that even Hea- 
 thens possessed a sense of the Divine favour and protection ; but 
 his fellow- ti-aveller showed him, by a quotation from the same 
 writer of a quite opposite tendency, that it would not do to ap- 
 peal to him as an authority on such matters. This seasonable 
 remark taught the young scholar the necessity of extreme caution 
 in appealing to Heathen writers concerning morals, as also in 
 appealing to the Fathers (so called) concerning Christian doc- 
 trines ; in other words, he learned that the Bible is the only 
 autJiority with regard to either practice or behef. 
 
 On rcu jhing Binningham, Adam went to the house of Mr, 
 Joseph BretteU (the brother of John Brettell, preacher, already 
 mentioned), by whom, and by liis wife, he was hospitably enter- 
 tained. By this gentleman he was prepared, in some measure, 
 for the disappointments which he met with on reaching Kings- 
 wood. Adam had conceived that it would yield him all the ad- 
 vantages of a university, without those risks to personal piety 
 and virtuous principles with which universities too frequently 
 abound; but Mr. Brettell told him. he " questioned whether he 
 would meet there with anything he expected." He reached his 
 destination on the 29th of August, with three-halfpence in his 
 pocket, and a foreboding heart in liis breast. 
 
 After the morning preacliing, he was introduced to Mr. Simp- 
 son, the head master, who, after reading the letter from Mr. 
 Wesley, which constituted Adam's title to such comforts and 
 advantages as the school might afford, said he had heard nothing 
 of it, they had no room for any one, Mr. Wesley was in Corn- 
 wall, but would be at Kjngswood in a fortnight, and bade Adam 
 return to Bristol and await liis arrival. Adam replied, that he 
 had expended all his money. Mr. Simpson rejoined, that the 
 school Avas not for such as he, but for the ignorant. In the end, 
 the young stranger was poked into a spare room " on the end of 
 the chapel," there to await Mr. Wesley's coming. From this 
 prison he was on no account to stir, the maid bringing him his 
 food at certain intervals. He soon found out why he was thus 
 treated. Mrs. Simpson, herself a Scotchwoman, as Dr. Clarke 
 significantly remarks, suspected that he had the itch. When her 
 husband communicated this shrewd suspicion, Adam bared his 
 breast to prove that it was groundless. This was to no purpose. 
 
42 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 He was compelled to rub liimself with Jackson's ointment, a cere- 
 mony which introduced him to the only fire he saw while he 
 remained at Kingswood. He was not allowed a change of sheets, 
 and, as they would not send for his box, which was at the inn in 
 Bristol, he was equally destitute of a change of sliirt ; he was 
 therefore doomed to lie in the sheets, and wear the sliirt, which 
 were defiled with the "infernal unguent." He had bread and 
 milk for dinner, breakfast, and supper, was left to make his own 
 bed, sweep his own room, and perform all the other offices of a 
 chambermaid. This was his state during three weeks. On the 
 Thursday of the second week, however, he was permitted to fetch 
 his box from Bristol, and consequently had a change of linen. 
 The weather being extremely cold, he begged for a fire ; which, 
 though coals were to be had for httle more than the expense of 
 carriage, and that fi-om a very trifling distance, was peremptorily 
 denied him. Once, when he showed Mr. Simpson his benumbed 
 fingers, the austere pedagogue directed him to some means of 
 physical exertion, from which, however, he was instantly driven 
 by his still austerer spouse. This woman the Doctor compared 
 to a Bengal tiger : " she seemed never to be in her element but 
 when she was driving everything before her." 
 
 He was allowed to work in the garden, where he found a half- 
 guinea, which he offered to Mr. Simpson, who said he had not 
 lost one. Mr. Bayley, the second master, had, and it was given 
 up to him ; but he returned it in a day or two, saying, that he 
 had been uneasy in his mind ever since it came into his posses- 
 sion, because he did not know it to be his. Adam then offered 
 it to Mr. Simpson for the use of the school ; but he turned 
 hastily away, declaring that he would have nothing to do with it. 
 It remained, therefore, with the finder, and was added to his 
 residuum of three-halfpence. With the greater part of this 
 money, Adam subscribed for a copy of Mr. Bayley, the second 
 master's Hebrew Grammar, the study of which (though not with- 
 out great defects) laid the foundation of his great acquirements 
 in oriental learning, and issued in his unparalleled commentary 
 on the sacred text. The remainder he devoted to the purchase 
 of coals. Tbe finding of this half-guinea. Dr. Clarke ever viewed 
 as a special interposition of Divine Providence. 
 
 When Mr. Wesley returned to Bristol, Mr. Simpson went over 
 to see him, and give his own version respecting Adam Clarke. 
 He came back with orders for the youth to go to Mr. Wesley. 
 The following is the Doctor's own account of the interview. 
 
 " I went into Bristol, saw Mr. Eankin, who carried me to Mr. 
 Wesley's study, off the great lobby of the rooms over the chapel 
 in Broadmead. He tapped at the doot, which was opened by 
 this truly apostohc man : Mr. Rankin retired. Mr. Wesley took 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 48 
 
 me kindly by the hand, and asked me ' how long since I had 
 left Ireland ?' Our conversation was short. He said, * Well, 
 brother Clarke, do you wish to devote yourself entirely to the 
 work of God ?' I answered, * Sir, I wish to do and he what God 
 pleases!' He then said, 'We want a preacher for Bradford 
 (Wilts) ; hold yourself in readiness to go thither ; I am going 
 into the countiy, and will let you know when you shall go.' He 
 then turned to me, laid his hands upon my head, and spent a few 
 moments in praying to God to bless and preserve me, and to give 
 me success in the work to which I was called." 
 
 Of this interview Mr. Moore gives a somewhat different 
 account. 
 
 " Mr. Wesley soon came in his autumnal visit, and, after con- 
 versing with him, said, in liis concise way, ' I shall send you to a 
 circuit immediately. You have learning enough for a preacher 
 of the Gospel ; and you will improve therein while you preach, 
 abundantly more than you can do by mere study. By teaching, 
 we learn, and in the best way.' No sooner said than done ; and 
 our young friend commenced his itinerancy." 
 
 Two days after he had seen Mr. John Wesley, Adam was 
 introduced to his brother Charles ; when he had seen " the two 
 men whom he had long considered as the very highest characters 
 upon the face of the globe." 
 
 From his interview with Mr. John Wesley to his departure 
 from Kingswood, Adam was differently treated. He was dis- 
 charged from solitary confinement, had a bed among the rest of 
 the scholars, and dined with the family. But Mrs. Simpson still 
 exercised her authority over him. It was the custom to drink 
 healths at table, even out of the table-beer ; a custom to which 
 Adam objected.* Mrs. S. quoted the comphance of Mr. Wesley 
 himself, and insisted so pertinaciously that Adam could make no 
 reply. " I was in Kome," says he, " and it would have been 
 absurd in me to have attempted to contend with the Pope." 
 Mrs. Simpson, however, was appeased by a negative obedience ; 
 and suffered Adam to preserve a whole conscience at the expense 
 of a dry stomach. This abstinence was a severe trial to him ; 
 for he " never had an easy deglutition." His conscience, how- 
 ever, was even straiter than his gullet, as we may perceive from 
 the undue importance into which he magnified this ludicrous 
 affair. 
 
 The last point on which Adam was brought into collision with 
 this " tartar," was episcopal confirmation. The Bishop of Bris- 
 tol, Dr. Bagot, was administering the unscriptural and much 
 abused rite in the collegiate church of that city; and Adam, 
 
 * In subsequent years, he conformed to the ordinary practice. 
 
44 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 under the influence of predilections which clung to him through 
 life, went to have his Lordship's hand laid upon his head. Mrs. 
 Simpson, who, heing a Presbyterian, knew that this was one of 
 the figments of Popery, pitied his heing so long " held in the old- 
 ness of the letter." 
 
 Nearly fifty years afterwards, Dr. Clarke gloried in having 
 received confirmation even after he became a Methodist 
 j)reacher;" and, in answer to a fair correspondent's request, he 
 gave her his opinion on that episcopal rite : — " It is supposed to 
 be a rite by which the moral burden is taken from off the shoul- 
 ders of the sponsors, and transfeiTed to those shoulders to which 
 it properly belongs. Now, as long as these opinions and feelings 
 relative to it prevail in the minds of all parties, I say, in God's 
 name let the rite, duly administered, be humbly received ; but 
 the subjects of it should be well informed, that, by it, they have 
 not merely performed a duty, and, so far, may have an easy con- 
 science, but, in addition, they have by it taken a strong and per- 
 petual yoke upon their necks, in their vow ' to renounce the Devil 
 and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, 
 and all the sinful lusts of the flesh, and that they should keep 
 God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the 
 days of their Hves.' Should any person say, ' If all this is com- 
 prised in being confirmed, then I will not be confiimed at all,' I 
 answer. You are bound to aU this by your profession of Chris- 
 tianity : so that, confirmed or not confirmed, this yoke is about 
 your neck ; and, if you break it, or throw it away, it is at the 
 peril of your final destruction. Again, the rite itself is useful to 
 call these things to remembrance ; and who knows how much 
 grace may be received during the performance of the ceremony, 
 and especially by having a holy man's hand laid on your head, and 
 the blessing and protection of God solemnly invoked on your 
 behalf?" The reader is referred to the New Testament, in 
 which he wiU find nothing to countenance this ceremony of the 
 Church. 
 
 The only mitigating circumstances connected with Adam's 
 residence at Kingswood arose out of his attendance on the means 
 of grace, and liis acquaintance with the excellent Mr. Thomas 
 Rankm, then superintendent of the circuit. As to study, he 
 does not appear to have derived any decided advantage from 
 his stay. Mr. Simpson was a man of learning and piety ; 
 but he possessed too easy a temper for liis situation, and 
 allowed his wife to assume the post of head master. In con- 
 sequence of this and other faults, the usefulness of the school 
 decHned. The parlour boarders, who were admitted on payment 
 of certain sums, to hghten the general expenses of the establish- 
 ment, monopolised, those attentions wliich the poor boys ought 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 45 
 
 to have shared ; and, at the Bristol Conference of 1783, the year 
 after Adam Clai'ke had heen there, Mr. Wesley himself pro- 
 nounced it as his opinion, that " the school 'did not, in anyivise, 
 answer the design of its institution, either with regard to religion 
 or learning. The rules of the school," he added, "are not 
 observed at all. It must he mended or ended." " The school 
 has certainly been ' mended ' since," says Dr. Clarke ; but this 
 conveys a very imperfect idea of the improvement that has taken 
 place. Since that time, it has been devoted exclusively to the 
 education of the sons of preachers, and has been placed under 
 the immediate superintendence of a succession of governors (who 
 have generally been among the most judicious of the preachers), 
 aided by a committee of the neighbouring preachers and influen- 
 tial laymen ; and no higher testimony can be given to the excel- 
 lence of its administration, than the fact that many of the most 
 distinguished preachers in the Connexion (among whom we may 
 name Dr. Beaumont, Messrs. WilUam M. Bunting, Jonathan 
 Crowther, Theophilus Lessey, and Robert Wood) were educated 
 at Kingswood. 
 
 On the 26th of September, Adam Clarke bade adieu to Eangs- 
 wood and Mrs. Simpson, having experienced more misery during 
 the thirty-one days of his sojourn, than in all the rest of his hfe. 
 The reader will credit him when he declares that he left it 
 " without a sigh or a groan." Indeed, the impressions made on 
 his mind by the usage he received there, were never erased : and 
 the very mention of the place, much more the sight of it, was 
 sufficient to fill him with distressing sensations. 
 
46 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Mr. darkens first Circuit — His early Popularity and Usefulness — Dr. Clarke^s 
 visit to Frome in 1832 — Mr. Clarke continues his Studies — Discouraging 
 Admonition and rash Vow — The Vow abjured — Abandons the me of Tea 
 and Coffee — Great amount of Labour — Mr. Clarke attends the Bristol Con- 
 ference — Is received into full Connexion — Curious Anecdote — Is appointed 
 to Norwich — Scanty Living — Miserable Lodgings — Prevalence of Cal- 
 vinism — Great Hardships — An early Methodist Preacher^ s Stipend — Visit 
 of Mr. Wesley to Norwich — Ungodly state of Norfolk — John Hampson 
 and the Mob — Female Preachers — Mr. Clarke corresponds with Miss 
 Elizabeth Cooke — His early knowledge of experimental Christianity — 
 His Progress in Study — Immense Labours in Norwich — He is appointed 
 to St. Austell — His Journey thither — His successful labours — He admits 
 Mr. Samu£l Drew into Society — Inhospitable Treatment — A Persecutor 
 subdued — Mr. Clarke meets with a dangerous Accident — His great Popu- 
 larity and Usefulness — His Progress in Study — His friend Mabyn — 
 His immense Labours — He is appointed to Plymouth-Dock — Improve- 
 ment of the Circuit — Remarkable Anecdote — Morning Preaching — The 
 turbulent Choir — Dr. Clarke's sentiments on Sacred Music — Dr. Clarke's 
 Visit to Plymouth in subsequent years — The abjured Vow — His Colleague 
 Mason. 
 
 Mr. Clarke entered on the regular work of a Wesleyan-Metho- 
 dist travelling preacher, on the 27th of September, 1782 ; Brad- 
 ford, in Wiltshire, being his first circuit; and Trowbridge, in 
 that circuit, being the place in wliich he made liis first appear- 
 ance in the itinerant character. He was but in his eighteenth 
 year, and, being extremely shght and juvenile in person, went by 
 the name of the httle boy," among the multitudes who came to 
 hear liim preach. One day, as he was going down the aisle of 
 the chapel, he overheard a man saying to liimself, " Tut, tut ! 
 what will Mr. Wesley send us next?" When he arrived at the 
 principal place in the cu'cuit, says Mr. Entwisle, liis boyish and 
 plain appearance, unaccompanied by anything like clerical cos- 
 tume, almost induced the leading friends to despise his youth, till 
 they heai'd liim preach. He soon, however, became popular, 
 and, what is better, very useful. Generally speaking, the age 
 above-mentioned is much too early for an undertaking so impor- 
 tant as the Christian minis tr)^ But there have been rare excep- 
 tions, and Mr. Clarke was one. He had experience and stead- 
 fastness above his years. He had been thrown betimes upon liis 
 own resom'ces ; and the spiritual conflicts tlurough which he had 
 passed, had matured his judgment, and extended his practical 
 knowledge, to a degree unwonted in so mere a youth. If his 
 
THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 47 
 
 intellectual nttainments were not great, tliey were solid, and all 
 connected, more or less, with the duties on which he had entered. 
 His acquaintance witli the Scriptures was considerable : so con- 
 siderable, and, in his own esteem at least, so correct, that he had 
 already drawn up tliirty-two articles of his belief, " no article of 
 which he ever afterwai'ds saw occasion to cliimge." His dis- 
 positions too were good ; his zeal knew no bounds, but those of 
 liis commission; the Bible was his constant companion; and 
 prayer liis continual exercise. His natural cUffidence was great ; 
 but he rehed Avith confidence upon Divine assistance. 
 
 Thus quidified, Mr. Clarke entered upon his extensive sphere 
 of labour ; wliich, branching into three counties, and containing 
 thirty-two towns and villages,* kept liim in perpetual motion. It 
 was not without reason that Mr. Wesley's assistants were called 
 itinerants. " In my first circuit," says Mr. Entwisle, one of the 
 oldest preachers, " I was at home five days only in six weeks." 
 " I remember very well," says Mr. Henry Moore, a still older 
 preacher, "when I had to travel three hundred miles on a circuit, 
 and to preach fifteen times in each week — every morning, every 
 evening, and three times on the Lord's day. My friend (Clarke) 
 had this to do too. But this system, while it involved severe 
 labour, was attended with this one advantage, the same sermon 
 might be repeated at different places. Mr. Clarke did not abuse 
 this advantage by neglecting study ; but, by diligent reading of 
 the Scriptures, with much prayer, he was enabled to produce new 
 matter each time of his ' going the circuit.' "f 
 
 His youth was a trial to himself; for he could not be 
 persuaded that his instructions could have any value, or that they 
 would be patiently received by his seniors ; but it proved an 
 advantage rather than an obstacle, attracting large congregations, 
 and leading ultimately to the salvation of many souls. On one 
 occasion, when he was expected to preach at Road, a village 
 between Frome and Trowbridge, a large congregation of young 
 people assembled to hear him. This village did not contain more 
 than one or two Methodists. The effect of his preaching and 
 
 * This circuit, at that time, extended into the counties of Wilts, Somer- 
 set, and Dorset, and contained the following places : Bradford, Trowbridge, 
 Shaftesbury, Motcomh, Fontmill, Follard, Winsley, Shepton Mallet, Kings- 
 ton-Deverell, Longbridge-Deverell, Bradley, Frome, Corsley, Buckland, 
 Coalford, Holcomb, Oak-hill, Bruton, West-Pennard, Alhampton, Ditcheat, 
 Freshford, Seend, Melksham, Devizes, Pottern, Sandy Lane, Broomhara, 
 Wells, Walton, and lload. 
 
 f It is a remarkable fact, as stated by the late Mr. Buttress, of Spital- 
 fieldSjhis invariable companion at the time, that, during the Doctor's abode 
 in London, for three years, commencing 1795, though preaching at widely 
 distant places, he never preached the same sermon twice, excepting on one 
 occasion, at his (Mr. B.'s) particular request. 
 
48 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 prayers was such, that thirteen of his youthful audience began 
 earnestly to inquire the way of salvation. A rehgious concern 
 became general throughout the village and neighbourhood, 
 beginning with the young, and extending to the aged. 
 
 In the year 1832 Dr. Clarke preached his last sermon but one 
 atFrome, in the course of which he observed, " Fifty years have now 
 passed since I first came to this place, preaching the unsearchable 
 riches of Clmst. Then, your preacher was a boy in years, unskilled 
 in experience, untaught in knowledge ; but not wholly unlearned in 
 that truth which maketh wise the simple. Since that time I have 
 been always learning. I have studied my own heart ; and there 
 is yet work there to be done. I have been observing the ways, 
 and striving to know the love, of God, m which is indeed a 
 height to attain, a depth to penetrate, a breadth to understand, 
 which increase in magnitude as we draw nearer to the fountain of 
 light and glory. And now, my bretlu-en, I come again before 
 you. My hau's are now grey; yet I aclmowledge it as my 
 proudest boast, that Adam Clarke is still a learner at the feet of 
 his Master." On the same day, a Mr. Harford, of Koad, one of 
 the early converts to his ministry akeady alluded to, called upon 
 liim. Dr. Clarke's account of his intemew with tliis wortliy 
 man is as follows : — " You have heard," he obser\^es, in a letter 
 to his daughter, " of my preacliing at Koad fifty years ago, when 
 several young persons were convinced of sin, to thirteen of whom 
 I gave notes of admission next morning. I went down. The 
 man who was waiting, was quite confoimded, and did not know 
 what to say, or how to behave ! In my free way, I took liim by 
 the hand. He said, ' What ! be this he ! the tidy Uttle boy, that, 
 fifty years agone, myself and many other young ones went all 
 about the country to see and hear ; under whom, I and several 
 others were convinced of sin, and, by the grace of God, continue to 
 this day !' — * Yes/ I said, ' tliis is the form, into which the labour, 
 wear, and tear, of fifty years, have tlirown t^at quondam little 
 boy/ I then briefly related the circumstances of that night, and 
 some of the following days, &c. I asked how many were still 
 aHve of those whom I then admitted. He said, ' Ten were dead 
 long ago ; but himself, Lucas, and Miss Perkins, now Mrs. 
 Wliittaker, remained, and that the good had gone on and 
 increased from that day to tliis.' Nota bene," adds Dr. Clarke, 
 remembering the passage which was impressed upon liis mind, 
 when he went to pay a visit to Mr. Bredin, at Coleraine, " when 
 I received my commission from God, these words were contained 
 in it : — ' I have ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth 
 fruit, and that your fruit should remain.' " 
 
 But to return. Mr. Clarke proceeded in the cultivation of his 
 mind by useful studies. Shortly after his arrival in the circuit. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 10 
 
 he received his copy of Mr. Bayley's Hebrew Grammar. From 
 the lessons and the analytical parts, he derived valuable instruc* 
 tion : the rest he considered neiu'ly good for nothing. In Latin, 
 Greek, and French, he made little progress. He had to preach 
 and travel on horseback daily, besides performing other duties. 
 Like Mr. Wesley, he accustomed himself to read as he rode. 
 In this way he read his patron's Abridgment of Mosheim, which, 
 he states, is done with " eminent skill." But in this position 
 he could not pursue the study of languages, as that required the 
 use of more books than one. 
 
 A cii-cumstance happened about this time, which threatened not 
 merely to liinder, but to put an end to, his learned acquirements. 
 In the preachers' room at Motcomb, near Shaftesbury, some one 
 had inscribed a Latin sentence on the wall, to which Mr. Clarke 
 added another from Virgil, corroborative of the first. A preacher 
 observing the addition, and knowing who had made it, wrote 
 underneath, " Did you write the above to show us you could 
 write Latin ? For shame ! Do send pride to hell, whence it 
 came. O young man, improve your time, eternity's at hand." 
 This ridiculous censure, the offspring probably of envy and igno- 
 rance, produced a withering effect upon the ductile mind of Mr. 
 Clarke ; and, faUing on his knees in the middle of the room, he 
 solemnly vowed to God that " he would never more meddle with 
 Greek or Latin as long as he lived." Tlus rash vow was reli- 
 giously observed till the year 1786, when, Mr. Clarke not having 
 precluded himself from reading French, he met with a discourse 
 on pulpit eloquence by the celebrated Abbe Maury, from which 
 he translated a passage with which he was particularly pleased, 
 and sent it to Mr. Wesley, for insertion in the Arminian Maga- 
 zine. In acknowledging the contribution, which was inserted, 
 Mr. Wesley charged his young disciple to cultivate his mind as 
 far as his circumstances would allow, and not to forget anything 
 that he had ever learned." Part of this enlightened precept 
 came too late ; for he had already forgotten a great deal. It led 
 him, however, to reconsider his vow ; and the result was a con- 
 viction that his vow had no foundation either in Scripture or in 
 common sense, but was in fact sinful. Accordingly he abjured 
 the rash promise, and resumed the study of Latin and Greek.* 
 
 * Dr. Clarke takes leave of this affair by cautioning his readers against 
 supposing that the Methodists, as a body, undervalue human learning. On 
 the contrary, he affinns that no religious people in the land value it more. 
 The great body of the Methodists, he says, love learning ; and when they 
 find it in their preachers, associated with humility and piety, they praise 
 God for the double benefit, and profit by both. This is probably more ap- 
 plicable to the present generation of Methodists, than to those who lived 
 half-a-century ago ; and it cannot be doubted, that they owe not a little 
 of their improved taste to the labours of Dr. Adam Clarke. He was always 
 
 E 
 
60 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 During 1782, Mr. Clarke met with a copy of Mr. Wesley's 
 Letter on Tea, the arguments in which he could not answer ; and 
 he resolved, that, till he could, he would drink neither tea nor 
 coffee. This vow was kept to the end of life. When Mr. Wes- 
 ley, after twelve years' abstinence, returned to " the cups which 
 cheer but not inebriate," tliis was not accepted by his pupil as a 
 refutation of his arguments against them. The Doctor piqued 
 himself not a Httle on his superior perseverance, attributing to it 
 the preservation of his feeble constitution ; and he was fond of 
 calculating how much time he had rescued for study and other 
 work wliich might have been spent at the tea-table.* 
 
 The following extract from a letter, written by Mr. Clarke to 
 one of his brethren, at this period of liis itinerancy, will interest 
 the reader, not only as affording evidence of his piety, but as 
 exhibiting an early development of that power of disciimination 
 wliich. in after years so much distinguished liim. It is dated 
 Motcomb, March 29, 1783 :— 
 
 " Some weeks ago, I had the privilege of seeing a letter of 
 yours, containing your sentiments and views on faith, and con- 
 sequently I was comforted and encouraged, finding your opinions 
 coiTcsponded ^vith my own. I do verily believe, that if persons 
 were more careful to distinguish between the grace, or power, to 
 beheve as the gift of God, and beheving as the act of the soul, 
 it would be productive of more happy consequences, both in 
 regard to mourning penitents, who are seeking an interest in the 
 
 tlie advocate of an educated ministry, and was scarcely less anxious to cul- 
 tivate the minds of his brethren, than to promote their personal piety. So 
 early as the year 1806, his views as to the necessity of having some means 
 of training for the young preachers were published. They were contained 
 in a letter from which the following are extracts : — 
 
 " We want some kind of seminary for educating such workmen as need 
 not be ashamed. I introduced a conversation on the subject this morn- 
 ing ; and the preachers were unanimously of opinion tliat some strong effoits 
 should be made without delay to get such a place established, either at 
 Bristol or London, where young men, who may be deemed fit for the work, 
 may have, were it but twelve months, or even half-a-year's, previous instruc- 
 tion in theology, in vital godliness, in practical religion, in EngUsh gram- 
 mar, and the rudiments of general knowledge." " Every circuit cries out, 
 'Send us acceptable preachers.' How can Ave do this? We are obliged 
 to take what offers." " The time is coming, and now is, when illiterate 
 piety can do no more for the interest and pemianency of the work of God, 
 than lettered irreligion did formerly." " Speak, oli ! speak speedily, to all our 
 friends ! Let us get a plan organized without delay. Let us have some- 
 thing that we can lay matured before the Conference." 
 
 * Whilst on a visit to Ireland, in the year 1811, Dr. Clarke spent the 
 evening with "a tea-drinking party" at Portadown, " which," he observes, 
 *' I have not done thrice for upwards of twenty yeai-s. The good people 
 naturally asked me why I did not take tea : I simply gave them my reasons, 
 which drew on a long conversation." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 51 
 
 blood of Jesus, and impoifect believers, wbo are heartily weary 
 of their inward corruptions, and sincerely desirous of loving God 
 with their whole heart. 
 
 " We may frequently find persons looking to receive these 
 blessings antecedent to their believing : this is in effect making 
 justification and sanctification the means, or instruments, of 
 receiving faith ; whereas, we have abundtmt reason and revelation 
 to beheve, that faitli is the instrument of receiving both of these 
 blessings. But when we tell the people that, after God gives 
 the grace or power to believe, the act of faith belongs to them, 
 and that if ' they will not believe, surely they shall not be estab- 
 lished' (Isa. vii. 9) ; to such we seem to be persons who bring 
 strange, or new things, to their ears. 
 
 " 1 think the grand reason why many persons go so long 
 mourning and groaning in distress and anguish of soul is, because 
 they will not believe the record God has given them of his Son. 
 O that such persons would see the promises, and say with 
 Mr. Wesley, 
 
 ' In hope against all human hope, 
 Self-desperate, I believe !' 
 
 looldng also for the blessing 7iot€, and not contenting themselves 
 with waiting till some future period, seeing they know not what a 
 day or an hour may biing forth : still remembering that whatever 
 is of faith is now ; for God will not be more willing or able to 
 save to-morrow than he is to-day, those who have thus been 
 drawn from every other dependence to place their whole trust 
 and confidence in the blood of Jesus. My good Lord is doing 
 much for and in my soul. GI017 to his holy name. He gives 
 me to drink of the brook in the way, and so lifts up my head : 
 may I never be forgetful of all his benefits." 
 
 During the eleven months of Mr. Clarke's itinerancy in the 
 Bradford circuit he had preached no fewer than five hundred 
 and six times, including preacliing at five o'clock every morning, 
 winter and summer ; besides performing various other ministerial 
 and pastoral duties. 
 
 In August, 1783, Mr. Clarke attended the Conference in Bris- 
 tol, where he arrived on a Saturday. On the following day he 
 heard seven sermons, besides receiving the sacrament from Mr. 
 Wesley, assisted by Dr. Coke and two other clergymen. Among 
 the preachers was Mr. Bradburn, who delivered " the best sermon 
 he had ever heard on the subject of Christian perfection." On 
 Wednesday, the 6th, Mr. Clarke was received into full connexion, 
 although he had travelled only eleven months. At that time, the 
 four years' probation, now required before the preachers are fully 
 accredited, was unknown ; but still this was the earliest admission 
 
 E % 
 
52 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 that had ever taken place. One of the questions put to candidates 
 is, " Are you in debt ?" A few hours before this question was put 
 to Mr. Clarke, he had borrowed a halfpenny from another 
 preacher to give to a beggar ; and, as he had not repaid it wdien 
 the investigation was about to take place, he could not conscien- 
 tiously declare that he was not in debt; and yet, should he 
 acknowledge that he was, and, on being interrogated as to the 
 amount, declare it a halfpenny, he might create a laugh at his 
 own expense. The question overtook him while in this dilemma, 
 but the proper answer came unsought; and he saved both 
 his credit and his conscience, by instantly replying, Not one 
 penny." 
 
 At this Conference he was appointed for Norwich,* where he 
 arrived on the 1 6th of August. So miserable were the accom- 
 modations of the early Methodist preachers, that Mr. Clarke was 
 here obhged to sleep in the same room with a preacher who was ill 
 of a fever ; he did not, however, catch the disorder. Mr. Clarke's 
 colleagues were, Eichard Whatcoat, John Ingham, and Wilham 
 Adamson. The first, who was a plain good man, afterwards, at 
 Dr. Coke's request, became a bishop of the Methochst Episcopal 
 Church in America. The second was given to quackery and 
 chewing tobacco, never preaching without a quid in his mouth. 
 Tliis filthy practice betrayed him into the love of drink ; and he 
 fell into disgrace the following year. The third also desisted from 
 preaching at the same time ; not through immorahty, but fickle- 
 ness of mind. 
 
 The Norwich Society was very poor. " A family," says Dr. 
 Clarke, "hved in the preachers' house, and provided for the 
 preachers at so much per meal, and the bill was brought in to the 
 stewards' and leaders' meeting at the end of the week, and dis- 
 charged : and he w^as most certainly considered the best preacher 
 who ate the fewest meals, because his bills were the smallest. In 
 this respect Mr. Clarke excelled : he took only a little milk to his 
 breakfast, drank no tea or coffee, and took nothing in the even- 
 ing. Hence his bills were very small. Sometimes, but not 
 often, the preachers were invited out ; and tliis also contributed 
 to lessen the expense." 
 
 This house was miserably provided with the most ordinary 
 conveniences of life. Mr. Clarke, following the example of the 
 
 * The round of this circuit comprised a journey of two hundred and 
 sixty miles. It extended into different parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, and 
 included the following places : Norwich, Yarmouth, Lowestoffe, Loddon, 
 Heckingham, North-Cove, Teashorough, Stratton, Hardwick, Thurlton, 
 Haddiseoe, Beccles, Wheatacre, Lopham, Diss, Wartham, Dickleborough, 
 Winfarthing, Barford, Ifempnel, Besthorp, a\id Thurne. There being four 
 preachers, each of them passed one week of the month in the city, and three 
 weeks in the country. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 63 
 
 apostle Paul, wrought with his own hands for its improvement. 
 At the expense of twopence and a little labour, he restored the 
 bellows, which were in the last stage of pulmonary consumption, 
 and supphed the place of a worn-out cinder-sifter by drilling 
 holes through the bottom of a superannuated saucepan. To 
 mend the poker, wliicli had been consumed to the stump, was 
 beyond his power; but the circuit-stewards, stimulated by his 
 example, took heart, and had it new bitted. In this city, also, 
 he complied with the rule of Conference, which says, " Be not 
 above cleaning your own shoes, or those of others, if need be," 
 perfoiming this office for his brethren as well as himself. The 
 marvel is, that his brethren peimitted him * 
 
 During his stay in Norwich, he was invited to breakfast by a 
 member of the society, who, after having given him directions to 
 the place of her abode, suggested a doubt whether he could read 
 sufficiently well to make her instmctions available. This inci- 
 dent affords evidence of the exceeding ignorance, not of the 
 preachers, but of the members of the Methodist Societies at that 
 period. Few of the early preachers were deficient in the rudi- 
 ments, at least, of an English education. 
 
 The Norwich circuit was not lower in intellect than in piety. 
 There was no place in it where rehgion flourished. Even 
 amongst the Methodists hyper-Calvinism notions had to a great 
 extent superseded the just foundation of a sinner's hope, many 
 of the local preachers and of the leaders having imbibed and 
 propounded antinomian sentiments. Mr. Wesley soon found 
 out that his comprehending scheme was a vain one ; and that 
 it was impossible to include decided Arminians and decided 
 Calvinists in one society. The low state of the Society in Norwich 
 was not without exceptions ; and in the course of the year 
 during which Mr. Clarke laboured there, religion revived a 
 httle, principally, he states, through the preaching of entire 
 sanctification. 
 
 The rigours which Mr. Clarke endured at Eangswood were 
 light compared with some of his hardships in the Norwich circuit. 
 There being but one horse for the four preachers, they were 
 obhged to travel much on foot. It must indeed have been 
 
 curious," to see him set off, with his saddlebags tied upon his 
 back. In most parts of the circuit, the accommodations were 
 miserable. Sometimes, and that during a hard winter, he lodged 
 in a loft, through the floor of which he might observe all that 
 passed below ; and sometimes in an out-house, in which for 
 years there had been no fire. These hardships, and even worse, 
 
 * Dr. C. was not above perfonning any service, however humble. In 
 the Shetland Isles, in 1826, he superintended the building of a necessary 
 appendage to the preachers' house. 
 
54 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 were the common lot of the early Methodist preachers, who 
 seldom dwelt in ceiled houses, or partook of any but the humblest 
 fare. 
 
 At a subsequent period, Dr. Clarke, in endeavouring to recon- 
 cile one of the missionaries in Shetland to his lot, thus addressed 
 him : — " I well know what yourself and brother Dunn must suffer 
 through the want of many of the necessaries of Hfe, and particu- 
 larly through innutritive food, and bad, or no beds. I have 
 suffered in this way often. You cannot imagine how destitute we 
 were, in many cases, about half- a- century ago, when I came into 
 the Methodist Connexion : both these were common. I have 
 often lodged in out-houses, in the coldest weather, without fire, 
 and with scarcely enow of clothes to keep the vital spark in 
 existence." Again : — " Were God to restore me to youth again, 
 I would glory to be your companion, to go through your thick 
 and thin ; to lie on the ground, herd with the oxen, or lie down 
 on a bottle of straw, as I have been obliged to do in former 
 times." To another preacher, whilst in the Norman isles, he wrote : 
 — " I know what it is to travel a severe circuit in England, 
 and to be frequently in such destitute circumstances as not to 
 have the very necessaries of Ufe, and to be exposed to the 
 extremes of weather." 
 
 At this early stage in the history of Methodism, the stipend of a 
 travelling preacher, if a single man, was three pounds a- quarter. 
 Out of this pittance he had to provide himself with clothes and 
 books ; with every necessary, in fact, save food and lodging ; 
 besides paying one guinea per annum towards the support of 
 superannuated brethren and preachers' widows. 
 
 In October, 1783, Mr. Wesley paid his annual visit to 
 Norwich. His young follower was much refreshed by his con- 
 versation and discourses, of most of which he preserved outHnes. 
 " In one of these," he observes, " the charge of enthusiasm — a 
 charge frequently brought against the Methodists by the ignorant 
 and the malevolent — was retorted upon the major part of the 
 religious professors of the day. The enthusiasm wliich Mr. 
 Wesley reprobated was that which consisted in expecting salva- 
 tion as an end without using the means that lead to it — in 
 expecting pardon, hohness, and heaven, without prayer, repent- 
 ance, faith, and obedience." 
 
 Mr. Clarke considered Norfolk the most ungodly county he 
 had ever visited ; but he had not yet visited many counties, or he 
 would probably have found that it was not particularly remarkable 
 in that day of general indifference to rehgion. The great sin of 
 the Norfollc people was the j^i^ofanation of the Sabbath, which 
 was a day of pleasure in the country and of business in the town. 
 Even professedly rehgious people bought and sold without 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 55 
 
 remorse. Against this awful licentiousness, Mr. Clarke lifted up 
 his voice. Whenever he heard of a Methodist heing guilty of it, 
 he visited him, and exacted a promise of reformation. Scarcely 
 a Sahhath passed without disturhances at the Methodist chapel at 
 Norwich. Mr. Wesley himself was mohhed. Mr. John Hamp- 
 son, senior, was with him. " This man," says Dr. Clarke, " was 
 of gigantic make, well proportioned, and of the strongest muscu- 
 lar powers." Of these endowments he was not unconscious, nor 
 backward to exert them. He assumed an attitude of defiance, 
 when Mr. Wesley, whose mode of quelling the fury of a mob 
 was by the exliibition of an overawing calmness of demeanour, 
 entreated him to use no violence. " Mr. Hampson rephed, with 
 a terrible voice Hke the bursting roll of thunder, * Let me alone, 
 Sii' ; if God has not given you an arm to quell this mob, he has 
 given me one : and the first man that molests you here, I will lay 
 liim for DEAD !' Death itself seemed to speak in the last word — 
 it was pronounced in a tone the most tenific. The mob heard, 
 looked at the man, and were appalled : there was a universal rush, 
 who should get off soonest ; and, in a very short time, the lane 
 was emptied, and the mob was dissipated like the thin air. Mr. 
 Hampson had no need to let any man feel even the weight of his 
 arm. For such times as these, God had made such men." The 
 concluding remark does not accord with the language of Christ 
 to Peter, when he had resorted to physical force, nor with any 
 precept of the Gospel. 
 
 In Norwich, Mr. Clarke heard two female preachers. Miss 
 Sewell and Mrs. Proudfoot. He was not prepossessed in their 
 favour ; but, after having heard them, and satisfied himself that 
 they had been made useful in various places, he was constrained 
 to concur with " a shrewd man," who said, " An ass reproved 
 Balaam, and a cock reproved Peter ; and why may not a woman 
 reprove sin ?" But a woman might reprove sin without presenting 
 herself before a large audience. Mr. Clarke did not think, how- 
 ever, that a call to preach could ever exempt a woman from those 
 domestic duties which devolve upon a wife, a mother, or a daughter. 
 
 While in Norwich, Mr. Clarke con-esponded on religious sub- 
 jects with Miss Elizabeth Cooke, member of a family with which 
 he became acquainted in the Bradford circuit, and with which 
 he subsequently formed a matrimonial alliance. The following 
 letter illustrates his early knowledge of experimental Christianity. 
 
 Heckingham, May 18, 1784. 
 
 My Dear Sister, 
 ''I received yours on the 15th inst., but could not conveni- 
 ently return you an earlier answer ; and to do it even now with 
 propriety, has puzzled me a good deal. 
 
56 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 "I have (I think) tolerably clear conceptions of your state ; 
 but how to transfer my sentiments on it to you, appears to me 
 nearly impracticable. There are some^ I supposCj who can better 
 express the language of the heart in writing than in conversation ; 
 but this is directly the reverse with me. Were I present, I think 
 I could speak to my own satisfaction and to your instruction ; 
 but, since the privilege of conversing face to face is of necessity 
 danied, I must endeavour, tlirough Divine assistance, to speak as 
 well as I can in the way which is afforded me. 
 
 " You give me to understand that your distresses and spiritual 
 exercises continue still the same, if not worse. I beheve that 
 the arch foe, whose business it is to deceive and betray souls, has 
 given you many ideas respecting your state which are absolutely 
 false ; and, by receiviDg and indulging these, you have heightened 
 youi' misery, dishonoured God's love and faithfulness by unbehef, 
 and Gordianized the knot which Satan had at first but sHghtly 
 tied : and then, to render bad worse, you seem ready to indulge 
 the soul-distressing suspicion, that your case scarcely admits of 
 a remedy. If true, you are possessed of a noble spirit of resist- 
 ance, bemg determined rather to die fighting than yield to the 
 enemies of God and your soul. This is an inestimable blessing ! 
 but how you can maintain it, and at the same time make such 
 dreary conclusions respecting your state as you sometimes do, 
 would be a mystery to me, did I not bring God into the question. 
 What adds worth and prevalency to a spirit of resistance, is, 1 
 apprehend, the behef of a probability or possibihty of conquest ; 
 and, though there may be much uncertainty connected with all 
 these, yet still such a behef, either greater or less, is indispen- 
 sably requisite to influence and preserve such a spirit. But what 
 surprises, and sometimes distresses, me is, that you seem occa- 
 sionally to have almost relinquished this behef; and yet you 
 resist ! Here is the mystery ! Could you join this spirit and 
 this confidence together, you would soon be a prevailing con- 
 queror ; for all tilings are possible to them who beheve. A vahant 
 soldier going to battle has only a probabihty or possibihty of vic- 
 tory, yet even tliis urges liim on to fight; but your case is 
 abundantly better than his ; for you have a demonstrative cer- 
 tainty, and an indubitable assurance, that you shall conquer, if, 
 with confidence in Jesus, you persevere to resist. The demon- 
 strative certainty of your victory is founded on this, that God has 
 dehvered others who were involved in similar difficulties; and 
 this certainty is still strengthened by considering, that whatsoever 
 of this kind God has done for others, he is, imdoubtedly, wilhng 
 to do for you ; and tliis proposition will hold you amidst all 
 sophisms, wlhle Jehovah's word assures you that he is no 
 respecter of persons. Strive, therefore, my dear Sister, to be 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE, 
 
 57 
 
 properly rooted and gi'ounded in this, and God shall be glorified, 
 and your soul shall enjoy the heaven-horn effects thereof. 
 Secondly, you have an indubitable assurimce also of victory ; and 
 this is founded on the promise and oath of the Uving God, Heb. 
 vi. 18, and you are certainly one of the persons there described; 
 and these are afibrded you, not only to give you a strong 
 assurance of victory, but also Divine consolation, even while sus- 
 taining the di'eary conflict ; but of this you often rob yourself, 
 by frequently giving way to unbelief, and its near ally and con- 
 comitant, despondency. To doubt the word of the God of truth, 
 is unreasonable as well as ungi-ateful ; but to disbelieve liis oath, 
 would be impious. 
 
 A Deist disbeheves the Scriptures, because he thinks he has 
 sufficient evidence to convince him that they are not of Divine 
 ongin ; but for a person who has an interest in Christ (as you 
 really have), and who has found this word accompanied by the 
 demonstration of the Spirit, to disbeheve a part of that w^ord, the 
 whole of which, collectively considered, you scruple not to assent 
 to, is worse than Deism, or is, at least, a refined species of it. 
 Those promises, my Sister, which refer most to your present state, 
 you are called on more immediately to beheve, and to plead them 
 earnestly with God, till they are all yea and amen to your soul 
 through the blood of the covenant : and so here, as God has 
 spoken them, and gave his oath to confiim them to such doubt- 
 ers as you and I, as surely w^ill he fulfil to the joy of our souls, 
 if we look to their accompHshment as directed : for such persons 
 never find the promise vain. For your comfort I would direct 
 you to read the 31st chapter of Jeremiah, which I beUeve is 
 suited to your state; and observe lq the 19th verse, how the 
 Lord takes notice of the distresses of- Ephraim. ' After I was 
 turned, I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon 
 my thigh ; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,' &c. But what 
 is the answer of the God of love to Ephraim's doleful confession 
 and complaints ? ' Is Ephraim my dear son ? Is he a pleasant 
 child ? for, since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember 
 him stiU : therefore my bowels are troubled for him, I will surely 
 have mercy upon him, saith the Lord,' verse 20. One thing, 
 which, I suppose, adds to your distress is, that you entertain 
 unfavourable ideas of the God of grace ; you perhaps look on 
 him as a God seated on a throne of inexorable justice, and his 
 right hand armed with the thunderbolts of vengeance ; but all this 
 I beheve to be absolutely wrong. But suppose you think that 
 this is right, and that your heart and conscience seem to confirm 
 it, yet none of these prove it at aU : ' for as the heavens are 
 higher than the earth, so are my ways above your ways, and my 
 thoughts above your thoughts, saith the Lord.' Send all these 
 
68 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 gloomy apprehensions, therefore, to the pit — whence alone they 
 have originated, and dare to look on God as your reconciled 
 Father in Christ, and the throne of justice as having no demand 
 against you, being propitiated by the blood of atonement. Such 
 views as these will tend to excite love, gratitude, and confidence, 
 and, consequently, will be the means of removing the opposites of 
 these graces. As you still continue to reason on your state, 
 Satan, who is a very subtle and experienced disputant, will 
 involve you, by his plausible insinuations, in endless dilemmas 
 and inextricable mazes. He well knows where to attack you with 
 the greatest advantage; and this I think he does by giving you 
 false premises to reason on, artfully liiding liimself : you proceed 
 to deduce inferences from them, not considering that, the premises 
 being false, the inferences must, of necessity, be false also ; and, 
 after you have done this, you perhaps adduce arguments to prove 
 the vahdity of the things inferred, and then, to complete all, 
 transfer the whole to yourself, and so far accomphsh Satan's end, 
 by wounding faitli, and strengthening unbehef, which you justly 
 observe to be the foundation of the Satanic tlu'one. When such 
 things as these occur, you ought immechately to examine them 
 after this manner, ' Have these tilings a tendency to encourage 
 my soul by increasing my confidence in, and dependence on, 
 God ?' and if, on examination, you find they have not tliis ten- 
 dency, cashier them directly, as invented and injected by the 
 pohcy and mahce of the accuser of the bretlu-en, whose aim is 
 to subvert and destroy your soul ; and then apply simply imto 
 Jesus, and commit your cause into the hands of the wonderful 
 counsellor, and beg him to plead it for you ; and this he will do, 
 and effectually answer all the accusations which ai^e brought 
 against you. When you have done tliis, you have acted con- 
 sistent with the exliortations of the wise man, who says, Prov. 
 iii. 5, 6, * Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto 
 thine o^ti understanding,' &c. 
 
 " You are perhaps tormented with a fear that the Lord has 
 departed from you, and his favour forfeited, never to be re- 
 covered ; but I think there are many evidences to prove the con- 
 trsLTj. That God is not departed fi'om you is evident fi^-om your 
 earnest pantings after that hohness with wliich he is pecuharly 
 dehgbted, and these desires could neither be repressed nor con- 
 tinued, but by the operation of the Spirit of God. When this 
 is stated lq the form of an argument, it stands thus : Desires and 
 longings after holiness proceed alone from the Spirit of God. 
 But you have these desires and pantings after holiness. Ergo, 
 God is not departed from you. Thus far it is evident that your 
 case is good. 
 
 " Again, that you are in the favour of God may be proved 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 59 
 
 from your love to and fear of liim. The fear of God you have, 
 and this causes you to abstain from every appearance of evil, and 
 to choose death itself rather than offend him ; and it is further 
 evident that this fear of which you are possessed, is a fihal fear ; 
 for it causes you to hate iniquity, as well as to abstain from it, 
 and induces you to follow after that which is good : consequently, 
 a principal constituent of that fear is love. 
 
 " Oh ! my dear Sister, be encouraged to go forward ; endure 
 hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, for salvation is now 
 nearer than when you first beheved, and your Redeemer will 
 speedily come to you, in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel 
 of peace." 
 
 While in Norwich, Mr. Clarke laboured much to improve his 
 mind during the httle leisure which he could command. Greek 
 and Latin were, as we have seen, proscribed ; but he made some 
 progress in French and Hebrew. He read Mr. Wesley's Philo- 
 sophy, wliich disgusted him with the horrid doctrine of uncon- 
 ditional reprobation. In Lowestoffe, especially, he met with kind 
 friends, two of whom, the late Mr. Thomas Tripp and Mr. Thomas 
 Mallitt, entertained him as a son, and allowed him the use of their 
 libraries. " Had I received no other spiritual good," says the Doc- 
 tor, than what I received through the means of Mr. Tripp and 
 Mr. MalHtt, I should still have ample reason to thank God, that 
 my lot was cast that year in the Norwich circuit, with which 
 Lowestoffe was then united. I was very young and inexperienced ; 
 and those two men were eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame."* 
 
 * " From Mr. Tripp," says Dr. Clarke, " I was favoured with many anec- 
 dotes relative to the travail of his soul. I shall relate a short one becaasc 
 I think it may be of use : — Some zealous Baptists, who placed full as much 
 dependence on immersion as their creed required, were continually teazing 
 him with a profusion of such arguments as are generally used in favour of 
 being dipped. At last the subject fonned itself into a powerful temptation, 
 with which the peace of his mind was for a time considerably troubled. 
 Though he was satisfied that he had both the shadow and the substance, the 
 outward and visible sign with the inward and spiritual grace, yet he thought 
 the best way to get rid of the temptation, and silence certain scrupulous 
 clamours which had been excited in his mind, was to get dipped ; as he 
 conceived that in this there could be no harm, and that afterwards there 
 could be no pretence for the continuance of those scruples, which should be 
 thus met and silenced on their own gi'ound. As his religious experience 
 was well known, and he had at that time been of considerable standing in 
 the church of God, he was afraid that if this were known it might be the 
 means of stumbling others and turning them out of the way. He could not 
 expect a Baptist minister to do this privately for him, as this was incon- 
 sistent with the end which they profess to have in view by ministering bap- 
 tism : he at last thought of a method of dissolving the difficulty. Having 
 made eaniest prayer and supplication to God in his chamber, he walked 
 down to the beach, which was very near his own dwelling, and having 
 
60 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Tlioiigli Mr. Clarke's labour in the Norwich circuit was severe, 
 and he suffered numerous privations, yet his strong sense of duty, 
 and the affection of the people, bore his spirit triumphantly 
 through. He preached foui* hundred and fifty sermons in this 
 circuit in eleven months : good was done, though not in a re- 
 markable degi'ee ; and he hved in harmony with lus colleagues. 
 
 On the 7th of August, 1784, he received from the Leeds Con- 
 ference liis appointment to St. Austell. He performed this 
 journey (four huncfred miles) on horseback, with one guinea 
 wliich had been sent him, and half-a-crown in his own purse. 
 The keep of his horse requiring nearly all liis cash, he was obhged 
 to content himself with very meagi'e and scanty diet, a penny loaf 
 sei'ving liim for both breakfast and dinner. 
 
 At St. Austell, liis colleagues were Messrs. Francis Wrigley 
 and William Church, with the former of whom he had laboured 
 in the Bradford circuit. His new sphere of exertion included 
 the eastern part of Cornwall, from shore to shore, and con- 
 sisted of forty regular stations, besides others occasionally 
 visited.* Tliis circuit, like the former, and, indeed, like most of 
 the cu'cuits at that period, was a very severe one — the riding 
 
 stripped him as if intending to bathe, he waded into the water to a considera- 
 ble depth, and then said, ' Thomas, I baptize thee, in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;' and, having so said, he 
 dipped himself thrice over the head, returned to the shore, and thus finally 
 terminated the temptation, and the ceremony to which it gave birth. I feel 
 no scruple to recommend the same measure to any person in the same cir- 
 cumstances; and advise them never to put themselves into the hands of 
 those who wish them to adopt their plan of baptism, that they may exhibit 
 them publicly, and thus gloiy in their flesh." 
 
 In a postscript to this account, which Dr. Clarke published in the Me- 
 thodist Magazine of 1811, he adds the following explanatory note : — 
 
 " No reflection is here intended on that denomination of Christians called 
 Baptists ; nor on their mode of administering baptism. The reference is to a 
 most shameful and unprincipled intrusion into the peace of a religious society, 
 by a person, wliolly, I take for granted, unauthorized, even by persons of his 
 own persuasion; who endeavoured, by disgraceful arts, to raise up a people 
 for himself out of other religious societies ; and by his trade of proselytism, 
 separated the worshipping husband and wife. Sec. This person, when he made 
 a proselyte, took care to make him the instrument of making others, by ex- 
 hibiting him in the most public manner, and glorying in the conquest he had 
 made. No regular Baptist church would have suffered such conduct, much 
 less would the body of that denomination of Christians ; which, considered 
 as a religious people, are as respectable, zealous, pious, and useful, as most 
 people in the land." 
 
 * The circuit included the following places : — St. Austell, Mevagizzey, 
 Tywardreath, Lostwithiel, Port-Isaac, Camelford, Trenarren, Trewint, 
 Sticker, St. Stephens, St. Ewe, Polglaze, Tregony, Polperro, Liskeard, 
 Fursnuth, Penfurder, Pelynt, Meadows, Euthernbridge, Trelill, Amble, 
 Grampound, Tresmear, St. Tiddy, Bodmin, Gunwen, Bokiddick, Fowey, 
 St. Teath, Trewalder, Delabole-Quarry, Landreath, Broadoak, Trenarrand, 
 Bocaddon, Tintagel, Michaelstow, St. Minver, uud Padstow. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 61 
 
 constant, the roads bad, and tlie accommodations worse ; but 
 there was this difference between them : in Norfolk, rehgion was 
 at a low ebb ; in Cornwall, there existed that spirit of hearing 
 for which that county has ever been remarkable. The toils and 
 privations endured by the preachers, were compensated by a large 
 measure of success. The chapels were incapable of containing 
 the crowds that came ; and, almost every week, Mr. Clarke was 
 obliged to preach in the open air. 
 
 Among those whom Mr. Clarke had the satisfaction of re- 
 ceiving into the Society, was Mr. Samuel Drew,* who had then 
 nearly completed his apprenticeship. Dr. Clarke has justly 
 styled him, " one of the first metaphysicians of the empire, a 
 man of primitive simplicity of manners, amiableness of disposi- 
 tion, piety towards God, and benevolence to men, seldom to be 
 equalled ; and for reach of thought, keenness of discrimination, 
 purity of language, and manly eloquence, not to be surpassed in 
 any of the common walks of life." Nor was Mr. Drew the only- 
 remarkable man whom Mr. Clarke admitted into the Methodist 
 Society in Cornwall. He admitted Mr. George Michal, inventor 
 of the patent window frame ; Mr. Joseph Avard, a magistrate in 
 Prince Edward's Island ; and several others, who have since be- 
 come distinguished in Uterature and mechanics. 
 
 Mr. Clarke met with very inhospitable treatment from a farmer 
 at Trego. In this place, a small society had been formed, which 
 met at the farmer's house. Mr. Clarke was to preach there on 
 the night of his arrival, and the next morning. The farmer's 
 wife had set before him the remains of an apple-pie, the crust of 
 which was " almost impenetrable to knife or teeth," when he 
 himself entered ; and a strange dialogue ensued. For some rea- 
 son which does not appear, the farmer had resolved he would 
 have no more Methodist preaching ; and he insisted upon Mr. 
 Clarke's immediate departure. There being no alternative, he 
 saddled his horse and departed ; but not before he had Hterally 
 wiped off the dust of his feet against the inhospitable man. This 
 was the last time that the poor churl had a Methodist preacher 
 beneath his roof, or before his door. " Ruin," says Dr. Clarke, 
 came upon him, his family became corrupt, and were finally 
 scattered ; and he died not long after." 
 
 "At Launceston," says Dr. Beaumont, "a persecutor, of 
 gigantic stature and unbounded rage, determined to take away the 
 
 * Mr. Drew, like Bloomfield the Poet, Dr. Carey the father of modem 
 missions, and GitFord the translator of Juvenal, was originally a shoemaker. 
 Nor was he the only famous Wesleyan Methodist who followed that calling 
 in early life. Mr. Samuel Bradbuni, who has been styled the Bradbury 
 of his times, and Mr. Thomas Oliver, the author of that noble ode, " The 
 God of Abraham praise," were of the same " gentle craft." 
 
62 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 life of tliis zealous evangelist ; and for this purpose filled his 
 pockets with large stones, that he might, as he expressed it, ' dash 
 out the hrains' of the preacher. On arriving at the place with 
 this awful intent, he found Mr. Clarke in his sermon ; and he 
 thought that, hefore he executed his pui-pose, he would listen to 
 a few words. Whilst hstening, he suddenly fell down, as if he 
 had been shot. The immediate result was, the saving of the 
 preacher's hfe — the final issue, that of his own soul." 
 
 In the winter of 1 784, Mr. Clarke met with a dangerous ac- 
 cident. A gentleman of Bradford, in Wiltsliire, presented him 
 with a horse, which was represented to he an excellent chaise- 
 horse. Mr. Wesley, who stood by, proposed to make an ex- 
 change, giving ^ir. Clai'ke one of his own horses, wdiich was 
 often restive in the traces. The olfer was readily accepted, Mr. 
 Clarke being too happy to possess an animal wliich had belonged 
 to one whom he so much revered. It fell down almost every 
 time it was ridden, and Mr. Clarke w^as often urged to sell it ; 
 but he refused, because it had been Mr. Wesley's. On the 17th 
 of December, it fell as usual, and Mr. Clarke, pitching directly 
 on his head, lay for some time senseless. Eventually, however, 
 he reached the house to which he was going. The next day, he 
 was bled. Some of the vertebrae of the sptue had been injured, 
 and he did not whoUy recover for some years. No argument 
 was now necessary to prevail with him to part with his horse. It 
 was exchanged with a farmer, who, for Mr. Wesley's sake, readily 
 promised to use it well. 
 
 Mr. Clarke's popularity in Cornwall was very great. To this 
 day," says Dr. Beaumont, in his eloquent discourse on occasion of 
 Dr. Clarke's death, " to tliis day liis name in that county is held 
 absolutely sacred ; I was lately on a toui' through it, and found 
 that everywhere it was as ointment poured forth." At St. Aus- 
 tell, he was obliged, on one occasion, to enter the chapel through 
 the window, and literally walk upon the shoulders of the people 
 to the pulpit. His usefulness was in proportion to his popularity. 
 The additions to the society were numerous, the edification of 
 the church was manifest ; and even the vicious and the profligate 
 were restrained witliin the bounds of decency. In a letter to 
 Miss Ehzabeth Cooke, he gives, under date of Feb. 20, 1785, the 
 following account of the fruit of his labours : — 
 
 "Among the cliildren there is a most blessed work; numbers 
 of them, being made sensible of their need of Christ, have set 
 their feet in the paths of the Lord, and are running with steady 
 pace to their heavenly Father's kingdom, and are (contrary to 
 the nature of tilings) turned fathers to the aged. You may re- 
 member that I wrote to you something concerning a Magdalene 
 whom I admitted into society ; her character was so bad before 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 63 
 
 that almost the whole society opposed her admittance, some 
 threatening to leave the class. I withstood them all, and pro- 
 claimed from the pulpit that I would admit the most devilhke 
 souls in the place, provided they cast aside their sins, and would 
 come to Jesus. After she had heen hindered some little time, 
 she at last got leave to meet ; and oh ! how wonderfully did God 
 confound the wisdom of the prudent — ever since has she walked 
 and spoken agreeably to her profession. 
 
 At St. Austell, the Lord has lately laid to his hand, and 
 there is such a revival now in it as I have never seen in any place 
 before. Numbers are lately joined ; and our chapel, though the 
 lai'gest in the circuit, is so filled, that the people are obliged to 
 stand on the seats to make room : yet, after all, numbers are 
 obliged to return home, not being able to gain admittance. Last 
 Sunday night I preached there, and was obliged to get in at the 
 window in order to get to the pulpit, — there being almost an 
 utter impossibility of getting to it any other way." 
 
 Mr. Clarke had little time for reading at St. Austell ; but 
 that little was diligently employed. To his other pursuits, he 
 added the study of chemistry, in which he was enabled to make 
 experiments, having access to a friend's laboratory. He even 
 entered upon the study of alchymy ; not, of course, in the delu- 
 sive hope of finding the philosopher's stone, but that he might 
 enlarge his knowledge of the operations of nature. It " served, 
 also, to divert his mind from that intensity of thought on other 
 matters wliich before was preying upon itself." He derived much 
 consolation under his sufierings, and much instruction in his 
 studies, from the friendship of Mr. Eichard Mabyn, of Camelford, 
 a gentleman of deep piety and considerable information. Mr. 
 Mabyn's house he then regarded as his only home on earth 
 and their friendship continued uninterrupted till that gentleman's 
 death. Dr. Clarke describes him as " amicus certus, qui in re 
 incerta cemitur;" and, writing to him in 1810, he thus frankly 
 acknowledges his obligations to him : — " I may say, that but 
 few hours together have elapsed, since the year 1784, in which I 
 have not thought of you and my most affectionate mother 
 
 * In a letter to his friend Mrs. Comer, of Liverpool, dated Aug. 11, 1832, 
 Dr. Clarke says, — " Far as I have travelled, I had, out of my own family, 
 hut few places which I could call homes, and in which I could feel 
 at home : — the first and longest was yours, in which I never received an 
 unkind word, nor saw an unkind look. Of my other homes, I shall not 
 speak particularly: — one was of your finding for me, and turned out to he 
 all that you could wish, and indescrihahly more than I could ever deserve. 
 And when these homes were out of reach, another was found for me at Bays- 
 water, near London. These homes remain to me at the present day! and 
 in these respects, no man on earth, as I think, is more privileged than I ! 
 Hallelujah '. Amen." 
 
64 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Mab}Ti. I have tliis to say further, that I never thought of you 
 without a blessed mixture of gratitude as to my benefactor — 
 reverence to my teacher — warm affection as to my parent — and 
 deHght to my friend. All these characters you have long borne 
 to me ; and I thank God that I hope I duly feel the obhgation. 
 You were, under God, the guide of my youth, and in many, 
 many things, the director of my ways. I have often praised 
 God, because I found in you a father and a friend ; and from 
 circumstances I have often seen that God made you his especial 
 minister to me for good." 
 
 Mr. Clarke's labours in St. Austell were so incessant and 
 severe, that his constitution seemed to sink under them. Besides 
 numerous exhortations, he preached five hundred and sixy- eight 
 sermons, and travelled many hundreds of miles, during the eleven 
 months. He preached out of doors in all weathers, frequently 
 twice, and sometimes even thrice, on week-days ; and, three 
 Sabbaths out of four, he regularly delivered four sermons in as 
 many different places, riding a considerable distance in the inter- 
 vals. These great exertions, together with the hurt which he 
 had received, undermined his health: his appetite failed, his 
 strength declined, and he frequently bled copiously at the nose. 
 His friends feared for liis life ; and he liimself thought that he 
 should not long survive. Happily, however, these apprehensions 
 were not reaHzed. 
 
 In August, 1785, when the Conference was held in London, 
 Mr. Clarke was appointed to Plymouth-Dock.* Mr. Wesley had 
 consented to his remaining at St. Austell a second year ; but a di- 
 vision had occurred in the Plymouth Society, and it was thought 
 that Mr. Clarke would counteract the influence of the disaffected 
 party. His colleagues were Messrs. J ohn Mason and John King, 
 with whom he laboured in the utmost harmony. In the course 
 of the year, the society was doubled, and some of the seceders 
 returned. The congregations were immense ; and multitudes of 
 sailors flocked from the dock-yard, and from the ships in the 
 Hamoaze, to hear the Gospel. Among others, Mr. Cleland 
 Kirkpatrick, who afterwards became a travelling preacher, was 
 brought to God. He had lost an arm in an engagement with 
 the famous Paul Jones, and was cook in the Cambridge man- 
 of-war. 
 
 In those parts of Cornwall within his circuit, Mr. Clarke 
 formed several new societies. He was invited by John Nile, a 
 farmer, in the parish of Linkinhome, to preach in his house, 
 
 * This circuit included the following places, partly in Devon, partly in 
 Cornwall : — Plymouth-Dock, Torpoint, Stonehouse, Plympton, Tavistock, 
 Lauiiceston, Trelabe, Tregear, Ex, Burrowcot, Dixbeer, Collory, Altarnun, 
 Beeralston, Hull, Pitt, and Butternelle. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 65 
 
 there being no churcli witliin tliree or four miles. The invitation 
 was eagerly accepted. Many sinners were converted, and u 
 society was formed ; but Nile himself, as Mr. Clarke relates, in a 
 letter to Mr. Wesley, remained without a satisfactory assurance 
 of the Divine favour, though he too had been for some time 
 under conviction of sin. One night, however, he felt an unac- 
 countable impression, urging him to visit his turnip-field. On 
 going thither, he caught a man in the act of filling a sack with 
 tuniips. Nile turned out the stolen property, and, selecting such 
 as were seed- turnips, returned the rest into the sack, which he 
 assisted the thief to place upon his shoulder ; and then, bidding 
 him steal no more, but, if at any time he should be in distress, 
 come to him, and he would relieve him, he let him go. " Hav- 
 ing thus dismissed the poor trembling sinner," continues Mr. 
 Clarke, "he went into private, and began to wrestle with God in 
 earnest prayer. The Father of mercies instantly heard him, and 
 filled his soul with a clear evidence of his pardoning love, which 
 he holds fast to the present day. Thus, having forgiven his 
 brother his trespasses, his heavenly Father also forgave him." 
 
 Mr. Clarke preached in Plymouth-Dock (now Devonport) 
 at five o'clock in the morning throughout the year ; and used to 
 go about in the dark winter mornings, with his lanthom, to 
 awake those who, as he thought, should attend the preaching. 
 Mr. Wesley averred this to be " the glory of the Methodists," and 
 said, " Whenever this is dropt, they will dwindle into nothing !" 
 
 A choir of singers, which had been formed in Plymouth-Dock, 
 gave some trouble to the officers of the chapel and of the society. 
 The trustees having refused to accommodate them with a certain 
 seat which had been previously engaged by a private individual, 
 they secretly agreed that they would cease to sing, still, however, 
 attending in the pew assigned them. When Mr. Clarke, who 
 was the preacher, gave out the hymn, the singers were silent, and, 
 imagining that they had not heard the page, he repeated the 
 announcement. Still they kept silence; and he himself was 
 obliged to raise the tune. The same process was repeated when 
 the other hymns were given out. Mr. Clarke saw that the choir 
 were out of humour, and afterwards learned from the trustees the 
 reason why they had resolved that Almighty God should have 
 no praise from them!" This '"ungodly farce" being repeated, 
 the tnistees provided a person to raise the tunes. " The liveH- 
 ness and piety of the singing," says Dr. Clarke, *'were considerably 
 improved ; for now, the congregation, instead of listening to the 
 warbling of the choir, all joined." This was not the only occa- 
 sion on which Mr. Clarke had reason to question the propriety 
 of forming choirs of singers in chapels. He has declared that 
 he never knew an instance in which they did not introduce dis- 
 
 F 
 
G6 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 turbance. He was opposed to everj^thing wliich tends to make 
 the congregation mere listeners to tlie singing. For this reason 
 (and especially when their introduction was contrary to the wishes 
 of the people assemhhng in the chapels in which it w^as proposed 
 to put them), he strongly objected to organs.* But certainly 
 choirs of singers and bands of instrumentahsts are much the 
 greater evil of the two. 
 
 On \dsiting Plymouth, in after years, Dr. Clarke preached to 
 
 * The following are Dr. Clarke's recorded sentiments on this subject: — 
 
 " Musical instruments in the house of God are, at least, under the Gos- 
 pel, repugnant to the spirit of Christianity, and tend, not a little, to coiTupt 
 the worship of God. Those who are fond of music in the theatre, are fond 
 of it in the house of God, when they go thither ; and some, professing Chris- 
 tianity, set up such a spurious worship, in order to draw people to hear the 
 Gospel. This is doing evil, that good may come of it ; and, by this means, 
 light and trifling people are introduced into the church of Christ ; and, when in, 
 are generally very troublesome, hard to be pleased, and difiicult to be saved. 
 
 " Did ever God ordain instruments of music to be used in his worship ? 
 Can they be used in Christian assemblies according to the spirit of Chris- 
 tianity ? Has Jesus Christ, or his apostles, ever commanded or sanctioned 
 the use of them ? Were they ever used anywhere in the apostolic church ? 
 Does the use of them, at present, in Christian congregations, ever increase 
 the spirit of devotion ? Does it ever appear that bands of musicians, either 
 in their collective or individual capacity, are more spiritual, or as spiritual, 
 as the other parts of the church of Christ? Is there more pride, self-will, 
 stubbornness, insubordination, lightness, and frivolity, among such persons, 
 than among the other professors of Christianity, found in the same religious 
 society ? Is it ever remarked, or known, that musicians, in the house of 
 God, have ever attained to any depth of piety, or superior soundness of un- 
 derstanding, in the things of God ? Is it ever found that those churches 
 and Christian societies which have, and use, instruments of music in Divine 
 worship, are more holy, or as holy, as those societies which do not use them ? 
 And is it always found that the ministers which afffect and recommend 
 them to be used in the worship of Almighty God, are the most spiritual 
 men, and the most spiritual and useful preachers ? Can mere sounds, no 
 matter how melodious, where no word or sentiment is, or can be uttered, 
 be considered as giving praise to God.-* Is it possible that pipes or strings 
 of any kind, can give God praise Can God be pleased with sounds which 
 are emitted by no sentient being, and have, in themselves, no meaning ? If 
 these questions cannot be answered in the affirmative, then, is not the in- 
 troduction of such instmments into the worship of God antichristian, calcu- 
 lated to debase and ultimately ruin the spirit and influences of the Gospel 
 of J esus Christ ? And should not all who wish well to the spread and estab- 
 lishment of pure and undefiled religion lift up their hand, their influence, 
 and their voice, against them ? The argument, from their use in the Jewish 
 service, is futile in the extreme, when applied to Christianity." 
 
 " I have no doubt but the gioss perversion of the simplicity of Christian 
 worship, by the introduction of various instruments of music into churches 
 and chapels, if not a species of idolatiy, will at least rank vrith will-worship 
 and superstitious rites and ceremonies. Where the Spirit and unction of 
 God do not prevail in Christian assemblies, priests and people being desti- 
 tute of both, their place, by general consent, is to be supplied by imposing 
 ceremonies, noise, and show." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 07 
 
 an unusually large congregation, of which we have in one of his 
 letters the following account : — 
 
 I preached at Plymouth-Dock to a wonderfully mixed con- 
 gregation. I heheve every minister in the place was present. 
 * What shall I do to be saved ? ' was the text. I suppose I spoke 
 almost two hours, and the silence in the chapel was like death. 
 All the ministers of different classes and parties followed me into 
 the preacher's house, and, with one voice, began to thank God 
 for the demonstrations which had been brought before them that 
 evening, and earnestly pressed me to write and publish my ser- 
 mon. He who was reckoned the most rigid Calvinist in the 
 place, said, * I will talce 200 copies for my own congregation.' 
 The Baptist minister said, ' I will take 250 for mine another 
 said, * I also will take 200 and another, ' I will take 500 ;' and 
 so on. Thus, you se^ I might have made a gainful bookseller 
 if I had had my sermon ready ; but of what I preached, I had 
 never previously written one Hne, even by way of plan or notes." 
 
 It was while in tliis circuit, that Mr. Clarke was induced to 
 retract his rash vow concerning Greek and Latin. Here, too, 
 he had more leisure than in any of his previous appointments. 
 Mr. Hore, a naval officer, lent hun Chambers's Encyclopaedia, of 
 which he made himself master. He commends it as superior to 
 every work of a similar description ; and affirms, that, if so en- 
 larged as to comprehend the advanced state of science, without 
 departing from the original plan, it would be infinitely preferable 
 to the very voluminous works which have since been published. 
 His Hebrew studies were greatly promoted by the acquisition of 
 Leigh's Critica Sacra, and still more by an early sight of Dr. 
 Kennicott's edition of the Hebrew Bible, for which he was in- 
 debted to the author's sister, a resident in Plymouth-Dock. 
 From this laborious work he derived his first knowledge of bibli- 
 cal criticism. 
 
 Mr. Clarke also derived many advantages from the society of 
 his senior colleague, Mr. John Mason, who, judging from the 
 manner in which he speaks of him in his Letter to a Preacher, 
 and in the character of him, which, upon his death, in 1810, he 
 drew up at the request of Conference,* was as a Methodist 
 preacher, a remarkable man ; for he was extensively read in 
 general and ecclesiastical history, and was well versed in anatomy, 
 medicine, and natural science. In botany he greatly excelled, 
 having formed large collections, of which one of English plants 
 was particularly complete. Notwithstanding these attainments, 
 he never neglected his ministerial duties, but laid everything 
 under contribution to. his theological studies. " From him," says 
 
 * Vide Wesley an -Methodist Magazine, vol. xxxiii., p. 357. 
 F 2 
 
C8 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 Dr. Clarke, " I learned how to demean and behave myself, in 
 civil and rehgious society." He died at the age of seventy- eight, 
 residing at West-Meon, in Hampshire, some years before his 
 death. He presented to his friend Clarke a Hortus Siccus, in 
 forty-three volumes, octavo : his fossils, minerals, and plants, 
 were scattered and lost.* 
 
 * From this excellent man, Mr. Clarke had a striking anecdote, which he 
 has related, concerning quack medicines. A man and his wife, members 
 of the Methodist Society in Portsmouth, became addicted to the use of 
 Godfrey's Cordial. They took it to cure some little disorder of the stomach ; 
 and it operated so comfortably, that they resorted to it on every occasion of 
 the slightest pain in that region. In process of time, ordinaiy doses had 
 no effect ; and so rapidly did the habit grow upon them, that " scores of 
 pounds" were expended in maintaining it, and, money failing, furniture 
 followed, until, reduced to absolute want, they were driven to the poor-house. 
 Their fellow-members of the Methodist Society, compassionating their un- 
 happy condition, the rather because they themselves seemed to be peniten- 
 tially sensible of their past enor, proposed a collection for their relief; and 
 a considerable sum was raised, by means of which they were set up in a 
 respectable shop. For some time their affairs prospered, and they main- 
 tained their steadfastness : but, at last, the wife, teeling or apprehending a 
 return of her old complaint, suggested the propriety ot resorting to its 
 ruinous remedy. Her husband resisted ; but she thought that sad expe- 
 rience would prevent them from abusing so valuable a compound. She 
 triumphed — the cordial re-appeared — their love of it returned in full force, 
 and their lives were ended in the workhouse. 
 
69 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is appointed to the Normun Isles — His reluctant Acquiescence 
 — Commencement of his Engagement with Miss Mary Cooke — He sails 
 for Jersey — Remarkable Chnstians — Mr. darkens Health declines — Visits 
 England — Reproves Swearing on his Return — Mr. Wesley visits the Nor- 
 rnan Isles — Mr. Clarke accompanies him on his Return to England — Re- 
 markable Answer to Prayer — Visits the Cookesat Trowbridge — Mrs. Cookers 
 Objections to his marrying her Daughter — Mr. Clarke returns to his ^Station 
 — Narroiv Escapes from Shipwreck — Account of his Studies — Marries 
 Miss Mary Cooke — Persecutions in Guernsey and Jersey — Striking Expos- 
 tulation with a Mob — Narrow Escape from being frozen to Death — 3Ir. 
 Clarke the first Methodist Preacher who visited Alderney — His Adventures 
 and Labours there — His subsequent Visits — His want of congenial Society 
 in the Channel Isles — His Progress in Study — Is enabled to purchase 
 'Walton's Polyglott, 
 
 The Society in Plymouth would have gladly retained Mr. Clarke 
 a> second year ; but it was ordered otherwise. Mr. Robert Carr 
 Brackenbury, a Lincolnshire gentleman of fortune, who ranked 
 as a Methodist preacher, had lately established his family in 
 the isle of Jersey, where, as in the other Norman isles, he had 
 preached with some success; and, at the Conference of 1786, he 
 applied to Mr. Wesley for an assistant preacher. Mr. Clarke, 
 having some knowledge of the French language, was appointed. 
 In the prospect of his new station, he thus wrote to Mr. Brack- 
 enbury : — " With regard to my destination for the islands, I 
 think I can say, that as far as God gives me strength, I am 
 wilhng to work with it ; but this I would observe, that if my 
 profiting the people must be suspended till I am able to preach 
 in French, iny lot will be almost insupportable : as far as possi- 
 ble I endeavour to suspend my judgment till I see further into 
 these matters. I am still willing to accompany you to the 
 islands : I desire only to live to receive good, and do good ; and 
 it matters little to me what department of the vineyard I am in, 
 if these ends be accomphshed : I feel ' God is here,' and this is a 
 powerful incentive to obedience, and renders duty dehghtful : my 
 soul wishes to express in its nature, and its whole deportment, 
 the image of God. May I be eternally thankful to him who has 
 done already such marvellous things for me." 
 
 This appointment, it is evident, was not made with his own ap- 
 probation, and he never became thoroughly reconciled to it. He 
 was ambitious of a more extensive sphere of labour ; and he seems. 
 
70 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 to have doubted the fairness of the manner in which his appoint- 
 ment had been brought about. " Had Mr. Wesley appointed 
 me (he observes, in a letter to Mr. King, one of his colleagues 
 at Pl}Tnouth), it is probable I should have had little doubt ; but 
 I have been credibly informed by Mr. Day, that Mr. Wesley had 
 no hand in the affair." Mr. Moore says, " I was employed by 
 Mr. Wesley to write to him, and especially when he was sent 
 to the islands of Guernsey and Jersey. By Mr. Wesley's 
 desire, I wrote to him the letter by which he was sent thither, 
 and likewise assured him in it of Mr. Wesley's friendship, and 
 that, if anything was needful to enable him to go on com- 
 fortably, he should let me Imow." In his letters to Mr. King, 
 he speaks much of the severity of his trials, temptations, afflic- 
 tions, and privations ; and contends, that his success in Guernsey 
 was no proof that his labours would not have been prospered 
 more abundantly in a situation where he would have had ten 
 times the ground to sow the seed of hfe in." Therefore, Mr. 
 Everett's remark, that "England being too circumscribed, he 
 visited the islands of the sea," is as far from being correct in 
 sentiment, as in geography. The loneUness of his position, and 
 liis single responsibihty, particularly oppressed him. " Before," 
 he says, having two or three preachers always with me, we all 
 shared the labour and concern. I had less burdens to bear ; but 
 here, I may truly say, I stand alone ; every load falls on my 
 shoulder, very incapable of bearing it. But this," he adds, 
 recovering his true missionary tone of feehng, " shall work even- 
 tually for my good. Never did I so comprehend what is imphed 
 in watching over souls, as I do now. My feelings are so in- 
 creased, and my concern so deepened, to get eternal souls brought 
 to, and kept mtli Jesus, that any backshding among the people 
 is a sword to my soul, and gives me some of the most poignant 
 sensations." It is impossible to lay his discontent to any other 
 account than a desire to be useful. " My conscience," he ob- 
 serves, " acquits me of a desire even to write a letter, which is 
 not necessary, or for the glory of God : for I find that in this, 
 as in every other respect, it is full time to have done with all 
 trifling." 
 
 Mr. King made his discontent known to Mr. Wesley, who 
 took a view of the case in which prudence and affection were 
 remarkably combined. Writing to Mr. King, from Athlone, in 
 Ireland, under date of April 21, 1787, he said, "Adam Clarke 
 is doubtless an extraordinary young man, and capable of doing 
 much good. Therefore, Satan will shorten his course, if possible ; 
 and this is very Hkely to be done by liis still preaching too loud 
 or too long. It is a sure way of cutting his own throat. When- 
 ever you write, warn him of this ; it may be he will take advice 
 
DR. ADAM CI,AIU(K 
 
 71 
 
 before it bo too hitc. lie may have work enough to do, if be 
 add the isle of Alderncy to those of Guernsey and Jersey. If 
 you have a desire to go and be with him, you may, up to the 
 Conference, At that time, I expect they will have both work 
 and food for another labourer." Thus wisely did that great man 
 determine the case — converting the very gi'ounds of Mr. Clarke's 
 dissatisfaction into a reason for his stay ; and yet, at the same 
 time, with a rare indulgence, permitting his friend to go over 
 and console him. Whether Mr. King availed himself of this 
 permission or not, does not appear. From one of Mr. Clarke's 
 letters to him, however, it w^ould seem he got rid of the conflict 
 ol feehng which had been agitating his breast. "Here," he 
 says, " I am determined to conquer and die : I have taken the 
 subsequent passage for a motto, and have it placed before me on 
 the mantel-piece." He referred to a Greek sentence, the mean- 
 ing of which is, " Stand thou as a beaten anvil to the stroke ; 
 for it is the property of a good warrior to be flayed alive, and yet 
 to conquer."* This was the motto of Dr. Clarke's life. 
 
 While Mr. Brackenbury was making some necessary prepara- 
 tions, Mr. Clarke paid a visit to his brother, at MaghuU, near 
 Liverpool. During this visit, he formed a Methodist Society in 
 the place. Returning towards Southampton, where he was to 
 embark, he called at Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, where he had 
 several kind friends, but one dearer than all. Ever since he left 
 the circuit, he had corresponded with the Misses Cooke, on 
 general subjects. The letters of Miss Mary, however, had made 
 a stronger impression than those of her sisters ; and, during the 
 passing visit, a more intimate acquaintance sprang up between 
 them, which terminated in their marriage. 
 
 Mr. Clarke arrived at Southampton at the time appointed; 
 but Mr. Brackenbury was detained in England a fortnight longer, 
 which Mr. Clarke divided between Southampton and Winchester. 
 He spent a good deal of his time in the cathedral of the latter 
 place, where he saw the chests containing the indiscriminate re- 
 mains of our ancient kings; and several series of reflections 
 wliich are recorded as having occupied his thoughts during this 
 brief interval of leisure, evince that his mind was actively engaged 
 on the most useful subjects. At length Mr. Brackenbury had 
 completed his arrangements, and they sailed for Jersey, where 
 they arrived on the 26th of October, 1786. It was agreed be- 
 tween them, that Mr. Clarke should go to Guernsey, where, at a 
 place called Les Terres, he procured a large warehouse, in which 
 he preached in English, besides preaching night and morning in 
 
 * This appears to have been a favourite motto with the Rev. Samuel 
 Wesley, the Rev. John Wesley's elder brother. 
 
THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 several private houses in St. Peter's, the principal place in the 
 island. On Nov. 18, he writes, "Our congregations are much 
 enlarged : last Sunday week the house was so thronged that one 
 of the beams with the weight broke through about the middle : 
 this occasioned some confusion ; but, as no part of the floor 
 fell in, the people were soon quieted, and I finished in peace." 
 His labours were not confined to Guernsey, but were divided 
 among the other islands; among which he continued three 
 years, labouring and studying incessantly for the good of the 
 people, and not without injury to his own health. 
 
 In one of his visits to Jersey, in January, 1787, he met with 
 some deeply experienced Christians, compared with whom he 
 found himself but a very little child. Two females, one old, the 
 other young, were the most remarkable. Of these persons, he 
 gives an account which should stimulate private Christians to emu- 
 lation, showing, as it does, the advantage which rehgious teachers 
 may derive from the personal example of those to whom they have 
 to minister. " The elder," he observes, in a letter to Miss Cooke, 
 "seems to possess all the solemnity and majesty of Christianity. 
 She has gone, and is going, through acute corporeal sufferings ; 
 but these add to her apparent dignity. Her eyes, every feature 
 of her face, together with all her words, are uncommonly expres- 
 sive of the word eternity, in that importance in which it is con- 
 sidered by those whose minds are devoted to deep reflection. To 
 her I put myself frequently to school, during my short abode in 
 the island, and could not avoid learning much, unless I had been 
 invincibly ignorant, or diabolically proud. The latter seems 
 possessed of all that cheerful happiness and pure love which so 
 abundantly characterise the Gospel of Christ. Peace, mecloiess, 
 and joy, judiciously commingled by the sagacious economy of the 
 Holy Spirit, constitute a glorious somctliing, afiectingly evident 
 in all her deportment, which I find myself quite at a loss to 
 describe. Two such I know not that I have before found : they 
 are indeed the rare and the excellent of the earth." 
 
 In the spring of 1787, after slowly wasting for some months, 
 he became the subject of a complication of diseases. The people 
 were greatly alarmed, and appointed a day of fasting and prayer. 
 The severest attack was from jaundice, caused, probably, by the 
 sudden cessation from horse exercise, consequent upon his re- 
 moval to the islands. When this disorder left him, he was, as 
 he describes himself, " Uttle else than a quantity of bones and 
 sinews, wrapped up in none of the best-coloured skins." In this 
 crisis, he resorted to the Sortes Bihlicce, to which, in common 
 with Mr. Wesley, he was addicted, and opened upon " I am with 
 liim in affliction." During his sickness, he wanted for nothing ; 
 persons wilhngly sat up with him day and night; and " he had 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 73 
 
 much favour in tlie sight even of the Egyptians." His sleep 
 was broken by unpleasant dreams, among whieh was one, to 
 the effect that he had received an epistle from one of the 
 Misses Cooke, informing him, that Miss Mary was dead, and 
 enclosing an oration wliich had been delivered at her funeral. 
 So much was he perplexed by these vagaries, that, at whatever 
 time he awoke in the night, he thought it bettor to rise at once, 
 than to run the risk of further annoy iiiiee. His feelings, under 
 these circumstances, were freely communicated to his friend Miss 
 Cottle, of Bristol, to whom he writes, under date of March 23, 
 1787, as follows, evidently in a strain designed to meet the eyes 
 of Miss Mary Cooke : — 
 
 *' I have been brought very low, insomuch that T have been 
 quite unfitted for my public duty. The place does not at all 
 agree with me. I have been gradually losing my health ever 
 since I came to this island ; but I am afraid to mention this to 
 any one except yourself, lest it should be thought I wanted to 
 shun the cross. The people, who seem to love me as their own 
 souls, ai'e with amazing reluctance induced to assent to my 
 departure, rather than have me die among them ; and you can 
 hardly conjecture how some are affected with the thought of my 
 being obliged to remove. I am almost persuaded, that never had 
 so feeble a pastor (so effectually) the affections of the people over 
 whom he watched. May the Lord show them eternal mercy for 
 all their care and concern towards his servant ! You would be 
 surprised to see how many cures they have brought me, and for 
 some they have searched both hill and dale ; and yet all these 
 benevolent offices are, I believe, but faint representatives of the 
 blessed principle which is within. In short, I lack nothing but 
 that which, by the blessing of God, would cure me ; viz., my 
 former exercise on horseback. But here, I cannot have that. 
 My spirit was always active, and Divine Providence united it with 
 a body foimed on the same plan of activity ; from which it is 
 evident that nature's equipoise cannot be preserved, if its various 
 parts are not tending to the ends to which they are respectively 
 appointed. Now, in my present situation, it is the opposite with 
 me. It has been a good deal on my mind to write a plain state 
 of the case to Mr. Wesley. If I do, he will no doubt remove 
 me directly ; but I would take no step of the kind till I had con- 
 sulted you. Take it deeply into consideration, and then let me 
 have your counsel. My own sentiment gives in most to the fol- 
 lowing plan : ' Strive to struggle on till Conference. It may be, 
 you will, ere then, be better ; and, if you are not, then complain.' 
 
 *' Mr. Wesley writes, ' Don't please the Devil, by preaching too 
 long or too loud.' In the latter, I never was culpable ; but in 
 the former, I doubt I err much. Indeed, I scarcely ever have 
 
74 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 done preaching till my strength is exhausted. I have repeatedly 
 seen, yea, and felt too, that tliis was wi'ong ; yet it has still the 
 better [of me], though I resolve and re-resolve to conquer myself. 
 Does my dear sister know a cure for this ? Mr. B — y writes to me 
 to leave off preacliing entirely for a time. But how can I do so ? 
 Surely, if I am not fit to preach, I am not fit to five. In the 
 nature of things, I might have many days in the land of the Hv- 
 ing, j)rovided I had a sufficiency of exercise, vnth moderate 
 labour. I do not intend to conclude on anything, or take any 
 step relative to a communication of this to our reverend father, 
 till I receive your advice. 
 
 " I have written to Mr. B. concerning my visit to Dock, for 
 which Mr. Wesley has allowed a fortnight ; and begged him to 
 add a little more to it, that I might visit some other places. He 
 answers thus : ' If the Lord permits, I pui-pose to come over 
 before the end of this month, and shall do what Hes in my power 
 to let you stay three weeks or a month in England ; but, if you 
 will be so good as to wait a week or ten days, you might probably 
 be more able to take your journey into England.' " 
 
 In the following month he visited England, and returned on 
 the 22nd of May. 
 
 Before embarking at Southampton, several persons, chiefly 
 Dissenters, entreated him to give them a sermon ; and, " the 
 Lord gave liim much liberty to expose, and power to shake, the 
 sandy foundation of spiritual stillness, consisting of hopes, trusts, 
 conjectures, and possibles, on which several had been building 
 their expectation of glory." During the trip, the Sabbath 
 elapsed, and he had occasion to reprove some officers, and other 
 gentlemen, on board, for swearing. By-and-by, they ventured 
 to sing songs. Tliis also he immediately remonstrated against 
 A long altercation ensued ; but, in the end, they desisted. Pre- 
 sently, however, they renewed their singing with double vigour, 
 when, stepping up to them upon the quarter-deck, in a command- 
 ing voice, he charged the chief of them, " in the name of the 
 li^'ing God, to be silent," adding, " I will not suffer such pro- 
 fanation of the Lord's day." The gallant songster asked liim, 
 
 What authority he had, and who he was ?" and, being promptly 
 answered, that he was a sei*vant of Jesus Clu?ist, and spoke by 
 the authority of God, the singing was abandoned. 
 
 In August, 1787, a short time after the correspondence with 
 Mr. King, already spoken of, Mr. Wesley visited the Norman 
 Isles, when Mr. Clarke, who was perhaps beginning to feel the 
 impatience of a lover, obtained leave to return vnth him to Eng- 
 land. Mr. Wesley, having appointed to be in Bristol on a par- 
 ticular day, engaged a passage in a Cornish vessel. When they 
 sailed, the wind was fair; but; having gradually died away, it 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 75 
 
 Sprang up in an opposite quarter. Mr. Wesley, who was below, 
 being apprised of this circumstance, proposed prayer ; and, after 
 each of his companions had olfered up petitions, he followed iji 
 a prayer which Dr. Clarke describes as " more the offspring of 
 strong faith than of mere desire." On rising from his knees, he 
 quietly resumed the book which he had been reading, making no 
 remai'k. Mr. Clarke returned to the deck ; when, to his great 
 surprise, he found the vessel in her proper course, and running 
 before a smart breeze at a rate which specidily brought them to 
 the desired haven. Mr. Wesley's own account of this circum- 
 stance is very characteristic. 
 
 " In the morning, Thursday (Sept. 6, 1787), we went on board 
 with a fair moderate wind. But we had but just entered the 
 ship when the wind died away. We cried to God for help : and 
 it presently sprang up, exactly fair, and did not cease till it 
 brought us into Penzance Bay." 
 
 On this remarkable occurrence Dr. Clarke observes, 
 " Mr. Wesley was no ordinary man : every hour, every minute 
 of liis time, was devoted to the great work which God had given 
 him to do ; and it is not to be wondered at that he was favoured, 
 and indeed accredited, with many signal interpositions of Divine 
 Providence. Mr. Clarke himself has confessed, that, high as his 
 opinion was of Mr. Wesley's piety and faith, he had no hope that 
 the wind, which had long sat in the opposite quarter, and which 
 had just changed in a very natural way, would immediately veer 
 about, except by providential interference, to blow in a contrary 
 direction. There were too many marked extraordinary circum- 
 stances in tliis ease, to permit any attentive observer to suppose 
 that the change had been effected by any natural or casual 
 occurrence." 
 
 Mr. Clarke accompanied Mr. Wesley to Bath, proceeding 
 thence to Trowbridge, the residence of his intended bride. Miss 
 Mary Cooke was the eldest daughter of Mr. John Cooke, clothier, 
 and appears to have been in every respect suited to contribute to 
 Mr. Clarke's happiness. Their union, though every way desira- 
 ble, was not accomphshed without difl&culty. The lady's mother, 
 though she could not but approve of Mr. Clarke, was unable to 
 reconcile her mind to his wandering and uncomfortable mode of 
 life.* Other relatives so prejudiced Mr. Wesley's mind that he 
 
 * Perhaps Mr. Clarke, in his ingenuousness, had over-painted the dis- 
 comforts of the itinerant life. In a letter to a friend, he says, " Before I took 
 my beloved Mary by the hand, who was most delicately brought up, I asked 
 her, ' As I am at the disposal of Mr. Wesley and the Conference, and they 
 can send me whither they please, will you go with me whithersoever I am 
 sent ?' ' Yes ; if I take you, I take you as a minister of Christ, and shall 
 go with you to the ends of the earth.' And the first step she took was with 
 me on my mission to the Norman Isles." 
 
76 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOUES OF 
 
 threatened Mr. Clarke with excommunication "if he manied 
 Miss Cooke without her mother's consent." The lovers then laid 
 their case before him, and Mr. Clarke returned to his post. 
 
 He embarked at Southampton, on the 12th of October, 
 but w^as diiven by stress of weather, into Cowes' Bay. On 
 the following day, the captain sailed again, notwithstanding 
 the appearance of a storm which presently came on. " We had 
 not sailed half-a-league," he states, in a letter to Miss Mary 
 Cooke, " before the sky lowered and blackened di'eadfully in the 
 south-west. Every sailor was ordered to his post, and all things 
 were put in readiness, lest the hurricane should meet us. But, 
 after all, we were very ill prepared for it, having a set of very 
 clumsy sailors, the captain being obhged to take such as he could 
 get ; liis own hands forsaldng the vessel, on account of the press ! 
 Again, the captain himself was dead di-imk ; and, a few minutes 
 before, had fallen down at the hehn. Such were our circum- 
 stances, when the storm came on ^vith a fury I cannot describe. 
 Some of the stout, able fellows, w^axed pale, and trembled as if 
 they were in an ague fit. For my own part, I was very busy 
 hauling with all my might on the boom of the mainsail, to keep 
 it from jibbing, while some of our gentry had taken shelter in 
 the cabin, others looking out for spars, in case the ship foun- 
 dered, to swim by, and some others sheltering themselves beliind 
 some goods upon the deck. It w^as, I beUeve, in this bustle, that 
 sometliing caught hold of the chain of my watch, and tore off 
 (what I exceechngly valued on account of its quondam owTier) 
 my 'Anchor of Hope;' so I have nothing now to seal with. 
 During the confusion, the mate spoke to me, and said, ' Fear 
 not, no evil shall happen.' I had only time to answer, ' I bless 
 God, I fear not at all ; I have not so learned Jesus Christ.' 
 Through mercy we weathered the storm, and got into Yannouth 
 Bay about two o'clock, P. M." 
 
 On the evening of the 15th, the vessel with difficulty reached 
 Alderney, where the captain thought it prudent to await the 
 abatement of the tempest. On the 18th, however, there being 
 no prospect of fair weather, he put off in the midst of a 
 hurricane. Mr. Clarke took his stjind at the bulk- head, 
 whence he could see everj'thing around him. " And what tliink 
 you," he exclaims, in relating the occurrence, " I saw cleai'est ? 
 Why, the a^^ful aspect of death impressed on every tiling." A 
 sensation, unusual to him, sanlv liis soul. "Alas !" thought he, 
 " and am T indeed afraid of death ? Is this the issue of matters 
 with me ? Lord Jesus, into thy hands I commit my spirit I on 
 the infinite merit of thy blood, I rest my soul !" Immediately, 
 all was calm ^ritliin him. The vessel was now fast wearing 
 towai'ds a range of dieadfid rocks, which there seemed no pros- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 77 
 
 pect of avoiding, as slie would not any longer answer to the 
 helm. In a few moments, a cry more dreadful than that of tire 
 at midnight, issued from all quaiters, Cut away the boat, the 
 vessel is lost !" The people on the pier of Aldcmey (which was 
 not fai" distant), seeing the danger, and beheving the loss of the 
 vessel certain, got out a bout with four strong men, to tr^' to save 
 the lives of the passengers and sailors. Despair was on every 
 face, save those of a captain of Foot and Mr. Clarke. They 
 were unmoved, and awaited their fate with firmness. " But," 
 says the pious Doctor, " in the moment when a dreadful rock 
 witliin two or three yards of our lee-bow, took away the last grain 
 of hope, God, who sits above the water-floods, by an unseen arm 
 hove the vessel to leewai'd : she passed the rock within a hair's- 
 breadth, answered once more to her helm, and from the lip of 
 eternity we escaped into the pier !" But the danger was not yet 
 overpast ; the desperate captain would go out again ! Mr. 
 Clarke's first thought was, that, as God had saved his life once, 
 it would be tempting his pro\ddence to expose it a second time ; 
 and he was on the point of taking a boat, and going on shore, 
 when it occurred to him that such a course might reflect dishonour 
 on the rehgion he professed and the sacred character he bore. 
 If all should go out again, excepting him, it might be reported 
 that the Methodist preacher was afraid of death : he therefore 
 resolved, in the name of Jesus," to repeat the venture. The 
 passage was extremely rough, the sea every minute washing over 
 the vessel ; but she arrived safe at Guernsey before five in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 The following account of his liter ar}^ pursuits at this time is 
 interesting, and evinces that he had indeed " entered into the 
 spirit of study :" — '"Nov. 25, 1787, — I yet pursue my old, and 
 have made some additions to my fonner plan. French certainly 
 must not be entirely forgotten. The Septuagint I cannot persuade 
 myself to relinquish. My esteem for it rather increases. The 
 writing of occasional notes I must continue, though, perhaps, none 
 will think them worth reading but myself. Occasional reading and 
 translating take up some more time ; and the book which I have to 
 translate for Mr. Wesley (which I have not yet begun), must 
 come shortly ; and this, I think, will hardly leave me time to take 
 my food. Again, philosophical researches have not a slender 
 part of the day and night. My spirit has lately got more lati- 
 tude and longitude than it ever had before. The earth does not 
 now content it. Though it knows but a trifle of that, it must 
 needs understand the heavens, and call all the stars by their 
 names. Truly I do find an ability for speculations of this kind, 
 which I never had before ; but I am shackled, — perhaps it is well 
 so, — I have not glasses to perform the lucubrations I would. I 
 
78 
 
 THE LTFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 own this may be an error ; but I do indeed find this is not a 
 barren study to my mind. My soul is thereby led to the Framer 
 of unnumbered worlds ; and the omnipotency of my Redeemer 
 appears illustriously stamped on the little out of the almost infi- 
 nite, wliich I am able to view."* 
 
 After more than a year's delay, in fruitless endeavours to recon- 
 cile Mrs. Cooke to the union of her daughter with a Methodist 
 preacher, Mr. Clarke and Miss Mary Cooke were married on the 
 17th of April, 1788. Six sons and six daughters were the 
 fruit of this union. The following is his account of the happy 
 event: — "I arrived at Trowbridge on the 15th of April, and 
 found everything perfectly quiet; and on the 17th, without the 
 smallest opposition or impediment of any kind, we were married 
 at Trowbridge church. No sooner was tliis step taken, than our 
 principal opponent became our hearty friend, nor was there a dis- 
 sonant voice as far as I could learn, except Mrs. Cooke's ; and 
 even of her sentiments we know nothing certain, as she said 
 nothing on either side, good or bad.f Thus far hath God in an 
 eminent manner wTOught for us." Throughout the whole pro- 
 gress of this eventful period of Mr. Clarke's history, Mr. Brack- 
 eubury had stood his firm friend, and used his influence to soften 
 and remove the objections raised against the union. 
 
 A week after marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Clarke sailed for 
 Guernsey. While here, he met with much persecution. One 
 Sabbath-day, he went to preach at La Valle, a part of Guern- 
 sey which, at high w^ater, was in those days surrounded by 
 the sea, and can only be reached by a sort of causeway. He was 
 accompanied by three gentlemen, two of whom were naval 
 officers. They found the avenue in the possession of an unruly 
 multitude, with drums and horns, and offensive weapons. They 
 therefore forded the water at some distance from the causeway ; 
 and Mr. Clarke had nearly finished his discourse before the mob 
 
 * Dr. Clarke bestowed no slight attention on astronomical subjects. The 
 reader is referred to one of the Doctor's published discourses on the Being 
 and Providence of God, founded on Heh. xi. 6, for an elaborate disquisition 
 on the phenomena of the heavenly bodies. 
 
 f Though Mrs. Cooke so far yielded to the wishes of Mr. Wesley and the 
 young people as to connive at the marriage, their union did not take 
 place with her approbation. Mr, Clarke she had never seen, and knew, 
 him only by report. The consequence was, that for many years all inter- 
 course between Mr. and Mrs. Clarke and the family was suspended ; nor 
 does it appear that the breach was entirely healed during Mrs. Cooke's life, 
 although many years before her death, she saw that she had been imposed 
 upon and deceived ; and that this mamage was one of the most happy of heir 
 family, in which there were some highly respectable connexions. One of 
 Mrs. Clarke's sisters was united to the late Mr. Butterworth, who acquired 
 a considerable fortune as a law-bookseller, and represented Dover in 
 Parliament and the other to Mr. Thomas, a pious clergyman in Wales. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 79 
 
 arrived. As soon as tliey appeared, his companions fled ; and 
 his hridle was immediately cut to prevent him from galloping 
 after them. He then dismounted, and, gaining an eminence, 
 proceeded to address them. The drums and the horns ceased ; 
 and, though a few stones were thrown from the outskirts, he 
 obtained a respectful hearing ; and, in about an hour, was dis- 
 missed without further molestation. 
 
 In Jersey, he suffered a more serious attack. Several hundreds 
 of persons, well armed and desperate, surrounded the wooden 
 building in which he was preaching. All the congregation, 
 except thirteen persons, the members of Society, fled. The mob 
 declared their resolution to pull down the house, and hury the 
 inmates in the ruins. Mr. Clarke continued his address ; and, 
 while he was exhorting his little audience to trust in God, a pis- 
 tol was presented at him through the window, and twice missed 
 fire. Perceiving that some with iron crows were sapping the 
 foundations of the house, he resolved to surrender himself, in order 
 to save his hearers. They entreated him to remain ; but, followed 
 by a stout young man, who volunteered to accompany him, he 
 saUied forth. He encountered a tremendous volley of stones and 
 dirt ; but, without shrinking, he walked steadily onward ; and the 
 mob, either ignorant of his person, or paralysed by his courage, 
 or actually restrained by Divine power, became suddenly silent 
 and inert, making a way for him through their midst, without 
 attempting to do him the least harm. The people who remained 
 behind were likewise pennitted to retire unmolested ; and the fury 
 of the mob spent itself upon the windows and roof of the empty 
 house. Their original design was to throw Mr. Clarke into the 
 sluice of an overshot watermill, by which he would, of course, have 
 been crushed to death. A more particular narrative of this 
 occurrence will be found in Dr. Clarke's note on Luke iv. 30, 
 where he adduces his own escape as parallel to that of our 
 Saviour from the Nazarenes. 
 
 Nothing daunted, on the next Sabbath Mr. Clarke went to the 
 same place. The assembled mob evincing a disposition to 
 tumult, he demanded a healing, which the leaders granted. He 
 then deUvered to them the following manly and characteristic 
 address : — 
 
 " I have never done any of you harm ; my heartiest wish was, 
 and Is, to do you good. I could tell you many things by which 
 you might grow wise unto salvation, would you but listen to them. 
 Why do you persecute a man who never can be your enemy, and 
 wishes to show that he is your friend ? You cannot be Chris- 
 tians, who seek to destroy a man because he tells you the truth. 
 But are you even men ? Do you deseiTC that name ? I am 
 but an individual, and unarmed ; and scores and hundreds of you 
 
80 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 join together to attack and destroy this single, unarmed man ! Is 
 not this to act like cowards and assassins ? I am a man, and a 
 Christian. I fear you not as a man : I would not turn my back upon 
 the best of you, and could probably put your chief under my feet. 
 St. Paul the Apostle was assailed in like manner by the Hea- 
 thens : they also were dastards and cowards. The Scripture does 
 not call them men, but, according to the English translation, 
 certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, or according to your own, 
 which you better understand, les hatteurs du pave — la canaille. 
 Oh ! shame on you, to come in iliultitudes, to attack an inoffen- 
 sive stranger in your island, who comes only to call you from 
 wickedness to serve the living God, and to show you the way 
 which will at last.lead you to everlasting blessedness !" 
 
 The common people had no sooner begun to hear him gladly, 
 than a magistrate collected a mob of his own, amongst whom 
 was the di'ummer of the local regiment. This fellow, acting 
 under instructions, pulled Mr. Clarke down from the place where 
 he was praying ; and, abused by the mob, and beaten with the drum 
 sticks, he was marched out of the town (St. Aubyn) to the tune 
 of the Kogue's March. From the hurts received on this occa- 
 sion, he did not recover for some weeks ; but by his firmness, 
 moderation, and perseverance, he tired out all his persecutors, and 
 at last pursued his labours without any opposition. 
 
 In the winter of 1 788, Mr. Clarke very narrowly escaped fall- 
 ing a victim to the soporific influence of intense cold. The 
 weather was very severe, and the snow-drifts had made travelling 
 dangerous. Accompanied by the intrepid young man who 
 shared his danger from the mob, Mr. Clarke set forth to preach 
 in the town of St. Aubyn. They were obliged to follow the sea- 
 mark, often, indeed, walking in the water, to avoid the snow- 
 drifts upon the sands ; the wind, at the same time, blowing bit- 
 terly, with snow and sleet. Mr. Clarke preached, although 
 exceedingly wet, benumbed with cold, and exhausted with fatigue. 
 Immediately after preaching, without any refreshment, they re- 
 turned towards St. Helier's. At length, Mr. Clarke declared he 
 could go no farther till he had had a Httle sleep. The young 
 man warned him, that, if he should lie one minute only, he might 
 rise no more ; and, bidding him hold by his arm, encouraged him 
 to proceed. Mr. Clarke, upon whom the deathly torpor was 
 stealing fast, answered by attempting to throw himself upon a 
 snow-drift, which appeared to him more inviting than a bed of 
 down ; when his companion pulled liim up, and continued drag- 
 ging him and cheering him, until, with great labour and diffi- 
 culty, he brought him to St. Heher's. This young man after- 
 wards lived in London, where misfortune overtook him. He had 
 been reduced by sickness, and by the death of his wife, to a state 
 
UK. AUAM CLARKK. 
 
 81 
 
 of insolvency, and had been thrown into prison. Mr. Chirke, 
 heai'ing of the circumstance, had the satisfaction of paying the 
 debt, and restoring his faithful friend to his motherless children. 
 
 Mr. Clai'ke was the hrst Methodist preacher that visited the 
 Isle of Alderney, which he did in the early part of the year 
 1787. It was reported, that, if he ventured to preach there, the 
 Govenior would banish him to an adjacent rock called the Cas- 
 kets. This report did not shake his own resolution ; but it 
 alarmed his friends, and deterred the masters of vessels from 
 taking him. Eventually, however, he secured a passage (in a 
 smuggler's boat), and, after a dangerous voyage, landed upon 
 Aldemey. Having no acquaintance there, he did not know 
 wliither to betake himself, until he remembered our Lord's direc- 
 tion to the first evangelists, '* Into whatsoever house ye enter, 
 first say, Peace be to this house ;" and, in a subsequent verse, 
 " in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as 
 they give you." Adding to his faith courage, he gained the town, 
 and, observing a cottage, immediately entered it, uttering, as he 
 crossed tlie threshold, the evangelical salutation. When the 
 inmates, an aged couple, understood his errand, they bade him 
 welcome to their choicest food, to a lowly chamber, and to the 
 use of their house for preaching. His diet, however, was re- 
 stricted. The w^ar, which then prevailed, had cut off the usual 
 supphes of food, for which the islanders depended upon France ; 
 and, as Mr. Clarke's scruples against swine's flesh were already 
 so great that he would on no account eat it, there remained for 
 him nothing but eggs, butter, and biscuit. He discovered an old 
 fiying pan, deeply incrusted with rust, in which, when he had 
 made it tolerably clean, he fried his eggs, swimming in the 
 melted butter. This fricasee, with hard biscuit, was his usual 
 food upon the island. Before he left it, he had the opportunity 
 of getting better fare at better houses ; but, regarding the words 
 which had occurred to his mind on landing, as an injunction, he 
 scrupled to avail himself of other hospitality. 
 
 As soon as he had first refreshed himself beneath the lowly 
 roof of his providential entertainers, he desired them to make it 
 known, that he would preach that evening ; and a multitude 
 came together, to hear him. Such was the effect, that the people 
 could hardly be persuaded to retire, though he promised to preach 
 to them again on the morrow. He withdrew to his chamber; 
 but, before he had been half- an-hour in bed, his hostess came and 
 entreated him to rise and preach again ; for several of the gentry, 
 including a justice of the peace, desired to hear him. He obeyed 
 the summons with alacrity ; and, though much exhausted, 
 preached to another houseful for an hour, " receiving (as he 
 writes to Mr. Wesley) peculiar assistance from on high. ' He 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 informed them of his motives and design in visiting their island ; 
 when the justice of the peace, after many civihties, desired to see 
 the hook out of which he had been preaching. He was probably 
 in doubt whether the sennon was original and extempore, or 
 merely read from a book ; for the island clerg^Tnan was in the 
 habit of pubhcly reading Ostervald's Reflections. The congre- 
 gation then dispersed ; and Mr. Clarke was peimitted to enjoy 
 his night's rest without further interruption. 
 
 The next day a constable came to him during dinner, with a 
 message from one of their magistrates, requesting him to preach 
 immediately in the Governor's storehouse. He went without 
 delay, and was introduced to an audience composed cliiefly of 
 genteel persons, but comprising also several sailors, smugglers, 
 and labouring men. He showed them, that " the (scripturally) 
 righteous is more excellent than his neighbour," and was heard 
 with deep and patient attention by all, except an Enghsh gentle- 
 man who left the place in the midst of the discourse. 
 
 On the following Sabbath, he accepted an invitation to preach 
 in the English church ; and, in the evening, addressed a number 
 of the principal inhabitants, and official persons, in a large ware- 
 house. Wlien he announced his intention to return to Guern- 
 sey, they were very unwilling to part with him. They had need, 
 they said, of such preaching ; and they wished he would stay 
 permanently with them. But with this request he could not 
 comply ; he promised, however, to send them a preacher. 
 
 Mr. Clarke visited Alderney again in April, 1787, on his way to 
 England, wliither he was going for the recover}^ of his health. He 
 thus speaks of his reception on this occasion by the islanders : 
 — " The first evening I came here, so soon as the people got 
 word of it, they gathei'ed together and begged I would preach to 
 them. With regard to bodily health, I was not properly capable, 
 and sat down to rest myself. A messenger coming at nearly 
 nine o'clock, infonned me that the people were gathered together, 
 waiting for me. I could not then refrain : I went, prayed with, 
 and exhorted them with much hberty ; God indeed was with me. 
 When I was here before, I was rather a contemptible person, but 
 now in the people's eyes I am of consequence. Mr. Eobinson, 
 one of the principal inhabitants of the island, has constrained me 
 to lodge at his house, where I am treated with exceeding kind- 
 ness. Lord, remember them for good in that day !" 
 
 In October of the same year, on his return from a second visit 
 to England, being detained off Alderney by contrary winds, " I 
 had," says Mr. Clarke, " the opportimity of preaching once more 
 to a people prepared to receive the word of hfe. God was truly 
 with me ; and much I eiT if comdction and persuasion did not 
 accompany the words he enabled me to speak. The gracious 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 83 
 
 Lord has made an inroad here on the kingdom of Satan, whicli 
 I humbly hope will be retained with increasing advantage." 
 
 The time of his departure from these interesting islands was 
 now approaching. Mr. Clai'ke, as the reader is already aware, 
 desired an extended sphere of usefulness, and wrote to Mr. Wes- 
 ley on the subject, who promised him " enlargement" at Con- 
 ference. In a letter to Mr. Brackenbury he thus frankly and 
 fully states his views and religious scruples : — 
 
 " With respect to the other part of your letter concerning my 
 leaving the islands, I will speak freely : since my first entrance 
 into them, I never could discover it as a providential appoint- 
 ment, and God only knows what I have suffered in my soul on 
 this account ; but I strove to suppress the workings of my mind, 
 and to look upon my contracted sphere as a punishment from 
 God for my manifold unfaithfulnesses, and perhaps with sullen 
 reluctance I wore the chain. At other times, I have felt alarmed 
 through all my soul, lest I should lose my zeal for extensive 
 usefulness, and get at last contented with my contracted circum- 
 stances ; as my spirit, after frequent fruitless outgoings towards 
 more usefulness, seemed to sink within me through the mere 
 fatigue of doing comparatively nothing. When I examine the 
 motives which induce me to wish for a removal from the islands, 
 I find that they stand the strictest test. I know what it is to 
 travel a severe circuit in England, and to be in such frequently 
 destitute circumstances as not to have the very necessaries of life, 
 and to be exposed to the extremes of weather. Here I have ease 
 and plenty ; I have not only the necessaries, but the con- 
 veniences and comforts of life, — instrumentally through your 
 bounty. What could induce me, think you, to desire a change 
 for the former? surely no principle of flesh and blood; no, 
 were I to consult what they would say, I would not stir a foot as 
 long as I could help it ; but all advantages, &c., seem an infinite 
 nothing in comparison of gaining souls to God ! This, my dear 
 Mr. Brackenbury, is the alone powerful appellant; for this 
 I willingly sacrifice ease, plenty, and, in general, a very loving 
 people. I have written to Mr. Wesley proposing my scruples, 
 and, in consequence, he promises me enlargement at Conference. 
 One thing more I would just add, that, since I wTote to Mr. 
 Wesley on the subject, I have found more Hberty in my soul than 
 I had experienced for a considerable time before : here then, my 
 dear Sir, is a simple, plain state of the case." 
 
 His spirits appear to have suffered from another cause ; namely, 
 the want of congenial society ; for, though the Guernsey people 
 were very kind, they do not seem to have been very intelligent. 
 *' I seem," he says, to one of his correspondents in England, 
 
 to have no companion here, unless it be a poor cat, which is 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 now present, and wliich strives by every means it can to please 
 me ; it makes an incessant puiTing about me, and seems quite 
 happy if I pay any regard to its well-meant actions. I had 
 rather have its incessant punings than be obliged to lend ear to 
 what many of my own two-legged species fi'equently say. It is 
 indeed a mortification to have no person to discourse with on any 
 subject that is but even one step removed from the common dog- 
 trot.* I have no toleration for these people, as I beheve the good 
 God has given evei^ man a capacity capable of improvement ; 
 but the precious time in wliich it might be gained is spent 
 in ' dressing, mistressing, and compliment in smoking, snuff- 
 ing, &c. It is true, these people do not hurt their eyes with 
 study ; so be it : this, I beheve, is all the good that results from 
 their sloth." 
 
 In Guernsey, he had had the satisfaction of erecting a commo- 
 dious chapel, and of seeing it regularly filled by a respectable con- 
 gregation. He had many friends also among the principal in- 
 habitants, several of whom became patterns of piety ; but the 
 friendship of the rich was not uniformly steady. In their case, 
 the seed often fell upon stony places ; and, though, from the scan- 
 tiness of the soil, it speedily sprang up, yet the sun had no sooner 
 risen than these fine-looking plants were scorched, and, hav- 
 ing no root, withered away. For, though, in the first in- 
 stance, his rich hearers were so captivated by his preaclung, 
 that they offered to provide handsomely for liim if he would con- 
 fine his laboui's to them, yet, no sooner did persecution show 
 itself, than, one after one, they fell away ; and, though they did 
 return, it was not till the cause of their secession had disappeared. 
 The poor, however, maintained their steadfastness ; and, among 
 them, the word proved like seed falhng into good ground, and 
 was in different degi'ees productive. 
 
 In the Norman Isles, he was able to devote more time to study 
 than in any of his former circuits. He began to read the Sep- 
 tuagint version of the Old Testament, for the pui'pose of noting 
 its variations from the Hebrew text, with which he was tolerably 
 well acquainted. He continued this exercise till he had reached 
 the end of the Psalms, noting down in a book, which was after- 
 wards unfortunately lost, the most important differences. His 
 opinion of the value of the Septuagint was always very high ; 
 and he attributed the outcry against it to a misunderstanding of 
 the question, and of the circumstances of the case. These 
 studies were much hindered by want of books, except when he 
 
 * In writing from Guernsey to Miss Cooke, previously to their union, he 
 pleasantly says, " I am here just as my primitive namesake was among the 
 beasts and the fowls. ' Among all these theie is not a help meet for n.e.' " 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 85 
 
 was in Jersey, where there was a pubhc Hbrary, which contained, 
 besides other excellent works, a copy of Walton's Polyglott. A 
 perusal of the Prolegomena led him to acquire some knowledge 
 of the Syriac and Chaldee. To the latter he was introduced by 
 Dean Prideaux's Connections ; to the former, by Walton's Intro- 
 duction to the Oriental Tongues, and Leusden's Scholia Syriaca ; 
 and, when to these he had added a knowledge of the Samaritan 
 alphabet, he was able to collate the original texts in the 
 Polyglott, in the Hebrew, Samaritan, Chaldee, Syriac, Vulgate, 
 and Septuagint. In the Arabic, Persian, and Ethiopic, he des- 
 paired of making any progress without a teacher. As he had 
 not always the opportunity of resorting to the St. Helier's Li- 
 braiy, he began earnestly to covet a copy of the Polyglott. He 
 had no means of gratifying this desire ; but, as he beheved that 
 it was God's will that he should cultivate biblical studies, he 
 entertained a confident hope that the work would, in due time, 
 be providentially given to him. That he made known his wishes 
 and liis hopes, would appear from the fact, that a preacher's wife 
 dreamed one night that some one had made him a present of a 
 Polyglott. Hearing of this dream, he reiterated the expression 
 of his confidence in God ; and, in a few days, he received a letter 
 
 containing a £10 bank-note, from a person from whom he 
 never expected anything of the kind."* "Here," said he, on 
 discovering the valuable enclosure, " is the Polyglott !" and he 
 wrote to a friend in London, who purchased for him a copy of 
 Walton, the price of which was exactly ten pounds." To this 
 act of hberality, and to the finding of the half-guinea at Kings- 
 wood, Dr. Clarke often gratefully referred, as special cases of 
 providential goodness, and as having laid the foundation of his 
 prodigious acquirements in Oriental learning and biblical litera- 
 ture ; and, viewing them as direct gifts from God, he was stimu- 
 lated to greater diligence in the studies which they facilitated. 
 
 In the retrospect of years, referring to his appointment to the 
 Norman isles, and particularly to the persecution he suffered in 
 Jersey, Dr. Clarke says, " Those sent to America excepted, I 
 myself was one of the first Methodist missionaries. I have also 
 laboured and suffered — with what weakness and success are 
 known to Him who is peculiarly the God of missionaries. 
 I know the heart of a missionary, and his labours ; and I know 
 what it is to be from under the immediate protection of British 
 
 LAWS." 
 
 * This was not the only pecuniaiy favour he received whilst in the Chan- 
 nel islands : his friend Mr. Brackenbury, to whose kindness he was already 
 so great a debtor, presented him with £10. 
 
86 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Mr. Clarke leaves the Norman Isles — Is appointed to Bristol — Mr. Mmre's 
 Account of his Progress in Learning — Mr. Wesley's last Conference — Mr. 
 Clarke is appointed to Dublin — His Illness — LHstra<:ted State of the 
 Society — 3/r. Clarke founds t/ie Strangers' Frien/l Society — Becomes 
 acquainted u-ith a Turkish Janissary — Enters Trinity College ajs a Medical 
 Student — Applicatifm of his C/iemical Knowledge to Biblical IllmtratUm 
 — Becomes acquainted with an Enthusiastic Alchymist — Death of Mr. 
 Wesley — Mr. Clarke is appointed one of Mr. Wesley's Trustees. 
 
 Is July, 1789, Mr. Clarke bade fareweU to the Norman Isles; 
 and, leaving his wife and their infant son at her father's in Trow- 
 bridge, proceeded to the Conference in Leeds, when he was 
 appointed to Bristol. His health had been alarmingly impaired 
 by study and confinement in the islands, aggravated by a bad 
 cough caught some years before by sleeping in a damp bed at 
 BeeraLston, and which now became so oppressive and severe, that 
 it thi-eatened to terminate his Hfe. Mr. Wesley, who visited 
 Bristol after the Conference, was so much struck with this, that 
 hcj expressed a fear lest death should deprive the ancient society 
 of that circuit of his services.* He was probably appointed to 
 Bristol for the sake of being near the hot wells ; but his house- 
 hold accommodations in that city had no tendency to restore 
 him. For economy's sake, the apartments of the preachers were 
 often built over the chapels. Tliis was the case at Biistol ; and 
 the noxious effluvia from so many hundi'cds of people assembhng 
 in the chapel from day to day made the lodging-rooms above 
 exceedingly unwholesome. Mr. Clarke, however, was enabled 
 to go through his appointed work, and he left the circuit in a 
 much better state than that in which he found it. 
 
 * From the concern which Mr. Wesley evinced in the following year on 
 account of his young friend's health, it would seem that it was still in a 
 precarious state. Writing to Mrs. Clarke from Dumfries, xmder date J une 
 1, 1790, he says: — "The great question is, what can be done for Adam 
 Clarke ? Now, will you save his life ? Look round ; consider if there be 
 any circuit where he can have much rest, and little work ; or shall he and 
 you spend September in my rooms at Kingswood, on condition that he shall 
 preach but twice a-week, and ride to the hot wells every day ? I think he 
 must do this, or die ; and I do not want him (neither do you) to run away 
 from us in haste. You need not be told, that this will be attended with 
 some expense If it be, we can make it easy. I am apt V) think this w ill 
 be the best way. In the mean time, let him do as much as he can, and no 
 more." 
 
THE LIFK OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 87 
 
 In his own account of his residence in Bristol he enters into but 
 few details, not even mentioning the names ol his colleagues, nor 
 any other place in the circuit than Bristol itself, although the 
 circuit that then was is now divided into seven circuits. To Mr. 
 Dunn, however, he stated that, in consequence of family afflic- 
 tions and other circumstances, it was one of the most painful 
 years of his Ufe. Messrs. George Wadsworth and Samuel 
 Hodson were his fellow-labourers. Two letters to Mr. Brack- 
 enbury contain all that can be learned of Mr. Clarke's minis- 
 terial career in Bristol. In the first, dated January 3, 1790, 
 he says : — " For about a month I have been employed in 
 visiting the classes : this close work has proved more than 
 I could well sustain : I need not say that preaching three 
 or four times a- day, and giving out tickets to two hundred 
 or three hundi'ed people, regulating the spiritual concerns of 
 the visitation of the society, &c., is more than any common 
 strength is able to perform : from what I now feel, and the 
 increase of the work, I have every reason to believe that I shall 
 be either in eternity before Conference, or be fully invalided. In 
 visiting the classes I have diligently endeavoured to root out all 
 apparent offences, and offenders ; and as the foundation is clearer 
 than it has been for some time, I expect a more durable building. 
 I see such fruit of my labour as causes me almost to rejoice in 
 the mai'tyred body which the most merciful God has, in his con- 
 descension, made an honoured instrument in helping fomard so 
 good a work." On the 15th of June, in the same year, he 
 writes : — I am now so exceedingly busied that I have not time 
 to take my necessary food : we are visiting the classes, in which 
 I am employed from six o'clock in the morning, to five in the 
 evening regularly. As to the remarks you make about the mode 
 of preaching which is obtaining among us, suffice it to say I am 
 wholly of your mind. To reduce preaching into the rules of 
 science, and to leam the art of it, is a something of which my 
 soul cannot form too horrid an idea. I bless Jesus Christ I have 
 never learned to preach, but, through his eternal mercy, I am 
 taught from time to time by him as I need instruction. I cannot 
 make a sermon before I go into the pulpit, therefore am I 
 obhged to hang on the arm and the wisdom of the Lord : I read 
 a good deal, write veiy Uttle, but strive to study. " 
 
 Here, however, he possessed the advantage of easy access to 
 books, an advantage of wliich he was never afterwards deprived ; 
 for from Bristol he went to DubUn, Manchester, and Liverpool, 
 in succession, and in all these places had access to good libraries, 
 besides favourable opportunities of purchasing or borrowing. 
 
 Before he left Bristol, indeed, he had foiTned a considerable 
 Ubrary of his own. Mr, Moore says, I met him there. I was 
 
88 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 glad to see a considerahle alteration in liis person, though still 
 nothing approaching to the clerical costume was manifest in his 
 appearance. I found he had been a hard student, and had made 
 considerable progress, especially in oriental literatui'e. His 
 library alarmed me. He had, among other works, a fine copy 
 of the Polyglott Bible, and he seemed determined to master 
 every tongue in it. I said, ' Brother Clarke, you have got a 
 choice collection of books ; but what will you do with them ? As 
 a Methodist preacher, you cannot give them that attention which 
 they demand.' He smiled, and said, ' I ^dll tiy.' I found he 
 had been trying indeed. To an improvement in Latin, Greek, 
 and French, he had added a considerable knowledge of Hebrew ; 
 and he showed me a Chaldee grammar, which he had himself 
 written out, in order to be able to study the vdiole of the Pro- 
 phet Daniel. As he had not liitherto been appointed to circuits 
 favoui'able to such studies, I was siu^rised at the progi-ess he 
 had made. Oar common work at that time was to travel two 
 hundred or thi-ee hundred miles in a month, preach generally 
 fifteen times in a week, and attend to various other duties; and, 
 if Mr. Wesley heard of a very studious preacher, he was sure to 
 keep liim at that work, lest he should forget, or lightly esteem, 
 that gi'eat design of God to wliich they were especially called in 
 that extraordinary day, which was, not to dispense knowledge, 
 but life, even life fi'om the dead. Knowledge, he knew, would 
 follow of course, if Ufe were attained ; but zeal and tender love 
 for souls might easily be lost. His concise charge when he 
 received them as his helpers was, ' You have nothing to do but 
 to save souls : therefore spend and be spent therein.' But I 
 found my friend had not neglected this high calling. His dis- 
 courses seldom ' smelled of the lamp,' and he was zealous for 
 the Lord." Two years aftei^wards he had another meeting with 
 his friend Moore, refening to wliich the latter has obser^^ed, " I 
 was astonished at the progi'ess he had made. He seemed to 
 have oriental learning at his fingers' ends." 
 
 The Conference of 1790, held in Bristol, was the last in which 
 Mr. Wesley presided. His mind was particularly impressed 
 with the necessity of making some permanent mle, the effect of 
 which should be to diminish the labours of the preachers ; for 
 he saw that inordinate exertions were cutting short many useful 
 lives. The senior brethren were assembled in his study, to pre- 
 pare matters for the Conference, when he proposed that no 
 preacher should preach thrice in one day. This was opposed by 
 several, by Messrs. Mather, Pawson, and Thompson, among 
 othei-s, on the ground, that, unless the bretln-en continued to 
 preach thrice eveiT Lord's- day, places could not be supplied. 
 Mr. Wesley reiterated the argument from the loss of life. He 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 89 
 
 was referred, in answer, to liis own example, and the examples 
 of his opponents ; for he mid they, it was urged, had reached an 
 advanced period of life, notwithstanding the practice which ho 
 denounced. For himself, he rephed, he had been under an es- 
 pecial Providence ; imd besides, he knew better than his brethren 
 how to preach without injuring himself ; but, he added authorita- 
 tively, " no num can preach thrice a-day without killing himself 
 sooner or later ; mid the custom shall not be continued." The 
 objectors ceased to press him ; but. Dr. Clm-ke declares, they de- 
 ceived him after all. The minute stood thus, " No preacher shall 
 any more preach three times in the same day ;" but, in passing it 
 tlirough the press, they contrived to add, " to the same conyre- 
 f/atioii," by winch it was entirely neutralized. 
 
 On the point involved. Dr. Clarke has the following discrimi- 
 nating observations : — " He who preaches the Gospel as he 
 ought, must do it with his whole strength of body and soul, and 
 he who undertakes a labour of this kind thrice every Lord's day 
 will infallibly shorten his life by it. He who, instead of preach- 
 ing, talks to the people, merely speaks about good things, or 
 tells a religious stoiT, will never injure himself by such an em- 
 ployment. Such a person does not laboiu' in the word and doc- 
 trine : he tells his tale ; and, as he preaches, so his congi^ega- 
 tion believes, and sinners are left as he found them." 
 
 After all, it is a question, whether to preach twice in the enor- 
 mously large chapels now so numerous, be not a more laborious 
 task than to preach thrice in buildings of moderate dimensions. 
 
 It was usual to send an English preacher to Dublin, who, 
 as Mr. Wesley's representative, exercised a certain degree of 
 control over the Irish circuits and preachers. Mr. Clarke, 
 though an Irishman, was proposed to fill this office ; but Mr. 
 Wesley demurred, on account of ill health :* yet, he said, if 
 Mr. Clarke himself consented, he would waive Ms objection. 
 As it was a rule with Mr. Clm'ke never to choose a circuit, 
 or object to an appointment,t he went to Dublin, where he arrived 
 in August, 1790. 
 
 * It was Mr. Wesley's wish that Mr. Clarice should go to Dublin in 1789, 
 but the state of his health at that time, rendered it advisable for him to be 
 stationed elsewhere. In a letter to Mr. Clarke, from Dublin, dated June 
 25, 1789, Mr. Wesley says, " I have just visited the classes, and find still 
 in the society upwards of a thousand members ; and, among them, many as 
 deep Christians as any I have met with in Europe. But who is able to 
 watch over these, that they may not be moved from their steadfastness ? I 
 know none more proper than Adam Clarke and his wife. Indeed, it may 
 seem hard for them to go into a strange land again. Well, you may come 
 to me at Leeds, the latter end of next month ; and if you can show me 
 any that are more proper, I will send them instead." 
 
 t This may not be an improper occasion for introducing an illustra- 
 
90 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS Of 
 
 Through entehng a newly-biiilt house before it was dry, he 
 caught a severe rheumatic affection in the head ; but the doctors 
 mistook his complaint for a congestion of the vessels of the brain ; 
 and their erroneous treatment exposed his hfe to double danger. 
 His recovery was slow and imperfect, in consequence of wliich, his 
 stay in Dubhn was shortened. Mrs. Clarke also was a long 
 time dangerously ill. "We lay in sepai-ate rooms," says Dr. 
 Clarke ; and, for three weeks, neither of us knew whether the 
 other was ahve." 
 
 Other circumstances rendered his present station uncomfort- 
 able. The society was rent with disputes. Composed partly of 
 Churchmen and partly of Dissenters, it was agitated by the 
 question of separation from the Church. This subject has, 
 at different times, disturbed the peace of the Methodist socie- 
 ties. In DubliQ, however, the disagi'eement was not so much 
 between the Churchmen and the Dissenters, as amongst the 
 Churchmen themselves. Dr. Coke, with Mr. Wesley's ap- 
 probation, had introduced the hturgy iuto the chapel in 
 Wliitefriai'- street. At that time, it was binding in ever\^ chapel 
 in which service was held during church-houi's. The chapel just 
 named could not be opened duiing the forenoon, except in com- 
 phance with this rule ; and the effect of closing it was, that the 
 congregation were chspersed tlu'oughout the city — some at church, 
 
 tion of the application of Mr. Clarke's rule in liis own case to that of local 
 preachers. It occurs in one of the Doctor's lettere, dated April 21, 1820. 
 
 " I was a local preacher before I was a travelling preacher. I went 
 wherever I was ordered to go, — so did the rest of my brethren, for our only 
 object was to save souls. I had been a travelling preacher for many yeai-s 
 before I ever heard of a local preacher's finding fault with his appointment; 
 and when I heard it fii-st I was not a little sui-prised ! To please a few 
 unruly men in a certain place, I said, ' Take and make out a plan for your- 
 selves and bring it to me, and I will incorporate the travelling preachers 
 with it ;' they did, so after much altercation among themselves; for they 
 could not agree. 
 
 " We soon had loud complaints from different parts of the circuit, for 
 those who were the least fit for certain places would go there. The next 
 plan I gave them as before, and with great diflficulty they planned them- 
 selves again ; and then the complaints from the circuit became louder and 
 louder. The most pious and sensible among the local preachers sr.w and 
 heard this. With the third plan they refused to have anything to do — the 
 preachers made it as before, to the best of their knowledge, and confidence 
 was restored. In London, where there were some uneasy men, I said, 
 before making the plan, ' If there be any Sabbath on which you wish to be 
 employed on the circuit, or any other place to which, because of your cir- 
 cumstances, you cannot possibly go, send me a note of them prior to making 
 a plan, and I will take care that you be not appointed on those days, or to 
 that place.' They did so, and I had ho further trouble. I have been a 
 travelling preacher nearly forty years, and I have never once chosen a cir- 
 cuit for myself, nor oljjected to go to any one to which I was appointed, — 
 and why ? because I served God and not man." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 91 
 
 and, says Dr. Clarke, " many more at different places of Dissent- 
 ing worship, where they heard doctrines that tended gi'catly to 
 unsettle their rehgious opinions ; and, in the end, many were 
 lost to the Society." " In consequence of the introduction of the 
 hturgy," proceeds the Doctor, — in consequence of the chapel be- 
 ing opened during the forenoon, he should have said (for the liturgy 
 had channs for only a small portion of the people), " a very good 
 congi'egation assembled at Whitefriar- street." The Dissenters 
 submitted quietly, the discord being amongst the Churchmen. 
 The object, on both sides, was to prevent a separation from the 
 Church ; some thought the introduction of the liturgy would 
 have this effect, others attributed to it an opposite tendency. 
 Many of the most wealthy and influential members were of the 
 latter party ; and they withdrew their countenance and support. 
 In the end, it was mutually agreed to desire the British Confer- 
 ence, for the sal^e of peace, to abohsh the forenoon service. Mr. 
 Clarke concurred with those who thought the introduction of the 
 hturgy tended to separation, although he afterwards beUeved it 
 " the most effectual way to keep the society attached to the spirit 
 and doctrines of the Church." How^ever, as he " at that time 
 laboured under the same kind of prejudice" with others, he 
 " gave his voice against the continuance of the prayers ; and, at 
 his recommendation, the Conference annulled the service." Had 
 the prayers simply been discontinued, without abolishing the 
 forenoon service, the bone of contention would have been re- 
 moved, and the only real evil fully guarded against ; which was, 
 the dispersion of one congregation, or society of people, among 
 various, and, perhaps, heterogeneous assembhes. The use of his 
 influence with his brethren as above described, is recorded by 
 Dr. Clarke, as " the greatest ecclesiastical error he ever committed, 
 and one which he deeply deplored for many years." Indeed, he did 
 not rest until an opportunity was afforded him, many years after, 
 of making a sort of restitution, by introducing into Abbey-street 
 those prayers of which he had formerly deprived Whitefriar- street. 
 Yet he lived to see the day, w^hen, in nearly all the Methodist 
 chapels, service was performed during church- hours, without the 
 apology of using the liturgy. 
 
 Dr. Clarke did not more heartily repent of the act itself, than 
 of his associates in it. Those whose cause he advocated, after- 
 wards "separated from the Methodists' Society, and set up a 
 spurious and factious Connexion of their own, under the name 
 of Primitive Methodism ; — a principal object of which was to 
 deprive the original Connexion of its chapels, to divide its Socie- 
 ties, to injure its finances, and to traduce both its spiritual and 
 loyal character." " They neglected him, though he was on their 
 side ;" and, though " he and his family had nothing but afflic- 
 
92 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 tion and distress wliile they remained in Dublin, they neither 
 ministered to his necessities, nor sympathised with him in his 
 afflictions." One of those afflictions was the death of his eldest 
 daughter. 
 
 There can he no doubt that Mr. Clarke acted from pure, 
 though mistaken, motives. " He thought that the different 
 Societies might be induced to attend at their parish churches 
 but, in after hfe, he discovered his error, although liis own at- 
 tachment to the Church remained in full vigour. "Multitudes 
 of them," he writes, respectiug the Dubhn Methodists, " never 
 belonged to any church, and felt no religious attachment to any 
 but those who were the means of their salvation." He " saw the 
 folly of endeavouring to force the people to attend ^ ministry 
 from which they had never received any kind of spiritual advan- 
 tage, and the danger of not endeavouring ctu-efully to cultivate 
 the soil which they had, with great pain and difficulty, enclosed, 
 broken up, and so^vn with the good seed, — the word of the king- 
 dom." This, we conceive, is the true view of the question, as 
 between Methodism and the Church. The Methodists, beyond 
 dispute, have been Dissenters ever since they were formed into a 
 distinct and self-dependent community. They may have been 
 less active in evincing their dissent than other denominations ; 
 but of the fact, no candid man can doubt. !Mr. Wesley himself 
 was a Dissenter long before his death ; and, if the Church had 
 been iu possession of an efficient disciphne, he would have been 
 deposed on account of his irregularities. 
 
 If, in Dubhn, Mr. Clarke was led, as he thought, iuto the 
 greatest ecclesiastical error that he ever committed, that city also 
 was the scene of his greatest benevolent achievement. His 
 Commentary itself is not a monument of which iiis friends have 
 more reason to be proud, than of the Strangers' Friend Society. 
 The first association under this name was formed by Mr. Clarke 
 in the metropohs of his native country ; and while resident there 
 he was amongst its regular visitors. In the following year, 
 he founded a similar institution in Manchester, and one after- 
 wards in London. His rules and plan were, in process of time, 
 adopted in almost all the chief towns in England.* One of 
 
 * The Methodist Magazine for 1798 contains a detailed account of "the 
 nature, design, and general rules of the Strangers' Friend Society, as estab- 
 lished in Dublin, Manchester, Liverpool, and other places," drawn up by 
 Dr. Clarke ; and, from a MS. paper in his own hand-writing, the following 
 particulars of the origin of the society may he learned : — 
 
 " The Strangers' Friend Society was formed by the Rev. Mr. John Wes- 
 ley and myself, in Bristol, in the year 1789, on the foundation of a small 
 meeting, the members of which subscribed one penny per week for the relief 
 of the poor. 
 
 " I went the next year, 1790, to Dublin, and there I formed a society 
 
DR. ADAM CLAIIKK 
 
 93 
 
 tliose rules was, that, altliougli the society was instituted by Me- 
 thodists, their own poor should not be entitled to any relief from 
 it; a fund for supplying their wants being already provided. 
 These societies still subsist in full vigour, and have done more 
 public good than any other charitable institutions in the king- 
 dom. 
 
 While in Dubhn, Mr. Clarke formed an acquaintance with a 
 Turkish Janissai'y of rank, the circumstances of which deseiTe to 
 be recorded. His father was a Turk, and of course a Moham- 
 medan; but liis mother, a Greek captive, was a Christian. 
 Ibrahim ben Ah (their son) was educated as a Mussulman ; but 
 his mother, though she never ventured to be more explicit, fre- 
 quently gave him intimations of a purer worship, while some of 
 his father's Spanish slaves boldly arraigned Mohammed as a 
 false prophet, and declared Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of the 
 world. His father procured him a captain's commission among 
 the Janissaries. Five years after, he was suspected of having 
 murdered two of his brother officers, his intimate acquaintance. 
 His . protestations of innocence were in vain, though that which, 
 in a civilized country, would have screened him from suspicion, 
 was the only evidence against him. A respite of five days was 
 given, to allow^ time for his friends to prove his innocence by- 
 discovering the murderer. On the fifth day he was ordered to 
 
 of the same name, but as yet nothing was pubHshed. From Dublin I 
 went to Manchester, in the August of the same year, and there I again 
 formed another society of the same name and kind ; but I there drew up a 
 paper in the March following, which I read myself in the public congrega- 
 tion in Oldham-street chapel, and begged that those who were friendly to 
 such an institution would meet in the vestiy after service. Many did, and 
 all acrreed that the paper which had been read should be printed : it was so, 
 and met with universal acceptance. I went from Manchester to Liverpool, 
 and formed a similar society there. 
 
 " In 1795, 1 removed to London, and formed at Wapping ' The Strangers' 
 Friend Society;' nothing having the same rules or name having ever been 
 there before. From Wapping it extended (o City-road, Spitalfields, and 
 indeed over the whole city and suburbs. There was a small society in 
 I^ong-lane, West Smithfield, London, the pious members of which gave one 
 penny per week to assist in relieving the wants of poor persons in the 
 Methodist society ; but its name and rules were different, and it was chiefly 
 managed by the late Mr. John Owen, and possibly sank w^hen the Strangers' 
 Friend Society was established at Wapping, and afterwards at Cily-road ; 
 and probably into this the ' Penny-a-week Society' was merged; but I 
 rather think that, as a society, it died a natural death, its very few members 
 becoming visitors in the Strangers' Friend Society. 
 
 "The name 'Benevolent' was afterwards used, I believe, first in City- 
 road ; and these institutions, wherever established, meet with the most 
 extensive patronage. This is the simple truth in reference to the origin 
 and formation of the Strangers' Friend Society. 
 
 (Signed) "Adam Clarke. 
 
 Stoke Neiinngton, May 22, 1830." 
 
94 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 prepare for death. His mother, gathering courage from the 
 crisis, openly, in the presence of her husband and others, begged 
 him to trust in the supreme God alone, and to pay no attention 
 to the Mohammedan doctiine. An old Spaniard, still more 
 enhghtened, bade him "recommend his soul to God through 
 Clu-ist Jesus, and he would save him unto hfe eternal." This 
 counsel deeply impressed liim. Passing the night without sleep, 
 and hearing the prison-doors opened in the morning, he fainted 
 away through di'ead ; but, on recovering, he found that, the real 
 murderers having surrendered themselves, dehverance instead of 
 death awaited him. The Spaniard before-mentioned counselled 
 liim to continue to trust in the Lord Jesus, who had so wonder- 
 fully delivered liim; and Ibrahim rewarded his attentions by 
 redeeming liim from captivity, and senchng him to his own 
 country. In a subsequent war with Russia, Ibrahim, after 
 receiving several wounds, was taken prisoner, and carried to the 
 neighbourhood of St, Petersburgh, where he remained two years. 
 At length, a lady whom he had cured of some ophthalmic disease, 
 procured his hberty. Afraid to return to Constantinople, where 
 it had been represented by those whom his attachment to the 
 society of Christians inflamed with the unrighteous zeal that 
 bigotry inspires, tliat he had traitorously delivered the troops 
 under his command into the hands of the Russians, he embarked 
 on board a sliip bound to Copenhagen, and afterwards proceeded 
 to Liverpool. His whole family, with the exception of a brother 
 and sister, who were left in care of the paternal estate, retired to 
 Ismail, w^here he intended to stay until he should be cleared from 
 suspicion ; but death overtook them in this retreat : they were 
 massacred with the rest of the inhabitants, whom SuwaiToff put 
 to the sword. From Livei-pool, Ibrahim went to Dublin, where, 
 having inquired for a person who understood Arabic or Spanish, 
 he was directed to Mr. Clarke, who, after due caution and exami- 
 nation, instructed him more fully in the principles of Cluistianity. 
 In a few months he was admitted, at his ovm earnest request, to 
 the ordinance of Baptism, wliich was administered by Mr. Ruther- 
 ford, Mr. Clarke translating into Spanish the words of the bap- 
 tismal service. He received the name of Adam, and continued 
 to mamtain an upright character. When Mr. Clarke left Dubhn, 
 Ibrahim accompanied him to Liverpool, and thence to Manches- 
 ter, in both which places he had constant intercourse with his 
 spiritual guide. Fmally, he departed for America, where he 
 married a lady of the Baptist persuasion, and ultimately died in 
 the faith and hope of the Gospel. 
 
 Mr. Clarke availed liimself' of the means wliich Dubhn so 
 amplv afforded, of acquiring some knowledge of medical science. 
 Enteiing himself as a student in Trinity College, he attended 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 95 
 
 courses of lectures on medicine, anatomy, and chemistry ; from 
 which, aided by liis own sedulous application, he obtained a suffi- 
 ciency of knowledge for ordinai-y cases, and thus kept all apothe- 
 caries, whom " he ever considered the bane of famiUes," from his 
 door. In extraordinary cases, he called in some skilful physician, 
 himself preparing the medicines prescribed. Dr. R. Perceval, the 
 chemical lecturer, became the intimate friend of Dr. Clarke. 
 
 In studying these sciences, Mr. Clarke acted according to one 
 of his practical maxims ; namely, " Through desire a man, having 
 separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom"* 
 (Prov. xviii. 1). It was also his constant aim to render every ac- 
 quii'ement subsement to the explanation of Scripture. Thus he 
 rendered liis knowledge of chemistr}^, which he had studied in its 
 abstruser branches, seiTiceable in the interpretation of a text from 
 which he was one day preacliing in Whitefriar- street chapel. It 
 was Isaiah i. 25, 26 : " And I ^ill turn my hand upon thee, and 
 purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin," &c. In ex- 
 plaining the meaning of these words, he described the method by 
 which the dross is separated from silver in the process of refining, 
 and added some obsen^ations on the nature and properties of 
 metals. Among his hearers, on this occasion, was a man of 
 science of the name of Hand, whose profession was that of a 
 glass- stainer, but who was then, as for a long time he had been, 
 engaged in an ardent search after " the philosopher's stone." He 
 thought he could discover fr'om Mr. Clarke's discourse, that he 
 also had made experiments in alchymy. Being introduced to 
 him by a mutual acquaintance, he communicated his suspicions, 
 and found that they were just. As Mr. Hand was a warm- 
 hearted and intelHgent man, his acquaintance with Mr. Clarke 
 soon ripened into intimacy ; and they fi-equently made ex- 
 periments together in Mr. Hand's laboratory. Nothing could 
 divert this gentleman from his efforts to discover the art of trans- 
 muting the inferior metals into silver and gold. Often, like 
 other enthusiasts in the science, he imagined himself to be on 
 the eve of unraveUing the gi'eat myster}— but, as often, it eluded 
 his grasp. Though in Ids grand object he was entirely defeated, 
 and his creduhty was sometimes imposed upon, many curious 
 discoveries and interesting circumstances attended his labours. 
 After Mr. Clarke's removal fr'om Dublin, Mr. Hand still kept 
 up the acquaintance by a correspondence, in which his alchy- 
 mical pursuits formed the prevailing topic.f 
 
 * Some years ago a Methodist preacher asked him if he would advise 
 him to apply himself to the study of geology and mineralogy ; when he 
 promptly replied, " Yes ; a Methodist preacher should know everything." 
 
 t In some letters which he addressed to Mr. Clarke while at Manchester, 
 we find a strange account concerning the transmutation of metals, the 
 
90 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOTRS OF 
 
 It was wliile Mr. Clarke was in Dublin that Mr. Wesley died — 
 *' the most solemn event that ever occuiTed in the Methodists' 
 Connexion." He was ovei-whelmed with gi'ief at the intelligence, 
 
 leading circumstances of which we will endeavour to collect, premising 
 that Mr. Hand was a gentleman of character, who could not be suspected 
 of wilful misrepresentation. 
 
 There came to Mr. Hand's house two men, one of whom appeared to he 
 a priest, the other a plain, solid-looking person. The latter begged to see 
 some stained glass, v>hich was shown him. In the course of conversation^ 
 he spoke of metals and their properties, and of alchymy, and asked Mr. 
 Hand if he had ever read any books on that subject. After praising his 
 glass, they went away. On the following day, the mysterious stranger 
 came alone, and told Mr. Hand he had something which would stain glass 
 a deep blood-red — a colour which that gentleman had never been able to 
 produce. Mr. Hand took him into his laboratoiy, and, having made his 
 air-furnace extremely hot (for a common degree of heat would not suffice), 
 furnished him with a piece of glass. Opening a box, the stranger, with a 
 penknife, laid a little red powder on the glass, which he then put into the 
 fire. When hot, he took it out, and the glass was like blood. While this 
 was in progress, the stranger pronounced Mr. Hand to be an alchymist; 
 assigning, as a reason for thinking so, that he "had as many foolish vessels 
 as he (the stranger) had seen with many others engaged in that study." 
 Mr. Hand did not attempt to deny the soft impeachment ; and, on being 
 asked why he believed in the art, he replied, " Because he gave credit to 
 many good and pious men." The features of the stranger relaxed into a 
 sardonic smile; and, taking up the scales, he weighed out two ounces of 
 lead, into which, when melted, he put four grains of a very white powder 
 in a piece of wax, and replaced the whole in the fire. When the powder, 
 which was not larger than the head of a lady's hat-pin, was put into the 
 lead, the whole mass became pulverized like calx. The fire into which it 
 was now put, was of a sufficient heat to melt silver; and, in little less than 
 a quarter-of-au-hour, the stranger saying " It is in perfect flux," took it out 
 with the tongs, and threw it into the water. " Never," exclaims Mr. Hand, 
 *' was finer silver in the world!" Being questioned by Mr. Clarke, who 
 was somewhat incredulous, Mr. Hand replied, that he had heard too much 
 of the tricks of alcluTnists, and was too attentive to all that passed, for 
 either man or devil to deceive him in the transaction ; and, as a proof that 
 he had not been ira])Osed upon, he stated, that of the two ounces of trans- 
 muted metal whicli the stranger left in his possession, he used a quarter-of- 
 an-ounce in his own work, and sold the remainder for pure silver. 
 
 When Mr. Hand saw tlie silver thus produced, he exclaimed, "O God! 
 Sir, you a.naze me!" The stranger, with a contemptuous smile, asked him 
 why he called upon God — did he think that he had any hand in those 
 things ? God, he added, would never reveal them to man. After inquiring 
 whether he had ever learned any magic, and, on being answered in the 
 negative, rec'jmmending to him a certain book, the stranger oftered to make 
 him " acquainted with a friend that would help him in knowledge," and 
 immediately asked him, if he had " ever seen the Devil." Mr. Hand re- 
 plied, " No, and he trusted he never should." The stranger assured him, 
 that he need not be afraid of that spirit, that he harmed no one, but was 
 eveiT ingenious man's friend. 
 
 He then proceeded to perfoim another feat, having first promised Mr. 
 Hand that it should not be connected with the appearance of the Devil. 
 Taking a common tumbler full of water, he diopped into it a portion of red 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 97 
 
 and could do no more than read the little printed account of the 
 last moments of that great and good man. On receiving a copy 
 of the sermon preached on the occasion by Dr. Whitehead, 
 Mr. Wesley's friend and biographer, Mr. Clarke sent it to Dr. Bar- 
 nard, then Bishop of Killaloe, who, in acknowledging the receipt 
 
 liquor from a small phial, pronouncing, at the same time, an unintelligible 
 incantation. At first, there were a few little flashes in the water, attended 
 with a strong smell of sulpher; hut, hy-and-hy, the whole glass was in a 
 flame, like spirits of wine burning; aiul, as distinctly as he ever saw any- 
 thing in his life, Mr. Hand saw a number of little live things like lizards 
 moving about in it. 01)scrving the terror of his spectator, who, indeed, 
 exclaimed, "Christ save me! Sir, I never beheld such a thing in my life," 
 the magician threw the contents of the glass into the ashes. Mr. Hand 
 ventured to look for the lizards, and, being told that " they were gone to 
 the place whence they canje," he inquired where that was : but he was told 
 that he must not know all things at once. The reader will think he might 
 have guessed. 
 
 When these wonders had been performed, Mr. Hand asked his myste- 
 rious acquaintance if he knew any person who had the red stone, adding a 
 wish that he himself did. The stranger said he knew multitudes of such 
 persons, and promised to communicate the whole secret to him ; but, he 
 subjoined, we are all linked like a chain, and you must go under a parti- 
 cular ceremony, and a vow." Mr. Hand was about to say, that he would 
 vow to God never to divulge what might be told him ; when the other in- 
 teiTupting him, intimated, that the vow must be made " before another," 
 saying angrily, " It is no matter to you whether it be before God or the 
 Devil, if you get the art." To this Mr. Hand replied in a tone equally 
 determined, that he would never receive anything, not even the riches of 
 the world, but from God alone. At length, the stranger took his leave, 
 saying, that he would call again when Mr. Hand had reflected upon his 
 offer, and protesting to him, that there was no other means of coming at a 
 knowledge of the secret than that which, on certain conditions, he was 
 willing to communicate to him. He did not call again. But, a few days 
 after, Mr. Hand met him in the street, and challenged him, when, with an 
 effrontery worthy of the father of lies, whose servant he had confessed him- 
 self to be, he pretended not to know who it was that was addressing him ; 
 and, though Mr. Hand declared that he would not rest until he discovered 
 who he was, it does not appear that he ever succeeded. . 
 
 The strange circumstances of the interview which we have described, 
 produced such an effect upon Mr. Hand, that he had no rest for several 
 nights after, but was perpetually dreaming and starting in his sleep. He 
 was fully convinced that what he had witnessed was effected by Satanic 
 agency ; and it explained to him the meaning of the phiuse, " coming im- 
 properly by the secret." But even this had no tendency to cool his ardour 
 in pursuit of the same or similar objects by means which he considered 
 legitimate. He tells his friend Clarke that he is building a digesting-fur- 
 nace, with a tower, of capacity sufficient to burn for twenty-four hours 
 without fresh fuel, and that he will have it so constructed as to give it any 
 degree of heat he pleases. He inquires repeatedly if his friend has seen a 
 Manchester gentleman, who, as he had heard, was in possession of the art, 
 and begs that, when he sees him, he will prevail with him to afford light 
 and help to a distressed brother. He expresses his determination never to 
 have done, so long as he has the means of proceeding. He argues that he 
 may be suffered to do this, inasmuch as he spends nothing in any other 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 of it, observed, — " It contaiiis a true and not exaggerated enco- 
 mium on that faithful and indefatigable sers^ant of God who is 
 now at rest fi'om liis labour, and (what is of more consequence 
 to those who read it) an intelligible and judicious aTToXoyCa for 
 the doctrine that he taught, which he has set forth in the cleai^est 
 terms, and with a simpHcity of style, even beyond that of Mr. 
 Wesley himself ; "without the smallest tincture of (reprehensible) 
 enthusiasm, eiToneous judgment, or heterodox opinion. He has 
 plainly expounded the truth as it is in Christ Jesus ; and I hope 
 and beheve that the dispersion of tliis little tract may do much 
 good : as the sublimest truths of Christianity are there reduced 
 ad captiim vulgi, and at the same time proved to the learned to 
 be none other than such as have been always held and professed 
 in the Christian church from the time of the apostles till now, 
 however individuals may have lost sight of them." The Bishop's 
 postscript is amusing : — " If I have omitted to dii'ect tliis pro- 
 perly, I hope you wiU excuse me, as you do not mention whether 
 you ai'e in orders or not." 
 
 " I had the honoui' of Mr. Wesley's acquaintance," says Dr. 
 Clarke " for many yeai-s. I have been with liim by night and 
 by day, in the powerful exercise of his ministry, and of liis mode 
 of discipline, and this in troublesome times ; and I have seen 
 and been with him in trials and dangers, by sea and by land : as 
 liis counsels can never depart fi'om my breast, so his image can 
 never be obhterated from my mind." 
 
 Mr. Wesley e^anced his respect for Mr. Clarke by the codicil 
 to his last ^riU, in wliich he made liim and six others the tnistees 
 of aU liis hterary property. This codicil having superseded the 
 will, the seven trustees administered, and afterwards conveyed all 
 their rights and authority to the Conference. 
 
 amusement. Nay more, he indulges in the hope of realizing wealth, and 
 reliering the necessities of the poor from his superfluous store. 
 
 It would be interesting to know the subsequent histoiy of this amiable, 
 but awfully deluded man ; for, whatever may be thought of the homble 
 narrative which he communicated to his friend Clarke, there can be but one 
 opinion concerning him and his pui-suits : namely, that, as Solomon ex- 
 presses it, they were " vanity of vanities, and vexation of spirit." Nor, when 
 we find a man appealing "to God and Christ in such a way as he seems to 
 have done, is it possible to enteitain any very high opinion of his piety. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is appointed to Manchester — His Account of the burning of Dr. 
 Priestley's House ami Library — His Opinion of Napoleon and Wellington 
 — His Account of the State of Parties — The Rev. Messrs. Bradburn and 
 Benson — Dr. Clarke's Condemnation of political Preaching and religious 
 Neivspapers — Mr. Clarke's State of Health — He pres'-ribes for the sick 
 Poor — Death of his Son Adam — Mr. Clarke is appointed to Liverpool — 
 His Preaching described by Mrs. Pawson — He is desperately attacked and 
 wounded — His Sentiments on noisy Revivals — Remarkable Anecdote. 
 
 Mr. Clai'ke returned to England in July, 1791, when the Con- 
 ference was held in Manchester ; to which circuit he was ap- 
 pointed, that he might resort to Buxton for the restoration of his 
 health. In this, and in the following year, he availed himself of 
 this means, both by bathing and by drinking, and completely 
 recovered from his rheumatic disorder. 
 
 The French Revolution was now the universal topic ; and a 
 spirit of rancour and bitterness, arising from party poHtics, dif- 
 fused itself through all ranks and classes of the community. 
 The friends of freedom in Birmingham determined in the year 
 1791, to celebrate the anniversary of the destruction of the Bas- 
 tile, the King's State Prison in the vicinity of Paris, which had 
 taken place on the 14th July, 1789. The populace collected in 
 a great mob, and, uncontrolled by the magistrates, burned to the 
 ground some places of worship belonging to the Socinians, and 
 also some of their dweUing-houses. They then proceeded to the 
 residence of Dr. Priestley, where they destroyed his house, his 
 valuable library, all his papers and philosophical apparatus, and 
 would, in aU probabihty, have added himself to the general con- 
 flagration, had he not fortunately escaped their fury. 
 
 The following account of the buiTiing of Dr. Priestley's house 
 and library, collected from some of the preachers who were on 
 the spot, occurs in a letter which Mr. Clarke wrote to his wife 
 during the sittings of Conference : — 
 
 Perhaps you have not heard of the riots at Birmingham. I 
 will tell you. On Thursday the 14th, Dr. Priestley and Dissen- 
 ters in general, met together to celebrate the French Revolution. 
 They had what they called a revolution dinner, &c. Two ma- 
 gistrates of the town went to the place where they were assem- 
 bled, and begged to accompany them. The revolutionists told 
 them that none could be admitted but Dissenters, and gave them 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 some iiTitating language. Some say, they shouldered the magis- 
 trates out. They felt themselves insulted, and, on coming off, 
 unluckily cried out among the thousands wliich were assembled 
 as spectators of the revolutionists, ' The Church and the King !' 
 The mob immediately took fire, went to an inn, drank some hquor, 
 and then proceeded to the house where the revolutionists were as- 
 sembled and beat the windows in pieces. The revolutionist men 
 with difficulty escaped with their hves. Afterwards the mob went 
 to Dr. Priestley's chapel. This they burned to the walls, and part 
 of them they tore in pieces. They then went to another Dissent- 
 ing chapel, which they served as the former ; and next proceeded 
 to Dr. Priestley's house. He and his family had just time to 
 escape with their hves. The mob tore the house in pieces, and 
 burned up his hbrary, laboratory, and all his effects. They after- 
 wards went to a country seat of the doctor's, called Moseley 
 Hall, about three miles out of Birmingham, which they also 
 burned. These, with several other outrages they committed, 
 which I cannot enter into the detail of. Poor Priestley has 
 hardly where to lay his head. The public inns where he goes 
 will not receive him for fear of the populace. It is thought ho 
 has either gone out of the land or must speedily go. Dr. Price 
 is dead, or no doubt he would soon fall into the hands of popular 
 mercy." 
 
 This tumult, after raging four days, and extending its direful 
 effects over the adjacent populous districts, was quelled by mih- 
 tary force. 
 
 Having thus far alluded to the French Kevolution, we here 
 introduce Dr. Clarke's opinion of Napoleon, and of liis fortunate 
 conqueror, which, like all the opinions of such a man, must be 
 read with interest: — "At last," says he, in a rapid glance at the 
 course of pohtical events, " At last, Napoleon, the most accom- 
 plished general and potentate which modern times have pro- 
 duced, by an ill-judged winter campaign against Russia, had an 
 immense army destroyed by frost, himself barely escaping from 
 the enemy. After which, his good fortune seemed generally to 
 forsake him ; till at last, when on the eve of victory, at the famous 
 battle of Waterloo, hy one of those famous chances of war, to 
 tvhich many little men owe their consequent greatness and great 
 men their downfall, he was defeated ; and, having thrown liimself 
 on the generosity of the British, he was sent a prisoner to the 
 Rock of St. Helena, where, by confinement and ungenerous treat- 
 ment, he became a prey to disease and death." 
 
 Nor is the Doctor's account of the state of parties in tliis 
 country less interesting. Even religious people, he informs us, 
 caught the general mania. The pulpits of all parties resounded 
 with the pro and con pohtics of the day, to the utter neglect of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 101 
 
 the pastoral duty; so that " the hiingi-y sliccp looked up and were 
 not fed." The Methodists themselves, whose glory it had been 
 to keep religion entirely distinct from all secular affairs, partook 
 of the contagion. Mr. Clarke's colleagues were, unfortunately, 
 among the number of warm politicians, and, more unfortunately 
 still, they took opposite sides of the all -engrossing question. 
 While one pleaded for the lowest republicanism, the other ex- 
 hausted himself in maintaining the Divine right of kings and 
 regular governments to do what might seem right in their own 
 eyes, the people at large having nothing to do with the laws 
 but to obey them. It would have been a fine opportunity for 
 the wolf to steal in while the shepherds were engaged in bitter 
 quarrel ; but Mr. Clarke was happily preserved from the general 
 plague. Not that he had not made up his mind on the pohtics 
 of the day. His principles, from which he never swerved, were 
 those of a Whig ; but he had too deep a sense of his duty to let 
 this appear in the pulpit, where nothing was heard from him but 
 Christ crucified, and the salvation procured by his blood. While, 
 therefore, his colleagues were converting the pulpit into an arena 
 of political disputes, he steadily devoted it to its legitimate use ; 
 and, though, as he acknowledges, their abilities were greatly supe- 
 rior to his, God honoured his fidelity. His congregations, not- 
 withstanding the attractions which pohtical preaching must have 
 had in those times of general excitement, were equal to theirs ; 
 and his preaching abundantly more useful. 
 
 Thus far Dr. Clarke. Here his best friends are obliged to 
 own, that he was not sufficiently guarded in his expressions. 
 Surely he was not the sole exception to that " utter neglect of 
 the pastoral duty," of which he speaks. The preachers to whom 
 he alludes as having been opposed to each other in political 
 opinion, and as having used the pulpit to further their disputes, 
 were the late Messrs. Samuel Bradbum and Joseph Benson. It 
 may be true that they ranged themselves on opposite sides of the 
 grand question of the day — that Mr. Bradbum took his stand on 
 the side of liberty, and Mr. Benson on that of order ; but there 
 is no evidence to prove that the one was so violent a champion 
 of " legitimacy," or the other so determined " an advocate of the 
 lowest republicanism," as Dr. Clarke represents them to have 
 been. Both those celebrated ministers may have been betrayed 
 by a well-meant zeal into the occasional introduction of their 
 political speculations into the pulpit ; but it is monstrous to sup- 
 pose, that, from Sabbath to Sabbath, they carried on a systematic 
 warfare. Mr. Clarke must have been misled by the reports of 
 ignorant or designing men, who, being themselves, perhaps, vio- 
 lent partisans, tinged everything with the deep hue of their own 
 excitement ; for, while discharging his own -duties with the zeal. 
 
102 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 with which he always did discharge them, he could not he en- 
 gaged in collecting the evidence upon which he founded his 
 statement. Mr. Bradburn, indeed, published a sermon on 
 equahty, in which his prime end was, to show " that a firm ad- 
 herence to the principles of unlimited religious liherty was per- 
 fectly consistent with a steadfast attachment to the King, whom 
 he earnestly prayed God to bless, and to the civil constitution, 
 which, in itself, was excellent, and of which he highly approved." 
 If there had been no such Scripture, Mr. Bradburn remarks, as 
 that which commands us to " honour the King," we, the Metho- 
 dists, " as a people, have reason to love King George, and to be 
 pleased with the civil government." To such an extent, indeed, 
 did Mr. Bradburn carry his views of loyalty, that he maintained 
 it to be the duty of the Methodists "to be loyal were a Pagan 
 upon the throne ; for," he adds, " what with some is mere pohcy, 
 is, with us, a case of conscience." The whole scope of the dis- 
 course was to expose the levelling pohtics which were then so 
 wannly advocated. 
 
 As for Mr. Benson, the facts stated in the Wesleyan- Metho- 
 dist Magazine are an ample refutation of the broad censures 
 cast upon him : — 
 
 " It would be difficult to mention any man, since the primitive 
 ages, whose ministry was more Scriptural, impressive, and suc- 
 cessful. In regard to the actual conversion of men from the 
 error of their way, he was certainly one of the most honoured 
 instruments ever employed by the Head of the church ; and it 
 does not appear, that, at any period of his life, he was more in 
 the spirit of his work, or more owned of God in his public labours, 
 than when he was stationed in Manchester. He was aware of 
 the strenuous efforts then in progress to propagate Paine's poli- 
 tics, in connexion with Paine's infidelity ; he found disaffection 
 to King George generally connected with an open denial of Christ 
 and the Bible ; and, like a faithful watchman, he warned the 
 unsuspecting part of his hearers of their danger, and endeavoured 
 to reclaim those who had been already led astray ; but, in doing 
 this, he neither scattered his congregations, nor neglected to 
 'preach Christ crucified for the redemption of a lost world.' 
 When he preached on the Sunday evenings in the spacious cha- 
 pel in Oldham-street, he was generally attended by as many per- 
 sons as could possibly press within the doors, amounting to con- 
 siderably more than two thousand ; and so powerful was liis 
 preacliing, that these immense congregations were often moved, 
 not only to tears, but to loud waihng ; so that he was compelled 
 to kneel down in the midst of his sermons, and engage in prayer, 
 that the people might reheve their minds by acts of devotijon ; 
 when he arose and resumed his discourses. Forty years have 
 
DR. ADAM CLAllKr-:. 
 
 103 
 
 elapsed since those times of special visitation were experienced 
 in connexion with Mr. Benson's ministry in Manchester ; but 
 the remembrance of them is as distinct and vivid among the aged 
 Methodists in that town, as if they had only occurred a few 
 months ago." 
 
 This is a widely different picture from that drawn by Dr. 
 Clarke. Had he contented himself with describing Mr. Benson 
 as a man who was inclined to push the principles of loyalty be- 
 yond a rational and Scriptural obedience to the existing " powers," 
 at the same time giving him credit for being actuated by a holy 
 jealousy for the interests of true rehgion, there would probably 
 have been no ground for accusing liim of injustice. It is very 
 difficult to conceive how Mr. Clarke could reside in Manchester, 
 and not become acquainted with the wonderful effects of Mr. 
 Benson's ministry ; but it is still more difficult to persuade one's- 
 self, that a man of veracity, not to say piety, such as that of Dr. 
 Clarke, would knowingly conceal facts so creditable to the zeal 
 and talent of the preacher, and so honourable to the cause of 
 Christianity. The liberal admission of his own inferiority to 
 both Mr. Benson and Mr. Bradburn, assures us that he was 
 governed by no improper motive. It appears clear, however, 
 that, if his colleagues in Manchester did assume in the pulpit 
 antagonist positions, their dispute was confined to the principles 
 of reUgious Hberty, considered probably with reference to the ex- 
 clusive privileges of the Church Establishment.* 
 
 * In Febmary, 1821, Dr. Claile, being on a visit to London, heard of 
 the illness of his former colleague, the late venerable Joseph Benson, whom, 
 though they differed on many points of divinity, he highly esteemed, both 
 as an eminent theologian and as a man of distinguished piety. It being 
 intimated to him that the dying minister wished to see him, he hastened to 
 his house. On Dr. Clarke's entering the room, Mr. Benson recognized him, 
 and held out his hand, which Dr. Clarke took, and observed, " You are now. 
 Sir, called to prove, in your own experience, that power and mercy of God, 
 exhibited under all circumstances, to which you haveso long borne testimony." 
 To which remark, Mr. Benson replied, in very articulate tones, " that his re- 
 liance was fimi and steadfast upon God, and that he did experience the power 
 and comfort of the truths which he had preached." On Dr. Clarke's remark- 
 ing he thought the light in the room too great, Mr. Benson observed, " I can 
 bear a strong light." To which Dr. Clarke emphatically replied, " Yes, 
 you always saw things in a strong light." Dr. Clarke then kneeled down 
 by the bed-side, and, in a short, but earnest prayer, commended his dying 
 brother to God's especial support and protection ; then kissing his clay-cold 
 brow, he quitted the apartment. Before Dr. Clarke left town, he had the 
 melancholy task of speaking over Mr. Benson's corpse, in City-road Chapel, 
 before an immense crowd of the friends and admirers of the deceased, and 
 of pronouncing a just tribute of praise to his talents and long and successful 
 ministerial labours. It had also fallen to Dr. Clarke's lot, some years before, 
 to perform the last sad office of friendship over Mr. Bradburn's remains. 
 He thought them the two greatest preachers of that day. 
 
104 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Dr. Clarke's general condemnation of the practice of mixing 
 up politics with the momentous matters proper to the pulpit, is 
 not more severe than it is just : — " Political preachers neither 
 convert souls, nor build up behevers on their most holy faith. 
 One may pique himself on liis loyalty, the other on liis hberahty 
 and popular notions of government ; but, in the sight of the great 
 Head of the church, the first is a sounding brass, the second a 
 tinkling c^Tobal. When preachers of the Gospel become parties 
 in party politics, rehgion mourns, the church is unedified, and 
 pohtical disputes agitate even the faithful of the land. Such 
 preachers, no matter wliich side they take, are no longer the 
 messengers of glad tidings, but the seedsmen of confusion, and 
 wasters of the heritage of Christ." Some may think that he 
 carried liis objections too far. " I have often been sohcited," he 
 writes, in 1831, "to favour the estabhshment of newspapers 
 among our people ; and I have invariably refused. I saw there 
 was a disposition both among the people and the preachers to 
 spend that time in reading them, and in consequent discussions 
 on the subjects they contained, wliich ill comported, in my view, 
 with what they owed to God, their souls, and then* moral and 
 social duties. I certainly have seen the morning newpapers sup 
 plant the Bible ; and, as I believe the temptation is the same, so 
 I beheve the Athenian tendency to be unaltered." But, were 
 newspapers abohshed, that tendency (a law of our nature) would 
 still remain ; only more time would be wasted in its gratification 
 than by the compendious mode of collecting the news from 
 printed journals. 
 
 From a letter to Mr. Alexander Mather, dated Manchester, 
 December 23, 1791, in wliich he acknowledges the pecuniary 
 favom's of that gentleman and liis wife — favours wluch the rapid 
 increase of liis family made \ery acceptable ; it appears that he 
 had a return of the dangerous complaint from which he had suf- 
 fered in Dublin. "As my captirity," he writes, "is in a great 
 measure turned, I feel it a duty I owe to gratitude, to God, to 
 infonn you of it, and to make you a partaker of my consolations, 
 as I have made you a sharer of my soitows. Tlirougli the 
 abundant kindness of God, my health seems better than it has 
 been for some years. December and Januar}' have been my tvN^o 
 most trying months for a few years back. The first is now 
 iieai'ly ended ; and I have had but one veiy alarming night. I 
 had preached three times that day, at Salford once, and twice at 
 Altringham. In the evening I was seized with the spasms in 
 my legs, thighs, and body ; and, with these, the dreadfril pain 
 through my head, wliich I had in Dubhn. The consequence 
 was a whole night's derangement. The next day I was very 
 bad ; but, in tliree or four days, through God's goodness I got 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 105 
 
 well again. I dreaded the time of meeting the classes, as this 
 always exceedingly hurts me, and cried to God for support. 
 Glory be to God ! that work is now done ; and I have been 
 heard in that I feared. There is a good work among the people. 
 Many are stirred up to seek purity of heart ; and two men, at 
 our last public bands, gave a clear, rational account of a com- 
 plete deliverance from all evil tempers and desires, in consequence 
 of which they have constant communion with the Father, and 
 his Son, Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. 
 They have enjoyed this glorious liberty for about two months. 
 As the Lord has condescended to make me the instrument of 
 their happy deliverance from an evil heart, it is a great encou- 
 ragement for me to proceed in my work. There are some here 
 who ridicule the mention of a work of this kind. They know 
 best from whom they have learned to do so ; but God enables 
 me to bear down prejudice of this kind by a number of argu- 
 ments deduced from the promises and nature of God. I look on 
 tliis doctrine as the greatest honour of Methodism and the glory 
 of Christ. God Almighty forbid that it should ever cease among 
 us !" 
 
 In the town and vicinity of Manchester, Mr. Clarke laboured 
 for two years. Here he found many valuable friends, and had 
 the satisfaction of knowing, that he had neither run in vain, nor 
 spent his strength for nought. 
 
 During his residence in Manchester, he began to give the sick 
 poor the benefit of his medical knowledge and skill. He took 
 good care, however, to meddle with no cases but such as he 
 understood, and was competent to treat. In difficult cases, he 
 invariably recommended application to the most learned prac- 
 titioners. By this means he became acquainted with most of 
 the faculty in Manchester. The celebrated Dr. Eason was of 
 this number. Though not a professor of religion, he perceived 
 its blessedness. " Oh, Adam," said he, " I like to attend your 
 people in their last hours ; they die so peaceably and so content- 
 edly. I have not my spirit tortured wdth their cries, moanings, 
 and complainings. No, your Methodist people always die well." 
 
 While in Manchester, Mr. Clarke was called to witness the 
 ravages of death in his own family. His third child, a beautiful 
 boy, named Adam, was seized violently with the croup, of which, 
 in spite of the promptest use of ever}^ remedy, he died in a few 
 hours, in the aims of his father. The recollection of this sudden 
 bereavement never occurred to Mr. Clarke without bringing a 
 tear into his eye, and he would not permit another of his children 
 to be named after him. 
 
 In August, 1793, Mr. Clarke left Manchester for Liverpool, to 
 which circuit he was appointed. During the two years of his 
 
106 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 residence there, he pursued liis miuisterial laboui^ and his bibU- 
 cal and other studies with unremitted ardour. He, and his 
 venerable colleagne, Mr. John Pawson,* with whom he acted in 
 perfect unison, had the satisfaction of seeing the Society more 
 than doubled duiing their joint ministiy. The following de- 
 scription of Mr. Clarke's preaching at this time occurs in Mrs. 
 Pawson's private journal : — " Brother Clarke is, in my estimation, 
 an extraordinary preacher ; and liis learning confers great lustre 
 on his talents. He makes it subsendent to grace. His dis- 
 courses are highly evangehcal. He never loses sight of Christ. 
 In regard of pardon and holiness, he offers a present salvation. 
 His address is lively, animated, and very encouraging to the 
 seekers of salvation. In respect to the unawakened, it may 
 indeed be said, that he obeys that precept, ' Cr\' aloud ; spai'e not ; 
 lift up thy voice Hke a trumpet.' His words flow spontaneously 
 from the heart ; liis views enlarge as he proceeds ; and he 
 brings to the mind a torrent of things new and old. While he 
 is preacliing, one can seldom cast an eye on the audience without 
 perceiving a melting unction resting upon them. His ' speech 
 distils as the dew, and as the small rain upon the tender herb.' 
 He generally preaches from some part of the lesson for the day ; 
 and, on the Sabbath moniing, from the Gospel for the day : this 
 method confers an abundant variety on his ministry." Mr. 
 Clarke preached almost daily, and, as usual, paid paiticular 
 attention to the sick. Many of the villages in the circuit were 
 at a considerable distance fr-om the town; but he invariably 
 walked home after preacliing. (3n these occasions, he encoun- 
 tered occasional opposition and frequent dangers. In one in- 
 stance, his hfe was in great jeopardy. 
 
 As he was returning from Aintree, accompanied by his brother 
 Tracy and another friend, a large stone, weighing more than a 
 pound, was aimed at him from behind a hedge. Cutting through 
 his hat, it made a deep wound in his head, and knocked liim 
 down. He was earned into an adjacent cottage, where his bro- 
 ther dressed the wound. Mr. Tracy Clarke then went in pursuit 
 of the assassins, whom he discovered in a neighbouring ale- 
 house. It appeai'ed that they were Roman CathoHcs, that they 
 had casually entered the place where !Mr. Clarke had been 
 
 * Hearing, in the spring of 1806, that his old friend, Mr. Pawson, was in a 
 declining state, Mr. Clarke invited him to his house in London, hoping that a 
 change of scene might produce a beneficial effect upon his health and spirits. 
 The venerable servant of Christ was already fast approaching the gates of 
 death. In much bodily pain, he acknowledged Mr. Clarke's kindness; and 
 this appears to have been his last act in this life. His dying moments were 
 cheered by the universal love of his brethren and the Wesleyan Societies, but 
 yet more by those elevated hopes, with which it had been the labour, the 
 successful labour, of his long life to inspire his countrymen. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 107 
 
 preaching, and that they foUowed him witli the determination to 
 assassinate him, although nothing had heen said to inflame their 
 higotry. They were carried before a magistrate ; but Mr. Clarke, 
 fearing they might be hanged, refused to prosecute ; and they 
 were discharged upon their own recognizances. By continuing 
 to violate the laws, however, they both came to an ignominious 
 end. 
 
 Mr. Tracy Clarke had resolved that his brother should remain 
 where he was, till the next day; but, when the people of the 
 house heard the circumstances of the case, being "Roman Catho- 
 hcs themselves, one of them exclaimed, " You have been w^ell 
 served. What business have you to come and preach here ? It 
 is a pity they do not kill you." Upon this, Mr. Clarke's friends 
 speedily removed him, though at much hazard, to his brother's 
 house at Maghull ; from which he was, on the following day, 
 taken home. More than a month elapsed before he completely 
 recovered.* 
 
 A letter, dated May 6, 1795, and addressed to Miss Marsden, 
 of Manchester, contains Mr. Clarke's sentiments respecting noisy 
 revivals : — 
 
 " I am glad to find the work quickens at Altringham. But it 
 seems you have no scarcity of noise. I know several who can- 
 not bear these religious outcries, who are in every respect as sin- 
 cere and upright as I could wish them. This is not the fault 
 either of their heads or their hearts. Most people indeed lay the 
 blame on their nerves. Poor nerves ! many a sore burden they 
 have to bear, but I hope they are strong ; but, in your case, and 
 several others, I believe they may be justly accused. ' Well, 
 but do you think tliis noise does any good ?' Verily, no ; but I 
 beheve God does much good by it. The common people, who 
 have never had the advantage of mental cultivation, hear through 
 the medium of their passions. Everything that affects them, 
 arrests and fixes their attention, and then sacred truths have, as 
 we phrase it, fair play in their minds. However, a great deal 
 depends upon the spirit and mode of conduct of those who are 
 made the instruments in this work : ' So w^e preached, and so ye 
 beUeved,' has a vast latitude of meaning. We have had hun- 
 dreds converted here, and yet we have had very little extrava- 
 gance of any kind. This we consider as a pecuhar mercy of 
 God ; for, if it had been otherwise, we should, in all probability, 
 have had bad work with sailors, &c. One word more I will add ; 
 I never knew any of these noises, however absurd, but God took 
 
 * Alluding probably to this event, Dr. Clarke says, in a letter to a friend, 
 written Nov. 28, 1831, " 1 have endured many afflictions and persecutions; 
 and am the only Methodist preacher alive who has shed his blood for the 
 testimony of Jesus." 
 
108 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 advantage of it to do some. good; therefore, I would not despise 
 any of them." 
 
 There is at Knowsley, a few miles from Liverpool, adjoining 
 the park of the Earl of Derby, a chapel, of orthodox origin, as 
 the tiTist-deed states, hut wliich, hke many other endowed places 
 of worship in Lancasliire, had fallen, in process of time, into the 
 hands of the Socinians, who retained possession, and kept open 
 the doors on the Lord's day as long as any persons could he 
 induced to attend their preaching. In the year 1795, however, 
 not an individual could be found to enter the place, except those 
 who were paid for so doing, and the doors were closed in despair. 
 The Rev. John Yates, minister of the Unitarian chapel in Para- 
 dise-street, Liverpool, had the management of the place, and not 
 knowing what to do with it, at last called upon Mr. Clarke, and 
 thus addressed him ; " There is," said Mr. Yates, " a place of 
 worsliip at Knowsley, which has been, during several generations, 
 in the possession of our denomination, endowed with an estate 
 in Cheshii'e, and we have done all we could to keep it open by 
 sending preachers statedly there; but, whatever be the cause, 
 they have preached the people all away ; for not an individual 
 now attends. I wish, therefore, Mr. Clarke, that you would 
 take it into your hands, and let your preachers try what they can 
 do with it — perhaps the people in the neighbourhood may hear 
 them, though they decHne any longer to hear us." Mr. Clarke 
 coiu'teously rephed, " Why, Sir, that is no very uncommon case 
 — it is not at all improbable, that the strain of preaching pursued 
 by your ministers is of too refined a cast for the inhabitants of a 
 country village — the poor people may not be able to understand 
 them. We will, if you please, make an experiment, and you 
 shall know how far we succeed in the matter." Arrangements 
 were made accordingly — the Methodists re- opened the place, and 
 the people flocked to hear them.* 
 
 * From a paragraph in the '■'■Manchester Socinian Controversy,^^ p. 141, 
 it would seem that the place has lapsed into the hands of the clergy of the 
 Church of England, who send two laymen from Liverpool every Lord's day, 
 one to read prayers, and the other to read a sennon, perhaps through the 
 influence of the Knowsley family, who may not relish the bustle of Metho- 
 dism. 
 
109 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is appointed to London — His circuit Labours — His Works of 
 Benevolence — Oriffin of the Methodist New Connexion — Conversion of the 
 late Mr. Joseph Butterworth ^ some time M.P.,and his Lady — Mr. darkens 
 Preparations for his Commentary — A poetical Contest — Mr. Clarke nearly 
 loses his Notes on Job — His strict Economy of Time — His Social Habits 
 — Makes a country Tour for the Benefit of his Health — Mr. Clarke leaves 
 London for Bristol — Death of his Father — Mr. Clarke feels the general 
 Scarcity — His domestic Habits — Makes a Tour in Cornwall — His literary 
 Friends — Purchases MeninskVs Thesaurus — His Views of Salvation — 
 Removes to Liverpool — Forms the Philological Society — Meets with an 
 extraordinary Case — Alarming State of his Health — Decyphers an ancient 
 Inscription — Removes to Manchester — Meets in Class — His Counsel to a 
 young Preacher — Death of his youngest Daughter — His Connexion with 
 the Eclectic Review — Forms a Philological Society in Manchester. 
 
 At the Conference of 1795, which was held in Manchester, 
 Mr Clarke was appointed to London. This was an important 
 era in his life. He had previously studied much, and had 
 acquired various, extensive, and valuahle knowledge ; but now it 
 was that he commenced the work of applying his own attain- 
 ments to the benefit of others. This was the period, m short, 
 from wliich may be dated the beginning of his Hterary labours. 
 But, though he devoted himself with wonderful dihgence to those 
 labours, he never permitted them to interfere with his ministerial 
 and pastoral engagements, which now were of no ordinary im- 
 portance. In addition to the duties of a superintendent, he had 
 the charge of visiting sick and dying persons, and, together with 
 his colleagues, preached in all the chapels of the circuit, which, 
 besides the metropolis itself, comprised a great portion of the 
 surrounding country', being bounded on the east and west by 
 Woolwich and Twickenham, and on the north and south by 
 Tottenham and Dorking. This widely extended field of labour 
 is now divided into six circuits. It was his constant practice 
 to keep a journal of the texts of his discourses, and of the places 
 in which they were dehvered ; and from this it appears, that, 
 during the tlu'ee years of his residence in London, he walked, in 
 the mere duty of preacliing, more than seven thousand miles ; for 
 he invariably went on foot, except to Dorking. In these long 
 and frequent walks, he was veiy generally accompaiiitd by his 
 attached friend, Mr. John Buttress, of Spitalfields, the father of 
 Mr. John Josiah Buttress, of Hackney. They were so constantly 
 
110 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 together, and were so widely different in point of stature, tliat 
 they acquired respectively the sobriquets of Eohin Hood and 
 Little John. 
 
 During the severity and scarcity of the year 1795, Mr. Clarke 
 associated with some members of the Society of Friends, for the 
 benevolent purpose of distributing bread and soup to the poor of 
 Spitalfields, who, in common with the lower class throughout the 
 country, were suffering much from the pressure of the times, the 
 want of money, and, above all, the scarcity of food. This was 
 the first time that Mr. Clarke had come into contact with the 
 Quakers, to w^hom he was ever after much attached, and by whom 
 he was always highly esteemed. 
 
 The year 1796 is memorable in connexion wdth Dr. Clarke's 
 history, as that in wliich, the Conference being held in London, 
 Mr. Kilham, followed by a considerable number of people, and a 
 few preachers, separated from the Wesleyan Connexion. Tliis 
 excellent and upright man became the head of a new denomina- 
 tion, which, while it preserv^es the doctrines of Methodism, is 
 regulated by more liberal principles of church -government than 
 that from which it separated. It is a highly respectable com- 
 munity, has flourished extensively, and has transfused its spirit 
 into a large portion of the Methodists, not only in this kingdom, 
 but also in America. 
 
 One of the most remarkable fruits of Mr. Clarke's ministerial 
 labours in London was the conversion of liis brother-in-law, 
 Mr. Butterworth. This gentleman was not only not decidedly 
 rehgious,* but was even unfriendly to Methodism. He thought it 
 
 * The circumstances which led to Mr. Butter worth's union with Miss 
 Anne Cooke, partake of the romantic. Being the son of a Baptist minister 
 (the Rev. John Butterworth, of Coventiy, author of "A Concordance of the 
 Holy Scriptures," and one of four brothers, all of whom were Baptist minis- 
 ters), he attended the Baptist chapel, in Chancery-lane, where he became 
 acquainted with a gentleman of the name of Pond, who afterwards maiTied 
 Miss Frances Cooke, and took up his residence at Tiverton, in Devonshire. 
 Miss Frances had, from her youth, been remarkable for' her seriousness an^ 
 her epistolary talents, and early joined the Methodist Society, of which 
 she was an exemplary member. Mr. Butterworth being on a visit to Mr. 
 Pond, that gentleman recommended to his choice, as a wife, a young lady 
 in Somersetshire, to whom, in a letter, he begged his sister-in-law to intro- 
 duce him. Accordingly, it was arranged that Miss Anne Cooke should 
 perfoi-m this kind office for the friend of her brother-in-law ; and away they 
 went in company on horseback. But they had no sooner dismounted at the 
 end of their ride, than Mr. Butterworth declined calling on the unknown 
 lady, telling his fair fellow-traveller that in her he had discovered the only 
 one who could make him happy. We may guess the blushes which 
 followed this sudden declaration. However, they returned to Trowbridge 
 without fulfilling their errand. Mr. Butterworth asked and received the 
 consent of Mrs. Cooke to their marriage ; and, in a few months, they were 
 united. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 right, however, that liis wife should see her sister ; and, accord- 
 ingly, she called at Spitidfields. Mrs. Clarke, who had not seen 
 her sister since she herself was manied (for Mrs. Cooke had not 
 yet hecome quite reconciled to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Clarke), did not immediately recognize her in the fashionahly 
 dressed person who advanced to salute her ; but she knew her by 
 the voice. This interview led to others, in which Mrs. Butter- 
 worth was accompanied by her husband, whose urbanity of man- 
 ners speedily won upon his pious relations. His prejudices and 
 those of Mrs. Buttei-worth, did not prevent them from going to 
 hear Mr. Clarke preach, at City-road chapel. In the course of 
 the following week, they called at liis house ; and, having to 
 preach at Leyton in the evening, he was accompanied by Mr. 
 Butterworth. As they were returning, Mr. Butterworth acknow- 
 ledged that he had been deeply affected by Mr. Clarke's sermon 
 on the previous Sabbath, and expressed a determination not to 
 rest satisfied without a saving knowledge of the truths which he 
 had heard. When they had reached Spitalfields, and Mr. But- 
 terworth and his wife had taken their leave, Mr. Clarke commu- 
 nicated the account to his wife. She also had an equally 
 dehghtful tale to tell ; for her sister had confessed to her, that 
 the very same sermon which had impressed her husband, had 
 excited her also to inquire what she must do to be saved. They 
 both joined the Methodist Society ; and the memory of Mr. But- 
 terworth's unpretending piety and great benevolence will not 
 easily perish. 
 
 On his arrival in London, Mr. Clarke began to employ him- 
 self, more particularly, in writing notes for a Commentary on the 
 Scriptures. With this view he entered upon a critical reading of 
 the sacred texts ; translating literally every verse of both Testa- 
 ments fi'om the originals, marking all the various readings, and 
 comparing them with the authorized version. With the same 
 view, he diligently pursued his oriental studies ; for a good 
 knowledge of eastern customs and metaphors, and a clear insight 
 into the spirit of eastern poetr}^ and diction, were essential to the 
 task he had undertaken. On the 28th of May, 1796, he finished 
 his translation of the New Testament begun on the 10th of June, 
 1795. It was made with extreme care, and was illustrated by 
 notes, explanatory of liis reasons for deviating from the received 
 original text, or from the authorized version. He considered it 
 too imperfect for publication ; and, since his death, it has been 
 destroyed, in compliance with his oft-repeated wish. 
 
 In the year 1797, he entered the lists for poetic honours with 
 a young lady, on a visit at his house. The trial of sldll was 
 made upon a French epigram with which he had been struck in 
 the course of his reading. The two translations were enclosed 
 
112 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 and sent to the editor of the Gazetteer, who, by choosing wliich 
 he would insert, was to decide wliether Mr. Clarke or the young 
 lady should bear the palm. The result is not stated ; but, as 
 Mr. Clarke's ti'anslation only is presented, we presume it was 
 prefeiTed. It related to the ignorance of the clerg}^ at the begin- 
 ning of the Keformation, and was as foUows : — 
 
 " A crotchet came into a wiseacre's head, 
 
 To enter the priesthood for a morsel of bread. 
 
 Away to the bishop he instantly hies, 
 
 Announces his business. The prelate replies, 
 
 ' If you wish to be priested, and guide men to Heaven, 
 
 How many in number are the sacraments seven ?' 
 
 Having studied awhile, he replies, ' They are three.* 
 
 The prelate rejoins, ' Pray, Sir, which may they be ?' 
 
 ' Faith, Hope, and Charity,' the scholar replies : 
 
 ' By the mass !' says the bishop, ' you're wondrously wise : 
 
 You've answered discreetly, your learning is sound ; 
 
 Few bishops at present have lore so profound. 
 
 See, Clerk, that his Orders be written with speed ; 
 
 He merits the tonsure : — and you shall be fee'd.' " 
 
 On one occasion, Mr. Clarke nearly lost a valuable portion of 
 the fruits of his hterar\' labours. Having supped at Hoxton 
 after preaching, he returned to Spitalhelds without his manu- 
 script notes on Job, which he had, for some pui^DOse, taken with 
 him. He did not discover their absence till the following morn- 
 ing, when he set off with great dispatch in search of them, and 
 found that they had naiTowly escaped destruction. The servant, 
 seeing some loose papers upon the sideboard, had folded up in 
 them the pieces of candle wliich remained from the preceding 
 evening. 
 
 It was by a strict economy of time, that Mr. Clarke was 
 enabled to accomphsh so much more in theological and bibhcal 
 pursuits than was absolutely necessaiT for his pulpit prepa- 
 rations ; and that, too, notwithstanding his multiphed engage- 
 ments as a preacher and a pastor. It was not by sitting up late 
 at night, but by rising eai'ly in the morning, that he made time 
 for study. " A late morning student," he used to obsen^e, " is a 
 lazy one, and will rarely make a true scholar ; and he who sits 
 up late at night, not only bums his hfe's candle at both ends, hut 
 puts a red-hot poker to the middle r He seldom remained in 
 bed after four ; from which hour till called off by pastoral duties, 
 he pursued his studies with indefatigable industry. Another 
 method by wliich he gained time was, rarely accepting invitations 
 to diimer. When he did dine from home, Mrs. Clarke usually 
 accompanied him ; and they returned as soon aftens-ai'ds as pos- 
 sible ; excusing themselves on the ground that they took no tea, 
 for the wife had imbibed the husband's prejudices. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 113 
 
 Mr. Clarke's hours of relaxation were after preaching in the 
 evening. With a few intimate fiiends, among whom were Mr. 
 and Mrs. Biittenvorth, he used to exchange visits at the close of 
 the day, supping a httle after eight. In these mutual hospitali- 
 ties, he frequently concluded a day of severe study, delighting in 
 the opportunity which it afforded him of um^eserved conversation ; 
 and such was his fund of anecdote, ancient and modem, that he . 
 imparted as much pleasure as he received. 
 
 Although these pleasant meetings tended to keep alive the 
 cheerfulness of liis disposition, and to invigorate his spirit, they 
 did not prevent his health from suffering, by excessive apphcation 
 to study. In July, 1797, it was deemed expedient for him to go 
 for a short time to the sea-side. Accompanied by several par- 
 ticular friends, he went into Kent, and thence into Warwickshire. 
 At Broadstairs, he saw the remains of a chapel dedicated to the 
 Virgin ; and, just as in days of old, every vessel that passed 
 that spot lowered its top-sails, Mr. Clarke took off his hat as he 
 passed by ! The tumulus, upon which stands the memorial of 
 the invasion of Hengist, " a like-nothing-else-sort-of-building," 
 inspu'ed liim with feehngs of still greater awe, being the first 
 inhabited part of Great Britain, the place where JuHus Caesar 
 landed, and where, according to report, the Gospel was preached 
 for the first time in England. Kenilworth Castle, with which 
 Sir Walter Scott has made general readers so familiar, gave Mr. 
 Clarke much dehght. He not only told" but ascended " the 
 towers thereof," and examined it minutely in every part. *'I 
 should have hked," he said, " to bring the whole castle on my 
 back, in order that my Mary and her sons might enter into the 
 enthusiasm of their husband and father. But we were obHged 
 to leave a place I could have admired for a year." He was 
 scarcely less enraptured at what he saw in Warwick Castle, 
 which, as Kenilworth is the finest ruin, is the most perfect edifice 
 of the kind in the kingdom. The first thing he saw made him 
 " almost absolutely a prey to astonishment and rapture." It was 
 Reuben's portrait of Schneider's wife : " such a speaking canvas 
 I never before beheld." Then came the Etruscan vases collected 
 by Sir WilUam Hamilton, and some bronze cups dug out of the 
 ruins of Herculaneum ; in describing all which, he became the 
 oracle of the company." They saw, likewise, Queen Anne's bed, 
 which she slept in, and, if report is true, wrought, in part, with 
 her own hands. In the armoury, Mr. Clarke was permitted to 
 accoutre himself, and " felt almost the spirit of a knight- errant 
 coming upon him." He endeavoured, also, to wield Guy Earl 
 of Warwick's sword, weighing twenty pounds, and examined the 
 rest of his enormous equipments, not omitting his porridge-pot, 
 which, being capable of holding one hundred and ten gallons, is 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 filled every time an Earl comes of age. As for the rib of the 
 dun cow and the blade and back bones of the wild boar, he 
 shrewdly suspected them to be the bones of fish. 
 
 From tliis entertaining tour, he returned with health con- 
 siderably improved. 
 
 In August, 1798, Mr. Clarke was obhged, in conformity with 
 » the rules of Wesleyan Methodism, to bid adieu to London, with 
 all its social attractions and hteraiy advantages. He was ap- 
 pointed a second time to Bristol, and had not been many months 
 in his new station before death bereaved him of his father, who, 
 in 1794, had removed fi'om Ireland to Manchester, where he 
 conducted a school. When he heard of his illness, he naturally 
 became anxious to see liim ; but the state of his own health, and 
 of liis domestic affairs, proved insuperable hindrances. In these 
 circumstances, he exerted liimself with the hope, that, before the 
 disease of his honoured parent proved fatal, he should be able to 
 visit him, and obtain his blessing, which he ardently desked. In 
 the mean time, he requested an old and intimate fiiend in Man- 
 chester, to watch over his father, and to supply all his necessi- 
 ties, and to procure liim " a line from his father's own hand." 
 This commission was faithfully and tenderly executed. But the 
 days of the venerable schoolmaster were numbered ; and neither 
 physicians nor friends could ward off the silent but sure approach 
 of death. When a pen was given him for the purpose of writing, 
 he. observed, " I only wish to send my blessing ;" but he was too 
 feeble to do even this upon paper without the aid of his son's 
 friend guiding his hand. With this help, he wrote a few lines, 
 expressive of liis wish, that the blessing of God, and a dying 
 father's blessing, might be ever upon aU his cliildren," and 
 informing them, that " he died full of hope, and happy." He 
 expired a few hours afterwards. His remains were buried in 
 Ardwick church-yard, in Manchester ; and, whenever his son 
 Adam passed that cemetery, he invariably took off his hat, and 
 kept it in Ms hand the whole length of the yard.* His widowed 
 mother resided with him till he left Bristol, aftei-wards taking up 
 her abode with her daughter, Mrs. Exley, in that city. 
 
 * Dr. Clarke wsa one of those raen who maybe safely suffered to deviate 
 from the ordinar}- track, in transactions the most serious ; because it is 
 known that they have too much sense and discernment to abuse the privi- 
 lege. He used it oflen, but always with good eff'ect. One day, as he was 
 perfonning the funeral obsequies over the remains of the father of one of 
 his sons-in-law, of whom he had previously said, that "out of a million of 
 men, he doubted if ten died in a safer state," when the body had been 
 removed from the chapel, and just as it was about to be put into the vault, 
 he affectionately placed his hand upon the coffin, and with strong emphasis, 
 exclaimed, " Farewell ! there lies an affectionate father and an honest 
 man." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 115 
 
 The death of his father was not the only affliction he was 
 called to endure. In common with many others, he had . to cope 
 with a species of adversity very trying to his feelings as a hus- 
 band and a father. In 1798 and 1799, the general scarcity had 
 grown into a ftmtiine, and all classes of society were constrained 
 to acknowledge the frowns of an offended God. The rich ceased 
 to indulge in luxuries composed of flour: the middle classes 
 were with difficulty able to supply their families with ordinary 
 food, while numbers of the poor inevitably perished by starvation. 
 Mr. Clarke and liis family were not exempt from this pinching 
 distress ; but, as they were unwilhng to draw upon the sym- 
 pathies of their friends, their wants were not made known. He 
 seized the opportunity of inculcating upon liis children the prac- 
 tice of that true charity which springs from self-denial ; and they 
 used to reserve portions of their scanty meals for the casual relief 
 of the poor. In these, as in all other adverse circumstances, Mr. 
 Clarke maintained a full rehance on Divine Providence. To 
 many," said he, " God gives children in place of temporal good. 
 To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and 
 silver, and with them the womb that beareth not ; and these are 
 their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of 
 children, without lands or money ; these are his inheritance. 
 And God shows liimself their father, feeding and supporting them 
 by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man 
 who would give up his six children, with the prospect of having 
 more, for the thousands or milHons of him who is the centre of 
 his own existence, and has neither root nor branch, but his for- 
 lorn solitary self, upon the face of the earth ? Let the fruitful 
 family, however poor, lay this to heart : ' Children are an heritage 
 of the Lord ; and the fruit of the womb is his reward.' And he 
 who gave them will feed them ; for it is a fact, and the maxim 
 formed on it has never failed : ' Wherever God sends mouths, he 
 sends meat.' " Instead of. murmuring, therefore, at the largeness 
 of his family, and the prospect of its rapid increase, he used to 
 glory in it, as the highest honour that God could confer upon 
 him ; and, to persons who did not thus appreciate their mercies, 
 he would reply in the words of the Mohammedan : — " The best 
 wife is she who loves her husband, and brings him many chil- 
 dren : let your children and your family be increased, and know 
 that it is on their account that God provides for you."* 
 
 * In a congratulatory letter, which Dr. Clarke wrote to a friend who had 
 entered the married state, we find the following curious passage : — " I am 
 perfectly of Solomon's opinion, that ' he who findeth a wife, findeth a good 
 thing.' Even in any circumstances, matrimony is better than celibacy ; 
 and hence I execrate the addition made here by the Targum, and some other 
 would-be menders of the word of God, who have added n^TtD good i a 
 
 I 2 
 
liG 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Those evenings which were not devoted to preaching, Mr. 
 Clarke passed in the society of his childi'en. One of the gam- 
 bols in which he joined with them consisted in half-a-dozen of 
 them clinging round his hack, his arms, his waist, and his legs, 
 while, with the seventh in his aim, he paced the room, " the hap- 
 piest of the gi'oup." When bed-time approached, each of the httle 
 ones, kneehng in succession by the mother's side, repeated its 
 prayers ; wliile, one after another, theu' father canied them to bed, 
 revisiting them before he himself retired to rest. The two eldest, 
 who were boys, used to accompany him during the summer months 
 to the villages in which he preached, each of them provided with a 
 stout stick, to belabour' robbers withal, should such attack their 
 beloved parent ; Avhile he beguiled the way with Oriental tales of 
 good and evil genii, which tended to inspire courage and an 
 unflinching adherence to the right under all circumstances. 
 
 Nor was he less happy in his wife than in his children. On 
 the eleventh anniversary of their marriage, he presented her with 
 an elegant gold watch, accompanied by an address, in which he 
 said, " This gold watch, the beautiful dial of which is an emblem 
 of thy face ; the deUcate pointers, of thy hands ; the scapement, 
 of thy temples ; the balance, of thy conduct in thy family ; the 
 gold case, of thy body ; and the cap, of thy prudence, &c."* 
 
 truth, indeed, that a child could have told — a truism and an actum agere 
 very unworthy of the wisdom of Solomon ; for most assuredly he that finds 
 a good thing finds a good thing. Please to enter this beautiful criticism in 
 your Adversaria." 
 
 * Dr. Clarke did not only not despise those minuter manifestations of 
 love displayed in the commemoration of times and seasons, days and years, 
 but he delighted himself in their remembrance. Thus on the thirteenth 
 anniversary of the same auspicious event, he addressed her in some ballad 
 verses, the style and tendency of which may be seen in the following speci- 
 men : — 
 
 " "SMiat though no lands nor store of gold 
 
 Have raised us up on high : 
 Seven babes -we've here of sweetest mould, 
 
 And three more in the sky ; 
 With many friends of heart sincere. 
 
 Who love, and for us pray : 
 Let's join with theirs our praise and prayers. 
 
 And greet our wedding-day." 
 
 And again, on the fortieth anniversary of their union, which occurred while 
 he was at Liverpool on his way to Ireland, he wrote thus to Mrs. Clarke : — 
 " This is the auniversaiy of our wedding-day, my very dear Mary ; and this 
 day I have kept with comfort for above forty years. You are more regard- 
 less of these kinds of observances than I naturally am : with my mind, such 
 things have much weight, and now, being absent, I wish to show you that I 
 carry the remembrance of it, and my respect for it, 200 miles beyond my 
 own* dwelling. Many may deplore their maiTiage,and such I would advise 
 to forget their wedding-day ; but v.hether motives, principles, or circum- 
 stances, be considered, I never yet found reason to deplore mine." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 117 
 
 During his residence in Bristol, Mr. Clarke was much engaged 
 in the prosecution of his studies, and in the labours of author- 
 sliip ; but he never allowed these pursuits to betray him into the 
 least neglect of his duties as a preacher and a pastor. He still 
 preached almost daily, and was assiduous in visiting the sick. 
 Moreover, such was his repute for wisdom and integrity, that he 
 was often consulted in cases of conscience, in which his decision 
 was generally final. 
 
 His appHcation to study was so intense, and his ministerial 
 duties were so laborious, as to impair his health, for the re- 
 toration of which he was advised to make an excursion into 
 Cornwall. Of this httle tour we have an amusing account in 
 letters to Mrs. Clarke, which abound in strokes of pleasantry. 
 He soon recovered his appetite ; for he had not been long from 
 Bristol when he " made a breaklast like an ancient Briton ;" but 
 he did not fare so well at dinner, where, for two joints of pork, 
 a sort of flesh which he had renounced with all the disgust of an 
 Israelite, the only substitute was a piece of cold beef, scarcely 
 more inviting. Between Launceston and Camelford, he thought 
 he observed the signs of a natural convulsion in two lofty hills 
 between which the road passed, and wliich had every appearance 
 of being the two parts of a disrupted mountain. In visiting 
 Nathan's Keeve, a name given to a large round basin, which a 
 fall of water, one hundred feet in height, has formed out of the 
 solid rock, he learned, that, according to tradition, there was in 
 it a silver bell, for which some men were fishing, when one, who 
 had brought it above water, cried, " Thank God, here it is but, 
 the other replying, " No thanks to him — we have got it without 
 him," it immediately tumbled in again, and there remained. 
 This tradition, whether true or false, he rightly regarded as argu- 
 ing a popular belief that blasphemy against God would not go 
 unpunished. In passing over the ground on which Kjng Arthur 
 fought his son-in-law Mordi-ed, he saw the bridge on which the 
 latter is asserted to have fallen, and which was still called Slay- 
 man's Bridge. These and other cmious antiquities engaged liis 
 attention ; but the most gratifying circumstance of this tour was, 
 that he met with a young gentleman from India, who read Persic 
 and Arabic with the true accent. 
 
 He returned from this excursion to pursue, -with renewed 
 strength, his ministerial and literary labours. As an occasional 
 relaxation from study, he enjoyed, besides the society of his own 
 family, the conversation of many valuable friends. Mr. Charles 
 Fox, a distinguished Oriental scholar, and a man of sense and 
 taste, was his intimate associate. He was no mean poet, and 
 published a volume of verse, purporting to be translated from 
 the Persic, but no doubt original. He had, however, made 
 
118 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 translations from the poets of Persia ; but these he did not live 
 to publish. In the society of this amiable and accompHshed 
 man, Mr. Clarke took great delight ; and it contributed to extend 
 his knowledge of Oriental Hterature. 
 
 The celebrated Dr. Fox was another of his acquaintance ; and 
 from this gentleman he had an account of one of the inmates of 
 liis large lunatic asylum having swallowed a piece of a poker 
 between two and three inches loug. This extraordinary fact 
 rested on incontestable evidence, as the reader will perceive when 
 informed, that the surface of the iron, which had undergone a 
 regular process of digestion, was deeply honey-combed by the 
 action of the juices. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that Mr. Clarke spent an evening at 
 the house of one of his Bristol friends, in the company of Hum- 
 phrey Davy and Robert Southey ; but of this remarkable meeting 
 of three men, each of whom afterwards arrived at the highest 
 distinction in different departments of learning, we are without 
 any more paiticular record. 
 
 Mr. Clarke often experienced difficulties in his bibUcal pur- 
 suits from the scantiness of his pecuniary resources. This was 
 the case during his residence in Bristol. He had not a good 
 Arabic Dictionary, which was indispensable to him. His book- 
 seller was consequently desired to procure him Meninski's The- 
 saurus. An opportunity soon presented itself of executing this 
 commission ; but how to pay for the work (the price being forty 
 guineas) was the question. Mr. Clarke requested a friend to 
 lend him the sum for three months, at the same time instruct- 
 ing the bookseller to call upon the gentleman for the money. 
 But his friend advised him to " confine his wishes and wants to 
 his circumstances," and refused the loan. This was very dis- 
 couraging, as no one could say when a Meninski would again be 
 in the market. In these circumstances, Mr. Clarke resolved to 
 make a formal application to his friend, Mr. Ewer, of Bristol, 
 who entertained it in the handsomest manner, replying, Yes, 
 Mr. Clarke, twenty times that sum for twenty times as long, if 
 you wish it." By this means Meninski, without whose aid the 
 Commentary could never have been written, was secured, Mr. 
 Clarke faithfully refunding the money at the time promised. Of 
 this little incident Mr. Ewer or his descendants have reason to 
 be proud. 
 
 The following extract from a letter addressed to his friend and 
 counsellor, Mr. Mabyn, illustrates his ministerial views and feel- 
 ings at this period: it is dated from Bristol, June 8, 1801 : — 
 I have now, for many years, been a teacher of others ; and, 
 though I certainly have learned many things, and endeavoured 
 to improve my understanding, yet I daily feel the necessity of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 119 
 
 being taught a multitude of things, which I either know not at 
 all, or very imperfectly. My heart says, both to God and man, 
 ' What I know not, that teach me.' My soul loves wisdom, and 
 pursues it. By wisdom, I mean that which discovers the best 
 end, and the most proper means of attaining it ; and seriously, 
 and detenninately uses those means in order to the accomplish- 
 ment of the end. I know God is all in all ; and everything else 
 i^ nothing in nothing, but as it proceeds from, and leads to, Him. 
 My aim is, not to find out deep things, but to be able to com- 
 prehend the simple and plain truths which he has left on record. 
 I aim at studying the simplicity of the Divine nature and charac- 
 ter, that I may neither lose myself in the intricacies of human 
 inventions, nor in the mazes of my own imagination. In a 
 word, I wish to simplify Divine truth, or rather to descend fr^om 
 the regions of fancied abstruseness and mystery, and be con- 
 vinced in my feehngs, as I am in my judgment, that God, having 
 to do with plain and ignorant creatures, has revealed himself in 
 such a luminous and plain manner in his astonishing Word, that 
 the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not mistake the path that 
 leads to his glory. I see the world, and even the church, gasp- 
 ing after mystery, and neglecting plain, yet subhme truth. 
 When shall we all be truly simple of heart, that we may receive 
 the truth in the love thereof, and bring forth fruit to the glory of 
 God! 
 
 " I believe the whole science of salvation to be the most sim- 
 ple and the most plain that can be presented to the under- 
 standing of man. But by treating that as a mystery which God 
 has revealed, and by investing the God of infinite love and per- 
 fection with our own passions, we have rendered that obscure 
 which he has made plain ; and that difficult, which he has made 
 easy. Hence, many find it so difficult to beheve in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ that they may be saved, either from the guilt 
 or nature of sin. Yet, after we have perplexed ourselves, even 
 to distraction, the following will remain, not only as the first 
 rudiments of heavenly teaching, but the fulness of Divine truth, 
 in reference to salvation. 
 
 1. Thou art a sinner, and consequently wretched. 
 
 " 2. God is an eternal, unfaiHng fountain of love. 
 3. He has given his Son Jesus Christ to die for thee. 
 
 " 4. Believe on him, and thou shalt be saved firom thy sins. 
 
 " 5. When saved, continue incessantly dependent on him, so 
 shalt thou continually receive out of his fulness grace upon grace, 
 and be ever fitted for, ever ready to, and ever active in, every 
 good word and every good work. 
 
 " This is the sum and substance of the revelation of God : and 
 oh ! how worthy is it of his infinite goodness, and how suitable 
 
120 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 to the nature and state of man I These are the simple lessons 
 which I am endeavouring to learn and teach, Tliis is the 
 science, in the contemplation of which I should be willing to 
 spend the longest hfe. O God ! simphfy my heart !" 
 
 After a residence of three years in Bristol, Mr. Clarke removed 
 to Livei-pool, pursuant to appointment by the Conference of 180L 
 The pleasing prospect of renewing his acquaintance with foimer 
 friends, was hardly sufficient to counterbalance the regret with 
 which he parted from his numerous associates in Bristol. He 
 often declared, that he " never met with more kind, more esti- 
 mable, dnd more endearing friends," than in that city. 
 
 Though his official duties and liis private studies were, as 
 usual, pressing, he found time to advance the cause of knowledge, 
 by forming an institution, called the Philological Society, which 
 was opened on the 18th of December, 1801. Being unanimously 
 chosen president, Mr. Clarke drew up the rules and the introduc- 
 tory adch'ess, as well as a hst of questions, touching science and 
 general hterature, for the consideration of the members. Many 
 excellent papers emanated fi-om this institution, wliich was the 
 means of exciting considerable scientific and philosophical in- 
 quiry. Mr. Clai'ke's connexion with the Pliilological Society pro- 
 cured him the acquaintance of the late Mr. Eoscoe, a man as 
 eminent for his virtues as for liis talents and accomphshments. 
 
 Wliile Mr. Clarke was thus engaged in promoting the interests 
 of science, he never neglected any one of his pecuhar duties. In 
 visiting the sick, he was eminently prompt, and even laborious, 
 fi'equently rising in the middle of the night, and walking several 
 miles, to administer consolation to the dying. 
 
 In the coui'se of these visits, he met with an extraordinaiy 
 case. It was that of a gentleman who had been awakened under 
 a sermon from liim, but who, though he evinced every sign of 
 true and deep penitence, found no rest for his soul. Such had 
 been his state for some time before he became ill and sent for 
 Mr. Clarke. It surprised him that God had so long withheld a 
 manifestation of pardon in a case of so much bitter repentance ; 
 and, finding, after repeated visits, that the sick man's disease was 
 aggravated by the uneasiness of liis mind, he expressed to him 
 his film behef that he had left something undone wliich it was 
 ahke his interest and liis duty to do. This ehcited the real facts 
 of the case. The dying man related, that, in sailing some years 
 before fi'om a foreign port to England, he had, by way of firoHc, 
 secreted a small bag of dollar's, which had been committed to the 
 captain's care, but which he carelessly allowed to he day after day 
 upon the locker. At the end of the voyage, the captain making 
 no inquiries for the bag, it was still detained, and several montlis 
 elapsed in total silence concerning it. At length the parties to 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 121 
 
 whom it had been sent, having received notice of the fact, applied 
 to the captain, who candidly acknowledged tliat he took it on board, 
 but added that he could give no further account of it. By this time, 
 the person in whose hands it was, became alarmed, and was ashamed 
 to confess, lest his character should suffer ; and so he pui'poscly 
 hid the property. The poor captain was sued for the amount, and, 
 having nothing to pay, was thi'own into prison, where, after lan- 
 guishing for two years, he died. The guilty person now strove 
 to lose the remembrance of the misery which he had occasioned, 
 and to drown the voice of conscience, by business and amuse- 
 ment. But he strove in vain ; and, especially from the time 
 when he heard Mr. Clarke preach, he had enjoyed no peace, but, 
 on the contrary, had suffered great disquietude of mind. He had 
 agonized at the thi'one of mercy for pardon, but God w^as deaf to 
 his prayers ; and he feared tliat he must go down into the grave 
 unpardoned, unsaved. At the end of this painful narrative, Mr. 
 Clarke enjoined the duty of restitution. To the captain himself, 
 none could be made ; for he was dead, and that without knowing 
 that liis name was rescued from infamy ; but his widow and her 
 children were alive. The gentleman eagerly complied with the 
 proposition : the sum, with compound interest, w^as made up : 
 Mr. Clarke communicated the ckcumstances, without mentioning 
 any name, to the widow and to the other parties concerned, and 
 obtained an acknowledgment for the money. The mind of the 
 dying man was now calmed ; and he expired in full assurance of 
 the mercy of God through Christ. 
 
 Mr. Clarke's own health became seriously affected, in conse- 
 quence of his severe apphcation to study, and the pressure of his 
 various engagements. He w^as often taken ill so suddenly, as 
 well as seriously, as in an instant to lose all sensation. In April, 
 1802, he went to London for medical advice. Mr. Pearson, 
 whom he consulted, told him that he must wholly desist from 
 mental labour, and that he must not engage in any bodily exer- 
 tion more violent than that of gardening and riding on horseback. 
 The ventricles of his heart, he said, were in a state of disease, 
 perhaps too far advanced to be cured. If he did not totally 
 abstain from reading, writing, and preaching, he would die 
 speedily and suddenly : if he did not abstain wholly for twelve 
 months, he was a dead man. Mr. Pearson concluded by saying, 
 *' Did I not beheve you to be in such a state of mind as not to 
 be hurt at this declaration, I would have suppressed it." 
 
 In communicating this alarming intelligence to Mrs. Clarke, 
 her husband, bidding her not believe it all, said, " If I find I 
 cannot do my work, I will give it up : / will not feed myself to 
 starve the church of God ; I will seek out some other way of 
 maintaining my wife and children." This is but one of several 
 
122 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 strong proofs which he gave of his singular disinterestedness and 
 scrupulous integrity.'* It is one, however, which the holders of 
 ecclesiastical sinecures, as well as non-resident or negligent bene- 
 ficiaries, would do well to ponder : it ought to make such men 
 blush. 
 
 While remaining under the hands of Mr. Pearson, whose 
 gloomy prediction, though confirmed by several other eminent 
 practitioners, was not verified, Mr. Clarke's opinion was asked 
 upon a point of antiquarian lore. The Society of Antiquarians 
 had just received from Egypt a stone bearing three inscriptions, 
 one in hieroglyphics, a second in Greek, and a thkd in — nobody 
 knew what. At the pressing invitation of the Secretaiy, Mr. 
 Clarke went up to the Society's apartments in Somerset-house, 
 and saw the monument. In the first place, he determined the 
 fact that the material of which it was composed, and which some 
 had supposed to be porphyry and others granite, was basaltes 
 interspersed with mica and quartz ; and immediately after affirmed 
 the unknown inscription to be Coptic, wliich it was soon admitted 
 to be. Thus readily did he solve a difficulty which had puzzled, 
 for aught that we know, the whole Society of Antiquarians. 
 
 The value set upon Mr. Clarke's ministry, and the esteem in 
 wdiich his general character was held, may be conceived from the 
 fact, that, as soon as it was lawful, he was re- appointed to circuits 
 in which he had travelled before. We have seen this exemplified 
 in his second appointment to Bristol and liverpool ; and, in 
 1803, he was stationed, a second time, in Manchester also, where 
 he had the satisfiiction of finding the Strangers' Friend Society, 
 which he instituted in 1791, in a state of active and very benefi- 
 cial operation. 
 
 Dming the two years wliich Mr. Clarke now passed in Man- 
 chester, he made a point of attending the class of Mr. Kenworthy, 
 not to lead it, but as a private member, seeking religious instruc- 
 tion. He also devoted more time than he had been wont to do 
 to pastoral engagements, for whicli, indeed, the hours of the day 
 were barely sufficient. The early hours of morning which he 
 redeemed from sleep, he considered as strictly liis own property 
 as the Hollanders might consider land recovered from the sea. 
 But, in appropriating those hours to literary purposes, he was 
 far from discovering a spirit of selfishness. From five to seven 
 
 * In 1826 Dr. Clarke declared, " I never brought a bill for extraor- 
 dinaries, illness, lying-in, doctors' bills, &c., to the Conference, to this day ; 
 and never had a shilling from any of our funds, when even I had nothing 
 but my bare circuit allowance to support me and mine ; and, if the whole 
 ground were to be gone over again, I would act in the same way ; though 
 I was twice obliged to sell my books to get bread; and yet I know every 
 labourer is worthy of his hire." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 123 
 
 every morning, his study was open to several young men, who 
 desired to obtain a knowledge of the Hebrew and Greek lan- 
 guages, in wliich he instructed them. 
 
 Mr. Dunn gives the following letter to a young preacher, as an 
 instance of the Doctor's Idnd attentions to his junior brethren : — 
 
 " My dear brother, — I have given many general and particular 
 advices to my younger brethren in ' A liCtter to a Preacher on 
 his first Entrance into the Work of the Ministry.' If you have 
 not read this httle tract, you should get it without delay. I 
 would lay down two maxims for your conduct : 1 . Never forget 
 anything you have learned, especially in language, science, his- 
 tory, clu-onology, antiquities, and theology. 2. Improve in 
 everything you have learned, and acquire what you never had, 
 especially whatever may be useful to you in the work of the 
 ministiy. As to your maldng or composing sermons, I have no 
 good opinion of it. Get a thorough knowledge of your subject : 
 understand your text in all its connexion and bearings ; and then 
 go into the pulpit depending on the Spirit of God to give you 
 power to explain and illustrate to the people those general and 
 particular views which you have already taken of your subject, 
 and which you conscientiously believe to be correct and accord- 
 ing to the word of God. But get nothing by heart to speak there, 
 else even your memory will contribute to keep you in perpetual 
 bondage. No man was ever a successful preacher who did not 
 discuss his subject from his o^n judgment and experience. The 
 reciters of sermons may he popular ; but God scarcely ever em- 
 ploys them to convert siuners, or build up saints in their most 
 holy faith. I do not recommend in tliis case a blind reliance 
 upon God ; taking a text which you do not know how to handle, 
 and depending upon God to give you something to sag. He 
 will not be thus employed. Go into the pulpit with your under- 
 standing full of hght, and your heart full of God ; and his Spirit 
 will help you, and then you will find a wondeYiul assemblage of 
 ideas coming in to your assistance ; and you will feel the benefit 
 of the doctrine of association, of which the reciters and memory - 
 men can make no use. The finest, the best, and the most im- 
 pressive thoughts are obtained in the pulpit, when the preacher 
 enters it with the preparation mentioned above. 
 
 As to Hebrew, I advise you to learn it with the points. Dr. 
 C. Bay ley's Hebrew Grammar is one of the best ; as it has seve- 
 ral analyzed portions of the Hebrew text in it, which are a great 
 help to learners. And Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon exceeds all 
 that ever went before it. It gives the ideal meaning of the roots, 
 without which who can understand the Hebrew language ? Get 
 your verbs and nouns so well fixed in your memory, that you 
 shall be able to tell the conjugation, mood, tense, person, and 
 
124 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 number, of eveiy word ; and thus you will feel that you tread on 
 sui'e gi'ound as you proceed. Genesis is the simplest book to 
 begin with ; and although the Psalms are highly poetic, and it is 
 not well for a man to begin to acquu'e a knowledge of any language 
 by beginning with the highest poetic production in it ; yet the short 
 hemistich form of the verses, and the powerful experimental reH- 
 gion which the Psalms inculcate, render them comparatively easy 
 to liim who has the life of God in his soul. By timer's Lyra- 
 Projjhetica, in which all the psalms are analyzed, is a great help ; 
 but the roots should be sought for in Parkliurst. Mr. Bell has 
 pubHshed a good Greek Grammar in EngUsh ; so have several 
 others. The Greek, like the Hebrew, depends so much on its 
 verbs, their formation and power, that to make anything success- 
 fully out, you must thoroughly acquaint yourself with ihem in 
 all their conjugations, &c. It is no mean labour to acquire 
 these ; for, in the above, even one regular verb will occur up- 
 wards of eight hundi'ed different times ! Mr. Dawson has pub- 
 Hshed a Lexicon for the Greek Testament, in which you may 
 find any word that occui's, mth the mood, tense, &;c. Any of 
 the later editions of Schi'evehus will answer your end. Bead 
 carefully Piideaux's History. The editions prior to 1725 are 
 good for httle : none since that period have been much improved, 
 if anytliing. Acquaint yourself with British History. Read few 
 sermons, they will do you Httle good ; those of Mr. Wesley ex- 
 cepted. The Hves of holy men wiU be profitable to you. Live 
 in the Divine Hfe: walk in the Divine life. Live for the salva- 
 tion of men." 
 
 Subject to less confinement than formerly, and experiencing 
 the most affectionate attentions fi"om his numerous friends, Mr. 
 Clarke had considerably improved in health, when the iUness and 
 death of his youngest daughter broke in upon his peace. She 
 was a lovely and promising child ; but the hooping-cough fell 
 upon her lungs, and slowly reduced her to the gi'ave. Her 
 parents shared between them the burden of nursing. The eff'ect 
 upon Mrs. Clarke was such, that the infant of which she was 
 pregnant, hardly survived its birth; while Mr. Clarke was so 
 depressed, that the physician declared, "Mr. Clarke, if God does 
 not soon see good to take that child, death wiU take you." Soon 
 after this, she died, being just five yeai-s old. It was long before 
 Mr. Clarke recovered his ordinary tone of mind. Writing to a 
 friend, he speaks of the departed child as having shown a remark- 
 ably fine understanding, and a most amiable disposition. " She 
 loved prayer, attended public worship with delight, and mani- 
 fested an uncommon finnness and constancy of resolution. Had 
 she Hved, she would have made, under proper cultivation, an 
 eminent woman." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 125 
 
 In the autumn of 1804, Mr. Clarke received a letter from Mr. 
 Samuel Greatheed, of Newport Pagnell, informing him of the 
 design to establish the .Eclectic Ueview, and requesting his as- 
 sistance in those departments of criticism to which his attention 
 had been turned. Several alterations, suggested by Mr. Clarke, 
 were adopted in the prospectus ; and though, on account of his 
 engagements, he objected to take charge of the biblical depart- 
 ment, his objections were overcome by Mr. Greatheed's impor- 
 tunity : for, in the first number, he furnished an elaborate review 
 of Sir William Jones's Persian Grammar, and, in successive 
 numbers, reviews of Mr. Sharp's Hebrew and Greek Grammars. 
 The reviewer of Lord Teignmouth's Life of Sir William Jones, 
 in the second number, was assisted by Mr. Clarke, whose re- 
 marks it was deemed important to obtain ; and Mr. Greatheed 
 ' bears ample testimony to his efficiency as a periodical critic, 
 when he says, If we had many friends as zealous as yourself, 
 we should not fear for our final success." Early in 1806, Mr. 
 Clarke furnished the editor with a review of Holmes's Septua- 
 gint, concerning which Professor James Bentley, of King's Col- 
 lege, Aberdeen, writes, " It is more conformable to my ideas of 
 what a review should be, than is generally to be met with in the 
 periodical publications of the present day : it is such a complete 
 account and analysis of the work, as will enable a person to form 
 a just opinion of it. The article contains many particulars of 
 additional information more than Holmes has given ; and these 
 you have so intermingled with those drawn from Holmes, that 
 the generaUty of readers will not perceive to whom they are in- 
 debted for them. The opposite to this is, I believe, the usual 
 practice of reviewers ; they often display information as their own, 
 which they owe altogether to their author, whom they perhaps 
 are abusing ; and thus make it more their object to seem know- 
 ing themselves, than even to give a proper and just account of 
 the author whose work they are professing to review." 
 
 Towards the latter end of 1804 Mr. Clarke, as President of the 
 Liverpool Philological Society, drew up an anniversary address, 
 which was printed by request. He had devoted much attention 
 to this institution, a branch of which he formed in Manchester ; 
 and, in August, 1805, when, in due course, he was to leave them, 
 the members presented him with a unanimous vote of thanks, 
 accompanied with a letter, in which their affection for his person 
 seems to vie with their esteem for his talents and knowledge, and 
 their gratitude for his efficiency as their president. They like- 
 wise acknowledge the receipt of " a classical and elegant diploma 
 plate," which he had presented to the Society. In February, of 
 the same year, the members evinced their regard for Mr. Clarke 
 by more substantial tokens. During his temporary absence, they 
 
120 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 resolved, that a pair of silver cups should be purchased, and be 
 presented to liim by the vice-presidents on his return. They 
 were richly chased, and on each of them.was engi'aved an inscrip- 
 tion, signifying that they were the gift of the Manchester Pliilo- 
 logical Society to their most beloved and most dihgent president, 
 and that they were given in testimony of the numerous advan- 
 tages which had been derived from intercom'se with him. De- 
 prived of the fostering care of its founder, and weakened by the 
 loss of its most eJB&cient members, who, in obedience to the calls 
 of Providence, removed at different periods from Manchester, this 
 excellent institution gradually declined, and, in a few years, was 
 totally extinct. The late Dr. Townley was a member. " While 
 in Manchester," says Mr. Ehjah Hoole, in his memoir of Dr. 
 Townley, " he had become a member of a Pliilological Society, 
 originated by the late Dr. Adam Clarke ; and, in common with 
 many other young men, was urged, by the example and exhorta- 
 tions of that celebrated scholar, to great diligence in the pursuit 
 of knowledge, the fruits of which were seen tln'oughout his future 
 course." 
 
127 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Mr. Clarke removes to London — Attends the Leeds Conference — /.? elected 
 President — Visits Stonehenge — Old Sarum — Wilton House — Wardour 
 Castle — Fonthill Abbey — Stourton — Becomes a Member of the Committee 
 of the Bible Society — His great Services to it — Declines any Remuneration 
 — Becomes acquainted ivith Professor Porson — Receives the Degree of M. A. 
 from Aberdeen — and LL.D. — Corresponds with Dr. Morrison — Proposes 
 to build Almshouses for Methodist Preachers^ J^dows. 
 
 Parting from Ms Manchester fiiends, with mutual regret, Mr. 
 Clarke removed to London, to which the Conference again ap- 
 pointed him. He took up his residence in one of the houses ad- 
 joining City-road chapel. The metropolis was still one circuit ; 
 which had undergone no changes, except such as extended its 
 size, and multiplied its demands on the preachers ; for many new 
 chapels had heen huilt, and the most distant preaching stations 
 were more distant than before. Of this immense circuit, Mr. 
 Clarke was now the superintendent — an office which he could 
 not have discharged, but for the efficient aid of Mrs. Clarke, who 
 kept all his accounts, saw every stranger that called, and pro- 
 tected him from obtrusive visitors. So completely was he ab- 
 sorbed in these duties, that he found it impossible to resume his 
 merely literary pursuits. 
 
 In 1806, Mr. Clarke was obliged to attend the Conference in 
 Leeds ; of the proceedings of which liis affectionate and playful 
 letters to his wife enable us to give some account. When it was 
 announced that he would preach at the old chapel in that town, 
 the Methodists, hke the tribes at Jerusalem, or the Scotch pea- 
 santry at the quarterly sacrament, gathered together, from a cir- 
 cuit of twenty miles.* Before the Conference was opened, he 
 
 * The eageraess with which the Conference in Leeds and SheflSeld are 
 attended by the ardent Methodists of the West Riding of Yorkshire, is 
 almost incredible to those who have not seen it. A contested county elec- 
 tion affords only a faint type of the crowds which assemble. The following 
 anecdote, related by Mr. Clarke in one of his letters to his wife, will show 
 the spirit of that wann-heaited people in 1806 —a spirit which the lapse of 
 more than thirty years has not tended to cool. " One of the Society of 
 Friends, walking up and down the street, near his own house, at six o'clock 
 in the morning, seeing a very plain-looking countryman, covered with dust 
 and canying a large great coat, thus accosted him, ' Friend, whither art 
 thou come? thou appearest to have travelled far, and to be much fatigued.* 
 ' Gloiy be to God,' says Blunt-spurs, ' I am cooming to the Methodist Con- 
 
128 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOCr.S OF 
 
 had heard that many of the brethren intended to support liis 
 election to the chair ; and, before they proceeded to the ballot, 
 he positively declared that he would not serve if elected. Re- 
 gardless of his objections, however, a very large majority voted 
 in his favour, and he was called to the chair in the name of the 
 Conference. Still he refused, begging that the next to him in 
 the number of votes might be appointed ; when Messrs. Joseph 
 Bradford and Thomas Taylor, seeing that words were useless, 
 hfted liim by main force into the seat of honour. He was con- 
 founded by the responsibilities and duties of the office. " I shall, 
 no doubt," he says, "be 'welly kill't,' as they term it here ; but I 
 must go thi'ough it, if it please God to give me power." The solemn 
 ceremony of admitting^ into full connexion those preachers who 
 had travelled foiu" years, was that wliich weighed heaviest on his 
 mind. They were in number seventeen. He got thi'ough the 
 preliminaiT examinations " with neai'ly as much clearness and 
 precision as he could ■s^-ish ;" and, though this labour as well as 
 that attending the actual admission of the candidates exhausted 
 his strength, yet he " acquitted himself to the satisfaction of liis 
 brethren, and felt (what few would venture to say of themselves) 
 that he had acted with entire uprightness towai'ds his God."* 
 Twice after this, Mr. Clarke presided over the deliberations of 
 his bretkren ; but, having once overcome his diffidence, he did 
 not again exhibit so strong a reluctance to accept that honour. 
 His correspondence with Mrs. Clarke, during this brief separa- 
 tion, exhibits his domestic character in an amiable Ught. Your- 
 self," he writes, " and the children, are all I have on this side the 
 God of Heaven ; and I shall come home to you ^vith at least as 
 much cheei-fulness and joy, as tlie day I went into Trowbridge 
 Church, to take you by the hand as my everlasting wife." 
 
 ference, I am coomd forty mile, and ha walked all night : 1 ha got fifteen 
 shillin, mon, and ha savd it fro my wage these twalve week at up wart o' a 
 shillin a week.' The Friend, struck with his appearance and honest blunt- 
 ness, said, 'Friend, I like thy spirit; thou seemest sincere and zealous in 
 thy way ; turn in hither and refresh thyself, and thou shalt be welcome to 
 what the place will afford.' Poor Gruff turned in, and found a hearty wel- 
 come and plenty to eat. How valuable," adds the relater, " is this sim- 
 plicity of spirit ! How much more happiness do those people feel who take 
 God at his word, than those experience who are disputing with God himself 
 every particle of his own revelation ! Julius Caesar Scaliger, who perfectly 
 understood thirteen different languages, seeing the comparative happiness 
 of the simple and the ignorant, exclaimed, ' Oh, that I had never known my 
 alphabet !' But," he concludes, lest the advocates of popular ignorance 
 should make a catch at him, " it is probable thai from these uninstructed 
 persons, as many sources of comfort are sealed up, as there are causes of 
 distress to those whose understandings are properly cultivated." 
 
 * Mr. Thomas Taylor, being the Ex-President, delivered the charge on 
 this occasion, occupying " about eight minutes !" 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 129 
 
 After tlio sittings of the Conference,* Mr. and Mrs. Clarke, 
 and Mr. and Mrs. Butterwortli, paid a visit to the ladies' mother 
 at Trowbridge. They made a paity to Stonehenge ; and, as they 
 approached those venerable monuments, Mr. Clarke, seeing a 
 nearer way of access to them across a field, -sprang out of the 
 carnage, and had enjoyed some minutes of consummate gratifica- 
 tion before the rest of the company came up. After examina- 
 tion, he concluded that these stupendous stones originally com- 
 posed three concentric circles. " It was, doubtless," he w^rote to 
 one of his sons, " a place consecrated to the purposes of religious 
 worship. I have no doubt that the power or strength of the 
 Divine nature was the attribute principally contemplated by our 
 rude ancestors, and, indeed, by all the primitive inhabitants of 
 the earth. Hence colossal statues, immense rocks, and massive 
 temples, were dedicated to this power or strength, which, at last, 
 the Hcentious imagination of man personified, and adored in a 
 monstrous human form. 
 
 "I suppose, therefore, that these stupendous monuments of 
 huge rocks, placed in a certain artificial manner, which are found 
 not only here, but in every nation of the world, were the temples 
 dedicated to the god of strength by the primitive inhabitants of 
 the earth. 
 
 " The rocks of which Stonehenge is composed, are certainly 
 not natives of the place : there are no stones like them in all this 
 country, nor, within many miles, any stones at all. They must, 
 therefore, have been brought from a very great distance ; and it 
 would puzzle the most scientific engineer to conceive machines 
 adequate to such carriage, and others, not only capable of erect- 
 ing the stones when brought to the place, but of elevating those 
 which form the horizontal coverings, which are many tons' weight, 
 to a height of between twenty and thirty feet. This considera- 
 tion alone is sufficient to impress us with respect for the inge- 
 nuity of our ancestors. Every succeeding generation fondly 
 imagines itself wiser than the preceding one ; and it is on this 
 
 * At Mr. Clarke's solicitation, Mr. David M'Nicoll, who was then rising 
 into notice, was appointed as the single preacher to reside with him. " To 
 a person of Dr. Clarke's wonderful pei-severance and industry," says Mr. 
 Dixon, "Mr. M'Nicoll would seem to be very defective in application ; and, 
 no doubt, it was in him, as in most men, a great fault. Hence, in a letter 
 obligingly sent by Mrs. Rowley (one of Dr. Clarke's daughters), that lady 
 remarks :— One of my father's negative commendations, in a good-natured 
 way, was, — ' Davy, why do not you work more ? If you would but study, 
 you would he a clever fellow.' My father considered him a man of consi- 
 derable mental powers, and of an exceedingly sweet and amiable disposition. 
 He enjoyed his society greatly ; and, most ceitainly, his uniform kindness of 
 heart, and almost childlike simplicity of manners, made him a universal 
 lavourite in our family." 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 principle that we suppose our ancestors must have been savage 
 and barbarous ; and, rather than acknowledge that they must 
 have cultivated some arts, at least, to a higher degree of perfec- 
 tion than ourselves, we make use of the most sottish h^-pothesis 
 to account for the. formation of Stonehenge and similar monu- 
 ments. Not only country-people, but grave scholars, have con- 
 jectured that these immense stones are a composition of sand, 
 with something else, which our ancestors kneaded together, and, 
 stratum super stratum, composed these huge stones, as the 
 tinners in Cornwall do their coble houses." 
 
 The party lodged at Amesbury. On inquiry of the waiter 
 whether there were any rehgious people there, he replied, that 
 there was a people who had l(^t the Church, and were much 
 under the direction of a baker. This person, whose name was 
 Edwards, several of them, headed by Mr. Clarke, went in search 
 of ; and, having found him, discovered that he had come to 
 Amesbury on purpose to introduce Methodism into it, which, 
 during upwards of thirty years, had been attempted in vain, until 
 he succeeded in forming a society and raising a congi^egation. 
 
 The tourists visited Old Sarum also, which Mr. Clarke, having 
 minutely examined it, thus described : — " To me this was a very 
 high treat : we found here the remains of a very ancient city and 
 fortress, surrounded by a deep trench, wliich still bears a most 
 noble appearance. On the top of the fiill, the castle or citadel 
 stood ; and several remains of a very thick wall, built all of flint 
 stone, cemented together with a kind of everlasting mortar. 
 What is remarkable, these ruins are still considered in the British 
 constitution as an inhabited city, and send two members to Par- 
 hament. Within the breadth of a field from this noble hill, 
 there is a small public-house, the only dwelling within a very 
 great space, and containing a very few persons ; which, excepting 
 the crows, hens, and magpies, are the only beings which the 
 worthy members have to represent in the British Senate." But, 
 as the reader is aware, those feathered bipeds have been disfran- 
 chised. 
 
 In looking over Wilton House, the seat of Lord Pembroke, 
 Mr. Clarke was much gratified by the collection of antique sculp- 
 tures ; but workmen were in the house, and all was in confusion. 
 He was mortified, and the noble owner would not have been less 
 mortified, at seeing "many of these invaluable rehcs of antiquity 
 injui'ed, and in progress of being injured, by the joiners, plas- 
 terers, &c., &c., who had even erected their benches against some 
 of the finest productions of the sculptors of ancient Greece." 
 The Enghsh are strangely insensible to the beauties of art, espe- 
 cially in sculpture. 
 
 Tiiev likewise visited Wardour Castle, the seat of the Earl of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 131 
 
 Arundel, a Catholic nobleman. Mr. Clarke was particularly 
 struck with Spagnoletti's picture of the death of Christ. " He 
 is represented," says he, in a letter to his son, " as just taken 
 down from the cross, the countenance indescribably expressive 
 of death, and yet highly dignified, fully verifying the words, ' No 
 man taketli my life from me : I give up my life for the sheep, I 
 lay it down that I may take it again.' You could see, according 
 to the Scripture, that ' he was free among the dead.' Free : — at 
 liberty to resume his life whenever he pleased, as he had given it 
 up according to his own good pleasure." 
 
 Miss Clarke kneeled before the altar ; and this, with the de- 
 vout obeisances of the steward, who conducted the party, gave 
 Mr. Clarke occasion to observe, " To superficial and irreligious 
 minds all this might appear superstition ; but I confess, where I 
 meet with so much solemnity, decorum, and reverence, I feel no 
 hesitation to ascribe these acts to a more heavenly principle. He 
 who can enter a church or chapel, or any place dedicated to the 
 worship of God, as he does into his own habitation, or into that 
 of liis horses, which is a very common case, has, in my opinion, 
 no proper notion of religious worship, and is never likely to de- 
 rive much edification to his own soul from his attendance on the 
 ordinances of God." While some will view these remarks as an 
 apology for religious error, others will admire them as evincing 
 a tolerant and liberal disposition. 
 
 The next place which they visited was Fonthill Abbey, whose 
 gorgeous splendour did not please Mr. Clarke ; he delighted in 
 what was chaste and classical, rather than in what was merely 
 costly. He was much better gratified by an inspection of the 
 house and grounds at Stourton, the seat of Sir Robert Hoare, 
 Baronet. Here he met with what he had not seen in any of the 
 mansions which he had visited, a well- arranged, though not a very 
 extensive, library of good books. 
 
 Mr. Clarke returned from this little tour, in which he had seen 
 many objects that interested him, and had particularly gratified 
 his taste for antiquities, in an invigorated state both of body and 
 of mind. 
 
 On his return to London, he yielded to the request of his bro- 
 ther-in-law, Mr. Butterworth, by becoming a member of the 
 Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, which was 
 then in its infancy, and of which that gentleman was one of the 
 earhest members. During ten years, Mr. Clarke was rarely ab 
 sent from the meetings of the Committee ; and so important had 
 his services become to that noble institution, that, when, in the 
 ordinary course of Wesleyan-Methodist rule, the time arrived for 
 his removal from London, the Committee directed an application 
 to be made to the Conference, stating the interruption which 
 
 k2 
 
132 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 must be occasioned to various parts of their foreign translations, 
 upon which Mr. Clarke was engaged, should he he withdrawn 
 from London, and earnestly requesting that he might be per- 
 mitted to remain. This resolution was forwiuded to the Confer- 
 ence of 1807, in a letter addressed by Messrs. Hughes and Owen, 
 the then Secretaries, " To the Reverend the Preachers of the 
 Methodist Society assembled in Conference." By those gentle- 
 men the assistance of Mr. Clarke was represented as " essential 
 to the successful execution of many plans then under considera- 
 tion, for supplying Mohammedan and Pagan nations with the 
 Holy Scriptures." " Services of that description wliich Mr. 
 Clarke had rendered, were indispensable," they said, "to the 
 successful prosecution of the Society's plan ; and the Committee 
 knew not any man, he excepted, from whom they could expect 
 to receive them." The letter concluded by urging, that upon the 
 whole, Mr. Clarke might render more important services to the 
 cause of Christ in connexion with the Bible Society, than in any 
 other sphere of exertion. To a request of such a character, and 
 so urged, it was impossible to return any other than a favourable 
 answer ; and, accordingly, Mr. Clarke was re-appointed to 
 London. 
 
 The Bible Society reaped very considerable advantages from 
 his exact and extensive erudition, and from the versatihty of his 
 talents. At the time when he became a member of the Commit- 
 tee, the printing of an Arabic Bible was engaging its attention. 
 Such a version had been commenced at a Newcastle press under 
 the auspices of Dr Banington, then Bishop of Durham ; and 
 tlie Committee requested the opinion of Mr. Clarke, previous to 
 deteiTuiuing whether they would bargain for a number of copies, 
 or would print a Bible for themselves. His valuable counsels 
 on this subject are contained in several letters, mitten obviously 
 with much care, and exhibiting a minute acquaintance with the 
 question under consideration. The first of tliese was addressed 
 to Lord Teignmouth, the President of the Societ}', who ever 
 showed a great regai'd for Mr. Clarke, and paid the most respect- 
 ful attention to his opinion on all subjects. Mr. Clarke objected 
 to the type of the Newcastle Bible as smaU, and to the lines as 
 being too long ; but his prime objection was, that it wanted the 
 vowel points. The omission of tliese he held to be fatal to useful- 
 ness—not because they were necessary in themselves, but because 
 the Mohammedans considered them essential to a Divine Revela- 
 tion. So much was this the case, that, although they used no 
 points in their ordinary writings, yet they uniformly supphed them 
 in all passages quoted from the Koran, wliich, in all its forms, 
 retained them. Tliis rule was observ^ed, not only in token of 
 respect to Divine Revelation, but also in order to determine its 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 133 
 
 precise meaning ; for in the Arabic there are words, which, though 
 expressed by exactly the same letters, differ in their moods and 
 tenses, and can only be accurately discerned by affixing the ap- 
 propriate points. In the first place, then, the omission of the 
 points would be fatal to the pretensions to inspired authority set 
 up on behalf of the Bible ; and, in the second, it would lead to 
 misintei-pretation of particular passages. The Christians in the- 
 East were averse to the use of points ; but for no better reason, 
 than because the Mohammedans were superstftiously attached to 
 them ; and the object was, to promote the rehgious improvement, 
 not of the former, but of the latter. In conclusion, Mr. Clarke 
 recommended that the Society should engage to take a given 
 number of copies of the Newcastle Bible, and to defray the whole 
 expense of them, provided it w^ere printed with points, either 
 throughout, or at least in those places where they should be 
 found necessary to fix the sense. A meeting of the Oriental 
 Sub- Committee of the Bible Society was held on the 21st of 
 January, 1807, to the other members of which Mr. Clarke, being 
 prevented by illness from being present, addressed a long letter 
 on the subject of their dehberations. Taking it for granted that 
 an Arabic Bible was to be printed, he discussed the question of 
 what copy or copies should be used. With a minuteness of de- 
 tail evincing the most extensive knowledge, he enumerated the 
 various Arabic versions of parts, or of the whole, of the Scrip- 
 tures, stating the peculiar merits and defects of each. He then 
 pointed out those which it. would be safest to follow in printing 
 the various books of each Testament, recommending a careful 
 collation of the whole with some of the most ancient manuscripts. 
 He deprecated any direct attack upon the Mohammedan religion, 
 as calculated to excite the indignation of its professors, instead 
 of removing their prejudices, advising that there should be pre- 
 fixed to the work a mild address, relative to the integrity of the 
 Old and New Testament, which integrity the Mohammedans 
 deny, asserting that the Jews have corrupted the former, and the 
 Cluistians the latter. He concluded by saying, " In such prefa- 
 tory discourse particular attention should be paid to explain the 
 terms, Father, when appHed to God ; Son of God, when applied 
 to Jesus Christ ; and sons and daughters of God, when applied 
 to behevers. If possible, let these forms of expression be vindi- 
 cated from the Koran, and from Arabic theological and poetical 
 writers. I hope this will not appear of small moment to the 
 Committee, as I have often witnessed that the use of these terms 
 fills conscientious Mohammedans, with terror, as they are not 
 yet persuaded that we do not use them in their grossest accejita- 
 tion." 
 
 Hearing that the letter, of which the foregoing extract forms 
 
134 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 a part, had been submitted to Lord Teignmouth, Mr. Clarke 
 addi'essed liis Lordship on the subject, adding several particulars 
 to what he had abeady stated concerning the relative value of 
 different Arabic editions, and concluding by again strenuously 
 advocating the adoption of the points, which he recommended 
 Mr. Keene, a young gentleman then recently returned from India, 
 and who had been educated in Fort William College, as well 
 qualified to affix. 
 
 To this letter Mr. Clarke received a reply from Lord Teign- 
 mouth, in which his Lordship speaks of his (Mr. Clarke's) re- 
 marks, both to himself and to the Oriental Committee, as having 
 
 thrown great hght upon a subject which he had so thoroughly 
 considered ; and informs him that he is engaged in a coiTespon- 
 dence with Dr. Ford, of Oxford, who had been requested to say 
 whether he would undertake, for a suitable remuneration, to 
 superintend and correct an edition of the Arabic Bible for the 
 Society, and to give his opinion upon the text wliich ought to be 
 employed, with his judgment upon Mr. Clarke's letter." 
 
 The publication of a New Testament in the Calmuc dialect 
 having been resolved upon, the preparation of types was implicitly 
 confided to Mr. Clarke's superintendence. For this pui-pose he 
 constructed a scale of sorts, proving, from the nature of the lan- 
 guage, from the different styles of Matthew and Luke, of Paul 
 and John, of James and the Apocalpyse, that the letter alif, 
 must occur so many thousand times, the letter heth so many 
 thousands, and so of all the rest in their different foiTU of initial, 
 medial, and final ; and then submitted it to Lord Teignmouth 
 and the Committee. The preparation of this scale, which was 
 executed with singular beauty, required much care and knowledge, 
 and consumed considerable time : indeed, liis lordsliip declared 
 he " had never seen anything so complete in his life, and thought 
 the labour sufficient to turn the brain of any human being." 
 This being done, ]\Ir. Clarke had punches cut, matrices struck, 
 and a fount cast according to his model. The t^-pes were after- 
 wards forwarded to the missionaries at Karass, with a specimen 
 by Mr. Clarke, of the manner in which they should be used. 
 " On this subject," says he, " and on that of the translation, a 
 very interesting coiTespondence took place between the late Dr. 
 Bmnton and myself. The Testament was printed under liis 
 revision and correction at the foot of Mount Caucasus. When 
 it was proposed to print the Turkish Bible by the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society, the Dutch Government was applied to for 
 the loan of what was supposed to be a most excellent translation 
 existing in a manuscript in the pubhc library at Leyden, and it 
 was intimated that the late Baron Von Diez, who had long been 
 Plenipotentiary from the Court of Berhn to the Ottoman Porte, 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 135 
 
 would superintend the printing, &c., and I was requested to cor- 
 respond with the Baron on the suhject. I did so ; and this gave 
 birth to some very interesting communications. The Baron 
 Von Diez dying, the Leyden manuscript was sent to some person 
 in Paris, recommended by Baron de Sacy; and what became of 
 the business, I never heard."* 
 
 Besides his other exertions in connexion with the Bible Society, 
 Mr. Clarke was instrumental in the publication of a New Testa- 
 ment in Greek, the modem and the ancient Greek being, at his 
 recommendation, printed in parallel columns. He likewise as- 
 sisted Mr. (now Professor) Lee in completing the Syriac New 
 Testament, upon which Dr. Buchanan was gratuitously engaged 
 at the time of his lamented death. 
 
 For these various services, which had involved a considerable 
 sacrifice of time and labour, the Committee presented Mr. Clarke 
 with a gratuity of £60 ; which, however, he speedily returned, in 
 the following letter, the sentiments of which do honour to human 
 nature : — 
 
 " Citij-Road, June 20, 1807. 
 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " With respect and gi-atitude I return the fifty pounds which 
 have been kindly sent me by the Committee of the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society. 
 
 " To no principle from whence my services proceeded, to no 
 
 * In 1825, the attention of the friends of the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society was much engrossed, by a controversy which had arisen respecting 
 the merits of a Turkish version of the New Testament, that had made its 
 appearance under the sanction of the Society, and the supervision of Pro- 
 fessor Lee, of Cambridge. Dr. Clarke's opinion on the subject having been 
 sohcited by a hiend, he thus writes : — " I know scarcely anything of the 
 controversy you mention. I never saw anything Professor Lee wrote on 
 the Turkish Testament ; nor have I seen Dr. Henderson's book. I had left 
 London before these things took place. I fear many of the translations 
 which have been foiTned by missionaries, have been hastily done. There 
 is not a man under heaven, that, after spending two or three years in 
 learning a difficult Asiatic language, is capable of translating the Scriptures 
 into that language. From my little knowledge, I know some, where, for 
 want of a proper philological knowledge of the tongue, the translations are 
 in several instances false, ridiculous, and nonsensical. I have gained myself 
 enemies by hinting these things to those who refused to be on their guard. 
 I have earnestly begged committees not to depend on persons slightly 
 versed in different tongues for the translating of the Scriptures. ' Let 
 them,' said I, ' write and publish tracts, and do all they can in this way, 
 till, by much reading and conversation with the natives, they learn the 
 difficult idioms, government, and collocations of words and phrases,' &c. 
 This advice was allowed to be excellent ; but ' a translation was wanted, 
 and, as it was likely to go through many editions, they could correct and 
 revise, till it would be faultless.' True ; but, while this is going on, what 
 has become of God's honour and the purity of his word?" The truth of 
 this representation has often been proved in the history of modem missions. 
 
1.3G 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 feeling of my heart can I reconcile the acceptance of the Society's 
 bounty. What I have done was for the sake of God and his 
 truth ; and I feel myself greatly honoured in having a part in 
 this blessed work, and only regi'et that I have but a short time 
 to devote to so useful an employment. To have in any measure 
 deserved the respectful attention with which my feeble sei^vices 
 have been honoured by the Committee, is a subject of sufficient 
 gratification to my mind, and brings with it the amplest remu- 
 neration. 
 
 God forbid that I should receive any of the Society's funds : 
 let tliis money, therefore, return to its source ; and, if it be the 
 instrument of carrying but one additional Bible to any place, or 
 family, pre\dously destitute of the words of eternal life, how much 
 reason shall I have to thank God that it never became part of my 
 property ! 
 
 " Have the goodness to assure the Committee of my perfect 
 readiness, whether present or absent, to promote, as far as my 
 time and abihties \vill permit, the great objects of this most 
 benevolent association, which like the apocalyptic angel, is flying 
 through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to 
 preach to every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue. 
 
 " With best respects to the Commitee, I am. Gentlemen, your 
 very affectionate fellow-labourer in the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, 
 
 ''ADAM CLAKKE. 
 
 " To Messrs. Keyner and Mills." 
 
 " Gratuitous exertions in the cause of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society,'' says the Rev. J. Owen, in his History of that 
 institution, " and refusals to accept pecuniary returns, have 
 abounded so greatly in every period of its history, that it is not 
 intended, nor would it indeed be practicable, to specify the occa- 
 sions on which they have been made. Dr. Clarke is, however, 
 not to be classed with ordinary benefactors." 
 
 It was impossible that he could produce works of so much 
 research as those which have been already noticed, or occupy 
 himself on those which had yet to be completed, without attract- 
 ing the attention of his learned contemporaries. The celebrated 
 Professor Porson was one of his hterary friends, and entertained 
 a high opinion of liis learning and abilities. A mutual friend 
 requested the Professor to interpose with the heads of King's 
 College, Aberdeen, in order to procure Mr. Clarke the diploma 
 of M.A. As soon as he heard of it, he wrote to the Professor, 
 that the request had been made entirely without his knowledge, 
 and added, " I have such high notions of literary merit, and the 
 academical distinctions to wliich it is entitled, that I could not in 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 137 
 
 conscience take, or cause to be taken, in my own behalf, any 
 step to possess the one or to assume the other. Everything of 
 this kind should come, not only unbought, but unsolicited. I 
 should as soon think of being learned by proxy, as of procuring 
 academical honours by influence ; and, could one farthing pur- 
 chase me the highest degree under the sun, I would not give it." 
 But it was too late to remonstrate ; for, at the close of the month 
 in wliich the preceeding hues were written, January, 1807, he 
 received a letter from his friend. Professor Bentley, announcing 
 to him, that, on his motion, seconded by Mr. Scott, promoter in 
 the faculty, the University and King's College, Aberdeen, had, 
 on that day (January 31), conferred upon him (Mr. Clarke) .the 
 degree of Master of Arts, as " Member of the Philological Society 
 of Manchester, and author of several Hterary works of merit." 
 Professor Bentley concluded by remarking, that he did not con- 
 sider this as the measure of his friend's merit, but only as a step, 
 and that, " while he Uved, he should not cease to endeavour to 
 promote his honour and fame." It was not long before these 
 efforts proved successful ; for, in March, 1808, Mr. Clarke, with- 
 out any previous intimation of the intended honour, received a 
 letter from his learned friend, congratulating him upon having 
 received, by the unanimous vote of the Senatus Academicus of 
 the University of Aberdeen, the highest designation in its gift — 
 that of LL. D. In acknowledging this new literary honour, in a 
 letter to the Principal, Dr. Clarke observed, " Were even other 
 motives wanting, this would induce me to pay such respect to 
 every part of my moral and literary conduct, that, if no act of 
 mine could honour, none should discredit, a University which 
 has been the Alma Mater of some of the first characters in the 
 Kepubhc of Letters." The two diplomas of M.A. and LL.D. 
 were sent to Mr. Clarke in the most honourable and flattering 
 manner, the College refusing to accept even the customary clerk's 
 fees. 
 
 Among the numerous friends that Mr. Clarke had gained be- 
 yond the pale of his own community, was Mr. (afterwards Dr.) 
 Kobert Morrison, who, in the year 1807, first left this country 
 for China. With that excellent man, laborious missionary, and 
 respectable scholar, Mr. Clarke carried on a correspondence, to 
 their mutual advantage, for many years ; for, while Mr. Morri- 
 son's accounts of China and its inhabitants were matters of great 
 interest to the inquisitive mind of Mr. Clarke, his intelligence 
 concerning the progress of literature and religion at home, was 
 equally acceptable to the voluntary exile. It would too much 
 extend this narrative to make quotations from this correspon- 
 dence ; but it is worthy of remark, that Mr. Morrison, who ad- 
 dresses his friend in the primitive style of Dear Brother," con- 
 
138 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 eludes liis first letter in these words, " Be particular in not 
 attaching Rev. to my name." 
 
 At the Conference of 1807, which was held in Liverpool, Mr. 
 Clarke projected a plan of benevolence, which, having been exa- 
 mined, was ordered to he printed in the Minutes, and in the 
 Magazine, together with an addi'ess to the members and fiiends 
 of the Methodist Societies, sohciting subscriptions, which ad- 
 dress ^Ir. Clarke w^as requested to draw up. The proposition 
 was, that an asylum, or a college, should be erected in the vici- 
 nity of some large town, healthily situated, where the necessaries 
 of hfe might be had cheap, for the reception of superannuated 
 preachers, and the widows of those who had died in our Lord's 
 work." In numerous proposed rules, pro\dsion was made against 
 the possible abuse of such an institution. But, not, certainly, 
 to the credit of the Methodist societies, tliis excellent scheme, 
 which reflects so much honour on the promoter, was altogether 
 unsuccessful ; and many a widow, whose husband's life was pre- 
 maturely sacrificed upon the altar of Wesleyan Methodism, has 
 been allowed to struggle with poverty, unaided by those who 
 ought to have gladly supphed her every need. 
 
CHAPTEK X. 
 
 Dr. Clarke is engaged hy the Commissioners of Public Records to complete 
 Rymer^s Fcedera — Opinions of his Brethren on the subject — Draws up an 
 Elssay on the Work — Is appointed a Sub -Commissioner — Sportive Letter 
 to the Rev. Thomas Robei-ts — Dr. Clarke'' s Account of his Labours under 
 the Commission — Extent of his Labours — A private Room, in the British 
 Museum is assigned him — Dr. darkens Associates — Errors and Imperfec- 
 tions of Rymer — Dr. Clarke repudiates the Letter of Vetus de Monte — His 
 Reasons — He pronounces it a Forgery by Longchamp, Bishop of Ely — 
 Dr. Clarke advises the Omission of Acts of Oblivion — He is appointed 
 Librarian of the Surrey Institution — He negociates the Sale to the Nation 
 of Sir Andrew Mitchell's Papers — His Thoughts on Innovations in the 
 English Language — A Letter to his Daughter — His Controversy with the 
 Rev. T. Scott on the Septuagint — His Scheme for a New Edition of the 
 London Polyglott Bible — His List of Books for Oriental Translators of 
 the Scriptures — Delicate State of his Health — Becomes acquainted with 
 Miss Mary Freeman Shepherd — Account of that Lady — Anecdotes of 
 Cruden — Miss Shepherd's Letters to Dr. Clarke — On Accidents — On Pro- 
 selytism — On Charles Wesley's Son SamueVs Conversion to Popery — On 
 Imputed Righteousness — On the Trials of Job — On Jacod*and Esau — On 
 other Subjects — Miss Shepherd's Death — Dr. Clarke visits Ireland — His 
 Opinion of the Round Towers — The Scenes of his Childhood — He preaches 
 in a Church — And in a Socinian Chapel — Unreasonable Demands upon 
 him — His Benevolence — He holds the Irish Conference — Visits Maynooth — 
 Witnesses the Arrival of the Rebel General Gibbon — Death of Dr. Clarke's 
 Mother — He visits Cambridge — Assists at the Formation of an Auxiliary 
 to the Bible Society — Second Visit to Cambridge — Origin of the Idea of the 
 Pilgrim's Progress — Dr. Clarke visits Ireland again — Remarkable Con- 
 version of a young Lady from Popery — Dr. Clarke attends the Irish Con- 
 ference — Visits Oxford — Occupies the Apartments of Dr. John Uri — 
 Writes an Inscription on a Pane to his Memory — Unintermitted ministerial 
 and other Labours — Dr. Clarke is elected F.S.A. — His pleasant Style of 
 Letter-writing — He is elected a Member of the Historical Society of New 
 York — Assists in the Formation of the Wesleyan Missionary Society — 
 Becomes acquainted with Mr. Hugh Stuart Boyd — That Gentleman's 
 Essay on the Greek Article — Dr. Clarke's strong Conviction of the Truth 
 of the Scriptures. 
 
 The academical honours which had been conferred upon Dr. 
 Clarke, were as nothing, compared with those which, without his 
 knowledge, awaited him in the commencement of the year 1808. 
 In February of that year, he learned that he had been recom- 
 mended to the Commissioners of PubHc Records, by the Eight 
 Honourable Charles Abbott, the Speaker of the House of Com- 
 mons, and one of the Commissioners, as a fit person to undertake 
 the office of collecting and arranging those State Papers which 
 
140 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 might serve to complete and continue Eymer's Foedera. This de- 
 partment had lain unoccupied from the date of the Commission, 
 a period of seven years, none being found wilHng, or, if willing, 
 qualified, to fill it ; and yet the completion and continuation of 
 that work was one of the principal objects for which the Cmmission 
 had issued. Mr. John Caley, the Secretary to the Commission, was 
 appointed to negociate with Dr. Clarke ; and they met at Mr. But- 
 terwoith's. 'Mi. Caley disclosed the object for which he sought the 
 interview ; but, as he was not then at liberty to specify what it was 
 in which, to use the words of Dr. Clarke, " liis Majesty's Govem- 
 * ment could employ so obscure an indi\ddual as himself," he was 
 obhged to be content with a conditional answer, in which he was 
 informed, that, if there was any way in which, in addition to his 
 present sacred duties, he (Dr. Clarke) could serve liis king and his 
 country, it must be his duty to embrace it. This, however, was 
 of course received as a favourable answer ; and, in a few days, 
 Mr. Caley personally communicated to him the precise nature of 
 the duties which were expected from him, adding that the Com- 
 missioners desired him to begin by drawing up an Essay on the 
 work. Dr. Clarke, sui'prised at the nature of the labour marked 
 out for liim, endeavoui'ed to excuse himself, by alleging, that, 
 however wiUing, he was not quahfied to perform it. At this the 
 well-instructed Secretary smiled incredulously, and, by promises 
 of all the assistance in his power, encouraged liim to begin the task. 
 
 Before acceding to the flattering proposal. Dr. Clarke consulted 
 his ministerial brethren on the subject. The following is liis 
 account of their different opinions : — " Some said, ' It will 
 prevent your going on in the work of the ministiy.' Others, * It 
 is a trick of the Devil to prevent your usefulness.' Others, ' It 
 may rather be a call of Divine Providence to greater usefulness 
 than formerly ; and, seeing you compromise nothing by it, and 
 may still preach, &c., as usual, accept it, in God's name.' 
 Others, ' If Mr. Wesley were alive, he would consider it a call 
 of God to you ; and so close in with it without hesitation.' " 
 Though the majority were iu favour of his accepting the 
 onerous, though honourable post, assigned him ; yet, as some 
 entertained an opinion that it was a trick of Satan, Dr. Clarke's 
 indisposition to the work was increased rather than otherwise. 
 
 The reluctance of the Doctor was at length so far overcome, 
 that he began the Essay required, fully determined, however, to 
 proceed no further than to its completion. This document, when 
 completed, received the unqualified approbation of the Commis- 
 sioners, who, regardless of the author's wishes to retire from a 
 labour to which he felt liimself unequal, immediately made him 
 a Sub-Commissioner, assigning him the department of collating 
 the required State Papers, with power to engage assistants. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 141 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Thomas Roberts, of Bath, dated March 
 2Gth, 1808, we find a sportive account of some of tlie difficulties 
 of his novel situation. The required essay on " the best mode 
 of cai-rying into effect a compilation from unedited and latent 
 records, to form a supplement and continuation to Rymer's 
 Foedera," was to be produced in fourteen days. " These re- 
 cords," writes the Doctor to his old friend, " were to be found in, 
 — 1. The British Museum 2. The Tower. 3. The Chapter 
 House, Westminster. 4. The Rolls' Chapel. 6. The State 
 Paper Office. 6. The Privy Council Office. 7. The Signet 
 Office. It was in vain my saying I did not know the contents 
 of these repositories, and could not describe, and had not now 
 time to examine, them : write I must. ' The Commissioners 
 have desired you to prepare this essay.' Well, I thought, for 
 tlie honour of my God, and for the credit of people, I will 
 put my shoulder to a wheel deeply stuck in the mud, and raise it 
 if I can. To do anything to effect, I must examine sixty folio 
 volumes, with numerous collateral evidences, and write on a sub- 
 ject (Diplomatics) on which I had never tried my pen, and in 
 circumstances, too, the most unfiiendly, as I was employed in 
 the Quarterly Visitation of the Classes during the whole time ! 
 I thought, I prayed, I read ; and, like John Bunyan, * I pulled, 
 and, as I pulled, it came.' To be short, my essay was completed, 
 and sent in to the Commissioners, this day se'nnight. At the 
 same time, I sent them word, that I was an ' Itinerant Preacher 
 among the people called Methodists, lately under the direction of 
 the Rev. J. Wesley, deceased.' Mr. Buttenvorth, and Mr. 
 Creighton, thought it was one of the completest things of the 
 kind ever drawn up. As soon as the Speaker, who is the soul of 
 the Record Commission, heard that the essay was done, he sent 
 for it from the Secretary. What impression it made on him I 
 cannot justly say, and cannot yet fully know, as the Annual 
 Meeting of the Commissioners was yesterday. But the Secretary 
 called on Mr. Butterworth on Tuesday, and said, ' Mr. Butter- 
 worth, I can give you no official information concerning Dr. 
 Clarke's Essay, as the Commissioners have not yet sat ; but I 
 can say to you sub silefitio, that it will be received favourably ; 
 yes, Mr. Butterworth, I can say in confidence that it will be 
 received veiy favourably.' " 
 
 Such an account of Dr. Clarke's labours as a Sub -Commis- 
 sioner of Public Records, as might give an adequate idea of their 
 importance and extent, would require more space than can be 
 afforded to this part of his history. Of his labours under 
 Government, Dr. Clarke has given the following brief general 
 account : — " The department of the Foedera was not the 
 only work to which I was obliged to attend, during the time 
 
142 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 I acted under this Commission. I had to methodise and 
 arrange the collections of persons who were employed in 
 other departments ; and the state of the transcripts, wliich 
 were sometimes on had paper, and generally in a careless 
 hand, afforded me great pei-plexity and trouhle. When such 
 were sent in to the Commissioners, out of wliich they could make 
 nothing, without such a consumption of time as would ill com- 
 port with their office ; the recommendation of Lords Colchester 
 and Glenhervie used to conclude the business : — ' Let them he 
 sent to Dr. Clarke : he will arrange and describe them.' I was 
 also employed to make general searches through all the records 
 of the nation, relative to the Licentia Regis, necessary for the 
 cim-ency of papal bulls, especially such as affected the King's 
 prerogative, or the privileges or safety of the nation. Tliis was 
 a laborious seai'ch ; but the fruits of it produced a mass of e^-i- 
 dence relative to the continual exertions of the Papal See to 
 seize on all the power, secular as well as ecclesiastical, of the 
 British empire, and to make the Pai'liament its tool, and the 
 King its deputy." 
 
 In another place he says, " The work was to collect from all 
 the archives of the United Kingdom, all authentic state papers, 
 from the Conquest to the accession of George III. ; to arrange 
 and illustrate them in fi'equent reports to the Eight Hon. His 
 Majesty's Commissioners on the Public Records of the Kingdom, 
 for the pm-pose of ' completing and continuing that collection of 
 state papers called " Rymer's Poedera," ' of which I have earned 
 nearly four volumes foho tlnough the press. Many endeavom'ed 
 to carp at the work ; but their teeth were broken in their attempt 
 to gnaw the file." 
 
 At the recommendation of Dr. Clarke, the time allowed for 
 the work was considerably enlarged ; and it was resolved, that, 
 instead of beginning with the reign of the first Henn^ and 
 closing ^^dth the Revolution, it should extend from the NoiTQan 
 conquest to the accession of the third George, the period em- 
 braced by the Foedera being that comprised between Hemy I. 
 and the first six years of Charles II. dming the Usurpation. 
 
 The Board of Commissioners approved of the plan of proceed- 
 ing suggested by Dr. Clarke in his Essay, from which it appears 
 that more than tvdce as many repositories as he enumerated in 
 his letter to Mr. Roberts, had been searched, for documents not 
 included bv Rymer, or wliich might be necessary for the continu- 
 ation of his work ; and that all of them afforded materials for the 
 supplement, or the continuation, or for both, the old Enghsh 
 annahsts and historians being among the number ; for, though 
 Rvmer had derived considerable aid from them, yet there re- 
 mained many valuable instruments, the originals of which had 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 disappeared. A synopsis, subjoined to the Essay, was returned 
 to Dr. Chirke, to be filled up as by him proposed, for the pur- 
 pose of completing the specimen, from the Conquest to the end 
 of the reign of John ; and the Secretary of the Commission was 
 directed to procure liim admission to the several public offices 
 and libraries which it might be nc^ccssai-y to consult. The Com- 
 missioners further ordered, that " Dr. Adam Clarke should pre- 
 pare a scheme for the first volume of the Supplement to Rymer, 
 and for the first volume of the continuation ; specifying, in liis 
 synopsis, all the articles which he may propose to insert." 
 
 On receiving these orders, Dr. Clarke again expressed to Mr. 
 Caley his doubts of being able to accomphsh the task ; but he 
 proceeded. He had not long been engaged in making researches 
 in the British Museimi, when he foimd that neither would the 
 liours during wliich the reading-rooms were open, comport with 
 his ministerial and other official engagements ; nor could he and 
 his assistants prosecute their labours in the presence of other 
 students, with the quiet necessary to profound study. A private 
 room was consequently assigned him. 
 
 In communicating to the Speaker his desire to examine the 
 ancient Irish records,* because he believed that the historians of 
 that countr}^ had dealt much in idle legends, to the probable 
 exclusion of instruments of gi'eat diplomatic importance. Dr. 
 Clarke repeated his doubts of his ability to fulfil the desii'es of 
 the Commissioners. " I wish," he said, to exert myself to the 
 utmost, to provide materials to supply all deficiencies in the 
 Foedera, fi^om the Noiman conquest to the death of King John : 
 further than this, I dare not at present engage, lest both my 
 health and abiUties should be found inadequate to the task. I 
 deeply feel the responsibility of my situation : I am to labour, 
 not only for my own credit (that is a feather in the business), 
 but for the honour of the Record Commission, and for that of 
 the nation. By long studies, disadvantageously circumstanced, 
 &c., and by the very severe duties of my office, which I have un- 
 remittedly filled up for twenty-eight years ; I am, at the age of 
 forty-six, considerably worn down ; and cannot bear, without 
 present injury, even one-half of that fatigue which I formerly 
 passed tlirough without feeling the burden. It is on this gi-ound 
 
 * Dr. Clarke visited Ireland twice for the piu-pose of examining- the 
 registers of that part of the United Kingdom. He examined all the depo- 
 sitories of public records, and considered it fortunate that the Commission 
 had been extended to that countrj'. Dispersion and destruction had already 
 made rapid progi-ess; but, through the talents and indu.stry of the Com- 
 missionei-s, order was beginning to arise out of confusion. Some of those 
 state papers which Dr. Clarke brought to England, were found iu the libraries 
 of private gentlemen, owing, probably, to the long-disturbed state of the 
 country. 
 
144 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 alone, that I beg leave, Sir, to say, that, though I shall pursue 
 my present task with as much zeal and dihgence as possible ; 
 yet, if any proper person offer himself, for tliis important work, 
 on whose fitness and strength dependence may be reasonably 
 placed, I hope the Right Hon. the Commissioners will forget me 
 in the business, and readily employ that adequate person." 
 
 But no such person made his appearance ; and, notwithstand- 
 ing his misgivings, his injured health, and a variety of impedi- 
 ments, Dr. Clarke proceeded with the work. Much delay was 
 occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Jannion, the Doctor's 
 assistant. This able and well-informed young man, possessing 
 a fine classical taste and a great thirst for learning, became dis- 
 gusted with the barbarous and unentertaining documents which 
 it was his business to copy ; and some time elapsed before a fit 
 successor could be found. At length. Dr. Steinhauer was 
 engaged, a man whose learning and dihgence well qualified him 
 for the work ; but he had undermined his constitution by early 
 application to study ; and, being overtaken by misfortunes, was 
 carried off by dropsy in the chest, a short time after liis associ- 
 ation with Dr. Clarke. To him immediately succeeded Mr. F. 
 H. Holbrooke, who continued Dr. Clarke's assistant as long as 
 he himself remained under the Commission, and has since greatly 
 assisted in carrying on the work. 
 
 The result of Dr. Clarke's laborious and rigid inquiiies was to 
 convince him of the necessity for deviating considerably from the 
 original plan ; and, instead of furnishing a supplement to Rymer, 
 for printing an entirely new edition of his work. It became 
 evident that his labours were imperfect in several respects ; but 
 particularly in so far as he had included some documents of 
 doubtful authority, to the exclusion of others, the authenticity of 
 which was as clear as their importance was great. The Doctor 
 communicated his new plan to the Commissioners, from whom he 
 received immediate orders to prepare the first volume of a new 
 edition of Rymer accordingly ; and he was also desired to pro- 
 pose a plan for can-ying on the continuation concurrently. 
 
 One of those documents which, though they had passed cur- 
 rent with Rymer, were repudiated by Dr. Clarke as unworthy of 
 credit, was, the Letter of Vetus de Monte, or the Old Man of the 
 Mountain, to Leopold, Duke of Austria, exculpating Richard 1. 
 from the murder of the Marquis of Montferrat. Tliis occurred 
 in Rymer, under the year 1192. The story was, that the Mar- 
 quis was murdered by two of the desperate followers of that chief 
 of the Hassanian dynasty, who had disguised themselves like 
 Christian monks, and stabbed him in the streets of Tyre, when 
 returning from dining with the Bishop of Beauvais ; that they 
 were immediately seized and put to the most excruciating torture, 
 
1)11. ADAM Cr.AKKK 
 
 145 
 
 but tlijit tliey suffered deiitli witliont making niiy confession ; and 
 that, as our liicliard 1. was then at open variance with the Mar- 
 quis, the suspicion of many of the princes of the Crusade fell 
 heavily upon him; whi(^h reaching the ears of the Old Man 
 of the Mountain, he addiessed the letter to Leopold, Duke of 
 Austria. 
 
 But the result of Dr. Clarke's researches and reasoning's was 
 to throw considerable doubt upon this mode of establishing the 
 authenticity of the document. In the first place, he found it 
 totally devoid of any internal evidence to prove that it originated 
 with the Arab chief. Brompton, from whom Rymer appears to 
 have copied it, gravely informs us, that it was obtained from 
 Vetus de Monte by means of a legation from Richard ; but, as 
 he makes it conclude with the Papal benediction, " Bene valete," 
 we must either suppose that he has corrupted it, or that it is a 
 forgery. The fact is, that a crafty Churchman was the real 
 writer. Dr. Clarke discovered it in the Imagines Historiarum of 
 Ralph de Diceto, who, in 1181, was Dean of St. Paul's, and who 
 declares that he received it from William Longchamp, Bishop of 
 Ely, with the desire that he would insert it among his Chronicles. 
 " This letter," says Dr. Clarke, " now rests with the Bishop of 
 Ely ; and I believe it will be impossible to trace it from him to 
 Mount Lebanon. He was a Norman of mean extraction, who 
 had address sufficient to enable him to gain the confidence of 
 King Richard ; so that we find him consecrated Bishop of Ely, 
 made Chancellor, and Papal Legate, all in one year (1189), the 
 first year of Richard's accession ; who, when he went to the Holy 
 Land, left him Regent of the kingdom, in conjunction with the 
 Bishop of Durham and five others. Behaving himself insolently 
 in this office, he was deprived of the Regency in 1191 ; but was 
 afterwards, in 1108, restored by the King, whom he visited while 
 prisoner at Vienna, and by whom he was invariably supported 
 against all his adversaries. He sent the Sheikh's letter to Ralph 
 de Diceto, probably in the year 1198, after he had returned from 
 his visit to the King at Vienna ; it being highly necessary to 
 vindicate the character of his sovereign and friend, from being 
 accessory to the murder of the Marquis of Montferrat, with 
 which he was loudly charged in every court of Europe ; and the 
 more necessary at this time, when an immense sum of money 
 (100,000 marks) must be raised for the King's ransom, from 
 his already impoverished subjects." 
 
 Besides those instruments which were deficient in authority, 
 Dr. Clarke recommended the omission of others, which, on 
 various accounts, he deemed inadmissible. Among these were 
 the royal acts of oblivion. " To publish such pardons," he 
 observes, " with the names of the persons at full length, where 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the families still remain, is a prosecution much more dreadful 
 than that which the royal clemency had disarmed : it is a visiting 
 the crimes of the parents upon their children, not only to the 
 third and fourth, but in many cases to the twentieth generation, 
 and can be of no use to the state." But, if all faults were sup- 
 pressed, the publication of which might give pain to the de- 
 scendants or sumving friends of those concerned in them, the 
 details of history would be exceedingly imperfect, and many 
 valuable lessons of warning and instruction be lost to mankind. 
 
 Among those documents wliich, having been omitted by 
 Eymer, were incorporated by Dr. Clarke in his new edition of the 
 Foedera, were many curious letters of 'Mary Queen of Scots, and 
 the Magna Chaita, and Charta de Foresta, and the modifications, 
 explanations, and enlargements, which they undenvent in various 
 reigns, with all the series of state instruments to which they gave 
 rise. 
 
 In the execution of his Herculean task. Dr. Clarke encoun- 
 tered much labour and many difficulties. He was not always 
 seconded efficiently, many instruments and state papers being 
 copied with such reprehensible carelessness, as gi-eatly to impair' 
 their authenticity ; and some so corrupted, that even conjectural 
 criticism could not restore them to common sense and con- 
 sistency. After labouring much at several of such, which, had 
 they been correct, would have been of great importance, the 
 Doctor, not being able to discover the originals, was obhged to 
 throw them aside. 
 
 Having given a succinct and unbroken account of Dr. 
 Clarke's labours under Government during several years of his 
 busy and eventful life, we must now return to the autumn of 1808, 
 at which period he had accomplished three years of ministerial 
 and pastoral labour in the London circuit. A careful economy 
 of time, the key to his success in whatever he undertook, was 
 that wliich enabled him to perform so many and such various 
 duties conjointly. Thus, while occupied with the discovery and 
 arrangement of national records, and with his Commentaiy, he 
 did not neglect his long-established practice of visiting the sick. 
 In such visits, he never lost sight of the proper object. Social 
 as he was in his disposition, in simply pastoral calls he uniformly 
 avoided the topics of general conversation. 
 
 With all his economy, however, he could not longer sustain so 
 great a weight of labour and responsibihty. Partly to gain some 
 degree of rest, and partly to obhge his relative, Mr. Buttei-worth, 
 he was induced to become the Librarian of the Sun-ey Insti- 
 tution ; but he took no pleasure in the office, and resigned at the 
 tenniiiation of a year, refusing to accept any remuneration for 
 his services. The Managers, as a mark of respect, constituted 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKii. 
 
 147 
 
 him Honorary Librarian during the existence of the Insti- 
 tution. 
 
 From the subjoined letter to Mr. M'Nicoll, we may infer, 
 that that gentleman had engaged in Dr. Chirke's defence on some 
 point of annoyance to which the Doctor had been exposed from 
 some quarter of which we are now ignorant, and long since, no 
 doubt, forgotten by all parties. 
 
 " Surrey Institution, 
 Blackfriars Bridge, Sept. 21th, 1808. 
 
 ** Dear Davy, 
 
 " You will perceive from a letter that you have lately 
 received from a certain person, and of which I only heard last 
 night, that my way is not likely to be more comfortable than I 
 apprehended. But I assure you, I feel little, very little, on the 
 account: my heart is, in some measure, callous on this subject. 
 I intend to take very Uttle notice of the business, and to go on 
 my way. He sent me a copy of your answer to his letter, wliich 
 both Mary and I thought a very proper one, and were astonished 
 to find that a great man like him should employ his time about 
 such trifles. But into how many Httlenesses must we run while 
 we are determined to maintain our claim to infallibility ! 
 
 " Have you the * Life of Bunyan' ready ? They will need it 
 in a fortnight at the utmost. Do it speedily, and do it in a 
 Johnsonian manner. I will take care that you shall get twopence 
 halfpenny for it,* if you do it well. Now, do not disappoint 
 them : if you do, all the blame will fall on me. 
 
 I have scarcely got one-half of my books unpacked yet ; and, 
 indeed, I have not room to lay them by. I have been buying 
 books for the Institution, and getting my family a little settled. 
 I long much to see you ; and, if I could get anybody to go with 
 me, I should certainly pay you a visit soon. I hope you have 
 got through all the crooks in your lot before this time. Dinna 
 tyne haist, mon ; else aw's gane. 
 
 " Study yourself half to death, and pray yourself wholly to Hfe. 
 Do something that you can look at, something that will be worth 
 
 * About this time, Dr. Clarke had engaged Mr. M'NicoU to write a short 
 " Life of Bunyan" for one of ihe booksellers. On receiving a proof sheet, Dr. 
 Clarke affixed the following subscription : " Portsmouth, Nov., David 
 M'NicoLL." " After this," says the Doctor, " I have added a Postscript, say- 
 ing, that you ' have done the work, in the main, much to my satisfaction, and, 
 I hope, to the satisfaction of every intelligent reader.' Mr. Cundee is well 
 pleased with it, and earnestly wishes you to write a few notes on the ' Progress,' 
 which he may print in a sheet or twaat the conclusion. I said I would 
 advise you to it, which I hereby do. You must do this speedily, and then 
 I shall announce your name on the title-page ; and, go to, you will be then 
 dubbed an author." 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 having when you are not worth a rush. You have tenfold better 
 abihties than I ever had ; and greater advantages, for the time, 
 from reading, I declare, I think, if I had your abihties, I would 
 dig, water, manure, lop off, tie up, lead along, &c., till my garden 
 should blossom and bloom hke the rose, and my whole ground be 
 like Carmel. 
 
 " Mary joins me in heartiest love, as do all the lads and Anna. 
 You must run up some day and see us. 
 
 " Yours, my dear Davy, 
 
 "Very affectionately, 
 
 "A. CLARKE." 
 
 During the year 1808, Dr. Clarke had the satisfaction of 
 negociating the sale to the nation of the private papers of Sir 
 Andrew Mitchell, who was plenipotentiary to the court of 
 Frederick of Prussia during the seven years' war. They were 
 purchased by the trustees of the Cottonian Library for £400, 
 and Dr. Clarke took them himself in a coach to the British 
 Museum, where, according to the usual agreement in such cases, 
 they remained sealed up for thirty years ; in order that no indi- 
 viduals, nor states, might be injuriously involved in the secrets 
 of those transactions which they may have brought to hght. 
 Sir William Forbes, for whom Dr. Clarke managed the business, 
 being informed by his friend, Dr. Robert Eden Scott, that he 
 was above receiving remuneration for acts of that kind, pre- 
 sented liim with a copy of the Nova Reperta Inscriptionum 
 Antiquarum. 
 
 About this time, Dr. Clarke was in correspondence with the 
 Rev. James Creighton, the learned and pious author of a Dic- 
 tionary of the Scripture Proper Names, to which he prefixed 
 some excellent remarks respecting the Pronunciation, Etymology, 
 and Accentuation of the English language. In giving his opinion 
 on the production of his venerable friend, who also was the 
 friend of Mr. Wesley, Dr. Clarke entered into some valuable 
 critical remarks on the English language, in which he found 
 great fault with the names given to some of the letters in our 
 alphabet, and the sounds attributed to the different vowels. He 
 deplored, not only the innovation of fashion in pronunciation 
 and accentuation, but also the introduction of exotic words and 
 phrases. An extract may not be uninteresting to the reader. 
 " With you. Sir," observes Dr. Clarke to his reverend cor- 
 respondent, " I have long deplored the ravages made in our lan- 
 guage by the introduction of foreign terms, the injudicious mode 
 of accentuation, and the confused rapidity which has long pre- 
 vailed, and is still prevailing, in our pronunciation. Several of 
 our best writers have contributed to the debasement and meta- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 119 
 
 morpliosis of our language ; some by introducing Graecisms and 
 Latinisms, especially the latter ; and others by affected terms. 
 Dr. Johnson has formed a compound language, which may be 
 called Anglo-Latin ; and, in so doing, he has left nine-tenths of 
 the nation behind him, and greatly injured the nervous simplicity 
 of our language, while he has rendered it more sonorous. But, 
 indeed, such innovations in the English tongue set criticism at 
 defiance, as we have scarcely any standard by which alterations 
 and pretended improvements may be tried ; our present language 
 being a compound from all the languages of Europe." 
 
 He proceeds to observe upon "the depraved pronunciation 
 used even by the higher ranks, as well as at the bar, and on the 
 stage. If these," says he, " by their ridiculous mincing and 
 Frenchified modes, be ruining our language ; and the provinces 
 and counties are not far behind them, in sublime grammatical 
 corruption ; need we wonder if the vulgar herd deal by wholesale 
 in that which is gross ? " The letter concludes with some 
 arguments to prove that the continental scholars have alone the 
 true key to Latin pronunciation. 
 
 Mr. Creighton was at this time upon the verge of the grave, 
 as appears from a letter to Dr. Clarke, dated January 14, 1809, 
 in which he observes, " Though you have doubtless thought 
 often and seriously about death, yet, when you come to stand in 
 my cii'cumstances, you will probably see and feel in a difi'erent 
 manner from what you have ever done. I bless God, I have no 
 fear nor gloomy thought about me ; yet it is not what some call 
 ecstacy or triumph : my general expeiience has been a calm 
 internal peace, with a firai reliance on the promises of God, 
 through the merits of the atoning blood." " Work," he adds in 
 conclusion, while it is day ; and remember there is an evening 
 before night, when little can be done !" 
 
 The following is an interesting extract from a letter, dated 
 July 4, 1809, and addressed by Dr. Clarke to one of his 
 daughters at school : — Youth is the time, and the time alone, 
 in which learning can be attained. I find that I can now 
 remember very Httle but what I learned when I was young. I 
 have, it is true, acquired many things since ; but it has been with 
 great labour and difl&culty : and I find I cannot retain them, as 
 I can those things which I gained in my youth. Had I not got 
 rudiments and principles in the beginning, I should certainly 
 have made but little out in Hfe ; and it is often now a source of 
 regret to me that I did not employ that time as I might have 
 done, at least to the extent that my circumstances admitted ; but, 
 for my comparative non -improvement, I can make this apology, 
 — my opportunities were not of the most favourable kind ; for I 
 was left to explore my way nearly alone, and was never informed 
 
150 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 how I might make the best use of the understanding God had 
 given me." 
 
 Early in the year 1810, Dr. Clarke published a "Prospectus 
 of his intended Edition of the Old and New Testament, with 
 Notes," and in July following, the first part of this great work 
 was published. The publication of the prospectus called forth 
 rather a hasty attack by the late Rev. T. Scott, in the Christian 
 Observer, respecting Dr. Clarke's opimon that the " Septuagint 
 was the Version to which our blessed Lord, and his Apostles, 
 had constant recourse, and from which they made all their quo- 
 tations." Dr. Clarke replied in a letter to the editor of that 
 periodical. 
 
 Dr. Clarke was anxiously desirous for the pubHcation of a new 
 edition of the London Polyglott Bible " worthy of the national 
 munificence and the matured state of biblical learning." About 
 this time, in conjunction with the Piev. Josiah Pratt, the excellent 
 vicar of St. Stephen's, Coleman- street, he drew up a plan which 
 they communicated to a few literary friends. A meeting was 
 held by appointment, at the house of Lord Teignmouth, in Port- 
 man-square, which was attended by his Lordship himself. Dr. 
 Burgess, then Bishop of St. Da\dd's, Dr. Wilhams, of Eother- 
 ham, Mr. Professor Shakspeare, Ai'chdeacon Wrangham, the 
 Rev. Josiah Pratt, and Dr. Adam Clarke. It was agTced that 
 Dr. Adam Clarke should furnish a specimen sheet in royal foho, 
 and another in octavo, for more convenient distribution. These 
 were to be sent to the great men of the nation ; Lord Teignmouth 
 undertook to foi-ward one to each Lay Lord : the Bishop of St. 
 David's promised to furnish one to ever}^ Lord Spiritual ; and 
 Dr. A. Clarke, through the Speaker, to put one into the hands 
 of the different Members of His Majesty's Government. The 
 Plan was accordingly printed, and distributed ; and, at Dr. 
 Clarke's suggestion, the Bishops of the land were to be requested 
 to patronise and preside over the work, and to appoint all the 
 scholars who should be employed. All appeared in a fair train 
 for a successful issue. Some of the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
 poral entered warmly into the project ; and Dr. Clarke and Mr. 
 Pratt corresponded with different learned men on the continent, 
 engaging them to promise to undertake different departments in 
 the execution of the work. Several private gentlemen offered 
 most munificently to come forward with pecuniar}^ aid. Amongst 
 these were Dr. Wilhams, of Rotherham, who promised to give 
 ^£80 per annum, for seven years ; Mr. Spear, of Millbrook, J'50 
 per annum, for ditto ; and the late Joseph Butterworth, Esq., 
 ^50 for the same period, besides ^500 which he hberally pro- 
 mised towards the expenses of the first volume. But, alas ! 
 hke nearly all improvements which are entrusted to the care 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 151 
 
 of our Lords Spiritual and Temporal, it fell through between 
 them.* 
 
 In October, 1810, the Committee of the Bible Society having 
 requested Dr. Clarke to look out for such works as might be 
 eventually requisite to enable the Society's translators in India 
 to proceed with their hibours ; he drew up a list of more than 
 fifty articles under nine heads, and forwarded it to Mr. Owen, 
 the clerical secretary, describing them as works which must come 
 into eveiy question of general sacred criticism. Among the rest 
 was the Encyclopoedia Britannica ; for, as the subjects in the 
 Bible involve a great variety of questions in general science, he 
 judged a work of that kind indispensably necessary. The list 
 was sent back to him, through Mr. Pratt, as approved of, with a 
 request that he would procure all that he had recommended with 
 as much .speed as possible. But, before he had executed the 
 commission, he received a letter from Mr. Hughes, the lately 
 deceased secretary, and, indeed, the founder of the Society, 
 objecting to such authors as Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus. 
 It might be supposed that Dr. Clarke would have insisted upon 
 
 * That Dr. Clarke keenly felt the want of encouragement from the heads 
 of the Church, may be collected from the following extract of a letter written 
 by him in 1825 to Archdeacon Wrangham : — 
 
 " I am sorry that I can say nothing relative to the success of the Polyglott 
 project, in which I am sure you feel a warm interest. I was willing to have 
 done anything in my power, under the direction of the prelates of our 
 Church ; and a more willing slave they could not have found, and perhaps 
 I might add, none in the kingdom who better knew the work, and the best 
 and most effectual method of accomplishing it. But, having stood for 
 several years in the market-place, there is neither an employer nor a fellow- 
 workman to be found ; and with me it is now the eleventh hour, though I 
 have been standing, in reference to this work, since the early morning tide. 
 This to me is truly astonishing ; not that / am not employed, but that in the 
 era of Bibles, and translations of the Bible, a standard Polyglott work has 
 not been attempted by the British hierarchy. 
 
 "Had I been a clerg}man of the Church, I would have sounded an 
 alarm in the holy mountain, and have blown a long and strong blast on a 
 trumpet which should have given no uncertain sound ! If I had ever rea- 
 son to regret, in an especial manner, my not being in the orders of the 
 Church, it was on this account. I have often thought of urging my way to 
 the foot of the throne and laying the subject before the king. Tht re were 
 several that would have introduced me ; but I was afraid that the simple 
 circumstance of my being only a lay preacher, might have injured the busi- 
 ness which I wish to promote. Never can a more favourable era recur ; 
 money would have been amply found, and labourers also, had the proper 
 patronage appeared. Nothing was wanting but the suffrages of the bishops 
 and clergy of England; and, had they come forward, it would have been to 
 the endless good of the Church, and their lasting credit. But the sun of my 
 expectations is now set, and the help that I could have afforded, howsoever 
 little, will soon be past account, as I am now on the wrong side of threescore 
 years ! " 
 
152 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the correctness of his own opinion, confirmed .hy the sanction of 
 the Committee ; hut, on the contrar}^, he replied to Mr. Hughes, 
 " When I received your note, I sent immediately to Priestley, 
 and desired him to take those two works off the hill ; for I have 
 such a respect for your judgment, that I know few cases in which 
 I would not prefer it to my own." 
 
 From the same letter, we find that Dr. Clarke was gi-eatly 
 worn down hy severe affliction, both in his own person and in 
 his family. Mrs. Clarke had been apparently in the jaws of 
 death for some time past ; and this, added to the prostration of 
 his own strength and spirits, had brought him nearly to the sides 
 of the pit. "Through the mercy of God," he obsei^ves, "she 
 appears hkely to recover. As to myself", I find I must withdraw 
 from pul)hc life. I have been able to do but little, and that 
 little I can do no longer. Even the blessed British and Foreign 
 Bible Society I shall be obliged to relinquish ; but this will be 
 more my loss than that of the Society." It was some time, 
 however, before he succceeded in making his escape from 
 London. 
 
 During the year 1810, Dr. Clarke became personally ac- 
 quainted with that learned, but singular, character. Miss Mary 
 Freeman Shepherd, She was an Enghshwoman by birth, though 
 descended, on the maternal side, from the ancient and noble 
 house of the Falletti of Piedmont, fonnerly sovereign princes in 
 Italy. She had been educated in a convent at Rome, and was a 
 strict Roman Cathohc. She possessed a remarkably strong 
 mind, an extensive knowledge of languages, and a liberal ac- 
 quaintance ^vit\l general hterature. She was^ as fond of impart- 
 ing knowledge as she was of acquiring it, possessing at the same 
 time, that enthusiasm of spirit, and delightful facility of expres- 
 sion, which called forth the latent taste in her auditors, or created 
 it, if it did not previously exist. When she chanced to entertain 
 a pai-tiality for any young persons, she possessed a remarkable 
 power of attaching them to her. Her person was unwieldy, and 
 her manners were unpolished and even boisterous. In early hfe, 
 she had been engaged by Mr. WoodfaU as translator of the 
 Foreign Mails to the Public Advertiser.^ Though a Roman 
 
 •* From Miss Shepherd, Dr. Clarke received some particulars of the life 
 of Alexander Cmdei], which, as she was his colleague under Mr. Woodfall, 
 deserve credit. During five years, from 1754 to 1759, he corrected the 
 press, while she translated the foreign mails. The first edition of his con- 
 cordance was published in 1737, dedicated to Queen Caroline. Over- 
 powered by the labours of this most useful work, he became deranged, and 
 was placed' in an asylum at Hoxton ; but he was completely restored, and 
 enjoyed soundness of mind during the last twelve years of his life. In this 
 affliction he never lost the sense and the comfort of religion. For the 
 second edition of his hook he had £500, and £.'300 for the third. The por- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKK. 
 
 153 
 
 Catholic, she was so strongly attached to the Rev. J. Wesley, 
 that she would willingly have merged her name in his. She had 
 strong prejudices, not with reference to her religious creed only, 
 but on other subjects of opinion, as well as on points of doubtful 
 conduct. She felt a warm interest in the Jewish nation ; and, 
 while she allowed that they had indeed, denied the Holy One and 
 the Just, she confidently looked forward to the time when they 
 would acknowledge the truth as it is in Jesus, and be finally re- 
 stored to their own land. This remarkable woman was intro- 
 duced to Dr. Clarke by Miss Wesley, daughter of Mr. Charles 
 Wesley. ^ 
 
 Several letters passed between Miss Shepherd and Dr. Clarke ; 
 but, unfortunately, none of the Doctor's can be found — a loss 
 
 trait prefixed to those editions is exact, both in likeness and in costume. 
 Through Sir Eobert Walpole he presented a copy of the third edition to 
 George III., the Premier stipulating that he should not address his Majesty. 
 Nevertheless, he was about to seize an opportunity of giving the King some 
 godly counsel, when Sir Kobert, leading him away from the royal person, 
 defeated his design. This smooth-spoken Minister promised him the 
 appointment of bookseller to the Queen, but showed no disposition to keep 
 his word. Some one told Cruden that it was not Walpole's habit to fulfil 
 his promises, DeteiTnined to allow his patron no chance of escape, Alex- 
 ander communicated to him what he had heard, and was answered by the 
 ten-times-repeated promise. " Yes, Sir Kobert," said Cruden, " and so you 
 have told me these two months past." — "You shall certainly hare it, Mr. 
 Cruden," rejoined the Minister, and the next day redeemed his pledge. 
 Cruden was a liveryman of the Stationers' Company, in which, to his no 
 small s »tisfaction, he took precedence of Woodfall, who, though his 
 employer, was his junior in civic rank. A bachelor through life, Cruden, at 
 sixty, fell in love with a lady of fortune, who rejected his suit, and, as a re- 
 ward for renewing it, had him tossed in a blanket ! He had a competent 
 knowledge of Greek and Latin, and a thorough acquaintance with Hebrew. 
 At Oxford and Cambridge, he received tokens of great respect, being invited 
 to dine in hall at the principal colleges. He paid a scrupulous regard to the 
 Sabbath ; and, that Miss Shepherd might be equally rigid in this respect, he 
 used to contrive to get the foreign papers forwarded to her so early on Satur- 
 day as that she might make her selections and translations before midnight. 
 He was a zealous Calvinist, and fond of argument ; but he never lost his tem- 
 per, Aor, when closely pressed, took refuge in sophistry. If he heard swear- 
 ing in the street, he would politely ask leave to speak with the offender, 
 and then mildly reprove him. In this way he reprehended those rude 
 spirits the London carmen, dra5'men, &c. ; but was seldom insulted. At 
 Oxford, by intertwining a just compliment with a courteous expostulation, 
 he put an end to the Sabbath promenading of a beautiful woman, who on 
 that day used to court the admiration of the under-graduates in the walks 
 of the University. On receiving the £800 before mentioned, he retired 
 from London to Greenwich, where he lived in personal comfort and general 
 esteem. His death was sudden, and not preceded by apparent illness. 
 One morning he failed to come down at the usual hour. He was sought . 
 for in his study and in his bed-room, but was not found in either. He had 
 retired to a little closet, where he was discovered kneeling in an easy chair, 
 his hands lifted towards heaven, quite dead. 
 
154 
 
 THE LIFE "AND LABOURS OF 
 
 wliich may be estimated from the cliaracter of tliose of bis fair 
 correspondent, a few extracts from which shall be subjoined. 
 
 Dr. Clarke appears to have informed her, that, by the shpping 
 of his study-ladder, while he was in search of a book, he had 
 injured himself. In relation to this accident, by wliich he was 
 confined to his room for nearly three weeks, she observes, " I 
 have long thought as you think, that all we term the evils of Ufe, 
 are either penal, physical, or probationary ; and it is very flatter- 
 ing to self-love, in woman especially, when her thoughts are 
 re-echoed by men of high repute for sense, learning, and piety. 
 I might have added, as you do, that present seeming evils are 
 oftentimes preventive of greater future ones, as in the case of 
 Bernard Gilpin ; whose broken leg saved him from the ad com- 
 hurendum sentence of the wretches who were the scandal and 
 disgrace of my religion : yet God, my dear Sir, could have pre- 
 vented your breaking your neck, without the wounding of your 
 leg. You have yourself unawares suggested a more obvious 
 reason. You say, ' I can ill brook confinement :' I suspect you 
 want a Httle bodily rest, and you will not take that necessary 
 suspension from labour. God, having given to man freedom of 
 will, to choose life in every sense of the word, counteracts not his 
 own wise and just-estabhshed order by necessitating fate. There- 
 fore, as disobedient Israel he sendeth into captivity, so he maketh 
 your leg to enjoy its Sabbath." 
 
 The following extract proves, that, though a Catholic, she was 
 not a bigot : — " The bearer is come to me as a servant ; and, 
 would you believe it, I took her because she and her friends are 
 Methodists. She knows no Methodist in town, nor even your 
 places of worsliip. Attached as I am to my own people, I would 
 not put hindrances, but, on the contrary, all lawful furtherances, 
 in the way of others, in their different roads, and would have 
 every one follow strictly the dictates of their own consciences. 
 I therefore send her to you, as a minister of her own persuasion. 
 She appears to me to want a guide, and to meet with Christian 
 associates. Otherwise, she will go backward instead of forward, 
 and, perhaps, ultimately, be laughed out of all rehgion. I return 
 you the Kev. Mr. Creighion's Letters, &c., and am not in the least 
 offended at, but rather edified with, his delicacy and tenderness, 
 in fearing to give a poor Roman Catholic pain at his condemning 
 what I condemn as heartily as he doth — the Inquisition, and all 
 cruelty and persecution, nay, all cunning arts to make converts. 
 I practise, as you see, a very different system : perhaps I might 
 swindle away this poor Sarah Boswell from your chapels to ours ; 
 but I send her to Dr. A. Clarke, not to Bishop Douglas." 
 
 Mr. Samuel Wesley, son of the Rev. Charles Wesley, having 
 turned Papist, his conversion was attributed to Miss Shepherd ; 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 165 
 
 but she thus " disculpates" herself from tlic eharge : — " And 
 here I camiot help cliseulpatiiig myself fi'om the general belief 
 spread among Mr. Wesley's people, of my having made young- 
 Samuel Wesley a Papist. He was made one two full years 
 before I ever saw his face. I had not the smallest share in 
 making him a Cathohc. A Frenchmjin, who went to his father's 
 house, was his converter. I heard of it only by accident from 
 a Mr. Payton, a famous performer on the viol de gamha ; and I 
 persuaded Samuel Wesley not to live in criminal hypocrisy and 
 deception, but to tell his father honestly the fact, lest he should 
 hear of it from others. He had not the courage to do this, but 
 begged me to break it to his father. I said it would be indeco- 
 rous, and not treating him with the respect and regard due to a 
 clergyman, a gentleman, and a parent ; but that the late Duchess 
 of Norfolk, whose own feelings had sustained a similar trial, — 
 a son quitting the religion of his ancestors, — would best sympa- 
 thise in tenderness of feeling with Mr. Charles Wesley, and 
 announce to him, in all the delicacy of Christian charity, his 
 son's change of religion. Besides these reasons, I wish to show 
 Mr. Wesley all possible honour. The Duchess went in person, 
 and showed him all respect and regard. So far, and no further, 
 was I concerned ; and afterwards, in endeavouring to persuade 
 this two years' old convert, to live soberly, temperately, and 
 piously, — for this, and only this, I have done ample penance : 
 for it is my pecuUar vocation, not by choice, but per force, to be 
 a very Isaachar, — crouching down under heavy burdens of in- 
 gratitude, and scourged with defamation into the bargain." 
 
 One of this lady's letters to Dr. Clarke, contains the following 
 smart passage on the doctrine of imputed righteousness : — 
 " ' Choose life, and hve.' Thine arm is too short to reach life ; 
 but thou art free to choose. Then only choose life, and I, 
 Jehovah, will bring it to thee. Many seek not diligently to 
 observe, to do the commandments of God, but previously are 
 not only prejudiced, but predetermined not to do all the com- 
 mandments of God, but diligently to observe how they may 
 evade, and explain away in as comfortable a manner as possible 
 for themselves, and in as civil a way as a Christian of polished 
 manners can devise, without downright giving the lie to his 
 Maker, every troublesome and inconvenient, though positive;, 
 command. As to liis ordinances, Zachary and Elizabath might, 
 if they saw good, walk in them, as in the commandments, blame- 
 less ; but some have learnt better, are wiser, and have found out 
 that God hath since altered his mind, and does not now require 
 so much at their hands. All is done for us : what we never did, 
 will be imputed to us : we shall be judged not by our works, but 
 by the works of Jesus. He was crucified ; we need not be era- 
 
156 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 cified with Him, in order to reign with Him; and, by that 
 wretched peiTersion of the very meaning of words, to be justified, 
 is, with many persons, to be accounted, not made, just. Can 
 God, the Sovereign Truth, account that to be which is not ? 
 Tlien to be justified, is to be made just." 
 
 The following remarks on Job, from the pen of this female 
 commentator, are worthy of notice : — " How could any one 
 imagine that the Ha Satan, of Job, was the Devil ? Or, that 
 God suffered the De^il, after his expulsion from heaven, ever 
 again to set his foot in heaven among the sons of God ; much 
 less put Job into the Devil's hands, suffer aU his children to be 
 killed, his servants and cattle made a prey. The Scripture 
 merely says, ' Messengers came to teU Job all tliis but they 
 do not say, it really did happen. If so, whence came Job's 
 seven sons aU ready-bom, at the close of liis troubles ? The 
 same number as recorded in the fii'st chapter is repeated in the 
 last : the number of his cattle is doubled ; half of them, his ovm, 
 restored ; the other half, the gifts of his friends, an offeiing of 
 reconcihation. His trial seems to have been but of a few days' 
 continuance. The visit of his three friends need not have been 
 very long ; their speeches might be uttered in a few days ; the 
 temporary boils of short duration, and the mistakes of the mes- 
 sengers, escaped from dangers, reported in the visions of terror, 
 now happily rectified in the safety and hves of his seven sons, and 
 recovery of his cattle, with a double increase of goods. All this 
 is more than Hkely ; and yet the trial of Job be as plenary as 
 that of Abraham in the offering up of Isaac. The Patriarch's 
 faith, love, and obedience,* had their perfect work, yet Isaac was 
 not slain : Job's patience had its full trial, and he lost neither 
 son nor daughter, ox, sheep, ass, nor camel. I am persuaded 
 the history of Job is a real matter of fact." 
 
 It is not improbable that Dr. Clarke derived assistance in his 
 Commentary from the acute and searcliing remarks of Miss 
 Shepherd, as the following extract from her valuable letters 
 may convince the reader. We have seen what was her opinion 
 concerning the liistory and trials of Job. Let us now see to 
 what pui'pose she had scrutinized the Mosaic account of the 
 patriarchs : — " When in your Notes you come to Isaac's bless- 
 ings to Esau, you will be led particularly to obsen e how hterally 
 they were ratified by God ; also you will see strong proof that 
 Esau was not abhon^d of the great and just God, and how veiy 
 noblv and lovingly too he acted towai'ds his over-reacliing bro- 
 ther at their meeting ; nor did he ever retract from their recon- 
 ciliation : as Ismael and Isaac, so did Esai: with Jacob, unite as 
 brethren to pay the last duties to their father. I beseech you 
 also to point out very particularly the just penalties levied on the 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 157 
 
 joint frauds of Rebekah and Jacob. After she sent liim to 
 Laban, she never more beheld her son Jacob. Even she liei-self 
 disappears ; for no further mention is made of her by upriglit, 
 truth-loving Moses ; no, not so much as of her death ; while of 
 only her nurse Deborah is much honourmg record. There is in 
 this, as in all the narrations of Moses, exquisite beauty and pro- 
 priety. Rebekah was a mother in Israel. Truth required the 
 narrative with the reahty of facts ; respect bid say no more, and 
 bowed the head in silenca Jacob was taught by Laban, how 
 odious fraud, deception, and disguise were ; and his own feelings 
 and conscience told him, this is retribution. I wish you also to 
 notice in your Notes, the style and terms of Jacob's prayer to 
 God, when in fear of Esau and his 400 men. It is as if he were 
 conscious of how little he deseiTed to be saved from the danger 
 he dreaded. I am in raptures of delight every time I read of 
 that over-reaching, cowardly Jacob's dreadful fear of the brother 
 he had made his enemy, and of his never getting a blessing from 
 God himself, without first being hamstrung, and lamed to Hmp- 
 ing ; and here he is represented as being nearly terrified to death, 
 and sending a trespass-offering to Esau, and bowing himself down 
 seven times to the ground, with aU his wives and children bowing 
 down seven times also, as they passed before ' my lord Esau,' 
 like captives before their conqueror. So many make a bad use 
 of Jacob's and Israel's history, that I am anxious it should 
 appear in its true light." The reader can examine at his leisure 
 how far the learned commentator conciuTed in the views of his 
 fair friend, and adopted her suggestions. 
 
 Being a Roman CathoHc, she had high notions of " works," 
 concerning wliich she writes : — " It was admirable advice which 
 Mr. Wesley records as having been given by a woman to a 
 preacher : ' Preach,' said she, ' the law first, then the Gospel, and 
 then the law again.' It is the method which God himself hath 
 observed throughout the Sacred writings, ' Cease to do evil' first, 
 saith Jehovah, then 'learn to do well." Many persons, I have 
 heard, charge God foohshly, nay wickedly, and say - ' If God 
 give me liis grace to do well;' thus pleading their own weakness 
 and ignorance, and running to do mischief, instead of taking hold 
 of, and using, the strength which God has provided. Preach 
 the law strongly to such miscreants that thus bring a scandal 
 on the cross of Christ. I had rather be a Jew than such a 
 Cliristian." 
 
 It is impossible not to admire the following observations, 
 however much we may lament that the writer did not belong to 
 a church more worthy of so noble an attachment : — " The dirt 
 and rubbish of other people's houses I am sorry to see ; but I 
 am not called to be their scavenger. But any filth, even a little 
 
158 
 
 THE LITE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 dust or cobweb, in my own mother's palace, grieves me to the 
 soul, so jealous am I for her glory and honour. It is the duty 
 of every child she hath, to sweep, dust, wash, and scour the 
 palace themselves. I do not leave my mother's house, bectause 
 dirty and ^vicked sen^ants have broken, damaged, and injured it 
 and the furniture. I do aU I can for it : let others do the same, 
 and the house wiU soon be cleaned and put to rights. The 
 church, spite of storms and adverse winds and weather, insects, 
 vermin, &c., still subsists : other sects, like branches and pretty 
 nosegays kept in bough-pots, for a while look rich and gay ; but 
 they die away after a time : they have no root, and are scarcely 
 shps. The parent tree outUves her children. God gi'aft them 
 on again ! Forgive, dear Sir, the zealous superstition of a 
 woman." 
 
 On the principle, however, that all tilings are possible with 
 God, even the Church of Eome may be thoroughly reformed ; 
 but this cannot be done without many radical changes. We 
 build our expectations of the purification of that degenerate and 
 corrupt church upon a foundation similar to that upon which the 
 Church of England rests her prayers, that God would send down 
 upon her bishops and curates the herdthful spuit of his grace ; 
 for, as if sensible of the grand impechments which her worldly 
 constitution and her defective discipline place in the way of 
 priestly piety, she appeals to the Almighty as to liim who " alone 
 worketh great marvels. " 
 
 Miss Shepherd was a great admirer of Mr. John Wesley, par- 
 ticularly on account of liis strict Arminianism ; and she was 
 hkewise an attentive and a discerning observer of the Methodists' 
 procedure. Concerning the latter she remarks, in connexion 
 with a volume of sermons of Louis de Grenada, confessor to 
 Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, which volume she was recom- 
 mending to the notice of Dr. Clarke, as containing " sound tim- 
 ber enough to furnish a whole town of modem buildings :" — 
 There is a channing passage on early rising ; and, oh I would 
 to God it might provoke the Methodists to resume their five- 
 o'clock prayer-meetings and early sermons. They might renew 
 the face of this great city." 
 
 One of her letters contains some shrewd remarks concerning 
 Lady Huntingdon and Mr. John Wesley : — " Lady Huntingdon 
 loved diaries Wesley ; and liis wife she herself nursed when in 
 the small-pox. She would have loved John Wesley as much, if 
 his spirit and garments had not had so much of Elisha's and the 
 Baptist's camels'-hair texture ; its contact was fiiction-against- 
 the- grain of the satined vestments of Mr. Whitefield's elect lady. 
 Besides, John Wesley might know too much of syntax and 
 Greek." 
 
im. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 159 
 
 In another letter, from which it appears she was on the eve of 
 her eightieth year, she remarks, " My mental strength and vision 
 still remain as in the simimer of my life ; neither is the cheerful 
 flow of my animal spirits chilled or slackened. The green fruits 
 that memory gathered are ripened, not decayed, in these store- 
 houses." She was about to take lodgings in the Tower of Lon- 
 don, concerning which she breaks out into the raptures of a 
 romantic girl: — ''The view of shipping, a fine river, martial 
 music, and the grand roar of that noble creature the Hon, in the 
 awful hour of midnight, are to me touches of the sublime ; and 
 all these are connected with the tower, and there I shall be under 
 the immediate care of my beloved Earl of Moii*a; I shall feel as 
 if in a monasteiy enclosed in high walls."* 
 
 Miss Sliepherd sumved the date of her letters to Dr. Clarke, 
 which were wiitten in 1810, about two yeai's. She retained all 
 her faculties to the last ; and, on her death-bed, expressed her- 
 self to one of his daughters, as "dying in the true Catholic 
 faith, and with a firm assurance that her short penal sufferings 
 would terminate in the eternal beatitude of her soul through the 
 merits of her Redeemer." So hard is it for the strongest under- 
 standing to shake off the prejudices of education, that even tliis 
 excellent woman, of whose preparedness for the heavenly state 
 the candid reader of her letters can hardly admit any doubt, 
 could not suppose it possible that she should attain that blissful 
 goal, without undergoing a previous purgation ; although she 
 never met with one passage of Scripture that encouraged the 
 idea of any such intermediate process between earth and heaven, 
 but, on the contrary, read that even the thief upon the cross w^as 
 to pass immediately from Calvar}^ to the Paradise of God. 
 
 In May, 1811, Dr. Clarke went to Dubhn in quest of diplo- 
 
 * She gave up the intention of removing to the Tower, of which, Lord 
 Moira, aftemards Marquis of Hastings, was Constable. The affectionate 
 terms in which she mentions that accomplished nobleman, are account( d 
 for by the fact that she was the intimate friend of his Lordship's mother, who 
 was the dauj^hter of the celebrated Countess of Huntingdon. Of the late 
 Countess of Moira, Miss Shepherd thus speaks: — "Such a one in deed, 
 and in truth, in mind, talents, and understanding, tempers, affections, and 
 manners, as, had she lived two thousand years ago, Gabiiel had hailed with 
 the honours of heaven as highly favoured above women." Of the Earl, her 
 son, she states, " He reveres the name and memory of John Wesley; and 
 twice already in my life have I found Methodism a recommendation to his 
 kindness, for persons I wished to serve by his influence. Moreover, he is a 
 man of genius and real solid learning, — a judge of men and books. At six 
 years anda-half old he could read, understand, and grammatically construe, 
 any ode of Horace, at the first opening of the book. I was present when 
 he did this at Moira Castle before, and to the great astonishment of, the 
 Rector of Moira ; he also read, and very prettily did the same by, the First 
 Epistle of St. John, in Greek." 
 
160 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 made and other state papers. Altlioiigh liis chief ol)ject was 
 to pui'sue liis inquiries under the Record Commission, he made 
 a hasty tour, accompanied hy Mr. Butterwortli and his own 
 eldest son, embracing Drogheda, Londondeny, Coleraine, and 
 the place of his hiith ; preacliing on Ids way with gi-eat power 
 and success, and carefully obseiTing whatever was remai'k- 
 able for its antiquity or its historical associations, or was charac- 
 teristic of the country and its inhabitants. 
 
 The lofty round towers which are found in some parts of Ire- 
 land, and the precise use of which had not been ascertained, en- 
 gaged much of his attention. He came to the conclusion, that 
 they were built by the monastic ordei-s, who had their allotted 
 times for prayer, the anival of wliich, in the absence of bells, it 
 would be necessary to announce, by means of criei-s, to the bre- 
 thren dispersed in the fields. For this purpose he supposed 
 these towers to have been erected. 
 
 On the way to Dundalk, Dr. Claike and his family had the 
 satisfaction of taking into their chaise a " decent woman " and 
 her child, " for which piece of humanit}^," he observes, " our 
 driver aftei-wai'ds charged us threepence halfpenny per mile extra, 
 saving, ' that, though he charged us this, God would allow us 
 for it.' " 
 
 At Derr^doran, the rector of the paiish gave Dr. Clarke the 
 following account of the death of his predecessor : — " The coi*pse 
 of a poor man was brought to the church-yard for interment. The 
 rector demanded his fee of two sliilhngs and sixpence. The 
 • good people said, ' the man had been a common beggar, and had 
 nothing to pay.* The rector insisted on having the half-crown, 
 or on their removing the cor[)se immediately. An altercation 
 took place, and the rector got so transported with rage, that he 
 dropped down dead wliile following them to the church-yard 
 gate, to prevent them from depositing the body in the ground !" 
 
 The following is part of the accoimt which he gives of liis -sdsit 
 to the scenes of his childliood : — " We di'ove to Magherafelt ; but, 
 after an absence of tlm-t}' years, I find it but imperfect. We 
 then proceeded to Maghera, and on the way I stopped at a place 
 where I had passed my youth. I walked into the house where 
 I had passed several years of my infancy, and felt a number of 
 indescribable emotions. Half of the nice house is fallen down, 
 wliich I regi'etted. I went into the groimds where I had often 
 sported, read, talked, searched for birds' nests, and caught jack- 
 sharps, &c. What a transition from five years to almost fifty ! 
 and how difficult to connect the habits of these two distant 
 periods I and for the gi-ey-headed man to realise his present feel- 
 ings with what pleased him when a child I I came to Mnghera, 
 and went to see the place where I first went to school. The 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 161 
 
 sight of this spot brought many long-past scenes to remembrance. 
 I visited the mansion where Dr. Btmiard, then Dean of DeiTy, 
 and afterwards Bishop of Killaloe, and lastly of Limerick, for- 
 merly dwelt. What a change is here ! almost every part in 
 a state of delapidation, and the house let out in tenements. 
 Notliing seems to flourish but the fine beech tree at the entrance 
 from the road, which, from its size, and the beautiful arrange- 
 ment of its widely extended branches, may still claim the atten- 
 tion of the passenger. After inquiring after the ancient inhabi- 
 tants, most of whom I found had ceased to Uve among men, I 
 returned to the inn, dined ; and, not being able to procure a 
 a chaise, my companions agreed to walk to Garvagh, a journey 
 of about ten English miles. We accordingly set out, and had 
 an interesting and pleasant walk over roads I had assinted to 
 form between thirty and forty years ago. Wishing to see a place 
 near Gai-vagh, where our family had resided for several years, 
 and where I had the principal part of the Httle education which 
 fell to my lot, Mr. Averell, who had joined us, and myself, rose 
 early, and proceeded in our gig to the village, which was abo- 
 lished, with the exception of one small building, and the whole 
 land laid under stock. What most surprised me was, that the 
 church, the building of which I witnessed forty years ago, from 
 its commencement to its close, appeared to be in a state of dilapi- 
 dation. The spire was seventy- five feet high, and now not one 
 inch of it remains : the windows have been broken, and repaired 
 with sohd mason work ; all the hght of one side is thus com- 
 pletely aboHshed." The Irish Church Reform Bill did not come 
 before it was wanted. 
 
 In every place wliich he visited. Dr. Clarke preached, either 
 indoors or out, to large congi'egations. At Ballymena, the Me- 
 thodist chapel being too small for the congregation expected jto 
 attend, the Rev. Wm. Babbington, the rector, kindly offered his 
 church (!), wliich was soon filled with a deeply attentive congre- 
 gation, to whom (says the Doctor) " I felt considerable Hberty 
 to prove what was the doctrine of the Apostles, from Acts 
 ii., 42." 
 
 At Garvagh, he preached in the Socinian chapel. " Had I 
 known," he observes, "'to what sect it belonged, I believe I 
 should not have done so ; but this I learned afterwards. In 
 preaching in the chapels of other rehgious people, it is not fair 
 to discuss any doctrines which they do not hold, as this is disin- 
 genuous. In consequence, a preacher is laid under considerable 
 embarrassment: he cannot preach their doctrine, and he is afraid 
 to preach his own. I do not like this business, and have nearly 
 made up my mind to have done with it." For what reason 
 should any man object to preach in any place which is open and 
 
 M 
 
1G2 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 conTenient for the purpose ? A Socinian congregation offering 
 the use of their chapel to a Tiinitarian minister, would never be 
 so foohsh as to expect that he should feel himself restricted from 
 preaching according to liis views of truth. In Mr. Wesley's 
 joiu'nal, we find it recorded, that on one occasion he preached in 
 a Socinian place of worship. 
 
 Dr. Clai-ke's health and strength suffered much through that 
 spii'it of religious selfishness which induces some people to exact 
 labour from a favourite preacher in such degi'ees as ought not to 
 be expected from men of the strongest constitutions and the full- 
 est minds. On arriving at Lisbum, he encountered a knot of 
 these unreasonable hankerers after the word. — " Though I had 
 been almost totally exhausted with my yesterday's work, they 
 insisted on my preachiug at Lisbum. In vain I urged and ex- 
 postulated. They said, ' Sure you came out to preach, and why 
 should you not preach at evei7 opportunity ?' '1 must have rest.' 
 ' Sure you can rest after preaching ?' I rephed, ' I must preach 
 to-morrow at Lurgan, and shall have but little time to rest.' *' Oh, 
 the more you preach, the more strength you will get !' 'I came 
 out for the sake of health and rest.' ' Oh, rest when you return 
 home !' 'I cannot rest at home, as I have got more work to do 
 than I can manage.' * Then,' said they, ' you shall get rest in 
 the grave I' I give this specimen, " adds the Doctor, " of the 
 inconsiderateness and unfeeHngness of many rehgious people, 
 who care little how soon their ministers are worn out ; because 
 they find their excessive labours comfortable to their own minds ; 
 and, should the preacher die, through his exti'aordinary exertions, 
 they have tliis consolation, ' God can soon raise up another !' 
 Though not convinced by this reasoning, I still preached, to a 
 \ery crowded congi'egation ; and it was a time of uncommon 
 power." 
 
 . In the coiu'se of this tour of a month. Dr. Clarke, with his com- 
 panions, enjoyed, what he rehshed as a luxury, numerous oppor- 
 tunities of relieving the wants of the poor Irish. Their destitu- 
 tion may be judged of from several observations which he makes. 
 " The children," he remarks, " are, hke their parents, half- 
 naked, and totally uncultivated : multitudes of the women without 
 shoes or stockings, and yet employed in the hardest drudgeiy, 
 even dujyhuj in the fields, without a shoe to save the foot. 
 Then huts are about four feet high on the side wall, with a hole 
 in the roof to let out the smoke, and another to serve as a win- 
 dow." Though thus wretchedly circumstanced, they have many 
 fine qualities. " You cannot please them better," says Dr. 
 Clarke, "than by putting it in their pc>ver to oblige and show 
 you a kindness." And, again, " For reverence in sacred ordi- 
 nances, the Irish are veiT remarkable ; and for good breeding, 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 1G3 
 
 even among the most common people, especially the Protestants, 
 I do not know their superiors." 
 
 After holding the Conference in Dublin, wliich was one of the 
 objects of his visit, Dr. Clarke and his friends went over to 
 Maynooth College, in which the priests of the Romish Church 
 in Ireland receive their education, and the expenses of which are, 
 strange to say, defrayed out of the revenues of the British empire. 
 They reached the inn just in time to witness the arrival there of 
 the rebel General Gibbon, who had been captured after an out- 
 lawry of thirteen years. The following is Dr. Clarke's account 
 of the scene : — " He alighted, heavily shackled both on the legs 
 and hands : he was wretchedly clothed. We got into the room 
 where he and several of the guards were. He walked frantically 
 to and fro, draging his long bolts after him, and talldng very 
 wildly ; at one time cursing the King, at another awfully obtest- 
 ing his incapability of being a traitor. He desired one of the 
 soldiers to go and get liim a pipe of tobacco. The brave fellow 
 went, and brought him in a Ughted pipe. He took it, and, 
 putting it into liis mouth, said, Now I shall smoke the King's 
 health : and, if his health were in the pipe, by the Holy Father, 
 I would smoke it out.' His language and liis appearance were 
 awful. He has been several times in France : and has liid him- 
 self in the bogs and mountains, and has thus long escaped : 
 added to which, he was so dangerous, that no person dared 
 approach him. He was at last taken while sleeping in a dry 
 ditch, having a loaded blunderbuss and six brace of pistols about 
 him." 
 
 On going to the college, they found it empty, it being the 
 time of vacation. One of the professors, however. Father de 
 la Hague, received them politely ; but when, on taking leave. 
 Dr. Clarke oflPered his hand, he decHned receiving it. "I was a 
 heretic," says the Doctor, and therefore he would not give me 
 the right hand of fellowship." What, then, would the Father 
 have said to Miss Shepherd ? 
 
 Dr. Clarke had no sooner returned to England, than he re- 
 ceived the afflicting intelhgence of his mother's death. He saw 
 her just before he sailed for Ireland ; and left her, prepared in- 
 deed, but not expecting death. Almost as soon as he entered 
 his own door he inquired, as usual, after absence fr'om home, 
 " Is all well ?" a question which immediately ehcited the mourn- 
 ful truth. He received the sudden stroke without a w^ord, and 
 instantly withdrew to his study, there to seek consolation in 
 communion with God. Recollecting the industry wuth which 
 liis mother applied herself to train him up in the way in which 
 he should go, and combining with this the native tenderness of 
 his heart, some estimate may be formed of the depth of sorrow 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 into which he was plunged by the intelhgence of her removal ; 
 but, deep as it was, it was mitigated by the w^ell-founded hope of 
 meeting her again, in the mansions of the saints of the Most 
 High. 
 
 In December, 1811, Dr. Clarke went to Cambridge to make 
 researches for the Fcedera ; and, during his stay, he was present 
 at the formation of an auxihary to the Bible Society, of which 
 he gave the following characteristic account in a letter to Mrs. 
 Clarke : — " Such speeches I never heard. Mr. Owen excelled his 
 former self ; Mr. Dealtry spoke hke an angel of the first order ; 
 and Dr. D. E. Clarke, the Kussian traveller, like a seraph : eveiy- 
 tliing was carried nemine contradicente , and the meeting con- 
 cluded in a blaze of celestial hght. For myself, I have nearly 
 broken my new stafi' with thumping, after having made my fists 
 sore in pounding the table. I did not laugh and cry alternately 
 — I did both together, and completely wet my new pocket-hand- 
 kerchief through with my tears. Between two hundred and 
 three hundred of the University yoimg men were the first movers 
 in tliis business." 
 
 Duiing the early part of 1812, Dr. Clarke's time was divided 
 between the Foedera and his Commentary, to one or the other of 
 which he devoted every hour of the day, that was not imperiously 
 demanded for the discharge of other duties. 
 
 In April of this year, he paid a second visit to Cambridge, in 
 connexion with his labours for the nation. He collated, and 
 afterwards copied, Gawin Douglas's poem of King Hart, fi'om 
 the only manuscript lvno^vn. This was done at the request of 
 Lord Glenben^e,* one of the llecord Commissioners, who was a 
 descendant fi'om the poet, and was projecting an edition of his 
 works. In speaking of King Hart, Dr. Clarke obsei-ves : — 
 " John Bunyan seems to have borrowed liis Pilgiim's Progi'ess 
 from Bernard's Isle of Man ; Bernard, his Isle of Man from 
 Fletcher's Pui-ple Island ; Fletcher took his plan from Spenser's 
 Fairy Queen ; Spenser, his Fairy Queen from Gawin Douglas's 
 King Hart ; and Douglas, his plan from the old Mysteries and 
 Moralities which prevailed in and before his time." 
 
 In June of this year, Dr. Clarke paid a second visit to Ireland 
 for purposes connected wdth the Eecord Commission, having 
 under his care a young lady, a Roman Cathohc.f On this 
 occasion he preached very frequently, and always with great 
 
 * Whilst Dr. Clarke was engaged in the Record Commission, Lord 
 Glenbervie wrote to him, " Dr. Clarke, /esfiwa Imte ; you will destroy your- 
 self by your labour; do a little, that you may do it long." 
 
 t Dr. Clarke was a man of high integrity, with an exquisite sense of ho- 
 nour. This is placed in a strong light by the following adventure from which 
 it appears that his exemplary conduct during the voyage across the Channel 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 effect. He also attended the Conference in Dublin, during the 
 sittings of which intelligence arrived of the death of Mr. John 
 Graves, one of the preachers. On his way to Dubhn, he was 
 seized with a putrid fever, which so alarmed the persons in whose 
 
 was the means of the young lady's conversion to the faith of the Gospel. " As 
 we were one day walking out," observes his youngest son, the llev. J. B. B. 
 Clarke, Curate of Frome, in relating what passed during the time which 
 Dr. Clarke spent with him at Frome and at Weston-super-Mare, only a few 
 days before his death, " there chanced to be mentioned a clergyman, who, 
 by an injudicious conduct in private, had destroyed, in some measure, the 
 good effect which his public teaching was calculated to produce. ' It is 
 impossible, Joseph,' said he, ' that a minister of God should ever be a private 
 man. Even in his most trivial intercourse with others, it is never forgotten 
 what is office is. The habit of every one's mind is to expect information or 
 example from the company and conduct of a public minister. Such as we, 
 are constantly living under the observation of mankind ; and he who is 
 always observed, should never venture on dubious conduct, or suppose for a 
 moment that what he does in the view of another, can ever be a matter of 
 indifference, or be regarded as a trifle. I will tell you a curious circum- 
 stance that happened to me some years ago. In a day or two from the 
 time that I refer to, I was about to set off from London to Ireland. A 
 friend desired me to take charge of a young lady to Dublin, to which I 
 readily agreed, and she was sent to me at the coach. I soon found, from 
 her conversation, that she was a Roman Catholic ; and I also quickly per- 
 ceived that she had been led to entertain a very high opinion of me. After 
 we had travelled some distance, talking occasionally on various subjects, 
 the daylight began to sink fastly away, when she took out of her reticule a 
 small Catholic book of prayers, and commenced most seriously her evening 
 devotions. While she was reading, such thoughts as these occurred to me, 
 I believe this lady to be sincere in her religious creed, which I think to be 
 a very dangerous one. She appears to be of an ingenuous temper, and to 
 feel much personal respect for me. Is there not here, then, a good oppor- 
 tunity as well as subject to exercise my influence, and to deliver her, if 
 possible, from hes erroneous creed ? But (continued I, in my thoughts), 
 was she not entrusted to my care ? would her friends have so entrusted her, 
 had they ever suspected that an attempt at proselytism would be made ? 
 would not the attempt be a breach of trust, and should I, even were ulti- 
 mate good to accrue to Miss , be a morally honest man ? I instantly 
 
 felt that my own honesty must be presei-ved, though the opportunity of 
 
 apparent good might be lost. In a short time Miss closed her book 
 
 with this observation, ' We Catholics, Dr. Clarke, think it much better to 
 believe too much than too little.' I replied, ' But, Madam, in our belief we 
 should recollect, that we never should yield our assent to what is contra- 
 dictory in itself, or, to what contradicts other ascertained truths.' This was 
 the only observation I made that looked at all towards Catholicism. In 
 process ol time, we arrived at our journey's end ; and I deposited her 
 safely in the hands of her friends. From that time till about two years 
 
 ago, I never heard of Miss , till we met in the following way : — I had 
 
 been preaching at Chelsea Chapel : and, entering the vestry after the ser- 
 vice, a lady followed me, shook hands, spoke with much emotion, and said, 
 
 ' Do you not recollect me, Dr. Clarke ? I am Miss , whom you kindly 
 
 took care of to Ireland. I was then a Catholic : now I am a Protestant, 
 and have suffered much in consequence of the change.' I inquired how 
 the alteration in her views was effected ; and she gave me, in detail, the 
 
166 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 house he was, that they insisted on his removal, and he was 
 carried to an empty and a dilapidated house, in which, after 
 lying a few days, he breathed his last, and was hurried into the 
 grave on the following day. Lord," exclaims Dr. Clai'ke, on 
 tliis occasion, thou seest and wilt judge !" 
 
 While in Duhhn, he was requested by a friend who had just 
 entered a new house, to join with him and others in dedicating 
 it to God ; upon which he remarks, Whatever is consecrated 
 to God, he will invariably preserve and protect !" 
 
 About the middle of July, he received a letter from the 
 Speaker, desu'ing him to return to England, and make researches 
 in the Tower of London, and in the hbraries at Oxford, for 
 materials for the completion of Eymer. On his arrival in Ox- 
 ford, he dined, by the invitation of the Greek Professor, Mr. 
 Gaisford, in the Hall of Christ Chui'ch ; concerning which he 
 obsen^es, " It was no small gTatification to a Methodist preacher 
 to dine, and to sit on the same seat, and eat at the same table, 
 where Charles Wesley, student of tliis college, often sat and 
 dined ; and where that glorious work, by the instrumentahty of 
 wliich some millions of souls have been saved, had its commence- 
 ment, in conjunction with Mr. John Wesley, of Lincoln College. 
 Oh, what hath God wi'ought since the year 1737 ! This city is 
 the nurse of tliis gTcat work, and yet has it profited ? The law 
 
 account wliich I will shortly sum up to you. Wheu she heard to whom 
 she was about to be entrusted, she resolved closely to watch and observe 
 this eminent Protestant minister. She was pleased with the conversation 
 and the friendliness shown to her, and was so struck with the observation I 
 had made in the coach, that she said it absolutely afterwards haunted her, 
 caused her to examine and think for herself, and at last led her to freedom 
 from her thraldom : ' but,' said she, ' I should never have been induced to 
 examine, had it not been for the examination which I had previously made 
 of you. From the first moment you entered the coach, I watched you 
 narrowly. I thought, now I have a fair opportunity of knowing something 
 of these Protestants ; and I will judge if what I have heard of them be 
 true. Every w ord, every motion, eveiy look, of yours, Sir, was watched 
 with the eye of a 1}tix. I felt you could not be acting a part, for you could 
 not suspect that you were so observed. The result of all was, your conduct 
 conciliated esteem, and removed prejudice. Your own observation on 
 belie^", led me to those examinations which the Spirit of God has blessed to 
 my conversion ; and I now stand before you, the convert of your three days' 
 behaviom' between London and Dublin.' You see from this account, 
 Joseph,' continued my father, 'how all ministers should ever feel them- 
 selves as public men ; how cautious should be their conduct, and how 
 guarded their conversation. Had I attempted to proselytise this lady, all 
 her prejudices would have been up in arms. Had my behaviour been unbe- 
 comingly light or causelessly austere, she would have been either disgusted 
 or repelled, and her preconceived notions of Protestants would have been 
 confirmed. She saw and heard what satisfied her. Thus, even in social 
 intercourse, the public minister may, and should always, be the Christiau 
 instructor.' " 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 107 
 
 went forth from Zion, and the word (doctrine) of the Lord from 
 Jerusalem ; but has Zion or Jerusidem gieatly profited by the 
 law, or by the doctrine ?" 
 
 It so happened tliat during his stay in Oxford, Dr. Clarke 
 took up his abode in the \ery apartments occupied by Dr. John 
 Uri ; and, before he quitted them, he cut an-inscription* on one 
 of the panes of the window, in the room in which that learned 
 foreigner died. 
 
 While Dr. Clarke was tlms busied in the double labour of 
 arranging a documental History of England, and of illustrating, 
 by learned notes and unprecedented tables, the books of sacred 
 writ, he still pursued Ids ministerial duties, always preaching 
 once on the Sabbath, visiting the sick, and giving spiiitual coun- 
 sel to the numbers who apphed to liim, personally and by letter. 
 He constantly answered all letters as soon as he received them. 
 The Committee meetings of the Bible Society, which he regularly 
 attended, were also Yery frequent, and the work connected with 
 them was arduous. In such circumstances, it is no wonder that 
 we find him complaining that he was overburdened, and that his 
 mind was distracted amid a multitude of duties, each claiming 
 the precedency. " I feel now," he observes in a letter to !Mr. 
 Caley, Secretary to the Eecord Commission, dated December 2, 
 1812, " that I am inundated with work, and really cannot teU 
 what to do, or at least what (among a variet}^ of things to be 
 done ) should be done first. I own I feel myself now fairly dis- 
 tracted, and almost discouraged. No person can work without 
 time and means : sometimes I seem destitute of both." Thus 
 bowed down by his burdens, he besought his friends to get him 
 
 * The inscription is as foUows : — "Sacred to the memory of John Uri, 
 D. D., horn in Hungary, and educated at Leyden. He was invited over 
 into England by the University of Oxford, to describe, arrange, and cata- 
 logue the Oriental MSS. in the Bodleian Library. His oldest and most 
 intimate acquaintance ever found him to be an honest man, a pleasing 
 companion, and a conscientious Christian. To his profound knowledge as 
 an Oriental scholar, his catalogue of the Arabic MSS. in the Bodleian 
 Library, his Hebrew and Arabic Grammar, his edition, and Latin translation, 
 of the celebrated Arabic Poem, called, ' Al Bordha,' together with his nu- 
 merous pupils who have distinguished themselves in the walks of literature 
 opened to them by their preceptor, bear the most distinguished and decided 
 testimony. A stranger to his person, but not to his literary and moral 
 worth, dares to entrust even to Glass, in the apartment twenty-five years 
 occupied by this eminent man, this memorial to learaing that can never 
 perish, and virtues that can never die. After suffering much by increasing 
 infirmities during the last two years of his life, he died suddenly in his 
 apartments, about eight o'clock of the evening of October 18, 1796, aged 
 70 years. His mortal remains were deposited in the chancel of St. Michael's 
 church, in this city, where, for lack of a monument, the passenger can 
 scarcely say, Here lies Uri." 
 
168 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 out of London ; but they alleged that he could not yet be spared. 
 They knew that, while there, he could work well, and also that 
 he would keep to it while the responsibihty was upon him ; for 
 he never trusted his duties to another, when he himself could 
 perform them. Had it only been to satisfy the impatient sub- 
 scribers to his Commentaiy, he required rehef and seclusion ; 
 but the time had not yet arrived when he could obtain these ad- 
 vantages. 
 
 On the 5th of March, 1818, Dr. Clarke was elected Fellow of 
 the Society of Antiquaries ; an honour which was the more gra- 
 tifying to him, because it was unsought, and because he might, 
 \vithout vanity, entertain the belief that it was not unworthily 
 bestowed. For honours which resulted from personal worth 
 or intellectual merit, he had a liigli esteem ; and to such an 
 extent did he carry the precept, " Eender to all their due," that 
 even to the tax-gatherer at his door, he acted more in consider- 
 ation of liim whom he sen^d, than with the feehngs conscious 
 of taxation. 
 
 The next record in point of date that remains of Dr. Clarke's 
 engagements occurs in a letter to a friend, highly characteristic 
 of his cheerful epistolary style ; and containing an epitome of 
 his extraordinary mental and physical exertions during the 
 interval : — 
 
 "London, Sept. 7, 1813. 
 
 " My dear Friend, 
 
 " I have to thank you for your very kind letter, which I 
 duly received ; and to apologise for delaying so long to answer 
 it. You well know that, when at home, I am never an hour dis- 
 engaged, being as mere a slave as [any] on this side the Pillars of 
 Hercules. Every hour has its work ; and such work as requires 
 every minute of the sixty.* Judge, then, how much of my 
 London labour was behind, after an absence of five weeks. I was 
 almost terrified to return, knowing what a chaos I should find to 
 reduce to order. Since my return, I have been labouring to 
 bring up my lee-way, and have not been able to run down my 
 longitude yet ; and here I am upon my restless ocean, spreading 
 all the sail I dare carry, and tugging at the oar for life. You 
 may think, that, during my exciu'sion, I must have acquired a 
 
 * " As to myself," says he to a coiTespondent in 1810," I cannot say that 
 I ever spend an idle hour : for the church — for the public — for ray friends, 
 and sometimes for myself, I labour without intermission." "You wish 
 me," he observes to another in 1822, " to ' consider your objections when I 
 can spare an hour.' Then I shall never consider them ; for, were I to live 
 for thirty or forty years to come, I have work now furnished for every minute 
 of that time." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 169 
 
 measure of additional health and strength, and, consequently, I 
 am now the better able to work, and ride out the storm. To 
 tell you the truth, I gained no ground, but lost some, while in 
 the country. I will give you a sketch of my operations, and you 
 shall judge. On leaving London, I travelled by mail two niglits 
 and a day to Liverpool ; I rested one whole day, and a part of 
 another, and then set off for Stockport, in Cheshire, where I was 
 to preach a charity sermon for their Sunday-schools. On the 
 morning of July 18, I preached as well as I could, and the col- 
 lection was £122 17s. I then rode off to Manchester, in Lan- 
 cashire, and preached at six the same evening for their Sunday- 
 schools, and the collection was d£l54. Without waiting to eat 
 or diink, I took coach, and rode off to Nutgrove, near St. 
 Helen's, Lancashire, twenty- eight miles, where I arrived about 
 two o'clock on Monday morning. 
 
 " In the course of that week, I was obhged to preach again 
 and again ; but they were not charity sermons. The next Sab- 
 bath morning I had to preach before 300 ministers, on those 
 proofs of the being and attributes of God which are derived from 
 various phenomena in nature, which cannot be accounted for on 
 any principles or laws yet discovered. This was a work of two 
 hours, and was enough to knock up, alias knock down, a strong 
 man, for at least a fortnight. The next Sabbath I was obliged 
 to go to Warrington, and preach a charity sermon for a httle 
 Sunday-school there. On the Friday following, I set off for 
 Worcester, to open a new chapel there. I reached the city on 
 Saturday, preached the next morning at half-past ten, and the 
 collection amounted to the enormous sum of ^211 4s. I was 
 not more than about one hour out of the chapel till I began 
 again, and preached a second sermon, and the collection was 
 £100 Os. 9d. As soon as I had done, without waiting to eat or 
 drink, I set off and rode forty-three miles, and got to Pankridge, 
 on my way back to Liverpool, by twelve o'clock. I lay down 
 about three hours and a half, and set off, bought a penny roll, 
 rode again, and travelled about fourscore miles, without stopping 
 to take a morsel of food, and without eating or drinking an atom 
 or drop of anything but my penny roll. After various excur- 
 sions and fatigues, which my paper will not permit me to enu- 
 merate, I got back to London with a decrease of both mental and 
 corporeal energy, to gird myself to new labours, not less exhaust- 
 ing nor depressing than those through which I have passed. 
 Now, my dear friend, have you not an ample apology for my not 
 answering your excellent letter immediately ? With love to 
 Mr. S. and yourself, 
 
 " I am, mv dear Mrs. S., yours truly, 
 
 '^ADAM CLARKE." 
 
170 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Dr. Clarke had the honour, on the 28th of October of this 
 year, to be elected a member of the " Historical Society of New 
 York." 
 
 Towards the close of 1813, Dr. Clarke was obUged to preach 
 less frequently than he had heretofore done ; having suffered 
 severely from spasmodic attacks brought on through speaking in 
 a crowded chapel, and being afterwards exposed to the night- air. 
 
 In consequence of the death of Dr. Coke, which took place 
 while he was on his way, with six missionaries, to the island of 
 Ceylon, it was found necessary to organize a Wesleyan Missionary 
 Society. In effecting this. Dr. Clarke bore a conspicuous part. 
 A meeting was held in the City-road Chapel, on December 1, 
 1814, over which he was called to preside, when he dehvered an 
 admirable address, which was afterwards published by request, 
 under the title of A short Account of the Introduction of the 
 Gospel into the British Isles, and the obligation of Britons to 
 make known its salvation to every nation of the earth." How 
 amazingly the God of Missions has prospered that institution, 
 few readers of these pages require to be mformed. 
 
 A short time before the event just related. Dr. Clarke became 
 acquainted with Mr. Hugh Stuart Boyd, his relative by marriage. 
 The similarity of their tastes and pursuits gave birth to mutual 
 esteem ; and Mr. Boyd was soon a frequent visitor at Dr. Clarke's. 
 Early in 1815, this learned Grecian wrote an essay on the Greek 
 article, which Dr. Clarke pubhshed, during the same year, at the 
 end of his comment on the Epistle to the Ephesians ; * and, in 
 the following year, Mr. Boyd supphed a postscript, which was 
 inserted at the end of the Epistle to Titus, in the same work ; 
 for the controversy turned upon Titus ii. 13, and Ephesians v. 5. 
 Mr. Boyd received a confirmation of liis views on this question 
 from a Greek gentleman of the name of Lusignan, who hved at 
 Chelsea, and came from the Isle of Cyprus. To every mind not 
 strongly prejudiced this person s opinion will appear decisive of 
 the question. 
 
 Mr. Boyd had maintained, that the words God and Sa- 
 viour," in Titus, and Christ and God," in Ephesians, do not 
 point out two distinct beings, but designated the same person, 
 according to the true grammatical construction of the Greek 
 tongue. In proof of this position, Mr. Boyd alleges, that, when 
 two or more personal nouns (of the same gender, number, and 
 case) are coupled together by the conjunction Kai, and the aiticle 
 is prefixed to the first, but not to the second, third, &c., those two 
 or more nouns, whether they be substantives or adjectives, denote 
 
 * It was afterwards carefully revised by him for the new edition of the 
 Commentary-, and was considered by Dr. Clarke the best piece ever written 
 on the subject. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 171 
 
 one and the same person ; and that this is the case also, when 
 two participles are thus coupled together. In support of tliis 
 rule, he cites many passages from the Scriptures, the fathers, and 
 profane writers, in wliich it is impossible to mistake its applica- 
 tion. He then argues, that, as the Greek article, in the two 
 texts in question, is prefixed to the first noun, and not to the 
 second, it is clear that the last noun applies to the same person 
 as the first. Hence the ''great God" is " our Saviour Jesus 
 Clmst ;" and " the kingdom of Christ" is " the kingdom of God 
 and, of course, Christ and God are one. 
 
 On meeting with Mr. Lusignan, who, be it observed, under- 
 stood ancient Greek as we understand Enghsh, having learned it 
 as his mother tongue, he asked him if he had read any of the 
 controversy respecting the Greek article. He answered that he 
 had not read, nor heard, anything about it. He then asked 
 him to take down his Greek Testament from the shelf, and to 
 look for Titus ii. 13. When he had done this, a conversation 
 took place, which Mr. Boyd has thus related: — Mr. B. "Pray, 
 Sir, how do you construe these words : rou /uieyaXov Qeov Kai 
 (TtjTYfpoQ r]fi(i)v ?" Mr. L. " I construe them thus, ' Of our 
 great God and Saviour.' " " Does Qsov here mean the ' Father,' 
 or does it mean ' Christ ?' " " It means ' Christ.' " " May it 
 not mean the ' Father ?' " Certainly not." " Why may it not ?" 
 " Because the construction will not admit it." " Why will it not ?" 
 " Because the article is not prefixed to awrripog : if Qeov and 
 (TMTTjpog had meant two different persons, the article would 
 have been prefixed to each." " If, then, two personal nouns be 
 thus joined, and the article be placed before the first and not 
 before the second, must one person be necessarily intended ?" 
 " Certainly." 
 
 In the same year, Mr. Boyd, visiting at Dr. Clarke's, asked 
 him one day, if, during the coui'se of his studies for the last 
 thirty years, he had been uniformly convinced of the truth of the 
 Scriptures, or if there were any periods in which he had any 
 doubts : his answer was, Hke all his conversations, open, in- 
 genuous, and undisguised ; — " If I had never doubted at all, I 
 should not have been what I am, a human being placed in this 
 world and exposed to the temptations of Satan. Besides, in the 
 course of my studies I have had occasion to examine several of 
 the works of the infidels; and the doubts which had passed 
 through their minds necessarily passed through mine; and 
 although I have demonstrated to my own conviction the truth of 
 religion, it sometimes cost me both time and trouble completely 
 to answer their objections. The ultimate conviction, however, 
 on my mind has always been this ; if it be possible for the Bible 
 to be false, we cannot be certain of the truth of anything ; if the 
 
172 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 Bible be not what it professes to be, then there is no such thing 
 as certainty at all : indeed I was nearly telhng them the other 
 day at the Bible Society, that after a Hfe of nearly fifty years, 
 spent not only in the study of the Scriptures, but in investigating 
 many branches of human knowledge, as far as my hmited means 
 would allow me, I have arrived at this conclusion — There is not 
 so much certainty in any art or science whatever as in the Sacred 
 Writings. But independently of all other proofs, the Bible 
 speaks for itself — it tells its own tale ; and the efiects which the 
 study of it produces on the heart and the understanding, evince 
 that it cannot but he Divine." 
 
178 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 Broken State of Dr. Clarhe^s Health — His Friends purchase for him a Re- 
 treat near Liverpool — Description of his New Residence — His altered 
 Occupations — Erects a Chapel on his Grounds — Engatfes in agricultural 
 Pursuits — Distinguished visitors at Millhrook — Dr. Clarke^ s Benevolence 
 to some shipwrecked Mariners — Takes a Tour through the West of Scot- 
 land, on his Way to Ireland — State of the Irish Peasantry — Dr. Clarke 
 narroivly escapes from Poison — Visits his native Place — The Scene of his 
 Boyhood — Welcome back to Millhrook — Dr. darkens high Opinion of 
 Methodism — Accident at Millhrook — Dr. Clarke becomes acquainted with 
 the Rev. Thomas Smith — Is elected Member of the American Antiquarian 
 Society — Publishes the Traveller's Prayer — The two Budhist Priests — 
 Dr. Clarke undertakes their Instruction — Their Impressions cf English 
 Objects — Their Disinterestedness — Dr. Clarke baptizes them — Their Re- 
 turn to Ceylon — Letters from them. 
 
 The time was now come when Dr. Clarke's removal from Lon- 
 don could no longer be postponed with safety to himself or 
 comfort to his immediate friends. " I feel," he observed, in a 
 letter to his wife, written during a brief absence from home in 
 the summer of 1815, "that matters are come to this issue : if I 
 do not at once get from many of my avocations, I shall soon be 
 incapable of prosecuting any. I must hide my head in the 
 country, or it will shortly be hidden in the grave." 
 
 Similar feelings are expressed in a letter to Mr. Boyd on liis 
 retiring, dated June 7, 1815 : — "That I shall leave London, as 
 a place, without one sigh, I am pretty certain, though it will not 
 be so with respect to many of the people in London, I already 
 feel. I do not hke to be put out of the way of old friends ; as 
 to forming new ones, that is out of the question. I think I 
 shall form no more, and my situation is Hkely to be where there 
 are none to form. So I must take care to keep up a good under- 
 standing with myself, which I am sure I cannot do, without 
 being on good terms with my God. And on these terms I can- 
 not be, without carrying about at all times, a conscience sprinkled 
 with the atoning blood." 
 
 Dr. Clarke was strongly urged by different religious and bene- 
 volent societies to remain in town ; and many of his literary ac- 
 quaintances also set their faces against his removal. Among the 
 rest, the Kev. John Owen, at the desire of the Committee of the 
 Bible Society, endeavoured to dissuade him from leaving London, 
 in a letter in which the point was pressed with considerable force, 
 and yet with all possible delicacy. 
 
174 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 " I need scarcely acquaint you," observes the reverend gentle- 
 man, " that there is a department in the business of our Com- 
 mittee, which no one but youi'self' is competent to direct. In 
 that department we can work with you, or rather under you ; but 
 we can do nothing without you. Eeflect on the Ai'abic, the 
 Etliiopic, the Abyssinian, and the Syriac ; in all which languages 
 we stand pledged to the world for something which has not yet 
 been executed ; and then ask your own heart what you think we 
 shall be able to accomplish in either, if you should resolve to 
 abandon us. I say nothing of the assistance which we have 
 been in the habit of recei\ing in all our transactions, both Uterary 
 and mechanical, from your general knowledge of business, and 
 particularly fi'om your extensive acquaintance with the practical 
 details of t^-pography." 
 
 Dr. Clarke repUed in terms which evinced a just sense of the 
 value which the Committee were pleased to set upon his sei-vices ; 
 but, on the main point, he was not to be moved. " As to my 
 continuance in the work," he observed, " however grateful this 
 would be to my feelings, a variety of causes combine to direct 
 my way, and that of my family, from the metropoHs. To specify 
 these, is not necessary : they exist, and they ai'e imperious ; and 
 that is enough." 
 
 According to this determination, those of his friends who were 
 more particularly interested in promoting his personal comfort 
 and the presentation of his health, assisted him in making 
 arrangements for his removal. By their munificence, an estate 
 was purchased for him at Eccleston, in Lancashii'e, a few miles 
 from Liverpool, towards which Mr. John Nuttal, of that town, 
 presented i'lOOO, and the late Mr. Henry Fisher, the proprietor of 
 the Caxton Printing Office in Liverpool, which was destroyed by 
 fire a few years ago, d£300.* To this retreat, which Dr. Clarke, 
 in honour of liis friend Mr. Samuel Drew, styled Millbrook, that 
 being the name of a place where that celebrated man resided in 
 early hfe, his family retired on the 20th of September, 1815. 
 
 Dr. Clarke gave his friend Mr. Boyd the following account of 
 his new residence in January, 1817 : — 
 
 " We have not had the masons, whitewashers, or carpenters 
 out of the house since we came here ; and I know not when we 
 shall. I assure you we have had our hands full ; and now we 
 have our pockets most completely emptied. Wo to him who 
 
 * Mr. Fisher was a very hberal friend to Dr. Clarke. In addition to what 
 is above mentioned, he sent his two sons to be educated by the Doctor, 
 allowing him the handsome sum of £200 per annum for their board and 
 tuition. Messi-s. Nuttall and Fisher employed Dr. Clarke to edit several 
 works which issued from their press, and paid him generously for his 
 labours. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 175 
 
 builds ft liouse, unless he has more money than he knows how to 
 spend. Well, I wish that you could see us, even as we are ; I am 
 sure you would be pleased. Though wo are so far north, the 
 chmate is exceedingly mild and equable. Our house is very 
 warm, and will, I trust, be very comfortable." 
 
 It was not ease merely, but change of occupation, that Dr. 
 Clarke sought in retiring into the country. His avocations were 
 less laborious, less numerous, and less pressing, than they had 
 been ; but he was still actively and usefully employed. Many 
 of his new modes of disposing of time were directly promotive 
 of health, and all that he did was performed in the midst of that 
 tranquillity which is the charm of a country life. Under a change 
 of circimistances so beneficial, he speedily recovered his strength 
 and spirits, so long consumed, and so nearly exhausted, by the 
 incessant performance of heavy and exigent labours. 
 
 At the request of the Wesleyan Methodists in Manchester, he 
 was appointed to that circuit ; but the appointment was little 
 more than nominal. He preached there but once a month, 
 generally filling up the other Sabbath mornings, by preaching in 
 Liverpool, or in chapels nearer his own residence. 
 
 Nearly the whole population around Millbrook was Roman 
 Catholic. The churches and chapels being from two to three 
 miles distant, he erected a small chapel on his estate, which the 
 Methodist preachers supplied. At first a few Protestant colliers 
 only attended, who, with his family, the village schoolmistress, 
 shoemaker, and blacksmith, formed the congregation. 
 
 Dr. Clarke engaged in agricultural pursuits ; and all the time 
 he could spare out of his study was employed in superintending 
 his farm, watching the progress of his young plantations, or 
 making agricultural experiments. * He was the first in the 
 morning to feed the fowls, &c., in the farm-yard ; nor would he 
 ever eat anything thus reared under his own eye, from the fowl 
 to the cattle. He made many improvements on his estate, and 
 brought it into a state of order and perfection rarely equalled. 
 The poor of the neighbourhood were his especial care : he sup- 
 plied them with Bibles and Testaments, and instituted a Sunday 
 
 * In the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine for 1832 and 1833, there are some 
 papers from Dr. Clarke's pen on curious facts in agriculture ; particularly 
 on the almost unlimited capacity that seeds possess of multiplying them- 
 selves by means of slips, heing the result of a series of experiments which 
 he made at Millbrook on two grains of wheat. " By this," says the doctor, 
 " it appears that one grain will not only produce thirty, sixty, or a hundred 
 fold, but even six hundred thousand fold." And again, " So abundant is 
 its germinating power, that, if all the wheat in Europe were destroyed to a 
 single grain, that grain, by proper management, in the above way, would, 
 in a short time, produce a sufficiency to sow all the cultivated surface of the 
 continent and islands of this fourth part of the globe." 
 
176 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 School, in which from sixty to seventy children were taught to 
 read. He frequently went in to encourage the good, and to 
 exhort the disorderly ; and interested all by instructive tales. 
 He was careful to mark the ill- clad, and never rested till he had 
 procured them comfortable clothing. 
 
 The location of a man so celebrated as Dr. Clarke, in any 
 place of retirement, could not fail to attract the visits of the 
 curious. This was frequently the case at Millbrook. The Earl 
 of Derby and his family were among the Doctor's neighbours, 
 and honoured him by frequent visits. We shall present an ac- 
 count of two of these visits, in Dr. Clarke's own words. The 
 fact, that Lord Stanley, then a boy, made one of the party, gives 
 increased interest to the detail : — " There were thirteen persons, 
 all nobles. To the various questions that were asked about 
 our Missions, their success, &c., &c. ; I was enabled to give 
 such answers as seemed to interest them much, and delight 
 them not a Httle. The Countess was particularly inquisitive, 
 and asked such questions, and made such observations, as plainly 
 showed a mind highly cultivated and informed ; and one that was 
 far, very far, fi'om being indifferent, relative to the hfe of God in 
 the soul of man I They tamed about three hours, gave me a 
 pressing invitation to ^asit them, and offered to send their car- 
 riage for me, whenever I could make it convenient to come to 
 the haU. They departed, saying, ' They had not, in the course 
 of their Hves, ever spent a morning so much to their satisfaction.' 
 Wlien showing some of my rare and curious MSS., the Countess 
 took occasion to say, ' Dr. Clarke, I am delighted with these ; 
 but there is one thing, of which I have heard, which I do not 
 see.' * Of what does your ladyship inquire ?' 'A sermon, pub- 
 lished by yourself, on Salvation by Faith ; for a copy of which 
 I shall feel highly obliged.' I immediately expressed my sense 
 of the honour she did me, in noticing my work, and promised to 
 present her with a copy before she departed. At three several 
 intervals she mentioned this again ; and said the last time, ' Pray, 
 Dr. Clarke, do not let me depart without the semon.' I then 
 ran and brought it, and a copy of that on the Love of God, which 
 she seemed to receive with dehght ; and both of wliich, I was 
 afterwards infoimed, she immediately read. 
 
 " On Wednesday last I had a private visit from her and the 
 Earl ; and they told me that they had just then called to know 
 whether they might have the pleasure of introducing, at my own 
 time, next day. Lord Dartmouth, and some other friends who 
 were then at Knowsley. The hour was accordingly fixed ; and, 
 on the following day, they came. 
 
 Besides the Derby family, and Lord Dartmouth, we had the 
 two Ladies Legge, Lady Essex, several others, whose names I 
 
Dr. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 177 
 
 could not catch, Bootlo Wilbraliam, Esq., M.P., and his lady. 
 They filled my house, and continued there nearly three hours. 
 I never had such an opportunity with gi'eat people, to speak so 
 much about the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ ; and 
 this, too, at their own especial and repeated request. 
 
 " These and the many visits which we have from the neigh- 
 bouring gently, magistrates, and ministers, of which I have 
 given you no detail, consume much of my time ; but, notwith- 
 stanthng, I rejoice in them, because I have so many opportunities 
 of showing to many, who, perhaps, otherwise would never have 
 heard of tliem, the honour and influence of Methodism. I 
 thank God for this ; and I well know, that these things are lead- 
 ing, not merely to a simple knowledge of important facts, but to 
 something of infinitely greater importance. And you may rest 
 assured, that, from a thread to a shoe-latchet, I take nothing 
 that is theirs." 
 
 In the commencement of the year 1816, which was unusually 
 severe, many hundreds of sailors were thrown upon the benevo- 
 lence and compassion of the inhabitants of Liverpool. Dr. 
 Clarke resolved on lending his aid to these perishing strangers. 
 He had some cottages untenanted, into which he put a quantity 
 of straw and blankets, and then sent for twenty of the poor 
 fellows. In the day-time, they were employed in making the 
 road to his house ; and at set hours they assembled in his kitchen 
 to their meals, one always remaining in- doors to cook for the 
 rest. Dr. Clarke allowed them also a certain quantity of spirits 
 for grog per day ; but, on their asking for tobacco, he endea- 
 voured to dissuade them from using it. Yet they pleaded so 
 strongly, and with such humorous pathos, that he yielded, though 
 not without frequently urging them to accept money instead of 
 tobacco. One of them, to whom he said, " I really wish you 
 would give up this silly, nasty practice," replied, " Indeed, Sir, I 
 cannot give it up : if you had been in the four quarters of the 
 globe, as I have, in storms and tempests, in heat and cold, in 
 hunger and thirst, and often in battle, you would have known the 
 comfort, as well as myself, of having such a companion." This 
 was an argument which Dr. Clai'ke was not prepared to answer. 
 During the three weeks that these poor fellows remained at 
 Millbrook, they behaved themselves well, and were not guilty of 
 the shghtest injun% excess, or disturbance. 
 
 In June, 1816, Dr. Clarke, accompanied by two friends, set 
 off for Ireland, taking a part of Scotland on their way, to 
 preside at the Irish Conference. The Doctor kept a journal of 
 their tour, which will afford some amusing and instructive 
 extracts. 
 
 Along the bay of Wigton, he found the country " poor and 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 barren yet, he adds, " here and there you will meet with a 
 cultivated spot ; for, to the honour of the Scottish gentry, they 
 spend the money which they receive from their dependants and 
 tenantry, among those from whom they get it. Were this same 
 ground in Ireland, it would be a perfect desert ; as the Irish 
 gentry, to their eternal disgrace, spend all the money they receive 
 in the kingdom, in places of public resort in England, &c." 
 
 In that part of the journal wliich relates to Ireland, we find 
 some passages descriptive of. the miserable state of the peasantry, 
 which, we fear, is not now much better. " We went into several 
 cabins, which were wi'etched in the extreme. Though in most 
 of them there is a hole, which corresponds to what we call 
 cliimney ; yet, so heavy is the smoke produced by their turf, that 
 it is rarely seen to issue from the top, but fills the house, and 
 passes with slow sullenness through the door. The poor people 
 are often ill- coloured, and their eyes badly affected. We went 
 into one, where we found a very nice young woman, about 
 eighteen years of age, nursing her first child. She had a Httle 
 fire on the earth, the bed near it, and scarcely any furniture. 
 The house was built of thin stones, without any kind of mortar : 
 through the wall, on the other side of the bed, you could every- 
 where see the day-Hght, and even the fields, between the stones ! 
 How it is possible for herself, husband, and infant, to maintain 
 fife under such circumstances, is to me quite inexplicable. We 
 found she could read ; but, alas ! she had no book but a Eomish 
 Manual. I regi'etted much that I had not brought a few Testa- 
 ments with me : I could never have bestowed them to better 
 advantage, than in this day's journey. We gave her a httle 
 silver, for which she seemed truly thankful ; and offered us, in 
 return, all she could bestow, — a little sea-weed, here called dulse, 
 which, when dried, has a pleasant saltish taste." 
 
 At Cusliiondale the party naiTowly escaped poisoning. The 
 facts are thus related by Dr. Clarke himself : " While our horses 
 were baiting at a poor inn, though the best the place afforded, we 
 asked for some refresliment, but scarcely anythmg could be pro- 
 cured. On desiring some wine, the landlord told us he had 
 none bottled, but he had some good draught. We requested 
 him to bring us half-a-pint to taste it ; it was brought, and, on 
 trying it, I observed to my companions it had a different taste to 
 anything I had ever kno-svn. They both, on tasting it, bore the 
 same testimony. We called the waiter, and desu'ed her to wann 
 it with a httle sugar and nutmeg. She soon returned with it, 
 but it was still so unpalatable, that I could not take more than 
 half a wine glassful. Each of them took a full glass. We pro- 
 ceeded on our journey, and were all soon taken ill. My com- 
 panions complained of giddiness and sickness at the stomach. 
 
DR ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 179 
 
 resembling, as they teiTned it, sea- sickness. My head was but 
 slightly affected, but I was seized with a bowel complaint. On 
 coming to our next stage, my companions were too ill to proceed 
 farther ; they both began to be exceedingly sick, and continued 
 sick for several hours. This circumstance probably saved their 
 lives ; but, owing to my not having taken so much of the per- 
 nicious fluid, the poison stole into my system, instead of 
 producing sickness — but we were all sorely ill." 
 
 On this occasion Dr. Clarke visited the place " that had every- 
 thing to recommend it to his attention and heart." " The 
 place," says lie, " is that in whicli I spent my boyish days ; where 
 I first felt conviction of sin, righteousness, and judgment ; where 
 I first saw or heard a Methodist ; where I first tasted the pardon- 
 ing love of God, after having passed through a great fight of 
 affliction; where I joined the Methodist Society ; where I first 
 led a class ; where I first began to preach redemption in Christ 
 Jesus, and from which I was called to become an itinerant 
 preacher. And these things took place in the parish, and in the 
 compass of about three fields' breadth in that parish, which is on 
 the edge of the sea, where there is the most beautiful shore in 
 the world, extending above twenty miles, of as perfectly level 
 hard sand as can be conceived ; — the very place where I was 
 once drowned, and perhaps miraculously restored to life ; where 
 I was accustomed to bathe, and from the rocks of which I used 
 to catch many fish, and among the rocks of which I spent many 
 an hour catching crabs, &c. Such a place, thus circumstanced, 
 must afford a multitude of the most impressive reminiscences. 
 No place on the face of the earth can have so many attractions 
 for mey 
 
 At Garvagh, where he lived from his tenth year to the time of 
 his departure to England, he found deep impressions of the tooth 
 of time. " The house is partly fallen down, and the rest is in a 
 most miserable state. A large mill-dam, the mill to which it 
 led, and the canal by which the water was conducted to it, are all 
 obliterated! I proceeded to see the school where I had my 
 classical education. But what a change is here ! the beautiful 
 wood is entirely cut down ; not even the brambles are left ; 
 sheep, goats, and larger cattle, no longer browse on the adjoining 
 hills ; and the fields are rudely cultivated, and the school-house 
 is itself become the habitation of two poor famihes. I searched 
 about to find, if possible, some of my old schoolfellows, and 
 class-mates, forty years ago : some of them had been bred up 
 for the Church, some for the law, and some for the practice of 
 physic ; a few I found now old men, who, by various provi- 
 dences, had been disappointed in their views of secular establish- 
 ments, and reduced to the cultivation of their paternal soil. On 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the whole, I received Httle pleasure from tliis visit, and, having 
 dined, set off for Maghera, and stopped there to visit the places 
 of my eai'hest infancy, and where I learned my alphabet. Now 
 persons, houses, trees, enclosures, &c., are running rapidly to 
 decay ! Economy and industry have not been exerted to coun- 
 teract its influence ; and, consequently, that influence has been 
 ample and extensive. I witnessed several things here wliich 
 tended to deepen the gloom which the former objects had 
 diffused ; so I rode on to Magherafelt, revolving in my mind a 
 multitude of ideas, produced in various assemblages, none of 
 w^hich tended to reheve the pressure on my spirit." 
 
 The reception which Dr. Clarke met with on returning to 
 Mi 11 brook is a hvely contrast to this gloomy picture. Not only 
 were liis wife and liis cliildren glad to see Mm, but the very ani- 
 mals in the field. The bullock, wliich he called Pat, came to 
 him, held out his face for him to stroke it, and actually placed 
 his two fore feet upon liis shoulders with the affection of a 
 spaniel. " So here," says the Doctor, in relating this singular 
 trait of animal affection, " is a Hteral comment on ' The ox know- 
 eth liis owner.' " 
 
 About this time, Mr. Boyd was contemplating some publication 
 wliich involved opposition to Methodism. Dr. Clarke's notice 
 of the circumstance is highly characteristic : — 
 
 "I am as much sui-prised as you, to find that any of our 
 preachers ' should labour hard to dissuade you from publishing 
 your pamphlet against Methodism ;' for, although I have a veiy 
 high respect for your learning and abihties, I am sure that 
 Methodism has nothing to fear from anything that you or any 
 other person can write on the subject in question. The most 
 subtle casuists in the land have long ago done what they could ; 
 and Methodism continues now, as it was then, as inexpugnable 
 as the piUars of the eternal liills. It fears the powers of no 
 adversaries. It has most sovereignly confuted all the arguments 
 and calumnies ever brought against it ; and, if you can bring 
 anything new, worthy consideration, it will in all probabihty 
 confute that also. You should biing forward no argniment that 
 has been answered ; because this would expose you to the cen- 
 sui'e of wiiting on a subject which you did not understand ; for 
 we do not understand a subject, if we are ignorant of what has 
 been said or written, pro or con. 
 
 " But why should you wish to naiTow the gTound on which you 
 have already thought proper to stand in order to defend some of 
 the most momentous tmths of the Gospel ? Have you counted 
 the cost, and answered to your own satisfaction the cui bono ? 
 But I must not proceed, lest you should think that I also was 
 joining in the strong persuasives of Messrs M. and K. to prevent 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 181 
 
 you from publishing : as your friend, I would ; but, as fearing 
 for my system, I would not." 
 
 In the spring of 1817, Dr. Clarke had occasion to make some 
 alterations in his house, in effecting which his own hfe, and the lives 
 of his whole family, were accidentally endangered. An account 
 of this, he gives in a letter to his sons : — " In making a sough 
 to take off the water from the buttery, the whole wall of the 
 breakfast-room over it gave way, and for several yards fell in. 
 Every moment in expectation of the whole building falling, I 
 got your mother, and sister Rowley, with great difficulty removed, 
 and all of every living thing out of the house. Before the crash 
 came, (for I was standing by, and saw it giving way,) I was con- 
 stant in my warnings to the workmen ; for I was assured they 
 were digging away the foundation, without putting suitable props. 
 But in vain I warned the fellows : they would not beheve, till 
 they had nearly lost their hves. When the catastrophe took 
 place, they were all, except the bricklayer, like a rope of sand. 
 I directed the place of every prop, and the whole mode of pro- 
 ceeding. I was continually exposed to imminent danger ; yet 
 my mind was kept in perfect calmness." 
 
 After his removal to Millbrook, Dr. Clarke became acquainted 
 with the Rev. Thomas Smith, a Dissenting minister, now of 
 Sheffield, who, not being settled over any particular congregation, 
 and having the offer of a tutorship in the Dissenting Academy at 
 Rotherham, applied to Dr. Clarke for his advice. After referring 
 to his own long experience in the ministry, and extensive obser- 
 vation of others engaged in that office, the Doctor, in his reply 
 (dated April 20, 1817), observed: — "On hearing any man 
 preach, I can generally judge correctly whether he is likely to 
 be useful, and in what degree. I have heard you again and 
 again ; and I am satisfied, that your preaching, in its matter and 
 manner, is calculated to do much good. I deprecate your being 
 diverted from this work. Teaching youth is a noble employ- 
 ment ; and, where it can be done in connexion with the other, 
 it is well and praiseworthy. But this work is not to be com- 
 pared with the work of the ministry : saving souls from death is 
 an especial work of God ; and the power to be the instrument of 
 it is an especial gift. In the course of Providence, many are 
 qualified to be instructors of youth : in the course of grace, but 
 few are qualified to be the means of saving souls. Fear not, 
 man ! The length and breadth of Immanuel's land are before 
 you : the wide world is his parish ; and he will send his curates 
 where he pleases." In another letter to Mr, Smith, he says ; " I 
 have often thought God designed you for an itinerant preacher, 
 a current flame of fire. You can bear with me : though a Me- 
 thodist, I love you full as well as any of your Calvinistic friends 
 
182 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 either can or do." And again, in writing to the same gentle- 
 man, the Doctor says : " You know my opinion of your Pro- 
 pria quae Marihus work — give it up — some dull plodder will do 
 as well as you ; and yet such cannot do the work wliich God has 
 given you ; then, your ministry will be tenfold more blessed than 
 ever. Let those who can do no better, deal in their Gibeonitish 
 crusts ; and, while they are bringing forth their old tilings, bring 
 forth your things new and old — such new things as give spirit 
 to the old, and such old tilings as give credit to the new." 
 
 On the 3d of October, 1817, Dr. Clarke had the honour of 
 being elected " Member of the American Antiquarian Society." 
 
 In December, 1817, Dr. Clarke was providentially called to 
 take a journey from Livei'pool to Hull, in company with an intel- 
 hgent and pious friend. " Being alone," says he, " we had on the 
 way some useful conversation, relative to the circumstances of 
 such rehgious people as were obhged to pursue their business by 
 frequent journeys, both by sea and land, in wliich no privacy 
 could be enjoyed ; and where, consequently, that daily walk, 
 wliich a Christian should observ^e towards liis Maker, was often 
 so unavoidably interrupted, that it was next to impossible to have 
 a recollected mind, or a heart regularly turned to God by prayer 
 and suppUcation. In our discussion of this subject, we both 
 agreed, that to have a solemn form of well chosen words, by 
 which the mind could fully express itself, in reference to its cir- 
 cumstances, without the labour of looking for suitable expressions, 
 must be of great utihty ; and to both of us, the Third Collect 
 for Grace, in the Liturgy of our excellent Church, appeared to 
 contain both the ideas and words wliich, above all others, were 
 best suited to such occasions, and in which every Christian heart 
 could join. On that occasion I termed. this collect, * The Tra- 
 veller's Prayer and fr'om that day formed the resolution, when- 
 ever I should be able to command a sufficiency of time, to write 
 a short discourse upon it, not only to recommend tliis veiy suit- 
 able and comprehensive form for this very purpose, but also to 
 explain the import and force of every expression, that they who 
 should use it in such pilgiimages might have the frill benefit of 
 it, by pra}dng, not only with the sjjirit, but with the under- 
 standing also."* 
 
 In February, 1818, Dr. Clarke thus recorded liis opinion of 
 the beneficial effects of the preaching of the Gospel upon the 
 
 * This purpose Dr. Clarke fulfilled in 1829, but intended to circulate the 
 tract merely among his friends and acquaintance. No sooner, however, did it 
 appear, than some of the Bishops requested that it might he printed in a 
 small pocket size, and thus hecome the companion of all who " travel by 
 land or by water." This Dr. Clarke accordingly did, and entitled it, " The 
 Traveller's Prayer." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 morals of this country : " I know the nation better than most 
 men in the nation ; I have so frequently travelled it over, and 
 with my eye on the heart of man, so far as discovered in the life 
 and conversation. I have marked it many years ; I have seen it 
 in a low state, and I now see it in a state of great moral im- 
 provement. It is a widely different nation now from what it was 
 forty years ago, when I could travel for a hundred miles without 
 meeting with a person who feared God ; now you meet with such 
 characters, of all religious persuasions." 
 
 In May of this year, he was called to London to preach 
 two of the annual sermons in aid of the Wesleyan Missions, 
 and to attend the yearly meeting of the society. On this 
 occasion, he received information from Sir Alexander John- 
 stone that he had brought with him, from Ceylon, two high- 
 priests of Budhoo, who had left their country and their friends, 
 and put themselves before the mast, in order that they might 
 come hither to be instructed in the truths of Christianity ; that 
 he had paid their passage, but, in order to try their sincerity, had 
 kept them in the meanest place, and at the greatest distance from 
 himself, during the whole passage. The following is the Doctor's 
 description of these interesting strangers: — ''Munhi Kat'hana, 
 Teerunanxie, is twenty-seven years of age, and has been high- 
 priest eight years ; but he was educated, as was also the other, 
 from liis youth for the priesthood. Dherma Rama is twenty- 
 five years old, and has been between six and seven years in the 
 priesthood. They entered the temple when they were about 
 five years of age, and, before they could arrive at their high 
 order in the priesthood, were obhged to learn several languages, 
 not only the Singhalese in its purity, but also the Pali, Patois- 
 Portuguese, Tamul, and Sanscrit ; and to commit to memory 
 many thousands of Slocas, or verses, containing their Theology, 
 Physic, Metaphysics, Traditions, History, Mantras or Incanta- 
 tions, and their most curiously involved doctrine of the Metem- 
 psychosis, or Transmigration of Souls. They are cousins- gennan, 
 and are about five feet six inches, and quite black. They have 
 fine eyes, particularly the elder, regular features, and the younger 
 has a remarkably fine nose. Swearing, lying, drunkenness, 
 theft, uncleanness, &c., they have in the utmost abhorrence. 
 There is a gentleness and an intelhgence in their faces, which 
 have gi'eatly impressed me in their favour ; in short, they are 
 lovely youths, for whom I feel already deeply interested." Mr. 
 Samuel Dunn adds, " They travelled without hat or cap, 
 with a splendid yellow garment thrown loosely over the left 
 shoulder, and with not only the head, but also the neck, breast, 
 and right arm entirely bare, to the no little astonishment of 
 beholders." 
 
184 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 At the joint request of Sir Alexander Johnstone and the 
 Wesleyan Missionary Committee, Dr. Clarke undertook to in- 
 struct the young priests in Christianity and science, for which 
 pui-pose they accompanied him to Millbrook. The difficulties 
 of the task were not small, for their prejudices and false learning 
 were to be combated ; but their docility tended to lighten the 
 labours of their teacher. Early in the morning they were accus- 
 tomed to go into the study for religious instruction. They were 
 particularly struck with the history of our Lord's sufferings in 
 the garden, and his death upon the cross ; and would have it 
 read over and over to them, while they wept at the tale. To this 
 succeeded a long class of doubts of the efficacy of that death 
 itself. They were confounded, too, when they contrasted the 
 miracles recorded with the want of energy betrayed at the mo- 
 ment when its exermse appeared most necessary for self-preser- 
 vation ; and the patient endurance of indignities by a mind so 
 nobly constituted, but iU accorded with their notions of a just 
 resentment. But their teacher was one of a thousand ; and by 
 his prayers with them, and for them, and by the Divine blessing, 
 their doubts were gradually overcome, and yielded to a full con- 
 viction of the truth of Christianity ; and, after years of trial, 
 even among their own countrymen, neither of them has evinced 
 the slightest disposition to return either to his idols or to the 
 faith or practices of his forefathers. In matters of science 
 they manifested the liveliest interest and the quickest appre- 
 hension. Here they had proof ; for Dr. Clarke, in all his lec- 
 tures on Natural Philosophy, had recourse to experiments. On 
 such occasions their dehght was excessive. 
 
 They were amazingly anxious to witness frost and snow, the 
 accounts of which they treated as fictitious, until Dr. Clarke 
 assured them, that, during the' approaching winter, they would 
 probably be able to stand upon the surface of the fish-pond as 
 securely as upon the solid ground. The winter came, and snow 
 fell upon the earth. In the morning they looked out of their 
 window, and, behold ! the landscape wa« clad in white. Their 
 surprise at first amounted to fear ; but, when taken out to the 
 garden to handle some of the fleecy substance, their pleasure 
 was so great, that they could hardly be persuaded to return in- 
 doors. Frost followed snow, and the pond was a mass of ice ; 
 but it retained so much of its old appearance, that the cautious 
 priests refused to venture upon it. Dr. Clarke led the way; but 
 they thought it possible for him to do, with impunity, what would 
 not be consistent with safety in them ; and it was not till several 
 others had joined the Doctor, that they could be induced to trust 
 themselves upon the " white water." When the Doctor's nephew, 
 accoutred in his skaits, began to glance rapidly over the pond, 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 185 
 
 they conceived that he was actually flying, until their attention 
 was dii'ected to the fact that one or the other of his feet was 
 always in contact with the ice. When they understood this, 
 their courage was augmented. In the end, they would have a 
 piece of the ice, and satisfy themselves, by exposing it to the 
 action of the fire, that it was really composed of water. 
 
 On the same day Dhorma Rama, observing that the copper 
 sun-dial was covered with hoar frost, wliich had shot in crys- 
 tallizations, representing the most beautiful foliage, took out his 
 pencil, and, with the blunt end, wrote on the icy incrustation the 
 following words in Singhalese : " These leaves have been made 
 by the supreme God." 
 
 " I will mention another circumstance," says Dr. Clarke, " re- 
 lative to our priests, wliich, though apparently simple in itself, 
 has led to some important results. It is well known that in the 
 Budhoo, and indeed Brahminical system, of philosophy, the 
 earth is a vastly extended plain, ever at rest, and immovable ; 
 founded on an equal extent of waters, and these upon air, which 
 is of itself either infinite, or founded on nothing ! Over this 
 prejudice, which has more serious consequences than you can 
 well imagine, our poor priests can neither leap nor climb. A 
 simple circumstance the other day has quite dissolved the fabric, 
 and nearly annihilated this Singhalese world. My son educates 
 some young gentlemen : previously to the vacation, I gave them 
 some lectures, and, among the rest, one on Magnetism. While 
 describing the nature, properties, and action of the magnetic 
 fluid, and illustrating the doctrines laid down by experiments, 
 the priests were greatly dehghted ; a new world seemed literally 
 to be opened to their view. They understand some little of our 
 doctrine of gravitation, by which we endeavour to explain so 
 many phenomena. The flying of the steel filings to the magnet, 
 and there adhering in an erect posture, surprised and confounded 
 them. The course of the magnetic fluid, together with the 
 attractive and repulsive influence of the poles of the same 
 magnet, did not less surprise them ; but, when I set the spinner 
 in very quick motion, and presented to it the end of a magnetized 
 steel bar, by which it was instantly attracted, because suspended, 
 and turned round its own axis with great velocity, , they were 
 fixed with wonder, to see such a substance revolving with such 
 velocity, hterally unsupported, and hanging upon nothing. 
 Dherma Rama exclaimed, ' I now believe what I never could 
 before believe or comprehend : I see, I see that the earth is 
 round, that it continues to turn round, and that it stands upon 
 nothing !' I had at that time said nothing on the subject ; but 
 his good sense, from the principles before liim, led him to form 
 tlie analogy, and make the deduction. This was to them both 
 
186 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 anotlier proof of the being and government of an all-wise and 
 all-powerful God." 
 
 Some further particulars ahout these interesting persons may 
 be gleaned from a letter addressed by Dr, Clarke to the Wesleyan 
 ^lissionary Committee, and dated Jan. 1st, 1819. He says, 
 " With scarcely a hope that they would as yet form any proper 
 notion on the subject, I ventui'ed to mention to them the doc- 
 trine of the Tiinity. I did not wish^them to enter deeply into 
 it as yet ; but I wished them to know it was an essential article 
 of the Christian rehgion. My laudable caution, I thank God, 
 was vain ; his eternal Spiiit has taken up the lesson, and opened 
 their understanding that they might know the Scriptures ; and, 
 to my gi'eat astonishment, on a recent examination, I found that 
 they had clear and satisfactor}' views of the Trinity, of the per- 
 sonahty of the Trinity, and of the infinite unity in this per- 
 sonahty ! 
 
 " Of the sincerity and pmity of these men's motives, I have the 
 most satisfactory evidence. They have sacrificed much in. order 
 to come and seek the Christian's God in a Christian land. They 
 have lost, for ever lost, the temple and its revenues and that 
 high honour and reverence which they had, as high -priests and 
 liighly learned, amongst the highest orders among their country- 
 men ; and, although they doubtless have suffered many buffetings 
 on tliis account, yet there is not the most distant wish remaining 
 to trace back their steps. Dherma Rama is a young man of 
 very high integrity, of an ardent and sti'ong mind, wishing to 
 sift everything to the bottom, and never to take a stand any- 
 Avhere till he is fully satisfied the ground will bear liim. What 
 he gets, he keeps. Munhi Rat'hana has a fine mind; truly 
 spiritual, meek, and affectionate ; seeks God, I beheve, with his 
 whole heart, and enjoys many consolations from his Spirit. 
 
 " When they have heard us expressing our surprise that we 
 have had so httle cold, frost, snow, &c., they have said, ' God 
 has sent this good weather on oui' account, that we might not 
 die.' Indeed, I often feared for their lives ; and my wife was 
 frequently without hope : our cares and anxieties are multiphed 
 on their account ; and we are obHged to deal with them as with 
 childi'en bom before their due time. I endeavom'ed to maintain 
 the natural temperature of their bodies, as the cold increased, by 
 a proper and gradual apphcation of cahco, flannel, and the 
 warmth of the room. This attention was found to be indispen- 
 sable. In their articles of food we were obhged to be equally 
 attentive, and to provide them with the most easily digestible and 
 nntiitive tilings. I trust we have succeeded. Munlii Eat'hana 
 appears to have completely weathered the cHmate. He has ac- 
 quired even a stout hai'diuess. Dherma Rama, who grew very 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 187 
 
 tliin, and had profuse night sweats and a bad cough, appears 
 also to have doubled the Cape." 
 
 In April, 1819, the elder of the two Singhalese priests, at 
 the request of Sir Alexander Johnstone, translated into that 
 language a piece of poetry on the emancipation of slaves, written 
 by Mrs. H. More. 
 
 About the same time. Dr. Clarke wrote to the Secretary of the 
 Wesley an Missionary Society, to inform him that his proteges 
 were improving rapidly, having obtained a more extensive know- 
 ledge of the Enghsli language. From the same letter it appears 
 that they excited much interest in the neighbourhood of Mill- 
 brook. Mr. Sherboume, Director of the Plate-glass Company 
 at Ravenhead, presented them with two fine plates for toilette 
 glasses ; but, though Dr. Clarke endeavoured to remove their 
 scruples, by urging that they might receive such a present with- 
 out the slightest imputation on their characters, they steadily 
 rejected them, saying, " No, we will receive nothing but the 
 Gospel of Christ ; for that alone, we came." " I must now send 
 back these elegant plates," concludes Dr. Clarke, whose pupils 
 were, in this respect, not unhke their preceptor : "it would be 
 sacrilege to receive them, when rejected on the above glorious 
 principle." 
 
 The two priests frequently entreated Dr. Clarke to administer 
 to them the ordinance of Christian Baptism ; but for a long time 
 he constantly resisted their importunities, wishing to be clearly 
 satisfied of the soundness of their faith and experience, before 
 he took so important a step. But at the end of more than a year 
 and a-half, during which he carefully instructed them in various 
 branches of learning, but more especially in the evidences and 
 doctrines of Christianity, being, as he himself states fully con- 
 vinced that they were sincere converts, at their own request, he 
 admitted them pubhcly into the church of Christ by baptism," 
 confeiTing upon one of them his own name. He had previously 
 warned them of the obHgation of the new vows they were about 
 to take upon themselves: and, on Sunday, March 12th 1820, 
 after having preached at Brunswick Chapel in Liverpool, in the 
 presence of a large and deeply interested congregation, he 
 solemnly baptised them. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, it was resolved that they should return to 
 Ceylon ; and, as Sir Richard Ottley was about to sail for that 
 island in the capacity of judge, it was deemed advisable that they 
 should take advantage of his company. Towards the end of 
 April, Dr. and Mrs. Clarke accompanied them to town. Day 
 after day, as the time for their leaving drew near, they wept, and 
 deplored the necessity for their return : they went from place to 
 place, to bid them adieu; the garden, the shrubbery, and every 
 
188 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 room. "W^ien they had bid a last farewell to the other members 
 of the family, Dr. Clai'ke took them into the study, and, kneeling 
 down, commended them with much earnestness to God. This 
 concluded, they covered their faces with their hands, and, in an 
 uncontrollable agony of grief, stepped into the chaise wliich was 
 waiting to convey them to the London coach. 
 
 To accredit these young men, Dr. Clarke Avi'ote the following 
 letter, to wliich Earl Bathui'st, then Colonial Secretary, subjoined 
 a similar testimonial, addi-essed to the authorities in Ceylon : — 
 
 "To ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. 
 
 "Adam Sree Goona Munlii Eat'hana, fonnerly a Teerunanxie, 
 or High Priest of Budlioo, in the temple of Doodhandlmve, near 
 Galle, in the Island of Ceylon, was on the 7th May, 1818, with his 
 cousin Alexander Dherma Rama, also a Teerunanxie of the same 
 temple, placed under my care by the Hon. Sir Alexander Jolmstone, 
 late chief judge of the Island of Ceylon, in order to be instructed 
 in the Chiistian Faith ; and duiing the space of tivo years, have 
 continued under my roof, and have given such satisfactory proofs of 
 theii" total change from ever}" species of idolatry and superstition, 
 and thorough conversion to Christianity, that I judged right, on 
 their earnest application, after eighteen months' instruction, to 
 admit them into the Cluistian chiu'ch by baptism, which was 
 administered to them in Liverpool, 12th March, 1820, according 
 to the form of the EstabHshed Church of England. 
 
 " As they now intend to return to their o^^Tl land, with the 
 purpose of testifpng to their benighted countrymen the Gospel 
 of the gi'ace of God, I feel much pleasure in being able to 
 recommend them to the notice of sincere Christians in general, 
 wherever they may come ; and especially to all who are in power 
 and authority, both in ecclesiastical and civil affairs, being satis- 
 fied of the strict morahty and loyalty of their principles, and 
 that they are worthy of the confidence of all who may have any 
 intercom'se or connexion with them. 
 
 " Given under my hand, this 7th of May, 1820. 
 
 "ADAM CLARKE, LL.D." 
 
 Previously to setting sail for Ceylon, the priests addi-essed 
 letters to Dr. Clarke, who had just returned to Millbrook. That 
 of Adam Munhi Rat'hana, the elder, is dated Gravesend, May 5, 
 1820, and states, "Last Friday, Sir Alexander Johnstone in- 
 vited us to his house to breakfast, and aftei-wards infoimed us 
 Mr. Wilberforce requested our company to tea ; we accordingly 
 went, accompanied by Sir Alexander Jolmstone. Mr. Wilberforce 
 shook hands with us very Idndly, and said, ' I am very glad to 
 see you, my Cluistian brothers.' Afterwai'ds he said to us, ' We 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 189 
 
 have not yet had prayer, and I shall be glad for you to join us 
 in this sacred exercise.' He took a Bible and read a psalm : 
 there were many servants present, who each had a Bible. Mr. 
 Wilberforce explained as he read, and then prayed Yeiy devoutly. 
 My heai't thanlvs Almighty God to see these good Christians. 
 We took the refreshment set before us. Mr. Wilberforce gave 
 to Dherma and myself a small beautiful pocket Bible each, with 
 Ids name written in its beginning, to accept of it as a token of 
 his affection.* We returned to the house of Sir Alexander, 
 who sent his carriage with us to the Mission-house. On Satur- 
 day morning, about eight o'clock, we left London for tliis place. 
 We were veiy kindly received here by Mr. Eowland, the preacher, 
 at whose house we are kindly entertained. We expect to sail 
 about Wednesday or Thursday. My iUness is a little better, 
 but my heart's pain not better at all. My grateful affection to 
 my dear mother, whose kindness to me the two years I spent 
 with you I shall never forget ; she loved me as her own son, 
 and so I love her as my ovm. mother. My kind respects to Miss 
 Mar}' Ann and Mr. Josef>h, to whom I will wiite. — I remain, 
 dear father, your affectionate and grateful son." 
 
 The following extract from the letter addressed to Dr. Clarke, 
 by Alexander Dherma Eama, and dated Deal, May 22, 1820, 
 will interest the reader, evincing, as it does, the gratitude and 
 ingenuousness of the writer : — " Dear Sir, beheve me, I will 
 work hard : I intend to do ten years' work in five years ; and, 
 after that five years, if you five, then I wiU come and see you ; 
 and, if you be in glory before that my coming, then I will not 
 come to England, but I will come to see you in glory. Amen. 
 God be with you, and mth your family, because, when I rejoice, 
 you was rejoice with me ; when I laugh, you did laugh the same 
 time with me ; when I question you, you did answer me for all ; 
 for these your gi-and glorious manner, I could not keep myself, 
 because so heav}% when I had to leave you. Sir, I wfll try to be 
 Enghshman long as I live ; and, if any try to make me Singha- 
 lese man, that I not Hke." 
 
 From Adam Munhi Rat'hana, Dr. Clarke received a letter, on 
 his arrival at Ceylon. It was dated Colombo, Dec. 19, 1821, 
 and the following is an extract : — " Since we sailed from England, 
 we have every Sunday read prayers, and sometimes had a 
 sermon ; every morning and evening we have met in Sir Richard 
 Ottley's cabin to read the Bible and pray : indeed, sometimes, 
 bless God, some of the other passengers have joined. We have 
 three Sundays had the Lord's Supper : indeed my mind some- 
 times rejoice concerning my soul. Every day. Judge Ottley 
 
 * Dr. Clarke also presented each of them with a copy of Lis Commentary 
 on the Scriptures. 
 
190 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE 
 
 order us to go to him, for our improvement ; indeed, by Lis 
 teaching, we have got great Imowledge : also, he is very kind to 
 us. Your book teaches us great knowledge ; he talks to us out 
 of it, and my mind is greatly satisfied with liim all the time. I 
 now better imderstand what you wrote to us in your httle book,* 
 and I am now sorrowful in my mind, when I read your excellent 
 teaching, seeing my great danger of everlasting death ; but I 
 have often, after reading, much satisfaction in my mind. You 
 have done great kindness to me, and I feel much as I can for 
 your sake. On the 30th of October we arrived at Colombo ; 
 
 the Governor very kind to me, and put me under Kev. Dr. S , 
 
 who came from England, colonial chaplain. With liim I study 
 Clmstian religion, and I hope in a very short time I will be able 
 to preach the salvation of the Lord Jesus Clnist. When I was 
 with you, I told you I wish to have some power to preach the 
 Gospel to Heathen people. My wish, I thank God, he was done 
 for me ; and I have now exceeding happiness in receiving this 
 great blessing, and in seeing my welfare in this respect. My 
 dear father, I will never forget you : you cut me some of your 
 hair ; and, when I think of you, I take it in my hand, and, seeing 
 that, my mind is full of son'ow, wanting you. Hereafter I hope 
 you send me your likeness ; what you have done for me makes me 
 feel highly, and my daily prayer is for you and your family." 
 
 One of these interesting persons now fills an important office 
 under Government, and the other is a hcensed teacher in the 
 Church Estabhslmient. 
 
 * The book here referred to is the Claris Biblica, by Dr. Clarke, His 
 earnest desire for the due instruction of his two pupils caused him to com- 
 pile it solely for their use, though it was published in 1820. In the preface, 
 we have a short account of the circumstances under which the Budhist 
 priests came over to this countiy, and were received under the author's roof. 
 The tract was compiled, in the expectation of the return of these persons to 
 their native eountry, and embodies in a system the instructions they had 
 received while in this. It was written " that they might be able at all 
 times to have recourse to them, and be the better qualified to speak with 
 their enemies in the gate ;" and their indefatigable preceptor actually 
 " made a copy lor each to take with him on his journey." This little work 
 is prefaced by a remarkably affectionate letter addressed to them, in the 
 course of which Dr. Clarke says, " I know that it is your present purpose to 
 announce to the heathen in your own country, and in Continental India, the 
 Gospel of the grace of God," and then proceeds to lay down some excellent 
 maxims for the regulation of their conduct. 
 
191 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Dr. Clarke retires from the Record Commission — Visits Cornwall — Attack of 
 Illness — Accident at St. Austell — Letter to the Rev. Robert Newstead — 
 Death of Mrs. Buttenvorth — Dr. Clarke attempts to procure the Reception 
 of the Address of the Conference to George IV. on his Accession on the 
 Throne — His projected Life of the Rev. J. Wesley — His Lives of the 
 Wesleif Family — Visits Ireland — Interesting Scene — The Scene of Dr. 
 Clarke's Boyhood — Fete at Millhrook on the Coronation of George IV. — 
 Dr. Clarke is elected M.R.I. A. — Visits Epworth — Letter to his youngest 
 son — Meeting of his Family at Millhrook — His Condescension to the 
 Young — His Intercourse with H.R.H. the Duke of Sussex — Loses some 
 of his older Friends. 
 
 The reader is already aware, that, while engaged in the labours 
 of the Record Commission which have been imperfectly de- 
 scribed in a previous chapter. Dr. Clarke's health was so much 
 injured that he found it necessary to retire from London into 
 the country. They alone were quite sufficient to overwhelm any 
 man ; but they formed only one part of the various avocations 
 in which Dr. Clarke was engaged. He was simultaneously 
 occupied with his Commentary, with ministerial duties, with 
 attendance in the committee meetings of the Bible Society, and, 
 in short, with numerous concerns, that drew upon his time, and 
 conspired to exhaust his strength. Such was the value set upon 
 his talents and his industry, that, though the distance of his 
 residence from the press, and the seat of his Government employ- 
 ment, actuated him on three different occasions to send in his 
 resignation to the Commissioners, they as often refused to accept 
 it. But, when at length they found, that, owing to his removal 
 from London, he could not carry on the work without many 
 interruptions, his desire to retire was acceded to ; and accordingly, 
 at a Board of the Commission, bearing date the 24th of March, 
 1819, the duties which he had been performing were transferred 
 to their Secretary. We find, from a note by Dr. Clarke, that 
 almost all the operations under that Commission were closed at 
 the date just mentioned, and that he had acted under it, from 
 March, 1808, till that time. 
 
 Three days before he was released from his arduous task, he 
 received a letter from Lord Colchester (the then late Speaker), 
 in which the writer observes, " You have and ever have had, 
 through your long and successful labours under the Record 
 Commission, my entire confidence and approbation." 
 
 The following extract from a document^ dated March 30, 
 
192 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 1819, will show wliat were his own feelings on this occasion : — 
 " Here I register my thanks to God, the fountain of ^Wsdom and 
 goodness, who has enabled me to conduct this most difficult and 
 dehcate work for ten years, witli credit to myself and satisfaction 
 to liis Majesty's Government. Dui^ing that time, I have been 
 required to solve many difficult questions, and illustrate many 
 obscurities ; in none of which have I ever failed, though the 
 subjects were -such as were by no means famihar to me, having 
 had httle of an antiquarian, and nothing of a forensic, education. 
 I began the work with extreme reluctance, and did everytliing I 
 could to avoid the emplo}Tnent ; but was obhged to peld to the 
 wishes of some persons high in power, who had in vain, for seven 
 years, endeavoured to find some person to undertake the task." 
 
 In the autumn of 1819, Dr. Clarke took a journey into Corn- 
 wall, for the purpose of preaching, and visiting his aged friend, 
 Mr. Mabyn. Mr. Comer, of Livei-pool, accompanied liim. 
 When they had reached Bristol, Dr. Clai'ke was attacked by his 
 spasmodic complaint, with such severity, that, as he informed 
 Mrs. Clarke, he " longed, intensely longed, for death in any 
 shape or form." On recoveiing, he proceeded on his way. 
 
 The following extract fi'om liis journal, addressed to his wife, 
 is exceedingly characteristic : — " I write this, my dear Mar\^, in 
 a situation that would make your soul freeze with horror : it is 
 on tlie last projecting point of rock of the Land's End, upwards 
 of 200 feet perpendicular above the sea, which is raging and 
 roaring most ti'emendously. There is not one inch of land fi'om 
 the place on wliich my feet rest, to the vast American continent ! 
 This is the place, though probably not so far advanced on the 
 tremendous chff, where Charles Wesley composed those fine 
 lines — 
 
 ' Lo, on a narrow neck of land, 
 
 'Tv\ixt two unbounded seas I stand,' &c. 
 
 The point of rock itself is about three feet broad at its termina- 
 tion ; and the fearless adventurer will here place his foot, in order 
 to be able to say, that he has been on the uttermost inch of land 
 in the British Empire westward ; and on this spot the foot of 
 youi' husband now rests, while he writes the following verse in 
 the same hymn." Having added the verse, the adventurer pm- 
 dently subjoins : — "I shall resen'e the rest of my paper to be 
 filled up in less perilous circumstances."* 
 
 * The reader remembers tbe story of the gold and silver shield. Dr. • 
 Clarke records a case that would admit of a similar dispute : — " I am now 
 in Sennan, a small town on the Land's End. On the sign of the inn, as 
 you come from the Land's End, are these words — * The first Inn in 
 England ;' and on the reverse are the following — ' The last Inn in 
 England.' " 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 193 
 
 After relating a number of preachings, in quick succession, 
 Dr. Clarke says : — " You will inquire how I have stood so much 
 work ? I have not stood it, for it has nearly killed me : I have 
 almost totally lost my appetite, am constantly feverish, and afflict- 
 ed with a dry mouth : my strength is prostrated. All these 
 consequences I foresaw; but I found I must either go through 
 all this labour, or have instantly left the county." The Cornish, 
 it seems, were not less selfish than the Irish ; and he certainly 
 could not apply to himself the proverb that denies honour to a 
 prophet in his own country. 
 
 But, on one occasion, the eager crowd endangered themselves, 
 as well as their preacher. " When I was about to take my text," 
 observes the Doctor, concerning the newly enlarged chapel at 
 St. Austell, " the gallery gave way : the timbers fairly came out 
 of the walls, yet it did not not fall down ; but the confusion was 
 awful. I was close to the gallery, and distinctly saw the peril ; 
 and, had it come down, I knew I must have been the first victim ; 
 but at least two hundi'ed others would also have been killed. I 
 stood in my place ; for, had I moved, universal terror would 
 have taken place, and many must have fallen victims to an 
 impetuous rush out. The chapel was soon nearly emptied, and 
 no one was hurt. Many came back again, and I preached ; but 
 I knew not, till the end of the service, all the miracle it required 
 to save us ! Then it was found, that, owing to the pressure in 
 the gallery, the timbers, being too short, had started out from the 
 walls two feet ; and the galleiy actually shook to its centre, having 
 nothing but its pillars to support it. Our son John, being beneath, 
 could see this plainer than I could at the time ; and he saw also, 
 that, if it fell, he must be killed if he kept his place, which was 
 immediately before the pulpit ; but, as he knew his father must 
 be the first victim, he resolutely kept his situation, expecting 
 eternity every moment. But enough of this : it makes one's 
 blood run chill. This is the last crowd I ever wish to see." 
 
 In April, 1820, Dr. Clarke addressed a letter to the Rev. 
 Robert Newstead, then a missionary in Ceylon, the following 
 portions of which illustrate his industry in the collection and the 
 diffusion of information. 
 
 " I owe you particular thanks for your present of a patois 
 Portuguese Hymn-book ; and for your valuable communication 
 of various facts relative to the conformity of Asiatic customs 
 and manners with those mentioned in the Bible. 
 
 " If my friends in the East knew how much I feel obliged and 
 gratified by such communications, and of what use they are to 
 me in my BibHcal researches, they would think that they had not 
 employed their time uselessly, or at least their favours were not 
 conferred on the ungrateful. 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 "More than twelve months ago I sent letters and little 
 packets to, I think, all the Missionaries then in Ceylon ; hut as 
 in none of the communications from your island I have heard 
 an)i^hing from the hrethren of such letters and parcels, I must 
 conclude that they have heen lost. These were but of httle 
 value, further than they were expressions of my best wishes and 
 prayers for yourselves, and the success of your very important 
 and arduous labom'S. I consider the Singhalese Mission as one 
 of the most important we have ever established ; and, fi-om the 
 accounts which we frequently receive, I think it has, through the 
 especial blessing of God, succeeded beyond anything we could 
 have anticipated at the time of its formation. 
 
 " The Baptist Missions have been greatly blessed ; and their 
 Missionaries have acquired great and well-merited fame, both in 
 the church of God, and in the repubhc of letters. I think it 
 will be no grief to them if you rival them in both ; and I am 
 sure it is what my heart niost devoutly wishes. You have all 
 got on surprisingly in youi' Hterary acquisitions. May God at 
 all times give you greatly to excel your former selves ! 
 
 " In youi' communications to the Missionary Committee, be 
 ever as careful and select as you can. Send nothing but the 
 strongest facts ; notliing that you have by induction formed from 
 promising appearances ; because many of these, in every case, 
 such is the uncertainty of the human character, prove abortive ; 
 and if, in any case, our small friends could say, ' Tliis statement 
 is not strictly correct,' we should more than blush. 
 
 " I have lately di'awn up a small piece for the benefit of t]^e 
 two Budliist Priests who have been for some time under my 
 care. If I can get a copy of tliis piece transcribed in time I 
 will send it to you ; and if you and the brethren should think 
 that it would be profitable to print it, you ai'e at liberty so to do.* 
 I think the principles are the best work for the size I ever made. 
 
 " I shaU be at all times glad to hear from you and the 
 brethren. Your gleanings will be a golden harvest to me. Any- 
 thing on the manners, customs, local pecuharities, the theology, 
 mythology, rehgious rites and ceremonies, of the natives of 
 your island, or the continent, will be very acceptable. As I am 
 very fond of mineralogy, anything curious in that way will be 
 very useful in my studies. I need not tell you, that antiquities 
 also are a pecuhar study, which, in my work on the Scriptures, 
 has proved very beneficial." 
 
 In April, 1820, Dr. Clarke preached in London on behalf of 
 the Wesley an Missions, and assisted at the anniversary services 
 of the Society. 
 
 * It was speedily afterwards translated into the Singhalese language, and 
 published at the Mission Press at Colombo. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 195 
 
 In June, 1820, Dr. Clarke was called upon to sympathise with 
 Mr. Buttenvorth in the loss which he had sustained by the death 
 of his wife, of whose character and conduct an opinion may be 
 formed from the following extract of a letter, addressed by the 
 former to liis bereaved relative : — " Her steady piety to God, her 
 unwearied diligence in the means of grace, her incessant prac- 
 tical godliness, her continual labours of love among the poor of 
 Christ's flock, and the indigent in general ; her sound judgment ; 
 her great prudence and discretion, connected with her many 
 domestic vu'tues ; — gave me, and all her friends, the strongest 
 evidence of the soundness of her mind and the excellence of her 
 heart ; both of wliich were directed, refined, and managed, by 
 the grace and energy of the Spirit of her Lord ; and, while they 
 illustrated, gave the fullest proof, of the purity and super- 
 eminence of that creed which she learned from the Bible, and 
 which was interwoven with every fibre of her heart. It was her 
 own boast that she was a Methodist, and it was the boast of that 
 part of the Church of Cln-ist with which she was connected, 
 that she was a sound one, faithful to her God, to his word, and 
 to his people. Her name, her zeal, and her labours of love, 
 veiled as much as possible from the pubhc eye by her modesty 
 and humihty, will long live in the recollection and hearts of 
 many ; and will never be blotted out of that register, where, ' I 
 was hungry, and ye gave me meat ; naked, and ye clothed me ; 
 sick, and ye visited me,' is entered as the evidence of the incor- 
 ruptible faith of every genuine son and daughter of God 
 Ahnighty." 
 
 The year 1820 was that in which George IV. succeeded to the 
 throne.* The Wesleyan-Methodist Conference had no sooner 
 
 * Dr. Clarke relates the following anecdote of George III., which he 
 had from high authority: — "His late Majesty, George the Third, was 
 very fond of childien : often, in his walks both about Windsor and St. 
 James's Park, he would stop when he saw an interesting child, and speak 
 kindly and affectionately to it, give it some little toy or sweetmeat, and 
 often a piece of money. One day, observing a little lad about four years 
 old, who seemed to have strayed away from his fellows, he addressed him ; 
 and, finding him intelligent for his age, he took him by the hand, and led 
 him towards the palace, the child nothing loth. He brought the little fellow 
 into the Queen's apartment, and presented him to her, with ' Here, Queen, 
 here is a vei^ nice little boy, that I have picked up in my walk ;' and then, 
 addressing t^e lad, ' That's the Queen, ray dear; bow to her.' A chair was 
 immediately brought, the little fellow was seated on it, and in a trice some 
 sweetmeats and fruit were laid before him. Little master felt hiraeelf quite 
 at home, ate freely, and endeavoured to answer every question that was 
 put to him. And when he had well eaten, it was suggested, that, as the 
 child might be missed, and cause anxiety in the family, it would be best to 
 restore him to his play-ground. Before he was removed from his chair, the 
 King took out a new guinea, and placed it before him, saying, ' Here, my 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 assembled at Liverpool, in July of tliat year, than it came to the 
 resolution of presenting an address to his Majesty, and Dr. 
 Clarke was appointed to correspond with Lord Sidmouth, the 
 Home SecretaiT, concerning the mode and time of its presenta- 
 tion. After commending, in high terms, the loyalty of his 
 brethren, the Doctor proceeds to say : — " As they find that a 
 deputation from the three denominations of Dissenters, has been 
 condescendingly received by his Majesty, these ministers, as not 
 ranking under any of those denominations, standing nearer to 
 the EstabHshed Church than any of the others, holding, Avith- 
 out exception, all her doctrines, venerating her authority, and 
 using her rehgious service, and, consequently, in then apprehen- 
 sion, not justly denominated Dissenters, in any legal sense of 
 the term, humbly wish to be received also by deputation, as they 
 cannot for a moment yield, in loyalty and affectionate attach- 
 ment to the Throne, to any of those who have been thus hon- 
 oured." From his lordship's reply, it appears that the Confer- 
 ence were not considered worthy of the honour of approacliing 
 the Throne. He stated, indeed, that the address might be 
 presented by a deputation, or by an individual, at a levee ; but 
 he immediately added, " Many months, however, are likely to 
 elapse before a levee will be held. If it should be the wish, 
 
 dear, is a pretty thing which I will give you.' The child looked at it for 
 some time, and then with his finger pushed it away on the tal)le, saying, 
 ' I don't know it — I won't have it ;' and looked indifferently over the tahle. 
 The King said, ' Well, my dear, if you won't have this, what will you have ? 
 Come, tell me what you'll have, and I will give it to you.' There were 
 several papers of a very important nature then lying on the table, whicli 
 had lately been brought into the royal apartment: the child, looking 
 earnestly at one, said, ' I'll have that pretty picture,' and put his hand 
 towards it. The King looked confounded, and hesitated ; the Queen, for a 
 time, was equally surprised ; but she first broke silence (the child having 
 then his ' prett}' picture' in his hand, whicli was no other than a new bank 
 note for a \exy large amount), and said, ' He must have it; your Majesty's 
 word is passed ; your royal promise cannot be recalled.' The King wiih 
 great good humour assented, with 'Yes, yes, he shall have it.' A faithful 
 domestic was called, the child delivered to him, with the injunction to take 
 him back to the park, find out his playmates or nurse, and follow their 
 directions, till he should find the dwelling and parents of the child — nothing 
 of either being known to his Majesty or his domestics. The servant was 
 successful, delivered the child and his pretty picture to the astonished father 
 and mother, returned, and gave such an account to the royal pair, as satis- 
 fied them, that, while his Majesty had ' sworn to his own hurt,' andvwould 
 not change, a wise Providence had directed the whole transaction. The 
 story, adds the Doctor, was well known in the royal family ; but there is 
 reason to think the family of the child was never mentioned ; for I could 
 learn no more of this singular history, than the facts, the substance of 
 which is before the reader. I well know that George the Third feared God, 
 and held his own word sacred ; nothing could induce him to change his 
 purpose, when he believed he was right." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 197 
 
 which I presume it is, that the address should be presented with 
 as Httle delay as possible, that object will be obtained by 
 transmitting it to me ; in which case, I will take the earliest oppor- 
 tunity of laying it before his Majesty, and causing the insertion 
 of it in the London Gazette." On this occasion, Lord Sidmouth 
 remarked concerning the Wesleyan Methodists, that he " knew 
 their infltience to be extensive." We are wilhng to believe that 
 he derived his knowledge rather from the effective opposition 
 which they made to his infamous bill in 1811, than from the 
 highly- coloured pictures which Dr. Clarke, though a Whig, was 
 in the habit of painting concerning their loyalty to the King, 
 and their devotion to the Government, of which Lord Sidmouth 
 was not the least unpopular member. 
 
 In the autumn of this year Dr. Clarke gave the following 
 frank piece of counsel to T. K., a brother who was fond of 
 rhyming : What you have sent me is certainly far beyond 
 anything / could write ; but could / even write as well as you 
 have done, I am sure I could uot gain the consent of my judg- 
 ment to pubUsli unless I could write ten times better." 
 
 At the request of the Conference of 1820, Dr. Clarke engaged 
 to write a Life of the Eev. John Wesley, and immediately 
 began to collect materials for the purpose. But it did not fall to 
 his lot to finish the work, for which he had made large prepara- 
 tions, and which his industrious researches and intimate know- 
 ledge of Mr. Wesley, during the last few years of his life, would, 
 doubtless, have rendered highly interesting and instructive. Mr. 
 Henry Moore was too tenacious of the honour of being Mr. 
 Wesley's biographer, to give up the documents which he pos- 
 sessed, and which comprised many that were deemed essential to 
 the work. From the following letter on the subject addressed to 
 Mr. Blanshard, the Conference Book-steward, it may be inferred 
 that Dr. Clarke was discouraged as much by the apathy of his 
 brethren in general as by the unwillingness of Mr. Moore, when 
 put to the test, to rehnquish possession of his own materials : — 
 
 ^'London, March 16, 1821. 
 
 "My dear Brother, 
 
 " You no doubt recollect that, at the last Conference, I was 
 requested to draw up a Life of our venerable founder, incor- 
 porating with what had been done by Messrs. Coke and Moore 
 many important additional materials relative to the Wesley family, 
 in my own possession ; besides others, that, by means of the 
 preachers, and different friends in the kingdom, might be collect- 
 ed. I was wilUng to attempt this work, as I found that Mr. 
 Moore, than whom no man in the Connexion knew Mr. Wesley 
 better, was ready to aftbrd me any assistance in his power. I 
 
198 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 then proposed to the President and Conference, that the preachers 
 should he requested to collect all the authentic, original anecdotes 
 relative to Mr. Wesley, and to what is called original Methodism, 
 in their power, and to confer with as many of our aged friends 
 as possihle, in their different ckcuits, for what they might he ahle 
 to furnish on these heads. And I requested also that this might 
 he done with all speed, as this source of evidence must soon he 
 dried up by the hand of death, which had akeady destroyed 
 nearly the whole of those preachers and members who had been 
 acquainted with the founder of our societies, or who had wit- 
 nessed the introduction of Methodism into the principal towns 
 and cities in the kingdom, to which Mr. Wesley's attention was 
 first providentially directed, and where many singulai' intei'po- 
 sitions of the Di\ine hand guided and marked liis apostolic 
 labours. In addition to aU this, I requested that if any of the 
 preachers had made one of the works of this singular and extra- 
 ordinaiy man his particular study, and had formed any analysis 
 or critical outline of the work, and of the circumstances in wliich 
 it was written, or the opposition he met with, to which it owed its 
 origin, he would have the goodness to communicate this also : 
 as a critical examination of Mr. Wesley's Works, and the con- 
 troversies in which he was engaged, should fonn a part of the 
 work I was requested to undertake, and at my time of life, (three- 
 score years) with the various other avocations on my hand, 
 would scarcely be expected to be performed by myself alone. 
 
 *' After Conference, I began to feel considerable anxiety, in 
 waiting for the sohcited communications ; as I knew it would be 
 useless to attempt to arrange the materials in my hands, tiU I 
 had that information which, I well knew, the inquiries above- 
 mentioned would ehcit. It is with considerable regret that I am 
 obhged to state, that to tliis hour, I have not received one com- 
 munication from any preacher or member of the Connexion on 
 the above points. 1 have, indeed, to acknowledge, and I do it 
 with a strong feehng of gratitude, that a venerable Clerg}^man,* 
 who never had any other connexion mth Mr. Wesley, than that 
 which one Christian Minister should have with another, has, 
 Tsithout hesitation, on hearing of this projected Work, furnished 
 me with a valuable correspondence that passed between himself 
 and Mr. Wesley, and several invaluable particulars relative to 
 Mr. Wesley's parents, &c., which had been derived from the 
 most authentic sources. Should I be spared to do this work, the 
 coromunications of this venerable man shall be acknowledged in 
 thek proper place, and his name wiU pass down the cuiTent of 
 time, associated with his, of whose eminence, labours, and suc- 
 cess, he has formed so high and so just an estimate. 
 
 * The Rev, Thomas Steadman, Rector of St. Chad's, near Shrewsbury. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 199 
 
 " The object of this letter is to solicit the preachers and others 
 to communicate, as soon as possible, any materials they have 
 been able to collect, distinguishing times, places, and dates, as 
 accurately as possible, and send them directed to me, Millbrook, 
 Prescot, or bring them to the ensuing Conference.* 
 
 " I am, my dear brother, yours affectionately, 
 
 "ADAMCLAEKE." 
 
 In the following year. Dr. Clarke turned his collections to ex- 
 cellent account in liis Lives of the Wesley Family, and Mr. 
 Moore pubhshed a much- enriched edition of the Life of the Eev. 
 Jolm Wesley, which he had formerly written in conjunction with 
 Dr. Coke. And here let us admire the magnanimity of Dr. 
 Clarke. Instead of endeavouring to depreciate the work of Mr. 
 Moore, he vindicated liis fitness for the task he had undertaken, 
 against the sneers of a critic in the Wesley an- Methodist Maga- 
 zine, who had insinuated, that, notwithstanding the information 
 which he possessed, he was not capable of producing a " Standard 
 Life." " There are only two aHve," said Dr. Clarke, in reference 
 to these circumstances, who had the high privilege of an inti- 
 mate acquaintance with Mr. Wesley — the Rev. Henry Moore 
 and Adam Clarke ; as he long knew Mr. Wesley, he is every 
 
 * The following occurs as a note in Mr. Everett's edition of Dr. Clarke's 
 Miscellaneous Works. The pledge contained in the concluding sentences, 
 though given in 1839, is still unredeemed: — 
 
 " Though Dr. Clarke was prevented from accomplishing the wish of the 
 Wesleyan Conference, to write a full Life of Mr. Wesley, and though deeply 
 impressed with the magnitude of the work, he still contemplated a character 
 of him, and publishing that character, if not separately, at least in the 
 pages of the ' Wesley Family.' To a friend he observes, in his private con-e- 
 spondence, so late as 1829, ' I think I will endeavour to give a Sketch of Mr. J. 
 Wesley's Life, with some anecdotes and a proper character, so that he shall 
 have some justice done to him, and not abandon him to the scurrility of such 
 persons as Lord John Russell, who glean their henbane from such lives as 
 the apostate Nightingale. By this, the new edition of the Wesley Family 
 will make two good 8vo vols.' In another letter, he remarks, Dec. 7, 1831, 
 only about nine months before his death : — ' No man out of heaven is capa- 
 ble of writing Mr. Wesley's Life, who had not an intimate acquaintance 
 with him. I lay in his bosom ; and perhaps the world, or rather the church, 
 may find, when Adam Clarke is no more among men, that John Wesley is not 
 left without a proper notice of the rare excellences in his Life, by one whom 
 he affectionately loved, and who valued him more than he does any arch- 
 angel of God.' On another occasion, he obseiTCs, ' The name Wesley, to 
 me, is sacred. I rejoice in it more than in my own.' Fortunately for the 
 church at large, and the Wesleyan body in particular, many of the Doctor's 
 remarks on Mr. Wesley's character, his interviews with him and anecdotes 
 of him, have been preserved, and will be embodied in a forthcoming 
 Memoir of himself, as they dropped from the lips — vivid and bright, when 
 in the midst of animated discourse, and under the influence of cheerful, 
 hallowed feeling." 
 
200 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 way qualified to write a ' Standard Life.' For a man who has 
 never seen, and never known, Mr. Wesley, nor seen nor felt the 
 spirit or the modus operandi of original Methodism, to write a 
 Standard Life of that extraordinary man for the Methodists, 
 would be a strange work, however mse and clever the writer 
 might be." The Founder of Methodism has had many biogra- 
 phers, who have their several excellences and defects. Mr. 
 Moore stands pre-eminent for information ; but his book is not 
 sufficiently condensed; and, indeed, there is yet an opening, 
 with deference to Dr. Clarke, for some skilful pen, at once just 
 and impartial, to give to the world a fair and ample history 
 of the gi'eat Keformer of the eighteenth century. Little can be 
 added to the facts already known ; but, by one who would be as 
 far from charging Mr. Wesley with interested ambition, as from 
 attributing to him infallibility, the history of his life might be 
 more faithfully sketched than it ever yet has been. 
 
 In the month of June, 1821, Dr. Clarke again visited his 
 native country, in company with several friends. Soon after his 
 arrival in Dublin, he opened the new Wesleyan-Methodist chapel, 
 in Lower Abbey-street, the collection for which amounted to 
 ^140. Several of the nobihty and gentry were among his 
 hearers. 
 
 On the road to Coleraine, Dr. Clarke met with the following 
 interesting occun'ence : — " Curiosity led me to step into one of 
 the cabins. It was a small one, where I saw nine persons, chiefly 
 young women, spinning, and one reehng the produce of their 
 labour. There was a bed in the place, in which a young lad lay 
 of about fourteen years of age, who had received a hurt in his 
 ancle several weeks before, and was still confined to his bed. 
 On asking them if they all belonged to one family, I was answered 
 * No.' One who spoke for the rest, said, * We ai'e only neigh- 
 bours of this poor woman : her son has got a hurt several weeks 
 ago, by which he has been unable to work : our neighbour being 
 distressed, and getting behindhand, we have agi^eed to give her 
 a day's work.' They were all spirming as hard as they could, in 
 order to make the most possible profit for the poor family by 
 their day's work. There was not one of the nine, who did not 
 herself appear to be in the most abject poverty; and they now 
 conjoined their labours to reheve one who was only more miser- 
 able than themselves. This was the finest specimen of philan- 
 thropy I had ever seen ! To witness tliis sight, — the poor labour- 
 ing for, and in order to relieve, the poor, and those to whose 
 poverty was added affliction, — read me a lesson of deep instruc- 
 tion : aU was voluntary, all was done cheerfully ; and, as the day 
 was dedicated to the relief of deep distress, they endeavoured to 
 make the most of their charity, by labouring with all their might. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 201 
 
 Myself and companions said, * Verily, these shall not lose their 
 reward :' we, therefore, gave them each a piece of silver, equal to 
 double what they could have obtained by their day's labour at 
 home." 
 
 During this journey, he designed to visit the grove and neigh- 
 bourhood where his father had formerly lived, and where he 
 expected to see some of his old schoolfellows ; but, upon inquiiy, 
 he found they were all dead, but two, who were removed to 
 another part of the coimtiy. In Garvagh, he found one class- 
 fellow, Wm. Church, Esq., whom he visited, and from him got 
 information concerning most of the rest. One had married un- 
 fortunately, and was gone to America : another, and another, 
 were dead : one was killed in a quarrel : a fourth, wearied out 
 with a perverse and an iniquitous wife, took poison, and ended 
 his days. The schoolhouse had been pulled down, and entirely 
 destroyed. He proceeded to Maghera, near which town was 
 situated the house in which he had his first conscious existence ; 
 but what was his disappointment, when he found it razed to the 
 ground, excepting a small portion of the wall, just enough to 
 indicate that a building had once been there. '* My friend, Mr. 
 Holcroft," he observes, took a sketch of what remained, and a 
 few healings of the scenery." A drawing of the birth-place of 
 Adam Clarke would be an object of no common interest. 
 
 After a fortnight's absence. Dr. Clarke returned to Millbrook, 
 and pursued his bibhcal labours with renewed vigour. His 
 studies were sometimes broken in upon by visitors, and an exten- 
 sive coiTespondence consumed much of his time. 
 
 The dehght which he took in promoting the comfort of his 
 fellow- creatures, will be seen in the following pleasing picture of 
 a fete which he gave on occasion of the coronation of George IV. : 
 — We brought all our tenants together, even to the least of 
 their young children; and gave them a dinner. They ate a 
 world of beef, pies, pudding, and cheese, besides half-a-bushel of 
 cuiTants and cherries. To all our workpeople I also gave a 
 holiday, and paid each man his day's wages ; and, when all was 
 over, I gave every child a penny — all above eight years old, a 
 sixpence — and to every grown person, a shilling. We sang and 
 prayed, and afterwards I dismissed them. They were as happy 
 as they could be. Our Union Jack was flying all day. At sun- 
 set we struck our flag ; and heartily prayed, morning, noon, and 
 night, for the King." 
 
 On the 13th of July, 1821, Dr. Clarke was elected a member 
 of the Royal Irish Academy, — an honour peculiarly agreeable to 
 his feehngs, as it proceeded from his own countrymen. 
 
 In the autumn of this year. Dr. Clarke yielded to the earnest 
 solicitations of the Methodists of Epworth, in Lincolnshire, that 
 
202 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 he would go and preach for their chapel ; and, ae it was especially 
 endeai'ed to him as the birth-place of the great Founder of 
 Methodism, he the more readily assented to their request. In 
 the account of this visit which he gave to his youngest daughter, 
 we find the following description of the rectory : — I trod the 
 ground with reverence, and with strong feehngs of rehgious gra- 
 tification. Mr. Nelson (the incumbent) led us into every room 
 and apartment of the house, up and down. I was greatly de- 
 lighted. The house is a large plain mansion, built of brick, 
 canted, roofed, and tiled. I even looked out upon the leads. It 
 is a complete old-fashioned family house, and very well suited for 
 nineteen cliildren. The attic floor is entirely from end to end of 
 the whole building. The floor itself is terraced, evidently de- 
 signed for a repository of the tithe com, and where it would be 
 preserved cool and safe. We then proceeded to the church : this 
 revived my reverential feelings : it is simple, very plain and clean. 
 I went to the Communion Table, which is the same as in Mr. 
 Wesley's time ; and I ascended the pulpit ; and, while kneeling 
 on the bass, pronounced to aU that were below, these words, ' He 
 that beheveth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself.' 
 Having looked a Httle about on aU things, we went into the 
 church-yard to see a sycamore tree, which was planted by the 
 hand of old Samuel Wesley. I brought away a piece of the 
 outer bark. I have got a pair of fire-tongs, which belonged to 
 old Mr. Samuel Wesley, and which were bought at the family 
 sale : there is also an old clock, which, I rather think, I shall 
 have, and for wliich I left a commission." 
 
 In describing his homeward journey fi'om Epworth, he says, 
 "We had no road for upwards of forty miles, but travelled 
 through fields of com, wheat, lye, potatoes, barley, and tumips, 
 often crasliing them under our wheels. In all my travels, I 
 never saw anything hke this : I feared we were trespassing ; but 
 the diivers assured us there was no other road." 
 
 About this time, we find a letter addressed to his youngest son, 
 who was then pursuing his studies at Cambridge. It displays Dr. 
 Clarke's extreme partiahty for Oriental Hteratm'e, for which, how- 
 ever, reasons are assigned. I consider Persian and Arabic, as 
 opening more sources of information than any other languages in 
 the universe. All that remains of Greece and Rome, which is really 
 worthy of being known, has been published either in Enghsh or 
 French. There is no storehouse there to be unlocked ; and, when 
 a man understands Greek and Latin weU enough to rehsh the 
 beauties of the poets and historians in those languages, I think 
 the hair-splitting business of verbal criticism on Greek and Latin 
 words, on mending and measures of corrupt readings, will amount 
 to extremely httle in the sum of human knowledge. The Persian 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 208 
 
 and Arabic contain immense treasures yet unlocked, and will pay 
 interest of ten thousand per cent, to those who labour in their 
 acquisition. I say, then, avail yourself of Professor Lee's assis- 
 tance, and remember an Arabic proverb : — ' Partial knowledge is 
 better than total ignorance : he that cannot acquire all that he 
 would, should be careful to get all that he can.' " This is some- 
 what at variance with Pope's A Httle learning is a dangerous 
 thing." 
 
 In November, 1821, Dr. Clarke conceived a strong desire to - 
 meet all the members of his family, which, indeed, he had often 
 proposed before. The following extract from a letter on the 
 subject, may stand for a description of this interesting re-union, 
 as it actually took place : — " As common sense would dictate, 
 that, in all probability, it would be the last time that we should 
 thus meet, I should earnestly wish that some solemn act should 
 stamp the meeting. I do not mean that we should meet in 
 gloom. No, I will be as cheerful, and as happy, with you as I 
 can be ; but I wish us all to act hke a patriarchal family of old, 
 et cum Deo inire foedus : to make a covenant with God, which 
 shall put us all in an especial manner under his protection. 
 What should this covenant be ? A veiy simple service, yet one 
 on which my whole heart is bent ; — that we all receive the Sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's Supper together. I have thought much of 
 this lately, especially since I wrote the closing scene of old 
 Samuel Wesley's Life. When in extremis, he ordered all his 
 family to gather round his bed, and receive the Sacrament with 
 him, using our Lord's words, ' With desire have I desired to eat 
 tliis last passover with you before I die.' Now, we could all go 
 together to the church, and get the clergyman to dehver it to us. 
 This would be the happiest day of my earthly existence ; and I 
 have no doubt that God would crown it with an especial blessing, 
 and would from that hour take you all into his more especial 
 care and protection. There is a mighty availableness in this 
 kind of covenant- making : whatever, and whosoever, is thus 
 given to God, he interests himself in reference toward for ever : 
 it is his own way, and this is one grand and especial use of the 
 Lord's Supper." 
 
 The following letter to the Kev. Thomas Smith is highly 
 characteristic of Dr. Clarke's considerate kindness towards liis 
 friends : — 
 
 ''Millhrook, 1821. 
 
 " My dear Brother Smith, 
 
 " Ever since I knew you, I took an interest in your welfare, 
 and am only sorry it never was in my power to promote it as I 
 could have wished. 
 
 " You have been several times under my roof, and never with- 
 
204 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 out a most cordial welcome ; we feel ourselves privileged in your 
 company, and are the more glad to see you, because you have 
 been so kind as to say you are always happy at our house : return 
 then as often as you can, to get any cheering that we can give 
 you. You want society ; not the society of propria qim mari- 
 bus men ; these will do you no good. 
 
 " You are apt to get into a state of mind too depressed for 
 your comfort ; I have observed this, and have often endeavoured, 
 when you were not conscious of my motive, to rally you out of 
 it by sometimes a pliilhpic against your particular tenets, for 
 which, in one sense, I cared notliing but merely to rouse you, 
 and get your mind into a habit of cheerful tliinking. Indeed, I 
 wish you better situated ; you should have a place in the country, 
 and a garden to cultivate. I hope God will make your way 
 plain, and wliile you acknowledge him in all your ways, he will 
 surely direct your steps. I am as Httle for trifling in religion as 
 any man, and a religious trifler I abominate ; but still I must 
 say, religious melancholy is an awful lot. May God ever save 
 you and me from either of these states ! 
 
 " Your affectionate friend and brother, 
 
 "ADAM CLAEKE." 
 
 In another letter to Mr. Smith, is this further proof of Hbe- 
 rahty, conjoined with firmness of opinion : — " I always felt you 
 as one of my family ; and even the difi'erence of creed could not 
 for a moment lessen you in the sight of my soul, nor the feehngs 
 of my heart. In a few hours, I shall have the happiness to pro- 
 claim this Christ to a multitude who will rejoice to hear, that, in 
 due time, his having died for all is testified to them : away with 
 all limiting principles. Selah." 
 
 In March, 1822, we meet with a pleasing instance of Dr. 
 Clarke's condescension, in a letter which, though addressed to 
 of his sons-in-law, was evidently designed for the perusal of his 
 grandson : — 
 
 Millhrook, March 19, 1822. 
 
 "Dear James, 
 
 " Is the last son Uke the two former ? If so, be thankful : if 
 it please God, I wish you fifty such ; for of such good and noble 
 tilings you cannot have too many. I never wished for boy or 
 girl in my life ; they came, and we took great care of them, and 
 you got one of the best. Had it been different, I beheve we should 
 have been equally content ; whatever sort comes is that which is 
 most needed. 
 
 " Tell Addy that the gooseberries are now shaped on the trees, 
 and he shall have plenty ; and I received yesterday home from 
 Liverpool, a good large paper of figs and raisins for him. Be- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 205 
 
 sides, tell him I have got Buonaparte new-painted, and his poor 
 head mended ; and he now looks very noble indeed. A red- 
 breast comes to the window several times in the day, to get a 
 piece of bread and cheese, of which he is very fond, and he sings 
 very well for it. When he finds me up before day, as soon as I 
 come out into the garden, he gives me a song, and I call him 
 Pretty Bobby, and he hops about from bush to bush after me. 
 
 " The monkeys also are well, but they broke loose the other day 
 and got to Peggy's and Ellen's tea-chest and sugar-basin. The 
 tea they smelt at, and threw it about, not thinking it good either 
 for man or beast, but they ate up all the sugar ; and the sugar- 
 basin being a shabby one, they did not think it worth one far- 
 thing, and therefore threw it down upon the stones, and broke it 
 all to pieces. But tell Adam also, that I have now tied them 
 up, so that they cannot get loose, and shall not be able to scratch 
 Adam when he comes. 
 
 "Ever yours affectionately, 
 
 "ADAM CLAKKE." 
 
 As further illustrative of Dr. Clarke's condescension to 
 children, and his wish to please them, we shall insert here, in 
 connexion with the foregoing, another of his letters to the same 
 little grandson, written three years afterwards, and accompanied 
 by a present of stuffed foreign birds. 
 
 " Haydon-hall, Nov. 8, 1825. 
 
 " My dear little Grandson, 
 
 " Your father and mother tell me that you are fond of birds, 
 especially pretty little birds that have prQtty feathers — blue, 
 green, yellow, red, fine glossy black, and fair lily white, with nice 
 bills and beautiful legs; but your Mamma tells me that you 
 have but one such bird ; what a pity, when you love it so well, 
 and would take great care of others also, if you had them ! Well, 
 my dear Adam, I have very many beautiful birds, which have 
 been sent me from countries very far off, and they were sent me 
 by veiy good people who love me, and I will give some of them 
 to you, Adam, because I love you. Now, my dear Adam, I 
 much like these little birds. Is it because they have very beau- 
 tiful feathers, and beaks, and legs ? or that because when they 
 were alive they sang so delightfully, ran so fast, and flew so 
 swiftly ? All this indeed I love, but I love them most because 
 it was the same good God who made them that made myself ; 
 and he who feeds me feeds them also, and takes care of them ; 
 and he made them beautiful, that you, and I, and all people, 
 might be pleased with their fine feathers and sweet singing. 
 Now, a man who has a great deal of money, may go to places 
 
200 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 where people sing for money, or have music in their house, such 
 as your dear CeciHa plays ; but there are a great many poor 
 people in the world who have scarcely money enough to buy 
 bread when they are hungry, or clothes to keep them warm in 
 the cold weather. Now, my dear, these cannot hire people to 
 sing, nor can they have music in their houses like your Mamma ; 
 yet they love to hear music ; so would it not be a pity that they 
 should not have some also ? See, then, why the good God who 
 made you formed so many fine birds with such sweet voices to 
 sing the sweetest songs ; these are the poor man's music : they 
 sing to him for notliing ! they do not even ask a crumb of bread 
 from the poor man ; and when he is going to work in the morn- 
 ing they sing to encourage him ; and when he is returning home 
 in the evening veiy weary, because he has worked xery hard, 
 then they sing agaiu that he may be pleased and not giieve nor 
 fret. Now is not God very good for making these pretty httle 
 musicians to encourage and comfort the poor labouring man ? 
 And will you not then love this God who made them for so kind 
 a purpose ? 
 
 " Now you must know, Adam, that I am very fond of these 
 nice httle bu'ds; and often take crumbs of bread and scatter 
 them under the windows, that they may come and peck them up ; 
 and once I put a stick in the gi'ound laefore the parlour window, 
 with a cross-stick on the top of it, just like your letter T, that 
 you have been learning in your ABC, and often would I lift up 
 the wind owand cry, ' Bobby, Bobby,' and the sweet red-breast, so 
 soon as he could hear my voice, would fly near the window, and 
 sit on the cross- stick ; then I left the crumbs and bits of cheese, 
 of which they are very fond, upon the ledge of the window, and 
 when I had shut dovm the sash, then Bobby would come and 
 eat them all up ! * * * I have told you before, that I love 
 Httle birds ; yes, I love them even when they are dead ; and I 
 get theu' skins stufi'ed, and made look just as if the birds were 
 aUve. Now I send you several of these beautrfiil stuffed birds, 
 and they shall be your own, and you must take care of them, 
 and keep them for the sake of 
 
 " Your loviug and affectionate grandfather, 
 
 "ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 ''To Adam Clarke Smith." 
 
 Dr. Clarke visited London lq May, 1822, to take part in the 
 annual sermons and pubUc meeting connected with the Wesleyan 
 IMissionaiy Society ; his own account of which is as follows : — 
 " I preached at Great Queen-street, and got upwards of £'78 for 
 the Missions. On Sunday I preached again at City-road ; the 
 crowd was immense. I did what I could, and the collection 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 207 
 
 amounted to £118 ICs. Gd. On my way from the chapel, a 
 gentleman overtook me on the road, and gave me £60 for the 
 Missions, which I did not hring into my collection, hut pre- 
 sented it at the anniversary meeting. Mr. Buttei-worth presented 
 another £105. So that, in the whole collection at the meeting, 
 we have got tliis year upwards of £500." 
 
 In 1822, Dr. Clarke was honoured with the notice of the 
 Duke of Sussex, a distinguished patron of learning and science, 
 and himself a scholar of no mean attainments, especially in 
 hiblical literature. Bishop Walton finished his Polyglott during 
 the reign of OUver Cromwell, to whom he dedicated it in an 
 epistle ; but, the Protector dying almost immediately after it was 
 printed, the prudent bishop suppressed that dedication, and sub- 
 stituted one addressed to Charles II., to whom, by the way, a 
 volume of obscene verse would have been much more acceptable. 
 Some, however, of the repubhcan copies of the great work had 
 got into circulation, and one of them descended into the pos - 
 session of Dr. Clarke. To accommodate other collectors less 
 fortunate (for such copies were much sought after), he printed 
 four impressions of the epistle to the Protector, staining the 
 paper to the colour of the original. He also supplied his own 
 and other copies of the Polyglott with sets of titles, articles in 
 which all the volumes but the first were strangely deficient. 
 These bibliomaniac doings reached the ears of the Duke of 
 Sussex, who, through his surgeon, Mr. Blair, an old friend of 
 Dr. Clarke, applied for one of the copies of the repubhcan 
 dedication; and the Doctor thought himself happy in being 
 able to accommodate his Koyal Highness by sending him his 
 only remaining copy with a set of titles. The presentation of 
 these rarities was acknowledged by a condescending request that 
 Dr. Clarke would " honour" the Royal Duke with a visit, when 
 next he came to town. 
 
 Being in London in May, 1822, Dr. Clarke received a special 
 invitation from the Duke of Sussex to dine with him at Kensing- 
 ton Palace. The following is his own account of his reception by 
 that illustrious person, as given in a letter to his daughter : — " I 
 was received by his Royal Highness in his closet, and was led by 
 •himself through his hbrary, where he showed me several curious 
 things, and condescended to ask me several bibhographical 
 questions, desiring his hbrarian from time to time to note the 
 answers down as 'curious and important.' The dinner came. 
 The company was select : his Royal Highness, Dr. Parr, the 
 highest Greek scholar in Europe, Six Anthony Carlisle, the Rev. 
 
 T. Maurice, of the British Museum, the Honourable Gower, 
 
 the Honourable Colonel Wildman, Sir Alexander Johnstone, 
 Lord Blcssington, T. J. Pettigrew, Esq., and Adam Clarke. 
 
208 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 We sat (lo^vn about seven o'clock, and dinner was over about 
 half-past' nine ; after which the tables were drawn, and all retii'ed 
 to the Pavilion, where tea and coffee were served about eleven. 
 At dinner I was pledged by his Royal Highness, Dr. PaiT, 
 Colonel Wildman, and others, and managed so well, having made 
 
 the Honourable Gower, who sat at the foot of the table, 
 
 my confidant, as not to drink more than two glasses of wine, 
 though the bottles went round many times. I wished much to 
 get away, though the conversation was to me unique, curious, 
 and instructive, fearing your mother would be uneasy respecting 
 my safety. I was informed I must remain till all the company 
 had departed, wliich was about twelve o'clock. When they were 
 all gone, the Duke sat down on his sofa, and beckoned me to 
 come and sit down beside him, on his right hand; and he 
 entered, for a considerable time, into a most famihar conversation 
 with me. At last, a serv^ant in the royal hvery, came to me, 
 saving, ' Sir, the caniage is in waiting.' I rose up, and his 
 Pioyal Highness rose at the same time, took me affectionately by 
 the hand, told me I must come and visit him some morning 
 when he was alone, which time should be aiTanged between me 
 and his secretar}^, bade me a friendly ' good night and I was 
 then conducted, by the servant, to the door of the palace ; where, 
 lo and behold, one of the royal carriages was in waitmg, to carry 
 a Methodist preacher, your old weather-beaten father, to his own 
 lodgings. Thus ended a day of singular event in the life of 
 Adam Clarke, and wliich I shall ever remember with pleasing 
 recollections." 
 
 Shortly after this Dr. Clarke, accompanied by some members 
 of his family, repaired to a watering-place in the neighbourhood 
 of Livei-pool for the purpose of recruiting his health. A friend 
 who was to have joined the party declined, o^ving, as the Doctor 
 says, to some want of etiquette in the invitation ! The following 
 extract fi-om a letter to one of his sons, alluding to the dis- 
 appointment, must have been written under the influence of 
 feehngs wliich went far beyond the occasion that prompted it. 
 It is dated from Crosby, near Liverpool, June 19, 1822. 
 
 " What pitiful bits and scraps is life composed of ; and how 
 difficult is it to sort and settle them so as to produce any con- 
 sistent or tolerable whole ! Poor Friendsliip I — it has been so 
 kicked about in the world, that it is now become a complete crip- 
 j)le, and will go halting usque ad Grmcas Kalendas. However, 
 in all its wanderings, it is always sure of a night's lodging with 
 us ; and seems quite at home under our roof : and declares, and 
 I suppose with sincerity, that our house is one of the very few 
 out of which it has never been turned, and where it can always 
 confidently expect entertainment. It and myself have never had 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 200 
 
 any misunderstanding ; and, having grown old together, we are 
 resolved to keep on good terms. It has often interested itself in 
 ray hehalf ; and, though it has frequently heen unsuccessful, yet, 
 knowing its sincerity, I have taken the good will for the success- 
 ful deed, and have still kindly taken it in, with all those whom it 
 has recommended. Some of these look well, and speak comfort- 
 ably, and are full of good resolutions and professions ; but a 
 disposition to take offence so universally prevails, that several of 
 them take themselves off without any previous warning ; and 
 others, after going out, hnger a little at the door, and talk and 
 look as usual : but every day I find them progressively further 
 off, till at last the distance is such, that I cannot hear them, 
 though they seem still to speak ; and in time they get entirely 
 out of sight ! Nothing remains of them in our house, but the 
 name, with a scroll, in my own handwriting, under each, ' When- 
 ever thou art disposed to return, thou wilt find here the same 
 welcome as formerly.' "* 
 
 ** Dr. Clarke elsewhere thus feelingly alludes to the desertion of some of 
 his older friends about this time : — " I can say I never foraied a fiiendship 
 which I broke. My list of friends has not a blot in it. Some of them, it 
 is true, have slunk away ; some seem to have hunied off ; and others stand 
 at a gi'eat distance. But I have made no erasure in my hst ; and, when 
 they choose to return, it can never appear, by re-insertion, that they have 
 proved false to their friend, or have been careless about him." 
 
 P 
 
210 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Dr. Clarke is chosen President of the London Conference — Commencement of 
 the Shetland Mission — Dr. Clarke's successful exertions for it — Dreadful 
 Storm at Millbrook — Dr. Clarke is elected a Member of the Geological 
 Society of London — and of the Royal Asiatic Society — Letter to the Rev. 
 Mr. Rahy — To the Rev. Messrs. Rahy and Dunn — To the Rev. Air. Lewis 
 — To the -Rev. Mr. Wears — To Mr. Dunn — Opposition to the Shetland 
 Mission — Dr. Clarke goes to preside at the Irish Conference — Tour through 
 Scotland on his way — Remarks on the Poet Burns — On Nelson's Monument 
 in Edinburgh — On the City of Edinburgh — On Family Worship) in Scot- 
 land — On the Comparative Religion of Glasgow and Edinburgh — On the 
 State of Methodism — On visiting the Scenes of his Childhood — Disturbed 
 State of Ireland — Oppressive Private Parties — Dr. Clarke's description of 
 the Irish Roman Catholic Peasantry — He attends the Conference at 
 Sheffield — Opens a neiv Chapel — Alarming Accident — Letter to Mr. Dunn 
 —To Mr. Lewis— To Mr. Raby. 
 
 In July, 1822, Dr. Clarke was chosen President of the Methodist 
 Conference, sitting in London. This was the third time that 
 distinction had heen confen^ed upon him, a circumstance as yet 
 unique in the annals of Methodism, excepting that Mr. Wesley 
 always presided in the annual assembly of liis preachers. On 
 this occasion, the subject of the Methodist Missions in general, 
 and of the Home Missions particularly, was much discussed, 
 especially those of the Sister Kingdom, and of Scotland, in- 
 cluding the Hebrides, Orkneys, &c. This discussion led to 
 further details, in reference to the Shetland Isles, which were 
 ascertained to be nearly destitute of spiritual instruction. The 
 case was entered into by the late Dr. M'Allum, a preacher, and 
 the son of a preacher, a physician of considerable skill, and an 
 able minister of the New Testament, who died prematurely in a 
 work to which his physical constitution was not equal. During 
 the detail, Dr. Clarke was so deeply interested, that, immediately 
 on its conclusion, he warmly advised that two missionaries should 
 be sent over to the Shetland Islands. His suggestion was adopted ; 
 and the next consideration was, how were means to be provided ? 
 This difficulty was promptly overcome by his energy and influ- 
 ence. On his return from the Conference, he wrote strongly 
 and importunately to Mr. Robert Scott, of Pensford ; and that 
 gentleman at once offered £100 a-year, for the support of a 
 missionary to Shetland, and ^OlO towards every chapel that should 
 be built, besides handsome donations fi'om ]\Irs. Scott, and her 
 sister. Miss Granger, of JBath, to which Mr. Scott ever added an 
 
THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 211 
 
 extra sum beyond his regularly sti2)ulated subscription. To 
 these handsome contributions were added others, from certain 
 ladies, personal friends of Dr. Clarke. The preachers appointed 
 by Conference as missionaries were Messrs. Samuel Dunn and 
 John Raby. Previously to their setting off, at Dr. Clarke's re- 
 quest, they visited him at Millbrook, where he conversed with them 
 at large on the subject of their mission, and gave them various 
 minute directions to guide their proceedings. A Scotch gentle- 
 man, who was on a visit to Millbrook at the same time, kindly and 
 willingly gave them letters of introduction to merchants of Edin- 
 burgh. These, on being presented, were exchanged for others to 
 several of the principal merchants at Lerwick ; and thus they 
 gained a ready and respectable entrance upon the work which lay 
 before them. The Conference had instructed Messrs. Raby and 
 Dunn to coiTespond regularly and particularly with Dr. Clarke. 
 Winter and summer they travelled through different parts of the 
 mainland and several of the islands, exposed to all the incle- 
 mencies of the weather, frequently destitute of lodging, and often, 
 for several days together, without taking off their clothes. They 
 soon found favour in the sight of the people. The poor in- 
 habitants flocked from all quarters, travelhng many miles in all 
 weathers, over hills, mountains, morasses, &c., ill-provided against 
 the inclemency of the weather, and gladly standing on the ground, 
 or sitting on the stones, heard the glad tidings of reconcihation ; 
 and, by their instrumentality, many hundreds were brought to a 
 saving knowledge of God. The cottages became too small to 
 hold the hearers ; and, from the nature of the cUmate, and the 
 Islands being almost perpetually the abode of storms, it was 
 frequently impossible to preach out of doors. Thus places for 
 public worship were loudly called for. In this difficulty. Dr. 
 Clarke had once more recourse to the influence he had over in- 
 dividuals and the benevolent public ; nor did he labour in vain. 
 Individuals came hberally forward ; wherever he went, he pleaded 
 the cause of Shetland, and in process of time many chapels were 
 raised. It was part of liis plan not to leave the smallest debt 
 upon any of them, nor did he ever practically deviate from this 
 resolve. 
 
 In December, 1822, that part of the country in which Dr. 
 Clarke lived, was visited by a dreadful storm, which did much 
 damage, and in some instances destroyed life. Dr. Clarke wrote 
 an account of this hurricane as it visited his dwelHng, which 
 account, though rather long, is too characteristic to be omitted : 
 " In the evening, about eight o'clock, I went into the garden, and 
 observed a remarkable halo about Jupiter. I came in, and men- 
 tioned it to your mother and sister. I told them that it por- 
 tended a storm ; for this phcenomenon is not common. At half- 
 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 past nine I went into the study, and found that the mercun^ in 
 the barometer had suddenly fallen from Changeable to Rain, 
 nearly a whole inch. I then took it for gi^anted that we should 
 have a hurricane. Being ill of a cold, I went up to bed. About 
 ten it began very violently, and actually rocked the bed under 
 me. I rose and di'essed myself completely, as I knewhunied-on 
 clothes would shortly be of httle use. By the time I got down 
 to the study, I found two of the maids, a workwoman, Bill, 
 mother, and sister, all pusliing with might and main against the 
 shutters, as the windows themselves had been stove in by the 
 tempest. I procured boards to hold against the shutters ; folded 
 cloaks, hearth-rugs, &c., round the shivering women, and then 
 hastened to the bed-room above the study ; for by this time that 
 mndow was spHt. I saw nothing could be done there ; but I 
 gathered some glasses, &c., out of the way, and then was obhged 
 to abandon that room to its fate. I then returned to the study, 
 which seemed the principal point of attack, and, with excessive 
 exertion, succeeded in secuiing the shutters, by the agency of 
 boards, shelves, and four pitchforks, stuck in different places in 
 the shutters, and their shafts secured to the floor by strong nails. 
 A httle after twelve o'clock, a tremendous crash was heard without. 
 We expected the cliinmeys had given way ; and we knew not 
 what moment we might be dashed to pieces by their fall through 
 the roof and floors. A little before one o'clock, the mercury 
 began to rise in the barometer ; and I then announced to our 
 poor exliausted family, that the stonn would soon abate. About 
 two its fury was lessened, but not so much as to allow any of us 
 to leave our posts. About four some of us got to bed, the rest 
 keeping watch all night. God presented all our hves ; but what 
 a spectacle did dayhght present I The lead on the chapel and 
 the cottages was wrapped up like a scroll, and everywhere torn 
 up ; the privet-hedge in the garden partly rooted out of the 
 gi'oimd ; and thirteen yards of the parapet stones, in front of the 
 roof, torn fi'om their bases ; the ii'on cramps, which connected 
 them, twisted out as if they had been threads ; and the stones 
 themselves, some one hundred, and some two hundred, pounds' 
 weight each, laid separately flat on the slates of the roof of the 
 house. Seven yards of the same parapet, at the lower end of the 
 house, were taken off by the same blast, and dashed into the 
 orchard, some of which had, by their weight, and the force of 
 their fall, sunk into the earth a foot deep. Had the stones in 
 the front made their way through the roof, as they were exactly 
 above our heads, where we were endeavouring to secure the study 
 window, to keep the house from being blown up, then your 
 mother, sister, the maids. Bill, the needlewoman, and myself, 
 must have infaUibly been dashed to pieces, as it was exactly over 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 213 
 
 our heads. Glory be to God for an escape so signal ! This was 
 the crash we heard. Had we known what it was, what would 
 have been our dismay and expectation !" 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1828, Dr. Clarke was elected a mem- 
 ber of the Geological Society of London ; and, in the following 
 month, he became an original member of the Royal Asiatic 
 Society, at the instance of his friend. Sir Alexander Johnstone, 
 the founder. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Raby, dated Feb. 4, 1823, occur some 
 excellent directions for the missionaries to Shetland. 
 
 " By all means form societies* in every place you preach, 
 if possible. You remember what our Large Minutes say on the 
 subject; that 'where we preach often without doing this, our 
 seed has been sown by the way side.' If you can get but half-a- 
 dozen to meet in a place, on our rules, form them into a class ; 
 and show everywhere, the great advantages of this ; and this is what 
 is meant in that article of the Apostles' Creed, ' I believe in the 
 communion of saints.' It does not mean receiving the Lord's 
 Supper together; nor can any persons be said to enjoy the com- 
 munion of saints, who have no other spiritual intercourse with 
 each other than that which they have in pubhc ordinances. 
 
 Three years afterwards, in writing to another of the Shetland mission- 
 aries, the Doctor says, " From long experience, I know the propriety of Mr. 
 Wesley's advice to the preachers : ' Establish class-meetings, and forai 
 societies, wherever you preach, and have attentive hearers. Long experience 
 shows the necessity of this ; for wherever we have preached without doing 
 so, the word has been like seed sown by the way-side.' It was by this 
 means we have been enabled to establish permanent and holy churches over 
 the world. Mr. Wesley saw the necessity of this from the beginning. Mr. 
 Whitefield, when he separated from Mr. W., did not follow it : what was the 
 consequence The fruit of Mr. Whitefield's labours died with himself: Mr. 
 Wesley's fruit remains, gi'ows, increases, and multiplies exceedingly. Did 
 Mr. Whitefield see his error? He did; but not till it was too late — his 
 people, long unused to it, would not come under this discipline. Have I 
 authority to say so ? I have ; and you shall have it. Forty years ago, I 
 travelled in the Bradford (Wilts) circuit, with Mr. John Pool. Himself told 
 me the following anecdote. Mr. P. was well known to Mr. Whitefield, and, 
 having met him one day, he accosted him in the following manner : W. — 
 * Well, John, art thou still a Wesleyan ?' P.—' Yes, Sir ; and I thank God 
 that I have the privilege of being in connexion with him, and one of his 
 preachers.' W. — ' John, thou art in thy right place. My brother Wesley 
 acted wisely; the souls that were awakened under his ministry he joined 
 in class, and thus preserved the fruits of his labour: this I neglected, and 
 my people are a rope of sand.' And what now remains of this great man's 
 labours? Scarcely anything; multitudes were converted under his minis- 
 try, and are gone to God ; but there is no spiritual succession. The Taber- 
 nacle near Moorfields, the Tabernacle in Tottenham-court-road, and the one 
 in Bristol, with what is called the little school, in Kingswood, are all, even 
 of his places of worship, that remain ; and these are mere independent 
 chapels." 
 
214 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Show that God's people acted in this way in all ages ; and that, 
 without such advantages, even the best disposed make little 
 advances in the Divine hfe." 
 
 In the letter to Mr. Eaby above quoted he adds, " Visit the 
 people from house to house ; and speak in the most affectionate 
 manner to them. Take notice of the children — treat them 
 lovingly. This will do the childi'en good, and the parents will 
 like it. Cheerfully partake of the meanest fare, when the people 
 invite you. About two years ago, when travelling among the 
 cottages in Ireland, I went into a most wi-etched hovel, and they 
 had just poured out the potatoes into a basket, which, with a 
 little salt, were to serv^e for their dinner. I said, Good people, 
 will you let me take one of your potatoes ? ' 0 yes. Sir, and a 
 thousand welcomes, were they covered with gold !' The people 
 were deUghted to see me eat one, and another, and a tliird ; and 
 thought that I had laid them under endless obligation. But they 
 thought me an angel, when, for eveiy potato I had eaten, I gave 
 them a shilling ; though they had no expectation of this kind, 
 when I first asked liberty to taste with them. Other clergy 
 carry themselves aloft from their people, and thus assume and 
 manifest a sort of antiscriptm^al consequence. Methodist preach- 
 ers have another kind of consequence — their humility, their 
 heavenly unction, and the sound of their Master's feet behind 
 them. Too much familiarity breeds contempt ; but humility and 
 condescension are other qualities." 
 
 On the 22d of March, Dr. Clarke wrote the following cordial 
 letter to Messrs. Raby and Dunn : — 
 
 "Prescot, March 22, 1823. 
 
 " My Dear Lads, 
 
 "I am just returned from holding a missionary meeting at 
 Bath. There I spoke largely about the poor Shetlanders ; and 
 about you, and your labours. 
 
 " To an impressive letter which I wrote to a rich old friend, 
 who had proposed to support one missionary in the Shetlands, I 
 received a glorious answer. I had told him that I had pledged 
 myself to raise i£50, to enable you to build a chapel at Lerwick. 
 My letter brought him to his knees ; his heart was filled with 
 love to God and man ; and what is the result ? He promises 
 me £100 per annum, to support two missionaries at the Shet- 
 lands, and more if it be necessary ; and, glory be to God ! sends 
 jgoO for the chapel ! 
 
 " I mentioned further, in the chapel, that, if any were disposed 
 to give me help for this mission, in any way, I would receive it 
 as from God, and earnestly pray to him for their remuneration. 
 Several persons came to me at my lodgings, after the meeting. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 215 
 
 and gave me small sums to the amount of £i 5s., for the build- 
 ing of the chapel. 
 
 " But I was more surprised, when, on leaving the chapel, a 
 gentleman whom I did not know touched my shoulder in the 
 street, and said, ' Sir, you have spoken particularly about your 
 mission in the Shetland Isles, and of a chapel which you propose 
 to erect : I will give you twenty guineas towards the former, and 
 twenty guineas towards the latter.' Oh, how my heart danced 
 for joy ! Now, my noble fellows, I have got for your chapel the 
 following sums, ^50 + ^4 5s. + ^21 =£75 5s.; and for this 
 sum, I give you authority to draw upon Mr. Blanshard. I have 
 two preachers on the stocks for you, and shall push them off as 
 soon as I can ; and, when they arrive, I think one of you had 
 better try the Orkneys. See that you get a piece of ground 
 (freehold) large enough to build a chapel equal to the necessities 
 of the place, and a house for the preachers. But make all your 
 hearers, &c., put their shoulders to the wheels. Be prudent ; be 
 sure of your workmen ; go to no unnecessary expense ; get a 
 firm shell, and a good substantial roof. You cannot be too 
 cautious whom you employ. Get the ground also in a con- 
 venient, and not discreditable place. But we must have a Httle 
 comfortable house for the preachers ; some place to which our 
 missionaries can repair on their landing in the island. Lose no 
 time, as the spring is advancing fast ; and let me often hear of 
 your operations and progress. My representations have been the 
 means of raising up many a fiiend to the poor Shetlanders, who 
 offer up many a prayer to God for you and them. Live to God 
 — pray much — ^read much — labour hard — and have immeasurable 
 faith. 
 
 " I am, my dear Lads, 
 
 " Your affectionate Brother, 
 
 "A. CLAKKE." 
 
 Two additional missionaries being required to meet the in- 
 creasing demands of the Shetland mission, the Rev. Messrs. 
 Lewis and Thompson were appointed, about tliis time, to assist 
 Mr. Eaby and Mr. Dunn. To Mr. Lewis, on the eve of his 
 departure to that interesting station. Dr. Clarke wrote as follows, 
 under date of May, 1823 : — 
 
 " To your noble wife, I will give authority to be to the females 
 of that country, an instructress, and a patroness of domestic 
 economy. She will have the honour to be the first missionary's 
 wife that went to form the minds and manners of the females of 
 those islands. I assure you I expect nearly as much from her 
 prudent management, in reference to the women, as from her 
 husband in reference to the men. 
 
216 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 " That the females in the Shetlands require much cultivation, 
 I am fully satisfied ; and that was one great object wliich I had 
 in view, by sending Mrs. Lewis there. It will only be by slow 
 degi'ees that she will be able to win them from their uncouth 
 habits. When under proper training, they wiR find the great 
 advantage of cleanliness. Their want of necessary utensils may 
 have been originally one cause of their dirtiness ; but I trust in 
 God, that Methodist preaching will be the means of civilizing, 
 as well as Chiistianizing, the whole of the inhabitants. 
 
 " If cutleiy, tliread, tape, needles, &c., are likely to be very 
 acceptable, I will procm'e some, and put them into the hands of 
 Mrs. Lewis, for her prudent gratuitous distribution among the 
 women, especially those who are young ; for there you must 
 begin to make those impressions which will hereafter engender 
 correct habits. And let them have such things as these, as 
 rewards of industry, skill, &c. Several of them already beUeve 
 that I am theu' friend ; and even holding out how much I love 
 such habits, might do a Uttle good. At all events, let the 
 Methodist maxim be lovingly inculcated, ' Cleanliness is next to 
 godhness.' " 
 
 On the latter subject he wites to Mr. Wears, " Tell the people, 
 that, while evil tempers remain, they cannot be cleansed from all 
 mirighteousness. Teach them to be dihgent in business, as well 
 as fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Show them the necessity 
 of frugality and cleanliness in theu' persons, clothes, and habita- 
 tions. I wish the Methodists in Shetland, not only to be patterns 
 of piety, but also of frugality and cleanhness. In all the church 
 militant, there is not a place in rank or file for a lazy, idle, nasty 
 Christian. When I was a missionary in the Norman Isles, my 
 wife not only preached up godliness, but also cleanliness, to the 
 good women. One who neglected both her own person, her own 
 house, and her own children, was affectionately catechised by my 
 wife thus : ' My dear sister G., why do you not pay more attention 
 to your house ? It is far from being clean ; your chikben are 
 neither clean in their clothes, nor in their heads.' The poor 
 woman replied, ' I hate pride ; away with care for the perishing 
 body.' ' But,' rephed my wife, ' do you know that Mr Wesley 
 has said, Cleanhness is next to godliness ; ' to which the good 
 sister fers^ently answered, ' Thank God, that is not in the Bible.' 
 I hope you wiU never meet with such dirty godliness in Shet- 
 land. " 
 
 In May, 1823, Dr. Clarke attended the anniversary meeting 
 of the Weslevan Missionary Society in London, on which occa- 
 sion he specially urged the claims of the Shetland mission on the 
 hberality of the Christian public. On his return to jVIillbrook 
 he wrote to Mr. Dunn on the 18th inst. : " I mentioned the 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 217 
 
 destitute state of the Shetlanders in my speech at our anniversary 
 at London from which I am just returned. Even while I was 
 speaking, I had, hy different persons, £26 put into my hands ; 
 and I have had £4. since I returned." 
 
 Some of Dr. Clarke's ardent expressions for the welfare of 
 Shetland having heen misinterpreted hy parties whose neglect 
 they seemed to chide, he subsequently writes to Mr. Dunn, — 
 
 " You tell me that ' some one has sent word from Scotland, 
 that it was stated in our annual missionary meeting, London, that 
 the Gospel was never preached in the Shetlands before Mr. Kaby 
 and you went there.' Nothing can be more false than this. No 
 person spoke on the Shetland mission in that meeting but 
 myself. And I then gave the highest character of the Scottish 
 clergy, as I have ever considered them the best preachers in 
 Europe, and equally learned with their brethren of the English 
 Estabhshment. I may be mistaken, but I have ever considered 
 that the Gospel of Christ was preached, wherever a Scottish cler- 
 gyman had his residence. If the General Assembly will send a 
 sufficient number of men full of faith and the Holy Ghost, who 
 will take their hves in their hands, and travel, and preach, and 
 visit from house to house, and suffer want and hardship, and the 
 loss of all the comforts of Hfe, as you and Mr. Eaby, and your 
 fellow-labourers, Lewis and Thompson, are doing, and have done, 
 — I will cheerfully turn my attention elsewhere, and praise God 
 that a suitable supply can be found in Scotland to meet the 
 spiritual necessities of their brethren." 
 
 He reverts to this subject in another letter to Mr. Dunn. 
 
 " As your blessed dog-in-manger clergy have forbidden you 
 even the schoolhouses — paltry as well as antichristian malevo- 
 lence — we must now strive to build Httle places where you have 
 your greatest population and societies ; and this we must fall on 
 as soon as possible. Find out gi'ound, convenient and cheap, 
 and well secured to us, and let me know. Should God preserve 
 my hfe, we shall be able to defeat their contemptible conduct. 
 The people were perishing for lack of knowledge : if they were 
 capable, they did not feed them, and now they refuse to let others 
 do this work. Let them keep to their decrees. We will keep to 
 that of our Lord Jesus. He died for every human soul, in spite 
 of them and their most infernal decree. Their cause is a bad 
 
 * At the outset the preachers had to encounter considerable opposition 
 from the Scottish clergy and others; a few bitter and scurrilous pamphlets 
 were published against them ; and attacks were made on their character and 
 creed. In 1831, alluding to the continued misrepresentations of their sen- 
 timents and designs, the Doctor says, " Eeroember, we have no enemy to 
 our work there [in Shetland], but the Devil and a few of the parsons; and 
 these are both fell enough." 
 
218 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 one, and tliey now begin to make it, if possible, worse, by detrac- 
 tion and calumny. When probation ends, eternity begins. In 
 a state of trial, the good may turn to bad ; the bad, to good. It 
 is utterly absurd to say that the day of grace may end before the 
 day of hfe — ^it is impossible, as then the state of probation would 
 be confounded with eternity. The Scriptures alleged by some in 
 behalf of their sentiments, are utterly misunderstood and mis- 
 applied. There can be no truer proverb than, ' While there is 
 hfe, there is hope.' Probation necessarily impHes the possil^ihty 
 of change." 
 
 By virtue of liis office as President of the Wesleyan-Methodist 
 Conference, he went over to Dubhn, to preside over the dehbera- 
 tions of the Irish preachers, taking Scotland in his way. His 
 journal of this tour shows that nothing worthy of notice escaped 
 his observant and penetrating eye. A view of the monument to 
 Eobert Bums, erected in his native town, Dumfries, gave rise to 
 the following just reflections : — " His country suffered him to 
 continue in such contracted circumstances, as to render him ac- 
 cessible to persons of a low and profligate course of hfe, and thus 
 fostered habits wliich shortened his hfe, and eventually cut off a 
 man of such native, unforced genius, fuU of true wit and benevo- 
 lent feehng; a poet who sketched nature with the hand of a 
 master; by his inimitable descriptions, causing the mral and 
 rude customs of his country to hve through all succeeding gene- 
 rations. Scotland must ever feel with regret, that she neglected 
 a man who is her boast and her honour !" 
 
 Among the objects in Edinburgh which attracted his attention, 
 was Nelson's monument, " built," as he observes, " on the edge 
 of a mouldering, rocky precipice. Immense portions of the rock 
 are now in a state of decomposition and almost entire detach- 
 ment from the rest ; and there is no apparent sohdity in any 
 part. I should not wonder, if, in less than fifty years, the 
 monument and its foundation were precipitated down the hill." 
 
 It is disputed whether the honour of having been the scene of 
 Allan Kamsay's famous pastoral, the Gentle Shepherd, belongs 
 to the banks of the Logan, or to those of the North Esk. Dr. 
 Clarke \asited the fonner, and, after a most painful journey and 
 fatiguing search, returned, fully convinced that this was not the 
 country described by the poet. He had no time to make re- 
 searches on the Esk. 
 
 Concerning Edinburgh, which he admits to be ''the finest 
 city in the world," he remarks, " It is only in reference to its 
 external appearance, that the mind is hilly satisfied. When you 
 look into the houses, the shops, the streets, either for their furni- 
 ture, or their merchandize, or for even persons or equipages 
 suitable to the grandeur of the buildings, you are utterly disap- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 219 
 
 pointed. Everything appears out of proportion with these ma- 
 jestic edifices, and must either be passed by unheeded, or, if 
 noticed at all, it must be with dissatisfaction." 
 
 On proceeding to Glasgow, he was welcomed to the house of 
 Mr. James Swords, a gentleman whose mode of conducting family 
 worship he thus describes : — " First, the bell is rung, and all the 
 members of the family and domestics assemble; secondly, a 
 Bible, and version of the Psalms in the old Scottish poetry, are 
 put into the hands of each person ; thirdly, Mr. Swords then 
 announces, ' We shall begin the worship of God, by singing such 
 a part, or such a psalm ; fourthly, when he has said this, he rises, 
 and all the family with him, and he then offers up a short prayer 
 for Divine assistance and influence during their religious exer- 
 cise ; fifthly, they all sit down, and Mr. Swords, having again 
 announced the psalm, reads over the part intended to be sung, 
 gives out the first two lines, raises the tune, and then the whole 
 verses are sung uninterruptedly to the end; sixthly, he then 
 proposes the chapter that is to be read, and each turns to it ; 
 seventhly, he reads the two or three first verses, the next person 
 to him the same number, and so on, through the whole circle, 
 till the chapter is finished, after which he reads Mr. Scott's 
 Notes on the whole ; eighthly, a solemn prayer then concludes 
 the service, after which breakfast or supper is served. This sort 
 of solemn set form has no tiling in it objectionable, and suits the 
 genius of the Scottish people ; but the reading the portions of 
 Scripture alternately, appears to me to have too much of the 
 school form about it, and causes the master of the family not to 
 appear so sufficiently as God's priest in the public worship of his 
 own house, as to me it appears he should look ; but this may be 
 but a small objection." 
 
 It has been thought that manufactures tended to produce 
 crime : Dr. Clarke reasoned differently on this subject.* The 
 following remarks are curious: — "It appears to me, that, by 
 the public ministry of the word of hfe, there is a greater hke- 
 
 * " For want of manufactures," observes Dr. Clarke, in a letter to Mrs. 
 Clarke, dated Coleraine, June 15, 1832, " the streets and the country are 
 full of hoys and girls, from nine or ten to fourteen or fifteen years of age, 
 only half-clothed, having nothing to do, and not desiring to do anything. 
 Manufactures are a blessing, independently of the means, the support of 
 life, which they produce. The discipline and order which they introduce, 
 are unnoticed restraints on immorality and vice ; and oh ! ' order is Heaven's 
 first law.' You cannot conceive how minous the want [of order] appears in 
 all things to which its influence reaches. I think how much I owe to it. 
 Had it not been for this, I should have read little and written less. Time 
 would have hung heavily on me ; and yet I should not have had enough 
 of it for any purpose of life." He was a living commentary on his own 
 principles ; for the love of order was his ruling passion. 
 
220 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOUKS OF 
 
 lihood of its doing good in Glasgow than in Edinburgh. Here 
 the people are more employed, and there are more pubhc works, 
 in which a vast population is engaged ; and I have ever found, 
 that true religion produces the greatest effect, where the people 
 are employed in regular labour. In Edinburgh, there are no 
 public works, and the people are more dissipated." 
 
 On reacliing Belfast, Dr. Clai'ke found the Wesleyan-Metho- 
 dist Society in a disturbed and uneasy state. A meeting was 
 convened, at wliich, he observes, " On one proposing the question 
 to me, ' Is Methodism now what it has been ?' I answered it in 
 a way very different fi'om what was, I beheve, expected and in- 
 tended by it, ' No ; it is more rational, more stable, more con- 
 sistent, more holy, more useful to the community, and a greater 
 blessing to the world at large and all this I found no difficulty 
 in proving." 
 
 He visited the church in wliich he was baptized, and examined 
 the tombstones of several members of his family in the adjoining 
 yard. The following are his reflections : — " Here he several of 
 my ancestors, and I go to lie, most probably, in another land, 
 and shall not, in all likelihood, be gathered to my fathers : but I, 
 too, shall be foimd, when all the quick and dead stand before the 
 Lord ; and, wheresoever my dust may be scattered, the voice of 
 the Lord shall caU it together, and I shall stand in my lot, at the 
 end of the days. May I then be found of him in peace, without 
 spot, and without blame, and have an entrance into the hohest 
 through the blood of Jesus !" 
 
 Enteiing the church, he continues, " I went within the com- 
 munion rails. With silent solemnity and awe, I there, in the 
 presence of Him whose I am, and whom I seiTe, mentally, and 
 in a deep spirit of prayer, took upon myself those vows which 
 had so long before been, in my name, and on my behalf, made 
 by my sponsors." 
 
 He was much soUcited to spend a day at Maghera with some of 
 his former fiiends ; but, as it was necessary that he should push 
 on towai'ds Dublin, he declined the pleasing invitation. A few 
 hours, as he afterwards learned, after he had quitted the place, it 
 was attacked by the Eibbonmen, and, after a stiff conflict with 
 the few Protestant famihes in it, was ultimately taken. Several 
 were killed, and many more wounded. " Had we remained," 
 says the Doctor, " which we were disposed to do, very probably 
 we had been among the first victims of these desperate men." 
 
 Ireland was, at tliis period, in an exceedingly disturbed state : 
 and the whole of the South had been placed under the Insurrec- 
 tion Act. The roads were patrolled by soldier}' ; and it was 
 found necessary that the mails should each be attended by two 
 guards, botb well armed. A journey to Cork forming a part of 
 
DIl. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 221 
 
 Dr. Clarke's plan, it became a question among his brethren, 
 whether, under the circumstances stated, he ought to peribmi it. 
 " The preachers," he observes, " met together on the subject ; 
 and, after making it a matter of prayer for Divine direction, all, 
 except one, thought it most prudent for me not to go, while that 
 one gave it as his behef that my person would be safe, and my 
 journey prosperous for the cause of God in that part of Ireland, 
 to -which I had never been. They came and infonned me, not 
 only of their deliberation, but also of its issue ; and, as I found 
 there was one dissentient voice, mine went with his, and I told 
 them I was resolved upon going. Had they been all agreed, I 
 should not have gone ; but, as it was, I felt my mind free to act 
 agi'eeably to its own suggestions." The issue justified the per- 
 suasion of the dissentient ; and Dr. Clarke had no reason to 
 conclude that he had tempted Providence. 
 
 The reader has already been made acquainted with Dr. Clarke's 
 extreme aversion to unnecessary visits. In Cork he found him- 
 self obliged to pay more than were agreeable ; but he made a 
 virtue of necessity : — " I have endeavoured," he remarks, " to 
 make my conversation as instructive as possible, and leave no 
 company without prayer. This gives the proper turn to every 
 meeting ; and aU part with the resolution of becoming wiser and 
 better." 
 
 Some of these visits must have been particularly oppressive. 
 On one occasion, after having preached twice during the day, he 
 was constrained to take supper at a friend's house. " There were 
 fifty persons present ; and, as they were all invited on my account, 
 owing to my short sojourn in those parts, I endeavoured to im- 
 prove the opportunity. I told them many anecdotes of Mr. 
 Wesley and the primitive Methodists. These are tales on which 
 I could long dwell with delight." Of the injurious and exhaust- 
 ing effects of such large companies in small rooms, none have 
 more frequent experience than popular preachers, whose admirers 
 generally belong to the middle classes. Another scene of this 
 kind occurred to Dr. Clarke, after his return from Cork to 
 Dubhn, when he had opened the Conference. '"I dined," he 
 says, more Hyhernica, betw^een four and five, with a very large 
 party. It is very difficult to make such meetings profitable either 
 to soul or body. To be pent up in a close room for two hours 
 with a crowd of people, where the vital principle of the air is 
 soon absorbed by the persons present, and nothing left but a 
 mortal azote to be breathed and rebreathed, must assuredly be 
 unfriendly to animal life. In these circumstances people labour 
 and pant, and are little sensible, that it is their multitude in such 
 circumstances which is the cause of this inconvenience and evil." 
 
 At this meeting of the Irish Conference, the education of the 
 
222 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 children of the poor formed a subject of deliberation ; when it 
 appeared that the hostility of tlie Popish priests to all Scriptural 
 instruction was such, that " they even came into the schools and 
 whipped the Popish children out of them, and the teacher and 
 the parents who sent them." 
 
 During tliis excursion, as on all similar occasions. Dr. Clarke's 
 ministerial services were in great request ; and, while some might 
 suppose that he was enjoying the pleasures of relaxation from 
 severe study, wliich, indeed, the state of his health much requii*ed, 
 the fact was, that he was exerting himself beyond liis strength to 
 meet the expectations of exacting, though admiring, audiences. 
 The consequence was, that, before returning to England, he 
 suffered severely from an attack of those spasms which had 
 formerly resulted from a similar cause ; but he had the conso- 
 lation of behe^ing, that his labour had not been in vain, and 
 that he had not spent his strength for nought. 
 
 During his stay in Ireland, he had attentively marked the 
 character and conduct of the inhabitants, particularly of the 
 common people, concerning whom he came to the following, too 
 just conclusions : — The Roman Catholic population of Ireland 
 is, in general, in very great misery ; and this is cliiefly occasioned, 
 not by any pohtical incapacities under which they labour, but 
 through a bad creed, wliich prevents the cultivation of their 
 minds ; for, among the Roman Cathohcs, education is greatly 
 proscribed; and, therefore, they know notliing of the manage- 
 ment of their o^vn minds, but become the tools of their priests, 
 and thus, tlu'ough theii' want of knowledge, they are easily mis- 
 led ; and, tlu'ough the strength of theii* passions, they are 
 readily employed in acts the most desperate, and schemes the 
 most preposterous. Having no education, and no mental culti- 
 vation, they are unacquainted with method, plan, and order: 
 they do notliing by rule, consequently nothing regularly, nothing 
 in its time and place, but all is hurry and confusion. They are 
 dirty in their persons, clothes, houses, furniture, and even in 
 their food. From the grossness of their habits, they will asso- 
 ciate con amove with their cattle, and even with their smne. I 
 have seen them often all together in the same place, and eating 
 together as creatures of the same species. The pig himself 
 stands by to have a portion thrown to liim, wliile the family are 
 devouring their meals. They have no economy : they are 
 wretched, because they will not endeavour to be otherwise : they 
 destroy one-half of theii- property by mismanagement. They 
 are slotliful and idle, and, therefore, are in poverty ; and tlie 
 gi'eater part of the distress they endure is owing to these two 
 principles, mismanagement and idleness. Their rehgious hoHdays, 
 that is, their vast number of saints' days, (for on these they do 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 223 
 
 no manner of work,) necessarily retard useful labour, engen- 
 der idleness, and from it proceeds disorder. They are not 
 really religious : they will invoke you by the Holy Trinity ; by 
 Jesus, Joseph, Mar\', and St. Patrick ; but these have no moral 
 influence in their hearts or on their lives ; for, immediately after 
 these devout prayers and invocations, if you do not yield to their 
 suit, they directly curse you in the bitterness of their hearts. 
 They have no idea of inward hohness. Outward obsei'\'ances 
 constitute their religion, leaving all other matters to be transacted 
 • for them, by their priests, with God. They are taught to hold 
 in hatred all other religionists, because they are told God hates 
 them. Hence they are cruel and blood thirsty. They will 
 sometimes hamstring living animals, or mangle their flesh, 
 leaving them, at the same time, life enough to be sensible of their 
 agonies. The annual plucking off" of the feathers of living 
 geese is not less a proof of their cruelty than of their extreme 
 poverty. Inhumanity to brutes is ever connected with cruelty to 
 man : hence, they are incendiaries, and often murderers ! What, 
 then, does Ireland owe to the Roman Catholic rehgion ? It finds 
 them uncultivated savages ; it leaves them httle better than 
 fiends. But compare their state wdth that of the Protestant 
 Irish, who are less cruel, less wretched, less ignorant, less super- 
 stitious, less idle, less dirty, less distrustful ; in short, who are in 
 every respect the reverse of their poor misguided countrymen." 
 
 Such were the opinions formed and expressed by a very com- 
 petent, and, certainly, unprejudiced judge, concerning his unhappy 
 and deluded fellow-countrymen. But, though he found their 
 case thus deplorable, he by no means deemed it desperate. " The 
 Irish," he continues, " are, on the other hand, capable of much 
 improvement. * They have a quick apprehension : it is an easy 
 task to instruct them in anything. They have a ready wit ; 
 they can see things in their various bearings almost on a first 
 view ; and they possess a vivid fancy, which is, indeed, the cause 
 of their making what are called buUs. Uncontaminated by their 
 priests, they are open, unsuspicious, and friendly. They have a 
 strong desire for knowledge, and are fond of learning, because 
 by it their stock of knowledge is increased. When left to the 
 bent of their own dispositions, they possess strong benevolence : 
 hence, they are proverbial for hospitality. They are patient, 
 and can cheerfully endure any kind of hardship, and seldom 
 complain, while in the path of duty, of either hunger, tliirst, or 
 nakedness. While unwarped and unsophisticated, they are capa- 
 ble of strong friendship and unswerving fidelity. In short, you 
 have but to emancipate them from their superstitions, and to 
 cultivate the minds of the Irish, and they are as noble, as intel- 
 lectual, as fine a race of beings as are in the world, while, at 
 
22i 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the same time, they ai'e as capable of practising the moral and 
 social duties as any people under the sun !" Those who have 
 attentively considered the Irish character, will admit the correct- 
 ness of these sentiments. 
 
 Dr. Clarke had no sooner returned to Millbrook, than he was 
 ohhged again to leave it, and proceed to the Conference at Shef- 
 field. Duiingits sittings, he was called upon to preach on occa- 
 sion of the opening of a new chapel in that place, when, within 
 ten minutes of the conclusion of his sermon, one of the front 
 seats in the gallery gave way. In two minutes, a thousand people 
 were out of the chapel ; and some, in their alarm, tore out the 
 windows in the gallery and the galleiy stairs, and precipitated 
 themselves thence ! This was the third scene of the kind he had 
 witnessed ; and," he adds, in relating the catastrophe, " I think 
 it will be the last, as I do not intend ever to open another chapel." 
 
 In the midst of his engagements. Dr. Clarke never lost sight 
 of the Shetland Mission, Ample evidence of his concern for it 
 is contained in his letters to the missionaries. Immediately on 
 his return from Conference he wTote to Mr. Dunn, informing him 
 what he had been doing for Shetland : — 
 
 " I received yours of the 4 th instant, yesterday, and am glad 
 you have begun your building — I have not much money in Mr. 
 Blanshard's hand, but it must be at least £100. Go on with 
 your building ; I will beg, boiTow, or — anything but steal, before 
 you shall stand still. I have already laid the w^hole matter before 
 Mr. Scott, Mr. Hoby, Mr. Smith, &;c., and shall get some help 
 from those quarters. We must not spoil the chapel and dwelling- 
 house for the sake of £50 ; if we can get the rest, we shall get 
 this also. Write constant report of progress : I hope you have 
 received the letters I sent under frank to you frcftn Conference. 
 You hear from them that I have been begging some hardware at 
 Sheffield for you, and some shirting, shifting, and bedgowning, 
 for the most destitute of your people." 
 
 Shortly after, he was laid up from the effects of a bunghng 
 operation. "I am at present" (Sept. 11, 1823) he writes to the 
 Shetland Missionaries, " laid up by what may be called an acci- 
 dent. I got a tooth drawn (the first in my life) about a week 
 ago : the operator broke the jaw% and brought a considerable part 
 of it away. Since then I can neither eat, drink, nor sleep, but 
 with extreme difficulty ; but I must be patient. I am not with- 
 out hope that I shall recover, though ir the nature of things a 
 some considerable distance. See that you have plenty of hght 
 in your chapel. I will, if God spare me, beg ten pounds extra 
 to have plenty of windows. I wTote many particulars in my 
 last ; let the place be decent — I have now laid in 248 yards of 
 fine white calico shirting and shifting, with several pounds of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 225 
 
 patent- thread, for my poor Shetlanders. I shall be able to send 
 you soon some knives and forks, that if you get even a gull to 
 eat, you may have something to dissect it with. Came, father 
 and son, have promised me ten pounds for the chapel at Lerwick." 
 
 To Mr. Lewis he writes, Oct. 5, " £200 is raised from my own 
 friends, for the building of your chapel at Lerwick. God has 
 condescended to give me considerable influence in the Connexion 
 and with the public ; and I shall use it in behalf of those desolate 
 islanders, w^hom I already regard as so many brothers and sisters 
 of my own family. I have written to order some excellent 
 tracts for you ; but this will not do, I must go myself, choose, 
 see them packed up, and sent off. This will cost me time. 
 Encourage the most distinguished of the httle girls to excel, 
 and I will send them some superior books from my own hand ; 
 and if you could give me the names of a few, I would inscribe 
 the little presents I may send, with their own name, and this, no 
 doubt, will please both them and their parents." 
 
 Shortly after this, Dr. Clarke wrote to Mr. Eaby as follows : — 
 " I like the manner of your labours ; but I tremble for your life. 
 You should get a small hand-bag, and always carry with you 
 some hard or ship biscuit ; this would keep you alive, and a 
 little warm milk to this would nourish you. God has put great 
 honour upon Mr. Dunn and yourself. You are God's apostles 
 of this mission ; my heart glories in you. Be steady ; act by 
 united counsels ; love one another, help each other, speak well of 
 each other, prefer one another in love." 
 
 Again, in his anxiety for the Shetland missionaries' health, he 
 writes, " Take care of your health ; when you can get nourishing 
 food, eat it ; change wet clothes whenever you can. Keep no 
 fasts, on any account, till you come back to England. You have 
 no time for fasting, or any other voluntary austerity, while your 
 labour is so severe and incessant, and you are so generally 
 without the comforts of life. A Shetland preacher, by his labour, 
 necessarily keeps his body under, and brings it into subjection." 
 
 To the same effect he exhorts Mr. Wears, " I advise you against 
 fasting, in your present situation and circumstances ;* with heavy 
 labour and mean fare, Christ does not enjoin fasting on any 
 man. I have fasted as much as most men in my time. Absti- 
 nence of one kind or other with respect to meats and drinks 
 I still use, but not point-blank fasting." 
 
 * Although the Doctor here cautions Mr. Wears against fasting, yet 
 afterwards, on a special occasion, he recommends him to " keep one day of 
 fasting and prayer." 
 
 Q 
 
220 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Dr. Clarke removes from Millhrook to London — From London to Haydon- 
 hall — Builds a Chapel on his Estate — His continued interest in the Shet- 
 land Mission — Letter to Mrs. William Williams — To Mr. Dunn — The 
 Centenary of John Wesley^s Ordination — Declining State of Dr. Clarke's 
 Health — His official Appointment to supei'intend the Shetland Mission — 
 Progress of his Commentary — Dines a second Time with H. R. H. the Duke 
 of Sussex — Visits Cork on Missionary Business — Attends the Bristol Con- 
 ference — Makes a Missionary Tour in Yorkshire — His amazing Popu- 
 larity — He receives good Tidings from Shetland — Is visited by H. R. H. 
 the Duke of Sussex — Letter from Dr. Clarke to the Rev. Mr. Lewis 
 — Dr. Clarke's Opinion on Marriage with Unbelievers — On the Ex- 
 clusion of the Apocrypha by the Bible Society — Conclusion of the Com- 
 mentary — Dr. Clarke resolves on visiting Shetland — His Journal of the 
 Tour — His Opinion on the Wedding Ring — Description of a Storm 
 at Sea — Dr. Clarke's Vessel taken for a Smuggler — The first View of 
 Shetland — A Congregation of Sheilanders — Whale- catching — The Shet- 
 land Women — Fish Diet — Dr. Clarke is semible of declining Strength — 
 Receives Tributes of Gratitude from the Shetlanders — Leaves Shetland — 
 Lands at Aberdeen — Visits the Colleges — Gives his Opinion on the Edu- 
 cation of Children to Archdeacon Wilson — Death of Joseph Butter- 
 worth., Esq. — Dr. Clarke's Opinion of Blair's Sei'mons — Success of the 
 Shetland Mission. 
 
 At the commencement of the year 1824, Dr. Clarke determined 
 to remove from Millhrook to London, where most of the mem- 
 bers of his family then resided. He is said to have reahsed a 
 considerable profit by the sale of his estate. His depaiture was 
 equally regretted by liis poor dependants and by his wealthy 
 neighbours. He took up his abode in Canonbury- square, Ishng- 
 ton ; but the air of London was found so unfavourable to his 
 health, that, in September, he was obhged to retire into the 
 country. He purchased an estate at Eastcott, called Haydon- 
 hall, situated at a distance of sixteen miles from town, on the 
 Windsor road. At this deUghtful and salubrious spot, he con- 
 tinued to reside till death. Here he recovered his health, and 
 continued his Commentary, now, happily, drawing towards 
 a conclusion. As there was no place of public worship within 
 two miles, he had one of the cottages on his estate licensed 
 for that purpose ; and it was regularly fiUed with attentive 
 hearers. This place being afterwards found insufficient to 
 contain the numbers who resorted to it, preparations w^ere 
 made for building a chapel, which was completed on Satur- 
 day, the 2d of March, 1827, and opened by Dr. Clarke him- 
 self on the following day. By erecting this building and by 
 
THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE 
 
 227 
 
 forming a Sunday-school in connexion with it, Dr. Clarke 
 became a benefactor to the neighbourhood ; for in it many 
 received, from him and from the Wesleyan-Methodist preachers 
 of the Windsor circuit, instruction in religion, of which, other- 
 wise, in all probabihty, they had remained destitute. 
 
 The deep interest which Dr. Clarke took in the mission to the 
 Shetland Islands has been abeady shown; but the subject con- 
 tinued to interest him considerably to the end of his life. Hav- 
 ing to provide the funds for its support, and for the erection of 
 places of worship, he was much occupied in writing letters and 
 making applications in behalf of those islands to his friends and 
 other benevolent persons. The following is one of his letters to 
 Mrs. Wilham WilUams, who had greatly exerted herself in behalf 
 of the mission, and whom he elsewhere describes as his " steady 
 Shetland assistant." His correspondence contains numerous 
 details of the liberahty of various persons in contributing not 
 only money, but household and other articles necessary for the 
 comfort oT the missionaries. 
 
 " I feel gratitude to God, Madam, in finding that He has dis- 
 posed such as yourself to help me to bear a burden which, with- 
 out such assistance, would be an overmatch for my strength. 
 
 From the commencement of the Shetland mission, it has 
 been placed by my brethren under my care, and its wants and 
 trials come all before me, and indeed are laid upon me.* I have 
 been a missionary myself, and in various places have, for between 
 forty and fifty years, seen the work of the Lord. But a more 
 effectual opening among a numerous, very destitute, and interest- 
 ing people, I have never witnessed. The labours through which 
 the missionaries have gone, and are still going, are almost in- 
 credible ; but God mightily sustains them, preserves their lives 
 and health, and makes them more than a general blessing. They 
 not only travel and preach always without the comforts and con- 
 veniences of life, but frequently without its necessaries. They 
 also teach the cliildren in every place, and visit and instruct the 
 people from house to house : never did a people receive the word 
 of God with more gladness and simplicity of heart, nor have 
 
 * In a letter to Mr. Dunn, written about this time, the Doctor thus com- 
 plains: "I am left quite alone in this business— not a soul of the preachers will 
 touch it with one of their fingers. I should have been often at my wits' end 
 in this Shetland work, had not the hand of God been upon me for good." 
 Nor was his anxiety removed in later years. " Shetland, and its concerns," 
 he remarks, in a letter written in January, 1830, "are still a heavy burden 
 upon my spirit. I do not get the help I might receive on this head from 
 some who should help. The whole burden is about my neck ; and I have 
 begged till I am ashamed of asking more from my friends. I cannot swim 
 against the stream. I must act like Hagar, * lay the lad under a bush, and 
 retire to a distance, lest I see the child die.' " 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 brought forth for the tune more unequivocal fniits of genuine 
 repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 " There are four missionaries labouring there, of the same 
 spuit, — Messrs. Dunn, Kaby, Lewis, and Tliompson. They are 
 now building a chapel and preachers' house, at Lei*wick, and I 
 have gone a-begging* through aU my friends to cover this 
 expense ; the latter will be a rendezvous for the missionaries 
 when they return from time to time fi'om visiting the different 
 islands. The tracts, culinary articles, cahco, &c., wliich your* 
 benevolent heart has devised and sent for them, will be most 
 acceptable. 
 
 "I thank you. Madam, in the name of God, and of tliis peo- 
 ple, for what you have ah-eady done. You Uxke such an interest 
 in my poor Shetlanders, that I know not adequately how to 
 express my thankfulness. I do bless God for every friend that 
 he has raised up to the missionaries, and the people of those 
 Hyperborean regions. To persons so absolutely beginning the 
 world as the Shethmd missionaries are, ever^ tiling necessary for 
 housekeeping and fmiiitm'e must be very acceptable. I only 
 wish your last bounty had already reached them, as they must 
 feel many sore privations in these dreai-y days, in which they have 
 but about four or five hoiu's of dayhght. 
 
 " The quarto Bible, with mar-ginal readings and references, 
 wduch you have sent, is the best for the pulpit ; and the chande- 
 her, sent by Mr. WiUiams for the chapel, went also quite safely. 
 The Bibles and Testaments wliich you pur-pose sending for the 
 people, will be most acceptable ; but suffer me to say, the larger 
 the print, the better, as there are many old people not well fur- 
 nished with spectacles. I am always glad to see your letters ; for 
 they bring me good news of precious gifts, or hberal devices from 
 you." 
 
 In a letter to ]\L.\ Dunn, written Apiil 29, 1824, Dr. Clarke 
 says, " I still keep up the wish and desire to visit you in Shetland 
 — but every soul is against me, and particularly since my late 
 indisposition. If my health be not restored, I cannot venture. 
 Pray for my hfe for the sake of Shetland. Should I not be able 
 
 * Mr. Everett relates the following anecdote of Dr. Clarke : — In a meet- 
 ing of the Missionary Committee in London, the treasurer was pressed for 
 money — had none — and had already drawn on the credit of the Connexion. 
 The late Mr. Bulmer, who had little of despondency in his composition, 
 was dispirited, and refused to proceed any further, exclaiming, " What are 
 we to do You perceive so and so, and so and so." Dr. Clarke sprang 
 fi'om his seat, responding, " Whut are we to do ! " walking back 
 and forward on the floor, as if trudging at the work, and repeating in a 
 singing tone, " And a-begging we will go, and a-begging w e w ill go," Sec. 
 The comic manner in which it was done, excited the laugh, and put all into 
 spirits again. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 229 
 
 to visit you, I will work while I live for that poor, long- neglected 
 people. How glad I should he to be your companion. When I 
 could, I was a missionary, and many hardships have I suffered ; 
 and I feel the same spirit still ; chasms, and bogs, and foes, and 
 men, and devils, would be nothing to me. I have met all such in the 
 name of Jesus, and have suffered, and have conquered ! Oh ! that 
 my strength were as in days that are past ! While writing, it 
 seems as if whispered to me, * Your time is at hand — Samuel 
 Dunn shall be your proxy in my work.' Ttiis is enough ; give 
 full proof of your ministry : God has done more by you and 
 your colleagues at a small expense, than he has done by many 
 (who have done well) and at ten times the expenditure in foreign 
 stations. Give my love to the bretliren, and tell your Shetland- 
 ers that God has raised up A. C. to be their friend. But I feel 
 for Mull, the patrimony of my ancestors, almost destitute of 
 moral cultivation." 
 
 In May, 1824, Dr. Clarke gives Mr. Dunn the following 
 interesting information of a project which fell tkrough, but which 
 has since been most triumphantly revived and carried into effect : — 
 " Our friends here have all agreed to hold the centenary of 
 Mr. Wesley's ordination to the sacred ministry. He was or- 
 dained by Bishop Potter, Sept. 19, 1725; so the centenary will 
 be on Sept. 19, 1825, when you will have returned from Shet- 
 land to the Bristol Conference. Two services ^dll be on that 
 day ; and two papers will be prepared, for each preacher to read 
 after his sermon : that in the forenoon shall contain an abstract 
 of Mr. Wesley's life, call to the ministry, and success in it; 
 that in the evening, an epitome of our doctrines and disciphne. 
 After each service collection to be made, in order to build what 
 probably may be called. The Wesleyan HaU, for the purpose of 
 holding aU our pubhc meetings, accommodating the missionary 
 committee, having rooms for a museum of foreign curiosities, or 
 antiquities sent home by the missionaries, and one for a pubhc 
 library, besides offices for the em-olment of our Chapel-deeds, 
 register of baptisms, &c., &c. This building, wliich we calculate 
 on holding from 6,000 to 8,000 persons, is to be erected as near 
 to the centre of the City as we can ; and to be paid for by the 
 money collected through all our circuits and stations at home and 
 abroad, and by a previous subscription. The project arose from 
 Mr. Butterworth ; was proposed, agreed on, and methodized in 
 the Missionary Committee, and then a select number of friends 
 were invited to breakfast together at the Morning Chapel, by a 
 note signed by Mr. B. and myself. About one hundred came, 
 the project was received with enthusiasm, and £'2,400 were 
 almost instantly subscribed I I send you this as the principal 
 news we now have." 
 
2S0 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Dr. Clarke's health at this time appears to have been in a very 
 indifferent state. In the same letter, he thus writes to Mr. 
 Dunn : — " Yesterday evening, the 3d. inst., I received your letter 
 of the 27th ult. When you began to write it, I was holding my 
 district-meeting ; my exposure to the early keen morning air, 
 having to walk three miles to the place, was too much for my 
 strength, which I was then beginning slowly to recover. I was 
 appointed to preach one of the missionary sermons on the 2d 
 inst. This I did ; but it completed my business ; I was com- 
 pletely thrown back, and have not been across my door threshold 
 ever since ; so for the present, and perhaps for ever, my journey 
 to the Shetlands is rendered impracticable. Not one of the public 
 meetings could I attend ; they got on well, and the amount of 
 the collections for the anniversaiT was £162 more than even last 
 year. I had got fourscore pounds the preceding morning at 
 Queen-street, where I preached." 
 
 Another letter, written in the following month, contains an 
 affecting passage concerning himself : — " I have not been able 
 to lift my hand in a pulpit for more than a mondi, and, indeed, 
 only about three times in four months ; and so shattered and so 
 infiiTQ does my health seem, that I doubt whether my active services, 
 be not at an end ; yet, like one of the worn- out Levites, I can help 
 the church of God with my experience, counsels, and advice. Tlie 
 work goes on well in Cornwall : several thousands have been 
 added since last Conference." 
 
 Dr. Clarke was anxiously careful for the credit and comfort 
 of those laborious and self-denying men, the Shetland mission- 
 aries. Writing to Mr. Dunn, he says, " I have taken care that 
 your credit should ever be preserved ; for I think it fatal to our 
 misfiionary work in any place to dishonour the hill of a 
 missionary, or to trifle with his just demands, so as to render 
 liis credit suspicious I am glad that you have begun the 
 preachers' house ; let it be a sufficient one : I will not have the 
 missionaries there in dog-holes." " We owe it," says he in 
 another letter, " not only to the prejudices of the people, but to the 
 honour of the Gospel, to have the preachers' residence in Ler- 
 wick, as respectable as our cii'cumstances will admit ; and, as the 
 preachers often return exhausted, it is well that they should have 
 all things comfortable at Lerwick, till they recruit their strength 
 for new exertions." And again, " I desire that wherever the 
 preachers lodge, there shaU be left, and preserved for their use, 
 a pair of blankets, a pair of cahco sheets, and a quilt, that they 
 may not be obhged to sit up all night, or lie in their clothes 
 among straw, &c. I wish all the preachers and their wives to be 
 as comfortable as possible ; and I am sure I have laboured 
 incessantly to afford them all the help in my power. ' 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 831 
 
 One cannot but admire the businesslike manner in which Dr. 
 Clai'ke managed the aJOfairs of the Shetland mission, which his 
 bretliren had formally placed under liis special direction.* With 
 all the precision of a merchant he advises Mr. Dunn, Aug. 7, 1834, 
 " I wrote to you some days ago about the glass, and what I 
 had done to get to you what you wanted. The order is executed 
 according to your letter : the amount in feet is 259-6, at Is. 5d., 
 amount d£l9 1s. Id. I paid cash, and had discount £l 18s Od. ; 
 so that the nett cost for glass, boxes, packing, wharfage, &c., is 
 ^17 3s.^0d. The glass was shipped on the morning of the 4th 
 inst., aboard the Kin(/ George, John TuUoch, master, for Leith ; 
 she sailed at 9 o'clock a.m. the next day : may God grant her a 
 prosperous voyage ! We applied to the Board of Excise for a 
 drawback ; but they would not allow us any, though they allow it 
 on goods to Ireland, and the Norman Isles." 
 
 The following letter of advice to another of the missionaries, 
 is written in the same mercantile style : — I sent off Oct. 22d, 
 50 Bibles, 100 Testaments, 1,000 picked tracts, and 200 Con- 
 feredce catechisms, a proper portion of which you, of course, are 
 to have. I sent toff also, about a fortnight ago, 40 new flannel 
 petticoats, large and small, with many other articles of clothing ; 
 a whole suit and more, for J. Nicholson,t the hst of which I 
 sent to Mr. Lewis. Before that, I despatched two large bales 
 of quilts, cahcoes, &c., to a great amount." 
 
 During the year 1824, Dr Clarke was busily occupied with 
 various literary pursuits, but chiefly in carrying forward his 
 Commentary on the Old Testament to a conclusion. On the 
 21st of December, he wrote a letter to Mrs. Clai'ke, principally 
 to inform her, that, with the pen with which it was written, and 
 
 * The Minutes of Conference for 1824, contained the following note, 
 which was repeated till the time of Dr. Clarke's decease : " Dr. Adam 
 Clarke is requested to correspond regularly with the preachers in the Shet- 
 land Isles, and to give them such advice and directions as he may deem 
 necessaiy. Dr. Clarke is also authorised to receive donations for the 
 chapels, and for the support of the preachers, in those islands ; which dona- 
 tions shall be regularly paid, on account, to the treasurer of the Contingent 
 Fund." 
 
 f A poor Shetlander and native missionary who visited England in 1821, 
 and through whose instrumentality the destitute state of his countrymen 
 was then, for the first time, brought under the notice of the Methodist 
 Conference. The representations which he made, led to the Rev. Dr. 
 M'AUum's mission to the Shetland Isles, which has been already noticed. 
 It may here be recorded, to the honour of the hospitable inhabitants of those 
 inhospitable regions, that, although for two years after Mr. Nicholson's 
 return he was destitute of a home, and broken in health, he never wanted 
 anything a Shetlander could give. Every roof afforded him a shelter, and 
 eveiy table a welcome ; whilst, as his strength would enable him, he ex- 
 horted all to flee from the wrath to come. 
 
232 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 which he enclosed, he had previously put on paper the whole of 
 liis notes on the Prophecies and Lamentations of Jeremiah, and 
 the Prophecies of Ezekiel, comprising 396 closely-wiitten quarto 
 pages, performed between the fii'st of November and the twenty- 
 first of December. 
 
 The opening of the year 1825 found Dr. Clarke, as usual, in 
 active con'espondence with the Shetland missionaries. The 
 following letter to Mr. Samuel Dunn describes an emergency in 
 which Mr. Scott, already mentioned in connexion with the Shet- 
 land mission, and other friends, reheved the Doctor by their 
 munificence : — 
 
 Eastcott, near Tinner, Middlesex, Feb., 1825. 
 " My dear Sammy, 
 
 "I have just received your letter of February 16. Two, 
 if not tliree, I had written before, which I find you have not 
 received. One I wTote almost in despair. In it I had desired 
 you to remit all building, as I could raise no more money, 
 Mr. Mason having wiitten to me that you had overdrawn 
 liim, and begging me to send him more money, when I had 
 but one sovereign in the world for this account. I prayed, 
 called earnestly upon God, and sat dowTi and wept — and wept 
 till I could scarcely see to write or read. Well, I once more 
 thought, I must lay the whole before our best earthly friend. 
 With a full heart, I stated the matter in a letter to Mr. Scott, 
 which letter was watered with fast-falling tears. He wrote me 
 word, that he and Mrs. S. would be up in a fortnight and see me. 
 They came ; and I set olff in very bad health to London to meet 
 them. And oh, what a meeting I — their hearts were nearly as 
 full as mine. Says Mr. S., ' Come, let me have a cheque, I will 
 give orders on my bank for ^100.' Says Mrs. S., 'And I will, 
 out of my private pui'se, give £'5.' ' And I am deshed,' says 
 Mr. S., * by my sister-in-law. Miss Grainger, to give £b ; and 
 lest any chapel begun should be impeded, here is £'10 more, and 
 thus I will give the cheque for d6l20. And this is not all that I 
 will do; I tell you again, I will give ^£10 to every chapel or 
 house begun under your direction in Shetland.' O my Sammy ! 
 you can hardly tell how much I rejoiced — I thanked God, I 
 thanked them, and could have kissed the gi^ound on which they 
 trod. I said in my heart, ' O my poor Slietlanders \ (whom I have 
 never seen, and now never shall see, but God has laid you upon 
 my heart !) God has not forgotten you.' I sent my cheque to 
 the bankers, got the cash, £'120, and immediately wrote to you, 
 and told you what God had done, to ttike courage and go 
 forward. 
 
 " Mr. Scott has written to me two or three days ago, stating 
 
DR ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 233 
 
 tliat he is very poorly, and wishes to make a ' Trust-Deed' in 
 behalf of the Shetlaiids, and to do tJiis immediately ; and wishes 
 me to give him the names with which I wish it to he filled. Old 
 as I am, I must be one ; Mr. Butterworth will be another, and 
 you shall be the third. 
 
 " T'dke care of too much labour ; at those frequent wettings 
 and privations to which you are exposed, I tremble. You must, 
 you must avoid them as much as possible. Write as often as 
 you can. 
 
 " Yours, my dear Sammy, affectionately, 
 
 "ADAM CLAKKE." 
 
 In the spring of 1825, his eyes being considerably inflamed, 
 he resorted to town to have the advice of his friend and relative, 
 Mr. Ware, the celebrated oculist; and, during this sojourn, he 
 had the honour of dining a second time with the Duke of Sus- 
 sex, who introduced him as liis friend to the Duke of Hamilton 
 and several other eminent men. 
 
 In July of the same year, he yielded to the request of the 
 Wesleyan Missionary Committee that he would visit Ireland for 
 the purpose of holding a meeting at Cork, and preaching on 
 behalf of the Society. Though he had urged the state of his 
 health as an objection, yet the sea- air had a very beneficial effect 
 upon his eyes. He sailed from Bristol, in company with a large 
 number of passengers, most of whom were persons of rank. On 
 Sunday morning, the day after sailing, the ladies sent him a 
 message, requesting him to preach to them ; but, as there were 
 three clergymen on board, he thought it much better that they 
 should be asked. They consented : an awning was placed over 
 the deck ; one read the prayers, another the lessons, and the 
 third preached. The ladies then begged that he would preach in 
 the afternoon ; but this was not practicable, owing to the dinner- 
 hour. They came round him however, and, as he remarks, " made 
 me talk bravely." " I had invitations," he continues, " on all hands, 
 to visit different country-seats near Limerick and Cork ; but I 
 was obliged to decline them all. The various company tried me 
 on all subjects, religious, civil, mihtary, medical, philosophical, 
 and literary. I bless God who has given me some brains, and 
 who has enabled me to cultivate them. Thus I was not at a loss 
 in any one instance, and spoke largely on all." 
 
 From Cork he returned to the Conference at Bristol : at which 
 he made a statement of the progress or the Shetland mission, 
 and had the satisfaction of obtaining the appointment of another 
 preacher to labour in that northern extremity of the British 
 empire. 
 
 At the conclusion of the Conference, he started on another mis- 
 
234 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 sionary tour in YorksMre and the neighbouring counties. His 
 amazing popularity and influence appeal' from the following extract 
 of a letter to Mrs. Clarke, dated Bradford, Sept. 4, 1825 : — " I 
 preached this morning at the old chapel. It was not a congi'ega- 
 tion, nor an assembly, nor a concourse, nor a crowd ; but a tremen- 
 dous torrent of human beings, produced by a conflux fr-om all the 
 thiity-two points of the compass of this town and its vicinity. 
 I thought preaching would have been impossible ; and so it 
 would, had it not been for jVIr. Dawson [commonly called Billy 
 Dawson], who got into the grave-yard, and earned off" a thousand 
 of the people. I began at half-past nine, the chapel being 
 at that time thi'onged. To deceive me, some one soon slyly 
 stopped the clock. I had in a few minutes perfect stillness. 
 The Spmt of glory and of God rested upon all. Although 
 there had akeady been three collections, at the first of which, on 
 Friday, I got them £'100, yet this morning I got upwards of 
 £100 more, besides what Mr. Dawson got in the yard. I came 
 to my lodging in a piteous state. Leeds comes next on the 9th ; 
 and I almost dread the human biUows, the mountain- swell of 
 thousands, that will be there. Immediately after, perhaps that 
 evening, God willing, I set off for Lincoln : there I am to preach 
 on next Sabbath morning. On the 13th, I am to preach and 
 hold the jVIissionaiy meeting in the same city, and probably, on 
 the following day, proceed to London. I need rest ; for I have 
 now been laboming and travelling by sea and land upwards of 
 three months, with but little intermission." 
 
 About this time. Dr. Clarke's heart was gladdened by the 
 reception of a letter fi'om the Wesleyan-Methodist class-leaders 
 in Walls and Sandness, Shetland, in which they returned thanks 
 to him, as the instrumental cause of their gracious visitation, and 
 bore the following gi'ateful testimony to the successful labom's of 
 the missionaries : — " We know, Su', that you have higher objects 
 in view than the praise of men ; yet we owe you a thousand 
 thanks, and should feel guilt\^ in not thanking you in om' own 
 name, and in the name of every member in our respective 
 classes. Sii', it is for sending us the Gospel that we thank you. 
 We would not intimate by this that we had never heard the Gos- 
 pel before the ministers you sent reached our shores : no such a 
 thing is meant ; but we must say, that, until then, the Gospel 
 was to us but a dead letter : we were dead in trespasses and in 
 sin, until aroused by the plain and faithful preaching of the 
 Methodists : they were the instruments which God employed to 
 bring us from dai'kness to hght. All denominations have bene- 
 fited ; manv of the clergy have received new energies, have 
 appointed sermons to be read in the distant parts of their minis- 
 tries, and sanctioned prayer-meetings among their own members. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 235 
 
 The Dissenters have also benefited materially by their arrival 
 [the arrival of the missionaries], in our isles : for, before, their 
 congregations were exceedingly small ; but, on their lending their 
 meeting-houses to the Methodist ministers, they were crowded 
 to excess, and [they] continue to be filled to this day : and a 
 greater number of persons has joined their community in the last 
 two years, than in any four years previously, since their establish- 
 ment in Shetland ; and many of these are known to have been 
 awakened under the preacliing of the Methodists." 
 
 In the autumn of this year, the Duke of Sussex expressed his 
 pleasure to pay a visit to Dr. Clarke, and to inspect his valuable 
 Oriental and other manuscripts. His Eoyal Highness arrived 
 ■without state at Dr. Clarke's residence, at one o'clock ; and, 
 during dinner, entered fi'eely into social and intellectual con- 
 versation. Almost immediately afterwards, he retired into Dr. 
 Clarke's study, where his taste was amply gratified by the rich 
 store of rare and curious manuscripts which it contdned. His 
 Royal Highness did not leave Haydon-hall till late in the 
 evening. 
 
 On New- Year's Day, 1826, whilst preaching at the new chapel. 
 City-road, Dr. Clarke took cold from the effects ofwliich he did 
 not recover for upwards of two months. 
 
 In March, 1826, Dr. Clarke addressed Mr. Lewis in a letter 
 which exhibits his own character in a veiy amiable light : — 
 
 " Pinner, March 23, 1826. 
 
 "Dear Lewis, 
 
 " I have plundered every part of my family, and sent you 
 all I could lay hands on. 
 
 "I have sent you some of my own things, much better than 
 those I daily wear.* 
 
 " You will find something for each of the persons you men- 
 tioned. The woman with three naked children has a parcel with 
 plenty of children's clothes ; each packet is labelled for its right 
 owner. 
 
 I stiU want a good-tempered, not lazy, and truly faithful 
 Shetland girl, to take the principal care of my study. I hate 
 locks and keys ; and I have many valuable antiquities, coins, &c., 
 
 * Some years of his life were one seiies of self-denials and self-sacrifices for 
 this interesting mission, which he declared God had wound around his heart. 
 Many instances might be given. About this time he writes, " Before the 
 work shall be stopped or cramped, I will sell my coat, or books must go, 
 and shall go." Again, in making a remittance to one of the Shetland 
 missionaries, he says, " Ten pounds of the above was properly my own, as 
 it was appointed to me for my travelling expenses, in going several hundred 
 miles to open chapels ; but I refused to take this sum. Then they said, 
 ' You must take it for your Shetlands,' to which I gladly consented." 
 
23G 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 which any one might take away, and I not miss them, perhaps, 
 for years. 
 
 If I could get a thorough girl, that would serve one for love, 
 and take proper care of my hooks, godhngs, curiosities, &c., I 
 should delight in her, and she will meet with every kindness. 
 Indeed, it is generally said that I spoil all my servants hy treat- 
 ing them too well — I cannot help it. * * You say 
 that you have seen one of the name of Agnes, likely to suit me 
 — I will tell you why I should like her. I had a lovely daughter 
 called Agnes ; never was my soul so wrapped up in a child : 
 God took her the day she was five years old ; and I had suffered 
 so much in her sufferings, that the good Dr. Agnew said, if she 
 had lived one week longer, it must have killed me. You see, 
 then, that Agnes is still dear to me. . It is more than twenty 
 years since I lost that lovely child. * * 
 
 " In a word, I want a faithful Shetlander, that will live with 
 me till I die. We have had several such, hut they got married, 
 and so we lost them ; but every one still seems to form a part 
 of our family, and is more or less dependent on us. You may 
 laugh at me ; but I never found a lean, skinny, ugly girl, either 
 good-tempered, or over honest. 
 
 "ADAM CLAEK:E." 
 
 In congratulating Mr. Dunn on an accession to his family 
 about this time, he says, " Call your daughter by any name that 
 does not end with a ; for Dr. Beddoes said one of them never 
 made a good wife or housewife ! sub rosa." Subsequently ex- 
 plaining, " What I quoted from Dr. Beddoes, was in reference to 
 the names ending in ia. I do not myself like much those that 
 end in a ; but I am heartily sick of all the others." 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Lewis dated March 27, 1826, Dr. Clarke 
 gives his opinion on a very interesting and important question : — 
 
 Eastcott, March 27, 1826. 
 
 " My dear Lewis, 
 
 " I wrote to you yesterday in great haste ; and there were a 
 few things in your letter that I could not then notice ; that of 
 the greatest importance is contained in the following passage : 
 
 * Six young women have been expelled from the societies in 
 Shetland for marrying ungodly men. Has it been right so to 
 do ? We have three women for one man ; and, if we deny them 
 the right of marrying irreligious men, we must keep many of 
 them single, if they will be kept.' This sentence has filled me 
 with pain and alarm. I know it is one of our rules to act thus ; 
 and this we have built on the apostle's admonition, 2 Cor. vi. 14 : 
 
 * Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.' In my 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE 
 
 237 
 
 Commentary, you will see that we have totally misunderstood the 
 apostle, in applying it as w^e have done. An unheliever, in his 
 sense of the word, is merely a heathen ; one who does not credit 
 the Christian reUgion, and who is a worshipper of idols. Nothing- 
 can be clearer from the text and context than this. When 
 I was a missionary, I thought I must act on this mal-under- 
 standing of the text, because it was a rule ; and against my 
 judgment, and even conscience, I made exclusions of this kind ; 
 and, while I kept tliis rule in that sense, did nothing but evil in 
 the apostle's sense. 
 
 - Now, a man that conscientiously beheves all the essential 
 articles of the Christian faith, we have no right to call an unbe- 
 hever, whatever his conduct may be; and a man who thus 
 beheves, and is decent in liis moral conduct, and is not an enemy 
 to vital rehgion, we have no authority from God's word, nor 
 from reason, nor from common sense, to expel a woman from 
 the fold of Christ, for manying. 
 
 " That no Methodist preacher should marry a woman who has 
 not the life of God in her soul, I steadfastly beheve ; and that 
 it would be much, much better that no woman enjoying the hfe 
 of God in her soul, should marry a man who has not got the 
 same blessing. In the case of a preacher, I beheve the Confer- 
 ence have a right to separate a man from the itinerant work, who 
 has thus married ; but, in the case of a private member, either 
 woman or man, marrying a man or womau, who follows not with 
 us, who has a conscientious behef in the Bible, and is orderly in 
 his or her moral conduct, we have no authority to separate such 
 from the church of God. Now, what is the consequence ? The 
 parties are grieved, and consider their characters aspersed, gene- 
 rally go into the world, lose the life of God out of their souls, 
 give up the means of grace, the fellowship of the godly, or go to 
 some congregation where the power of rehgion is neither felt nor 
 acknowledged. But, 2dly, What will be the case in such a 
 place as Shetland ? All the young women will be afraid to come 
 near us : they may hear, but will not join in religious fellowship, 
 and then we know we can do them httle good ; and young men 
 will mahgn and detest us, and will not come near our assembhes. 
 
 " But what can now be done ? If these young women are not 
 formally excluded, let them see that there is a yearning over 
 them ; that you are striving to see what lenity can be shown ; 
 and, if they pray to be restored, do not hesitate in granting per- 
 mission. 
 
 " There is only one thing left unsaid. If any of our members 
 have married gross offenders, and therefore been justifiably 
 expelled ; yet, even if they turn, repenting of the evil, let them 
 be forgiven, for the disciphne of the church that is not emen- 
 
238 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 datory, is anticliristian. If, in this or any other case, we leave no 
 place for repentance, we sin. 
 
 " Warn and counsel all that are brought to God to be exceed- 
 ingly careful in these engagements. But it costs much labour, 
 fears, prayers, and tears, to get a soul brought into the fold. 
 Oh ! how careful, then, should we be not to let them stray, or 
 expel them, from it. 
 
 "A. CLAEKE." 
 
 The reader will recollect the painful controversy respecting 
 the exclusion of the Apocryphal books from those copies of 
 the Scriptures circulated by the Bible Society. Dr. Clarke very 
 fully expressed his views on this subject in a letter to Mr. But- 
 terworth, his brother-in-law : — 
 
 "April 16, 1826. 
 
 My very dear Sir, 
 
 " I am very sorry that the question concerning the Apocry- 
 pha has been agitated in the nation, in reference to the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society. No society ever did so much good 
 — none ever had more of the blessing and approbation of God. 
 It went on well ; its progress was like that of the celestial hght, 
 shining more and more unto the perfect day. This state of its 
 prosperity I hoped, was so permanently fixed, as never to be 
 moved ; and I was as much surprised as grieved to find, last year, 
 when spending some time out of the kingdom, that the com- 
 mittee, the subscribers, the nation, were all divided concerning, 
 shall I say, the hitherto very blessed progress of its operations. 
 On my return to the country, I met with pamphlets calling upon 
 all the friends of Divine revelation, to remonstrate against the 
 conduct of the committee, for having circulated, caused to be 
 circulated, or helping to circulate the Apocrypha, in such a way 
 as to cause it to be received as a series of books written by 
 Divine inspiration ! I judge no man's motives ; but, in some 
 of those pubhcations, I saw very much inconclusive reasoning, 
 much misstatement, and not a little false colouring. I knew the 
 committee well ; I laboured with them very assiduously for more 
 than ten years, and I knew, not only the operation of their 
 hands, but the workings of their hearts. Purer motives in 
 multitudinous labours and, cares I had never witnessed, and of 
 mightier and more beneficial effects I had never heard nor read. 
 Such men could not be against the truth, but, for the truth ; and 
 because it was so, the pleasure of the Lord prospered in their 
 hands. But, by means of the ill-judged outcry that has been 
 made — both by the resolutions of certain societies, and by the 
 publications of some alarmists — the harmony, I find, is dis- 
 
DR ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 239 
 
 turbed, the work impeded, and, in the apprehension of many (on 
 both sides), the seeds of disorder and ruin are so deeply sown as 
 never, in all probabihty, to be eradicated. If this be the case, I 
 would not for a world have been the framer of those resolutions, 
 or the pubhsher of those pamphlets. When I heard that the 
 question was confided to the consideration and ultimate decision 
 of a select committee, I did feel a wish that I might have the 
 opportunity of speaking my mind on the subject before it was 
 ultimately determined. I have lately heard that ' the die is cast,' 
 and that the society is neither to print, circulate, nor help, 
 directly or indirectly, to circulate, in any circumstances, nor in 
 any country, the Apocrypha. If the society takes this bold, I 
 had almost said this temerarious stand, they had better at once 
 drop the word Foreign from their designation, retain the word 
 British, and bid adieu to nine -tenths of their labour, and nine- 
 teen- twentieths of their usefulness. Proh dolor ! I need not 
 state to you the following facts. 
 
 " 1 . That the Church of Eome receives the Apocryphal writ- 
 ings as parts of the sacred Scriptures. 
 
 " 2. That the Greek Church has, from time immemorial, in 
 fact, received them much in the same way. 
 
 " 3. That neither of these Churches, nor the individuals that 
 compose them, would think the Bible perfect without those 
 writings ; and, if withheld from them on religious scruples, would 
 doubt the motives of those who offered them, and would draw 
 back their hands from receiving what they must, on their princi- 
 ples, deem a mutilated and erroneously imperfect donation. 
 
 " 4. That in all their own editions of the Scriptures, whether 
 the Latin Vulgate or the Greek Septuagint, the Apocrypha has 
 its place, without any mark of deteriorating distinction or note 
 of spuriousness. 
 
 " 5. That the most ancient and most authentic MSS. which 
 exist, of the Vulgate and Septuagint, have these books in the 
 same way, and they have been read in the churches, and by indi- 
 viduals, before and since the invention of printing. I have 
 probably examined more MSS. and ancient editions of these two 
 early versions, than most who have written on this question ; and 
 I have certainly found these books invariably connected with the 
 sacred text, and often indiscriminately mixed with it. 
 
 6. 'But, should the British and Foreign Bible Society print 
 it thus, would it not imply that they held it to be of the same worth 
 as the sacred canonical books — thus propagate error, make the 
 chaff equal to the wheat, and deceive and destroy the souls of the 
 simple ?' In answer to this, I would ask in my turn. Is the 
 Apocrypha the sOurce whence the errors, the most destructive 
 errors, of the Church of Kome, emanate ? Is a single verse ever 
 
2i0 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 brought forward to prove the Pope's supremacy ; the doctrine of 
 indulgences ; that of transubstantiation ; penances for the pardon 
 of sin ; sacerdotal absolution ; Divine honours to the Virgin, to 
 saints, and to angels ; prayers and offerings to such as are inter- 
 cessors and mediators; infallibility; purgatory, &c., &c. ? I 
 here assert, that, although born and bred among the Irish Papists, 
 living long in a state of intimate connexion with them, frequently 
 cUscussing with them the doctrines of the Protestant and Roman 
 Cathohc Churches, I never heard the Apocrypha appealed to for 
 the confirmation of one of those doctrines, and only once on any 
 other, and that was a passage in the Maccabees in reference to 
 the intercession for the dead. And, in all my intercourse, con- 
 nexions, or disputations with priests or laymen of that commu- 
 nity, I never could discern that any individual had been perverted 
 from the simplicity of the truth by the Apocrypha, or confirmed 
 in one destructive error of any kind by its means. No ; it was 
 not the Apocrypha that was brought to bear against Protestant- 
 ism, and the doctrines of the Reformation, but the Bible itself, 
 the fathers, and tradition. And I most rehgiously believe, that 
 no man has ever lost his soul by means of the Apocrypha ; 
 though thousands have been mortally deluded by false interpre- 
 tations of the Bible, by the authority of the Greek and Latin 
 fathers, and by the unsubstantial deceptive mirage of tradition. 
 Indeed, my own observation has led me to conclude, that much 
 less consequence is attached to the Apocrypha, even by the 
 Roman Catholics, than we generally imagine ; that it is much 
 less read, and much less quoted. 
 
 If, therefore, nations of men have received these books as a 
 part of the Bible, and will not receive the Bible without them ; 
 and if, from the former, there is so little moral danger, which I 
 beheve and maintain; and if, without the latter, they cannot 
 become wise unto salvation, I say, in the fear and in the name of 
 the everlasting God, do not withhold the words of life from them, 
 on account of this circumstance — and a circumstance, too, the 
 evil operation of which is purely problematical. I always under- 
 stood, even in the first institution of the society, and in all its 
 consequent operations, that it had bound itself to give, both at 
 home and abroad, connect copies of the Bible fi'om authentic and 
 legaHzed versions. According to this rule, every copy of the 
 Bible given in England, Scotland, Ireland, and all our depend- 
 encies, should have the Apocrypha ; for that version which was 
 formed by the resolution of the Hampton-court Conference, in 
 1603, printed and published by royal authority, in IGll, had the 
 Apocrypha, besides a mass of marginal readings and parallel 
 texts. Why, then, dispute with the Greek and Latin Churches, 
 and say, ' We. will not give you the whole of your authorized 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 241 
 
 versions of the Bible ; but we will give you the major part?' 
 Might they not say, ' Our fathers have handed down this book to 
 us as you see it ; we cannot admit you to decide for or against 
 the authority of both our churches, and against the national 
 education and feeling.' Should I be asked, Do you receive the 
 Apocrypha as an inspired work ? I answer, No. I receive it as 
 the Protestant Church receives it. I will not have a Bible with- 
 out it, unless the attainment be impossible ; and in that case, I 
 will go and borrow from my neighbour, whether he be of the 
 Greek or Latin Church. 
 
 "But, between ourselves, does not the present outcry involve 
 consequences of high importance and difficult adjustment ? 
 Might it not be asked. Why do you reject this work ? Is not 
 the general answer. Because it is not found in the Hebrew text ? 
 Might it not be asked again. Is a book being in the Hebrew lan- 
 guage a proof of its inspiration ? This would require some 
 consideration. Might it not again be asked. If you had found 
 the first book of Maccabees in Hebrew, would you not have con- 
 sidered it as authentic and valuable as the first book of Kings ? 
 What could we say to this ? And I might add, if the book of 
 Sirach, or that of Ecclesiasticus, had been from time immemorial 
 in Hebrew, would not these books, on our common mode of feel- 
 ing in such a case, have been deemed as worthy of acceptance as 
 the book of Ecclesiastes and the book of Proverbs ? I give the 
 arguments of our opponents, and add with them. Why reject 
 these very ancient works because of the language in which they 
 are now found, when you are not prepared to prove, that Hebrew 
 originals have been lost which are referred to with approbation, 
 and recommended in those inspired books which remain, and of 
 those lost originals not even a copy in any language is to be 
 found ? Now, though I could answer aU these questions to my 
 own satisfaction, yet candour must induce me to allow them their 
 weight in the opinion of those who are prejudicially attached to 
 the Apocrypha. While the bark of the Society sailed out on 
 that wisely directed tack which it has steered in from the begin- 
 ning, God prospered it — ergo, God was pleased with it. If we 
 clap the helm alee, and seek prosperity on another tack, who 
 can say that God will give a fair wind and a prosperous voyage ? 
 I would rather give twenty Apocryphas than be deprived of the 
 privilege of giving one Bible. But I w^eary you, and my eyes have 
 hard work to hold out. May God influence and direct the Com- 
 mittee ! 
 
 " Yours truly and affectionately, 
 "A. CLAKKE. 
 " P.S. Since writing the preceding, I have seen certain Keso- 
 lutions of the Gl^lsgow Bible Society, dated March 16, 1826, 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 and have not been a little sui'prised at their spirit and tendency. 
 I can scarcely think, that any Society, professing Christianity, 
 and any decency and good breeding, could have originated such 
 resolutions. They must have been the work of some furious 
 individual, who thinks he does well to be angiy, and imagines 
 he possesses al] the right understanding in the world, and that 
 wisdom must die with liim. He assumes ground that he does not 
 possess ; he reasons, or maddens, on principles which are either 
 false in themselves or falsely appUed. He is a judge of evil 
 thoughts, sits in the chair of the calumniator, with his feet on 
 the footstool of the learner. His work is a tissue of abuse, 
 calumnies, and ill-nature. I think it should be noticed no fur- 
 ther than thus, ' Till the Glasgow resolutions are drawn up in 
 the spirit of Christianity and the language of a gentleman, we 
 deem them wholly unworthy of regard.' " 
 
 In his introduction to Fisher's Folio Bible, Dr. Clarke thus 
 records his opinion of the Apocryphal writings : — 
 
 Of the Apocrypha, without allowing it the merit of Divine 
 inspiration, it may be said there are several of its books of con- 
 siderable importance ; and there are others of a widely different 
 character. Of the former class, the Book of Wisdom, Ecclesi- 
 asticus, the Song of the Three Children, and the first Book of 
 the Maccabees, are the cliief. The two former contain many 
 excellent maxims for the regulation of hfe, both civil and 
 rehgious ; and the latter is an invaluable histor)^ of the times and 
 transactions wliich it records. Of the other books, very little 
 creditable to their character can be spoken ; and some of them 
 are both puerile and ridiculous in the extreme. The histoiy of 
 Tobit, of Judith, and of Bel and the Dragon, are proofs in 
 point. " 
 
 Dr. Clarke concluded his Commentary on the 17th of April, 
 1826; shortly after which, being fi'eed from particular engage- 
 ments at home, he conceived a strong desire to visit the Shetland 
 missionaries, with whom, mdeed, he had been present in spirit 
 ever since the commencement of their arduous but glorious and 
 successful undertaking. He was apprehensive that his dearest 
 friends would object to such a step, on account of the severity of 
 a northern chmate and the shattered state of his health ; but, 
 when once his desires had assumed the shape of resolutions, 
 which, however, was always the result of much previous con- 
 sideration, nothing could dissuade him from the execution of his 
 purpose. This was the case on the present occasion. After 
 maturely weighing the subject, he came to the conclusion, that 
 the path of duty would lead him to Shetland ; and the prospect 
 of difficulties, privations, dangers, death itself, had not power to 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 243 
 
 turn him aside. The entreaties of his family and )iis friends 
 were in vain. Being at Birmingham while the suhject was in 
 agitation, he thus replies to the affectionate dehortations of his 
 wife : — " I may he ultimately hindered from going to Shetland ; 
 but to all my judgment and feehngs, it seems a work which God 
 has given me to do. I must go on till he stops me. To sacri- 
 fice my Hfe at the command, or in the work of God, is, as to pain 
 or difficulty, no more to me than a burnt straw. My hfe is his, 
 and he will not take it away out of the regular course, unless 
 greatly to his glory and my good." And, again, a few days 
 later : — " When I get to Edinburgh, if I do not feel myself 
 equal to the task of proceeding to Shetland, I will relinquish it : 
 with pain, it is true; but yet with submission to that liigh 
 authority which imposes the necessity, and who does at all times 
 all things well. If I am enabled to take the journey, fear not 
 for me ; for I shall be most certainly supported through it : / 
 am sure God will not bury me in the Northern Ocean ! " 
 
 In anticipation of this journey, he writes to Mr. Dunn : — 
 
 " If you can give me any directions or hints, drop me a letter 
 to the chapel, Edinburgh. I shall hke, if possible, to visit Yell, 
 and Unst ; but, if nothing but open boats can be procured, I 
 should not be able to stand cold and wet. I feel I am getting 
 an old man ; and, though the same will and mental energy 
 remain, yet my body does not bear me out. Many are against 
 the present journey ; but it appears as if God required it : there- 
 fore, I go on till stopped by his hand or providence. I shall be 
 like the king's packets, I shall break water, even in a storm, 
 though I may see it impossible to proceed." 
 
 On the 30th of April, Dr. Clarke preached one of the mis- 
 sionary anniversary sermons in the Lambeth chapel, and col- 
 lected nearly i690, " when ^40 was not expected," and on the 
 1st of May he attended the pubHc meeting. " Wonderful speak- 
 ing," says he in a letter to Mr. Wears, " but the best to me was, 
 help for Shetland. I sent you this morning to finish the house, 
 and I would raise the £40 : from two persons I received £5 each, 
 and so here are J610 towards the d940. I have also received a 
 cask containing nails, bolts, &c,, &c., for buildings, to the 
 amount, prime cost, of &\\ 10s. lOd." 
 
 The journal in which Dr. Clarke recorded liis observations on 
 liis Shetland tour commences with the first of June, 1826, and 
 concludes with the 18th of July. 
 
 He obtained a passage from Leith in the Woodlark, tender to 
 his Majesty's ship Investigator, engaged in a survey of the 
 islands to which he was bound. During the passage the con- 
 versation turned upon " the plain gold ring." We give Dr. 
 Clarke's account of it as an amusing proof of his sprightHness 
 
 r2 
 
244 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 and ingenuity : — " There were present," he observes, " Captain 
 Frembly, his lady, Mr. Lord and Mr. Bedford, two midshipmen, 
 my son, and self. ' How is it,' says one, ' that the most simple 
 and unadorned rings are used in the matrimonial ceremony ?' — 
 * Because, I beheve, the Canon Law requires that no other shall 
 be used.' — A. C. : ' I am not aware that there is any law on this 
 part of the subject. The law states that a metal ring shall be 
 used, and not one of leather, straw, thread, &c. ; and the reason 
 to me appears to be this : — the i-mg itself points out the duration 
 of the union ; it is without end in reference to the natural lives 
 of the parties. Metal is less hable to destruction than flax, 
 leather, straw, &c. Gold is generally prefeiTed, not only because 
 it is the most precious, but the most perfect of metals, being less 
 liable to destruction or deterioration by oxidizement. Life will 
 wear out by labours, trials, &c. ; and so Tvdll gold by attrition, 
 fi'equent use, &c. Therefore, life and the metal shadow forth 
 each other, properly enough. As to the ring being simple and 
 unadorned, I think it has its reason in the case itself, and in the 
 feehngs and apprehension of the spouse who produces it. He 
 has chosen, according to fiis feelings, one whom he esteems the 
 most perfect of her kind : she is to him superior to every other 
 female, adorned with ever}^ chann. To use, then, in this state 
 of the case, any ornament, would be a tacit confession that her 
 person w^as defective, and needed sometliing to set it ofl", and 
 must be more or less dependent on the feeble aid of dress.' — 
 Mrs. Frembly : ' But, Sir, there is soon added what is called a 
 guard ; and this is, if circumstances will admit, highly orna- 
 mented with pearls or brilliants.' — A. C. : ' True, Madam ; and 
 this is not without much signification. The unadorned ring 
 supposes the fact of the bride's gi'eat superiority as already men- 
 tioned, and her suitable feehngs towards her spouse ; but the 
 guard is afterwards added. In order to presei^ve this perfection ; 
 the husband feels it necessaiT to add ornaments to the union, 
 i. e., endearments, attentions, and obligations, to keep his wife 
 steady to the character which he has given her to assume ; and, 
 without attention to the support of that character, and the con- 
 tinuance of endearing conduct, he knows the progress of maiiied 
 Hfe will soon remove all false, or too sanguine, expectations of 
 each other's character. The bubble, if it were one, would soon 
 burst ; animosities and mutual recriminations would soon em- 
 bitter wedded life, and show how false and empty the high-formed 
 estimation and expectations of each other were at the beginning. 
 Thus the guard, as well as the ring, are not without their 
 respective significations.' Mrs. F. smiled : the rest were silent, 
 and the discussion ended." 
 
 The following piece of \dvid description would not do discredit 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 245 
 
 to the pen of a tourist by profession : — " We got on pretty well 
 to-day till we came to the JPentland Frith. Here we had a mon- 
 strous sea, tide conflicting with tide, raising the billows to a 
 fearful height ; but, as the wind was pretty fair, our inimitable 
 cutter hterally cut through all. We went on with a strong gale, 
 principally in our favour, till we came near to the Fair Isle, when 
 the wind changed directly opposite, coming from north-east, and 
 blew a hunicane. The sea wrought, and was tempestuous. We 
 seemed to have arrived at the end of the ten-aqueous globe, 
 where nature existed in all its chaotic confusion and fierce 
 uproar. There appeared a visible rage and anger in every wave. 
 They seemed as if contesting with each other, which should con- 
 tribute most to destroy and engulph all within the vortex of their 
 action. After appearing to be suspended for a moment, they 
 fell do^vn with such tremendous thunder, as if a whole park of 
 ordnance had been discharged at once : ' deep cried unto deep at 
 the noise of his water- spouts : all his waves and his billows went 
 over us.' At first we reefed all our sail, then struck our top- 
 mast, next brought down every inch of canvas upon the deck, 
 and then set a small try- sail to steady the ship. In these cir- 
 cumstances, we were obhged to bear away : no possibility of 
 anchoring, or of seeking port, in such horrible contention of the 
 elements, and in such dangerous seas. We continued to ship 
 sea after sea, till our little vessel seemed as if on the very eve 
 of being submerged. In a short time, the angry, sullen wind 
 chopped about : the storm became more moderate ; and we had 
 at least a fair gale, though the sea was still tremendous. We 
 sailed round the Fair Isle, regained our true course : the gale 
 settled shortly into a strong breeze, and continued so to the end 
 of our voyage." The storm lasted nearly twenty-four hours. In 
 a letter to the Eev. T. Smith, the Doctor says : " Would you 
 wish to ask me how I felt during those tremendous hours ? Just 
 as a man who knows his God, and trusts alone in his Christ, 
 should feel. Yes ; and, superadded, / had the conviction that 
 God had not created one drop of water in the North Seas to 
 drown Adam Clarke. I had not mistaken my call, — I felt con- 
 fident in my strong tower." 
 
 But the violence of the waves was not the only danger to 
 which the voyagers were exposed, as Dr. Clarke will make 
 appear : — The Waterloo King's revenue cutter, being out in 
 these seas on the preventive service, was oif Fair Isle ; and when, 
 by the wind changing, we were obliged to bear away, as if for 
 Iceland, she was driving before the storm, making for the Scotch 
 coast. Taking us for a smuggler cutter, she made a signal, 
 which we were unable to repeat, our colour getting foul in the 
 shrouds. She then fired a blank cartridge, and, finding her sig- 
 
246 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 nals not answered, was on the point of firing into his Majesty's 
 cutter. However, the two vessels meeting, our commander told 
 him he was tender to the Investigator, then employed in survey- 
 ing the Shetland Islands. Learning this, he reshipped liis hoat, 
 which he had ready to hoard us, and shore off." 
 
 The following were Dr. Clarke's impressions on a first view 
 of Shetland : — " Oh, the appearance of Shetland ! a continuous 
 series of barren hills and mountains : scarcely any cultivation to 
 he seen, and perhaps not even in general cultivable soil. The 
 grass is of a brownish green, the rugged rocks, or large districts 
 of peat-moss, or hether, appearing in most places. It had this 
 day a truly horrid appearance : the sea was still very rough, the 
 breeze having much freshened ; and we seemed to come to 
 behold the termination of the terraqueous globe, at its utmost 
 northern extremity. I could not help exclaiming, ' Who could 
 choose this for an abode ?' and, on looking around me in this 
 dreary ban-enness, I seemed to wonder why I had come hither, 
 and could not help crying out, ' How shall we get away ?' " 
 
 It is but just to this Ultima Thule to add, that, on further 
 acquaintance, the Doctor made the following concession : — 
 " Everything bears the aspect of wildness, uproar, and mismle. 
 Yet there is something majestic in the whole, something that 
 pleases the imagination, and on which intellect can ponder, and 
 even feed with profit, and a certain measure and kind of delight." 
 
 We have this description of the first congregation of Shet- 
 landers to which Dr. Clarke preached : — " There was a character 
 of honesty, openness, intelligence, and, I might add, of critical 
 simphcity, which I have rarely met with. The countenance of 
 the Shetlander has certainly a peculiar cast, both as it respects 
 males and females. To me it argues honesty and trust- worthi- 
 ness : not easily inclined to a first impression ; but, when per- 
 suaded, firm, determined, and inflexible. The eye has a peculiar 
 coerulean or blue-gieen glance, hke that of the ancient Gauls ; 
 that which Plautus calls ' the grass-green eye.' There is some- 
 thing like it occasionally in the aboriginal Irish, who are all of 
 the same Gotliic, or Celtic, stock. It is not the eye itself that 
 is green ; but a certain glance of it, in a particular Hght and 
 direction. I am pleased with this first specimen of a Shetland 
 congTegation." 
 
 In passing in a boat from Scalloway to Walls, Dr. Clarke 
 witnessed the following exploit: — "Within half-a-mile of where 
 we landed, a large shoal of whales came into one of the voes or 
 bays. The islanders manned all their boats, got behind them, 
 drove them into shoal water, and succeeded in kilhng the whole 
 shoal, which amounted to 101 ! The water of the bay, for a mile 
 distant from the place of attack, was dyed with their blood. It 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 247 
 
 is the young, iA general, that occasion the capture of the old 
 ones ; for they heedlessly run into the shoal-water ; and, so 
 attached are these monsters to their oflspring, that they will risk 
 their lives to save them. A friend told me that he saw one of 
 the female whales take her wounded young under her breast fin, 
 and endeavour to make her escape with it. He saw another 
 young one, wliich appeared to he greatly temfied, dash itself upon 
 the shore, where it was soon killed : the mother, which had been 
 near the shore, had t«med and was regaining the deep water ; 
 but, missing her young one, and finding, no doubt, by instinct, 
 or smell, that it had gone ashore, she turned again, took the 
 same direction, and absolutely dashed herself on shore along- 
 side her young, wdiere she also was immediately speared. On 
 examination of several of these females, I found two cavities 
 near the navel, on each side, in which their teats were included, 
 and which they can extrude at pleasure, in order to suckle their 
 young : thus exemphfying Lam. iv. 3, * The sea-monsters draw 
 out the breast to their young,' I am sorry to add, that much of 
 tliis booty is likely to be lost, as the poor people have not vessels 
 enough to contain the oil. Some of the people said, indeed I 
 myself heard one of the lairds say, ' I believe God has sent this 
 shoal of fish to us in honour of Dr. Clarke, who has come so far 
 to see and do us good ; for, though w^e have had shoals of whales 
 in these islands, yet the memory of man does not record a shoal 
 coming at this time of the year, nor for two or three months later.' " 
 The first congregation to which Dr. Clarke preached in Walls, 
 contained fifty women to one man ; the second was composed of 
 two hundred females and but five males, the men being afloat at 
 the fisheries. " The women," resumes the tourist, " were without 
 bonnets of any kind, and their faces generally oval. Almost all 
 of them were stout and remarkably healthy, though they live in 
 the most dismal huts, or rather hovels, where continual smoke 
 renders all things nearly invisible. Their diet is chiefly fish ; 
 fish for breakfast, fish for dinner, fish for supper, fish to fish. 
 This fact still further tends to convince me of the healthiness 
 and nutritiveness of a fish diet ;* and from this we perceive how 
 
 * Yet, when, at a subsequent period, his opinion was asked respecting 
 the quantity of nutriment deprived from various kinds of food, he delivered 
 the following opinion : — " There is such a difference between the flesh of 
 fish and that of human bodies, that, were it not for the quantity of gelatine 
 they contain, I am inclined to think it would be very inadequate, if not 
 altogether unfit, aliment for man. But the gelatine of fish is little more 
 than a fine mucilage ; and, though it be very wholesome, yet it does not 
 afford a sufficiency of nourishment for the labourer. Hence, the common 
 sense and experience of men teach them to unite certain portions of the 
 flesh of quadrupeds with that of fish, thus supplying a mucilaginous 
 matter, which assists in digesting the more solid and nutritive substance 
 taken from the quadruped." 
 
2iS 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 judiciously the Roman Catholic church has acted, in ordaining a 
 forty days' lent, or fast, upon a fish diet ; prescribing also weekly 
 fasts to he kept on the same. I have no doubt that those who 
 folio »v this plan, find themselves more healthful and vigorous at 
 its termination, than at its commencement.' " 
 
 When, however, the men were disengaged fi'om their perilous 
 craft, they resorted to the places where Dr. Clarke preached, in 
 equal proportions with the women ; and so much was he pleased 
 by the conduct of all, that he exclaimed, " Oh, had I twenty 
 years less of age and iofirmity, how gloriously might I be 
 employed here !" adding, " But I have had my time ; and, through 
 mercy, I have labom'ed in my day and generation. I thinli: I can 
 say with a clear conscience, I have not spared my strength in the 
 work of the Lord." 
 
 Through the rigours of an unaccustomed and ill-provided 
 chme. Dr. Clarke sufiered an attack of rheumatism, which 
 alaiTued his son, who was with him, and he began to fear lest his 
 father should die in Shetland ; and, although he recovered par- 
 tially, he himself became but too sensible of failing strength: — 
 " My health, ' he obsei^ves, " continues to amend ; but it is still 
 precarious, and I feel utterly incapable of any additional fatigue. 
 I feel my natui*al force abated ; my eye is become dim, and my 
 days of extra labour ai'e over." And in another place he states : 
 — " I was so much exhausted as to be obhged to call for a glass 
 of water to be brought me into the pulpit. I have risked my 
 life in coming this journey : I have expended all my strength in 
 labours while in these islands." 
 
 During his sojourn among these iuterestiag islands, Dr. Clarke 
 preached at the piincipal places occupied by the missionaries ;* 
 and, on the eve of liis depaiture, he received the most flattering 
 attentions from the superior class of the inliabitants, who hailed 
 him as the gi'eat benefactor of their bari'en home. From one he 
 received a triljute of verse, and fi'om another an offeiing of the 
 natural productions of the island. " Shetland stockings," he 
 observes, " and gloves, all of the finest wool, and the most 
 exquisite texture, have been presented to me. One parr of these 
 stockiugs I have myself drawn thi'ough a small-sized gold ring ; 
 the wool is as white neaiiy as snow, and this without any prepa- 
 
 * Two of the sermons which the Doctor dehvered on that occasion, were 
 afterwards published by their venerable and distinguished author, in a sepa- 
 rate form. One, entitled "The sum and substance of Paul's preaching," 
 he dedicated " To the Inhabitants of the Zetland Isles, and particularly to 
 the Members of the Methodists' Societies in those islands." The other, 
 published under the title of " God's mercy in giving a revelation of his 
 wiD to man, and his Providence in preserving that Revelation from corrup- 
 tion and decay," was dedicated " To the gentry and inhabitants in general 
 cf the town of Lenvick." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 249 
 
 ration, but just as it comes off the sheep's back." Nor was he for- 
 gotten by the poor. A young man to whom the Doctor had 
 given a book which he had long desired to see, was so con- 
 founded with a sense of obhgation, " that though," says Dr. 
 Chirke, " he spoke dehberately, and had good command of 
 language, yet he found great difficulty to express his feelings. 
 At last he said, ' O Sir, how can I sufficiently testify my grati- 
 tude to you for this very precious gift ! This is no common 
 present. Though, thank God, able to live, yet, such are my cir- 
 cumstances, that I never could hope to be able to purchase such 
 a book, nor indeed could it be got in all Shetland. Sir, I thank 
 you ! But what can I give you in return ?' I answered, 
 ' Nothing ; nor do I consider the book as of much value — 
 scarcely any to myself ; but it delights me to be able to accom- 
 modate you with what you seem so greatly to prize. I pray 
 you not to consider it of any other worth than what you may 
 have in your own mind, in reference simply to your own gratifi- 
 cation.' ' Thank you. Sir ; but I have one white lamb, it is all 
 I have, and ye must take that.' ' Indeed, I will not take it. 
 The present I have made you is little worth. May God multiply 
 your lamb a hundred fold !' ' Then, Sir, do oblige me by taking 
 it to Mrs. Clarke.' ' Nor will I do this either,' I rephed, ' for 
 the reasons already assigned.' He looked at the book, turned it 
 on all sides, looked on it with ecstasy, and said, ' The superiority 
 of this work lieth deep.' Confounded and overjoyed, he rose up, 
 .bade me good night, prayed God to reward me, and walked away." 
 
 At length, after having waited several days for a fair wind. Dr. 
 Clarke bade adieu to Shetland. The voyage homeward proved 
 very tedious. " These," he observes, " are the strangest seas I 
 have ever seen ; for such immense and conflicting swells I can 
 find no reason, either in the winds or in the tides. I think they 
 are purely electrical ; and, as that fluid acts by a variety of laws 
 of which we are ignorant, though a few of them are known to 
 us, therefore there is no certainty, in these seas, either of wind 
 or weather." Weary with contending against the elements. Dr. 
 Clarke and his son embraced an opportunity which presented 
 itself, of getting on shore in the bay of Aberdeen, which they 
 accomphshed by means of a mackarel boat. " We got to the 
 pier," observes the former, " at eight p.m. ; and I once more set 
 my foot on terra firma, with the heartfelt exclamation, 'Vive 
 Jesu ! me voila sauve !' " 
 
 At Aberdeen he visited King's and Marischal colleges, of which 
 he says, " I called to-day on J. Bentley, Professor of the Orien- 
 tal Languages, in Bang's College, but he was not at home. I 
 went to see Dr. Kidd, O.LL.P. Marischal College, who took us 
 over the whole of his University. But what a college ! Not 
 
250 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 half SO good as a middling English warehouse. The area grown 
 over with grass, as if never trodden : the hall dark, dismal, mean, 
 decayed, and dirty. The library, in my view, not worth £600, 
 the philosophical apparatus the best. The paintings dirty, 
 tattered, many of them unframed ; the divinity hall about as 
 big as a middling parlour ; the whole of the building mean and 
 ruinous ; and I should not wonder if, in fifty years, it had not 
 the name of a University. King's college and University, in the 
 Old Town of Aberdeen, is not outwardly in a much better con- 
 dition ; but it has more popular repute ; has more students, and 
 they are now making considerable enlargements. Both univer- 
 sities, in their funds, &c., might make one tolerable college ; and 
 into one they should be immediately blended ; for it is a farce to 
 have two things called universities, existing within two miles of 
 each other, and not, in both their united funds and influence, 
 equal in importance to one college in Oxford or Cambridge." 
 
 At Edinburgh, Dr. Clarke had received the mournful intelli- 
 gence of the death of his friend and relative, Mr. Butterworth, 
 who was taken ill upon his return from Dover, after an unsuc- 
 cessful poll for the parliamentary representation of that borough, 
 of which he had, previously to the dissolution of ParUament in 
 1826, been one of the representatives. " On the same day," 
 writes the Doctor, " a brother-in-law of mine* died, who has left a 
 helpless widow and three daughters, all wholly dependent on me, 
 without any succour from any other human quarter; and it 
 seemed as if I had quite as much as my back would bear before. 
 I have suffered also heavily from another quarter, and need 
 almost begin the world de novo ; yet I thank God, I cannot say 
 that these things move me, though they afiect me ; and in reference 
 to my labours, I may say, the whole quantum of the sic vos non 
 vohis. Well, I have God ; and God governs the world by his 
 own providence. Thus all is safe." 
 
 Whilst on this tour. Dr. Clarke was consulted by Archdeacon 
 Wilson, as to the best method of educating his children, and 
 returned the following valuable answer : — 
 
 ''^ Edinburgh, June 7, 1826. 
 
 *' My dear Sir, 
 
 " I do not wonder at your anxiety for the proper instruction 
 of your cliildren, because so much necessarily depends upon it. 
 If the education is neglected, and the bad seed gets leave to 
 vegetate fully, the crop of evil is incalculable. We say in agri- 
 culture, ' One year's seeding makes seven years' weeding.' So I 
 am sure it is in the human soil. 
 
 * Mr. James York. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKB. 
 
 261 
 
 " But how can tliis evil be prevented ; for, as to remedying 
 neglect, that is, in my opinion, next to hopeless ? Now, as to 
 plans and systems of education, I find them so various and defi- 
 cient, and the best of them so inadequate to general application, 
 that there is none I can cordially recommend. I believe the 
 principal part of the mental culture must be done by the parents. 
 None but they can descend so low and rise so high as is neces- 
 sary in the cultivation of the child's mind. While very young, 
 they should be as much as possible under the eye of the mother. 
 She should see them washed, clothed, and fed every day. Avoid 
 fashionable boarding-schools : many of them I have myself 
 known to be seminaries of vice.* If the master be a pedant or a 
 coxcomb, or the governess a prude or unnaturally precise, have 
 nothing to do with them ; the child will learn their nonsense 
 sooner than their good sense (if they have any), and you will 
 have factitious evils grafted on natural bad stocks. 
 
 " See my own children. I never passed a fault by, though I 
 was rare in inflicting punishment. When evil was done, I spoke 
 of that evil ; proved it to them to be an evil ; showed them how 
 injurious it was and would be to themselves ; how displeasing to 
 God, and how distressing to me. I think I never knew this to 
 fail. I was most puzzled with any bad tempers they showed, or 
 natural disposition to particular evils. However, I treated these 
 as the others, but was obliged often, very often, to carry them 
 before God, make my grief known to him, and entreat him to 
 correct, by his Spirit, what he knew was utterly out of my power. 
 Nor did I pray in vain. I had numerous answers from God, in 
 such a way as left no doubt of the Divine interference. 
 
 " As to hooks. The historical parts of the Scriptures, rela- 
 tions, striking facts given in the Old and New Testaments, are 
 wonderfully interesting to the infant mind. Natural history 
 I have always observed to be a child's delight. The work called 
 Animal Geography cannot be too generally used. Practical 
 
 * Mr. Clarke held strong opinions on this subject, as will be seen from the 
 following passage from another of his letters : — " I consider the time spent 
 at boarding-school in teaching girls music, drawing, painting, and dancing, 
 as almost totally lost. Keason and the necessities of the case, if consulted, 
 would dictate, that young women should be taught such things as might fit 
 them for social and domestic life. But this is so far from being the case, 
 that, when married, they are generally found utterly ignorant of the several 
 duties incumbent on the'm ; therefore the expectations of the husband are 
 disappointed ; he finds to his sorrow that the fine well-bred young lady 
 knows better how to play on the harpsichord, drop a courtesy, sketch a 
 landscape, or paint a rose, than to behave herself as a wife and mother, or 
 conduct her domestic affairs with discretion. All these things, therefore, 
 should be considered so many use- less comforaiities to the world, which 
 can be of no advantage in the most important departments and relations 
 of life." 
 
252 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 geography, voyages and travels, are also generally well liked. 
 As it was a maxim with me, that deep impressions relative 
 to the reality of a spiritual world cannot he too soon made, I 
 scrupled not to let them read even faii-y tales. * Strange as it 
 may appear, I have known that this sort of reading prepared 
 them for the supernatural appearances and facts in the sacred 
 writings ; and, while I endeavoured to fortify theii' minds against 
 all superstitious fears, I took care to keep out of their way those 
 modish hooks, which, under pretence of keeping the infant mind 
 fi'ee from the trammels of superstition, teach a species of half- 
 concealed materiahsm and general infidehty. 
 
 *'Much depends on the places where children have their 
 education. I helieve you know pretty well that I am strongly 
 attached to my o\vn country ; hut I certainly would not prefer 
 it, as the place where I would wish my children to have either 
 their initiatory, classical, or academical education. In England 
 there is an order, a decency, a propriety, and a manner in things, 
 and in doing them, that I see not either in Ireland or Scotland. 
 
 "After all, you must carry on much of your children's 
 education hy fi-equent and earnest prayer to God. Lay the 
 darkness of theh minds, the crookedness of their wills, the 
 waywardness of their passions, &c., hefore him ; and entreat 
 him to enlighten, rectify, purify, &c, ; and remember the promise, 
 ' All thy childi'en shall he taught of the Lord, and great shall 
 he the peace of thy cliildren :' and remember also the saying of 
 one of the ancients, ' When God teacheth, there is no delay in 
 leai'uing.' 
 
 " Ever yours, truly, 
 
 "ADAM CLAEKE." 
 
 On the day of Mr. Butterworth's funeral in London, which 
 Dr. Clarke hastened to attend, all the shops in Dover were 
 closed as on the Sabbath, and the bells of the town were tolhng 
 muffled peals during the chief part of the day. f 
 
 * In the same year, writing to one of the Shetland missionaries, he says, 
 " I want all the tales you can get of fairies : these relations belong to the 
 natural histoiy of the humau mind, and that history I am striving to inves- 
 tigate." 
 
 f Were it within the scope of this work, many pages might be filled with 
 a deseived eulogium of this benevolent and amiable man. His death was 
 justly regarded as a public calamity. His funeral sermon was preached by 
 the late Rev. Richard Watson, who was, during several years, associated 
 with him in the Wesleyan Missionaiy Society, of which Mr. Buttenvorth 
 was the Treasurer, and Mr. Watson the Secretary. 
 
 From this discourse we may derive a condensed description of Mr. 
 Butterworth's principal excellences : — " His life was a life of faith in the 
 Son of God, without the least affectation ; for his character was one of 
 great simplicity : he appeared ready for every good word and work. To the 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 263 
 
 On the way to London, by steam, he beguiled the time with 
 Blair's Sermons, of which he says, " This being the Lord's day, 
 I shut myself up in the cabin ; and, as the packet has a good 
 library for the use and amusement of the passengers, I took 
 down a volume of Dr. Blair's Sermons, none of which I had ever 
 read. During the course of the day, I read four whole sermons, 
 and scanned several others. I was exceedingly disappointed. I 
 expected, at least, fine, elegant, terse, and powerful language — 
 such I did not find. Dr. B.'s is generally correct; but tame and 
 inanimate. His thoughts are not deep — he has neither a mine 
 of science nor religion. He abounds in assertion, and scarcely 
 proves anything. Many of his assertions, from which he draws 
 his strongest arguments, are unproved and disputable. He 
 speaks as though the reader must not question his doctrines, and 
 some of them are very questionable. In one place, he forms a 
 serious doubt, whether the doctrine of endless punishments be 
 according to the goodness and perfections of God. But his work 
 
 duties of the closet, prayer, and meditation on the Scriptures, his attention 
 was strict and faithful. The service of his domestic altar was regular and 
 serious. There was in his house no guilty shame of bowing the knee to 
 God. The hour of seven o'clock on the morning of the Sabbath, found 
 him in the vestry of Great Queen-street chapel, in the exercise of the office 
 of a class-leader, an office which he had held for nearly thirty years. 
 Neither the distance from his residence, nor the most unfavourable weather, 
 prevented his punctual attendance. Kindness of heart, a manner at once 
 frank and dignified, almost constantly collected around him smaller circles 
 of select, or larger companies of more general acquaintance. Few men 
 possessed in so high a degree the rare art of leading on an instructive, or a 
 directly religious conversation, without effort. To the young, he was espe- 
 cially and attractively benign. Without laxity in his religious opinions, 
 holding with tenacity the leading doctrines of orthodox Christians, the 
 minor differences of party were no check upon the flow of brotherly affec- 
 tion. The Strangers' Friend Society, the British and Foreign Bible So- 
 ciety, and the Missions, all, from almost their commencement, called forth 
 his liberality, his time, and attention. One day in each week he appointed 
 to receive at his own house the applications of such as needed pecuniary 
 relief, or advices and assistance in various exigencies. His servant, on 
 being once asked how many petitioners he had on that day admitted, 
 answered, ' Nearly a hundred.' Into all these cases he entered, in order to 
 make his charities at once discriminating and efficient. The stranger in a 
 strange land, found in Mr Butterworth a ready, and often an effectual 
 friend. His intercourse with foreigners was frequent and extensive : where 
 relief was necessary, it was given ; where not needed, the hospitality of 
 his table, his friendly counsel, protection, or assistance, in accomplishing 
 the various pursuits of business, literature, or curiosity, were afforded with a 
 blandness of manner, and a warmth of interest, which have impressed upon 
 the heart of many a foreigner sentiments favourable to the character of the 
 country, and honourable to the Christian name." His large income, 
 derived from the successful prosecution of his trade as a law-bookseller, 
 was expended in acts of Christian charity, and thus flov.ed Imck into the 
 hands of the Divine Giver. 
 
254 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 has little tendency to awaken the sinner, or send a penitent to 
 the Saviour ; and, as to building up behevers on their most holy 
 faith, that really seems out of his province. The sermon on the 
 Attributes of God, is a meagi-e perfoimance. If he possessed 
 logical or metaphysical powers, they might have been employed 
 here to much greater advantage ; but they do not appear. His 
 sennon on the Wisdom of God displayed in Providence, is the 
 best of those I have read." 
 
 On reaching London, Dr. Clarke was too much fatigued to 
 travel to Livei^ool, to attend the sittings of the Conference wliich 
 was about to be held in that town. He, however, wrote to the 
 President, giving him a general account of the state of the Shet- 
 land mission, of which he had so recently been an eye-witness ; 
 and, also, engaged some of liis influential friends to watch its inte- 
 rests. Healing that the Conference had determined not to increase 
 the number of missionaries to the Shetlands, when fresh fields of 
 usefulness were opening up on every hand, he wrote an affecting 
 remonstrance to his brethren, which had the desired effect, and a 
 sixth preacher was appointed. 
 
 On subsequently reviewing what he had witnessed during his 
 Shetland torn', in a letter to Mr. Dunn, he says, " And now, 
 Sammy, what shall I say about the work of wiiich we have written 
 and spoken so much ? I cannot say that it answered my expect- 
 ations. It far exceeded all that I had even hoped. I have not 
 witnessed so much good done in so short a time, with such slender 
 means, wherever I have travelled, nor have I read of such. I saw 
 all the preachers, and had the leaders from ever}' isle and place of 
 preachiiig (either at Walls or Lerwick) ; and I inquired closely 
 into the work every^^here ; and I beheve I pretty well know the 
 whole. I have seen the grace of God wliich is among them, and 
 am sovereignly glad. The half of the good I witnessed had not 
 been told me. Indeed, the preachers themselves do not fully 
 know it." 
 
255 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Dr. Clarke's Popularity as a Preacher of occasional Sermons — He is again 
 visited by H. R. II. the Duke of Sussex — Means of avoiding Contagion — 
 The Church and the Methodists — Dr. Clarke is overturned in his Carriage 
 — Letter to the Rev. Mr. Hindson, Shetland — Dr. Clarke visits Man- 
 chester to preach — Meditates a second Visit to Shetland — Chapel building 
 in Shetland — Dr. darkens Letter of Condolence to Archdeacon Wrangham 
 — His solitary Watchnight — More Chapel -building in Shetland — Dr. 
 darkens Map of Shetland — He sets out for Cornwall — Is taken ill at 
 Bristol — Prepares for re-visiting Shetland — Sails from the Thames — 
 Circumnavigates the Isles — His cordial Reception and hospitable Enter- 
 tainment — His extempore Preaching — He maintains the Doctrine of Uni- 
 versal Redemption — Obtains Ground for a Chapel on the northei-nmost 
 Point of the Isles — Effects of his preaching — He lays the Foundation of 
 a Chapel on Ultima Thule — Sails for Whitby — Preaches to an irre- 
 verent Congregation — Arrives at Home — Opens a Chapel at Loughborough 
 — His continued Labours for Shetland — His Objections to a stated Ministry 
 — Remarkable Letter to the Rev. T. Smith — Dr. Clarke's Objections to 
 Chapel Debts — He presents his Volume of Sermons to Dr. Howley, Bishop 
 of London — His Letter on the Occasion — Singular Scene at Halifax — 
 Dr. Clarke receives a present of a great Coat from a Country Tailor — His 
 Kindness to the Poor — His New- Year's Resolves — His Views of the Leeds 
 Secession — He is elected a Fellow of the Eclectic Society of London — The 
 State of his Health — He starts for Ireland — Singular Effect of an Alarm 
 — Makes a remarkable Collecti<m at Manchester — Dr. Clarke visits the 
 Scenes of his Boyhood — Returns Home — Visits Wales on official Business 
 — Hears his Son's first Sermon in Liverpool — His conversational Powers 
 — Letter from the late Mr. Wilberforce to Dr. Clarke. 
 
 After a few weeks' rest in his beloved home, Dr. Clarke was 
 again besieged by appHcations to preach sermons for various 
 benevolent purposes. His exertions were usually so successful, 
 the collections following his powerful appeals so far beyond 
 what any contemporary preacher of any denomination could 
 produce, that the managers of various charities were urgent for 
 his help. It seemed as if there was no rest but the gTave for 
 this honoured minister of Christ ; for, if he hoped to obtain 
 any personal ease from the conclusion of his bibHcal labours, 
 he was most effectually disappointed. Labour, though of a 
 somewhat different kind, was still his lot ; and he died in full 
 harness. 
 
 In September, 1826, we find him at Stockport, where, as he 
 relates the fact, " I preached on Sunday morning to a noble con- 
 gregation. It was a collection for their new chapel ; and at this 
 
25G 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 sermon we got £180. The next morning I preached again in 
 the same place, and the collection amounted to £S0." 
 
 In the following month, the Duke of Sussex again honoured 
 Dr. Clarke by dining at Haydon-hall ; and, shortly after, this 
 worthy prince gave the Doctor another token of his regard by 
 appointing his youngest son, then curate to Archdeacon Wrang- 
 ham, at Hunmanby, in Yorkshire, one of his chaplains. 
 
 To this son, the Kev. J. B. B. Clarke, now curate of Frome, 
 in November of this year. Dr. Clarke addressed an admirable 
 letter, on hearing that his parishioners were afflicted with the 
 typhus fever. The following advice may prove useful to those 
 whose duty it is to visit the abodes of disease, however con- 
 tagious : — " While you are ready at every call, make use of all 
 your prudence to prevent the reception of contagion. Do not 
 breathe near the infected person. Contagion is generally taken 
 into the stomach by means of the breath : not that the breath 
 goes into the stomach, but the noxious effluvia are, by inspiration, 
 brought into the mouth, and immediately connect themselves 
 with the whole surface of the tongue and fauces, and in swal- 
 lowing the sahva, are taken down into the stomach, and, there 
 mixing with the aliment that is in the process of digestion, are 
 conveyed, by means of the lacteal vessels, through the whole of 
 the circulation, coiTupting and assimilating to themselves the 
 whole mass of blood, and thus caiTying death to the heart, lungs, 
 and to the utmost of the capiUaiy system. In visiting fever 
 cases, I have been often conscious of having taken the contagion. 
 On my returning home, I have drunk a few mouthsful of warm 
 water, and then, with the small point of a feather, irritated the 
 stomach to cause it to eject its contents By these means, I have, 
 through mercy, been enabled to escape many a danger and many 
 a death. Never swallow your saliva in a sick room, especially 
 where there is contagion. Keep a handkerchief for this purpose, 
 and wash your mouth frequently with tepid water. Keep to 
 windward of every corpse you bury. Never go out with an 
 empty stomach, nor let your strength be prostrated by long ab- 
 stinence from food." 
 
 About this time, efforts were made in the East Eiding of 
 Yorkshire to estabhsh what was designated Church Methodism. 
 Archdeacon Wrangham appears to have consulted Dr. Clarke on 
 the subject, and to have received the following answer, — an 
 answer in several points liable to contradiction. It is dated 
 Haydon-hall, Oct. 6, 1826 :— 
 
 " ' The Transactions of the late Conference' are totally false. 
 We have used, and do use, i?i almost all our chapels, on the 
 Sabbath morning, the Hturgy of the Church of England. For 
 these tliirty years, I have almost invariably used it, and our 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 257 
 
 people love it. As to the Church, we stand as near to it in doc- 
 trine as we possibly can do, and in discipline as far as it will 
 permit us. We are, as preachers, without episcopal ordination, 
 and that not of choice, but of necessity. And the refusal of the 
 bishops to ordain our accredited preachers, was the greatest mis- 
 take they were ever guilty of. We might have been thrown into 
 the Dissenting scale ; but our inveterate attachment to the Church 
 prevented this, and I thank God for it. Were the question ever 
 to arise, which is possible, whether the Church or the Dissenting 
 interest should prevail in these lands, it would be settled in a 
 sovereign manner by the Methodists, if numbere and influence 
 would effect it ; for, to a man, they would throw themselves into 
 the scale of the Church ; though, from the clergy and rulers, we 
 often meet with the most unmerited obloquy, and little to con- 
 cihate. Our attachment is from conscience, and therefore ill 
 usage does not affect us. Because, in conscientious principle, I 
 ever was a Churchman, / could not, to screen myself from per- 
 secution, ever qualifj/ under the Act of Tolei^ation." 
 
 To this may be appended an extract from a letter on the same 
 subject written to a gentleman in Cumberland: — "We {i.e., 
 Churchmen and Methodists) cannot be one body, as we now 
 stand, but we can be of one spirit. The Church has our warm 
 attachment ; and, if the time should ever come, which Dieu 
 ne plaise ! that the bodies of the various Dissenters were to 
 rise up against the Church, the vast bodies of Methodists 
 would not hesitate a second to be your light infantry. We call 
 you Mother Church, because our founders were clergymen of 
 your Church ; and our religious principles are those, and those 
 alone, of the Church of England. Yet show us how we can be more 
 readily united, so as not to be prevented from doing the work 
 wliich God has given us to do ; and my heart and hand shall both 
 be with you." 
 
 In January, 1827, Dr. Clarke narrowly escaped death by the 
 overturn of his barouchette, on the way from Pinner. The horse 
 had taken fright, which caused the vehicle to be upset ; and, in its 
 fall. Dr. Clarke received several deep wounds, besides severe con- 
 tusions in different parts of the body. While he was upon 
 the ground, the horse plunged desperately ; and he expected 
 every moment to be killed by a blow from its hoofs. When, 
 with some difficulty (for he was nearly insensible) he had reached 
 home, it was found that his forehead and his nose were deeply 
 cut ; and some time elapsed before he recovered from the shock 
 which his whole frame had sustained, or was fit to make his appear- 
 ance in public. But God, who, as he remarked on the occasion, 
 " can bring to the sides of the pit, and can bring up again," had 
 not yet done with his faithful and laborious sei-vant. 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 In March, 1827, Dr. Clarke wrote to Mr. Hindson, one of the 
 Shetland missionaries, an encouraging letter, from wliich the 
 following passage is extracted : — 
 
 " Last Monday (the 26th), I packed a gTeat number of hooks 
 for your schools at Lerwick, Walls, Sandness, YeU, and else- 
 where — principally eveiy kind of initiatory work ; and multitudes 
 of the Union spelhng-hook, 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th parts. I have 
 sent also some clothing; all must he dispensed with a careful 
 and equal hand. Yesterday, I received a letter from your fi-iends 
 at Kli'khythome, Shap, &c., inclosing a ten-pound Bank of Eng- 
 land note. I hope you will not he prevented from building in 
 Yell. You have afready, I think, got ^£30, and now here are 
 £10 more. Well now, on condition that you build a proper 
 chapel, and, connected with it, a house for the preacher, consist- 
 ing at least of a good sitting-room, a kitchen, two bedchambers, 
 &c., you may djraw, if necessary, for your own, ten and twenty 
 pounds more ; that is, ,£30 more than you have already had. 
 Now, up and be doing, and may the hand of God be upon you 
 for good ! ' All your wants be upon me, only do not lodge in 
 the street.' God knows, my heart and soul are in yom* work. I 
 will go on as long as I can, and as far as I can. If, to get me 
 the best and most curious mineral specimens in YeU, Unst, or 
 an^-where else, would prevent your preaching even one sennon, 
 let the minerals he in then beds ; otherwise I shall be glad to 
 get any good specimens fr'om your isles." 
 
 In June, we find him again engaged in pleading the cause of 
 a newly-erected chapel in Manchester ; and, though a collection 
 for the same chapel had just been made in all the chapels of the 
 circuit, on three several days, yet, on the foUo-\™g Sabbath, he 
 got, to the astonishment of all, £104 16s. 6d. It may here be 
 remarked, that, on occasions of this kind, he never varied fi'om 
 his usual style of preacliing. He deprecated the preacliing of 
 what is called a charity sermon, and contented himself always 
 with a closing appeal to the hberahty of liis audience. 
 
 From his correspondence with the missionaries about this 
 time, it appears that Dr. Clarke meditated a second visit to Shet- 
 land. To Mr. Weai's, under date of Nov. 25, 1827, he writes, — 
 1. You want a chapel at Papa Stour. You shall have one, if 
 God spare me. Mr. E. Scott, to whom I have written, and fr'om 
 whom I have just received an answer, wiH give me £10 for that 
 chapel. I have begged ^610, the whole £20 ; and you say it 
 vdU. be done for £18. Have it in a good place ; and, if absolutely 
 necessary, I will beg £5 more. I have promised that this chapel 
 shall be called Haiiiet Chapel, at the request of a family fr-om 
 wliich I have received much help for Shetland. Build tliis 
 chapel when you will, the cash is provided for it ; and remember 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 259 
 
 that it be called, Harriet Chapel, Papa Stour. 2. We must have 
 a chapel at Scalloway. Of Mr. R. Scott, we shall have i^lO for 
 this, and ' a-begging I will go' for the rest. 3. If I am spared, 
 I'll get you one at Sand. But I think your hands will be full 
 enough at Papa Stour, and Scalloway. In both these places, I 
 long for chapels. 4. I will strive to get you a supply of school- 
 books as soon as T can. As I am a Governor of the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society, on my apphcation they have granted 
 me a hundred Bibles and two hundi'ed Testaments. These 
 must be divided amongst the most necessitous. You shall have 
 your proportion for Walls, Sandness, and Papa Stour. Now, 
 my dear fellow, are you not satisfied, and thankful to God ? You 
 must tell the Papa Stour people that they have an ardent friend 
 in A. C, though he never saw any of them. And should I ever 
 see Shetland again, I will endeavour to visit Papa Stour. I am 
 glad you have been at Foula, and I shall gi'eatly rejoice to have 
 a Methodist chapel there ; and, when you find this practicable, 
 I am sure your steady friend, J. Scott, Esq., of Melby, will gi-ant 
 you land ; let me know, and I will move all I have in heaven 
 and earth to meet the expense. It seems as if God were sparing 
 my Kfe only for the sake of the people of Shetland. The love 
 of them bums in my heart with a clear and steady flame." 
 
 The following passage occurs in a letter to Mr. Hindson, 
 dated Nov. 26 : — 
 
 I wish a chapel in the Ultima Thule (Foula) . As our fiiend, 
 Mr. J. Scott, is the proprietor of that island, I judge there will 
 be no difficulty in getting a httle ground to build on. But I 
 wish the church built before I attempt to build the chapel.* All 
 of you should take a turn to that island, and, if God bless your 
 word, form a society. As you have had the honour of forming 
 the northernmost Methodist society in the world, I wish you 
 to have the honour of forming one in the island of Foula, the 
 Ultima Thul6 of the ancients, — what was then supposed to be 
 the utmost land on the face of the globe. This will be a glorious 
 achievement ; and who knows but God may honour me, by em 
 ploying me to lay the first stone of a chapel there ! This is 
 among possible things. Mr. Wesley used to say, ' I scarcely 
 ever went to a place that I did not visit a second time.' This 
 may be the case with me iA^ reference to Shetland. I am 
 scheming to get a number of friends to join me in a steam- 
 packet, if the cost will not be beyond the depth of all our 
 
 * " This is our way," says the Doctor, in a fonner letter to Mr, Hindson ; 
 " the church first, the chapel next. We have, in a few cases, built the 
 chapel before God built the church ; and we had no prosperity. We cannot 
 do God's work, and he will not do ours ; but he will help us to help our- 
 selves." 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 pockets. What a sight it would be, to see us come smoking up 
 Bressa Bay !" 
 
 In a letter addressed to one of his sons-in-law, concerning the 
 iUness of one of his children, and dated December, 1827, we 
 find the following : — " I well know that it is not an easy thing 
 to buiT children, and can never forget the saying of a plain man 
 in Leeds, who, having lost a child, was bewaihng liis case to a 
 neighbour, who said, ' My dear friend, be thankful that God has 
 taken your child. He will do better for it than you could ever 
 do ; he has taken it to himself in mercy.' The poor father only 
 answered, 'Ah! I see it is an easy thing to bury other folk's 
 children.' " 
 
 The following letter of condolence to Archdeacon Wrangham, 
 written about the same time, affords a beautiful practical com- 
 ment on the previous text : — 
 
 Pinner, Jan. 20, 1828. 
 
 Rev. and nqv\ dear Sir, 
 
 *' It was not with an ordinary degree of mournful submission 
 that I learnt, by a letter from J oseph received this morning, that 
 a sad breach has been lately made on the integrity and comfort 
 of your family by the unlooked-for death of your son-in-law 
 and grandchild : such strokes as these, though from the hand of 
 the God of mercy, cannot be hghtly felt even by those who are 
 inured to deprivations in the school of adversity, and who 
 have learned in it that he whose name is mercy, and whose nature 
 is love, does not willingly afflict the sons of men ; that what he 
 does is right, for he does all things weU. 
 
 " For cases hke youi's. Rev. Sir, it would be easy to point out 
 those maxims and promises fr'om the sacred volume, which apply 
 strongly in the way of instruction, consolation, and edification 
 in righteousness ; but to a father in the Gospel, an experienced 
 teacher, even of those who are perfect, at best it could be con- 
 sidered only as a well-intentioned officiousness, to crowd upon 
 his affliction a collection of common-places. In my own imme- 
 diate family, six times have I seen affliction by a rod, which, 
 though held by the hand of the Father of mercies, was apphed 
 with that sharpness which became a master to use, who had tried 
 milder methods with a dull, if not obstinate, pupil. One after 
 another, after intervals, I lost six of my cliildren ; and thus the 
 half of the hopes from my family were cut off. In these afflic- 
 tions, in some of which my life had gone down to the sides of 
 the pit, and its stream had nearly ebbed out, I recalled to mind 
 prayers and vows which I had sent up before God, and which I 
 found to be recorded in heaven — that, if He who saw all things, 
 foresaw that my children should dishonour him in their fives. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 261 
 
 and die in tlieir sins, he would in his eternal mercy take them to 
 himself while innocent and incapable of punishment ; and, in 
 such cases, though I should intercede in all the fervency and 
 agony of prayer, in which the blood of the covenant should be 
 recognized in every petition, that he would not hear me lest I 
 should have laboured in vain, and brought forth children to de- 
 struction — ' promising withal, that I should bless the rod, and 
 the hand that had appointed it, and glorify him even in the fires.' 
 My prayers were heard, and my vows registered ; and the death 
 of three sons and three daughters became so many displays of 
 his mercy. But oh ! how hard, in many cases, to bear the 
 answer to our own petitions, and ex intimis visceribus, to say, 
 Thy will be done ! In those desolating cases which never come 
 unloaded with other afflictions, besides taking with me words 
 that came from God, I often quoted to myself, and learned much 
 from that luminously sensible and pious advice of Dr. Byrom, of 
 Manchester : 
 
 * With patient mind thy course of duty run : 
 God nothing does, nor suffers to be done, 
 But thou wouldst do thyself, couldst thou but see 
 The end of all things done as well as He.' 
 
 " Miseris succurrere disco ; but, if I cannot help by advice, I 
 will sustain by prayer. My arms shall bear up, as they can, the 
 widow and the fatherless, before the throne of grace ; and I will 
 even presume to call upon God for sustaining grace for you and 
 your household ; and that the end, which is mercy without dis- 
 guise, which God has in view by sending this affliction, or suffer- 
 ing it to come, may be richly accomplished in sanctification to 
 you and all the branches and members of your afflicted family. 
 May his hand be upon you and them for good ; and may his 
 goodness and mercy crown you and follow you for ever ! Perhaps 
 I have gone beyond my measure in sending these lines. I can 
 say, however, that they have been dictated by the heart of a 
 sympathising friend. 
 
 " I am, Kev. and dear Sir, 
 " Your sincere, humble, and affectionate friend, 
 
 "A. CLAKKE." 
 
 The reader may be supposed to be familiar with the watch- 
 nights of the Wesley an Methodists. Formerly they were held 
 quarterly ; but they are now, and for some years have been, con- 
 fined to New-Year's-eve. To these seasons of public worship, 
 Dr. Clarke was very much attached; and, up to the year 1828, 
 he had uniformly availed himself of them. But now his health 
 forbside him to venture out in the night air. He watched, how- 
 ever, by himself, as we find from the following extract of a letter 
 
THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 addressed to his daughter on the first day of the year 1828 : — 
 I kept watch by myself in the parlour, and was in solemn prayer 
 for you all when the clock struck twelve, and for some time 
 after. Even to watch by myself I found to be a good thing : I 
 felt that it might be the last watch-night I might ever celebrate. 
 I remained up till the preacher and our people returned from 
 chapel. I had an excellent fire and a good supper for them. I 
 made them sit down, while I served them myself. They were 
 pleased ; and thus we were all pleased." 
 
 In February, 1828, Dr. Clarke again writes to Mr. Hindson 
 as follows : — 
 
 " This morning I received yours of the IGth January. I re- 
 joice exceedingly at the news it contains, and especially at the 
 grant of land in the Ness. When I read this, the tears came to 
 my eyes, and I thanked God aloud. Get a proper tenure of the 
 land, and let it be a ho7id fide transaction ; the land without 
 condition, made over for ever, and not encumbered with the vile 
 clause, ' if it cease to be a place of worship, the whole to revert 
 to the original owner of the gi'ound, and his heirs,' &c. Now, 
 we may cease to occupy a chapel, by removing to another place 
 in the same district, and the worth of the old chapel go towards 
 building the new one. You understand me. Finish Yell chapel 
 by aU means ; and in the name of the Holy Trinity begin that 
 at Dunrossness, for which Mr. Bruce has granted the ground. 
 I have no doubt of being able to pay for the shell. Let it be 
 large enough ; and I think there should be a small house for the 
 preacher there also. Work while you may : my work seems 
 nearly done ; yet I would be glad to keep out of heaven a little 
 longer, for the sake of Shetland. I will, if God give health, 
 and clear my way, see you yet in your islands. You must not 
 give your own money ; if you can lend a little on a pinch, when 
 you do it in a case that is already allowed, it may be well. I 
 say again, go on with the Yell buildings immediately — you need 
 break none of your engagements. I wish I could obtain a com- 
 plete map of the Shetlands. You mention several places which 
 I know not ; almost all the maps tell nothing but a little of the 
 coast. I have many maps : those of Dr. Edmonstone and 
 Elibbert, and the large chart of Captains Pearson and Eoss ; but 
 they give but few notices of the inhabited parts of the different 
 islands. Is there no particular map belonging to any of the 
 gentlemen in the islands, which you might be permitted to copy ?* 
 Give my love to ever^^body." 
 
 * In 1829, Dr. Clarke himself drew a map of Shetland on a large scale, 
 in which he made innumerable corrections, emendations, and additions to 
 that published by Captains Pearson and Ross — entering the number of 
 inhabitants in each district, taken from the census of 1821, with two addi- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 263 
 
 In April, 1828, Dr. Clarke undertook a journey into Cornwall, 
 for purposes connected with the Wcsleyan Missionary Society. 
 But at Bristol he was taken ill of a rheumatic fever, which con- 
 fined him to his hed for several weeks, and forced him to commit 
 his engagements in Cornwall to other hands. He retained, 
 nevertheless, the buoyancy of his spirits. " My right hand," he 
 writes to his daughter, "has lost its cunning: I cannot use 
 either it or my arm better than the scratches you see ; and even 
 these are made by my left hand pulHng along the paper, as the 
 stiffened fingers of my right lie with my poor afflicted arm on a 
 pillow. I am quite a Nazarite, no razor having been on my face 
 for about a fortnight. You know I never liked any man playing 
 with a naked razor about my throat ; so that I look hke one of 
 the most forlorn of hermits." 
 
 At the end of April, however, he was sufficiently recovered to 
 return to Haydon-hall, when he made immediate preparations 
 for going to Shetland, as appears from a letter to Mr. Lewis. 
 " You may now well ask, what is become of the hope of the 
 Shetland visit ? To this question, all I can say is. From the 
 beginning, my resolution was, I will, by the grace of God, revisit 
 Shetland, if he open my way, and give me health for the journey. 
 Here I yet stand, and, though he has weakened my strength in 
 the way, yet strange to say, strongly hoping that I shall be able 
 to see you some time in June : if I fail, it will be because God 
 has not seen proper to grant me health. I am akeady in agree- 
 ment for a sloop, at £60 per month ; she is a noble sailer, sails 
 from Whitby, and the captain accustomed to the navigation, and 
 a friend to our Shetland work ; so I hope we may lift up our 
 heads with joy." On this occasion, the members of his family 
 repeated their former objections, which they urged with the aug- 
 mented importunity that a recollection of the fatigues and dan- 
 gers of the former voyage, and his recent prostration in Bristol, 
 were calculated to inspu^e. But their arguments were addressed 
 to one who could not hsten to the voice of affection when its 
 language was opposed to what he conceived to be his duty ; and 
 such the inspection and organization of the Methodist Societies 
 in Shetland he deeply felt to be. 
 
 tional tables of the islands, and inhabitants of each, together with the 
 twelve ministries, and the number of souls in each, as well as the districts 
 and isles which they included. This map, upon which the Doctor employed 
 himself with pen and pencil for several weeks, and which he designed to 
 have engraved, he afterwards presented to his friend Mr. Everett; adding, 
 " it will be no dishonour, even as a picture, to your best parlour." Mr. 
 Everett states, that it displays not a little of the Doctor's skill, correctness, 
 and perseverance ; and would, if published, be important to the missionary, 
 the historian, and the navigator. 
 
THE LIFE AND LABOUES OF 
 
 Accordingly, in the middle of June, he sailed out of the 
 Thames on his last voyage to the Shetland Isles. 
 
 On this occasion. Dr. Clarke was enabled to make a more ex- 
 tensive visitation of the islands than on the former ; for Mr. 
 Campion, of Whitby, provided hun with a sloop, manned and 
 fitted up for the purpose, which he was to have at his command, 
 to sail where and when he pleased, wind and weather permitting. 
 Besides the wealthy and benevolent owner, he was accompanied 
 by Messrs. Everett and Loutit, his brethren, and Messrs. Eead, 
 of Salford, John Smith, and Theodoret Clarke, his second son. 
 In this visit, and with these companions, he made the circum- 
 navigation of the Shetland Isles complete, and preached, or did 
 some other part of his sacred duty, in the following isles and 
 ports: — Lerwick, in the island of Mainland, Bressa, Noss, 
 Whalsea, Burra Voe, South Yell, Uyea Sound, North Yell, Uyea 
 Isle, Balta Sound, Noith^sdck, Isle of Unst, Papa Stour, Vaila, 
 and Foula ; then round Fitfiel and Sumburgh heads, back to Ler- 
 wick. Wherever he touched, he was hailed as an apostle. " When 
 we came near Sumburgh Head," he observes in his journal, " the 
 Hght-house hoisted its flag to do us respect. This has also been 
 done by all the sloops belonging to the islands. Our arrival 
 spread ever^^here : even the very fishing boats used to hail us, 
 and ask, ' Have you Dr. Clarke on board ?' " The hospitahty of 
 the inhabitants was unbounded. All \ied in showing kiudness 
 to their benefactor and his friends. 
 
 On reaching Lerwick, Dr. Clarke was received with the great- 
 est afiection and politeness by all classes. His companions chose 
 to rest on board ; but he and his son went on shore, " my invari- 
 able maxim being," he observes, " one thousand leagues of water 
 for one acre of dry land." 
 
 There was on every hand the greatest eagerness to hear the 
 preaching of the Gospel. While they lay windbound in Uyea 
 Sound, an old man came alongside, with his son's respects, and 
 that, if they would land, he would give them his house to preach 
 in. Mr. Everett went, and had a large congregation; for the 
 people soon heard the tidings, and flocked to the preaching. 
 " See," says Dr. Clarke, " for what we were obhged to put into 
 this sound ! The preachers had long sought for a place to preach 
 in here, but could obtain nothing ; and now I have no doubt the 
 ark of God has found a place to rest in. There is no place of 
 worship within five or six miles of this plaee." 
 
 While they lay in Balta Sound, several gentlemen came on 
 board with kind invitations to go ashore and lodge. " From 
 Mr. T. Edmonston," says Dr. Clarke, " I received not only an 
 invitation to make his house my home while I continued in the 
 Sound, but also to preach in it. The latter I most cheerfully 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 265 
 
 embraced, and went on shore. When I entered his dining-room, 
 he said, ' Sir, in hiying" this large Bible on the table, I casually 
 opened on this place, and laid my finger on this verse : " Arise, 
 shine ; for thy fight is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen 
 upon thee." ' Isa. Ix. 1. I said, ' It is a good word,' and imme- 
 diately took it for my text, and preached on it for an hour and 
 a quarter. There were 150 persons present, who all heard with 
 deep attention. Mr. Edmonston was himself ' amazed to think 
 how a subject could be so treated on so short a notice.'* Thus, 
 the last sermon I have preached, has been on the farthest north- 
 ernmost ground over which Britain's king claims the supremacy ; 
 and here is a people prepared for the Lord." 
 
 The following day Dr. Clarke and his party went to dine with 
 this gentleman. " By the special wish of the family," observes 
 the former, " I discoursed on the intention of God in the incar- 
 nation of his Son, and considered the question, ' Did Jesus die 
 for every man ?' I then proved that the benefits of Christ's in- 
 carnation must extend to the whole human race ; for it was the 
 nature of man that Christ assumed ; and the benefits of what he 
 did and suffered in human nature, must extend to all that ever 
 did, or can, partake of that nature ; that, from the infinite dig- 
 nity of our Lord's nature, there must be an infinite merit in the 
 sufferings which he endured, and the death which he died, for 
 man. Of one flesh are formed all the kindreds' that dwell upon 
 the earth : — He became man, in order to make an atonement for 
 man ; and, as there is but one nature, so in that one nature he 
 suffered death, the just for the unjust; and, consequently, he 
 tasted death for every man ; and through him every human soul 
 may be saved ; and thus ore left without excuse, if they will not 
 come unto him that they may have life eternal. Conticuere 
 
 * " In the year 1825," says Mr. Samuel Dunn, " I had the pleasure to 
 travel, in company with my venerable friend, from London to Liverpool, for 
 the pui-pose of preaching in behalf of the Wesleyan-Methodist Sunday- 
 schools. We lodged under the hospitable roof of W. Comer, Esq. On 
 Sunday morning, the Doctor called me into his room, and, with his wonted 
 affection, said, ' Sammy, tell me what subject I shall take this forenoon.' — 
 'Why, Doctor, what sermons or skeletons have you brought with you?' — 
 ' Skeletons !' said he, ' I never write skeletons, nor have I one line of any 
 kind with me.' At this I expressed my sui-prise, knowing that he had to 
 preach in Liverpool on the Sunday and Monday; at the opening of Bruns- 
 wick Chapel, Leeds, and another new chapel in Bradford, in the following 
 week ; and a missionary sermon at Lincoln on his way homewards. He 
 then said, ' Read me a chapter.' I took the Bible and read. When I had 
 got partly through the chapter, he interrupted me by saying, ' Read that 
 ver«e again ; I think it will do.' This was done, and in a short time we 
 went down to breakfast. At half-past ten, I proceeded to Mount Pleasant 
 Chapel, and he to Leeds- street, where he delivered, from the text I had read 
 to him, a sermon, as no mean judge informed me, of the highest order." 
 
266 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 omnes. The company heard with deep attention and evident 
 interest my arguments on this subject." 
 
 " The poor people, ' continues Dr. Clarke, " came to me, en- 
 treating me to apply to Mr. T. Edmonston for gi'ound to build 
 a chapel on. I wrote, received on fair conditions a favourable 
 answer to my application ; and thus, thank God, I have got 
 ground on which to build a Methodist chapel in the uttermost 
 northern region of the empire of Great Britain." 
 
 The wind continuing contrary, he determined on visiting 
 North wick, about north lat. 61*^, which is the farthest town or 
 habitation north of the British dominions. " Here," he observes, 
 "I preached on Job xxii. 21, 22 : * Acquaint now thyself with 
 him, and be at peace, that thereby good may come unto thee.'* 
 The peculiar circumstances in the case I shall distinctly note. 
 1st. I stood now on the most northern ground under the domi- 
 nion of the British Crown, and on the most northern inhabited 
 part of that ground. And, 2dly, On the line of direction in 
 which I then stood, which was nearly due north, there was nei- 
 ther land nor inhabitant to the North Pole. 3dly. In nearly a 
 direct line east, I had Bergen in Norway on my right hand ; and 
 farther on, north, Spitsbergen ; on my left, west, were the Faroe 
 Isles ; and onward, north-west, Iceland, and then Old Greenland. 
 Between these, from Lamba Ness, the uttermost point north of 
 the island of Unst, not one foot of land, nor consequently one 
 human inhabitant, is to be found on to the North Pole ; so that 
 I was hterally preaching on one of the ends of the earth, beyond 
 which, in that direction, the sound of the Gospel can never be 
 heard. There was a press of joeople present : but and ben, par- 
 lour, kitchen, and barn, which opened into the latter, were full, 
 and many on the outside. I felt gi'eat power in explaining and 
 enforcing the exhortation. I was too much heated to attempt to 
 mount a pony they had brought for that pui-pose ; and, conse- 
 quently, I returned on foot over the high hills, accompanied by 
 six other people, who had come sixteen miles to hear the preach- 
 ing. I took them on board to dine ; and they are just gone off 
 in our boat to regain the shore, most deeply affected. At first 
 they began to sigh heavily, then to weep, then to mourn ; and 
 then all burst forth into a most distressing lamentation, soitow- 
 ing most under the conviction that they would in all probability 
 see our faces no more ! This scene was more than I could 
 bear." 
 
 * This sermon was afterwards published by Dr. Clarke, and dedicated to 
 Eichard Smith, jun., Esq., one of his sons-in-law, who had, from the be- 
 ginning, been a practical and devoted friend of the Shetland mission, 
 although he peremptorily refused to let his left hand know what his right 
 hand did. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 267 
 
 ** Dropping anchor in the bay of Papa Stour, I sent," says 
 Dr. Clarke, "to announce my preacliing at half-past three 
 o'clock, p. m. I went ashore an hour before the time ; and, the 
 men being all on shore, we had the kirk on tlie island full, at 
 least 300 people. I preached to them with liberty on Mark xi. 
 24 : ' Therefore, what things soever ye desire when you pray, 
 beheve that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.' As soon 
 as I had done, I almost hterally ran about half-a-mile to the 
 chapel that we are now erecting in this isle. I found the walls 
 raised to the square, and one of the gables almost completed. I 
 entered, and with solemn prayer devoted it to the service, wor- 
 ship, and glory, of the eternal and ever-blessed Trinity." 
 
 It was a favourite object with Dr. Clarke to lay the first stone 
 of a Methodist chapel in the island of Foula,* supposed by the 
 ancients to be the farthest land towards the North Pole, the 
 Ultima Thule. On landing, he proceeded rather more than a 
 mile up the east side of the mountain, when he came to the place 
 where it was proposed to erect the chapel. To continue the nar- 
 rative in his own words : — " We got a spade, and dug away the 
 soil, till we got to a rocky bottom ; and, having procured a large 
 stone with a good angle, about eighteen inches square, and six 
 or seven in thickness, and given out three verses of a hymn, I 
 laid the stone, where probably it will remain till the resurrection, 
 with these words : — ' In the name of God the Father, God the 
 Son, and God the Holy Ghost, I lay this stone as the founda- 
 tion of a house intended to be erected here for the preaching of 
 the everlasting Gospel, for the glory of thy name. Almighty 
 God, and the endless salvation of all who may worship in this 
 place !' As soon as I had pronounced these words, I knelt on 
 the spot, and solemnly, in a prayer of three or four minutes, 
 commended the projected chapel to the care and blessing of God." 
 
 " The whole of this scene," says Mr. Everett, " was solemn, 
 imposing, and picturesque : — a few adventurers, apparently, leav- 
 ing the vessel, going on shore, and taking possession of a portion 
 of the island in the name of its Maker ! The writer still retained 
 the spade in his hand, while the Doctor was engaged in the con- 
 secration prayer ; and the latter, being unable to balance himself 
 properly in a kneeling position, grasped the middle of the shaft 
 of the implement, while the hands and chest of the digger pressed 
 upon the top of the handle, to give stabiHty to it. There the 
 group stood, or knelt, around the venerable apostle, and responded 
 to the petitions which were offered to Heaven ; themselves, with 
 the exception only of two others, constituting the auditory, the 
 people not having been apprised of the arrival of the party." 
 
 * Vide Dr. Clarke's letter to Mr. Hindson, p. 259. 
 
2G8 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 " I have now," says the Doctor, after having narrated the pre- 
 ceding event, " finished the work, which, hy the help of God, I 
 hoped to do, and have been most blessedly helped by him, 
 through cold and wet, both by day and night, and much daily 
 bodily fatigue ; but, through all, I have been sustained in health 
 and strength. Gloria in excelsis Deo /" * He consequently 
 sailed for Whitby. The voyage proved tedious. It repeatedly 
 happened that the vessel was found in the morning exactly where 
 she was the evening before, — a circumstance which gave Dr. 
 Clarke occasion wittily to remark, " It seems to be the rule 
 of our ship to sleep where she sups." In six days she reached 
 Whitby, where the party landed, all in good health. The day 
 after their arrival. Dr. Clarke consented to preach ; but his con- 
 gregation were far from pleasing him. "For an hour-and-a- 
 half," he observes, " I preached to them from Gal. iv. 4 — 7. I 
 was heard with the deepest attention ; but I noticed that numbers 
 went out directly the sermon was concluded : this I remarked on 
 with a gentle reproof. Another irreverency was, to put on their 
 hats even in their pews, and thus walk through and out of the 
 chapel. A third thing, worse than all, was, the universal chat- 
 ting to each other, as soon as all was concluded. If the ' fowls 
 of the air ' do not pick up this seed, it is, I think, impossible 
 that such persons can profit by the word preached. I did not 
 suppose that there was one place in universal Methodism, where 
 such iiTeverent, reprehensible customs existed. Were I stationed 
 among these people, if I could not break these customs, they 
 would break my heart." 
 
 It will have been observed, that, on former occasions of ab- 
 sence from home. Dr. Clarke was met on his return by news of 
 family bereavement. On this, however, it was otherwise ordered. 
 " God," he observes, on reaching home, after an absence of six 
 weeks, " has been better to me than all my fears ; for I hear 
 nothing but good news from all branches of my family and 
 friends." When he had enjoyed a few weeks' rest in his beloved 
 home, his services, as an efficient pleader in the cause of God, 
 were again in request: and, in the month of October, 1828, we 
 find him thus exerting himself with his wonted success. At 
 Loughborough, where he opened a new chapel, the sum of £88 
 was collected ; and at Manchester, where he preached on behalf 
 of the Sunday-schools, nearly double that sum — that is, d£l50. 
 
 * With Dr. Clarke, the Shetland mission was literally a " work of faith 
 and labour of love." Besides his extraordinary personal services in and for 
 it, his own private means were heavily taxed. According to an account 
 kept by Mrs. Clarke, who managed all the Doctor's little secular affairs, his 
 journeys to and from Shetland, up to this period, had cost him upwards of 
 £200 ; " and," he adds, " she does not know the whole that goes there." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 269 
 
 " This," he observes, " was fax beyond what was expected ; and 
 it cleared off the whole debt." But the time had arrived when 
 these exertions, however successi'ul, and, on that account, desir- 
 able, could not be made without serious injury to himself; and 
 one day's labour was often followed by many days' confinement. 
 
 Still in correspondence with the Shetland missionaries, he 
 
 writes to Mr. Lewis, Nov. 10, 1828, writes to me, and 
 
 asks for money to finish the Yell chapel and house. He asks 
 also where the chapel for the people at Lunnasting is to be built ? 
 What can these brethren all mean ? Do they think that I can 
 win, or that I am to rob, or steal ? The brethren must bear a 
 little burden for the sake of the Lord's work, and not sit still to 
 see an old man worked to death." 
 
 In Feb., 1829, Dr. Clarke wrote to Mr. Macintosh as follows : 
 " I have lately sent 300 (pocket edition) of Doddridge's ' Kise and 
 Progress of ReHgion in the Soul,' and many copies I have inscribed 
 with my bwn hand, and sent to different persons. I got some 
 covered with silk, which I intended for the young ladies who help 
 us in the Sunday-schools ; one I know is for Miss Adie. I would 
 have sent to Miss Eliza, and to Miss Lovell, had I known of them. 
 See that you put in your claim for your proportion of these books ; 
 for my intention is, that they be fairly divided among the cir- 
 cuits. I see that you are £9 5s. Id. in debt, and you want some 
 forms. Take courage, my lad. I authorise you to draw on Mr. 
 Smith for twenty-two pounds. This will pay your debt, and 
 leave about £12 15s. for forms. This is the utmost stretch to 
 which I dare go at present ; the calls from the other circuits 
 being loud and long, and the brethren do not seem to consider 
 what difficulty I have to get money. Work while you have 
 A. C. to work for you. My time, in the course of nature, must 
 be short, unless God, for the sake of Shetland, should give it an 
 extra extension. I see no one to take up Shetland, when my 
 right hand shall have forgotten its cunning, and my mouth shall 
 be full of dust." 
 
 Again, in a letter to Mr. Tabraham, he exclaims, " Oh ! my 
 brothers, my dear brothers in the Lord Jesus, my brothers 
 Tabraham, Stevenson, Bolam, Macintosh, and Rickets, rush into 
 every opening door, besiege the throne of endless mercy ; make 
 God your refuge and your strength : do not kill yourselves, but 
 spend and be spent for tbe souls in Shetland : fear not, the Lord 
 hath given the people into your hands. Hallelujah! Jesus is 
 with you — fear not !" 
 
 Dr. Clarke was strongly attached to the itinerant character of 
 the Methodist ministry, as appears from a letter addressed, on 
 Easter Tuesday, 1829, to Mrs. Wilkinson, in which he writes, 
 *• As to what is called a settled ministry ; i. e., one man, preach- 
 
270 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 ing in the same place, to the same people, for a number of years ; 
 the longer I live the less I like it. I beheve it has been 
 the bane of the church of God, and infallibly brings on for- 
 mahty and spiritual sleep, if not death. God never yet made 
 a man to whom he gave all those various gifts necessary for 
 the edification of the body of Christ ; nor that various mode of 
 address and manner of speech necessary to point to every heait, 
 and penetrate every chsposition, and excite feelings, as various in 
 their modes of operation as the characters are various of those 
 who possess them. Hence, one preacher is useful to one class ; 
 a second, to another ; a third to another class, and so on ; and 
 hence we often find, that a succeeding preacher has been the 
 means of enlightening, convincing, converting, and comforting 
 different persons, who sat unmoved under the ministry of a pre- 
 decessor of much gi'eater abilities than liimself." 
 
 Of the same complexion is the following caustic letter to the 
 Rev. Thomas Smith, of Rotherham. 
 
 "Pitmer, March 24, 1828. 
 
 " My dear Brother, 
 
 I do not envy you your fine new chapel. I would not take 
 it as a gift to be bound to it, or to any congTegation out of 
 heaven. I pity the clergy of the Church. I pity more the 
 Dissenters who are anti-apostohcally bound to any one congre- 
 gation. 
 
 " Be faithful in your ministry, and you will soon have hot 
 water, and that water will soon boil. Touch no refined vice — 
 sift no consciences — insist not on the necessity of close union 
 with God, and the continual testimony of the indwelling Spirit — 
 tell them that the blood of Christ does not cleanse them from all 
 sin, till death comes to dissolve the union between body and soul ; 
 show that there can be no great evil " in di'essing, mistressing, 
 and compliment that a httle confonnity to the world can be no 
 deadly sin : — I say, tell them all this, and more of the same kind ; 
 and you will meet with few heart-burnings ; — you will be 
 esteemed, and supplied with aU the necessaries of life, and per- 
 haps the comforts too. But can you do this ? Not you. You 
 will, by the grace of God, be faithful ; and then, as one once 
 said to me, you will get into the fiying-pan, and there you will 
 frizzle. Notwithstanding all this, I wannly pray God for your 
 prosperity both in soul and labour. Amen. 
 
 " Yours truly and affectionately, 
 
 "A. CLARKE." 
 
 In the summer of 1829, Dr. Clarke's mind was much harassed 
 with the pecuniary affairs of the Shetland mission, which, indeed. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 271 
 
 in one form or another, continually engaged his attention. 
 From the commencement of the mission he was firmly resolved 
 that no chapel in Shetland should he left in debt; for he 
 had seen too much of the fruits of chapel-building on the 
 eiToneous, if not dishonest, principle of part payment, in Scot- 
 land, and elsewhere. Therefore, as the chapels were fast in- 
 creasing in number, it became a matter of extreme difficulty to 
 provide the necessary amount of funds to defi-ay the expenses of 
 their erection. In this emergency, Mr. Robert Scott, of Pens- 
 ford, neai" Bristol, whose name was first connected with the sup- 
 port of the mission, and Miss EUzabeth Birch, afforded him 
 considerable relief by their munificent donations. To the latter 
 he writes, June 28, " I have received the second half of a £'50 Bank 
 of England note from you for chapels for the poor Zetlands. May 
 the Lord God, the possessor of the heavens and the earth, bless 
 you for }our deed ! May he cause all grace to abound towards you, 
 and may your sun never withdraw his shining !" And again, in 
 acknowledging the further assistance of Miss Birch, the Doctor 
 says, — I scarcely know how sufficiently to express my thanks to 
 you for your most beneficent grant to my poor Shetlands. I 
 can scarcely believe my eyes when I see a gift of dOlOO for the 
 work in Shetland ; it sent me on my knees to return thanks to 
 God, and to implore his blessing upon you. Yourself and 
 Mr, Scott, with others who have helped, and helped well, 
 have done more than the benevolent man mentioned in the 
 Gospel, ' who loved the Jewish nation and built them a syna- 
 gogue you have loved the long-neglected Shetlanders, and 
 built for them many a synagogue ; for now we have nearly a 
 dozen chapels, and on all that are finished, thank God, not one 
 shilling of debt is left to be paid by my successor." 
 
 Shetland, indeed, was ever in his mind and heart. His feel- 
 ings on this subject are strongly expressed in several of his 
 letters. In one he says, " There is no part of the surface of the 
 creation so dear to me as the Shetlands. They lie nearer my 
 heart than my own house and garden, or anything else I pos- 
 sess." In another, he exclaims, "Would God that I was again 
 in my prime ! then I would be a Shetland preacher. I love the 
 place and the people, because I have seen both." Again, " Do not 
 let me die before Dunrossness, Lunnasting, Sand, &c., chapels are 
 built. With all my faith for Shetland, I do not see where money 
 will be got, or how it can come, after the green sod covers me. 
 What thousands of miles have I travelled, and what reams of paper 
 have I written over, in behalf of Shetland !" In another, he 
 declares, " Had I twenty years less of age on my head, I would not 
 write a leaf to entreat any person to go. I would go. I would 
 there labour, and there die, if it so pleased my Divine Master." 
 
272 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 In the Autumn of 1829, Dr. Clarke presented a copy of some 
 volumes of sermons, which he had lately published, to the Bishop 
 of London, now Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanying them 
 with a letter, in which he described them as sermons which 
 " had been preached at various times through the now united em- 
 pire, and the Norman and Zetland Islands." The material part of 
 this curious letter we will lay before the reader ; premising, that, 
 while the writer had an undoubted right to call himself a mem- 
 ber of the Church of England, if it so pleased him, it is to be 
 regretted that he condescended to apologize, even to a bishop, 
 for preaching without episcopal ordination ; at the same time 
 that he declared that the great Head of the church himself had 
 laid upon him the necessity of committing an act of such pre- 
 sumption ! Dr. Clarke thus addressed his right reverend " 
 correspondent : — " I take the liberty of sending these volumes as 
 a mark of my deep reverence and high respect for your lordship's 
 sacred office and great personal worth ; a reverence and respect 
 which I have long entertained for your lordship, and which have 
 been greatly increased by the late opportunity with which I have 
 been favoured, of having the honour of paying my respects to 
 your lordship at Fulham. The talis cum sis, dc, with which 
 your lordsliip dismissed me, have done me, indeed, great honour ; 
 for your lordship's inflexible attachment to truth and honour, 
 showed me how much I should value the opinion then expressed, 
 though retaining a just sense of my own httleness. I hope that 
 the omnino in the remaining part of the quotation, which I told 
 your lordsliip had been sent in a letter to me by the worthy 
 Archdeacon of Cleveland, neither refers to my creed, nor to my 
 essential membership in the Church ; but only in reference to 
 my bemg destitute of its orders. I am afraid of making too free 
 in mentioning the following anecdote : if so, your lordship's 
 goodness will pardon me : — At an anniversary meeting of the 
 Prayer-book and Homily Society, an excellent clergyman, quot- 
 ing sometliing that I had written, was pleased to preface it by 
 the remark, ' The worthy Doctor, who, of all the men I know 
 who are not of our Church, comes the nearest both in doctrine 
 and friendship to it.' When he had done, I arose ; and, after 
 making an apology (which the company were pleased to receive 
 with great tokens of kindness), I took the liberty to observe, 'I 
 was born, so to speak, in the Church, baptized in the Church, 
 brought up in it, confirmed in it by that most apostohc man. Dr. 
 Bagot, then Bishop of Bristol, afterwards of Norwich ; have held 
 all my life uninterrupted communion with it, conscientiously 
 beheve its doctrines, and have spoken and written in defence of 
 it; and if, after all, I am not allowed to be a member of it, 
 because, through necessity being laid upon me, I preach Jesus 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 278 
 
 and the resurrection to tlie perishing multitudes, without those 
 most respectahle orders tlmt come Irom it, I must strive to he 
 content ; and, if you will not let me accompany you to heaven, I 
 will, by the grace of God, follow after you, and hang upon your 
 skirts.' This simple declaration left few unaffected in a large 
 assembly, where there were many of the clergy. Mr. Wilber- 
 force, who was sitting beside the chair, rose up with even more 
 than his usual animation, and with ' winged words,' said, * Far 
 from not acknowledging our worthy friend ; far from not acknow- 
 ledging him as a genuine member of the Church, and of the 
 *' church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven," — 
 far from preventing him to be of the company who are pressing 
 in at the gate of blessedness, — we will not, indeed, let him 
 " follow," he shall not " hang on our skirts," to be as if dragged 
 onwards : we will take him in our arms, we will bear him in our 
 bosom, and, with shouting, carry him into the presence of his 
 God and our God !' The worthy clergyman, whose speech had 
 given rise to these observations, soon placed himself on the best 
 ground, with, ' Indeed, Dr. Clarke, my observation went only to 
 the simple fact of your not being a clergyman of the Established 
 Church.' Whatever evil may be in this, I beUeve your lordship 
 akeady knows, lies at the door of the res angiista domi.^ It 
 was neither my fault nor my folly I Of the Estabhshed Church 
 I have never been a secret enemy, nor a silent friend. What I 
 feel towards it, the angels are welcome to ponder ; and what I 
 have spoken or written concerning it, and in its favour, I believe 
 I shall never be even tempted to retract. Being bred up in its 
 bosom, I early drank in its salutary doctrines and spirit. I felt 
 it from my earhest youth, as I felt a most dear relative. While 
 yet dependent on, and most affectionately attached to, her (my 
 natural mother) who furnished me with my first aliment, I felt, 
 from an association which your lordship will at once apprehend, 
 what was implied in Mother Church. Howsoever honourable it 
 may be to a person who was in the wrong, to yield to conviction, 
 and embrace the right, that kind of honour I have not in refer- 
 ence to the Church. I was never converted to it; I never had 
 anything to unlearn, when, with a heart open to conviction, I 
 read in parallel the New Testament and the Liturgy of the 
 Church. I therefore find, that, after all I have read, studied, 
 and learned, I am not got beyond my infant's prayer : — ' I 
 heartily thank my heavenly Father, that he hath called me into 
 this state of salvation ; and pray unto him that he may give me 
 grace to continue in the same to the end of my Hfe.' " 
 
 In introducing the following very interesting letter, dated Nov. 
 
 * Alluding to the naiTow circumstances of his father's family, which 
 precluded the possibility of his receiving a University education. 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 12, 1829, and addressed by Dr. Clarke to his daughter, we can- 
 not refrain from expressing our entire approbation of the conduct 
 of the countr^^-people. The practice which they so triumphantly 
 opposed (and, as might have been expected, with the Doctor's 
 approbation), is most unjustifiable and uncluistian; and, if 
 chapels cannot be supported by means more legitimate, better 
 would it be that they were not built : — " Sunday morning came, 
 and the weather was pretty fair, and the country people began to 
 come in at an early hour. I was to preach in the old chapel, 
 Hahfax, which is much larger than the new one ; and the tnistees 
 had set collectors at the foot of the gallery stairs to take silver 
 from all who should go thereup. This answered for a short time ; 
 but, when John Bull, and liis ovm natural family, came, they 
 began to say, ' We ban cummin mony a mile to hear Dr. Clairke, 
 and ye wantin silver fra we ? ye shan ha none.' They forthwith 
 turned the boxes to right and left, and the collectors with them ; 
 forced all the passes ; took the whole chapel by storm, and in a 
 trice filled all the great seats, resers'ed seats, and preserved seats, 
 and possessed the whole from stem to stem, and that with vast 
 quietness, all things considered. Finding how things went, 
 though I was there half-an-hour before the time, I immediately 
 got into the pulpit, and, ha^ing spoken a few words to order, 
 began my work. Though the press was intense, there was abso- 
 lute stillness. I preached by the power of God ; and some 
 people, I afterwards found, had been blessed exceedingly. When 
 I had finished, and looked over the congregation, though I was 
 thankful such a mass of the poor had had the Gospel preached 
 unto them, yet I felt for the collection. Tliis feeling was not a 
 little increased when I went into the vestry, and saw a basket 
 brought in, containing apparently about forty pounds' weight of 
 copper, without a shilling, sixpence, gold, or paper, among it ! 
 However, when that and the collection plates were reckoned, I 
 was sui-prised, and thankful to find, there were fourscore and 
 three pounds sterhng ! " 
 
 In the same letter we have a singular specimen of the esteem 
 in wliich Dr. Clarke was even-where held : — " On Saturday, a 
 respectable-looking man was introduced to me, to prefer a singu- 
 lar request ; viz., that I would permit him to make, and present 
 me with, a new suit of clothes ! I excused myself, and said I 
 had a completely new suit in London, which I had never worn, 
 and therefore had no need. He was sadly disappointed ; and T 
 believe would have been glad, had I been half naked, that I mig lit 
 have been obhged to receive his gift. However, he has sent a 
 most beautiful great- coat after me to Stockport, wliich I have 
 this raoiTiing tried on, and it fits nobly : such a coat I never had 
 before, either for material or making." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 275 
 
 During the severity of the winter of 1829-30, Dr. Clarke 
 exerted liimself much in behalf of the poor of liis own neigh- 
 bourhood. With his own hand, he distributed what he could 
 towards the alleviation of the distresses around him. A neigh- 
 bouring gentleman, well known for liis liberality, hearing of his 
 beneficent exertions, called upon him, and requested that he 
 might be allowed to join so industrious and discriminating an 
 almoner. Then, drawing forth his purse, he presented £20 to 
 Dr. Clai'ke, who went immediately to town, to purchase blankets, 
 flannel, caUco, and other clothing ; and, hastening back to East- 
 cott, spent three whole days in dividing these articles among the 
 poor. In tliis way, seventy famihes were essentially reheved; 
 and, though exhausted by the work, and often cut to the heart at 
 tales of wo and sights of suffering, he was thankful that he had 
 it thus far in his power to minister to the comfort of his fellow- 
 creatui'es. 
 
 The attachment of Dr. Clai-ke to the observances called 
 watch-nights, particularly as apphed to the expiration of the 
 old and the commencement of the new year, has already been 
 noticed. He distinguished the opening of the year 1830 by 
 making several resolutions, each of which is too remarkable to 
 be passed over. The first was to read the Bible more regularly, 
 and to get through it once more before he should die. To this 
 resolution he refers in a letter addressed to a very young female, 
 the daughter of the husband of one of his daughters. The pas- 
 sage may be given as an evidence of his attachment to young 
 persons, as the destined leaders of another age : — " I hope you 
 read your Bible. What tliink you ? After having for more than 
 half- a- century read the Bible so much, I formed the resolution, 
 on Jan. 1, 1830, to read the Bible through once more, begiuning 
 with the first chapter of Genesis, and the first of Matthew, 
 binding myself to read a chapter of each every day. I read the 
 New Testament in Greek, and the Old Testament in Enghsh, 
 collating it occasionally with the Hebrew. I bind myself to one 
 chapter in each daily ; but I often read more, and have, since 
 the first of last January, read over the five books of Moses and 
 the four Gospels. This I find very profitable. Now, I com- 
 mend this kind of reading to you ; and read so that your mind 
 shall feel the reading, and then the reading will profit you." 
 
 His second resolution, referring to matters which require ex- 
 planation, was as follows : — " To bear the evils and calamities of 
 Ufe with less pain of spirit ; if I suffer wrong, to leave it to God 
 to right me ; to murmur against no dispensation of his provi- 
 dence ; to bear ingratitude and unkindness, as things totally 
 beyond my control, and, consequently, things on account of 
 which I should not distress myself; and, though frtemh and 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 cotifidatits should fail, to depend more on my everlasting Friend, 
 who never can fail, and who, to the unkindly -treated, will cause 
 all such things to work together for their good. As to wicked 
 men, I must suffer them ; for the wicked will deal wickedly. 
 That is their nature ; and, from them, nothing else can he rea- 
 sonably expected."* 
 
 At the tliird resolution, which, however, was not so strictly 
 observed as the former two, those who have read the foregoing 
 pages of this narrative will not he surprised : — I have resolved 
 
 * A few extracts from other letters written "by Dr. Clarke, about this time, 
 may serve to throw some light upon the passage quoted in the text. Under 
 date of January 22, 1830, he writes, " We are not all in London like a 
 threefold cord, well twined together, that it cannot be easily broken. That 
 most unfortunate business in Leeds, has sown the seeds of dissolution in 
 Methodism, that, if God do not destroy them, bid fair to destroy our body. 
 As far as I see, as far as I hear, the confidence of the people in the preachers 
 is every day lessening, and their affection towards them diminishing also. 
 Certain people may smile at all this, and boast ; but I can do neither. May 
 God give us eyes to see, and ears to hear ! He has entrusted us with a 
 glorious work. May he rather take us away, than permit us to spoil it ! 
 What should be done, I can scarcely suggest ; but something should be 
 done, to allay this fennent. We are losing leaders, local preachers, and 
 men of power and influence; and I assmeyou, that men of might, wealth, 
 power, and decent connexions, are ten to one rarer among us, than they 
 were forty years ago." Under date of Febmary 6, 1830, he writes, " My 
 mind on the affairs which you mention, is the same as your own. I believe 
 the Leeds affair has sown the seeds of dissolution through every part of our 
 Connexion. We are in a veiy troubled state in London. I have seen 
 Methodism in its nonage, I have seen it at its perfection ; and I am afraid 
 that I see it now in its decline. I am like Hagar — T would withdraw to a 
 distance, even hide myself in the wilderness, before I could consent to 
 witness the death of so promising a progeny." The grand mistake of those 
 who with just cause were dissatisfied with the proceedings of the ruling 
 party in Conference, has been, that they withdrew from the Society. But it 
 is at length perceived, that by this means the Connexion cannot be refoimed, 
 and that the only human ground of hope that it will be preserved from that 
 dissolution the seeds of which, as E)r. Clarke says, have been so universally 
 sown, is in the adherence, not the desertion, of those whose intelligence and 
 independence number them among the dissatisfied. But it was not the 
 Leeds case alone that at this period disturbed Dr. Clarke's peace of mind. 
 In the text, we have heard him complain of personal ill-treatment; a com- 
 plaint which the following extract from one of his letters may sen e to 
 explain : — " The eternal -generation men have proceeded to great and 
 unchristian lengths ; and the Book Committee, who are ready to publish 
 everything on that sinful side of the question, absolutely refuse to let any- 
 thing, however moderate, appear in reply ! I think both God and common 
 sense permit me to renounce connexion with such men." Dr. Clarke, how- 
 ever, resisted this inclination. Such, indeed, was his attachment to Metho- 
 dism, apart from those circumstances in its modem administration of which 
 he could not approve, that no man was more apt to laud and magnify its 
 excellences. Of this, two remarkable instances ha^ e already been record- 
 ed, (see pp. 180, 220) ; and others, equally remarkable, will most probably 
 follow. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 277 
 
 to witlitlraw as much as possible from tlie cares and anxieties of 
 public life, having grappled with them as long as the number of 
 my years can well permit ; and, in this respect, I have a con- 
 science as clear as a diamond, * that in simplicity and godly sin- 
 cerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, I have 
 had my conversation among men ; ' and now I feel, that, with the 
 necessaries and conveniences of life, I can cheerfully take up, in 
 the wilderness, the lodging-place of a wayfaring man. I no 
 longer like strange company of any kind : not that I have fallen 
 or would fall out with the world ; for, thank God, I feel nothing 
 of the misanthrope : I am ready to spend and be spent for the 
 salvation or good of men." 
 
 On January 13, 1830, it was signified to Dr. Clarke that he 
 had been elected an honorary Fellow of the Eclectic Society 
 of London, — an honour, as the secretary informed him, paid 
 only to those who had rendered themselves eminent in Hterature, 
 or in the arts and sciences." 
 
 At this period. Dr. Clarke was stationed as one of the preachers 
 in the Hinde-street circuit. It was impossible for him to go 
 from Haydon-hall to his appointment, on the morning of the 
 Sabbath. He, therefore, availed himself of the hospitahty of 
 his friend, Mr. Hobbs, of Bayswater, to whose house he pro- 
 ceeded on the afternoon of Saturday, remaining there till Mon- 
 day morning, with the exception of the intermediate hours 
 consumed in attending to his ministerial duties. This circum- 
 stance is the more worthy of mention, as, from the following 
 singular but affecting passage in one of his letters, dated Jan. 19, 
 1830, it appears that Dr. Clarke attributed the improvement of 
 his health in a great measure to the kind attentions of his 
 sabbatic host : — " We are here fast bound in the glittering chains 
 of Bruma, — a considerable depth of snow, and an intense frost ; 
 but, through all, I continue to go into London to preach, which 
 costs me a good deal of fatigue, and exposure to various kinds 
 of weather ; but I am, thank God ! hardier than I have been for 
 many years. To me it is a real wonder, that I should travel 
 many miles in an open gig, or on foot, through the keenest 
 easterly winds, for many miles through the falling snow and the 
 descending rains, and yet not even take cold. I have never once 
 missed my preaching appointments. Such a state of power to 
 resist cold, and disregard storms and fatigue, I possessed when 
 young ; but I lost it altogether many years ago in London. I 
 got better at Millbrook, but was generally there laid up in the 
 winter months. I lost all the good I got at Millbrook in the few 
 months I was at wretched Canonbury-square. At Eastcott I 
 received much back again; but my kind friend, Mr. Hobbs, 
 taking me in his gig, for the last two years, to my different places 
 
278 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 of preacliing, in all weathers, has been the means of restoring 
 me to nearly all the firmness of youth ! Wliat a mercy that 
 infirmity has not rendered me, in my old age, a burden to any of 
 my fellow- creatures !"* 
 
 In the month of April, 1830, Dr. Clarke undertook another 
 journey of benevolence to Ireland. It was this which gave rise 
 to a report, extensively cii'culated by the newspapers, that he 
 designed to spend the remainder of his days in the land of liis 
 birth. In allusion to this report, he thus writes to a fiiend, 
 under date of Feb. 22, 1830 Where I shall spend it, I 
 cannot tell; but I know of no place where I should more 
 willingly spend the last of my days, or end my life, than the 
 place where I was bom, — educated, — first saw a Methodist 
 preacher, — found the peace of God, — -joined the Methodist 
 Society, — became a leader and local preacher, — and fi'om which 
 I was called to be a travelhng preacher ; and aU this took place 
 within a quarter of a square m]Je."t 
 
 Previously, however, to the fulfilment of the project to which 
 we have alluded, Dr. Clarke perfoiTned one of those preacliing 
 tours, which, when performed by him, proved so productive to 
 the various funds of the Wesleyan-Methodist Connexion. Mrs. 
 Clarke was to have met her husband at Uxbridge, as he pro- 
 ceeded on his tour. The horse which drew the vehicle she rode 
 in, taking fright, ran away, much to her danger, though not 
 ultimately to her injury. Dr. Clarke, who was a witness of the 
 accident, did not for some time recover fi'om his alaim. " I had 
 spoken very httle," he writes to one of his daughters, from the 
 time we left Uxbridge. On attempting to pronounce Blenheim, 
 I found I could not express the last syllable, but another in its 
 place, totally difierent : I tried it two or three times, but could 
 not succeed. It was the same with other dissyllables; and, 
 besides, there were several other words which I could not at all 
 
 * His feeling on this point was intense. He several times noticed and 
 pitied the state of those who were obliged, by age or indisposition, to use 
 wheeled chairs for exercise, exclaiming, " God forbid that I should ever be 
 reduced to that !" "I believe," says the Rev. J. B. B. Clarke, " my father never 
 saw a person shattered, either in frame or understanding, without a tempo- 
 rary pang, or without putting up a mental prayer to God, that such might 
 not be his case." 
 
 f That the report of his intention to take up his abode in Ireland was 
 not wholly without foundation, would appear- from an entry in his Journal 
 under date of May 1, 1830 : — " I have to-day purchased a house in Port 
 Stuart, in nomine JEtemcs et Individiue Trinitatis ! From all the circum- 
 stances narrated above, the place is dear to me. Here I purpose spending 
 three months in the succeeding summers of my life, if it be spared. May 
 God smile on what I have done, and make it a blessing to myself, and the 
 many among whom it is my intention to proclaim the word of life and sal- 
 vation !" The intention here expressed was never fulfilled. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 279 
 
 catch. At last, I found I could not recollect some of my well- 
 known sentences, nor even the best-known verse of a hymn, 
 though I could perfectly recollect the tune. As I found I made 
 the same error in the last syllable of words, I did not attempt 
 to speak any more, lest it should attract the attention of the 
 strangers that were in the coach. When we amved at Worcester, 
 I endeavoured to describe what I felt to your sister Anna Maria 
 and your brother Joseph, who had come from Bristol to meet us ; 
 but they were obhged to supply me with words very often, and 
 guess out my meaning. I felt no affection in my head, no gid- 
 diness, no confusion ; and my intellect was perfectly clear ; but 
 my power to call up words greatly impaired." 
 
 Leaving Mrs. Clarke at Worcester, he proceeded to Man- 
 chester. Happily, on aniving in that town, he had sufficiently 
 recovered his powers of speech to fulfil his ministerial engage- 
 ments. Here, and at several neighbouring places, he preached 
 and pleaded with his usual success. His own account of one of 
 the sermons and collections may suffice as a specimen of the 
 whole : — " I was obhged to go from that to Cheetham-hill to 
 dinner, where was a splendid provision, of which I tasted not for 
 fear of fever, having to preach at Salford at night ; to which I 
 was driven off so spent, that I could barely stand or speak. The 
 congregation was overwhelming, the silence of death prevailed ; 
 and there was not an eye, apparently, in the place, that had any 
 other object than your poor father's face. I was very weak ; but 
 spoke the deepest and highest things concerning God, the human 
 soul, and its redemption, that I have ever uttered. Before the 
 congregation was dismissed, they had reckoned the collection ; 
 and a person came in and announced, ' The collection amounts 
 to one hundred and five pounds.' In such times, having suffered 
 much from poverty, and various distresses, such collections, 
 within a mile of each other, and on the same day too, were truly 
 astonishing. I beheve, if the people were obhged to fast, they 
 would still give their money, when I beg." 
 
 His engagements in England being at an end, Dr. Clarke 
 crossed the channel, in company with Mr. Everett, of Manchester. 
 On amving at the scene of his early days, he was hospitably 
 entertained by Mr. John Cromie, a humane and benevolent land- 
 lord, who not only did not absent himself from his estates, but 
 made it his principal business to promote the comfort of his 
 tenantry, to devise public improvements, and to provide employ- 
 ment for the poor. 
 
 At Port Stuart, Dr. Clarke derived much pleasure from visiting 
 those who knew him in his youth, as appears from the following 
 extract from his journal : — I went over all this port, visiting in 
 their houses those whom I had known, and with whom I had 
 
THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 been in religious fellowship, nearly fifty years ago. I found but 
 few of that time remaining, but many of their descendants. 
 In each house I spoke particularly on the tilings of God, and 
 the necessity of preparing for a better world ; and in eveiy house 
 I prayed ^vith the family. This was pleasing to all. Several of 
 the old people were in raptures ; and some of them, being blind, 
 could not help still thinking, that ' the Httle boy,' and ' the good 
 little boy,' that was used so long ago to visit and pray with them, 
 was now come again after a lengthened absence. Of my present 
 growth they could not judge, being, from their bhndness, unable 
 to discern objects ; and then* minds passed over the lapse of fifty 
 years without the least difficulty. The past they immediately 
 connected with the present ; and half-a-centuiT was at once lost. 
 One effect of this was, they forgot their own advance in life ; 
 forgot the sorrows and trials of fifty yccu-s, and talked with me 
 in the same endearing strain and affectionate manner in which 
 they were once accustomed to converse with * the httle boy.' 
 * Oh, my dear, how glad I am that you are come again ! how 
 glad I am to hear you once more !' Even the childi-en, hearing 
 their grandfathers and grandmothers tallt thus, seemed at once to 
 consider me as some one of the family that had been out on a 
 journey for a long time, but was now returned home; and, to 
 me, how dehghtful were tliis morning's visits ! What pleasing 
 ideas are awakened in my mind, while ^-isiting these scenes of my 
 bo}-ish days, and passing by the places where I first heard the 
 pure Gospel of the Son of God, and first saw a Methodist 
 preacher ; and especially when I entered that field, where, after 
 having passed through a long night of deep mental and spiritual 
 aflOiction, the peace of God was spoken to my heai't, and his 
 love shed abroad in it ! I would give almost anything to buy that 
 field where I found the heavenly treasure ; but it is not tobe sold ! 
 Oh, it almost makes me young agam to view these scenes !" 
 
 When he araved at Haydon-hall, he had the satisfaction of 
 finding that all his family were well, and that " no evil tidings 
 awaited his return." 
 
 In the month of July, he was again called upon to travel. 
 The place of his destination was Carmarthen, where he was to 
 preside at the District Meeting of the Wesleyan-Methodist 
 preachers. This business proved very laborious, scarcely one- 
 half of the preachers being able to speak Enghsh ; and thus an 
 interpreter was needed, which took up double time. Dr. Clai-ke 
 was growing too old to bear the fatigues of so much close appli- 
 cation to business ; and the w^ork so completely exhausted him, 
 that, when he sat down to table, he usually fell asleep ; his 
 stomach refused food, and it became a cross to him even to 
 see it. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 281 
 
 Wales and tlie Welsh gave him satisfaction on the whole. Of 
 the latter he remarks, " They hear the word of life with the 
 utmost attention ; but I think the preachers are not strict in 
 their discipline. They make nothing of beginning a quarter, or 
 even half-an-hour, after the proper service time, and excuse 
 themselves by saying, ' Oh, it will be time enough ; for the 
 people will not be come.* True, because the people know that 
 the preacher will not be there ; and this is the reason of all the 
 irregularities in the congregations." 
 
 On reacliing Liverpool in his return. Dr. Clarke found that 
 his youngest son had arrived to take charge of the church of 
 St. Matthew in that town. When Mr. Clarke delivered his first 
 sermon to his new hearers, his father was present. " His church," 
 he writes, in relating the circumstance, " was full, and his con- 
 gregation deeply attentive ; and, in one or two parts of his ser- 
 mon, he opened all the fountains of all heads. Some cried, 
 some wept ; and Adam Clarke, in attempting to play the man, 
 was subdued by mother in his eyes : the people looked astounded, 
 and scarcely knew why they were so tragically aiFected. The 
 whole formed a seal, I trust, on his mission to this place.* In 
 the evening, he went again to church, and I to Brunswick. 
 Such a glorious crowd I have hardly ever seen. By the very 
 first sentence I spoke in my discourse, the great Master of as- 
 sembhes drove the nail of attention, and secured its hold by the 
 rivet of interest. I had all eyes, and, under God, commanded 
 all hearts, for nearly an hour. The almighty Sovereign, eternal 
 Fountain of Love, was everywhere manifested ; and I felt great 
 liberty in pubhshing the fulness and the freedom of salvation." 
 
 Dr. Clarke possessed a considerable talent for conversation, 
 and was exceedingly communicative. The variety of his exten- 
 sive knowledge appeared still more in his social talk, than in his 
 pubhshed works, or pulpit discourses. But, unhappily, httle 
 more than the memory of the cheerful and instructive tenour of 
 his remarks and anecdotes has survived him. To his youngest 
 son, however, we owe the preservation of a few fragments of this 
 sort of reminiscences, which, given in that gentleman's words, 
 will afford a specimen of his father's conversational powers. The 
 conversation detailed took place in 1830 : — " Turning to his son, 
 
 * In a letter which Dr. Clarke wrote in 1826, to Mr. Dunn, the foi.d 
 father appears in an amiable light : — " I heard my Joseph preach in St. 
 Luke's church, [London,] yesterday — a charity seiTnon, for the parochial 
 schools ; it was by far the most powerful I had ever heard : the purity of 
 its divinity, the strength of the language, and the energy of the speaker, 
 were wonderful. Mr. Moore was there, to hear also, and seemed much 
 struck and affected. There were many Methodists there ; indeed, they 
 follow him wherever he preaches in town, as they hear their own doctrines, 
 and those only." 
 
282 
 
 THE LIFE AND LiUiOURS OF 
 
 who chanced, with one of his daughters, to be at Haydon-hall on 
 a visit. Dr. Clarke said, ' J oseph, did you ever read Ai-chbishop 
 Usher's Life and Letters ?' * No, father.' ' Well, then, read it 
 at once. That was the first book wliich ever gave my mind a 
 desii'e for biblical criticism. It might not have the same effect 
 ujDon others ; but to me it appeared so fraught with the most 
 useful knowledge for a divine, that you cannot too soon go 
 thi'ough it.' Then, continuing a desultor}' convei'sation, he re- 
 marked, ' There is one great desideratum in Enghsh hterature ; 
 namely, a good translation of Phny's Natural History, with 
 proper illustrative notes. It is an Herculean task ; and I know 
 no man who could successfully have undertaken it, but Mason 
 Goode. I spoke to him upon the subject ; but he said he dreaded 
 it : and now, I fear, the hope of its accomphshment is over ; for 
 Mason Goode is no more !' On being asked, ' What think you, 
 
 father, of Mr. 's Memou's of ? was he fully quahfied 
 
 to write the Life, without any personal acquaintance with the 
 individual ?' Dr. Clarke rephed, ' I can answer your question 
 thus : — A French gentleman being once asked, ' What do you 
 tliink is the strongest evidence of the truth of Christianity ?' 
 answered, ' The Four Gospels.' ' What mean you. Sir ? they 
 may rather be considered as the history of it.' ' So they are, 
 Sir, also ; but from them it is evident that their author did really 
 exist : for no pei^on could have written those accounts of liim, 
 but from a personal knowledge, and an intimate converse with 
 his actions and habits. The Evangehsts nan-ate things wliich, 
 had they not been seen, they would never have thought of ; and, 
 throughout the whole Four Gospels, they severally speak of our 
 Lord in such a manner as to prove to us that they must have been 
 with him, and personally acquainted ^vith all those passages of 
 his life which they detail ; or it would have been impossible for 
 them to have detailed them as they have done. They thus bear 
 the strongest e\-idence to the truth of their own testimony. 
 Apply that remaik to the question you asked me ; and you have 
 my opinion at once.' Dr. Chu'ke then added this playful admo- 
 nition, in reference to his son's close apphcation, and too great 
 disregard of suitable attention to his health : — ' By such means 
 you will shorten your life ; and, under such circumstances, I am 
 not quite sure, lad, of your favourable reception at the gate of 
 heaven : for, if Peter watched there, when you knocked at its 
 portal, he might say, ' Who are you ? Why are you here at this 
 time ? You were not sent for, and need not have come liither 
 for several years.' And it will be well for you if he does not 
 add, ' Get along with you.'" 
 
 One of the measiu'es of the Wesleyan-Methodist Conference 
 of 1830, which was held in Leeds, consisted in the adoption of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 283 
 
 resolutions strongly condemnatory of West-India slavery, and 
 inviting a general application to Parliament, by petition, for its 
 speedy abolition. In these resolutions. Dr. Clarke, who was an 
 uncompromising abolitionist, heartily joined ; and he took a just 
 pride in forwarding an early copy of them to Mr. Wilberforce. 
 That great and good man was much pleased with this decided 
 step towards the object for which he had so long and so success- 
 fully laboured. In a letter which he wrote to Dr. Clarke on the 
 occasion, he thus expressed his gratification : — " The ' Keso- 
 lutions' are truly excellent ; and I rejoice to hear that the cause 
 of the poor slaves will be so zealously pleaded for by your nu- 
 merous congregations. With what insane, as well as wicked 
 bitterness, are those most respectable men, who are devoting 
 themselves as missionaries to the service of God among the poor 
 slaves in Jamaica, persecuted by the legislature of that island ! 
 Before I lay down my pen, which a complaint in my eyes permits 
 me to use but very little, compared with the claims on it (but I 
 would not write to you by my. amanuensis), let me express my 
 regret that you were from home when Serjeant Pell and I paid 
 our respects at Eastcott. We were received with great courtesy 
 and kindness by Mrs. Clarke, and we saw many interesting 
 objects ; but that which we most wished to see, was absent. I 
 hope I may be able, some time or other, to pay you another 
 visit. Though personally strangers to each other, it is not 
 merely by your works that you are known to me. I well re- 
 member hearing many years ago, from our late excellent friend, 
 Mr. Butterworth, so many particulars of your early life and 
 labours, especially in Cornwall, that I have ever since felt ac- 
 quainted with you. I am going from home very soon ; but, if 
 it please God that we both live till another summer, I hope we 
 may effect a meeting." Whether a meeting between these two 
 eminent philanthropists took place or not, we have no means of 
 ascertaining. 
 
284 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Dr. darkens Influence loith rich Christians — His Efforts to promote Edu- 
 cation in Ireland — He forms a School at Port Rush — Visits Port Ru^h 
 — Discipline of the School — Lord Mark Kerr promises Ground for a 
 Chapel and School — Another School at Cashel — Dr Clarke forms several 
 new Schools in Person — Dr. darkens Retrospect of his Life — His Preju- 
 dice against Wigs — Discomforts of Irish Travelling — Dr. Clarke returns 
 Home — The Wesleyan Missionary Committee jealous of him — His Defence 
 — He resolves to diminish his occasional Labours — His Sentiments on 
 Birthday Festivities — His Letter to Mr. ( now Lord ) Stanley on the ivant 
 of Education in Ireland. 
 
 It is a liappy circumstance, when those whom Providence has 
 entrusted with riches, are disposed to yield to the influence of men 
 well quahfied to advise them in what manner their wealth 
 may he most wisely and beneficially distributed This was the case 
 with many of the affluent friends of Dr. Clarke. He was not a 
 rich man; but, had he been such, he could scarcely have enjoyed 
 the pleasures of benevolence in greater perfection than he did. 
 For, such was the confidence in his opinion of many persons 
 endowed amply with the means of doing good, that he had only 
 to signify a wish for the commencement of any charitable enter- 
 prise, and the supplies needful for carr}'ing it into efiect, were 
 promptly and hberally afforded to him. " God, in his mercy," 
 he obseiTCs in one place, " has given me influence : tliis is every- 
 where felt, and strangely opens my way in every place. " What," 
 again he inquires, " procures me this influence and love wherever 
 I go ? The truth of God, which I proclaim in the love of 
 it, and wliich he conveys by his^ mighty power to the hearts of 
 the people." 
 
 In the course of his repeated visits to Ireland, Dr. Clarke had 
 not failed to be struck with the moral destitution of his countrj^- 
 men. His journals contain frequent allusions to the want of 
 Christian education among them. This defect he made the sub- 
 ject of conversation among his friends. One of them, a lady 
 who had contributed largely to the Shetland Mission, at length 
 proposed that he should do something for Ireland also. To this 
 proposal, he promptly replied, " Here am I, send me. On the 
 surface of the world there stands not a man more willling to add 
 Ireland to Shetland, and serv^e both with all his heart and 
 strength." The lady in question was Miss Birch, to whom he 
 thus writes (Nov. 22, 1830) on the subject: — "1 thank you for 
 
THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 286 
 
 yolir noble promise of .£100 for my projected, and now organized, 
 schools in Ireland. It is like yourself, and is a glorious help." 
 Many persons, besides the original proponent, were soon found 
 ready to assist him in this benevolent design ; and, to show still 
 more remarkably the extent of his influence and the weight of 
 his character, among them were several with whom he had no 
 personal acquaintance. The sole condition which these excel- 
 lent persons attached to their offers of pecuniary help was this : 
 — " That he should occupy no district where any school now 
 existed, or where any class of religious people was making any 
 attempt to educate the poor." The object of this restriction was 
 unquestionably good ; but, though never violated, it sometimes 
 prevented the establishment of schools in districts, which, if not 
 entirely destitute of the means of instruction, were very scantily 
 and inefficiently provided with them. During the progress of 
 preliminary inquiry, a curious fact was elicited. From the 
 general persuasion," says Dr. Clarke, " that Protestant districts, 
 however poor and depressed, were better cultivated, both reli- 
 giously and usefully, than Koman Cathohc districts, the former 
 had been chiefly passed by ; and thus the neglected and unedu- 
 cated progeny of wicked Protestants, were nearly as destitute of 
 moral and religious instruction as the children of the wicked 
 Papists." But the rule which he decided on observing was, that 
 of establishing ' schools in the most needy parts of the country, 
 without reference to the religious creed of the inhabitants ; in 
 consequence of which, the plan ultimately embraced Catholic as 
 well as Protestant portions of the population, with portions in- 
 cluding both. The northern parts of the province of Ulster were 
 particularly recommended to Dr. Clarke's notice, by those whom 
 he set to make investigations on the spot. It was singular, that 
 one of these gentlemen, Mr. Samuel Harper, Wesley an-Metho- 
 dist minister, then of Coleraine, pointed out, as being in great 
 need of instruction, those very places in which, when but a boy. 
 Dr. Clarke used spontaneously to exercise himself in Gospel 
 exhortation. The prospect of revisiting those dark places with 
 the torch of Divine truth, warmed the breast of the now hoary 
 missionary with the ardour of youth. " I sowed the first seed," 
 he observes ; " and, should I, after threescore years, return to 
 water it, would it not be a singular circumstance ? Do not all 
 these things look like a well-planned order in Providence ? that 
 the very person, who had first blown a minor trumpet which he 
 could but merely sound, should be spared to return, in better cir- 
 cumstances, with a louder blast ; and, beaiing more seed, have 
 the high pleasure of beholding that the seed so long ago sown, 
 had neither rotted in the ground, nor been picked up by the fowls 
 of the air ! My old soul, in this age of decrepitude, is becoming 
 
28G 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 young again in the prospect of thus revisiting the land in which 
 I first drew the breath of hfe and the breath of God." 
 
 There were several districts wholly uncultivated, many miles 
 of gi'ound, covered with inhabitants, being without a school of 
 any description. It became the business of Dr. Clarke to make 
 provision for these neglected parts, which had been overlooked 
 by all those rehgious societies, whose bounty, during several 
 years, had been extended to Ireland. If, therefore, the majority 
 of those whom he undertook to provide for, were Protestants, it 
 was not because he cared the less for the souls of Catholics, but 
 because it was necessary to repair the serious, though natural, 
 error of his predecessors in the same charitable labour. On 
 comparing the wants of places in different degrees requiring 
 instruction, it appeared that Port Rush, and the neighbourhood, 
 toward wliich the tide of population had flowed in consequence 
 of the demand for labour, was the most necessitous. For miles 
 there was no school of any kind, nor any sort of instruction ; 
 and, consequently, ig-norance and vice had almost an uncontrolled 
 sway. Here, then, the first school was to be established. This 
 determination being hailed with rapture by the poor inhabitants, 
 Dr. Clarke furnished Mr. Haqoer with a set of rules and with a 
 supply of money. But a difficulty presented itself. The plan 
 was, to provide the instruction, leaving it to the parents of the 
 children to be instructed, to procure places for the purpose. 
 Such was their destitution, that they could find no place more 
 suitable than a hollow, dug out of a sand hill. At any time, 
 this would have been a dismal place ; in the coldest month of the 
 year, December, it was impossible to occupy it. In this exigency, 
 a gentleman offered the use of his parlour and an adjoining room, 
 till a proj)er place could be procured. This offer being accepted, 
 a meeting of parents was called, for the purpose of foiming the 
 school, which took place on the first day of Januai'y, 1831. 
 Thirty cliildren were then admitted. The sabscribers being 
 desirous, that, if possible, the masters of these schools should be 
 Wesleyan-Methodist local preachers, in order that, besides in- 
 structing the children, they might spread religious knowledge 
 among the parents, an excellent man of this class was engaged 
 in tliis instance. The children increased daily in number, 
 although the cold was excessive. Out of school hours, the 
 teacher went about among the parents, reading the Scriptures to 
 them, exhorting, and praying with them and for them. Many, 
 who had scarcely ever heard any sort of prayer, now learned to 
 pray. The number of the scholars, in only two months, had 
 increased so amazingly, that the gentleman's parlour could no 
 longer contain them ; and a larger place was accordingly pro- 
 cured. Few of the children at first could utter a sentence with- 
 
Dl?. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 287 
 
 out an oath or an imprecation ; but, in a short time, their lan- 
 guage was gi'eatly changed, and decency of appearance and 
 deportment prevailed. 
 
 In the winter of 1830-31, Dr. Clarke was exceedingly desirous 
 of crossing the Channel, that he might personally superintend 
 and promote the formation of the Irish schools, towards which 
 nearly £4:00 had already been offered him ; but, in consequence 
 of the boisterous and inclement state of the weather, he was per- 
 suaded to defer the voyage till the atmosphere should become 
 milder and more settled. In the mean time, he corresponded 
 with Mr. Harper, his heutenant, and with those who furnished 
 them with the munitions of war, for the exteimination of igno- 
 rance and vice. It sometimes happens that benevolent persons 
 confine their charities to one favourite object, and seem insensi- 
 ble to the existence of others which are equally, and may be 
 more, necessitous. This was not the case with those who made 
 Dr. Clarke the almoner of their bounty. The principal support- 
 ers of the Shetland Mission, had long been hberal contributors 
 to other charities ; and the subscribers to the Irish schools, had 
 been, and contimied to be, the principal. supporters of the Shet- 
 land Mission. The more we inquire, the more shall we be con- 
 vinced, that institutions, which have for their object the benefit 
 of mankind, whether foreigners or fellow- countr}'m en, and whe- 
 ther their temporal or their eternal happiness is the end in view, 
 are kept in operation by one and the same class of benefactors — 
 by those, in fine, who, being endowed with this world's goods, have 
 been inspired with that " love" which " is thefuMhng of the law," 
 and wliich is not a baiTen sentiment, but an ever-active principle. 
 
 But April had no sooner heralded the approach of spring, 
 than Dr. Clarke hastened to Port Rush. On former occasions, 
 when visiting liis native country, he seems to have divided his 
 time between labour and recreation, though the labour uniformly 
 preponderated ; but, on this, we find in his journal none of those 
 entries which evince his taste for antiquities, or the interest he 
 took in objects of curiosity and matters of science. His atten- 
 tion was absorbed in the gi'and and Godlike work of emancipating 
 the rising generation of his countrymen from the destructive bonds 
 of ignorance and sin. His Commentary has not surmounted his 
 brow with a brighter halo than his direct efforts for the ad- 
 vancement of his country's interests. He might have retired 
 from the active scenes of life when he had finished his Com- 
 mentary, had no other laboure been interw^oven with his bibhcal 
 studies, wearing the laurels of a well-earned fame ; and, when 
 he had attained the common term of human life, the threescore 
 years and ten, even the word of God itself would have seemed 
 to justify him in closing his public career ; but, as if he was 
 
288 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 conscious of an unfinished work, of an incompleted destiny, as 
 if, indeed, he was beginning his career, instead of continuing 
 the labours of nearly threescore years, we find liim, at the name 
 of Ireland, springing up like one touched with a Uve coal fi'om 
 off the altar; and, after ha\ing devoted the meridian of his 
 days to the universal world, consecrating his ripe experience and 
 matured piety to the highest interests of his own country. 
 
 On arriving at Port Rush, he was much gratified by the state 
 of the school, which he thus describes : — " I have scarcely ever 
 seen a sight more lovely ; though the children are all miserably 
 poor, and only half clothed, yet they are all quite clean, their 
 hair combed, and even their bare feet and legs clean also. They 
 are now brought under teaching and discipline : all learning to 
 read, and improving rapidly. Several were acquiring writing, 
 and casting accounts. The eldest were thirteen and fourteen 
 years of age ; but, for the most part, the cliildren were down as 
 low as six or seven years old. Mr. Bollas, the gentleman who 
 gave his parlour and adjoining room to commence the school in, 
 stated, ' that, whereas, on the Sabbaths especially, the children 
 used to be not only a public nuisance, but a public curse, the 
 peaceable people being obliged to diive them off from depreda- 
 tions by wliips and sticks ; now, their voice was not to be heard 
 in the streets, and order and decorum universally prevailed.' 
 This school has scarcely been estabhshed four months." Before 
 Dr. Clarke left Ireland, Lord Mark Kerr, on whose estate the 
 school was formed, promised to give liim a piece of ground, that 
 he might build a chapel and a schoolhouse upon it. 
 
 From Port Rush Dr. Clarke proceeded to Cashel, in the 
 parish of Mocosquin, where a school had just been formed. 
 '•Here," he observes, ''were seventy-five children, about equal 
 numbers of boys and girls, and not one pair of shoes among the 
 whole. Though the school is but recently begun, the children 
 are in fine order, and promise exceedingly well : they were from 
 ten to four years of age, average perhaps seven. My visit to 
 this school was wholly unexpected; but I found the greatest 
 order on entering the place, each boy and giii conning its lesson 
 in silence. There were a few boys and girls of ten years of age : 
 the rest varied from that to four ; and even these infants were 
 diUgently employed on the alphabet and syllables. There are 
 one hundred and eight now on the books. This school is also 
 about half-and-half of males and femples, mostly Protestants, 
 there being but from eight to ten the cliildi^en of Popish parents. 
 The master gave me a good account of the progress of the chil- 
 dren, both in moral deportment and learning." Here, as like- 
 wise at Port Rush, the labours of the teacher among the parents, 
 as well as the children, had been extraordinarily successful. 
 
DR ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 289 
 
 Several new schools were formed by Dr. Clarke in person. 
 His account of these proceedings is highly interesting. Croagh 
 was the first place which he visited for this purpose. " It had been 
 pubhshed," he observes, " that I was expected there, in order to 
 form a school. When we got within a mile of the place, we saw 
 several squads of children, with their mothers, coming down 
 the hills, and over the moors, from all quarters, in radii, from a 
 mile-and-a-half to two miles, to the schoolhouse, which is little 
 more than half finished. As we could not go into this half-built 
 house, a farmer had prepared a small barn for our accommoda- 
 tion, which was about half-a-mile off. I set off ; and they all 
 filed after me, both the cliildren and their mothers, my compan- 
 ions bringing up the rear. When I got to the place, I addressed 
 the parents out of doors, and laid down the general rules and 
 conditions on which the children ^vere to be admitted. I then, 
 standing at the barn door, admitted them one by one into the 
 place, to the number of one hundi'ed and thirty- three ; intro- 
 duced the schoolmaster to the general assembly ; gave his 
 character and qualifications ; specified what sort of teaching the 
 children were to receive ; the discipline under which they were 
 to be brought, &c. I then proceeded to bring all the children 
 out of the bam, laying my hands upon their heads, and, praying 
 to God for his blessing upon them all, delivered them again to 
 their parents, to be brought back on the morrow, in order to be 
 registered in the school, classified," &c. 
 
 The next school which he formed was in the parish of Billy. 
 "The children," he remarks, "were assembled in the| Methodist 
 chapel. Their mothers were on the one side, and the children on 
 the other. Several of the fathers were present ; but the most 
 part of them were employed in their agiicultural pursuits. It 
 was an affecting sight. The number of children was one 
 hundred and twenty- seven, on none of which was there either 
 shoe or stocking. After praying with them, and giving them my 
 blessing, I resumed my car." 
 
 The third school was formed at a place called the Diamond, 
 between Coleraine and Garvagh. " We did not anive," says Dr. 
 Clarke, describing the event, ''till nearly an hour after the 
 appointed time ; and then several cliildren and their parents, sup- 
 posing that we should not come, had returned home. However, 
 about four-score children remained, most of them accompanied 
 by their mothers ; and to them I delivered an address of about 
 half-an-hour long. We left the master beginning the work of 
 arrangement. I commended them to God, and returned to Cole- 
 raine. At this Diamond school, there is reason to believe that 
 there will be two hundred children." 
 
 The fourth school was formed near Tobercarr. Of the forma- 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OK 
 
 tion of tliis, Dr. Clarke gives a particularly affecting account : — 
 " In the present case, the fathers, as well as the mothers, and 
 many of the surrounding neighbours, accompanied the childi'en. 
 As they could see us on our distant approach, expectation was 
 kept up. I had the schoolmaster with me. He is a decent young 
 man, of good appearance and rather genteel manners, and well 
 educated for the purpose ; for I have not employed one rustic in 
 this business. We proceeded to the house ; but I at once per- 
 ceived it would be of no use to attempt to enter. What could I 
 do ? Though the day was fair, yet there was a keen north-east 
 wind. I could not ask God to change its direction, or moderate 
 its influence ; but I could ask him to strengthen me to bear it : 
 so I immediately proclaimed an adjournment to the field ; took 
 the advantage of a stone fence, behind which there was a thorn 
 hedge, and told the cliildren to come all as close to me as they 
 could. I made the girls take one side, and the boys the other, 
 and the parents and neighbours to fonn the outer part of the 
 semicircle, enclosing the children ; and all facing me. Then, for 
 about fifty minutes, I poured out my heart with what knowledge 
 I had necessary for the subject ; and I was hstened to with such 
 attention, especially on the pan of the cliildi^en, as I never before 
 witnessed. Not a child took its eye off me the whole of the 
 time I was speaking ; and any person, from the appearance of 
 their faces, and the working of their Httle muscles, and alternate 
 glance, and condensed look of their eyes, would assert that they 
 perfectly understood everything that was said. I gave the 
 teacher a charge before them, relative to the moral education of 
 the children ; and the parents and people a charge, relative to 
 that kindness and respect with which they should treat him ; 
 during which, poor feUow I he was quite overcome. \Mien I 
 had done, I proceeded to admit the children, the issue of which 
 was one hundred and eight, fi'om five to seventeen years of age, 
 several of the latter, and nearly an equal proportion of both sexes ! 
 The sight affected me not a Httle ; and now, while recollectiag 
 the scene, my heart affects my eye, and the fountaias of my 
 head are broken up." 
 
 From obseiTing a want of order and cleanliness in the domes- 
 tic and other arrangements of the Iiish poor. Dr. Clai^ke resolved 
 to endeavour to estabhsh some female schools under female 
 superintendence ; but he had no opportunity of achieving this 
 benevolent design. 
 
 Thus had Dr. Clarke estabhshed six schools for the benefit of 
 his vouthful and destitute fellow-counti-jTuen. Four of them 
 were in the county of Antrim, and two in that of Londondeny. 
 But thev were all within the limits of the Coleraine (Methodist; 
 circuit, and, consequently, in those very parts in which the 
 
DR. ADAM CT.AllKE 
 
 291 
 
 founder first exercisod liis gifts as a preaclier. The names of 
 the places where the schools were fixed, ai-e, Diamond, Portrush, 
 Prolisk, Billy, Lyssau, and Cashel. The superintendent preacher 
 of the circuit was also superintendent of the schools ; and the 
 masters, as local preachers, were subject to his official authority. 
 
 Dr. Clarke suffered much from fatigue, which was increased 
 by the badness of the roads, and the incommodious construction 
 of the jaunting-cars. It is evident, from many portions of his 
 journal, that he had begun to feel the premonitions of bodily 
 decay. In one place, indeed, he observes, " I feel like Samson, 
 slaying more towards my death than I did in my life ; and yet I 
 have no presentiment that I am about to go the way of all flesh;" 
 but, only three days later, we find him saying, I feel that I am 
 in a poor state of health ; I have travelled too much, and 
 laboured too hard ; and, though my spirit was equal to both, my 
 body has failed in all." And, again, " Being almost worn out 
 with continual travelHng and labour, and being in indifferent 
 health, I purpose to spend this day in the sea-breezes ; but I 
 feel that one day can advantage me but httle. I must have rest; 
 and, in order to this, I must retire from the scene of labour. 
 My youthful days were spent in labour ; my manhood in hard 
 and incessant toil ; and now my old age is consuming fast away 
 in travail and care ; and, where care is unavoidably crowned by 
 anxiety, the taper of life must soon sink in its socket. An 
 active mind will ever say, ' Better wear out than rust out ;' but 
 there is a difference between wear out and giind out. The one 
 implies regular, though continual, labour; the other, extra 
 employment and violent exercise. When I look back upon my 
 threescore and ten years, I must say, I find little wearing. All 
 has been grinding with me : strong attrition has acted on every 
 part ; and my candle has been lighted at both ends. Under the 
 blessing of God, I have been the former of my own fortune. I 
 have never been importunate for wealth or favour : I have not 
 been troublesome to any : I have not eaten my bread for nought ; 
 nor have I eaten my morsel alone. Often have the necessities 
 of others fallen upon me ; and strangely has God supported me 
 under them. The Lord knoweth the way that I take ; and, when 
 he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Only speak Thou 
 the word, and thy servant shall five !" 
 
 The following begins in the same strain, but ends in a differ- 
 ent key : — Formerly, I could bear much cold in my head; but 
 now a very little affects me. I could ill preach out of doors now, 
 though, the last time I was officially in Ireland, I preached often 
 abroad, and, in one week, not fewer than four times ; but, though 
 my head, through old age, has lost much of its once thick cover- 
 ing, vet I am thankful to God, that I am thus far saved from the 
 
 u2 
 
2d2 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 necessity of submitting to (shall I call it?) the disgrace of 
 ladies and gentlemen, the false covering of human hair, whether 
 plucked from the peaceful dead, — exhumed by the fell resun'ec- 
 tion-men, — cropped fi'om the skull of the robber on the liigh 
 seas, who has been gibbeted for the ten'or of liis country, — 
 shorn from the head of the murden-er, lately hanged, and whose 
 body has been dehvered to the surgeons, — or chpped, by the 
 field-plunderer, fi'om the heads of the French, Austrians, Hes- 
 sians, Eussians, Turks, and infidels ; for, in hair obtained from 
 all such skulls, do the ladies of England and Ireland, as well as 
 the gentlemen of both countries, dress their heads. Do the 
 ladies ever reflect whence their wigs come ? Wlien I was a little 
 boy, in the last century, all wore their own hair, of whatever 
 hue ; and, to all, that hair was an ornament." 
 
 On the same subject, Dr. Clarke elsewhere thus expresses 
 himself: — " No female head ever looks so well as when adorned 
 with its own hair alone. This is the ornament appointed by God. 
 To cut it ofi", or to cover it, is an imnatural practice ; and to 
 exchange the hair which God has given for' hair of some other 
 colour, is an insult to the Creator. How the dehcacy of the 
 female character can stoop to the use of false hair, and especially 
 when it is considered that the chief part of this kind of hair was 
 once the natural property of some ruffian soldier who fell in 
 battle by many a ghastly wound, is more than I can possibly 
 comprehend." 
 
 We may judge how unfit an aged man, hke Dr. Clarke, was to 
 cope with the difiiculties of such an undertaking as that in which 
 he was engaged, from such incidents as the following : — " In 
 some places, the road was nearly impassable ; and, as at length 
 the strength both of man and horses began to fail, we were 
 obhged to stop on" the open road, without any kind of shelter, 
 to eat some almost stone-hard ship-biscuit and some eggs, that 
 we had brought with us, boiled as far as the action of fire and 
 water could reach." 
 
 In another of these comfortless excursions, he was exposed to 
 danger from an accident, but was mercifully preseiTcd : — " We 
 had strangely broken our l)Tich-pin ; and the wheel flew ofi" : so 
 we were aU neatly ejected on the road. The wheel, when clear 
 of the axle, fell against the side of the car. My back came in 
 contact with it, and, by the force, turned the wheel over upon 
 the road. My clothes were, however, more injured than my 
 flesh, though it did not entirely escape." 
 
 He hkewise sufiered from an attack of liis old spasmodic com- 
 plaint, which, however, was of short duration. After spending 
 two months in the labours wliich we have briefly described, Dr. 
 Clarke returned to Haydon-hall. But he had no sooner anived, 
 
DR. ADAM CLARK K. 
 
 293 
 
 than he found that the jealousy of the Wesleyan Missionary 
 Committee was excited. To such an extent had they allowed 
 this feeling to mislead them, that they actually passed the fol- 
 lowing resolution, dated June 8, 1831 : — " It having been stated, 
 that Dr. Clarke has established schools in Ireland, and is making 
 applications for their support to various friends, the committee 
 cannot but regret, that, as schools in Ireland are earned on under 
 its direction, and may at any time be extended by the increase 
 of its funds, a separate application should be made to our fiiends 
 for the support of sepsirate mission schools in that countiy, 
 ■without any authority or consultation. They, therefore, request 
 the Conference to consider the case, and advise accordingly." 
 
 The committee, however, had no cause to complain. Their 
 agent was applied to, to know whether they would establish any 
 other schools at places wliich were specified, and where the ne- 
 cessity was most pressing ; and he answered, that " they would 
 not; for they had already consigned to the mission work in 
 Ireland, its fair proportion of what was contributed to the mission 
 work in general." Till this declaration was made. Dr. Clarke did 
 not take a single step. Again, he estabhshed no separate mission 
 schools. His were mere charity-schools, for the support of 
 which, while they lasted, he made himself responsible, the whole 
 six being established in those districts, where, in his youth, he 
 went from village to village, testifying tlie Gospel of the gi*ace of 
 God. And, so far from going about to make application to 
 " their friends to support these schools," he had not gone to one 
 of them. In point of fact, Dr. Clarke had studiously avoided 
 applying to the supporters of the Methodist missions. Besides, 
 the teachers in Dr. Clarke's schools were not missionaries, but 
 local preachers, and, as such, subject to the superintendent of 
 that circuit in which they laboured. 
 
 That there was no just cause of complaint, appears most 
 clearly from a letter addressed by Dr. Clarke to the Hon. Sophia 
 Ward, one of the contributors : — 
 
 " Now, as to the proposed help, for the Irish schools, on which 
 you are pleased to consult me, I would just say, having first 
 most gratefully thanked you for your noble donation of ^100 
 towards them, that, 'in and fr'om the beginning, we proposed 
 to estabhsh schools where literally none of the chaiitable 
 societies — Hibernian, Baptist, Kildare-Place, or Methodist mis- 
 sions — had made any attempt, or, as far as we could learn, 
 were intending to make any, in the places which I have already 
 selected, and which I have known for threescore years, and in 
 which I ministered at an early period of my life. In six of such 
 desolate places, we have, with God's especial blessing, estabhshed 
 schools, containing about seven hundred childien ; and we have 
 
•294 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Christian teachers well quahfied to instruct the childi-en, and 
 teach their parents the way of salvation. These, then, are addi- 
 tions to what has been done by others : for these additions I have 
 spoken with gTeat caution and delicacy, so much so as not to have 
 made any general application for funds, and in every case refused 
 to take anything which was accustomed to have been given to 
 other charities. I knew the Methodists were doing all they could ; 
 but still many places must have been passed by for want of funds 
 and other help ; and I was detennined not to take one penny for 
 our schools wliich would have been given to them ; and I would, 
 my dear Madam, say, with all gratitude, that, if you had destined 
 any of that money which you have now kindly given to our 
 desolate ones, why then, in God's name, let it go to its first des- 
 tination ; for you know, it is an essential principle in our schools, 
 that they shall be supplementary to all others — that both they, 
 and the sources of their support, shall be all supplementar}^ : 
 very careful have I been in this respect, lest there should be any 
 cause of jealousy in this good work ; and I have been glad when 
 any subscription has been given me, that I might carry it espe- 
 cially to the Methodist mission- schools ; and would you believe 
 it, dear Madam, that in all the work I have been doing, and in 
 all I am planning, I have but three persons who give me any- 
 thing towards this work ; and one of them is the Hon. Miss 
 Sophia Ward I" 
 
 This petty jealousy, as Dr. Clarke remarked, " deserved no 
 notice from him." Nevertheless, out of respect to the late Dr. 
 Townley, by whom, as the secretary, tlie resolution was signed, 
 he addressed to liim the following temperate, but severe, rebuke : 
 — If, before you had so strangely undertaken to direct ' the 
 Conference to advise you ' what to do to or with me, for having 
 ' established separate mission schools in Ireland, and made appli- 
 cation to several of our friends for their support,' you had taken 
 any pains to inquire as to the facts you have stated, you would 
 never have formed the resolution you have just sent to me. 
 Your whole foundation is either perfectly false or misconceived ; 
 and you would have seen, that, far from having cause of ' regTet,' 
 you would have found that you had cause to thank God, that 
 your long- tried, faithful old servant was not yet dead, but was, 
 with a Methodist heart, doing a Methodist work, to God's gloiy, 
 and the good of those for whom, in your official capacity, you 
 also labour." 
 
 On a subsequent occasion, Dr. Clarke evinced his readiness to 
 forgive tliis injury, but Avithout any compromise. In 1832, he 
 was officially applied to by the President and the Wesleyan Mis- 
 sionary Secretaries, to take a part in the anniversary sei*vices of 
 the Society, on which he remarks, in a letter to one of the mem- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 295 
 
 bers of his family, " I wish to do them any kindness in my power, 
 notwithstanding their ' Resolution ' about my poor Irish schools ; 
 and, though engaged both to Birmingham and SheflPield at that 
 time, I have written to both, to put it off a week later, in order 
 to meet the wishes of the committee. As to the opposition to 
 the schools themselves, I saw some persons who, through the 
 fear of man, drew back from their open support of them ; and 
 many thought I should have been obliged to give them up : but 
 who, being such a one as I am, ivoidd jiee into the temple to 
 save his life ? To discomfort Adam Clarke in a work which 
 he knows to he good, and which he feels it to he his duty to 
 perform, is no easy task ; to frighten him from it, is still more 
 difficulty 
 
 During the latter part of June and the former part of July, 
 1831, Dr. Clarke was engaged in preaching various occasional 
 sermons in Yorkshire and Lancashire. The degree in which 
 these engagements affected his health, may be estimated from 
 the following extract of a letter, which he addressed (July 9, 
 1831) to a lady, who, with the members of her family, proposed 
 to accompany him to Ireland : — " I have finished my work in 
 Yorkshire. To-morrow, by preaching in Rochdale, I shall have 
 finished my work in Lancashire, except for the charity-schools 
 in Liverpool ; and to them I go next week, please God. I shall 
 then be free of aU engagements ; and I fully purpose never to 
 enter into any more, especially of the exotic kind. I have done 
 enough in tids extra way ; and, at any rate, I intend to do no 
 more. I have long promised myself a blessed out with your 
 family and the good Hobbs ; and, if I go in this way, I will not 
 go bound ; that is, under obhgation to preach here, and there, 
 and yonder, and, as they say on Salisbury Plain, 'over and 
 behither the hill.' When I go out with such responsibilities, I 
 have a continual fear on my spirits, and in my flesh ; and it de- 
 prives me of all comfort ; so that I always return in worse health 
 than I went away. If it please God that I can get out this sea- 
 son, I will go out free, and preach if I can, and when I please. 
 I shall do enough in this way to constitute me the chaplain of 
 the company." 
 
 In another letter, observing that fi'equent preaching was too 
 much for his strength, he says, "As talking, to most people, 
 who have the use of a very fluent tongue, is really no trouble, 
 they think that our preaching is about the same to us ; and, I 
 believe, many think that we might preach all day ; but they do 
 not know, or seem not to think, that we preach for eternity ; and 
 that no other exercise can so exhaust and prostrate both body 
 and mind. For my own part, my length of days tells me that I 
 stand on the verge of eternity. I endeavour to preach as though 
 
290 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 that which I now proclaim were to be the last tones of an old 
 herald's voice." 
 
 About this time we find him addressing birthday congratula- 
 tions to Miss Wilkinson. '* A birthday," he remarks, or more 
 properly the anniversary of a birthday, is generally, both with 
 yoimg and old, a time of festivity and mirth ; and, while these 
 tilings are kept within due bounds, they are certainly not blame- 
 able, to say the least of them ; and the friends that are brought 
 together on such occasions, while they eat their meat with glad- 
 ness and singleness of heart, praise God for the lengthened life 
 of the person whose bu'thday is celebrated ; and honest and 
 earnest prayers are offered up in their eating and drinking, ' that 
 their friend may see many happy returns of the day.' And in 
 cases of this kind, I beUeve sincerer prayers never pass from 
 human hps. These are an acknowledgment that hfe is a bless- 
 ing, and that length of days and social happiness, hke all other 
 good things, come from God ; and the best way to secure such 
 blessings, is, to use them well, and be thankful for them." 
 
 In the month of August, 1831, Dr. Clarke set off with the 
 intention of again visiting his schools in Ireland ;* but, when 
 
 * On the 21st of September, 1831, Dr. Clarke appears to have addressed 
 a long and important letter to the Eight Honourable F. G. (now Lord) 
 Stanley), at that time Secretary of State for Ireland. The subject of this 
 communication Aas the want of education in that country. After a becom- 
 ing preface, the writer thus proceeds : — 
 
 " I feel deeply interested in behalf of the miserable uneducated Irish 
 peasantry ; in general, ' worthy of better fate and better faith :' a peasantiy 
 on whom no pains taken in this way will ever be found to be fruitless. It 
 is not my business to enter into any examination of the causes that have 
 led to the present degraded condition of the Irish ; but, from an intimate 
 knowledge of the people of Ireland, extended through the long space of 
 more than half-a-centuiy, I feel confident to affirm, thjt they who attribute 
 it to a bad or unjust Government, have as little foundation for the assertion, 
 as there is truth or correctness in the details by which they have wished to 
 substantiate their charges. 
 
 " Perhaps it is not saying too much, that I think I know Ireland, and 
 the Irish character, as well as most men in England. But, leaving every 
 other topic, I would simply state, that the principal cause of the miseries 
 of Ireland is the uneducated and uncultivated state of the people ; nor 
 would I intimate, that ' this evil, the parent of thousands of others, is too 
 deep and too inveterate to be remedied, but at the sacrifice of much time 
 and a heavy expense :' for a proper method, pursued, will prevent the loss 
 of time and of all heavy expenditure. 
 
 " The Irish have an aptness to learn, and a :;hirst for knowledge, that, in 
 the degree in which they possess them, seem almost peculiar to themselves. 
 I have been in many countries ; I have had occasion to mix, less or more, 
 with persons in almost all conditions of life ; and I can say, I never found 
 the aptness to learn, and the thirst for knowledge, to be what I might call 
 a national characteristic, but in Ireland. The generation of natural block- 
 heads does not exist in that cuuntiy ; and, were not the above propensities 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 297 
 
 he arrived at Liveqiool, the wreck of the Rothsay Castle, by 
 which more tliau one hundred passengers were lost, and the con- 
 tinuance of tlie storm, made him resolve to defer the voyage, and 
 
 innate, they could not still exist, after havings been so long treated with 
 almost universal neglect. These two points, properly considered, viz., their 
 aptitude to learn, and their thirst for knowledge, we may see at once, that, 
 by proper management, the labour of educating even the whole nation, 
 cannot be Herculean, nor the expense enonnous. 
 
 " Much cash, I grant, has been expended, and especially of late, in 
 diffusing education in Ireland ; and, no doubt, considerable good has been 
 done. iBut I am led to think, that there have been generally a want of 
 judgment in the application of the funds, and great delects in the plans of 
 education. I refer to no institution in particular. There has been edu- 
 cation without cultivation. It is certainly a great thing to teach a child, 
 wholly illiterate, to know the alphabet, and to be able to read ; and, in re- 
 ference to Irish children, this is not difficult ; but to cultivate the mind is a 
 widely different matter, and is of the greatest importance. 
 
 " I am afraid, in the present mode of educating the poor, there is scarcely 
 any well-directed attempt made to cultivate any mental power, the memory 
 excepted; and, in exhibitions, reports, and public examinations, it is repre- 
 sented as a matter of great importance, when a child can be produced that 
 can say several chapters, perhaps whole books, of the sacred Scriptures, by 
 heart ; while, T need not say, he is ignorant of the grand points described 
 in those chapters or books ; for this the contrary is not expected. But, while 
 he is left unconscious of the grand ends of education, he is ignorant of his 
 mind, and knows little or nothing of its use. He is not taught how he is to 
 think, and how he is to feel ; nor the use of his thinking and feeling, in re- 
 ference to the government of his conduct through life, so as to reap profit 
 himself, and be pleasing and profitable to others. But all this is supposed 
 to be above the reach of children. My own experience teaches me the 
 contraiy. I know it is quite possible to convey mental cultivation to a 
 considerable extent, with what is generally teraied education, or teaching 
 children to read and write. I have demonstrated the possibility of teaching 
 a child the elements of geometry, in teaching him the knowledge of his 
 alphabet ; In the present day, deep instruction is scarcely aimed at : our 
 plans are now all mechanical, and the education resulting from them is the 
 same. Memory is sufficiently exercised, while mind is neglected and left 
 uncultivated. In consequence, all is outside, all is superficial, and all in- 
 efficient." 
 
 Here follows the account of Dr. Clarke's Irish schools. 
 
 " Domestic life, among the common people, is never likely to be pros- 
 perous and happy, unless the female part of society receive some suitable 
 education. The females in Ireland have been most pitifully neglected. 
 Reading, and suchlike, may be taught in a mixed school ; but the educa- 
 tion proper for the female peasant must be given in a girls' school, by a 
 humane and intelligent female. If this be neglected, we begin at the 
 wrong end. Ireland will not be happy, will not be in any respect what it 
 should be and what it may be, till its female peasantiy be educated in a 
 proper way ; and, this being for a time done by charity, it will produce a 
 plant that will be perennial, and not need to be afterwards cultivated by a 
 foreign hand. In general, there is a sad deficiency among the peasantry, 
 in a variety of things essentially necessary to domestic happiness and pros- 
 perity. Multitudes have little or no knowledge of order and method, of 
 economy and industry, of frugality and cleanliness, of strict honesty, and 
 
298 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 to return immediately to Mrs. Clarke, lest she should have heard 
 of the distressing accident, and have begun to entertain fears for 
 her husband's safety. 
 
 the sacred nature and obhgations of truth. All these may be successfully 
 taught to children ; for God will ever give his blessing, when the proper 
 means are used ; and, as one of the ancients has said, ' 'SVhere he teaches, 
 there is no delay in learning.' 
 
 " In a word, my great object in these schools is, besides inculcating the 
 fear of God, to teach reading, writing ; what may be necessary, in certain 
 cases, in arithmetic ; to cultivate the minds of the children ; to teach them 
 decent manners; to remove, as far as possible (and much, even in this, is 
 possible), the numerous odds and ends which hang about, encumber, and 
 perplex, the Irish mind ; to teach them order and method, cleanliness, 
 industry, punctuality, economy, and honesty ; and it is truly astonishing 
 what success I have had already, even in so short a time, by inculcating 
 these things. But, oh ! Sir, we want such schools extended and multiplied. 
 We want female schools. I have hinted already, that, on the proper culti- 
 vation of the female peasantry, the prosperity of the community greatly 
 depends. The Irish female, properly instructed, will delight to teach her 
 children, make the best of her circumstances, and the most of those portions 
 of life's necessaries which Divine Providence may grant ; cultivate con- 
 tentment, and conduct her affairs with prudence and discretion. What a 
 blessing to Ireland would such institutions be ! Sir, dull as I am, I could 
 almost be eloquent in pointing out the bright and beneficent results of such 
 plans and exertions. I love Ireland, and feel for its happiness ; and I 
 know, from what you have said on the general subject in the House of 
 Commons, that Ireland has a strong hold on the best feelings of your 
 generous nature. I have done what I could : my means are very limited ; 
 but I have the confidence of the people in general, perhaps more than 
 many. I have counsel and experience. I am willing, and, in a good 
 measure, able, to labour. I trust. Sir, you will lend a favourable ear to my 
 representations and suggestions, relative to that miserable people. 
 
 Believe me, youth ; for I am versed in cares. 
 And bear the load of more than seventy years. 
 
 I have shown what may be done on a well-directed plan, at comparatively 
 small expense ; but it is an expense which should be furnished by the 
 nation. I have tried and realised that plan of which I have taken the 
 liberty. Sir, to give you a hasty and imperfect outline. I leave it with you ; 
 and may the Author of mind and of mercy direct you into those measures, 
 which, by his continual blessing and influence, shall be productive of gloiy 
 to him in the highest, of peace and goodwill among the people, of safety 
 to his Majesty's Government, and of the endless credit and honour of 
 yourself and family !" 
 
299 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Conference of 1831 appoints Dr. Clarke a Supernumerary against his 
 Will — Suppression of his Remonstrances hy the Rev. George Marsden — 
 His Feelings under the Wrong — He is weanf of preaching Collection Ser- 
 mons — He is invited to the United States — Letter from the Rev. Mr. Case 
 on Dr. Clarke's Biblical Labours — Letter to the Rev. T. Smith — Retro- 
 spect of Public Affairs — Dr. Clarke is overturned in the Windsor Coach — 
 Is summoned to the Death-bed of Mr. R. Scott, of Pensford — Receives 
 Mr. Scott's last Cheque for Shetland — His Account of that Gentleman's 
 Death — His admirable Letter to the Duke of Sussex on Occasion of 
 H.R.H.'s Birthday — The Invitation to the United States repeated offi- 
 cially — Dr. Clarke's Letter declining it — He visits H.R.H. the Duke of 
 Sussex — His hopeful Opinion of the improved State of Society — His fer- 
 vent Appeal on behalf of Missions — His last Missionary Speech — Unrea- 
 sonable Demands upon his declining Strength — His Feelings concerning the 
 demolished Chapels in Jamaica — He visits Ireland — His Illness there — 
 His Opinion of a Poor-Law for Ireland — Of the English Poor-Laws — 
 He is importuned by the Rev. Jabez Bunting to attend the Liverpool Con- 
 ference — Prevalence of the Cholera — State of Dr. Clarke's Irish Schools — 
 Decay of his Strength — His Views of Life — His Preaching — He goes to 
 the Liverpool Conference — His Conduct in Conference — He delivers over 
 his Irish Schools and the Shetland Mission to Conference — 7s indisposed — 
 Is honoured by his Brethren — Is set doum as Supernumerary for Windsor 
 with " a roving Commission " — His last Sermon before his Brethren — 
 Remarkable Contributions to Albums — Influence of Methodist Doctrines 
 on the Duration of Methodism — Dr. Clarke visits his Son Joseph at 
 Frome — His Son's Account of their Meetiny — Symptoms of old Age 
 — Dr. Clarke blesses his Son and his Son's Wife — His Son's Account 
 of his Speech at a Clerical Society in Frome — His own Account of the 
 Meeting — Preaches for the Society — Singular Analysi^of the Collection 
 — Dr. Clarke goes to Weston with his Son and Family — His Feelings 
 towards Methodism — His Opinion of the Irvingites — Final Parting of 
 the Father and Son — Dr. Clarke's last Sermon — Evil Tidings from 
 Shetland — Dr. Clarke leaves Bath for London — Arrives at Mr. Hobbs's^ 
 Bayswater — Visits his Sons and Daughters — Arrives at Home — His 
 Presentiment of approaching Death — Goes to Mr. Hobbs's, Bayswater, 
 to preach — Is attacked with Symptoms of Indisposition — Grows worse 
 — Desires to return Home — Finds this impossible — Medical Advice called 
 in — The Disease pronounced to be Cholera — Medicine fruitless — Mr. 
 Thurston fetches Mrs. Clarke — Fallacious Hopes — Death — Burial — 
 Proposed Monument to Dr. Clarke's Memory. 
 
 As the period for holding the Conference of 1831 approached, 
 the members in Hinde-street circuit, in which Dr. Clarke was 
 stationed, wished to retain his ministerial services for a longer 
 time than comported with the regulations. Had Dr. Clarke 
 yielded to their kind wishes, he must have become a " supernu- 
 merary." To this he strongly objected, often expressing his 
 
300 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 desire, that it might please God that he should " cease at once to 
 work and live." During the sittings of the Stationing Commit- 
 tee, whose ofl&ce it is to an'ange the appointments of the itinerant 
 preachers, subject to the decision of the Conference, the follow- 
 ing letter on this subject was written to Dr. Clarke by the 
 Rev. George Marsden : — 
 
 "Bristol, July 20, 1831. 
 
 " Dear Brother, 
 
 The friends in the Hinde-street circuit, have sent a strong 
 request for you to be put down for their circuit, stating that they 
 have reason to believe that some arrangement may be made, that 
 they may still be favoured with your valuable ministry. Not 
 having any directions from you respecting your wishes, you are 
 at present appointed as Supernumerary to that circuit. Please 
 to inform me if you wish it to be altered, or what are your par- 
 ticular wishes on the subject of your appointment. 
 
 " I am, dear Brother, 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 "G. MARSDEN." 
 
 To this communication Dr. Clarke replied, in the following 
 remarkable letter : — 
 
 Bay mater, near Lojidon, July 24, 1831. 
 *' My dear brother Marsden, 
 
 "I do not find it easy to answer your letter. All I ever 
 said to my good friends at Hinde-street was this : — ' Were I to 
 become supernumerary this year, I would not prefer any circuit 
 in London to that in which I am.' I am not clear that I should 
 become a supernumerary this year ; but this I must leave with 
 my brethren. I did not go out of my own accord : I dreaded 
 the call, and I obeyed through much fear and trembhng, not 
 daring to refuse, because I felt the hand of God mighty upon 
 me : I knew the case of Jonah, and feared the transactions of 
 Tarshish. I will not therefore set myself down ; for, 
 though I cannot do full work, yet I can do some. I was a local 
 preacher, when called out : I am not called to degi'ade, in oi'der 
 to read for a higher title than that which I have ; and a Levite 
 past labour becomes a counsellor, but never enters into the ranks 
 of the Netliinim ! I had for some years thought of finishing 
 where I began, though that circuit is now divided into four or 
 six ; or in that circuit where the word of the Lord came first to 
 me, and where I found the salvation of God that bought me ! 
 In that circuit I have been endeavouring to raise up circuit 
 schools ; — not Mission schools, as has been reported by those 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 301 
 
 who should have known hetter, hut schools in places where no 
 kind of instruction was afibrded to the many hundreds of totally 
 neglected wretched children, who with their parents were without 
 the words of salvation ; — to help the circuits in those places, and 
 to help the preachers in large districts where they had not half 
 strength to enter doors sufficiently opened. And I have pre- 
 vailed : men full of faith and the Holy Ghost, and who, in their 
 disengaged hours, are put totally under the direction of the 
 superintendent, to he employed when and where he pleases, and 
 who have already heen a sovereign blessing to the places where 
 they are teaching little children, and bringing their parents and 
 neighbours to Christ. If no place is open for me here, (though 
 I might demand, I will not,) / shall rather travel in the keen 
 blasts, over the mountains, hills, a7id hogs of Derry and 
 Antrim, than set myself down as a sajjernumerary in any 
 place in ImmanueVs land, even in its whole length and breadth, 
 at least for the present year. 
 
 Hitherto, these schools and local preachers have not cost 
 one farthing to any fund or institution among the Methodists ; 
 nor ever shall, while I have anything to do with them. I hope, 
 from the kindness, not of ' our friends,' but of my friends, 
 to be able to put something in the hands of the Conference to 
 help these schools, when my voice can be heard no more on the 
 mountains of Ireland ; and, when my plans are ripe, I shall get 
 the Conference to appoint those for trustees in whom they have 
 confidence, and who will be faithful in God's house. So much 
 is my strength brought down by my three or four months' 
 labour in Ireland, and also in different parts in England, besides 
 Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, that I do not think I could 
 comfortably, or without further injury to my health, bear the 
 confinement of Conference this year. 
 
 " I am, my dear brother M., 
 
 " Yours afiectionately, 
 
 "ADAM CLAKKE." 
 
 Notwithstanding Dr. Clarke had thus strongly and clearly 
 indicated his wish, and that long before the time for concluding 
 the Stations had arrived, the Conference was advised to exercise 
 the power implied in the words, " But this I must leave with my 
 brethren," by confirming his appointment as supernumerary ! 
 
 At the Conference of 1832, the subject of this appointment was 
 brought under discussion by the Rev. Dr. Joseph Beaumont. " I 
 was filled," observes that gentleman, " with the conviction, that it 
 was my duty to go to Liverpool, to discharge what I felt a debt 
 to Dr. Clarke and the Methodist Connexion. Down to the last 
 day of my existence, I must look back upon the motives that 
 
302 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 prompted me, with the approbation of my mind." From these 
 words it may be inferred, that Dr. Beaumont went to explain that 
 Dr. Clarke's wishes had been disregarded. It appeared, that Mr. 
 Marsden the President had suppressed the remonstrant letters 
 of Dr. Clarke, which, being addressed to him in his official capa- 
 city, were of course intended to be laid before the Conference. 
 
 Though Dr. Clai'ke felt that he had been wounded in the house 
 of liis friend, yet he submitted to the treatment with no common 
 forbearance, as a letter to Mr. Lewis sufficiently evinces : — " I 
 feel that I have been ill-used in that work w^hich God called me 
 to, and which Mr. Wesley, with his own hands, confirmed me in, 
 by their setting me down for a supernumerary against remon- 
 strances made to the President liimself, Mr. G. Marsden. When 
 I found how it was, -^dthout opening the paper containing the 
 usual annuity given to the superannuated preachers, on their 
 becoming such, / returned it immediately, and told Mr. Stan- 
 ley not to enter my name on the next irreachers plan. Though, 
 therefore, I conceive I have no appointment (indeed, a supernu- 
 merary properly has none), I go preacliing about wherever they 
 call me to work for their charities. You see, therefore, that, 
 though I am hurt, I have not taken that offence which causes 
 me to stumble. My time is nearly done. I have worked hard, 
 borne many privations, and suffered much hardsliip, for more than 
 half-a-century, and was still wiUing to work ; and, as I could still 
 work with the same energy and effect (for God continued to own 
 my word) , it was not well to throw me thus far beyond the work- 
 ing pale ! God is righteous, and my soul bows before him !" 
 
 As Dr. Clarke here intimates, he now rarely preached any 
 other than " occasional sermons ;" and, in the vestry, after ser- 
 vice, he generally encountered some deputation or other, from a 
 chapel in distress, or some school, or other charity, pleading for 
 a sermon from him to assist its funds. He would sometimes 
 remark, " I am really tired and ashamed of this constant system 
 of begging : it taxes heavily many of my friends, who will follow 
 me from chapel to chapel ; and I have now rarely the oppor- 
 tunity of preaching the word of life, free, without the pei^etual 
 horse-leech cry, ' Give ! give I' " 
 
 To a letter from an eminent minister of the American Metho- 
 dist Episcopal Church, imdting him to the United States, Dr. 
 Clarke returned the following characteristic answer : — 
 
 Hay don-hall, V inner, Middlesex, 
 October Sth, 1831. 
 
 " Kev. and Dear Sir, 
 
 " You inquire about my going over to America, and ask, 
 ' Is it yet too late ?' That depends on the quantum of life that 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE 
 
 303 
 
 God may have allotted me. I shall have the tvill ; and, though 
 bearing the load of more than seventy years, yet I would not 
 shrink from the task. I have made, twice, a more difficult 
 voyage. I have, for the sake of my Lord and Master, and for 
 the sake of the souls he has bought, gone into the dangerous 
 North seas, not in the very best time ; and, during my last voyage, 
 I circumnavigated the whole of the Zetland group, into the 
 Greenland seas ; and many who know both that and the Atlantic, 
 would consider the latter as a steam- vessel canal trip, when com- 
 pared with the former. In those seas, I have seen Him 
 
 ' Take up the ruffian billows by the top, 
 
 Curhng their monstrous heads, and hanging them 
 
 With deafening clamours on the slippery rocks ;' 
 
 while the monsters of the deep sported in the surges, and played 
 around our w^eather-beaten bark. A man who was once drowned, 
 once cast away, and often in dangers by sea ^d land, is seldom 
 found to be coward, dreading a bucket of water, or fearing a 
 capful of w4nd. Should God, with any rational evidence, open 
 the way, and say, even in the gentlest whisper, ' Adam, go !' I 
 think I could say, ' I come, Lord : te duce, iho! 
 
 '"Please to give my love to Mrs. E. and your colleague, and 
 assure your Connexion of my heartiest well-wishes. 
 
 " I am, reverend and dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 "ADAM CLARKE." 
 
 Of the value set by the brethren of Dr. Clarke individually, 
 not in this country only, but in America (where, by the way, 
 prejudice had not begun to work against him), upon his biblical 
 and other hterar}" labours, we may furnish a pleasing instance, 
 without departing from the chronological order of the facts of his 
 life. In the year 1831, he received a letter from Mr. Case, who, 
 till the junction of the British and Canadian Conferences, was the 
 General Supeiintendent of the Wesleyan Missions in Upper 
 Canada. The object of that letter w^as to introduce to his notice, 
 and recommend to his protection, the converted Indian chief, 
 whose Christian name, Peter Jones, it is much more convenient 
 to use, in speaking of him at least, than his native designation, 
 Kahkewaquonaby. This interesting stranger remained in Eng- 
 land a year, where he excited much attention by the simple 
 eloquence which distinguished his discourses, and then returned 
 to his own people to pubhsh, with increased light and zeal, 
 the wonderful works of God. "Although unknown to you 
 personally," writes Mr. Case, " yet, through the medium of 
 your excellent writings, I have, on my part, contracted a friend- 
 
304 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 ship as strong and endeaiing as is generally produced by social 
 and brotherly intercourse. Through these, many of my doubts 
 have been removed, my faith strengthened, and my understand- 
 ing guided ; yea, my heart has often been made glad in seeing 
 so clearly unfolded, the immeasurable love of God, and the riches 
 of gi'ace in Christ Jesus. These benefits I have received in 
 common with my younger brethren in the ministry in this 
 province, and who are now, in the providence and gi'ace of God, 
 in some measure under my care. And I take this opportunity, 
 for myself and for them, to convey to you the gratitude which 
 I know they feel, for the helps you have provided towards the 
 right understanding of the pure Gospel and word of God." 
 
 At the close of the year 1831, Dr. Clarke took the following 
 serious view of public aifairs in a letter to his old correspondent, 
 Mr. Smith, of Kotherham : — 
 
 ''The year 1831, which is now closing, has been to me the 
 most eventful and the most trying of my hfe ; without, fight- 
 ings, and within, fears, often unmingled with hopes. Yet, in the 
 whole of its course, you have been present to my mind, and the 
 welfare of yourself, your family, and your flock, have been the 
 root and blossom of many a fervent desire. It seems that the 
 agitation, which is universal in the world, in relation to secular 
 and poHtical aff*airs, is only an external manifestation of that 
 inward and personal agitation, by wliich all individuals, of all 
 society, whether reHgious or social, have been exercised. Dan- 
 ger, want, discontent, disease, disappointment, evil and foolish 
 surmisings, cruelty, and oppression, have each got a separate 
 personification, and with a fulness of purpose, and a fearful 
 exertion of power, have pervaded all ranks, and are continuous 
 in their exertions to confound, and ultimately destroy, all that is 
 civil, social, and religious. I might have included murder in the 
 above list ; for such a tissue of domestic murders in a state, 
 which, we might say, was more than civilized, has not so exten- 
 sively stained the pages of any history. Vice, crime, and misery 
 increase, and genuine sober and practical religion does not, in 
 my opinion, to use an American term, progress. If, through 
 mercy, we cannot yet say, ' Abroad the sword devoureth,' we are 
 obliged to acknowledge, ' at home there is death' — our own 
 country is far from being settled ; and, as for Ireland, I think 
 there is every appearance either of a successful rebellion, or the 
 extirpation of its inhabitants. A few men have frenzied the 
 pubhc mind, have the public conscience in keeping, and are 
 incessant in instigating the people, in their aggregate body of 
 milhons, to every deed of darkness. Our nobility, proh dolor ! 
 have ceased to be wise, and our hierarchy seem to have com- 
 mitted a felo-de-se ; and, when the foundations are destroyed, 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 305 
 
 what can the righteous do ! Yet all may end well, if ' God rides 
 on the whirlwind, and directs this storm.' What wretched work 
 against all rehgion and common sense at a famous chapel in 
 London ! Oh, what is man, when God throws the reins of 
 rational and religious restraint on the neck of his imagination ! 
 But that is only a slight symptom of the diseased state of general 
 feehng." 
 
 Dr. Clarke having been called to attend the death-bed of his 
 friend and bookseller, Mr. WiUiam Baynes, which occurred in 
 January, 1832, the coach in which he returned to Haydon-hall 
 was overturned. " Three persons," he relates, " were on the 
 top of me. I was only bruised a httle on my right shoulder ; 
 but sadly trampled on while I lay in the coach, and then had to 
 stand about an hour in the rain from above and the mud below, 
 before I could get away. I then took my bag, and walked over 
 the hill to Harrow, knocked at a house, but was refused admit- 
 tance, though I gave my name. Tliis horrible 'burking' business 
 makes every one afraid of being murdered. I proceeded on foot 
 to Pinner ; and, when I got there, I was so poorly, that the peo- 
 ple of the inn treated me with much kindness ; and the master 
 yoked his gig, put me in, and himself drove me home." 
 
 But the next day he was again called to the house of mourn- 
 ing by Mr. Kobert Scott, of Pensford, near Bristol, who wished 
 to see him before he died. Dr. Clarke immediately obeyed the 
 call. ''Yesterday," he wrote to a friend, after he had been 
 several days in attendance, " he [Mr. Scott] did the last act, 
 I think, of hfe. He had been accustomed to give his ^6100 at 
 two instalments, and, generally, when he came to town to receive 
 his dividends. He recollected that one was just now due, but 
 doubted whether he should be able to sign the cheque. He said, 
 I want to give Dr. Clarke my last cheque, for the great work of 
 God in Shetland.' Mrs. Scott immediately filled up the body of 
 the cheque for £60 ; so that he had nothing to do but sign it. 
 Many times did he attempt this ; but his right hand had lost its 
 cunning. I wished him to cease his efforts. He would not : 
 he got his pen on the paper, and made something like his name, 
 but in the wrong place : he saw it, and said, ' I must write 
 another.' Mrs. Scott filled another cheque, and he began anew ; 
 and I am satisfied he was a whole hour in his attempt to sign 
 this. At last, he made sometliing like ' Robert Scott,' which 
 was barely legible. When he found he had succeeded, he spoke, 
 as well as he could, these remarkable words : — ' Here, Dr. 
 Clarke, here is my last act ; and this is for the work of God in 
 Shetland. I send it to Heaven for acceptance; and the in- 
 habitants will see, from the writing, that I shall be soon after.' " 
 At the close of another letter on the same subject. Dr. Clarke 
 
 X 
 
300 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 observes, " I am learning several lessons of wisdom ; and, among 
 the rest, I am leaiTiing from him before me how to die." 
 
 Of the death of Mr. Scott, Dr. Clarke gave the following 
 account in a letter to his wife : — *' At half-past ten this evening, 
 Mr. Scott changed mortahty for life. Such a death I never 
 witnessed. We had prayed to God to give him an easy 
 passage ; and we did not pray in vain : for he had one of 
 the most placid and easiest I have ever heard of or seen. His 
 wife, and several of the relatives, and myself, were kneeling 
 around his bed. I offered the departing prayer; and, after 
 it, had just time to rise from my knees, go to him, and pro- 
 nounce the blessing of Aaron on the Israehtes, * The Lord bless 
 tliee and keep thee : the Lord make liis face shine upon thee, 
 and be gracious unto thee : the Lord hft up his countenance 
 upon thee, and give thee peace,' when liis last breath went forth ! 
 Thus, in the eighty-fifth year of liis age, died this undeviating 
 fiiend of Shetland.* I would not have missed tliis sight for 
 a gTeat deal. I seem to have come hither in order to leam 
 to die." 
 
 Wlien Dr. Clarke had committed the remains of liis venerable 
 friend to the tomb, but before he left Pensford, he addressed a 
 congi'atulatory letter to the Duke of Sussex, on the anniversary 
 of his Koyal Highness's biithday. After a comphmentary intro- 
 duction, he expresses the following just and noble sentiments : — 
 " In the eventful year which is now closed, the voice of your 
 Eoyal Highness has been hfted up in its native, as well as in its 
 well- cultivated, energetic eloquence, to recommend, vindicate, 
 and support, the soundest and most beneficent measures for the 
 safety and welfai'e of the state. Your Eoyal Higlmess has the 
 happiness to see that your exertions have not been in vain, and 
 that you flourish in a better world than that into whicli you were 
 born ; and others witness, that yoiu' Eoyal Highness's share in 
 promoting this general amehoration, is as large as your exertions 
 liave been marked, indefatigable, and decisive. On the last 
 anniversary of your Eoyal Higlmess's birthday, I was led to 
 
 * From the commencement of the mission in 1822 to 1829, Mr. Scott 
 had contributed towards the support of the missionaries, the building of 
 chapels, furnishing, and houses for the preachers, upwards of £1,200. At 
 his death he left £3,000 to the Shetland Mission in the three-and-half per 
 cents., besides the following benefactions to other charities : — £1,000, 
 General Weslevan Missions ; £1 ,000, Preachei-s' Annuitant Fund ; £1,000, 
 British and Foreign Bible Society; £300, Naval and Militaiy Bible 
 Society; £200, Strangers' Friend Society in London; £200, Baptist 
 Missions ; £200, Strangers' Friend Society in Bath ; £200, Hibernian 
 Missionary Society; £200, Moravian Missionary Society; £100, Tract 
 Society, Bath ; £1*00, Tract Society, Bristol. Mr! R. Scott's brother John, 
 who died in 1826, left £100 for the Shetland Mission. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 307 
 
 aagur, from the signs of the times, that the period was fast 
 approaching, in which the ^^^sdom and experience of your Royal 
 Highness must be called forth to assist the coimsels and 
 deUberations of the state ; as mighty efforts would be necessaiy 
 to coiTect a system of coiTuption, which, though even super- 
 annuated, was still potent and influential. The time has arrived, 
 the might}^ sti-uggle has commenced : all the outworks of corrup- 
 tion and death have been carried ; and the battle is turned to 
 the gate. May the last and most ruinous blow be dealt by the 
 arm of your Royal Higlmess I I have Hved to see many politi- 
 cal changes in tliis country in the last half century, and almost 
 all for the worse ; but a brighter day seems now to dawn. Your 
 Royal Highness has long swam against the stream of poHtical 
 malversation, and, for a time, apparently studio itiani ; but now 
 you stem the ton-ent, and gain upon the flood. Old as I am, I 
 hope to hve long enough to see the mighty regeneration com- 
 mence its career of general blessedness ; and your Royal High- 
 ness pre-eminently associated with the sovereign of the empire, 
 and king of the people, in the administration of the justice, 
 mercy, and benevolence, of the state : that the people may praise 
 God for the king, and laud him for the prince ; that the tlii'one 
 may for ever be established in righteousness, and your august 
 person in health and happiness, joying, and beholding the order 
 and general welfare." 
 
 On his return to Haydon-hall, he found awaiting liis arrival a 
 letter addressed to him, and signed by order and in behalf of the 
 Board of Managers of the Missionary Society of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church of New York, dated Dec. 23, 1831. Its 
 object was to invite liim to go over to America, to assist them in 
 theii" missionaiy labours, and in their church assembly. Circum- 
 stances prevented him from accepting the invitation ; but he ex- 
 pressed his good wishes for that rising state, and his thanl^s for 
 the honour confen-ed upon him, in the foUowing letter to those 
 gentlemen whose names were subscribed to the invitation : — 
 
 "Feb. 6, 1832. 
 
 " Gentlemen and Rev. Brethren, 
 
 " Having been absent in the West of England for a consi- 
 derable time, your letter did not reach my hand till some weeks 
 after its arrival. Your kind invitation to visit the United States 
 was gratifying to me ; and, had I been apprised of your intention 
 a few months earlier, I should most certainly have endeavoured 
 to have met your wishes, and by doing so, I have no doubt I 
 should have been both gratified and profited. But the warning 
 is too short, and I am engaged so far both to England and Ire- 
 land in behalf of our missionary cause, that I cannot by any 
 
 X 2 
 
308 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 substitute redeem those pledges. I had proposed also to have 
 visited the Zetland Isles, if possible ; but, as I had not pledged 
 myself to this voyage, I could have waived my purpose in favour 
 of America, to \dsit which I have been long waiting for an open- 
 ing of Providence ; I might add, that I should have wished to 
 have had the appointment of our Conference for the voyage. 
 
 " Now, although I feel a measure of regret that I am disap- 
 pointed in this wished-for visit to the American continent, yet I 
 am far from supposing that there -may not be a providential 
 interference in the way. I am, as no doubt you have already 
 learned, an old man, having gone beyond threescore years and 
 ten, and consequently not able to perform the labour of youth. 
 You would naturally expect me to preach much ; and this I 
 could not do. One sermon in the day generally exhausts me ; 
 and I have been obliged to give up all evening preaching, as I 
 found the night air to be pecuharly injurious to my health. My 
 help, therefore, must have been \ery hmited ; and, in many cases, 
 this would have been ver\" unsatisfactory^ to the good people of the 
 United States. This difficulty, I grant, might have been supphed 
 by an able assistant, who might have been inchned to accompany 
 me ; but even this would not have satisfied the eye or ear of 
 curiosity. But, as the journey is now impracticable, these reflec- 
 tions are useless. 
 
 " I respect, I wish well to your State, and I love your church. 
 As far as I can discern, you are close imitators of the original 
 Methodists, (than whom a greater blessing has not been given to 
 the British nation since the Refoiination,) holding the same doc- 
 tiines, and acting under the same discipline ; therefore have you 
 prospered as we have prospered. There is no danger so immi- 
 nent, both to yourselves and to us, as departing from our original 
 simphcity in spirit, in manners, and in our mode of worship. 
 As the world is continually changing around us, we are liable to 
 he affected by these changes. We tliink, in many cases, that we 
 may please well-intentioned men better, and be more useful to 
 them, by permitting many of the more innocent forms of the 
 world to enter into the church. Wherever we have done so, we 
 have infallibly lost gi^ound, in the depth of our religion, and in 
 its spirituality and unction. I would say to all, Keep your doc- 
 tiines and your discipHne, not only in your church books and in 
 your society rules, but preach the former without refining upon 
 them — obseiTe the latter without bendiiig it to circumstances, or 
 impairing its vigour by frivolous exceptions and partialities. 
 
 " As I believe your nation to be destined to be the mightiest 
 and happiest nation on the globe, so I believe that your church 
 is likely to become the most extensive and pure in the universe. 
 
 " As a church, abide in the Apostle's doctrine and fellowship. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 309 
 
 "As a nation, be firmly united; entertain no petty differ- 
 ences ; totally abolish the slave-trade ; abhor all offensive wars ; 
 never provoke even the puniest state ; and never strike the first 
 blow. Encourage agriculture and friendly traffic. Cultivate 
 the sciences and arts ; let learning have its proper place, space, 
 and adequate share of esteem and honour. If possible, live in 
 peace with all nations ; retain your holy zeal for God's cause and 
 your country's weal ; and, that you may ever retain your liberty, 
 avoid, as its bane and ruin, a national debt.* I say to you, as 
 it was said to Rome .of old, 
 
 " ' Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento, 
 HaB tibi erunt aites pacisque imponere morem, 
 Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos.' 
 
 " But whither am I running ? Truly, truly do I wish you 
 good luck in the name of the Lord ; and, therefore, with my best 
 prayers for your civil and religious prosperity, and hearty thanks 
 to each of you individually for the handsome and honourable 
 manner in which you have framed your invitation, I have the 
 honour to be, Gentlemen and Rev. Brethren, 
 
 " Your obliged, humble servant, 
 
 " And most cordial well-wisher, 
 
 ''ADA3I CLARKE." 
 
 The following letter, detailing a visit paid by Dr. Clarke to 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, is highly interesting, 
 and characteristic of the writer. It is dated " Before day," Feb. 
 13, 1832, and addressed to his youngest daughter: — "The post 
 of the morning you left us, brought me the card of His Royal 
 
 * It is a remarkable fact, that by the American Methodists the name of 
 Dr. Clarke is held in higher esteem than even that of Mr. Wesley himself. 
 Notwithstanding the respect and veneration inspired by the labours and 
 writings of the latter, it is not forgotten that he was one of the most pro- 
 minent supporters of the American war. The tonner, on the contraiy, 
 fully sympathized with the transatlantic colonies in their noble and suc- 
 cessful struggle for independence. It ought to be known, however, that 
 Mr. Wesley changed his views. The subject was mentioned while the 
 Doctor was writing the letter inserted above ; and he obseiTed that Mr. 
 Wesley lived to regret his opposition to the colonists, as appeared from a 
 letter which would one day see the light. That letter does not seem to 
 have been found. Mr. Wesley's writings, however, contain a passage 
 which coiToborates the Doctor's statement. In a letter to Dr. Coke and 
 others in America, dated Sept. 10, 1784, Mr. Wesley writes, " As our Ame- 
 rican brethren are now totally disentangled both from the state and from 
 the English hierarchy, we dare not entangle them again, either with the one 
 or the other. They are now at full liberty simply to follow the Scriptures 
 and the primitive church, and we judge it best that they should stand fast 
 in that liberty wherewith God has so strangely made them free.*' 
 
810 
 
 THK LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 Highness the Duke of Sussex, to attend his levee, or conversa- 
 zione, on Saturday evening, at nine o'clock. I set off" hy the 
 coach on Saturday morning, and spent all the day at Bayswater. 
 I was the forty-first in tlie aiiivals : a numher of officers were 
 telegiaphs, and the names flew, hy them, to His Royal Highuess's 
 ear. I entered the large room, where, at the tlu'eshold, the 
 Duke stood, who seized my hand, and said ' how glad he was to 
 see me.' The anivals hecame veiy quick ; and, for some minutes, 
 his time was occupied by receptions. I stood not far from the 
 entrance, speaking to Professor Lee and some others. The 
 Duke came again to me, and said, ' Dr. Clarke, do you know the 
 Archbishop of Canterbur}' ?' 'No, Sir.' ' Come with me, and 
 I will introduce you to him.' He took me by the ann, and led 
 me through the crowd. We came to the Ai'chbishop. The 
 Duke said, ' Here, my Lord, I have the pleasure of introducing 
 to your Grace, my friend Dr. Adam Clarke.' I bowed, so did 
 liis Grace, and immediately held out his hand. He said, ' Dr. 
 Clarke, I am glad to see you. I know you well by chai'acter, 
 and have often received instraction fr^om your ^mtings.' You 
 know that he was one of the Commissioners on the Pubhc 
 Records ; and, to my papers read before those Commissioners, 
 he undoubtedly alluded. That over, the Duke took me through 
 the crowd, and introduced me to the Bishop of Chichester, who 
 talked with me for a quarter-of-an-hour, till up came the Bishop 
 of London, who shook my hand, inquii'ed after my health, and 
 asked afrer your brother Joseph. Before he came up, I had 
 been extolling the exertions of the Bishop of London to his 
 Lordsliip of Cliichester ; who, addressing the Bishop of London, 
 said, ' Ah, my Lord, Dr. Clarke and I were talking of you before 
 you came up ; but I "svill not tell your Lordship what Dr. Clai'ke 
 said of you.' Soon after, the Duke took hold of my ann, and 
 begged to introduce me to some of the foreign ministers. Lords, 
 chief functionaries, learned foreigners, &c., &c. After a great 
 many to's and fr-o's, the Duke, addi'essing me with great affection, 
 said, (scores being all around us,) 'Dr. Clarke, I am very glad 
 to see you.' His Royal Highness told me that Ram Mohun Roy, 
 would be here this night, and he would introduce me to him. I 
 bowed ; and then it was about twenty minutes after ten, and I 
 was determined not to stay late. I therefore shpped off", and 
 met Ram Mohun Roy as I came down the steps ; but I passed 
 on to look for my gig. When I came into the ante-room for 
 my hat, one of the gentlemen in waiting came fr'om upstaii's, — 
 ' Sir, the Duke has been caUing for you.' I said, ' I am just 
 setting off.' He said, ' The Duke has been caUing twice for you.' 
 I ran upstaii's, my hat in my hand and my coloured handkerchief 
 about my neck, and entered the large saloon. The Duke spied 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 311 
 
 me in a moment, caught me by the hand, led me to Ram Mohun 
 Roy, and introduced me. As soon as this was over, I sHpped 
 out ; and, away went your father, from a place where he had 
 received the highest honour." 
 
 In the month of April, 18.3-2, Dr. Clai'ke preached the anniver- 
 sary sermon of the Wesley an Missionary Society, in Great Queen- 
 street chapel, at the conclusion of which he made the following 
 appeal on behalf of the mission : — 
 
 "Do not forget, that, before any of these great missionary- 
 societies existed, that now grace and adorn, and are an ornament 
 to this city, we were engaged in the missionary work, and I was 
 in the work ; for there is not an older missionary, perhaps, nor 
 one so old as myself. I have seen and heard of tliis work all 
 over the earth ; my heart is as much in the work as ever it was. 
 I do not know that I have a wish in tliis old spirit of mine, nor 
 an idea that can be fomied in tliis old head, that does not tend 
 to go forward to help this work and recommend it to the world, 
 and especially to those to whom I have the opportunity, and, I 
 might say, the felicity and honour of recommending it. And, 
 though I would not have you apply to this work a penny that 
 you could not give God an account of without blushing in the 
 day of judgment, yet, my fiiends, I would recommend you to 
 give everything you possibly can, consistently ^vith honesty ; all 
 that you can call your own, all that you can spare from the 
 necessities of your family, I could wish you to give, seriously 
 believing that there is no other work on tliis side heaven on 
 which the man, knowing the Son of God, and feeling the dictates 
 of humanity, can bestow his money better, or more to God's 
 glory and approbation and the good of his feUow-men, than this. 
 Well now, will you support tliis work liberally this morning ? 
 It is very hkely that tliis old man may not plead with you again. 
 He would have no objection to Live until God's appearance on 
 the earth, and till the archangel's trumpet sounded, to promote 
 the glory of God as his greatest delight, and to bring souls to 
 love that God that loves him, and to love that Jesus who died 
 for him. Come forward, then, this morning, and give according 
 to your power. And remember, my friends, that the eye of the 
 God of love is upon you. He will dehglit in the widow that 
 brings her mite, and in the rich man who biings his store, into 
 the treasury of the Lord, to assist his cause and extend it in the 
 world. Amen." 
 
 At the anniversary meeting of the society which was held on 
 the Monday following, the Doctor delivered a speech, of which, 
 as the last he ever delivered, so much as has been preserved may 
 be given : — 
 
 " In addi'essing any benevolent meeting for a benevolent pur- 
 
312 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 pose, I believe it is deemed necessary to make out a good case ; 
 that case, I believe, is most fully made out by the details which 
 the report has given of the condition of large numbers of our 
 fellow- creatures. Man is in a state of wretchedness from three 
 causes, his natural ignorance, his natural weakness, and the 
 disordered state of his moral faculties ; and these have been par- 
 ticularly pointed out in the report. We there see that there are 
 large families of the world without strength to resist the evil ten- 
 dencies of their fallen nature, and who know not whither to go for 
 help. We see multitudes, who, notwithstanding the evidences of 
 the being and providence of a God, are incapable of apprehend- 
 ing him. We see millions who give eveiy evidence of a most 
 disordered moral state of mind, and who are sitting in darkness 
 and sin. That is a fine saying of Augustine, that the whole of 
 mankind appears in the sight of God as one vast diseased man, 
 l}dng over the face of the earth, stretched fi'om the east to the 
 west, and fi'om the north to the south, and dying because of his 
 disease; that no eye of help could be fixed upon this one 
 diseased, d}dng man, but that of the hving God ; and, to heal 
 him, it required the Omnipotent Physician to descend from 
 heaven. This Physician is the Lord Jesus Christ ; and, wherever 
 he is recommended to diseased and dying men, he accompanies 
 the recommendation by his holy influence, to their healing. 
 [After eulogizing the conduct of the missionaries in Jamaica dur- 
 ing the then recent insurrection, and passing a tribute of praise to 
 the Government for the measures they were taking to amehorate 
 the condition of the negro slaves, the Doctor adverted to the 
 missions in Ireland, as pourtrayed in the report.] Ireland, I 
 remember, is my native land, and I rejoice that it has the first 
 place in the report among the Society's missions. The details 
 given of the state of the population in Ireland are lamentable 
 indeed. Cruelty, ignorance, and everything that can give a 
 people a bad eminence over others, are to be found in that coun- 
 try. But it must not be forgotten that they have been subjected 
 to causes which inevitably produce these things ; and, had the 
 persons now present been under the influence of the same cir- 
 cumstances, I have no hesitation in saying, they would present a 
 very different appearance fi'om what they now do. I know every 
 part of Ireland well, and I know what has been done for her by 
 the friends of Jesus ; but I also know that none possess such 
 means for bringing her to a knowledge of the truth as the Metho- 
 dists. The arrangements of the Society are so perfectly simple, 
 but efficient, that I know nothing either superfluous or defective 
 in them ; and I believe there is not a single farthing contributed 
 that is not conscientiously apphed to the purposes for which it 
 v^ as intended. If you are resolved then, you can do great things. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 813 
 
 You have the means, and you have the sacred and inviolable 
 promise of God. Is anything more congenial to the mind than 
 to believe that the Being, whose name is Mercy, and whose na- 
 ture is love, who has made man in his own image, and has sent 
 his Son into the world to save him from death and hell, should 
 crown with his blessing the preaching of his own word ? I am 
 only astonished that there should be a single heathen, or a single 
 imperfect Christian, in any place where the Redeemer is faithfully 
 preached and his doctrines enforced ; that they are not all 
 swallowed up in the fulness of the blessing of the Gospel of 
 Christ." 
 
 During the month of April, and the early part of May, in this 
 year. Dr. Clarke's ministerial services were in gi-eat request among 
 his brethren, both in the metropolis and in the country. Even 
 those who, at other times, treated him with contumely, w^re fain 
 to secure his help, whenever the financial resources of the Con- 
 nexion were to be replenished. But it seems never to have 
 occurred to them, that he was gi'owing old and infirm, and that, 
 consequently, he could not, without injury, exert himself as in 
 former years. Accordingly, without waiting for his approbation, 
 the Wesleyan authorities in Sheffield had placarded him to preach 
 at Carver-street in the morning, and at Norfolk- street in the 
 evening, and the next day for the Missionary meeting, although 
 it was generally known that he had long since ceased to preach 
 more than once in one day. " I positively protested," he observes, 
 
 against this arrangement, when I heard of it. The preachers 
 begged and entreated, and at last went off" in despair, saying, 
 they ' should be ruined.' Faint and weary, I wanted to get to 
 bed. When at supper, in came a posse deputation, begging me, 
 if I could not preach in the evening, to preach at Norfolk- street, 
 after I should have finished at Carver- street. I treated them 
 civilly ; and, after they had worried me for half-an-hour, they 
 went away. Then there was a hue-and-cry, many blaming the 
 managers for their precipitancy, others deploring the state of the 
 case. I went up to bed, and said, in a kind of anguish within 
 myself, ' Let me die with the Phihstines.' I told my design this 
 morning : it flew like fire. Carv^er- street was packed before ten 
 o'clock. I preached on Heb. x. 3 — 10, and God was present. 
 At about two o'clock, I was in Norfolk- street. Oh, what a crowd ! 
 I understand many went straight off from Carver-street to be in 
 time to secure a place in Norfolk-street. I took for my text 
 Rom. V. 1, 2. It was a time of spirit and of power. The 
 people are delighted, and say nothing like this was ever before 
 seen in Sheffield." 
 
 While he was engaged in ^vliting the letter, of which the pre- 
 ceding quotation forms a part, he received a communication from 
 
.314 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the Wesleyan Mission-house, in London, detaihng the unhappy 
 news of demohshed chapels, just received from Jamaica. For- 
 getting all his grievances, in his sohcitude for the welfare of 
 others, he exclaimed, "I see there is a flame kindled in our inhe- 
 ritance ; and I feel that I am needed. The terms in which Mr. 
 James speaks of my services, as he calls them, are affecting. / 
 shall pocket and seal up all my causes of complaint ; join 
 myself even to the forlorn hope, at the front of the storming 
 party, and mount the hreach for the God of armies in the 
 defence of his people !" 
 
 Having literally "worked his way" to Liverpool, he was pre- 
 paring to visit liis Iiish schools, which, as well as the Shetland 
 Mission, were continually in his thoughts, when he was arrested 
 by an attack of the spasmodic disorder which usually admonished 
 him that he had unduly exerted himself. Having recovered 
 from this severe seizure, he sailed for Ireland on the 18th of 
 May. The voyage was rendered unpleasant to him by the dis- 
 solute conversation of several of the passengers. Soon after he 
 reached his friend Harper's house, at Donaghadee, he was laid 
 up with rheumatism or gout (the doctor himself being puzzled to 
 decide) . Tliis complaint, which had its seat in the foot, prevented 
 him, for some time, from visiting the schools. When but par- 
 tially recovered, he proceeded to Coleraine, preacliing at Belfast by 
 the way ; but, as soon as he had settled his school accounts, he 
 suffered a relapse, and was again laid up. Intelhgence of this 
 reaching his family, Mr. Theodoret Clarke, his second son, set 
 out to joinliim, and bring liim home ; but, in the neighbourhood 
 of Leamington, the coach upon wliich he rode was overturned, 
 and he so much injured by the fall as to be prevented from pro- 
 ceeding. Dr. Clarke, in the mean time, was so hir restored as 
 to be able to visit Port Rush, where he had the satisfaction of 
 seeing the progress of the chapel and school-room, for which he 
 had formerly obtained ground from Lord Mark Kerr. 
 
 In his journal of tliis visit, occurs the following opinion on 
 the introduction of poor laws into Ireland : — " The moral poor 
 of Ireland are not vitiated by a poor-house education, but feel 
 that spirit of independence which renders them superior to the 
 servile spirit of those who are taught to Live on begging, or on 
 legal and systematic charity. This has been the case with 
 England, by the operation of the poor-laws. The noble and 
 independent spiiit of the yeomanry is degi'aded, and nearly 
 extinct ; and, when Ireland gets the poor laws with which it is 
 now threatened, the present rising sun of its prosperity will sink 
 below the horizon, to rise no more for ever." 
 
 On the subject of the English poor-laws, Dr. Clarke thus 
 expresses himself, in one of his pubhshed discourses : — 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 815 
 
 " The poor-laws in this country, though well designed in the 
 beginning, have been totally subversive of that state of mental 
 independence which God has given to every man, and without 
 which man is capable of any villainy, among the lower classes in 
 the nation, on account of the successive and now incurable abuses 
 that have crept in by them. That nervous, independent spirit 
 which the British yeomanry possessed in days of yore, is nearly 
 extinct. The profligate and the careless, the man who no longer 
 wishes to work to maintain himself and his family, sees he can 
 claim parish pay ; and, when he claims admittance into the poor- 
 house, as he must give up what he has in order to enter there, 
 will expend his last sliilhng, sell off, by slow degrees, his furni- 
 ture ; and, when he is to be received, is known to have sold his 
 clothes, his bed, his pan, and his last chair, the price of which 
 he has expended on wants created by idleness, indulged under 
 the conviction of the certainty of obtaining parish supply ; and 
 probably the pubhc-house, the nurseiy of sin, has previously had 
 one half of the price obtained for those articles. To the 
 unacquainted with such cases, which are sufficiently numerous, 
 such a case appears most pitiable ; for, say they, ' the family was 
 found destitute of every thing, and ready to perish/ I venture 
 to state, that, had it not been for the beggarhness of spirit in- 
 duced by the poor-laws, there would not have been one out of 
 600 cases of this Idnd ever found in the nation." 
 
 On the 16th of June, he received intelligence of the accident 
 that prevented his son from reaching Ireland ; but, by some 
 neglect, the extent of the injury was not mentioned. The 
 uncertainty in which this omission left him, agitated his mind, 
 as may be perceived from the following entry in his journal : — 
 *' Alas ! alas ! and I do not know the extent of this evil ; but, 
 unfit as I am to undertake this journey and voyage, I will set off 
 for Belfast, and take the first vessel there for England. Oh, 
 may God, in his mercy, interpose in this behalf ! Spare the hfe 
 of my son ! and give me strength for the journey and voyage 
 before me ! Oh, what a providence is this ! May God work in 
 his mercy, and silence any irregular feelings or complaints in my 
 soul ! Show me, show me, O God, the way that I should take ! 
 Oh ! let me not be laid up again, either by sea or by land !" 
 Accordingly, he hastened his departure, and arrived at his friend 
 Mr. Forshaw's, near Liverpool, on the 22d of June. Here the 
 complaint in his foot returned with new force, and, for several 
 days, prevented him from stirring. While here, he was visited 
 by the Rev. (now Dr.) Jabez Bunting, who, he states, " wished to 
 persuade me to stop for the approaching Conference ; and, in- 
 deed, in reference to the Shetland Islands, it may be necessai-y, 
 as I can get the promise of no preacher to go over, and four are 
 
316 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 wanted. We had a good deal of conversation respecting the 
 uneducated state of Ireland. We were decidedly against the 
 Government plan of leaving the Bible out of the schools, which 
 is proposed merely to please the Koman Catholics : to it in no 
 form shall I ever agree : there shall be the whole Bible in all the 
 schools in which I am concerned. I beheve Government are 
 sincere ; but they are greatly deceived." 
 
 Dr. Clarke was too solicitous to see the various members of 
 his family, particularly his second son, to yield to Mr. Bunting's 
 wish ; and, accordingly, as soon as he was able, he proceeded to 
 his own home. " Thus," he obseiTes, in recording his arrival, 
 
 terminates a journey remarkable for affliction, disappointment, 
 and suffering. My soul, hast thou learned any good lesson ? 
 Yes. What is it ? It is this : that I have now such evidences 
 of old age as I never had before ; yet I believe my understanding 
 is as clear, and my judgment as sound, as ever ! But, during 
 my late detention and sufferings, have I repined against God or 
 his providence ? No ; I was only disappointed, and I endured 
 the mortification without a munnur. The cholera was before me, 
 behind me, round about me ; but I was preserved from all dread. 
 I trusted in the sacrificial death of Jesus. No trust is higher ; 
 and none lower can answer the end : therefore, I was not divided 
 between two opinions nor two creeds ! I feel a simple heart ; 
 and the prayers of my childhood are yet precious to me ; and 
 the simple hymns w^hich I sang when a child, I sing now with 
 unction and delight." Before this period, we find him making 
 several allusions to the cholera, none of which, however, betrays 
 personal alarm. In the letter in which he gave an account of 
 the death of his benevolent friend, Mr. Scott, is this striking 
 sentence : — " We hear that the cholera has got to London. 
 Wherever it may be, there is God ; and, perhaps, both you and 
 I are immortal till oui' work is done." In that part of his 
 journal which was written while he was laid up with the com- 
 plaint in his foot, in the neighbourhood of Livei-pool, it is stated. 
 
 The news from Liverpool is very dismal. Cholera cases are 
 increasing ; and the inhabitants are afraid to go out of their 
 houses, for fear of catching the disorder. I have not strength to 
 fly from the plague : I resign myself to the Sovereign of heaven 
 and earth ; he can keep me from the pestilence that walketh in 
 darkness, as well as the destruction that wasteth at noon- day." 
 From all which, it is apparent that he hved in the same spirit 
 with Job, when he said, " All the days of my appointed time will 
 I wait, till my change come." 
 
 Although Dr. Clarke was providentially prevented from per- 
 sonally inspecting his schools, he received from the masters a 
 satisfactory report of their state and progi-ess. With most of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 317 
 
 them, Sunday-schools were connected ; and several branches of 
 learning were taught in all of them. The whole number of 
 children under instruction was six hundred and sixty-six. In 
 all, the Sacred Wiitings, Bible and Testament, were fully intro- 
 duced; nor had the Cathohcs made the slightest objection: but 
 no catechism was taught in the schools, the Conference Catechism 
 being learned at home with the consent of the parents, both 
 Protestants and Koman Cathohcs.* 
 
 The alteration in Dr. Clarke's appearance was remarked with 
 deep sohcitude by the members of his family ; and he himself 
 was sensible of physical prostration. To one of his daughters, 
 he said, " See how the strong man has bowed himself ; for strong 
 he was : but it is God who has brought down, and he can raise 
 up. He still owns the word which I preach. He still continues 
 my influence among the people ; and hence it is plain he has yet 
 other work for me to do. I have never fallen out with life ; but 
 I have often fallen out with myself, because I have not spent it 
 better. To remedy this, I should be glad, with my present 
 knowledge and experience, to hve life over again. I do not 
 admire the thought that 
 
 * Life does little more supply 
 Than just to look about us and to die.' 
 
 This sentiment, practically regarded, would be the creed of the 
 sluggard and the coward. No ; there is in hfe much to be done, 
 much to be leamt, and much to be suffered : w^e should live, in 
 
 * It may be here observed, that, after the death of Dr. Clarke, his Family 
 and Executors deemed it proper to make an offer of transferring these 
 schools, with their funds, to the Missionary Committee, believing that this 
 arrangement would more permanently and fully secure their heing carried 
 on agreeably to the plan adopted by Dr. Clarke himself. To this proposal, 
 the Missionary Committee willingly acceded. They have since been visited 
 by the Rev. Elijah Hoole, whose report of their state was highly encouraging. 
 He observes, " The schools are six in number : four of them are in the county 
 of Antrim ; and, situated only a few miles from each other, form a line 
 from east to west, on which the range of cliffs is continually in view, which 
 guards this part of the island from the fury of the northern sea. That 
 stupendous natural curiosity, the celebrated Giant's Causeway, is in this 
 range of cliffs, and lies within the distance of two or three miles from one 
 of the schools. The two remaining schools are in the county of London- 
 derry, to the west of Coleraine, and are within the circle of the Newtown- 
 limavaddy and Aughadowey Mission. Considerable judgment is apparent 
 in the situation of all the schools. In the north of Ireland, the advantages 
 of education and the light of the Gospel have been more generally enjoyed 
 than in any other part of the island. But there are many places even in 
 this quarter extremely destitute, and it is such places Dr. Clarke chose ; 
 not towns or populous villages, most likely to attract the notice of others; 
 but extensive neighbourhoods, having a numerous, although scattered, 
 population." 
 
818 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 time, in reference to eternity. This I know, God's mercy has 
 had a great deal to do to bring us thus far. It will have more to 
 do to bring us to the verge of the eternal world; and it will 
 have most of all to do to bring us to glory !" On his daughter's 
 remarking, " Father, I wish you would again preach, as you did 
 some years ago at the City-road, on the subject of the vision of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, as interpreted by Daniel i. 31 — 35 :" Dr. 
 Clarke rephed, " I have not even a note of that sermon ; but I 
 well remember preaching it." She asked " how it was possible 
 for him to get through such a sermon, without the slightest note 
 for dates of periods of empires, or for their geogTaphic situation ?" 
 He replied, "I had the whole before me as clear as the noon- 
 day. I felt as if I was standing on the world, not in it. It was 
 all spread before the eye of my mind : I saw it all, and therefore 
 I could describe it all." On its being subjoined, " Then I should 
 imagine, father, by the power of your description, that you saw 
 also ' the stone cut out without hands,' " he answered with energy, 
 Yes ; I felt, while I was dwelling on the power of God, and on 
 his mercy as revealed in Christ for the salvation of man, as if I 
 was taking hold of the pillars of eternity ; and on them I hung 
 the truth of God, which never can be shaken, and his mercy, 
 which it declared, and which can never know an end." Those 
 who heard the discourse alluded to, will remember the uncommon 
 power and energy of spirit and mind which it displayed. It 
 occupied nearly two hours in the delivery ; and, during the whole 
 time, the preacher's energy remained unabated.* 
 
 On the same occasion, addressing Mrs. Clarke, he said, I 
 think I shall be obhged to go to Liverpool to the Conference." 
 To this she objected, saying, " While you had the power, you 
 know I never selfishly withheld you ; but, in your present state 
 of health, indeed you must not leave home." To this affectionate 
 expostulation, Dr. Clarke answered, " I know you never grudged 
 me in my duty and work ; and I tliink, with you, that I am 
 scarcely fit to go. But I have duties to perform in reference to 
 Shetland and the Irish schools ; and, besides, I earnestly wish 
 to leave my testimony for God and Methodism once more in the 
 midst of my brethren." On the 11th of July, Mr. Entwisle had 
 received a letter from him, in which, after announcing his inten- 
 tion to go to the ensuing Conference, he said, I have several 
 things I think of great importance to the Connexion, to lay 
 before the brethren ; and, possibly, I may never have another 
 opportunity. I think few should go to Liveqiool ; a God not 
 well-pleased with the people, and the Cholera, are there." 
 Agreeably to this intention, to which he adhered, principally on 
 
 * This discourse is to be found in Dr. Clarke's published collection of 
 sermons. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 319 
 
 the ground tliat Mr. Bunting had recommended it for the 
 sake of getting proper preachers appointed for Shethand, on the 
 19th of July, Dr. Clarke left Haydon-hall, on his way to Liver- 
 pool. 
 
 Previously to setting off for Liverpool, he obscrs^ed to his 
 esteemed friend, Mr. John Thurston, of London, that he must 
 go to the Conference, to make them take off his name as Super- 
 numerary. On his arrival, Dr. Clarke heard of the sudden 
 deaths of several persons whom he knew, and who had fallen 
 victims to the pestilent disease which was then raging in Liver- 
 pool and its vicinity. But it does not appear to have excited any 
 apprehension in his own mind. " I am apparently come," he 
 says, "into the very jaws of the cholera;" and again, I am 
 come almost into the fangs of this ruthless disorder." But he 
 adds, immediately, " I feel no alarm : to he over-sohcitous, would 
 answer no good end." 
 
 It would seem that the business of the Conference did not 
 open in a manner satisfactory to Dr. Clarke ; for, on the first 
 day of its sittings, he is reported to have said, " I am the father of 
 the Conference, and you cannot help yourselves." As the 
 business proceeded, he came to a better understanding with them. 
 The late Kev. John Anderson declared, that he continued to 
 attend the Conference longer, and entered more fully into the 
 business, than he had been known to do for many years past. 
 " He was," adds this gentleman, " in a fine spirit ! He seemed 
 to have been sent among us, breathing forth that spirit of 
 brotherly kindness which dwelt so richly in his soul, to enforce 
 upon us (and, as now appears, with his dying voice) the last 
 exhortation of the Apostle John, ' Love one another.' " 
 
 " At Conference," says the Doctor in writing to Mr. Harpur 
 respecting the Irish Schools, " I had a good deal of conversation 
 with the Committee, about the Schools. I offered them, with 
 the money in hand ; and said, ' I will go over and establish 
 others, if you will give me authority.' They questioned me, 
 whether the schools were ' such as were absolutely necessary, 
 because education of no Idnd could be found in the place, nor 
 within an attainable distance.' I told them that it was even so, 
 in the places where the six schools were established. They 
 said, ' they would soon have a full meeting of the Mission 
 Committee, of which I should have due notice ; and then the 
 subject of the Shetlands, and my Irish schools, should be con- 
 sidered.' " 
 
 On the 27th of July, Dr. Clarke delivered up to the Confer- 
 ence the Shetland mission, the affairs of which he had faithfully 
 superintended fi-om its commencement, and in which he had all 
 along taken a most lively and paternal interest. At the same 
 
820 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS Of 
 
 time, he gave ujd the £8000 which he held in trust under Mr. 
 Scott's will for the Shetlands, and £400 which he had re- 
 ceived from the Hon. Sophia Ward, towards providing for the 
 future exigencies of the mission. The manner in which he gave 
 in his charge concerning those Islands, was very striking.* 
 Many thought it would he his last appearance at Conference ; 
 and he intimated that such was his own impression. 
 
 The following letter to Mrs. Clarke, written on the 28th of July, 
 gives an account of her husband's proceedings in connexion with 
 the Conference : — I have been very poorly, and yesterday was 
 so ill that Mr. Comer would call in Mr. Surgeon Hensman. A 
 distressing cough obliged me to leave the Conference, and take 
 to my room at an early hour. Notwithstanding my state was 
 pretty well known to the brethren, they took the advantage of 
 my absence, to come to a vote that I sbould preach before the 
 Conference, in place of the ex-President. This was passed 
 unanimously; and the President, ex-President, and Mr. Bunting, 
 came to Mr. Comer's to announce it to me. I refused, saying, 
 that, conscientiously, I was not able. This morning they got 
 the vote repeated ; and, the President being obhged to go to the 
 revisal of the stations, I was placed in the chair, and continued 
 in it till the sittings closed." It is evident that the intention of 
 his brethren was to do him honour, and make him, to use his 
 own phrase, " pocket and seal up his causes of complaint." 
 At the same time, he thus writes to a friend : — 
 "I have been variously afflicted, and, indeed, have been 
 brought down almost to the sides of the pit ; and, though much 
 better, my health is in a great measure prostrated ; and, though 
 I am here at Conference, I am fkr fi-om being in a state either to 
 
 * The last mention of Shetland found in Dr. Clarke's con-espondeuce, 
 occurs in a letter to Mr. Lewis, written towards the close of 1831 : — 
 
 " I may say, Poor Shetland, I have worked hard for thee ; many a quire, 
 many a ream of paper have I written to describe thy wants, and beg for 
 supplies ; and several thousands of miles have I travelled in order to raise 
 those supplies which by letters I had solicited for thee ! It is now ' almost 
 done,' and ' almost o'er.' May God raise thee up another friend that will 
 be, if possilde, more earnest and faithful, and at the same time more suc- 
 cessful ! And now I must say, may the Holy Trinity be thy incessant 
 Friend, O my poor Shetland ! Amen." 
 
 The obligations of the Shetland Isles to Dr. Clarke are corroborated by 
 the testimony of Mr. Dunn, who observes, " What the mission to these 
 naked, melancholy isles is indebted to Dr. Claike, will not be known before 
 ' that day shall break which never more shall close.' He travelled, he 
 begged, he wrote, he prayed lor it; and it is my decided conviction, that, 
 without his very efficient aid, such as no other man in the kingdom could 
 have rendered, it would have been long since abandoned. Of that assis- 
 tance it is now deprived, and is dependent for its support on the Methodists' 
 Contingent Fund, and on the contributions of an enlightened and benevo- 
 lent public." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARK K 
 
 321 
 
 do or to attend to much business. I went to Ireland to work 
 much, but I was called to suffer, not to labour. Indeed, I was 
 overworked before I crossed the Channel, and had little strength 
 to lose when I got to the scene of my labours. Striving to do 
 what I was not able to perfoim, I had four relapses. Well, in all 
 these I was preserved from every murmuring thought. I knew 
 I was in the hands of the Lord, and therefore was safe, and my 
 expectation has not been disappointed ; I feel that God alone is 
 my portion. I write in Conference, and have such a troublesome 
 cough, that I can scarcely write intelhgibly, and must give it up." 
 
 On the 31st of July, writing to one of his daughters, he says, 
 *' I keep as close to the Conference as possible, and go limping on 
 my staff to Brunswick chapel and back to my lodging in the 
 Garden of Cucumbers. Poor Mr. Hensman comes frequently to 
 the chapel to examine my state, and does all he can to keep off 
 from me 'the fiery dart of death.' Several of the preachers 
 have been indisposed ; but I trust we shall return with our ranks 
 unbroken." 
 
 Though Dr. Clarke went to Livei'pool with the avowed deter- 
 mination of getting his name taken off the Minutes as a Super- 
 numerary, either he desisted from the attempt or did not succeed : 
 for he was finally set down in that capacity for Windsor, the 
 circuit in which he resided. As some atonement, however, for 
 the violence which had been done to his feelings by the appoint- 
 ment of the preceding year, which was persisted in notwith- 
 standing his remonstrances, and also to reconcile him to the 
 similar appointment of the year then present, it was added, 
 "N.B. Though Dr. Clarke is set down Supernumerary for 
 Windsor, he is not bound to that circuit, but is most respectfully 
 and affectionately requested to visit all parts of our Connexion, 
 and labour according to his strength and convenience." Alluding 
 to liis new appointment, he wrote to his friend Mr. Thurston, 
 "See what a roving commission they have given me !" 
 
 Having yielded to the vote of Conference, Dr. Clarke preached 
 his last sermon before the assembly of his brethren. It was 
 delivered on the 5th of August, 1832, and appears to have made 
 a deep and peculiar impression upon the hearers. He liimself 
 states, " A glorious time it was ; many of the preachers appeared 
 greatly affected." The text was Acts iii. 19. Mr Entwisle 
 has thus described this memorable occasion : — " Having, in his 
 best style, preached his favourite doctrines of repentance, faith 
 in Christ, the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins, 
 the witness of the Spirit with our spirits that we are the children 
 of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, he gave an 
 account of his own conversion, his convictions of sin, his 
 obtaining pardoning mercy, and- his present enjoyment of God 
 
 Y 
 
382 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 in Christ. Many, of the congregation were deeply affected, and 
 many thought at the time they should hear him no more." 
 
 The following characteristic declaration, inserted by Dr. 
 Clarke, during the Conference, in an album presented to him 
 by the Eev. Eobert Newstead, shows his strong and unabated 
 attachment to the Connexion of wliich for so many years, he 
 was an ornament, and in which he lived and died. 
 
 " IN PERPETUAM RE I MEMORIAM. 
 
 I have lived more than threescore years and ten ; I have 
 travelled a good deal both by sea and land; I have conversed 
 with and seen many people, in and from different countries ; 
 T have studied the principal religious systems in the world ; 
 1 have read much, thought much, and reasoned much ; and the 
 result is, I am persuaded of the simple, unadulterated truth of 
 no book but the Bible ; and of the true excellence of no system 
 of religion but that contained in the Holy Scriptures ; and 
 especially Christianity, wliich is refeiTed to in the Old Testament, 
 and fully revealed in the New. And while I think well of, and 
 wish well to, all rehgious sects and parties, and especially to all 
 who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ; yet, from a long 
 and thorough knowledge of the subject, I am led most consci- 
 entiously to conclude, that Christianity itself, as existmg among 
 those called Wesleyan Methodists, is the purest, the safest, that 
 which is most to God's gloiy, and the benefit of mankind ; and 
 that, both as to the creed there professed, form of discipline there 
 established, and the consequent moral practice there vindicated. 
 And I beheve, that among them is to be found the best fomi and 
 body of divinity that has ever existed in the church of Christ, 
 from the promulgation of Christianity to the present day.* To 
 
 * Dr. Clarke died a firm believer in the perpetuity of Methodism. In a 
 seraaon which he preached only four months before his decease, he related 
 the following anecdote in support of his opinion on that subject. 
 
 " When I was a little lad, I got into company with some very vvise and 
 learned men ; and one of these was, in his time, though now no more, one 
 of the Secretaries of his Majesty's Councils. He had been in the habit of 
 hearing Methodists preach — his father and his mother had received the 
 doctrine of the Methodists, were saved of the Lord, and we might say, for 
 aught we know, adorned the doctrine of Jesus Christ in all things. A 
 young man was present at the time, a brother of whom became a preacher, 
 though he did not continue long in our ministry ; and this young man, that 
 I speak of, observed, ' This doctrine of Methodism is not likely soon to end 
 — this work among them is not likely soon to terminate. Mr. Wesley,' 
 said he, ' somewhere has stated, that the revivals of religion have lasted 
 generally about thirty years — a generation, — and afterwards a general cold- 
 ness gradually takes place. The people have not advanced far in holiness, 
 but considerably in sincerity — the doctrine of repentance and remission of 
 sins is more faithfully preached ; and there is a doctrine proclaimed, that 
 our country was unacquainted with, though we knew it in name, the 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 323 
 
 him who would say, ' Doctor Chirke, are you not a bigot ?' 
 without hesitation I would answer, ' No, I am not ; for, by the 
 grace of God, I am a Methodist ! ' Amen." 
 
 "ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 " Liverpool, July %Uh, 1832." 
 
 Another of liis contributions to those pretty repositories of 
 
 operations of the Spirit of God, and his influence on the souls of men. It 
 was insisted upon by these preachers, that this was the lot, and the portion, 
 and the privilege, of eveiy son and daughter of God. That it was necessary 
 to be pure and holy, and that the people should be turned from their out- 
 ward sins in order to be happy, we had already found out ; but they went 
 on and taught us another doctrine, that we had in our Bibles, and in our 
 liturgy, and in our homilies, and every where, but of which we knew nothing- 
 — the doctrine of salvation from all sin. We thought it impossible that 
 ever any man could be saved from his sin in this world ; but this doctrine 
 was proclaimed by these people with no less evidence and with no less 
 earnestness than the other doctrine, which I have mentioned. Now, Sirs,' 
 saict he, addressing himself to the people that were by, ' I think that this 
 revival of religion among the Methodists is not likely to end, as long as 
 these doctrines are preached : for, when a man feels himself convinced of 
 sin, he is exhorted to look to God for mercy : when he finds this mercy, and 
 has got a testimony from God's Spirit that his sins are blotted out, then he 
 is informed, that he must go on unto perfection — that he must have his 
 heart purified from all unrighteousness — that he must be saved from his 
 inward sins as fully as he has been from his outward sins : when this is 
 effected — for many have received this doctrine in the truth of it, and felt 
 the power of it, and lived the life of it — then they are told they must grow 
 in it — have more of God's light and love, and power in them — that, if they 
 do not grow in grace, they will lose their grace ; for all the graces that God 
 gives he gives more to increase. Look,' he continued, ' into our best writers 
 in the last century, and they generally leave the people in the article of 
 justification by faith. Here is the whole secret: people saw nothing further 
 to be obtained, nothing further to be sought ; the rest of their lives seemed 
 to be spent in thanksgiving to God, that they had received the unspeakable 
 gift; their religious feelings and zeal became inactive; the earnestness 
 they felt to bring others to the grace they had received, began to cease ; 
 and, perhaps, Mr. Wesley's opinion, on the whole, might be considered very 
 generally correct — that revivals ended in about thirty or forty years. Now,' 
 said he, ' everything is different : when a man has attained any degree of 
 gi-ace, he is told he must have more ; when he has got into one important 
 state of salvation, he is told he must proceed and get into another; and 
 when he has got into that utmost state of salvation, being saved from all 
 sin within, he is gravely and solemnly informed he must grow in every 
 gi-ace of the Spirit. Thus,' said he, ' they are kept going on, till they come 
 to eternity at last ; so that this revival of religion among these Methodists, 
 I believe, will never teraiinate.' He is dead, and the others that heard 
 him are dead ; and the little boy that then was, is now your preacher, in 
 gi-ey hairs, to proclaim salvation among you. I am fully satisfied of this 
 — as fully as that I have a spirit in this body — that, while Methodists 
 preach these truths, and in this order and way, it is impossible, in any 
 nation of the world where the doctrine is preached, that the people can lose 
 their religion ; or that it ever can be said, that the revival of religion, once 
 among the Methodists, has ceased so many vears since." 
 
 Y 2 ' 
 
S2i 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 pretty things contains so affecting a reference to his own 
 experience and prospects, as to deserve a record here : — 
 
 THE SEASONS OF ADAM CLARKE's LIFE. 
 
 I have enjoyed the spring of hfe — 
 
 I have endured the toils of its summer — 
 
 I have culled the fruits of its autumn — 
 
 I am now passing through the rigours of its winter ; 
 
 And am neither forsaken of God, 
 
 Nor abandoned by man. 
 
 I see at no great distance the dawn of a new day, 
 The first of a spring that shall be eternal ! 
 
 It is advancing to meet me ! 
 
 I run to embrace it! 
 Welcome ! welcome ! etenial spring ! 
 Hallelujah ! 
 
 Having promised to assist his youngest son, who was curate 
 of Frome, in the formation of an association which he had 
 projected for amehorating the condition of the poor in that 
 extensive parish. Dr. Clarke left Liverpool for Worcester, on the 
 6th of August, where he rested at the house of his son-in-law, Mr. 
 Rowley, (concerning whom, and his family, he writes that they had 
 
 the cholera witliin a few doors of them,'") and proceeded thence to 
 Frome on the following day. In the letter in which he described 
 his movements to Mrs. Clarke, it is stated, " This constant tra- 
 velling and labour, confinement in the Conference, &c., greatly 
 fatigue me ; and almost every day I am expecting to he knocked 
 up. Never was my mind more vigorous, and never my body so 
 near sinking." 
 
 The Rev. J. B. B. Clarke has given the following interesting 
 account of this meeting with his venerable father: — ''About 
 eleven o'clock on the morning of the 8th, much earlier than I 
 had reason to expect my father, I was passing through the hall, 
 when I saw the well-known blue travelHng-bag resting against 
 the wall ; and, filled with unexpected joy, I went to the dining- 
 room which he had entered just before me. ' The old man, you 
 see, J oseph, is come,' said he, with his usual tone of kindness, 
 as he placed his hand upon my head, and Idssed me ; ' though 
 battered and tossed about, he has still strength to come at the 
 call of his son." He sat down for a few minutes, while I took 
 off his gaiters ; and then, as was his frequent custom, he began 
 to walk slowly, diagonally across the room, asking various ques- 
 tions about myself and family, and talking of the occurrences 
 and company he had met with on the road from Cheshire. It 
 was then that I observed a very marked difference in his appear- 
 ance. His cheeks had fallen in ; and he was considerably 
 thinner than when I last saw him. His step was slow and 
 heavy, with small remains of that elastic firmness for which his 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 825 
 
 walking was always remarkable ; and the muscles of his legs had 
 evidently much shrunk — a sign of old age, which his straight 
 and well-proportioned limbs had never before shown.* His 
 neck also was apparently shorter ; and, besides these symptoms 
 of decay, which I never for a moment supposed to be other than 
 the mere effects of recent illness, when walking out with me 
 there was more dependence upon my arm and on his staff than 
 had ever been usual with him. All these things pained and dis- 
 tressed me, but did not strike me as being the precursors of his 
 final removal. Indeed, I never thought of my father's death 
 with any distinctness of feehng. Like the end of the world, I 
 knew both events would some time happen ; but so indefinitely 
 distant did each seem, that neither possessed power to alarm. I 
 could not realize to my mind the lasting silence of that ever 
 kind, and cheerful, and instructive voice. ' Why should such a 
 man die ?' was my constant feeling. His work is not finished, 
 his mental powers are brighter and clearer than ever, his 
 will is as active towards the good of others as in the prime 
 of his strength, and his bodily powers are only temporarily 
 weakened. Then ' why should such a man die ?' In the 
 afternoon, the plan of the intended society was laid before 
 him. He entered at much length into its object, and appeared 
 particularly gratified at the extensive and influential support 
 which it had obtained. During the course of his conver- 
 sation, it was impossible not to notice the depth of interest 
 which he felt. His tone of voice, manner of action, strength of 
 expression, all showed that what he said and did were the results 
 of feeling and consideration. Nothing dropped, as it were, 
 casually, from him. This observation applies to every moment 
 during his stay with me, and to every subject, however trifling, 
 of which mention was made : constantly cheerful and pleasant, 
 and even playful ; but then, there was mingled with them, such 
 blandness, and mildness, and holiness, as at once won you to 
 afiectionately love the man who thus felt and looked and spoke. 
 A touch of heaven seemed to have passed upon all his feelings. 
 The individual appeared as one who was not preparing to be, but 
 had already been, beatified. His joy was so pure, his kindness so 
 heartfelt, his piety so intense, his manners and voice soexpressive 
 of inward peace. Many times, while we stayed together, was I 
 compelled to give way to the emotions of my heart, in the mental 
 exclamation, * Thou God of love, I bless thee for my father ! ' 
 
 * Mr. Everett, who saw the Doctor a few clays before at Liverpool, says he 
 was affected with the change in his appearance. He was much thinner, 
 and walked with apparent labour. Casting a glance downward, at the once 
 well-formed leg, " You see, Everett," said he, pleasantly, " my legs have 
 nearly run away from me." 
 
826 
 
 THE LIFK AND LABOURS OF 
 
 "We liacl much conversation," continues the Rev. J. B. B. 
 Clarke, " on my family affairs, and particularly on my ministerial 
 duties and conduct. At the conclusion of the conversation, he 
 rose from the sofa, and, coming up to me, paused for a few 
 seconds, as if in meditation, or perhaps engaged in mental prayer ; 
 and then raising liis hands, he placed them on my head, and, in a 
 solemn voice, full of affection, he said, ' God hless thee, my son 1"" 
 
 Upon the paternal henechction, spontaneously bestowed, Mr. 
 Clarke set a high value. I looked upon it," he obseiTes, " as 
 an act which said, ' I will do all which an earthly pai-ent can, 
 hut will still place my child under the care of that heavenly 
 Father, who will more than fulfil my office when I am gone.' 
 This protective rite was thus mine. This is the reason why I 
 prized it; and the knowledge of a peculiarity in my father 
 caused me to rejoice that it was secured to me. My father's 
 bodily constitution was of such a nature that the attack of any 
 severe pain or illness completely prostrated liis strength ; and, 
 with it, fell his animal spirits, lea^dng nothing behind but 
 uncomplaining endurance and patient resignation. It, therefore, 
 always strack me, that the blessing so earnestly desu'cd could 
 never be given by him on his death-bed, when, in all probabihty, 
 his animal powers would be unable to obev the dictates of his 
 will." 
 
 "The same feeling (continues the narrator), which prompted 
 liim to give his blessing to me, induced him to bestow it also 
 upon my wife, who gave me the following account of the occur- 
 rence, which took place Avhile I was out on some parish duties : 
 — ' After inquiring of me the detail of many parochial plans and 
 duties, he drew me to him, and said, " Matilda, you remember 
 I ordained you to be a helper to your husband in yoiu' first 
 parish in Livei-pool ; but here I must add, may the Lord bless 
 and strengthen you to do his work in this place ; for you have, 
 indeed, a wide sphere of usefulness both among the rich and 
 poor." The cii'cumstance in Livei-pool to winch he alluded was 
 the following : — On his visit to us soon after our mamage, he 
 took an early opportunity of conversing with me on the im- 
 portance of the duties to which I had pledged myself by my union 
 with a minister of the altai*. Then, lading his hand on my head, 
 as I sank down on my knees before him, he said, " My dear 
 cliild, you do not now belong to yourself, or even to your hus- 
 band. The people of God have a right in you ; and, as a helper 
 in the work of the ministry, I ordain you in the name of the 
 Lord Jehovah. It will be youi* part especially to visit the sick, 
 to comfort the mourners, and to lead the yoimg in the paths of 
 lighteousness. God grant you his Spirit to be your teacher, and 
 his blessing to prosper the holy work !" ' " 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 327 
 
 ** Ou the morning of the puhhc meeting, the 9th," continues 
 Mr. Clarke, he rose as usual, at about five o'clock ; and, thougli 
 he had passed a bad night, he was evidently better than on the 
 preceding day, and complained of nothing but a shght tendency 
 to dryness of mouth, an affection which sometimes very seriously 
 inconvenienced him, which, he trusted, would pass away. It for- 
 tunately did. On the platform, where many, both speakers and 
 hearers, were assembled, he sought out and secured his usual 
 situation, — a place far back, behind the front ranks, where he 
 could remain unobserved by any one. It is not my design, even 
 were it in my power, to record the speech which he made on the 
 above occasion. The effect produced by it was surprisingly 
 great. None seemed to listen to him as to a stranger, but as to 
 one with whose moral worth they were well acquainted, and 
 whose intellectual dignity they reverenced. While detailing the 
 rise of the Strangers' Friend Society, under his own directions, 
 in the city of Dublin, he accounted for his feehng in favour of 
 active Christianity much in the following manner : — ' When I 
 came forth, my Lord,' the Marquis of Bath was in the chair, 
 * among my fellows, as a pubUc minister, I felt the importance of 
 not making any man my model, and not taking any pecuhar 
 creed as the standard of my faith. As I was to explain and 
 enforce Scripture on my own responsibility, / resolved that all 
 should he the result of my own examination. But there was a 
 necessity that all should be reduced to some kind of creed ; that 
 it should not be a scattered host of unconnected thoughts, but a 
 combined and irrefragably deduced series of incontrovertible doc- 
 trine, agreeing with truth and fitted for use. This compelled me 
 to an-ange my particulars into generals, to concentrate my forces, 
 and call in my stragglers : nor did I ever cease thus to condense 
 my creed, till I had reduced its several parts under the two grand 
 heads, love to God, and love to man. Here I found that I had 
 a rule to which I could refer all my conceptions of the great and 
 holy God, and all my endeavours for the welfare of mankind. It 
 was a creed of practice and not of theory, capable of being di'awn 
 into use at a moment's notice ; and, under the influence of that 
 short creed, love to God and love to man, I began that society, 
 in a great measure similar to tiiis, the well-known, far- spread, 
 and long-tried Strangers' Friend Society.' Alluding to the 
 pleasure which he felt in seeing at the meeting, as the society's 
 active supporters, the heads of the Church, with many of its 
 clergy, he spoke with much strength and emphasis of his regard 
 for the Church ; and, turning to the Bishop of Bath and Wells, 
 who had spoken before him, he said, ' The Church which I so 
 highly reverence, and which, I pray to God, its head, may enjoy 
 an endless prosperity and a still increasing purity.' Speaking of 
 
.328 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the various grades of society wliicli were united as the officers 
 and supporters of the institution, he said, ' In your Lordship, 
 and your noble and Right Reverend supporters, the Earl of Cork, 
 and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, I behold the representatives 
 of the highest ranks in the land, peers spiritual and temporal. 
 I am told that there are present here Members of Parhament. 
 Clergy and gentry, and all grades, have united and come forward 
 as the poor man's friends, and as officers of this society.* It is 
 a grateful sight. Thus also it is even with the economy of 
 heaven ; since, concerning it, we hear of thrones, and dominions, 
 and principalities, and powers ; for orderly govennnent seems to 
 be well-pleasing to God;^ and what other degi'ees may be re- 
 quired to constitute the harmony of the celestial hierarchy, I 
 know not; — but — I shall soon be there, and then I shall know 
 the whole ! 'f Though my father spoke long (yet who felt it so ?), 
 and the weather was oppressively hot, he did not seem much ex- 
 hausted by the exertion ; but, at the conclusion of the meeting, 
 walked down to my house, where the Marquis of Bath, and the 
 Bishop of Bath and Wells, with many others, had already anived, 
 to partake of some refreshment ; and he pleasantly met the 
 humourous address of the bishop on his entrance, ' Dr. Clarke, 
 come fonvard here ; many good things have come out of your 
 mouth to-day, let me help to put some of our good things into it 
 in return.' During the whole of the afternoon and evening, he 
 spoke with unmixed pleasure of his satisfaction ; and, at our 
 evening family devotions, he prayed most fervently and indivi- 
 dually for its welfare, and for a blessing upon all who conducted 
 or were engaged with it ; and this was a petition which he never 
 ceased to put up while he stayed, when the family was gathered 
 together morning and evening." 
 
 To this account of the meeting it cannot be superfluous to add 
 the following extract from a letter, in which Dr. Clarke gave his 
 friend Mrs. Comer, of Liverpool, an account of his journey from 
 
 * The society which Dr. Clarlie's youngest son was instrumental in form- 
 ing, differed from the generality of similar societies formed by Chm'chmen. 
 It " knew nothing," as we leam from the prospectus, " of sect or party ;" and 
 the whole of its excellent rules corresponded with this first gi-eat principle. 
 
 f At the second meeting of the Society, the Bishop of Bath snd Wells 
 thus alluded to Dr. Clarke : — " I cannot avoid saying that I am this day 
 reminded of the words of an excellent person (Dr. Adam Clarke), now no 
 more, who was present at the formation of this society. The words he 
 made use of were to the effect, that, as none of us knew how soon we might 
 be called to our account, it was our duty to hasten to do all the good in our 
 power, by administering to the wants of those whom we had the means of 
 relieving. That excellent person was soon afterwards called to his account. 
 I had known him long, and / believe a better man never lived. The words I 
 have mentioned sank deep into my mind ; and I am happy to recapitulate 
 so excellent an admonition on this occasion." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 329 
 
 Liverpool to Fromc, and also of the meeting above described. It 
 is highly characteristic : — " When I came forward, all eyes were 
 directed to the old grey head ; and I was looked at as if I had 
 been some strange nondescript animal which had been often 
 spoken of, but never before seen ! For a few seconds, I stood 
 the silent object of general attention, after having made my 
 humble bow to each of the constituted authorities, — the Marquis 
 the Earl, and the Bishop ; and then the assembly, en masse. 
 Having broke silence, I addressed the Marquis, and humbly 
 begged leave to ask for what purpose I was called before his 
 Lordship, having nothing to ask, nothing to argue, nothing to 
 recommend, either from private communication or written docu- 
 ment ; not even a resolution or motion to serve as a peg to hang 
 a speech on. I spoke this pleasantly; and in a moment it was 
 perceived that the Secretary had neglected to send me the reso- 
 lution that I was to bring before the meeting. The pleasant 
 manner in which I treated my own embarrassment, tickled the 
 fiincy of all ; and I had a general cheer. The resolution was 
 handed along the platform ; and, when it came to my hand, I 
 read it aloud. It treated of the visiters; and its chief object 
 was the collection, which was to be made at the end of the meet- 
 ing. When I came to the visiters, I strongly recommended that 
 females should be employed ; and, in doing this, mentioned the 
 case where a number of men had been sent into a particular dis- 
 trict, of which they could make little or nothing; and when, 
 after several trials, it was still unproductive, at the suggestion of 
 a friend, a number of women were sent to the same ground, who 
 laboured faithfully and to good effect : and, when an inquiry was 
 made and a balance struck, it was found that one woman was 
 equal to seven men and a-half ! Here the emotion was intense, 
 and the effect general. The Marquis laughed downright, and 
 the Bishop smiled aloud, and the Earl joined as heartily as the 
 rest. The eyes of the ladies sparkled like diajnonds ; and even 
 the face of thick-lipped, moping melancholy was gathered into a 
 smile, and laughed ere it was aware ; and cheers proceeded from 
 all quarters. Finding that I had got the key of their hearts and 
 tlie strings of their purses, I announced the collection. The 
 Countess of Cork, the Bishop's granddaughter, and some other 
 ladies, took the plates, and received the contributions ; and the 
 effect was such, that nothing like it had ever appeared at Frome ; 
 for the collection amounted to about £160." 
 
 But a speech at the institution of his son's society was not the 
 only assistance which Dr. Clarke rendered. On the following 
 Sabbath, he preached a seimon in its behalf, in the Wesleyan- 
 Methodist chapel of Frome. In the amount of the collection at 
 the meeting, £160, it had been seen what were the doings and 
 
330 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 feelings of the great. " It Avas reserved for me," says Dr. Clarke, 
 " to witness the effects of the same principle among the poor. 
 The collection, though apparently small, was noble. Now, look 
 how ^15 was contributed by the poor." He then shows, that 
 the collection consisted of one half-sovereign, eleven half-crowns, 
 ninety- one shillings, two hundred and four sixpences, three hun- 
 dred and forty-eight pence, nine hundred and eighty-eight half- 
 pence, and one fart Jihif/." 
 
 To this may be added his son's account of the collection : — 
 " It was more than fourfold what was accustomed to be raised 
 for their most popular charities. A strong man was obliged to 
 be sent to bring it down ; for it was mostly in half[3ence ! When 
 I was counting it, there was found a farthing, which my father 
 put into liis waistcoat pocket with these words, ' Zeal can always 
 find means of doing something. I will purchase from the col- 
 lection this proof of it which was handed to him, on his giving 
 the shiUing that was deficient in the specified amount of the col- 
 lection. This farthing was found in his pocket after his death, 
 carefully wrapped up in a paper containing its history." 
 
 " On Monday morning," contmues the deeply interesting nar- 
 rative of Mr. J. B. B. Clarke, " my father, my wife, and our little 
 daughter AHce, with her nurse and myself, all set off together for 
 Weston-super-Mare, where we were intending to spend a few 
 days with my mother-in-law, Mrs. Brooke. I thought that rest 
 and sea-air might do my father good. He was in vei7 excellent 
 spirits, and had not suffered from his Sunday preaching. Most 
 part of the way he nursed and played with the little child, dehght- 
 ing in her sagely important look, when he placed his large broad- 
 brimmed hat upon her head, and making sportive observations 
 on the vehicle we were obhged to occupy to Wells, where Mrs. 
 Brooke's carriage was to meet us. He arrived at Weston rather 
 wearied. Next morning we took a walk, when he was evidently 
 not much dehghted with a bathing-place, which he called a ' con- 
 geries of mud, varied by barren sands ;' and, having nothing 
 particularly gTatifying in the suiTounding prospect to engage his 
 thoughts, he seemed to turn with the greater delight to recollec- 
 tions of past scenes, dwelhng with gTeat pleasure and much 
 affection on the universally kind feehng shown to him by his 
 bretlu^en at the Conference. This was a subject to which he 
 often recurred, and expressed his thankfulness to God that he 
 had been enabled once more to meet the preachers, and that the 
 meeting was such as to be remembered with the utmost satisfac- 
 tion : indeed, he several times abruptly introduced a mention of 
 the joy he felt, which clearly proved what great hold the circum- 
 stance possessed on his mind. No man was ever more devoted 
 in his love to Metliodism than my father. Though individuals 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 331 
 
 might be wrong or unkind, yet still lie always clung to Metho- 
 dism with the entire affections of his heart, sanctioned by tlie 
 confirmed approval of his understanding. Any members of the 
 body he considered as entitled to his best services ; and any 
 token of regard proceeding from the Society he felt as his fullest 
 and best reward for either arduous service or personal sacrifice." 
 
 The day before Dr. Clarke left Weston for Bristol, on his road 
 homeward, the passing before the window of some Irvingitc 
 ladies, led the discourse to that sect. " My father," observes 
 Mr. Clai'ke, " stated that he had that morning given a serious 
 warning to an acquaintance of his who was tainted with that evil 
 leaven, and hoped it might be of advantage to her, for she had 
 fallen into a ' gloomy croaking uncharitable feelings were in- 
 dulged toward all who did not see as she saw ; they were consi- 
 dered as being merely in the outskirts of Christianity, or as being 
 blindly ignorant of its privileges. Such people possess a kind 
 of spiritual pedantry, which excites them to a vain confidence of 
 themselves, or undue undervaluing of others. He expressed 
 himself very strongly and decidedly against the pretensions and 
 speculations of the Irvingite school, as well as against their 
 ' spurious sort of Christianity.' He considered it only as a tem- 
 porary evil, which probably would not last out the lives of its 
 inventors, and from which the church of God had nothing to 
 apprehend : its own pretensions would be its own confusion. 
 
 " On Thursday morning," adds the affectionate son, " I went 
 with him to the Bristol coach, waited till he was driven away, 
 and never saw him more !" 
 
 On the 19th of August (being the Sabbath), Dr. Clarke 
 preached, by appointment, at Wcstbury, near Bristol. Of this 
 sermon, which was the last he preached, an account has been 
 furnished by Mr. H. K. Griffiths, of Walworth, the Secretary of 
 the London Strangers' Friend Society. This gentleman, hap- 
 pening to be in Bristol at the time, went over to Westbury to 
 hear Dr. Clarke. The following is the substance of his ac- 
 count : — " The Doctor took his text from 1 Tim. i. 15 : 'This 
 is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' He was exceedingly 
 zealous in his manner, and made an especial allusion to the 
 cholera, describing it ' as a mighty scourge in the hand of Je- 
 hovah, and a judgment which should awaken all men to flee to 
 God, through Christ, as their only safety and sure refuge.' 
 When the service was ended, he retired into the vestry ; and 
 several of his friends, together with his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 Thomas Exley, of Bristol, followed. I was about to do the 
 same, when I perceived him making his way through the con- 
 gi-egation, in order to leave the chapel. Having reached the 
 
302 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 door, Mr. Thomas Wright, of Bristol, requested him to wait 
 until he brought his chaise from the inn. The Doctor replied, 
 * No, he would walk on,' wliich he accordingly did, leaning upon 
 my arm. Upon my adverting to his leaving many of his friends 
 behind, he said, ' Tliis has ever been the case with me : if I had 
 always accommodated myself to other people, I should never 
 have accompUshed what I have done. I cannot lose time, 
 though by it I had gained the character of being a very good- 
 natured fellow ; for it might have been added, I was as haiTnless 
 as a chicken, and as fruitless as an oyster.' Dr. Clarke then 
 spoke of his habits and pursuits thi'ough life ; then, changing 
 the topic of conversation, he referred to liis new Supernumerary 
 appointment, observing, ' The Conference have given me plenty 
 of work, and a ro\ing commission. I am going to begin it 
 next Sunday, by preaching at Bayswater for the chapel, and the 
 Sabbath following at Wildemess-row ; and I have promised Mr. 
 Beaumont that I will preach for liim in the Southwark circuit ; 
 so I am in no want of work.' The venerable Doctor then in- 
 quii'ed particulaiiy respecting the late Rev. John Stone's death ; 
 and asked me if he died of Asiatic cholera. I told him the 
 medical gentlemen reported it as such. He thereupon made 
 particuliU' inquuies as to the time of his being taJien, the mode 
 of the attack, how long he suffered, and if severely, &c. Dr. 
 Clarke knew I had been with Mr. Storry at the time of his 
 death ; and I gave liim accurate infonnation on all these points. 
 He then made kind inqumes respecting Mrs. Ston-y. At this 
 time we were drawing near to the opening of the Down, wliich 
 Hes between Westbury and Bristol ; and he then began walking- 
 slower, obsemng, ' I have no wish to walk beyond these trees 
 and grounds that shelter the road ; having been waim in preach- 
 ing, I should feel the wind cold upon the Down.' Some of his 
 friends then coming up, and the chaise arriving. Dr. Clarke 
 shook hands with me, bade God bless me, and proceeded on liis 
 way to Bristol." 
 
 On Monday, the 20th of August, Dr. Clarke left Bristol for 
 Bath ; and, in writing from the latter city to his friend Mrs. 
 Tomkins, one of those who had supported the Shetland Mission, 
 he observes : — " I have had either incessant work and traveUing, 
 or confinement and suffeiing, for neaiiy four months, and now I 
 should have rest ; but that, I doubt, is far from me." 
 
 While in Bath, he received fi'om Mrs. Clarke an account of a 
 terrible disaster at Shetland, by which about thirty fisliing-boats, 
 each containing five or six men, were supposed to have perished. 
 From a letter written by Mr. Robert Manwaring, one of the mis- 
 sionaries, it appeared, that of those who perished many were 
 Methodists, and some leaders of classes. " How many mem- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 333 
 
 bcrs we have lost in all," said that gentleman, I cannot tell ; 
 but we have now about forty widows, and neaiiy two hundred 
 fatherless childi'en, belonging to our Society. I hope our dear 
 Enghsh Mends will enable the poor widows to pay their rent, as 
 it was by the fisliing alone that they paid it." 
 
 This disti'essing account deeply affected the mind of Dr. 
 Clarke. He would not hear, however, of money being collected 
 to enable the poor creatiu'es to pay their rent, justly deeming 
 that no landlord, even in the most barbarous countries, would 
 attempt to exact, from their \\idows and orphans, the rent due 
 from tenants who had lately perished in his semce. " What- 
 ever may be sent from this country," he observes, " will be sent 
 to reUeve the present necessities of those most desolate persons, 
 not to pay rents, &c. ; as, by the destniction of the Hves of the 
 men, all sources of gain are diied up, and theii' widows and 
 orphans left to the mere mercy of the pubHc ; and to a pubhc, 
 too, ill able to afford effectual or permanent relief." A public 
 subscription was immediately set on foot, to reheve this case of 
 signal distress ; and the Enghsh people came foi-ward with a 
 liberaht\' commensurate with the occasion. 
 
 Dr. Clarke left Bath for London on the same day on which 
 he anived there, and reached the house of his Mend Mr. Hobbs, 
 at Bayswater, the same evening. There he slept ; and, on the 
 following morning, Mr. Hobbs di'ove him to call upon liis son, 
 in St. John's-square, and thence to his daughter's (Mis. Smith) 
 at Stoke Xewington. He appeared as cheerful as usual. His 
 two grandsons, having run down, on heaiing his voice, to meet 
 him, he kindly inquired for the rest of the childi*en ; and, being 
 told that they should be sent down directly from tlie nui-ser}% he 
 repUed, " No, I will go up and see them, if the httle ones are 
 asleep." One after the other, he kissed them, and passed into 
 the sleeping-nursery, where the two youngest were in bed. He 
 looked upon them, paused for a minute in silence, and then 
 turned to leave the apartment, after bidding all good moiTiing. 
 As he was leaving the room, on the nurse, an old servant of his, 
 saying, " Oh, master, I am so glad to see you back again," he 
 returned a step, put out his hand, and said, "Thank you. Cottier !" 
 Bemounting the gig, he was driven to Canonbury-square, to see 
 his other daughter, Mrs. Hook, and thence returned to Bays- 
 water to dinner ; after which, he took the Pinner coach, and got 
 to Eastcott about seven in the evening. 
 
 After Dr. Clarke's return home, it was remai-ked, that, in the 
 morning and evening family woi-ship, he invariably prayed in 
 reference to the cholera, by name, that " each and all might be 
 saved from its influence, or prepared for sudden death :" and, as 
 regards the nation at large, " that it will please Almighty God to 
 
884 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 turn the hearts of the people unto liimsell, and cut short his 
 judgment in mercy." 
 
 On Saturday, August 26, he summoned the family as usual ; 
 and it was observed he commenced his prayer with these words, 
 "We thanli thee, 0 heavenly Father, that we have a blessed 
 hope, tlu'ough Christ, of entering into thy glory ;" and, on rising 
 from his knees, he remarked to Mrs. Clarke, " I think, my dear, 
 it will not be my duty to kneel down much longer, as it is with 
 pain and difficulty that I can rise up off my knees." 
 
 As he was engaged to preach at Bayswater on the Sabbath 
 morning, his friend Mr. Hobbs had promised to go for him in 
 his chaise, which he accordingly did. Previously to their setting 
 off, he called a serv'ant, and gave her a piece of silver, saying, 
 " Take that to poor Mrs. Fox, with my love and blessing : perhaps 
 it is the last I shall ever give her." On the return of the sen ant 
 from the cottage of this long- afflicted and then dying woman, 
 he asked, with great concern, " how she was, and if her soul was 
 happy :" on its being repHed, " She is quite happy and resigned," 
 he ejaculated, with strong emphasis, " Praise God." He took a 
 little refi'eshment before he set off, and ascended the chaise. On 
 the way, liis conversation was cheerful ; but, on his aiiival, he 
 appeared fatigued, and, as the evening advanced, was unusually 
 languid. Several friends called upon him ; and, on the Rev. 
 Thomas Stanley, since deceased, requesting him to fix a time for 
 preaching a charity sermon, he replied, " I am not well ; I can- 
 not fix a time ; I must first see what God is about to do with me." 
 At supper, he was languid and silent : Mrs. Hobbs had got for 
 him some fish, to which he was always partial ; but he could not 
 eat of it, and took a httle rice instead, and aftei'wards a small 
 portion of burnt brandy. 
 
 Ever since Dr. Clarke's return from Bristol, liis bowels had 
 been considerably affected ; but, as this was his constitutional 
 ailment, an increase of it did not make him uneasy; especially 
 as, contrary to custom, he suffered not the slightest pain. On 
 being pressed to take something for it, he took ginger and rhu- 
 barb, but refused every other medicine urged upon him. 
 
 On Saturday evening, he retired early to bed ; but the diar- 
 rhoea increased during the night. On the Sabbath morning, he 
 was heard up yery early ; but, as this was not unusual, it created 
 no surprise. At six, however, he requested the servant to call 
 Mr. Hobbs, who obeyed the srunmons with all speed, and, on 
 coming down, saw Dr. Clarke standing with his great-coat on, 
 his small travelling bag in his hand, his hat lying on the table, 
 just ready for a journey. Addressing Mr. Hobbs, he said, ''My 
 dear fellow, you must get me home directly. Without a miracle, 
 I could not preach. Get me home : I want to be home." Mr. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 335 
 
 Hobbs, seeing Dr. Clarke look exceedingly ill, replied, " Indeed, 
 Doctor, you are too ill to go liome : you had better stay liere. 
 At any rate, the gig is not lit for you. I will go and inquire for 
 a post-chaise, if you are determined to return to Eastcott." The 
 unusual circumstance of Dr. Clarke's sending for Mr. Hobbs, 
 alarmed Mrs. Hobbs, who went down shortly after, as did also Miss 
 Hobbs and Miss Everingham. By this time he had sunk into a 
 chair ; and, finding him very cold they had got a fire, and the three 
 ladies were rubbing his forehead and hands, while Mr. Hobbs 
 sent for a medical gentleman, a friend of the family, Mr. Charles 
 Greenly, of Chatham, who had come to town on the preceding 
 evening. Besides this gentleman, who had attended professionally 
 the cholera hospital in Chatham, Mr. Hobbs called in a medical 
 man residing in the neighbourhood, and sent to inform Dr. 
 Clarke's sons of their father's illness. Mr. Theodoret Clarke 
 arrived shortly, and Mr. John Clarke not long after, accompanied 
 by Dr. Clarke's nephew, Mr. Thrasycles Clarke, who had been 
 for many years a surgeon in His Majesty's Navy, and had fre- 
 quently seen cases of the cholera in the East. As soon as the 
 medical gentlemen saw Dr. Clarke, they pronounced the disease 
 to be an attack of cholera. He was immediately galvanized ; 
 but it was to no purpose. He was then bled, but vei-y little 
 blood was extracted ; strong doses of calomel, &c., were also 
 administered ; a mustard poultice, and various other remedies, 
 were applied; but every effort proved unavailing, and he gra- 
 dually sank into a greater and greater degree of physical debility, 
 which indicated danger of the most alarming kind. The family 
 wished him to be taken upstairs ; but he was by this time so 
 weak, that it was found he could not get up. A small press-bed 
 being in the adjoining room, he was laid upon it. Mr. Hobbs 
 then remarked, " My dear Doctor, you must put your soul in the 
 hands of your God, and your trust in the merits of your Saviour :" 
 to which Dr. Clarke could only faintly reply, " I do, I do." Dr, 
 Wilson Philip was sent for. He arrived about nine ; and every 
 means that skill, experience, and attention, could devise and em- 
 ploy, were used to arrest the disease. Service-time having anived, 
 the chapel was, as usual on such occasions, filled ; and, on Mr. 
 Womersley's getting into the pulpit, after the reading of the 
 prayers, and announcing that Dr. Clarke was labouring under an 
 attack of cholera, an impression was made upon the congrega- 
 tion which may be better imagined than described. 
 
 An old friend of Dr. Clarke's, Mr. Thurston, on hearing this, 
 immediately left the chapel, and hastened to the house of Mr. 
 Hobbs, to learn, if, indeed, it could be true ; and if^ in the dis- 
 may and hurry of the family, Mrs Clarke had been sent for. 
 He immediately drove off to Haydon-hall, to bring Mrs. Clarke 
 
336 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 to Bayswater. She arrived a little before four o'clock in the 
 afternoon. When she entered the room, Dr. Clarke feebly 
 extended his hand towards her. His daughter, Mrs. Hook, on 
 hearing that her father was indisposed, instantly set off for 
 Bayswater. Wlien she anived, he opened his eyes feebly, and 
 strove to clasp liis fingers upon her hand. His two sons chafed 
 his cold hands and feet fi^equently in the day, and often stepped 
 behind his head to hft him higher on his pillow. Hope did 
 not abandon them ; nor could Mrs. Chu'ke be brought to beheve 
 that death had made a sure lodgment, and that life was fast sink- 
 ing under its pow^r. From the first Dr. Clarke appeared to 
 suffer but httle pain, and duiing exery stage of his illness, he 
 retained the use of his senses and of liis understanding. In no 
 case did he betray any abeiTation of mind, notliing bordering on 
 delirium. Tliis, however, was rather to be gathered from his 
 actions than his words ; for, at an early hour, his voice had lost its 
 tone, and sank lower and lower, until nothing but whispers could 
 be obtained. When bled, and liis hand was immersed in warm 
 water, he instantly moved liis fingers ; and, when under the gal- 
 vanic operation, he attempted to alter its apphcatioii. He spoke 
 but tvdce, once in the morning, when he asked his son Theodoret, 
 "Am I blue ?" and again at noon, when, on seeing him move 
 from liis bed-side, he inquired with apparent anxiety, " Are you 
 going ?" When aiticulation had ceased, liis signs of sensibiHty 
 denoted not only that the mind remained unimpaired, but that it 
 was engaged in solemn prayer to his Father and liis God. As 
 evening advanced, there was a total prostration of strength, and 
 a difficulty of breathing, wliich increased so much, and proved 
 so distressing to Mrs. Clarke, that it was found necessaiy to 
 remove her into the adjoining room. A few minutes after 
 eleven, Mr. Hobbs came into the room where she was sitting, 
 and in deep distress said, " I am sure, Mrs. Clarke, the Doctor 
 is dying." She passed with him once more into the sick cham- 
 ber, and said, " Surely, Mr. Hobbs, you mistake ; Dr. Clarke 
 breathes easier than he did just now." To which Mr. Hobbs, 
 in strong emotion, rephed, " Yes ; but shorter." At this mo- 
 ment, Dr. Clarke heaved a short sob, and his spirit w^ent forth 
 from eaith to heaven ! 
 
 " Though accompanied," says the son of Dr. Clarke before 
 quoted, " by eYery circumstance that could assuage giief, yet the 
 depai'tm*e of such a father must ever be felt by his family as a 
 dire calamity. They were supported under it ; for they knew 
 wliither he had journeyed before them. The blow must at 
 some time have come ; and God, in mercy, so ordered events, 
 that it fell with no additional force, but merely with its own dead 
 weight. His constitution could not endm-e severe pain ; there- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 337 
 
 fore, by a lingering illness, producing no suffering, and never 
 suspending any of his powers of activity, he was reduced to such 
 a state of weakness, that his frame had not power to struggle 
 in pain with the disease, but gradually sank, with full conscious- 
 ness, into his last sleep. He thought upon decay, of either 
 body or mind, with very little short of real anguish ; therefore, 
 he was called away when he was active in his Master's service, and 
 with all the powers of liis mind in undimmed brightness. He 
 was far from desiring a sudden death, and yet a protracted dying 
 would have been to him most severely afflictive ; therefore, his 
 body was not harassed by pain, and he had all the time granted 
 liim for preparing to meet his God, that, I believe in my soul, he 
 ever desired. On the subject of sudden death, he once thus 
 expressed himself: — 'That sentence frequently applied to the 
 death of the righteous, " sudden death is sudden glory," is a 
 foohsh expression. No man should desire to be taken off at a 
 moment's warning. When my time comes to go the way of all 
 the earth, I should pray not to be taken suddenly into the presence 
 of my God. Gladly would I have time to brace on my armour, 
 and to take my shield. Then would I meet and struggle with 
 the monster, in the power of my Redeemer; and, to the last 
 gasp. Death, though conqueror, should possess no victor}^ over 
 Adam Clarke.' Though his animal powers had failed, and his 
 speech was gone,, yet entire consciousness remained, as many of 
 his actions proved. His knowledge of persons around him also 
 evinced it ; and, from the posture of his hands, it was at once 
 seen that he was indeed ' bracing on his armour, and taking his 
 shield.' All his children had seen him, for events had brought 
 him to abide with me for several days ; and, in coming to me, he 
 had chosen to pass through Worcester, where my eldest sister, 
 Mrs. Rowley, resides, and thus had spent some time with the 
 only two of his children who could not be with him in his last 
 moments. In all these, and various other circumstances attend- 
 ing his decease, his family see and acknowledge more than a 
 general superintending Providence ; they see that God dealt with 
 him according to his wish ; there was no rough dismissal from 
 his earthly tabernacle, and but a short interval between the full 
 enjoyment of life and the attainment of a blessed immortality." 
 
 Dr. Clarke's death was announced in the Wesley mi- Methodist 
 Magazine for September, 1832, in the following terms, encircled 
 with the symbols of mourning : — 
 
 We deeply regret to state, that intelligence has just reached 
 us of the death of the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke. He arrived at 
 Bayswater, near London, at the house of Mr. Hobbs on Saturday, 
 the 26th ult., intending to preach at the anniversary of the 
 Methodist chapel in that place on the following morning. He 
 
 z 
 
388 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOUr.S OF 
 
 was then in a state of ill- health, and became much worse early 
 on Sunday moming, so as to be unable to fulfil his engagement. 
 His disease, the malignant cholera, continued to increase, so as 
 to baffle all the skill of physicians and the power of medicine ; 
 and he expned about twenty minutes past eleven o'clock on the 
 evening of that day. He attended the late Conference in Liver- 
 pool, in his usual health and sphits, and preached twice with gi'eat 
 energy and pathos duiing its sittings ; he took also a hvely 
 interest in the business of the Conference, and the general affahs 
 of the Connexion, and expressed the most cordial attachment to 
 his brethren, and zeal for the furtherance of the cause of God. 
 We stop the press to announce these particulars." 
 
 The remains of Dr. Clarke were inteiTcd in the burying- ground 
 behind the Wesleyan-Methodist Chapel, City-road, London, on 
 Wednesday, the 29th of August, 1832. It had been announced 
 that the solemn ceremony would be performed on the 28th; and 
 many hundreds of persons came from all parts of the metro- 
 pohs on the moming of that day, anxious to testify their respect 
 for his memory, by being present on the occasion. Although the 
 day on wliich the funeral took place was exceedingly wet, and one 
 disappointment had been experienced, great numbers assembled. 
 Accompanied by all the preachers present, the corpse was met by 
 Mr. Entwisle, who began the solemn service with, " I am the 
 resurrection and the Hfe, saith the Lord ;" and read impressively 
 that part of the form appointed for the occasion. When drawing 
 towards the close, he paused for a few moments, to impress upon 
 all present the solemnity of the scene before them, and then 
 resumed his reading. Tlu'ee verses were sung of the well-known 
 hymn, commencing, 
 
 " Hark ! a voice divides the sky, 
 Happy are the faithful dead." 
 
 Afterwards, Mr. Entwisle spoke a few words. He need not, he 
 said, say to any of them, " Know ye not that there is a prince 
 and a great man fallen this day in Israel ?" They well knew 
 this. It was not his intention to deliver such an address as 
 ought, on such an occasion, to be dehvered: in due time, an 
 improvement would be made of the awful event — awful, not to 
 hun who had depailed this life, and who now rested from his 
 labours ; but awful to them as a rehgious body, to the bereaved 
 members of his' family, and to a large cncle of beloved friends. 
 Mr Entwisle concluded with prayer, that the awful and myste- 
 rious dispensation of Providence might be duly improved by the 
 rehgious body with which the deceased had been so long con- 
 nected. The friends and the London preachers now accom- 
 panied the body to the grave, where the service was resumed by 
 
DK. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 339 
 
 Mr. George Marsden, amidst the sighs and tears of nearly all 
 that were assembled. The grave in which the remains of Dr. 
 Clarke are interred, is next to the vault in which the ashes of 
 Mr. Wesley repose. He often expressed a wish to be buried 
 near liis spiritual father. When the body was lowered into the 
 tomb, all the relatives of the deceased were greatly affected ; but 
 none more so than Mr. John Wesley Clarke, his eldest son, 
 since deceased. In many parts of England, it is customary for 
 the nearest relative to drop a little earth upon the coffin. Guided 
 by this custom, this gentleman held out his hand, apparently to 
 receive some earth. This being given, he squeezed it for a 
 moment, then put it to his lips, as if to kiss it, and, immediately 
 dropping it upon the coffin, burst into tears. 
 
 At the recpiest of the bereaved family, Mr. Moore, who was 
 the oldest living friend of the Doctor, preached a sermon on the 
 occasion of liis death in the City-Road Chapel. The interest 
 excited at tliis service was very great. The chapel was crowded 
 to excess ; and many hundreds, if not some thousands, of 
 persons were unable to obtain admission. 
 
 Several other of Dr. Clarke's surviving brethren in the ministrv, 
 and some ministers of other denominations, did honour to his 
 memory, by preaching sermons on the occasion of his death. 
 Among these were the Eev. Messrs. J. Entwisle, sen., Dr. 
 Beaumont, D. M'Nicoll, W. France, J. Anderson, and J. Field 
 ing ; but, as, in describing his character, we may have occasion 
 to refer to the discourses of most of these gentlemen, it is not 
 necessary to speak of them more particularly in this place. 
 
 A few days after the decease of Dr. Clarke, it was proposed 
 that a pubhc monument should be erected to his memory. The 
 project was communicated to the Duke of Sussex, who was 
 known to entertain a great esteem for Dr. Clarke. His 
 Royal Highness was then in Wales ; but a letter, dated Sep - 
 tember 9, 1832, was received from his secretary, who was com- 
 manded to state, that, " had not the letter followed his Royal 
 Highness to Wales, he would have been most happy to have lent 
 his aid at the meeting intended at Peele's Coffee-house, Fleet- 
 street, in furtherance of the object considered desirable hy the 
 friends of the late pre-eminently learned and pious Dr. Adam 
 Clarke." The writer was commanded likewise to express how 
 sensibly His Royal Highness felt the loss which he, as well as 
 the Christian world, had sustained, by the death of a man so 
 talented, learned, and of so acknowledged a reputation ; and, at 
 the same time that his Royal Highness agreed in the measures 
 about to be adopted for the preservation of his memory, and 
 would be most happy to add his mite towards the erection of 
 some monument," he commanded his secretarv to throw out, on 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 liis part, the very proper suggestion, that the subscription 
 should be small, so as to enable the least wealthy of the Doctor's 
 admirers to contribute their mite likewise in fmtherance of so 
 laudable an object." His Eoyal Highness requested that he might 
 be furnished with the resolutions, &c., already adopted, — a 
 request which was, of course, complied with. 
 
 A meeting was held, and Thomas Fai'mer, Esq., of Kennington, 
 was called to the chair. Mr Farmer then stated, that it was 
 ah'eady in the contemplation of the immediate fiiends and con- 
 nexions of Dr. Clarke to erect a monument to his memory ; and 
 he suggested the propriety of gi^'ing place to them. On the 
 contrary, it was urged by several gentlemen, among whom was Dr. 
 Morison, of Chelsea, that a proper deference might be sIiotmi to 
 the parties alluded to, without a total abandonment, by the 
 present meeting, of the object of its assembling. It might be 
 that Dr. Clai'ke's friends did not intend a pubhc monument, but 
 merely a tablet to liis memory in the City-road Chapel ; in which 
 case they and the meeting might each pursue their respective 
 plans without opposition or coUision. Mr. Farmer avowed that 
 he, for one, should not be content without a pubhc monument ; 
 and, tliis appearing to be the common feehng of the gentlemen 
 present, it was unanimously resolved to adjourn for a short 
 period, to give time to Dr. Clarke's religious connexions to make 
 known their purpose. Accordingly, resolutions to this eflPect 
 were passed, and a paper, of wMch the following is a copy, was 
 presented to the trustees and executors of Dr. Clarke : — 
 
 " At a meeting of the fiiends of the late Doctor Adam Clarke, 
 convened at Peele's Coffee-house, on Friday evening, September 
 7th, 1832, for the pm-pose of taking into consideration the pro- 
 priety of erecting a pubhc monument to the memory of that 
 distinguished scholar and divine (Thomas Fanner, Esq., in the 
 chair), it was — Eesolved, That, in consequence of an intimation 
 conveyed to the meeting, that the immechate rehgious connexions 
 of Dr. Clarke intend adoping certain measiu'es for the pui'pose of 
 commemorating the virtues of that eminent individual, this 
 meeting feels itself called upon to adjourn for ten days, till it 
 shall be ascertained what may be the nature of those measures 
 which may be contemplated bv the immediate connexions of Dr 
 Clarke." 
 
 In the mean time, some of the Wesleyan-Methodist ministers 
 resident in London, came to an understanding among themselves 
 (promoted cliiefly by the late Eev. R. Watson), that it should be 
 recommended to Conference to erect tablets to the memoiw of 
 Dr. Adam Clarke and the late Mr. Benson. 
 
 When it thus became apparent that the immediate religious 
 friends and connexions of Dr. Clarke designed only to comme- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 341 
 
 morate his talents, his attainments, and his usefulness, as one of 
 their brethren, without reference to the obligations under which, 
 by his eminent labours in the field of biblical science, he had 
 laid tlie entire Christian world, it was seen that those with whom 
 the project of a public monument had originated, were quite at 
 liberty to pursue then- own plans. A variety of circumstances, 
 however, occasioning delay, it was not till Saturday, October 20, 
 that these gentlemen resumed their pui-pose, when an adjourned 
 meeting was convened. At this second meeting, several resolu- 
 tions were passed, and a committee of gentlemen was named and 
 appointed, to whom it was referred to make arrangements for a 
 public meeting, to be convened by advertisement. This meeting, 
 however, never took place. 
 
 The first intimation which the public received of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Committee appeared on the cover of the Wes- 
 ley an- Methodist Magazine for Februaiy, 1833, in the follow- 
 ing form : — " Application having been made to stitch up with 
 the Wesleyan- Methodist Magazine, an advertisement of a 
 monument intended to be erected to the memory of Dr. A. 
 Clarke, Resolved unanimously, at a meeting of the advertising 
 committee, held January 21, 1833, 'That, with the utmost 
 respect for the memory of the late Dr. A. Clarke, the said 
 appHcation be declined, on the following grounds : — That no 
 intimation is given, by which the public can be led to form any 
 idea of the probable expense of the undertaking, or of the place 
 where the intended monument is to be erected, or of the inscrip- 
 tion which may be placed upon it, or of the parties to whom the 
 execution of the project will be finally entrusted.' The pubHc 
 will be glad to learn, that the Methodist Book-Committee have 
 unanimously resolved to recommend to the Conference the erec- 
 tion of tablets in City-road Chapel, to the memory of the late 
 Rev. Joseph Benson, the Rev. Dr. Clarke, and the Rev. Richard 
 Watson, similar to those already erected, in the same place, to 
 the memory of the Rev. John Wesley, the Rev. Charles Wesley, 
 the Rev. John Fletcher, and the Rev. Dr. Coke." The addition 
 of the name of Richard Watson, renders it scarcely needful to 
 inform the reader that liis death had subsequently occurred. 
 
 The reasons upon wliich the rejection of the advertisement re- 
 specting the proposed monument was founded, would have been 
 just as pertinent, had they been assigned in reference to Dr. 
 Clarke's Commentary. They had however been anticipated in the 
 advertisement itself, as the following paragi'aph will show : — " The 
 Committee beg leave to announce, that the intended monument 
 will be simple, chaste, and becoming the character of the deceased. 
 The design and execution must, in a great measure, depend on 
 the sums which may be raised. The site which wUl be chosen 
 
342 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 for the erection, will be the most public and prominent that can 
 be obtained in the metropoHs. And, should any sui-plus remain, 
 it will be apphed in aid of those charities which lay nearest the 
 heart, and received the most strenuous support, of the venerable 
 deceased." 
 
 A committee, thus circumstanced, and before they could esti- 
 mate the amount of their funds, could not take upon themselves 
 to select the design and inscription for the intended monument, 
 to determine the cost and the site of the erection, and to name 
 the artist. Must not any premature decision of a committee 
 on such points be hable, at any time, to be overruled by a meet- 
 ing of the subscribers ? It was enough, that a respectable com- 
 miitre had been formed, which gave general assurances to the pub- 
 lic, that the most respectable bankers in London had consented 
 to receive subscriptions, and that a Prince of the Blood Eoyal 
 had extended the sanction of his name to the undertaking. The 
 same advertisement appeared in nearly all the other rehgious 
 pubhcations of the day, without any objection on the part of their 
 editors. Nevertheless, the committee judged it pradent to issue 
 the following announcement : — " The feeling of the committee 
 (although, of com'se, this feehng cannot bind the subscribers) is, 
 to place in St. Paul's Cathedral a simple statue of the Doctor, 
 with no other inscription than that of 'Adam Clarke, LL.D.' 
 The expense will probably be about i6l,500 ; and surely there 
 are in this nation at least 1,500 persons capable of appreciating 
 the high and distinguished hterar}- attainments of the late 
 Doctor, and who, soaring above all party or sectarian feelings 
 and prejudices, and spuming every minor consideration, would 
 be wilhng, by the suljscription of £l each, to hand down to 
 posterity, in a manner worthy of his genius, the memory of a 
 man whose example ought not to be lost upon mankind." 
 
 It is much to be regi'etted that this design should have been 
 suffered to slumber. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Dr. Clarke's religious Opinions — The Articles of his Creed — Illustrations 
 
 of Opinion. 
 
 The history of Dr. Clarke's religious opinions, though suscep- 
 tible of extensive illustration, may be given in a small compass. 
 In early hfe, he " fixed his creed in all its articles, not one of 
 which he ever after found reason to change." This determination 
 was independent of all extrinsic aids and influences. He founded 
 his beUef purely upon the New Testament, which he carefully 
 perused ; and, although he had not yet read any of the wiitings 
 of the Methodists, the creed which, under Divine illumination, 
 as he firmly believed, he constructed for himself, was, with one 
 exception (he himself makes none), " precisely the same with 
 theirs." Whether it was at this early period in his Christian 
 course, that he arranged his creed in words, divided into distinct 
 articles, does not clearly appear ; but probably this was not done 
 until he had acquired that " full confidence" in his opinions, 
 which he does not profess to have acquired without subsequent 
 reading and reflection. Be this as it may, he has left behind him 
 the following, as containing the " principal articles of his creed 
 
 L That there is but one uncreated, unoriginated, infinite, and 
 eternal Being; — the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all 
 things. 
 
 " II. There is in this infinite essence a plurahty of what we 
 commonly caU Persons ; not separately subsisting, but essentially 
 
 * In 1823, Dr. Clarke was consulted by his friend, the Rev. Thomas 
 Smith, the Dissenting minister, to whom he observed : — " Bodies of divinity 
 I do most heartily dislike : they tend to supersede the Bible; and, inde- 
 pendently of this, they are exceedingly dangerous. They often give false 
 notions, bring their own kind of proofs to confirm those notions, and, by 
 their mode of quoting insulated texts of Scripture, greatly pervert the true 
 meaning of the word of God. This is my opinion of them : the ministers 
 who preach from them fill the heads of their hearers with systematic know- 
 ledge." To one of the Shetland missionaries, who had requested the Doctor 
 to recommend him a proper system of divinity, he expressed himself still 
 more strongly : — " Systems and bodies of divinity, I would not give twopence 
 a hushelful for the w"hole of them. As to the best of them, 1 know nothing 
 further than that they are good for nothing." And yet, as the reader has 
 seen, in 1832, Dr. Clarke deliberately recorded it as his opinion that the 
 best form and body of divinity that* had ever existed in the church of 
 Christ, from the promulgation of Christianity to the present day, was to be 
 found amongst the Wesleyan Methodists. 
 
344 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 belonging to the Deity or GocQiead : which Persons are gener- 
 ally termed Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; or, God, the Logos, 
 and the Holy Spuit, which are usually designated the Trinity ; 
 which term, though not found in the Scriptures, seems properly 
 enough apphed ; as we repeatedly read of these Three, and never 
 of more persons in the Godhead. * 
 
 " HI. The Sacred Scriptures, or Holy Books, which constitute 
 the Old and New Testaments, contain a full revelation of the will 
 of God, in reference to man ; and are alone sufficient for even- 
 thing relative to the faith and practice of a Chiistian, and were 
 given by the inspiration of God. 
 
 "IV. Man was created in righteousness and true holiness, 
 ■vsithout any moral imperfection, or any kind of propensity to sin ; 
 but free to stand or fall, according to the use of the powers and 
 faculties he received from his Creator. 
 
 " V. He fell from this state, became morally con'upt in his 
 nature, and transmitted Ms moral defilement to all Ms posterity. f 
 
 " YI. To counteract the e^il principle in the heart of man, 
 and bring him into a salvable state, God, from his infinite love, 
 formed the purpose of redeeming liim fi'om liis lost estate, by the 
 incarnation, in the fulness of time, of Jesus Christ ; and, in the 
 inteiim, sent liis Holy Spirit to enhghten, strive ^rith, and con- 
 \dnce, men, of sin, righteousness, and judgment. 
 
 "VII. In due time, this Divine Person, called the Logos, 
 Word, Saviour, &c., &c., did become incarnate ; sojourned among 
 men, teaching the purest tmth, and working the most stupendous 
 and beneficent miracles. 
 
 " VIII. The above Person is really and properly God ; was 
 
 * It appears from an entry in Dr. Clarke's journal, dated January 4, 
 1784, that he had been much perplexed concerning the Trinity by a con- 
 versation with a Mr. J. H , a retired Methodist preacher, who had 
 
 imbibed the notions of B;iron Swedenborg. Mr. H. maintained that there 
 was no such thing as three persons in one God, but that, what is called 
 God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, is only God 
 acting under three different characters. Mr. Clarke, however, peneti-ated 
 this flimsy sophistry, concluding, that, if Mr. II. 's views were true, we 
 should have had a Cent^nity, instead of a Trinity^ of characters. Besides 
 this, by a reference to Matthew iii. 16, 17, he satisfied himself at least, 
 that the Son evidently baptized, the Holy Spirit visibly descending, and the 
 voice of the Father actually heard, afforded the clearest and most undenia- 
 ble proof of a Trinity of persons in the Godhead. He found, also, that 
 the angels of heaven are represented as worshipping God and the Lamb, 
 not God under the character of a lamb. He perceived, in fine, that, in 
 obeying the command to worship the Son even as we worship the Father, 
 we should, upon the Swedenborgian hypothesis, be guilty of idolatry, since, in 
 worshipping the Son, we should worship not God, but one of his charactei-s. 
 
 f " In all my long intercourse and acquaintance with men, in various 
 places," said Dr. Clarke, a few months before his decease, " I have only 
 found one man and one woman to deny that man is a sinful creature." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 345 
 
 foretold as such, by the Prophets ; described as such, by the 
 Evangelists and Apostles ; and proved to be such, by his mira- 
 cles ; and has assigned to him, by the inspired writers in general, 
 every attribute essential to the Deity ; being one with him who 
 is called God, Jehovah, Lord, &c. 
 
 IX. He is also a perfect man, in consequence of his incar- 
 nation ; and in that man, or manhood, dwelt all the fulness of 
 the Godhead bodily : so that his nature is twofold, Divine and 
 human, or God manifested in the flesh. 
 
 *' X. His human nature was begotten of the blessed Virgin 
 Mary, through the creative energy of the Holy Ghost ; but his 
 Divine nature, because God, infinite and eternal, is uncreated, 
 underived, and unbegotten ; and which, were it otherwise, he 
 could not be God in any proper sense of the word : but he is 
 most explicitly declared to be God in the Holy Scriptures ; and, 
 therefore, the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship must necessarily 
 be false.* 
 
 " XI. As he took upon him the nature of man, and died in 
 that nature ; therefore, he died for the whole human race, with- 
 out respect of persons : equally for all and every man 
 
 XII. On the thu'd day after his crucifixion and burial, he 
 • rose from the dead ; and, after showing himself many days to 
 his disciples and others, he ascended into heaven, where, as God 
 manifested in the flesh, he is, and shall continue to be, the 
 Mediator of the human race, till the consummation of all 
 things. 
 
 " XIII. There is no salvation, but through him ; and through- 
 
 * In the course of the year 1818, some persons unacquainted with Dr. 
 Clarke's opinions on the Eternal Sonship, being impressed with the notion 
 that he had given up the absolute divinity of Christ, the Doctor took the 
 opportunity, in one of his public discourses, of undeceiving them by making 
 the following declaration on the subject: — "There is, except with regard to 
 his human nature, no difference put between the Lord Jesus Christ and the 
 perfections of him who is called God the Father — not that they are the 
 same, the Scriptures do not warrant this, this will not stand the test of his 
 Book. Then you say, ' We cannot comprehend how it is.' We can 
 comprehend it as easily as we can comprehend anything relating to God. 
 What God has done can be comprehended only by his own mind. We see 
 that he who subsists as an Infinite Spirit has been pleased to be designated 
 in the Bible as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This Supreme Being 
 has given us to understand that he who is called the Spirit, has every 
 essential attribute of Godhead belonging to him ; he who is called the Son, 
 has every attribute essential to Godhead attributed to him ; and he who is 
 called the Father, has every attribute essential to Godhead attributed lo 
 him. He is God in the proper, peculiar, essential sense of the word ; so is 
 he who is called the Son ; as also the Holy Spirit. None of these are before 
 or after each other. No, no, no ; this would destroy their eternity and God- 
 head. None are derived from the other ; this would destroy the infinity 
 and consequently the Godhead. All are infinite; all are eternal." 
 
THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 out the Scriptures liis passion and death are considered as sacri- 
 ficial ; pardon of sin and final salvation being obtained by the 
 alone shedding of his blood. 
 
 XIV. No human being, since the fall, either has, or can 
 have, merit or wortliiness of, or by, himself; and, therefore, has 
 nothing to claim from God, but in the way of his mercy through 
 Christ : therefore, pardon and every other blessing, promised in 
 the Gospel, have been purchased by his sacrificial death ; and 
 are given to men, not on the account of anything they have done 
 or suffered, or can do or suffer ; but for his sake, or through his 
 meritorious passion and death, alone. 
 
 XV. These blessings are received by faith ; because they 
 are not of works, nor of suffering. 
 
 " XVI. The power to believe, or grace of faith, is the free 
 gift of God, without which no man can believe ; but the act of 
 faith, or actually beheving, is the act of the soul under that 
 power : this power is withheld from no man ; but, hke aU other 
 gifts of God, it may be shghted, not used, or misused, in conse- 
 quence of which is that declaration, ' He that beheveth shall be 
 saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned.' 
 
 "XVII. Justification, or the pardon of sin, is an instanta- 
 neous act of God's mercy in behalf of a penitent sinner, trusting 
 only in the merits of Jesus Christ :* and this act is absolute in 
 reference to all past sin, all being forgiven where any is forgiven ; 
 
 * This may not be an improper place for introducing Dr. Clarke's senti- 
 ments on tlie doctrine of Christ's righteousness imputed to believers, which, 
 it will be seen, he utterly repudiated : — " I am quite of Mr. Wesley's mind, 
 that once ' we leaned too much toward Calvinism,' and especially in admit- 
 ting, in any sense, the unscriptural doctrine of the imputed righteousness of 
 Christ. I never use the distinction of righteousness imputed, righteousness 
 imparted, righteousness practised. In no part of the book of God is Christ's 
 righteousness ever said to be imputed to us for our justification ; and I 
 greatly doubt whether the doctrine of Christ's active obedience in our jus- 
 tification does not take away from the infinite merit of his sacrificial death ; 
 and whether, by fair construction and legitimate deduction, it will not go 
 to prove, if admitted as above, that no absolute necessity of Christ's death 
 did exist. For if the acts of his life justify in part, or conjunctly, they 
 might, in so glorious a personage, have justified separately and wholly; and 
 consequently his agony and bloody sweat, his cross and passion, and his 
 death, burial, and ascension, would have been utterly useless, considered as 
 acts, and consequences of acts, called atoning. Our grand doctrine is, ' We 
 have redemption in his blood :' nor can we ever successfully comfort the 
 distressed, but by proclaiming Christ crucified; having been 'delivered for 
 our offences, and' raised again for our justification.' He is not represented 
 in heaven as performing acts of righteousness for our justification ; but as 
 the Lamb newly slain before the throne. I have long thought that the 
 doctrine of imputed righteousness, as held by certain people, is equally 
 compounded of Pharisaism and Antinomianism ; and, most certainly, should 
 find very little trouble, by analysis or synthesis, to demonstrate the facts, 
 little as its abettors think of the'subject." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 347 
 
 gradual pardon, or progressive justification, being unscriptural 
 and absurd. 
 
 " XVIII. The souls of all believers may be purified from all 
 sin in this life ; and a man may live under the continual influ- 
 ence of the grace of Christ, so as not to sin against God. All 
 sinful tempers and evil propensities being destroyed, and his 
 heart constantly filled with pure love both to God and man ; and, 
 as love is the principle of obedience, he who loves God with all 
 his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbour as himself, 
 is incapable of doing wrong to either. 
 
 " XIX. Unless a believer live and walk in the spirit of obe- 
 dience, he will fall from the gi'ace of God, and forfeit all his 
 Christian privileges and rights ; and, although he may be restored 
 to the favour and image of his Maker, from which he has fallen, 
 yet it is possible that he may continue under the influence of 
 this fall, and perish everlastingly. 
 
 " XX. The whole period of human life is a state of probation, 
 in every point of which a sinner may repent, and turn to God ; 
 and, in every point of it, a believer may give way to sin, and fall 
 from grace : and this i^ossibility of rising or falling is essential 
 to a state of trial or probation. 
 
 "XXL All the promises and threatenings of the Sacred 
 Writings, as they regard man in reference to his being here and 
 hereafter, are conditional ; and it is on this ground alone that 
 the Holy Scriptures can be consistently intei-preted or rightly 
 understood. 
 
 " XXII. Man is a fi'ee agent, never being impelled by any 
 necessitating influence, either to do good or evil ; but has the 
 continual power to choose the hfe or the death that is set before 
 him ; on w^hich ground he is an accountable being, and answer- 
 able for his own actions : and, on this ground also, he is alone 
 capable of being rewarded or punished. 
 
 " XXIII. The free will of man is a necessary constituent of 
 his rational soul ; without which he must be a mere machine, — 
 either the sport of blind chance, or the mere patient of an irre- 
 sistible necessity ; and consequently, not accountable for any 
 acts which were predetermined, and to which he was irresistibly 
 compelled. 
 
 " XXIV. Every human being has this freedom of will, with a 
 sufficiency of light and power to direct its operations : but this 
 powerful light is not inherent in any man's nature, but is gra- 
 ciously bestowed by him who is ' the true hght, which lighteneth 
 every man that cometh into the world.' 
 
 " XXV. Jesus Christ has made, by his one offering upon the 
 cross, a sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and atonement, for the sins 
 of the whole world ; and his gracious Spirit strives with, and 
 
348 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOUKS OF 
 
 enlightens, all men ; thus putting them into a salvahle state : 
 therefore, eveiy human soul may be saved, if it be not his own 
 fault. 
 
 " XXVI. Jesus Christ has instituted, and commanded to be 
 perpetuated, in liis church, two sacraments only: — 1. Baptism, 
 sprinkling, washing with, or immersion in, water, in the name of 
 the holy and ever-blessed Trinity, as a sign of the cleansing or 
 regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit, by which influence a 
 death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness, are produced ; 
 and, 2, The Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, as commemorating the 
 sacrificial death of Christ. And he instituted the first to be 
 once only administered to the same person, for the above pur- 
 pose, and as a rite of initiation into the visible church ; and the 
 second, that, by its frequent administration, all believers may be 
 kept in mind of the foundation on which their salvation is built, 
 and receive grace to enable them to adorn the doctrine of God 
 their Saviour in all tlmigs. 
 
 "XXVII. The soul is immaterial and immortal, and can sub- 
 sist independently of the body. 
 
 " XXVIII. There will be a general resurrection of the dead ; 
 both of the just and the unjust : when the souls of both shall be 
 re-united to their respective bodies ; both of which will be im- 
 mortal, and live eternally. 
 
 "XXIX. There wiU be a general judgment; after which all 
 shall be punished or rewarded, according to the deeds done in 
 the body ; and the wicked shall be sent to hell, and the righteous 
 taken to heaven. 
 
 " XXX. These states of rewards and punishments shall have 
 no end,* forasmuch as the time of trial or probation shall then 
 
 * The pernicious doctrine of Universal Restitution, formed the suhject of 
 one of Dr. Clarke's conversations with his son. " We had been speaking," 
 obseiTes that reverend gentleman, " of that sect of religionists who maintain 
 that a period will arrive when even the penal fires of hell shall be extin- 
 guished, and the spirits of the condemned shall be received into happiness. 
 He spoke of the tenet as being unscriptural, and of the utter f olly of mak- 
 ing our feelings tests of God's justice, as though what was awful in idea 
 must, therefore, be untrue in fact ; 'but,' said he, ' an anecdote that I have 
 heard of the celebrated Whitefield, has always appeared to me to be an ad- 
 mirable answer to such reasoners : and, though merely an anecdote, it pos- 
 sesses all the force of an unanswerable argument. Whitefield, in one of his 
 sermons, had been combating the error we have just been speaking of, and 
 wound up the discourse thus : — " So then it would appear, that the time 
 will, at some indefinite period, arrive, when those who have been redeemed 
 by Christ's blood, and the damned spirits, will be inhabitants of the same 
 heaven, and sit down together upon thrones of glory ! There must, there- 
 fore, instead of one, be two songs in heaven : one will be, ' Gloiy to the 
 Lamb for ever;' and the other, ' Oh rare damnation !' " ' " 
 
 " In the various places in my Comment," observes Dr. Clarke, to a cor- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE 
 
 349 
 
 be for ever terminated ; and the succeeding state must neces- 
 sarily be fixed and unalterable. 
 
 " XXXI. The origin of human salvation is found in the infi- 
 nite philanthropy of God ; and, on this principle, the uncondi- 
 tional reprobation of any soul is absolutely impossible. 
 
 XXXII. God has no secret Ynll, in reference to man, which 
 is contrary to his revealed will ; as this would show him to be 
 an insincere being, professing benevolence to all, while he secretly 
 purposed that that benevolence should be extended only to a few, 
 — a doctrine wliich appears blasphemous as it respects God, and 
 subversive of all moral good as it regards man, and totally at 
 variance with the infinite rectitude of the Divine nature." 
 
 Few of the readers of these pages will be surprised to find the 
 creed of Dr. Clarke so decidedly Arminian. While, however, 
 articles eleven, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty two, 
 twenty -three, twenty -four, twenty -five, thirty -one, and thirty- two, 
 sufi&ciently evince his freedom from the least taint oi Calvinistic 
 sentiment, articles fourteen and fifteen. are equally in proof that 
 he had not imbibed the contrary opinions of Pelagius. With 
 relation both to the mode and to the subject of baptism, he 
 seems to have left the matter undetermined. This is an arti- 
 cle to which, probably. Bishop Marsh and Mr. Isaiah Birt might 
 each have subscribed with perfect consistency. There is no 
 question, however, that he was a Paedobaptist, while he regarded 
 the mode as a matter of indifi'erence. The thii'ty-first and 
 
 respondent in 1831, " whenever I found a Scripture that had been twisted by 
 the Universal Restitutionists, I took it out of their hands, and freed it from 
 this abuse. A more untenable and decepti*ve tenet has never been promul- 
 gated under the sacred name of religion. Were I seriously to attribute two 
 tenets to the Great Deceiver, it would be these: — 1st. There is no devil. 
 2ndly. The never-dying worm will die, and the unquenchable fire will be 
 quenched. By the first, all circumspection and watchfulness, &c., are pre- 
 cluded ; for why watch against an enemy that does not exist? And by the 
 second, all fear of punishment is taken away ; and, with it, the justice of 
 God, the sinfulness of sin, and the atonement of Jesus Christ : for, if the 
 fire of hell be only emendatory, the very idea of punishment is destroyed ; 
 and, as to the sacrificial ofi"ering for sin, it is totally unnecessary, because 
 this is proposed to be done by the infernal flame !" Now, supposing that 
 all which en\y, sophistiy, and prejudice, have urged against the Commen- 
 tator, were pure truth, the refutation, by the same writer, in the same work, 
 of that awfully pernicious notion, that the punishment of sinners will be 
 finite, would far more than counterbalance the evil of his supposed mistakes. 
 Were he proved to be wrong, it would be impossible to show that any posi- 
 tive evil could arise from his error. And yet there is reason to believe, that 
 " the eternal-generation men," as he styled those of his brethren who gained 
 an unenviable distinction by their hostility to him, have extended more 
 toleration to persons holding the opinion of Universal Restitution, than to 
 Dr. Clarke himself, and those who have imbibed his sentiments on the Son- 
 ship of Christ. 
 
350 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 tliirty- second articles are as conclusive as they are scriptural , 
 there is no theological eiTor which Dr. Clarke repudiated with 
 more of virtuous indignation. "Hence!" he exclaims, in one 
 place, "hence, ye unconditional reproharian notions; ye im- 
 putation of folly and sin to the Most High, which teach that 
 Infinite Wisdom and Love produced myiiads of such heings as 
 man, to he abandoned irrecoverahly to eternal flames, merely to 
 display the sovereignty of the Creator ! From whence ye have 
 originated, return, ye God-dishonouring principles ! Sm'ely ye 
 have derived youi' origin from him who is the implacable enemy 
 of God and man ! He who can advocate them, if he he in 
 human form, must have the heart of an Hyrcanian tiger." 
 
 Dr. Clarke's views as expressed in the eleventh and twenty- 
 fifth articles may he illustrated by an extract from his coiTespon- 
 dence with liis friend Mr. Boyd. In the summer of 1815, Mr. 
 Boyd wrote to Dr. Clarke, and stated an objection the Calvinists 
 might make to his view of the atonement. The objection was 
 this : — The Methodists maintain that Christ died and made an 
 atonement for the whole world. He, therefore, suffered a degi^ee 
 of punishment equal to the sum-total of the punishments which 
 were due to the sins of all mankind : but the Methodists allow, 
 that the mass of mankind may reject the gi'ace of God and perish ; 
 it, therefore, follows, that Christ endured an immense degi'ee of 
 pain and sufi'ering, which was supei^fluous, because no benefit 
 will result. In answer to this objection, Mr. Boyd received the 
 following reply. 
 
 " The argument, which it appears certain persons found on 
 ' Christ's sufiering just enough for every person that is redeemed ; 
 and that, if it could be supposed he died for all men, and some 
 should be found at the last day unsaved, consequently he had 
 suffered uselessly," &c. I say, this argument seems grounded on 
 an error of the first magnitude, — a total misapprehension of the 
 Deity of Christ. 
 
 " I shall not take up my time to demonstrate the futihty of 
 this opinion as founded oa the misapprehension above stated; I 
 shall content myself with saying, — 1. What I am sure your good 
 sense will at once perceive, that, had there been but one sinner 
 under heaven, who was to be redeemed, it would have required 
 nothing less than the whole agony and bloody sweat — the whole 
 cross and passion — the whole death, bmial and resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ, to have redeemed that one soul ! Such is the infi- 
 nite destructive nature of sin, that nothing less than the blood of 
 the Son of God could atone for even one crime. 2. Such is the 
 infinite dignity of Jesus Christ, that his passion and death must 
 be of infinite worth. Had there been milhons of worlds of 
 human l)eings, these sufferings in human nature, as being of 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 351 
 
 infinite value, must have been sufficient for the whole. Nor 
 was it possible that God himself should limit the merit of this 
 suffering ; for, as Christ was God manifested in the flesh, his 
 suffering, had there been but one human creature to be redeemed, 
 must still have been of infinite merit ; and, consequently, a suffi- 
 cient atonement for mfinite worlds of human transgressors, had 
 there been such. As it now stands, because of his eternal God- 
 head, there is an infinitude of merit in his sufferings beyond all 
 that is necessary for the redemption of a lost world. To attempt 
 to limit the merit of his death, is an attempt to hmit the infinite 
 dignity of his nature, and to suppose that God can do anything 
 that is of limited worth, which is absurd. Such, then, is the ' 
 nature of sin, that, had there been but one transgressor, he could 
 not have been redeemed but by the whole sacrifice of Christ ; 
 and such is the nature of Christ, that all his sufferings must 
 necessarily be of infinite worth. 
 
 " He has suffered, and these sufferings are, and must be of 
 infinite value, independent of the salvation or destruction of man- 
 kind. But as, by the grace of God, he tasted death for every 
 man, so there is merit sufficient in his death to redeem every 
 soul. But, as God has promised the forgiveness of sins and final 
 salvation only to them who believe, &c., only such are finally 
 benefited by the sacrifice ; though, tluroughout eternity, it must 
 continue to be of infinite merit." 
 
 In conversation, on another occasion, Mr. Boyd asked Dr. 
 Clarke, Do you think the atonement made by Christ was the 
 way the Deity chose to save mankind by in preference to any 
 other ; or, do you think that it was the only method by which 
 God, consistently with all his attributes, could save our guilty 
 race ? Dr. Clarke rephed, " It was necessar}% and not optional. 
 Jesus Christ is true and perfeet God. When, therefore, the 
 Father gave his only-begotten Son for the sin of the world, he 
 gave the greatest gift infinite power and goodness could bestow. 
 If the salvation of man could have been effected by a less costly 
 sacrifice, then more was done than was absolutely necessan' : 
 but God never effects his purposes by a superfluous expenditure : 
 we may therefore be cominced that God would not have con- 
 sented to make the greatest sacrifice possible, if a less would 
 have done at all." 
 
 The doctrine maintained in article eighteen, is one to wliich 
 Dr. Clarke gave great prominence, both in his preaching and in 
 his writings. In one of the letters which he addressed to Mrs. 
 Clarke before their marriage, he observed, " You cannot be too 
 much in earnest for full salvation. Therefore, continue pleading 
 the ' promise of the Father for it is yea and amen to you. The 
 • blessing is as free as the air you breathe. The wilhngness of 
 
352 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 God to fulfil Ms promise to you, infinitely exceeds my descrip- 
 tion and your conception. I allow, so long as mystical divinity 
 is consulted, the promise of his coming must he looked upon as 
 exceedingly distant, as that only hreathes, ' A long work will 
 God make upon the earth but the word of faith, by the Gospel, 
 8ays, The kingdom of God is at hand : yea, the means of re- 
 ceiving it is in thy heart, and in thy mouth. In short, looking 
 on it as distant, will make it distant : whereas, beheving it as 
 near, will biing it near," With sentiments like these he began 
 his ministr}^; and so he continued and concluded it. Many 
 e\'idences of this might be adduced, both fi'om his own writings 
 and from the testimonies of his brethren, as also from those who 
 professed to have attained to the measure of the stature of the 
 fulness of Christ by his instrumentahty. " It was on this elevated 
 topic," says Mr. Anderson, " that the man of God was oftenest 
 seen in his glory. The whole strain of his preaching seemed to 
 be one unceasing, burning desire, not simply to bring men into 
 a state of salvation, but that he might, like his gi'eat exemplar, 
 ' present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.' Mr. Dawson [of 
 Bambow] told me lately, that, a few years ago. Dr. Clarke de- 
 clared to him his fixed behef, that, if the Methodists gave up 
 preaching Christian Perfection in love, they would soon lose their 
 glory ! He added, too, that he purposed pubhshing a treatise 
 on the subject; or, at least, if not pubhshed in his own hfe-time, 
 leaving it in a state, of readiness lor publication after liis death.* 
 His teacliing on this point of theology was in exact consistency 
 with what we were warranted to expect from a man of God, who, 
 during a long life, had made those Scriptm^es his study, which 
 were ' given by inspfration of God, that the man of God might 
 he perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' " 
 
 We find an interesting notice of Dr. Clarke's belief in the doc- 
 trine of Christian Perfection in a letter which he wrote to the 
 Kev. Mr. Hornby, Piector of Win^vick, dated March 19, 1821 : — 
 " I rather think," he observes, " it is the privilege of every true 
 believer to have all those destroyed which you call 'infirmities of 
 the flesh,' if, by that word, you mean any kind of transgression, 
 any improper word, or any unholy temper ; for I have been long 
 taught, both by my Bible and my Prayer-book, to request 
 ' Almighty God to cleanse the thoughts of my heart, by the in- 
 spiration of his Holy Spirit, that I might perfectly love him, and 
 worthily magnify his holy name, through Christ our Lord.' To 
 love God perfectly, is to love him with all the heart, soul, mind, 
 and strength ; and to worthily magnify his name, is to begin, 
 continue, and end every thing, work, pui'pose, and design, to his 
 
 * Dr. Clarke does not appear to have fulfilled this design ; at least, no 
 such treatise is found among his posthumous worlds. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 353 
 
 glory." And, again, " God can, and often does, empty the soul 
 of all sin, 'in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye;' and then, 
 having sowed in the seeds of righteousness, they have a free and 
 unmolested vegetation." 
 
 We are here reminded of one important doctrine, which Dr. 
 Clarke has not included in his written creed ; and yet it is one 
 which no man ever more cordially heheved, or more clearly ex- 
 plained, or more powerfully enforced. The Direct Witness of the 
 Spirit is alluded to. His frequent exhibition of this scriptural 
 tenet, has stnick the attention of his theological opponents. 
 " There is no point," says a writer in the Christian Observer, 
 *' on which he dwelt more often and more earnestly, than on this. 
 Even when casually called upon to preach, either at places where 
 the people were utterly ignorant of the principles of the Gospel, 
 or where there was already a body of rehgious persons, this 
 topic of the ' Witness of the Spirit' seems constantly to have pre- 
 sented itself to his mind, as one of the most important on which 
 to address them. He considered this witness to be ' the privilege 
 of all true beUevers.' We have read and thought much upon 
 this prominent tenet of Methodism ; but, to this hour, we do 
 not clearly comprehend it." It is, therefore, not astonishing 
 that you do not receive it. And yet you add, We do not doubt 
 that the assurance spoken of has been often enjoyed, and that it 
 is a privilege which the Christian should earnestly seek." Now, 
 if it is the duty of Christians earnestly to seek it, it must.surely 
 be that of Christian ministers earnestly to preach it ; and, there- 
 fore. Dr. Clarke is justified. To the reverend rector above- 
 mentioned, who was in the same mist on this subject with the 
 writer just quoted, Dr. Clarke gave an answer which ought to 
 have cleared up the difficulty : — 
 
 " I should never have looked for the ' Witness of the Spirit,*" 
 had I not found numerous Scriptures, which most positively 
 asserted it, or held it out by necessary induction ; and had I not 
 found, that all the truly godly, of every sect and party, possessed 
 the blessing. It was not persons of a pecuhar temperament who 
 possessed it: all the truly religious had it, whether, in their 
 natural dispositions, sanguine, melancholy, or mixed. I met 
 with it every^^here, and met with it among the most simple and 
 illiterate, as well as among those who had eveiy advantage which 
 high cultivation and deep learning could bestow. Perhaps I 
 might, with the strictest truth, say, that, during the forty years 
 I have been in the ministry, I have met with at least forty thou- 
 sand, who have had a clear and full evidence, that God, for 
 Christ's sake, had forgiven them their sins, the Spirit himself 
 bearing witness with their spirits, that they were the sons and 
 daughters of God. The number need not surprise you, when 
 
 2 A 
 
354 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 you learn, that every Methodist preacher converses closely, and 
 examines thoroughly, every member of liis societies, concerning 
 the work of God upon their souls, once every three months. 
 This single point of their spiritual economy, gives them advan- 
 tages to know and discern the operations of the Divine Spirit, in 
 the enhghtening, convincing, converting, justifying, sanctifying, 
 and building up of the souls of men, which no other system 
 affords, and no other ministers in the same degTce possess." 
 
 This gentleman, like the writer in the Christian OhserveVy 
 seems to have thought that " the doctrine of necessary assurance 
 (necessary is not Dr. Clarke's word) was essentially connected 
 with that of final perseverance. They could not believe that the 
 Holy Spirit really witnesses to any man that he is a child of God, 
 whose conduct proves to-morrow that he is a seiTant of Satan." 
 Of this objection Dr. Clarke thus satisfactorily disposes : — " We 
 never confound the knowledge of salvation by the remission of 
 sins, with final perseverance. This doctrine has nothing to do 
 with a future possession. The truly believing soul has now the 
 witness in himself ; and liis retaining it depends on his faithful- 
 ness to the light and grace received. If he gives way to any 
 known sin, he loses this witness, and must come to God through 
 Christ as he came at first, in order to get the guilt of the trans- 
 gression pardoned, and the light of God's countenance restored. 
 For, the justification any soul receives, is not in reference to his 
 future ^pardon of sin, since God declares his righteousness *for 
 the remission of sins that are past.' And no man can retain his 
 evidence of his acceptance with God, longer than he has that 
 ' faith which worketh by love.' The present is a state of proba- 
 tion : in such a state, a man may rise, fall, or recover ; with this, 
 the doctrine of ^ the Witness of the Spirit ' has nothing to do. 
 When a man is justified, all liis past sins are forgiven him. But 
 " tliis gi'ace reaches not on to any sin that may be committed in 
 any following moment." 
 
 Among multitudes of passages in which he has defended this 
 doctrine against its assailants, both within the Christian church 
 and without, one may be selected from a sermon which he 
 preached at Plymouth in the early part of his career. He was 
 answering this objection : — that, " when the human mind gets 
 under the dominion of superstition and imagination, a variety of 
 feelings, apparently Divine, may be accounted for on natural 
 principles." To this he answered, " First, superstition is never 
 known to produce settled peace and happiness. It is, generally, 
 the parent of gloomy apprehensions and iiTational fears. But, 
 surely, the man who has broken the laws of liis Maimer, and Hved 
 in open rebellion against him, cannot be supposed to be under 
 the influence of superstition, when he is apprehensive of the 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 855 
 
 wrath of God, and fears to fall into tlic bitter pains of an eternal 
 death ? Secondly, imagination cannot long support a mental 
 imposture. A person may imagine himself for a moment to be 
 a king, or to be a child of God ; but that reverie, where there is 
 no radical derangement of mind, must be transient. Thirdly, 
 but it is impossible that imagination can have anything to do 
 in this case, any further than any other faculty of the mind, in 
 natural operation : for the person must walk according as he is 
 directed by the word of God ; and the sense of God's approbation 
 in his conscience, lasts no longer than he acts under the spirit 
 of obedience. Has imagination ever produced a life of piety ? 
 If it can sustain impressions in spiritual matters for years toge- 
 ther, this must be totally preternatural ; and thus miracle must 
 be resorted to, to explain away a doctrine which some men, be- 
 cause they themselves do not experience it, deny that any others 
 can." Then, referring to his own experience, he added, " Most 
 of you know that I am no enthusiast, that I have given no evi- 
 dences of a strong imagination, that I am far from being the 
 subject of sudden hopes or fears, that it requires strong reasons 
 and clear argumentation to convince me of the truth of any propo- 
 sition not previously known. Now, I do profess to have received, 
 through God's eternal mercy, a clear evidence of my acceptance 
 with God. It is now upwards of seven years since I received it ; 
 and I hold it, through the same mercy, as explicitly, as clearly, 
 and as satisfactorily as ever." 
 
 Only four months before his death. Dr. Clarke thus enforced the 
 attainment of this " direct witness " on the members and friends 
 of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, in preaching the anniver- 
 sary semion, at Great Queen- street Chapel : — 
 
 " My brothers and sisters, believe an old man, who has studied 
 this matter longer, perhaps, than any, or most of you have lived. 
 Believe him, after having tried by every rule of reason of which 
 he is master, he is obliged to come to this — that there can be no 
 genuine happiness on this side of heaven, nor assurance in refer- 
 ence to the reality of a state of blessedness, unless God has a 
 testimony to give to the conscience of man, that he, in mercy, 
 has been brought into God's wondrous love, and that, being 
 regenerated, he is united to the family of heaven ; not infening 
 this from portions of Scripture, however legitimately and directly 
 taken up, but from the direct influence of God's Spirit on his 
 soul, showing him, and giving him to feel, that he is bom of 
 God, and is a child of the Most High. This is what the Apostle 
 insists upon — ' Beloved, now,' says he, ' are we the sons of God.' 
 We are called to this state of salvation — we have found the 
 pearl of great price. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are 
 incorporated with his family ; God's Spirit shows us that we are 
 
 2 A 2 
 
856 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 his children ; and we know this — we have as much confidence in 
 the reahty of it, as we have confidence that we are the children 
 of an earthly parent, and that we have proof of a pro^ddential 
 goodness in the care and attention paid to our wants, and the 
 pro\dsion invariably made for our support and comfort. ' Be- 
 hold, now are we the sons of God !' This is what I wish you 
 not to rest without. Do not face death without it. Do not ! 
 It is an awful thing to appear before the Uving God, if you have 
 not the testimony in your souls that you are bom of him. That 
 was a good saying of John Bunyan, when his poor, wretched, 
 self-deceived Pilgiim, trusting to vain appearances, and satisfying 
 himself with general belief, without positive apphcation, came to 
 the gate, ' he had no certificate to be taken in.' ' He fumbled,' 
 said he, ' in his bosom for it, but found none ;' and then, said he, 
 ' I saw the sliining ones were commanded to bind him, head and 
 heels, and throw him into the hole at the side of the hill.' ' He 
 had no certificate' — he had no title — he had not the sprinkling 
 of the blood — he had not the Spirit to witness with his spirit, 
 that he was a child of God ; and the door was shut upon him. 
 God forbid that it should ever be shut upon you or your 
 preacher I" 
 
 Another important point of theolog}% which has likewise been 
 omitted in Dr. Clai'ke's written creed, is that concerning the 
 foreknowledge of God. He laboured to prove that God has not 
 an absolute knowledge of future events. He maintained, that a 
 certain anticipation implied a certain issue ; and that no contin- 
 gent issue can be reconciled with an infalhble prognostication. 
 In other words, he felt, that, if he admitted the doctrine of an 
 absolute foreknowledge, he must become a fatahst. This may be 
 classed among those matters, concerning wliich we should do 
 well to remember, 
 
 Sunt certi denique fines, 
 Quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum. 
 
 It is possible for us to seek to comprehend what we never shall, 
 until the final revelation of Jesus Christ. It is certain, that, 
 while, on this point. Dr. Clarke went too far to satisfy one party, 
 he did not go far enough to satisfy another. Perhaps, he 
 himself felt that he had ventured upon dangerous ground. 
 
 That doctrine by maintaining which Dr. Clarke was more 
 especially distinguished, remains now to be noticed. It is plainly 
 stated in article ten of his written creed. In early hfe, as we 
 have seen, he narrowly escaped the snares of Socinian sophistry. 
 This escape, without any suggestions from man, led him to exa- 
 mine the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of Christ ; which, he 
 concluded, no man can hold, and hold the eternal, unoriginated 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE 
 
 357 
 
 nature of Jesus Christ. On this point, he has produced a simple 
 argument in his note on Luke i. 35, an argument, in his own 
 esteem, " absolutely unanswerable." The argument is this : — 
 
 "1. If Cluist be the Son of God, as to his Divine nature, then 
 he cannot be eternal. Son implies a father ; and father implies, 
 in reference to son, precedence in time, if not in nature too. 
 Father and son imply the notion of generation, and generation 
 implies a time in which it was effected, and time, also, antecedent 
 to such generation. 2. If Christ be the -Son of God, as to his 
 Divine nature, then the Father is of necessity prior, consequently, 
 in Godhead, superior, to him. 3. Again, if this Divine nature 
 were begotten of the Father, then it must have been in time ; 
 i. e., there must have been a period in which it did not exist, 
 and a period when it began to exist. This destroys the eternity 
 of our blessed Lord, and robs him at once of his Godhead. 4. 
 To say that he was begotten from all eternity, is absurd ; and 
 the phrase Eternal Son is a positive self-contradiction. Eternity 
 is that which had no beginning, and stands in no reference to 
 time. Son supposes time, generation, and father, and time, also, 
 antecedent to such generation. Therefore, the theological con- 
 junction of these two terms, son and eternity, is absolutely im- 
 possible, as they imply essentially different and opposite ideas." 
 
 Dr. Clarke has often been heard to say : — Let my argument 
 on Luke i. 35, be proved false, (which, if it could be, might be 
 done in as small a compass as that of the argument itself,) then 
 I am prepared to demonstrate, from the principles of the refuta- 
 tion, that Arianism is the genuine doctrine of the Gospel, relative 
 to the person of Jesus Christ. But, as that argument cannot be 
 confuted, and my argument in favour of the proper Divinity of 
 Jesus Christ, in my sermon on Salvation by Faith, cannot be 
 overthrown ; consequently, the doctrine of the proper and essen- 
 tial and underived Deity of Jesus Christ must stand, and that of the 
 Eternal Sonship must be overwhelmed m its own error, darkness, 
 and confusion." 
 
 In one of his letters to Mrs. Clarke before their marriage, 
 there is the following reference to this subject: — "You once 
 asked my opinion concerning the meaning of the phrase ' The 
 Eternal Son of God.' I gave it you ; and, howsoever singular, 
 and unauthorised by Doctors, it may appear, yet I never had any 
 reason to alter it, nor do I beheve I ever shall. After having 
 been sorely tossed in beating about the common bay for anchor- 
 age without success, I have at last, through the tender mercy of 
 God, found it where I ride almost alone. As long as I believe 
 Jesus Christ to be the Infinite Eternal I AM, so long, I suppose, 
 I shall reject the common notion of his ' Eternal Sonship not 
 only because it is an absurdity and a palpable contradiction, but 
 
358 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 because I cannot find it in the Bible. On his Godliead, the 
 foundation of the salvation of my soul is laid. Everything, 
 therefore, that derogates from that, I most cordially reject." 
 
 Some years before the death of the Eev. John Wesley, the 
 Doctor was in liis company, and showed him his celebrated align- 
 ment in writing. After perusing it, Mr. Wesley allowed that it was 
 CONCLUSIVE ; adding, that he had known eminent divines who 
 took the same view of the subject. This fact was published by 
 the Doctor in his notes on the first chapter of the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews. It is true Mr. Moore enters his caveat . against 
 admitting this fact as a matter of any consequence in the contro- 
 versy ; and says, those who knew Mr. Wesley will not wonder 
 that he did not enter into a controversy with his son in the 
 Gospel, at that time very young. To this it may be replied. 
 Would Mr. Wesley see his son in the Gospel in an error, upon 
 an important subject, and not show him his error, especially when 
 that error was liliely to affect very seriously the whole Connexion ? 
 Would Mr. Wesley, in opposition to every dictate of integrity, 
 tell the Doctor, that his argument was conclusive, unless con- 
 vinced that it was so ? 
 
 This argument, however, did not produce the same effect upon 
 the minds of all Mr. Wesley's brethren, that it did upon liis 
 own. As soon as it appeared in the form of a note upon Luke 
 i. 35, many of them took the alarm. It is said that the Doctor 
 was impeached at the London District Meeting, by the late Eev. 
 Joseph Benson ; and that means were used to induce liim to 
 acknowledge himself in error ; but he remained inflexible, and 
 would make no other concession than, " What I have written, I 
 have written." On bringing forward the charge, Mr. Benson 
 shed tears, and lamented the necessity which was laid upon him 
 thus to appear in opposition to his friend ; and the Doctor 
 appeared equally affected, because obliged by the force of convic- 
 tion to dissent, on this subject, from many of his brethren. 
 
 Mr. Henry Moore pubhshed upon this subject, and was 
 answered by Messrs. Thomas Exley and Stephen Brunskill. 
 About the same time a pamphlet was published as the produc- 
 tion of the late lamented Edward Hare. This was a letter 
 written by the author a very few days before his death, to 
 Mr. Benson, and was not at all intended for pubHcation in 
 its present form, although it has veiy often been spoken 
 of as one of the most decisive defences of the doctrine in 
 question. 
 
 Mr. Kobert Martin pubhshed a book, which he advertised as a 
 work in which the Eternal Sonship of Christ was fully proved 
 to be a doctrine of the Scriptures. This work is understood 
 to have been severely reviewed by Mr. Stephen Brunskill, a gen- 
 
Dll. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 359 
 
 tleman of Orton, in Westmoreland ; but Mr. Brunskill's pamph- 
 let was never printed. Dr. Clarke dissuaded him from sending 
 it to the press, on the ground that refutations were unneces- 
 sary. Mr. Richard Watson wrote repeatedly in defence of the 
 Eternal Sonship, and is allowed to be the ablest advocate that it 
 has had in modem days. 
 
 Mr. Watson's first pubUcation on this subject is entitled. 
 Remarks on the Eternal Sonship of Christ, and the Use of 
 Reason in matters of Revelation, in a Letter to a Friend." This 
 production bears date 1818 : it was designed to counteract the 
 tendency of that view of the subject which was taken by Dr. 
 Clarke, in his Note on Luke i. 35. It was quickly followed by 
 a " Reply," by Thomas Exley, A.M., of Bristol. As these two 
 pubhcations contain nearly all of consequence that can be said 
 on either side of the question, they are deserving of examination. 
 
 The advocates of the Eternal Sonship, not content with con- 
 troversy, had recourse to other methods, branding as heretics, 
 those of the opposite party, who were already admitted into full 
 connexion with the Conference ; and in keeping those out who 
 had not yet been admitted. Some young men of piety and talent, 
 were found inehgible as candidates for the regular work of the 
 ministry. Others were questioned upon their examination at 
 District Meetings, until they reluctantly yielded a modified 
 assent. This, in some cases, proved a source of misery after- 
 wards ; and, in others, induced the candidate to withdraw from 
 a Connexion which he could not hold with a good conscience. 
 
 Some cases, however, involved this pecuharity : candidates had 
 been admitted upon trial, without being tested upon this question ; 
 and it was not until the examination, connected with admission 
 into full connexion with the Body, that they were found dissen- 
 tients from the orthodox faith. Among these, Mr. Samuel Dunn, 
 styled, by Dr. Clarke, the father of Methodism in Shetland, has 
 acquired considerable notoriety. This gentleman, after estab- 
 lishing Methodism, in the Shetland Islands, in conjunction with 
 Mr. Raby, was obhged, upon leaving them, to attend the Confer- 
 ence at Bristol, for the pui^ose of being fully recognised as a 
 member of the Body. Upon examination, however, he was found 
 wanting in the orthodox faith ; in consequence of which, he was 
 not admitted into the Body.* After Mr. Dunn had remained 
 
 * The Conference examination of Daniel Chapman, one of those who 
 were supposed to have imbibed Dr. Clarke's views of the Sonship of Christ, 
 may here be appended. It is more amusing than most things on the same 
 subject. It occun-ed at the Leeds Conference, in 1831, Mr. George 
 Morley, President, and is given from memory, by an ear-witness. 1 1 con- 
 tains as much talk about modern " fathers," as we sometimes hear about 
 " ancient fathers." The good-tempered President conducts himself in such 
 
360 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 another year upon trial, the President of the Conference, the late 
 Richard Watson, was directed to correspond with him on the sub- 
 ject, and to endeavour to remove his objections, so far as topre- 
 
 a manner, that one is led to believe that he thinks the whole business 
 " much ado about nothing." 
 
 " Jabez Bunting : Have our venerable fathers questioned this young 
 man about the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship? — President: Thank yon, 
 Mr. Bunting, for the hint : the thing had quite escaped my recollection ; but, 
 now you have mentioned it, the brethren, no doubt, will ask him any ques- 
 tion they may deem expedient and necessary. — George Marsden : ]VIy dear 
 brother, do you believe devoutly in that solemn and important doctrine, the 
 Eternal Sonship of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ ? — Candidate : The 
 Eternal Sonship, Sir ? — George Marsden : Yes, my dear brother, the 
 eternal generation of the Son of God. — Candidate : Why, Sir, I do believe 
 that Jesus Christ is really the Son of God, and that the Son of God, who 
 came into the world for our salvation, is really Divine; and I believe that 
 his divinity and his humanity have both been equally attested in the sacred 
 volume. — Jabez Bunting: The young man is rather slow of apprehension, 
 Mr. President: do ask him if he believe? that Jesus Christ was the begotten 
 Son of God before he came into the world, and from all eternity. — Candi- 
 date : Why, Sir, I do believe that his existence before he came into the 
 world was a Divine existence ; and, therefore, I suppose that it was unorigi- 
 nated ; and I believe that his human nature was generated in the Virgin 
 Mary by the miraculous interposition of Almighty power. — John Gaulter : 
 / am afraid this dear young man has been dipping too deeply into Dr. Clarke 
 to understand the subject of the Eternal Sonship. — Richard Reece : The 
 young man is not clear, I think, on that impoitant point. I wish that 
 brother France w ould try to set him right about that matter ; for it would 
 be a charity to do so. — W. France : Young man, do you hearken to me for a 
 moment. — Candidate : Very gladly, Sir, if you will only make me under- 
 stand the matter. — Fi-ance : Understand the matter ? that is not the way to 
 fiET TFTROUGH SUCH a suhjcct : jou must answer me my questions. Do 
 you believe in the eternal filiation of the Son of God ? Now, only just say 
 yes or no. — Must I, then, believe that the divinity of Christ was generated 
 by the Father!* — France: Don't ask me questions. Sir, but answer 
 MY inquiries. — Jacob Stanley : Gently, my bj-other, don't confuse the poor 
 young man : his views, no doubt, are right enough, if he could only state them 
 to your satisfaction. Now, my dear young man, you do believe, I make no 
 doubt, in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and, of consequence, in his Divine 
 eternity. — Candidate : Oh yes, Sir, most devoutly. — Jabez Bunting : Believe 
 in the divinity of Jesus Christ? and pray, Sir, what has that to do with his 
 believing in the Eternal Sonship ? Young man, do you believe in the Eter- 
 nal Sonship ?— Candidate : Pray, Sir, be so good has to inform me what I 
 am required to believe about the Eternal Sonship. — Bunting: Mr, President, 
 
 I AM quite astonished AT THE IGNORANCE OF THIS YOUNG MAN ABOUT 
 
 OUR DOCTRINES. Pray with whom has this young man travelled P — With 
 Jonathan Barker, reply many voices. — President . Why then, brother Bunt- 
 ing must allow that brother Barker is an able man and very orthodox. — Barker : 
 I could teach him nothing : he would not hearken to what I said : he thought 
 he knew a great deal better than I did. — President : Nay, brother Barker, 
 YOU might mistake : it might be nothing but the young man's modesty. — 
 Rob. Martin : Mister President, I will thank you just to ask the young man 
 if he has read my book on the Eternal Sonship : that, I think, would set 
 him right.— President : I beg your pardon, brother Martin, for my omission 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 361 
 
 pare him for admission at the following Conference. As it was ne- 
 cessary that he should be recommended by the District Meeting 
 preceding the Conference, the question was mooted at the meeting 
 
 to call in your important help ; but it did not happen, at the moment, to be 
 present to my recollection. My dear young roan, have you read brother 
 Martin's very able work on the Eternal Sonship ? — Candidate : No, Sir, 
 I must confess I never did : indeed, / have not been aware that such a book 
 was in existence. — President : Alas, my brother, then I must infoim you that 
 you have lost an intellectual feast. — Henry Moore : Now, you have got into 
 the way of asking questions, will you be so good as to inquire if this young 
 man has ever read my book on the Eternal Sonship ? It gave me a world of 
 trouble to compose it. — President : Have you ever read, my dear young man, 
 the work of Father Moore ? — Candidate : Yes, Sir, I have read the work 
 with aU the care I could, but could not comprehend it : it ivas too profound 
 for me. — Moore : Understand it, brother ? why, you might just as well 
 imagine you could understand the raising and allaying of the storm, as 
 think of understanding the Eternal Sonship. The thing must be received by 
 faith^ by simplf. faith. We do not, therefore, ask you if you understand it, 
 but only whether you believe it ? — Candidate : I do believe in the divinity 
 of Christ ; and I believe, that, in the office of our Redeemer, he is called 
 the Son of God. — France : Do you believe in the Eternal Sonship ? that is 
 the question which you have to answer. — Candidate : I would very gladly 
 answer it, my dear Sir, if you would only have the goodness to inform me what 
 you mean by the Eternal Sonship. — Moore : This young man asks questions 
 only, instead of answering our inquiries. Now, though I wish for all our 
 young to be very clear, and very orthodox, about these weighty things, yet 
 I wish, in all these things, to act with charity ; and, therefore, I will not now 
 move that we reject him, but I think it would not be amiss if he were kept 
 another year on trial. It would do him good, and give him time to read 
 and think, and to make up his mind before another Conference. — John 
 Burdsall : Now, my dear fathers, suffer me to mediate, by speaking just a 
 word or two. I am no lengthy speaker : my brethren will keep in mind, 
 that the young man has been confused a little in his mind, and has not 
 spoken with that clearness he would probably have spoken with, if he had 
 been in some more private place. Do try to calm his feelings, and perhaps 
 he may be able to reply a little more to your wishes : besides, you know 
 that he is young, and, therefore, tender deahng may do better with him 
 than abrupt interrogations. Will you suffer me to ask him a few questions, 
 Mr. President ? I never saw his face before, but feel a tender sympathy 
 with him ; for / was young myself some forty years ago. — President : By all 
 means, Mr. Burdsall. — Burdsall : Well, then, my dear young brother, you 
 do, I know , believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. — Candidate : I do, 
 assuredly. — Burdsall : And you believe that his divinity is really eternal ? 
 — Candidate: Most assuredly I do. — Burdsall: And you believe, that, in 
 the very same sense of the word in which the Son of God is divine, he is, 
 of consequence, eternal ? — Candidate : I do, devoutly. — Burdsall : Then 
 you believe that the Son of God was generated by the Father — Candidate: 
 Most assuredly. — Burdsall : Then do you not believe in the eternity of 
 Jesus Christ, as you believe in his divinity ? — Candidate: Yes, Sir, I do. 
 — Burdsall : iVow, Mr. President^ I beg to move, that our dear brother here 
 be now admitted into full connexion. — Daniel Isaac : And I beg leave to second 
 it, rvith all my heart — Jon. Edmondson : This young man, Mr. President, 
 will be none the worse for this examination twenty years to come. He may 
 not be quite so clear at present in his views as some of my clear-headed 
 
3(32 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 of the preachers in the Newcastle District, in which Mr. Dunn 
 was stationed. At this meeting it seems to have been agi'eecl upon 
 to recommend to the Conference the adoption of some decisive 
 measiu^e upon the subject; at least, it was understood in the 
 District, prior to the assembhng of Conference, that they were 
 to legislate upon the case. Tliis understanding produced a long 
 letter, addressed to the Conference, by John Ward, Esq., of 
 Durham, intended to show, that the doctrine could not be proved, 
 either from Scripture or from antiquity. Tliis letter was given 
 to the late Rev. Thomas MoUard, to be taken by him to the Con- 
 ference, held at Manchester, in the year 1827. When, however, 
 the case of Mr. Dunn was brought forward, Mr. MoUard 
 neglected to read or present the letter. On this occasion, Mr. 
 Dunn showed the Conference, that the view of the subject, for 
 wliich he was treated as an heretic, was actually pubhshed by 
 Mr. Wesley himself, in the Arminian Magazine, and read the 
 article, which Mr. Wesley, at that time sole editor, had inserted. 
 He also showed, that Mr. Watson, in liis Theological Institutes, 
 had denounced one part of the objectionable Note, to which Mr. 
 Dunn was requu-ed to subscribe, as bewildering and pernicious. 
 Notwithstandmg these things, Mr. Bunting canied Iiis point; 
 Mr. Dunn was not admitted ; and, when the Minutes of the Con- 
 ference appeared, they contained the following law, generally 
 known by the name of the Test Act : — 
 
 " The Conference resolve, That it is the acknowledged right, 
 and, under existing cii-cumstances, the indispensable duty, of 
 every Chafrman of a District, to ask all candidates for admission 
 upon trial amongst us, if they beheve the doctrine of the Eter- 
 nal Sonsliip of our Lord Jesus Christ as it is stated by Mr. 
 Wesley, especially in his Notes upon the First Chapter of the 
 
 brethren could wish ; but I do think the lad is quite as orthodox as some of 
 Its were at his age. — Joseph Entwisle : Mr. President, I have listened very 
 patiently to this examination, and, I will humbly hope, with some improve- 
 ment to my own mind ; and, on the whole, I now feel quite at liberty to give 
 this dear young brother the right hand of fellowship, and to admit him into 
 full connexion. The motion ! Let us have the motion, we are satisfied ! 
 resounded from all corners of the house. — France: I am not satisfied. 
 When were you satisfied P The motion, Mr. President, the motion, Sir ! 
 Do let us have the motion, if you please, resounded long and loud. — 
 President : Well, then, my brethren, the motion before you, moved by 
 brother Burdsall, and seconded by brother Isaac is, that this young man be 
 now received into your Body, and be acknowledged as a member of this 
 Conference ; and, therefore, as many of you as are of opinion that he should 
 be so received, will have the goodness to signify your approbation by a show 
 of hands. / see the approbation of the Conference is very general. Now, on 
 the contrary, as many of you as disapprove of the admission of this young 
 man, will be pleased to signify your disapprobation by a show of hands. 
 The motion has been carried by a large majority. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 3G3 
 
 Epistle to the Hebrews, to be agreeable to the Holy Scriptures ; 
 and, That it is also the acknowledged right, and, under existing 
 cu'cumstances, the indispemahle duty, of the President of the 
 Conference for the time being, to examine particularly upon that 
 doctrine every Preacher proposed to be admitted into Full Con- 
 nexion, and to require an explicit and unreserved declaration of 
 his assent to it, as a truth revealed in the inspired Oracles." 
 
 It has been stated as a positive fact, that many preachers, who 
 attended that Conference, not only disclaim all participation in 
 the enactment of this law, but all knowledge of an intention that 
 such a law should be enacted. On the appearance of this Test 
 Act, Mr. Ward renounced all further connexion with the Metho- 
 dist body, and several others withdrew with him. Mr. Brunskill 
 also addressed a remonstrant letter to the late Eev. John Stephens, 
 then President of the Conference, copies of wliich letter were 
 sent to Mr. Bunting and Dr. Clarke. To this letter Dr. Clarke 
 wrote an answer, dated Feb. 20, 1828, from which the following 
 is an extract. — It is written, ' They shall put you out of the 
 synagogues ; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you, 
 will think that he doeth God service.' And it is added, * These 
 things will they do unto you, because they have not known the 
 Father nor me.' The church of Christ is never much hurt by 
 the persecutions which come from the wicked ; but, when the 
 church persecutes the church, then is desolation. The subjects 
 of the introduction of organs into Methodist chapels,* and 
 forced subscriptions to inexpHcable and unscriptural doctrines, 
 are at present rending the church of Christ, and scattering the 
 flock. Perhaps God will not permit these things to go much 
 further. He will not, unless he have a great controversy with 
 us as a people. Though these things pain me, yet do they not 
 move me : the foundation still standeth strong. I can no more 
 beUeve the doctrines about my glorious Kedeemer which they 
 inculcate, than I can blaspheme. f I see many are forced to sub- 
 scribe ; and I know some who have defiled their consciences by 
 it. I cannot beheve the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of my 
 glorious Kedeemer, which they are now inculcating : I believe it 
 
 * At this time the Conference had sanctioned the introduction of an 
 organ into one of the cliapels at Leeds, though much objected to by many 
 members of the society in that town. 
 
 t Shortly after Dr. Clarke's death, it was rumoured that he had changed 
 his opinion on the Sonship of Christ. This rumour was sedulously circu- 
 lated by the late Kev. John Gaulter, who professed himself ready to attest 
 it upon oath. It may be placed, as a /aci, by the side of this mmour, that, 
 a few days only before his death, the Doctor was talking with a friend upon 
 this subject, on which occasion he declared, not only that his views were 
 unaltered, but that the only ground on which he could exculpate the Con- 
 ference from the charge of blasphemy, was, that they did it ignorantly. 
 
364 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 is not waiTanted by Scripture. As a Commentator, I have written 
 one paragraph to explain the thirty-fifth verse of the first chapter 
 of St. Luke. Twenty, if not forty, pamphlets, letters, &c., have 
 been pubHshed, in order to overthrow that one paragraph : yet 
 still it is untouched ; and, in the whole succession of writers, 
 this is evident, — that each who follows is satisfied his predecessor 
 has failed to estabUsh his point. This brings out another and 
 another answer, the last being con\dnced that all who have gone 
 before him have failed. This is the fact ; and is it not strange 
 that they have courage to go on ? Tragedy, comedy, farce, have 
 all been brought into action to destroy one paragraph ; and, 
 though backed by authority, menaces, eloquence, and calumny, 
 they are as stones thro^Nii against the east wind, to prevent it 
 from blowing, the efforts of a man who went to the sea -shore to 
 keep off the tide by his pitchfork. We may sing ; and, though 
 I have a bad voice, I can make joyful noise to the God of my 
 salvation, in singing. 
 
 Our God is above men, devils, and sin : 
 Our Jesus's love the battle shall win." 
 
 Besides private correspondence upon the enactment of the 
 Methodist Conference, erecting the doctrine of the Eternal Son- 
 ship of our Saviour into a sort of test by which to try the ad- 
 missibiHty of candidates for the ministry, a warm controversy 
 was carried on for several months in the Imperial Magazine. 
 
 About the same time, there appeared, in the Pulj)it, a series 
 of letters in support of Dr. Clarke's views ; and the Wesley an- 
 Methodist Magazine vfos, supplying articles, almost every month, 
 on the subject. These, of course, were all on the other side of 
 the question ; and were answered by Mr. Exley, at the conclu- 
 sion of liis reply to Mr. Watson. 
 
 We find no more after this in the Magazine, until the Review 
 of Nichols's Translation of the Works of Arminius. The Editor, 
 or probably Mr. Watson, who, at that time, wrote most of the 
 reviews which appeared in the Magazine, transcribed what that 
 author had published on this subject. This passed without any 
 remark ; and the Magazine was silent, or nearly so, until the 
 publication of the third volume of Dr. Clarke's Sermons. This 
 volume was noticed ; and the Editor wrote some remarks upon 
 w^hat the Doctor had said upon the subject in the sermon on 
 John iii. 16. The strictures which the editor wrote oalled forth 
 a letter, addi'essed to Dr. Clarke under the signature of Josephus, 
 and dated Liverpool, December 30, 1830. 
 
 On the appearance of Dr. Clarke's autobiography, the Editor 
 buckled on his armour again. Such were the effects of his re- 
 view, that Mr. Bromley told the Conference that eight out of 
 
DR, ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 365 
 
 every ten were dissatisfied throughout the kingdom ; yet others 
 maintained that it was a masterly piece, and superior to anything 
 which had preceded. But there can he no question that by far 
 the most comprehensive work that has appeared in opposition to 
 Dr. Clarke's views, is that of the late Kichard TrefFry, junior, 
 produced while labouring under the insidious disease which 
 terminated in his death. 
 
 As might have been expected, the opinions expressed by Dr. 
 Clarke, both on the Sonship of Christ, and on other abstruse 
 points of theology, gained converts among his brethren ; but, by 
 the dominant party, they were conceived to be dangerous heresies, 
 and those who adopted them have been uniformly treated with 
 suspicion, and sometimes have had reason to complain of perse- 
 cution. Without pretending to decide the difierences between 
 the Clarkites, as those have been called who adopted the peculiar 
 sentiments of the subject of this memoir, and their opponents, 
 we venture to declare our behef, that it would have been far more 
 politic, not to say more Christian, on the part of the latter, to 
 allow the former the liberty of thinking, than it was to oblige 
 them to recant, or, at least, to suppress their opinions, on pain 
 of expulsion from the Connexion. Until the millennial age has 
 dawned upon the church, it will be utterly vain to attempt to pre- 
 serve a strict uniformity of opinion in so large a body of men as 
 the Wesleyan-Methodist preachers. Besides being impracticable, 
 the attempt is sinful. God has left each man accountable for the 
 use of his own faculties of every kind ; and he who dares to fetter 
 another in their use, since he cannot release him from his respon- 
 sibiHty, is obviously counteracting the Divine puiposes. In this, 
 as well as in many other respects, the followers of Mr. Wesley 
 would have done well to adhere to his principles ; for, when he 
 proposed an open, avowed union among ministers of the Gospel, 
 whether in the Church or out of it, he thought it sufficient that 
 they who united should preach those fundamental truths, origi- 
 nal sin, and justification by faith, producing inward and outward 
 holiness," wisely leaving every man to form his own opinion on 
 metaphysical subtleties. Indeed, he was not in a condition to 
 make any stricter proposition ; and, though it is understood that 
 any one of the preachers who bear his name may propound any 
 sentiment contained in his Notes on the New Testament, yet, 
 if such a one were to insist upon the notions that he found there 
 concerning the second coming of Christ, and other points of 
 curious speculation, it is exceedingly doubtful whether he would 
 be permitted to continue to do so. 
 
300 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Dr. darkens Works — The Commentary — Dr. darkens Jirst Work — Dr. 
 darkens Style — His unfinished Litei'wry Projects — His Library. 
 
 It would not be compatible with the hmits, nor was it included 
 in the design, of tliis Memoir, to attempt a critical review of Dr. 
 Clarke's numerous works. This is the less desirable, inasmuch as 
 most of them are familiar to those readers for whom they were 
 composed. The following hst contains the cliief, perhaps all, 
 that added to the writer's reputation. Two or three small pieces 
 which he published are not specified : — 
 
 A Dissertation on the Use and Abuse of Tobacco. 1797. 
 8vo. — A Bibhographical Dictionary, containing a chronologi- 
 cal Account of the most curious books, in all dej)artments of 
 literature, fi'om the infancy of printing to the beginning of the 
 19th century; to which are added, an Essay on BibHography, 
 and an Account of the best Enghsh translation of each Greek 
 and Latin classic. 1802. G vols. 12mo. and 8vo. — The Bibho- 
 graphical Miscellany, or a Supplement to the BibHograpliical 
 Dictionary, down to 1820. 2 vols. 12mo. and 8vo. — Baxter's 
 Chi'istian Directoiy abridged. 1804. 2 vols. 8vo. — Claude 
 Fleury's History of the Ancient Israelites, with an account of 
 their Manners, Customs, &c., with a Life and fine Portrait of 
 Claude Fleury. 1805. 12mo. — The Succession of Sacred 
 Literature, in a clu'onological arrangement of authors and theu' 
 works, from the invention of alphabetical characters to the year 
 of our Lord 345. 1807. 12mo. and 8vo., vol. 1st.— Shuck- 
 ford's Sacred and Profane History of the World connected, in- 
 cluding Bishop Clayton's Strictures on the work, embellished 
 with a set of maps. 1808. 4 vols. 8vo. — Sturm's Reflections, 
 translated from the German. 4 vols. 12mo. — The Holy Scrip- 
 tures, &c., &c., with the Marginal Readings, a Collection of 
 Parallel Texts, and copious Summaries to each Chapter ; with a 
 Commentary and Critical Notes, designed as a help to the better 
 understanding of the Sacred Writings. 8 vols. 4 to. 1810-20. — 
 Harmer's Observations. 4 vols. 8vo. — 01a\ds Bibhca ; or a 
 Compendium of Scripture Knowledge. 8vo. — Lives of the 
 Wesley Family. 8vo. — Three volumes of Sermons, besides 
 several single discourses and detached pieces ; and many anony- 
 mous articles in the Classical Journal, in the Eclectic Review, 
 and in various other respectable journals. To these may be 
 
THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 807 
 
 added the new edition of Rymer's Foedera, in folio, of which lie 
 saw the first volume, and part of the second, through the press. 
 
 Without attempting a formal review of these numerous and 
 voluminous works, a few interesting particulars may be given 
 concerning some of them. 
 
 The Commentary is entitled to our first attention. It was in 
 course of publication during seventeen years. It was begun, 
 continued, and ended, with prayer. It was completed in the 
 year 1826 ; and will for ever remain a monument of the author's 
 genius, wisdom, learning, knowledge, and piety. In looking 
 back upon the labours of his life, one wonders how he found 
 time for such a work as this. But he began it early. We find 
 him in the year 1785, only three years after his entrance 
 into the ministry, considerably advanced in a systematic course 
 of study. "Being convinced," he observes, "that the Bible was 
 the source whence all the principles of true wisdom, wherever 
 found in the world, had been derived, my desire to comprehend 
 adequately its great design, and to penetrate the meaning of all 
 its parts, led me to separate myself from every pursuit that did 
 not lead, at least indirectly, to the accomplishment of this end." 
 Thus we see, that, though unconsciously, (for this was laid out 
 as a plan of private study,) yet, when scarcely more than a boy, 
 he had actually begun to lay the foundation of the mighty work. 
 Though, at first, he did not even commit to paper the result of 
 his reading, and, even when he did, it was for some time without 
 any view to publication, but solely to facilitate his own progress 
 in acquiring a sound knowledge of the Scriptures, and although, 
 moreover, he entirely changed his plan when he had proceeded a 
 good way in purposed preparation for a printed work ; yet there 
 can be no doubt, that the fruits of his earhest reading and medi- 
 tation on the Sacred Volume were found useful in the execution 
 of his grand design. After he had made considerable prepara- 
 tion, he altered his plan so completely, that he could not make 
 use of a page of \^hat he had before written. " All," he remarks, 
 " has been re-transcribed, and innumerable additions and retrench- 
 ments made throughout." Many criticisms on the sacred text, 
 with illustrations from ancient authors, were, after much time 
 and labour spent in collecting them, thrown aside, as tending to 
 a plan too extensive. Besides, he studied to be useful, rather 
 than to appear learned. As to criticism, therefore, he confined 
 himself almost entirely to pointing out the force and meanmg of 
 expressions insusceptible of simple translation. " I do not pre- 
 tend," he repeats, " to write for the learned ; I look up to them 
 myself for instruction. All the pretentions of my work are in- 
 cluded in the sentence that stands in the title : it is ' designed as 
 a help to a better understanding of the Sacred Writings.' " The 
 
308 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 work, put forth with these modest pretensions, was twice laid 
 aside from indisposition, and once on account of a sudden rise 
 in the price of paper. It was hkewise unavoidably delayed by a 
 multitude of other engagements. When ready for pubhcation, 
 another commentary, by a friend of his (probably Mr. Benson), 
 being announced and extensively advertised. Dr. Clarke withheld 
 his own, not willing that the attention of the public should be 
 divided between the two works, lest the sale of his friend's might 
 be injured. At length, the part of Genesis, by Dr. Clarke, was 
 brought out ;* and, at last, notwithstanding many fears that he 
 would not hve to complete it, or at least to carry the whole of it 
 tlirough the press, it was entirely published. The Doctor wrote 
 the last sentence while on his knees ; and, when he had written 
 it, he poured out his heart in thanksgivings to God, who had 
 preserved liis life, and enabled him to bring his labours to a 
 happy close. During the afternoon he came into the parlour, 
 and, without speaking to any one, beckoned to his youngest son, 
 and, taking him into the hall, said, Come with me, Joseph : I 
 wish to take you into my study." His son followed, when Dr. 
 Clarke opened the door, and pointed to his large study-table, and 
 the stand on the right hand, cleared of all their fohos, &c., and 
 nothing remaining on either but his study Bible : — " This, 
 Joseph," he exclaimed, ""is the happiest period I have enjoyed 
 for years. I have put the last hand to my Comment ; I have 
 written the last word of the work. I have put away the chains 
 that would remind me of my bondage ; and there (pointing to 
 the steps of his library ladder) have I returned the deep thanks 
 of a grateful soul to the God who has shown me such great and 
 continued kindness. I shall now go into the parlour, tell my 
 good news to the rest, and enjoy myself for the day." His sons, 
 daughters, and sons-in-law, determined on presenting their father 
 with a large silver vase, in memorial of the completion of his 
 work. Without acquainting him with the purpose of the invita- 
 tion, his two eldest sons requested him and Mrs. Clarke, and the 
 
 * The Mecaenas in this case was his relative, Mr. Butterworth. How 
 much that gentleman rejoiced in having had it in his power to forward the 
 undertaking, appears from a note, written by him to Dr. Clarke on the 
 publication of Genesis, which begins with a prayer that was remarkably 
 fulfilled : — " May you live long enough to finish a second edition of the 
 whole ! We have already many Dissenters who have become subscribers. 
 I thank God from the bottom of my soul, that he has enabled me to help 
 you in this most glorious work ; and I wish to see yourself, and your blessed 
 family, comfortably situated, that you may go on with it pleasantly to your 
 own feelings. I am sure your Comment on the Book of Genesis will do 
 great good. I consider it a high honour to have ushered this harbinger of 
 glad tidings into the world ; and I trust it will be an eternal blessing to 
 future generations." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 869 
 
 family, to dine with them. After dinner, the offering, covered, 
 was placed at the head of the table. Dr. Clarke's eldest son then 
 rose, and, in the name of each and all of the family, uncovered 
 and offered it, with an appropriate address, to their revered parent. 
 For a few moments he sat incapable of utterance ; then regarding 
 them all, he rose, spread his hands over this token of his chil- 
 dren's love, and pronounced his blessing upon them individually 
 and collectively. His eldest son then filled the vessel vdih wine, 
 which his father raised first to his own hps, then to those of his 
 beloved wife, and afterwards bore it to each of the family. Then, 
 in a strain of the most heartfelt, eloquent tenderness, he ad- 
 dressed them in the name of their mother and himself. 
 
 " In this arduous labour," says Dr. Clarke, " I have had no 
 assistants ; not even a single wreck's help from an ama7iuensis ; 
 no person to look for common places, or refer to an ancient 
 author ; to find out the place and transcribe a passage of Greek, 
 Latin, or any other language, which my memory had generally 
 recalled, or to verify a quotation ; — the help excepted which I 
 received in the chronological department from my own nephew. 
 I have laboured alone for nearly twenty- five years previously to 
 the work's being sent to press ; and fifteen years have been em- 
 ployed in bringing it through the press to the public : and thus 
 about forty years of my Hfe have been consumed." 
 
 In presenting some portions of the work to the Duke of 
 Sussex, Dr. Clarke gave His Koyal Highness the following ex- 
 tended account of his labours : — 
 
 " Conscious that translators in general must have had a parti- 
 cular creed, in reference to which they would naturally consider 
 every text, I sat down mth a heart as free from bias and secta- 
 rian feeling as it was possible, and carefully read over, cautiously 
 weighed, and literally translated, every word, Hebrew and Chal- 
 dee, in the Bible : and, as I saw it was possible, while even as- 
 sisted by the best lexicons, to mistake the import of a Hebrew 
 term, and knowing that the cognate Asiatic languages would be 
 helps of great importance in such an inquiry, I collated every 
 verse where I was apprehensive of difficulty, with the Chaldee, 
 Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Persian, as far as the Sacred Writ- 
 ings are extant in these languages, with a constant reference to 
 Keadings collected by Kennicott and De Rossi,* and to the Sep- 
 tuagint and Vulgate, the earliest translations of the Hebrew text 
 which have reached our times. This reading and collation pro- 
 
 * We may here describe the manner, as once naiTated by Dr. Clarke, in 
 which Dr. Kennicott and De Rossi collated tbeir different MSS. They got 
 an ignorant boy, and taught him the Hebrew Alphabet, and nothing more 
 of the language ; and thus, by his naming letter by letter, did these gi-eat 
 men laboriously go through their numerous collations. 
 
 2 B 
 
370 
 
 THE LIFE AXD LABOrRS OF 
 
 diiced an immense number of notes on all parts of the Old Tes- 
 tament, whicli I was prevailed on, by several of my learned 
 friends, to extend in form of a perpetual comment on the whole 
 book. The Comment I put to press in 1810, after having- been, 
 for the tliirty years preceding, employed on the reading, collating, 
 &c., ah'eady mentioned. When I had finished in this way the 
 Pentateuch,* and the books of Joshua and Judges, I was advised 
 by many of my friends (who were apprehensive, from the infirm 
 state of my health, that I might not live long enough to go regu- 
 larly through the whole), to omit for the present the Old, and 
 begin with the New, Testament. I did so, and literally trans- 
 lated every word of that last best gift of God to man, compaiing 
 the whole with all the ancient versions, and the most important 
 of the modern, and collated all with the various readings collected 
 by Stephens, Fell, Courcel, Gherard of Maestricht, Bengel, Mills, 
 Wetstein, and Griesbach, actually examining many manuscripts 
 myself, illustrating the whole by quotations from ancient authors, 
 Kabbinical, Greek, Roman, and Asiatic. I brought my Comment 
 on the above plan down to the end of the Apocalypse. When 
 this was finished, I returned to the Old Testament. In the pro- 
 secution of tliis work, I was led to attend, in the first instance, 
 more to words than to things, in order to find their true ideal 
 meanings, together with the different shades of acceptation to 
 which they became subjected in their application to matters 
 which use and circumstances, in the lapse of time, had produced. 
 And, as I perceived an almost continual reference to the htera- 
 ture, arts, and sciences, of the ancient world, and of the Asiatic 
 nations in particular, I made these things my particular study, 
 having found a thousand passages which I could neither illus- 
 trate nor explain, without some general knowledge of their juris- 
 prudence, astronomy, chemistry, medicine, surgery, meteorology^, 
 pneumatics, &c., and with their mihtary tactics, and the arts and 
 trades of common life. In such researches, connected with the 
 studies previously mentioned, and in bringing down the Com- 
 ment as before specified, I have consumed nearly forty years. 
 And by this your Eoyal Higlmess will at once perceive, that, be 
 
 * While the Book of Deuteronomy was going through the press, Dr. 
 Clarke wrote to his friend, Mr. Roberts, of Bath. An extract of his letter 
 will serve to show what labour and anxiety the work was costing him : — 
 " Joshua's sun and moon's standing still, kept me going for nearly three 
 weeks. That one chapter has afforded me more vexation than anything I 
 ever met with. And even now, I am but about half satisfied with my own 
 solution of all the difficulties, though I am confident I have removed moun- 
 tains that were never touched before. Shall I say that I am heartily weary 
 of my work : — so weaiy that I have a thousand times wished I had never 
 written one page of it, and am repeatedly purposing to give it up. No 
 man should undertake such a work alone ; and I have no soul to help me." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 371 
 
 the work ill or well executed, it has not been done in a careless 
 or precipitate manner; nor have any means within my reach 
 been neglected, to make it, in every respect, as far as possible, 
 * a help to the better understanding of the Holy Scriptures.' In 
 the course of all this labour, I have also paid particular attention 
 to those facts recorded in the Bible, which have been the subject 
 of animadversion by freethinkers and infidels of all classes and 
 times. I trust I may say, that no such passage is either design- 
 edly passed by or superfluously considered ; that the strongest 
 objections are fairly produced and met; that all such parts of 
 the Divine writings, are, in consequence, exhibited in their own 
 lustre ; and that the truth of the doctrines of our salvation, has 
 had as many triumphs as it has had attacks, from the rudest and 
 most formidable of its antagonists. On all such subjects, I 
 humbly hope that your Royal Highness will never consult these 
 volumes in vain. And, if the grand doctrines that constitute 
 what some call orthodoxy (wliich prove that God is loving to 
 every man, and that from his innate, infinite, and eternal good- 
 ness, he will, and has made provision for the salvation of every 
 human soul) be found to be those which alone have stood the 
 test of the above sifting and examination, it was not because they 
 were sought for beyond all others, and the Scriptures bent in 
 that way in order to favour them ; but because these doctrines 
 are essentially contained in, and estabhshed by, the oracles of 
 God. Thus, I have given a general account of the labour in 
 which the principal part of my life and strength has been con- 
 sumed, — a labour which, were it yet to commence, with the 
 knowledge I now have of its difficulty, millions of silver and 
 gold could not induce me to undertake." 
 
 His Royal Highness acknowledged the gift in an autograph 
 letter, which does honour to his name. It is as follows : — 
 
 Bognor, Dec. 24, 1822- 
 
 ''Dear Sir, 
 
 " Had I not been seriously indisposed for some time, long 
 before this you w^ould have heard from me : an illness of up- 
 wards of six weeks has hitherto rendered me incapable of doing 
 anything, except of feeling grateful to you for a most interesting 
 letter, as well as for the most valuable present which you could 
 have bestowed upon me. 
 
 " Your precious work is already carefully placed in my Hbrary ; 
 and, as soon as I return to Kensington Palace it will afford me 
 infinite satisfaction to study and dihgently to examine its con- 
 tents, which I cannot do so profitably at this place. 
 
 " It is with the Almighty alone, who knoweth the hearts and 
 most inward thoughts of every one of his creatures, to recom- 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 pense mth. everlasting grace, your great exertions and activity in 
 expounding and publishing the Divine truths to the world at 
 large. That this will he the case, I have no doubt ; and I most 
 fervently pray, that, when it may please the omnipotent Disposer 
 of all human events to call you hence, that you may then receive 
 a more durable and adequate reward for your labours than in 
 this mortal and transitory world I fear you are now hkely to 
 attain. We, miserable inhabitants of this terrestrial globe, are, 
 however, capable at least of judging and estimating your mental 
 and physical exertions in this great cause ; and I, for one, can 
 assure you that I feel most thankful to you for having selected 
 me as a witness of your diligence, assiduity, and perseverance, in 
 this Godhke work, by the presentation to me of a copy of your 
 voluminous work, the produce of the fruits of your industiy. 
 This kind distinction, believe me, is not thrown away upon one 
 who is either insensible to the compliment, or ignorant of the 
 value of the gift ; and most faithfully do I promise to read, con- 
 sult, and meditate upon, your faithful, luminous, and elaborate 
 explanations of the Sacred Book. As far as I have presumed to 
 dive into, and to occupy myself with, the whole volumes, I feel 
 satisfied of their Divine origin and truth ; but that they contain 
 likewise more matters than any one, and myself in particular, 
 can ever aspire fully to understand. This belief ought, however, 
 in no wise to slacken our diligence, nor damp our ardour in 
 attempting a constant research after the attainment of knowledge 
 and of truth, as we may flatter ourselves, although unable to 
 reach the goal, still to approach much nearer to its portals ; 
 which, of itself, is a great blessing, as I am con^•inced, that, if 
 we only follow strictly the rules and regulations contained in the 
 Scriptures for the guidance of our conduct in this world, we may 
 present ourselves (although aware of our own unworthiness) be- 
 fore the Divine throne with a confident hope of forgiveness, from 
 the knowledge we acquire therein of his mercy to all truly peni- 
 tent sirmers. 
 
 " Thus far, I boldly state that I think ; but I do not venture 
 to enter upon, or to burden myself with, what are commonly 
 designated as dogmas, and which in my conscience I beUeve, for 
 the most part, if not entirely, are human inventions, and not ex- 
 erted for purposes, or from motives, of Christian charity. I am, 
 therefore, determined to keep my mind calm upon such topics, 
 and to remain undisturbed and unbewildered by them : I am 
 persuaded that their adoption is not necessar}^ for salvation. 
 This I say, wishing, at the same time that I am making this 
 honest declaration, not to be thought a Freethinker ; which im- 
 putation I would indignantly repel ; nor to pass for a person 
 indifferent about religion, which God knows I consider, if Chris- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 873 
 
 tianly, I mean most charitably, observed, to be the greatest 
 blessing to mankind in general, and of the utmost importance to 
 my own comfort and happiness in this world, as well as to my 
 hopes in futurity. 
 
 " These objects, besides many others which seem to have 
 occupied the greatest and most valuable part of your active life, 
 cannot fail of being most interesting to the historian, the theolo- 
 gist, the legislator, and the philosopher. From all these details 
 the mind will undoubtedly derive rich sources of information 
 wherewith to make researches, and thence to ground deductions. 
 
 To these I shall assiduously apply myself when retired in my 
 closet ; and, as my heart and mind improve, I shall feel my debt 
 of gratitude towards you daily increasing, an obhgation I shall 
 ever be proud to own ; and with which sentiment I have the 
 pleasure to conclude, signing myself, dear Sir, 
 
 " Your sincerely obhged, and truly devoted, 
 
 "AUGUSTUS FREDERICK." 
 
 Of this admirable letter, a periodical critic did not speak too 
 highly when he said of it, " Perhaps it is unequalled in the 
 annals of royalty. If anywhere it is approached, it must be in 
 the letters of Matthaeus Corvinus, the learned Ejng of Hungary, 
 and patron of the learned men of Europe. It concerns every 
 one to know that there are such men near the throne." It must 
 be admitted, however, that the royal Duke is not very clear in 
 his distinction between what may be rejected as the dogmas of 
 men, and w^hat it is imperative to believe. 
 
 For more minute information respecting the Commentary, 
 the reader is referred to the general preface, and to the post- 
 script at the end of Malachi. It may be sufficient in this place 
 to add, as a specimen both of the labour itself and of the 
 astonishing diligence with which it was performed, the follow- 
 ing extract from the former of those articles: — "When I had 
 formed the purpose of writing short notes on the New Testa- 
 ment, I collated the common printed text with all the manu- 
 scripts and collections to which I could have access. Scarcely 
 had I projected this work, when I was convinced that another 
 was previously necessary; viz., a careful perusal of the origi- 
 nal text. I began this, and soon found that it was perfectly 
 possible to read, and not to understand. Under this conviction, 
 I sat down, determining to translate the whole, before I attempted 
 any comment, that I might have the sacred text the more deeply 
 impressed on my memory. I accordingly began my translation 
 in June, 1795, and finished it in May, 1796; collating the 
 original text with all the ancient and with several of the modem 
 versions ; carefully weighing the value of the most important 
 
374 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 various readings found in those, and in the most authentic copies 
 of the Greek text." After an interval of two years, proceeds the 
 Doctor, " I found I had not gone through the vrhole of my pre- 
 liminaiy work. The New Testament, I plainly saw, was a com- 
 ment on the Old ; and, to understand such a comment, I knew 
 it was absolutely necessaiy to he well acquainted with the text. 
 I then formed the plan of reading, consecutively, a portion of the 
 Hebrew Bible daily. Accordingly, in January, 1797, I began 
 to read the original text of the Old Testament, noting down, on 
 the different books, chapters, and verses, such things as appeared 
 to me of most importance. Tliis preliminar}^ work I finished in 
 March, 1798, having spent in it a httle more than one year and 
 two months ; in which time I translated eveiy sentence, Hebrew 
 and Chaldee, in the Old Testament." The mere purification of 
 the text of the authorized version (to which, in Dr. Clarke's 
 opinion, the original alone is superior), from the comiptions in 
 punctuation, &c., contracted during the lapse of years, was a 
 work of great labour and anxiety. To the marginal readings he 
 attached a liigh value, having found that they were to be pro- 
 feiTcd to those in the text, in the proportion of at least eight out 
 of ten. 
 
 Notwithstanding some peculiarities of opinion which the Com- 
 mentar}^ contains, it is allowed by impartial judges to be at once 
 the most learned and the most useful that has been pubhshed. 
 The frankness with which the author declares his opinions, even 
 where they are at variance with those commonly received, has 
 exposed liim, though very imjustly, to the charge of dogmatism, 
 not to say of heresy. Any appearances of this might more safely 
 be attributed to the strength in wliich he conceived, and the 
 force and freedom with wliich he expressed, his opinions. Wlien 
 the time came for speaking of himself — when he issued, and 
 when he had completed his Commentaiy, for instance, — he 
 did so in the humblest terms, and depreciated his own talents 
 and learning in a strain almost painful to the reader. " Though 
 perfectly satisfied," he obsen^es, " with the purity of my motives, 
 and the simphcity of my intention, I am far from being pleased 
 with the work itself. * TMiatever eiTors may be obseiTcd, must 
 
 * At other times, however, and in other views of the suhject, he had a 
 widely different impression as to the value of his biblical labours. In 
 writing to one of the Shetland missionaries, under date of Feb. 12, 1836, 
 he says, " I believe the best system of divinity that ever saw the sun, leav- 
 ing the Bible in its own place, is my own Comment on the Sacred Writings. 
 All that is good and necessary in the whole system of ancient and modem 
 knowledge, is comprised in those volumes. As that work has occupied 
 nearly the whole of my life, so it has nearly cost me my life." And to 
 another, a year afterwards, he writes : " Mr. Wesley advises ' to read over his 
 short notes on the New Testament.' I say, no man can do this without 
 
THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 375 
 
 be attributed to my scantiness of knowledge." When alluding 
 to some points on which he differed from other men, he expresses 
 the most liberal, manly, and Christian sentiments. Though he 
 avows his firm belief in what he had put forth, he leaves others 
 to the unmolested enjoyment of their own opinions, concluding 
 with these remarkable words, " While God bears with us, and 
 does us good, we may surely bear with one another." " I hope," 
 he observes, in presenting a copy of his Notes on Genesis to 
 Lord Teignmouth, " I have steered perfectly clear of all rehgious 
 controversies, even while undisguisedly supporting my own views 
 of Divine truth ; and I further hOpe, that no description of 
 Christians will find themselves in any respect aggrieved by my 
 work. I have never written on polemic divinity, and I abhor all 
 religious contentions." 
 
 The following letter contains evidence of the meekness which 
 Dr. Clarke manifested towards theological opponents. Mr. 
 Hughes (the lately deceased Secretary of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society), as a Calvinist, had taken exceptions to some 
 passages in the Doctor's Preface to his Commentary; among 
 others, to the following : — 
 
 This opinion (sovereign unconditional reprobation), from 
 the manner in which it has been defended by some and opposed 
 by others, has tended greatly to the disunion of many Christians ; 
 and produced every temper but brotherly kindness and charity." 
 
 The Doctor replied : — " I studied in every part of the work in 
 question, to avoid every expression which might give offence or 
 pain to any man. I find I have miscarried ; but it certainly is 
 not the fault of my heart. Either I have been misinformed, or I 
 took it for granted, that all the Calvinists in England were against 
 what we call the decree of unconditional reprobation ; and I 
 really thought that I should displease no person by simply stating 
 what I did ; and I thought I had done it in as mild and dispas- 
 sionate a way as possible, using every writer's own words without 
 the least comment, beheving this to be the most candid way. I 
 have now just turned to the passage, as it stood originally, and 
 must own I can see nothing uncandid in it ; — no ' thrust,' no 
 ' wound,' was designed. Yet, because I heard some time ago, 
 that some Calvinists did not like it, I altered not only it, but 
 
 profit ; and, if you have my notes, read them carefully too ; and you will 
 not need much of my private advice." " The Doctor here exposes himself," 
 says his friend Mr. Everett, " to the charge of egotism ; but this was no 
 failing of his, and the letter was written in the freedom and confidence of 
 private friendship. Mr. Wesley was once asked by a lady what Commentary 
 on the Scriptures he would advise her to purchase. ' Madam,' he replied, 
 ' If you wish another person to think for you, buy Matthew Heniy's ; but, 
 if you wish to think for yourself, buy mine.' " 
 
376 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OP 
 
 several other things, which I thought from this specimen might 
 give offence ; so that you have not to wait for a second edition, 
 which may never be called for, to see the passage freed from all 
 to which you object, as nearly one-half of the copies will be found 
 free from all offences of this kind ; and I shall take the hberty 
 shortly to send you a sheet to replace that in yours." 
 
 " I never wrote a controversial tract in my life," he continues ; 
 " I have seen with great grief the provokings of many, and a 
 thousand times has my heart said, 
 
 Semper ego auditor tantum, nunquamque reponam, 
 Vexatus toties . 
 
 But my love of peace, and detestation of rehgious disputes, 
 induced me to keep within my shell, and never to cross the 
 waters of strife. I had hoped, as I was living at least an inof- 
 fensive Ufe, not without the most cordial and strenuous endea- 
 vours, in my little way, to do all the public and private good in 
 my power, I might be permitted to drop quietly into the grave. 
 But this is denied me, not by the world — from it I expect no 
 good ; but by those who profess to magnify that Saviour whose 
 gloiy and cause they cannot say, ' I have not assisted even them 
 to promote, while another body of religious people laid just 
 claim to the piincipal services I could perform.' Notwithstand- 
 ing all this, such is my love of peace and good understanding 
 with religious people, that there is not one sentence in my work 
 that I would not most cheerfully efface for ever, rather than it 
 should give offence to any one follower of God, though it might 
 be calculated to please a thousand of my own way of thinking. 
 I am fully satisfied that neither the truth, nor the salvation of 
 men, can depend, even in the most remote manner, on anything 
 I have written or can write. Therefore, I am as ready to blot 
 out as to write : indeed, more so. I have said above, that I 
 prefer your judgment to my own : glad should I be to have the 
 privilege of consulting it on many occasions. I think few cases 
 could occur in which I should not most gladly follow its 
 directions." * 
 
 * The writer cannot resist the opportunity here afforded him of tran- 
 scribing part of a letter from Mr. Morris, the able biographer of Robert 
 Hall and Andrew Fuller. In his veiy interesting " Biographical Eecollec- 
 tions" of the foraier, Mr. Morris has indulged in some strictures on Dr. 
 Adam Clarke's Commentary, which are severe, not to say unjust ; but, 
 having read the letter to Mr. Hughes, which has been noticed in the text, 
 he perceived that he had misunderstood the character of the learned 
 commentator, and had the candour to avow it. — " The letter in question," 
 observes Mr. Morris, " is touching in the extreme, and gives a view of Dr. 
 Clarke's character which I had never before witnessed, adding to it a charm 
 which I never before suspected it to possess. It would give me pleasure to 
 
Dll ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 377 
 
 It was well ordered, that Dr. Clarke entertained so strong an 
 aversion to religious controversy ; for, had he got entangled in 
 such discussions, he might never have heen able to conclude his 
 Commentary. But it must not he inferred, that, because he 
 *' detested religious disputes," those who engage in them are 
 unamiable men. While, among his own brethren. Dr. Clarke 
 could enumerate the names of Fletcher, Benson, and Hare, he 
 could not design any such sweeping accusation. Controversy, 
 conducted in a fair and candid spirit, is the only mode of eliciting 
 truth, except we should be made unanimous by miracle. The 
 previous extract suggests another remark. Of the Doctor's love 
 of peace and concord, there can be no question ; but it may 
 reasonably be presumed, that, if put to the test, he would have 
 confessed that he had spoken unadvisedly in saying, There is 
 not one se7itence in my work that I would not most cheerfully 
 efface for ever, rather than it should give offence to any one 
 follower of God, though it might be calculated to please a 
 thousand of my own way of thinking." 
 
 In all matters of pure criticism, or of curious investigation. 
 Dr. Clarke's opinion is delivered with the candour of a liberal 
 inquirer after truth ; it is never insisted upon so as to offend 
 those who may differ from him. Of this, his famous hypothesis 
 concerning the animal which tempted Eve, may be quoted as an 
 instance. " If," he observes, any person should choose to 
 differ from me, he is at perfect hberty to do so. I make it [my 
 opinion] no article of faith, nor of Christian communion. I 
 crave the same Hberty to judge for myself, that I give to others, 
 to which every man has an indisputable right ; and I hope no 
 man will call me a heretic, for departing from the common 
 opinion." As for the controversies among religious people, they 
 are seldom mentioned in the work. " I simply propose," observes 
 the author, what I believe to be the meaning of a passage, and 
 maintain what I believe to be the truth, but scarcely ever in a 
 controversial way. I think it quite possible to give my own 
 views of the doctrines of the Bible, without introducing a single 
 sentence at which any Christian might reasonably take offence 
 And I hope that no provocation which I may receive, shall induce 
 me to depart from this line of conduct." To this resolution Dr. 
 Clarke strictly adhered. Although, before he had seen one line 
 
 see any error corrected, or to retract any expression that conveyed a want of 
 reverence or respect for the memory of so eminent a man. The sentiments 
 of Dr. Clarke on some points were sufficiently heterodox, and, in my appre- 
 hension, of an injurious tendency ; hut, after seeing his tender and modest 
 concessions to Mr. Hughes, it is impossible not to feel the highest admira- 
 tion of his character." The publication of these admissions is equally due 
 to the author of them and the object. 
 
378 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 of the work, one gentleman (a Christian minister!) expressed 
 great anxiety for its pubhcation, that ''he might tear it to 
 pieces ;" and although many vain hut sufficiently zealous attempts 
 were actually made by dilferent wiiters to depreciate its worth, 
 yet he answered them not a word, except once (in May, 1811) in 
 the Cla-H.sical Journal, in which some critics had raised a learned 
 dust about the sei-pent which tempted Eve. The conclusion of 
 his brief, and, as many have thought, triumphant reply, is worth 
 quoting, as showing the opinion he entertained* of anonymous 
 animadversions : — " An anonymous writer has a number of 
 advantages. Should he make a thousand blunders, when they 
 come to be detected, shame burns not his cheek : he is Nobody 
 concealed, and probably would be nobody if known ; and yet he 
 claims the pri\dlege, through the means of periodical pubhcations, 
 or anonymous pamphlets, to slander or destroy his neighbour's 
 good name or reputation, while himself is covered with thick 
 darkness ! To the unfathered productions of such writers, no 
 attention should be paid ; but calumny meets with a pretty 
 general reception, and the periodical puljhcations are becoming 
 proverbial for their conveyance of hterary abuse. Though I 
 beheve I should find httle difficulty to trace some to their bed- 
 chambers, yet, as I am pretty certain they may have good reasons 
 for their concealment, I shall permit them at present to enjoy 
 their retreat." 
 
 The small fi*y of reviewers fastened upon his hypothesis con- 
 cerning the Devil's instrument in the temptation of Eve ; but, 
 wliile many confidently predicted that a work wdiich started with 
 such an absurdity would never succeed, some of whom have 
 lived to endure the mortification of disappointed malice and 
 humbled presumption, there were others wdio adopted the hypo- 
 thesis, and many more, who, though they retained the old opinion, 
 were too much absorbed in the obvious excellences of the work, 
 to spend time in vainly ridicuhng what it was found not so easy 
 to refute by sober argument. Nor was all the wit on the opposite 
 side ; for, in one of the pubhc papers, there appeared the follow- 
 ing ingenious verses : — 
 
 " The Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke asserts, 
 
 It could not be a serpent tempted Eve, 
 But a gay monkey, whose fine mimic arts 
 
 And fopperies were most likely to deceive. 
 DogTuatic commentators still hold out, 
 
 A serpent, not a monkey, tempted Madam ; 
 And which shall we believe ? — without a doubt 
 
 None knows so well what tempted Eve, as Adam." 
 
 As to the few pecuharities of opinion, on account of wliich some 
 have attempted to disparage the work, they affect not at all, cer- 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 379 
 
 tainly not injuriously, any essential, leading doctrine of religion.* 
 On this point, Dr. Clarke is well defended by Dr. Beaumont, 
 when he obsei'ves, " Though I am not one of those who adopted 
 those opinions, yet I always venerated the Doctor the more for 
 his unflinching, uncompromising, unprevaricating honesty and 
 faithfulness in tliis matter. He had undertaken and had 
 announced himself to the world in the character of a commen- 
 tator on the Bible ; and, tliis being the case, it was not optional 
 for him to withhold his deliberate sentiments on any portion of 
 the volume." 
 
 Mr. M'NicoU thus judiciously expressed himself concerning 
 this great work : — " Though critical and literaiy, above all other 
 English commentaries embracing the whole Bible, it is also spi- 
 ritual and practical, much beyond what might have been expected 
 from a work of so much learning ; and perhaps the unlettered 
 Christian, who has the happiness to possess it, is no less fi'equently 
 heai'd resounding its praises, because of the profit he receives 
 from its pages, than the critical inquirer, on account of the 
 valuable accessions it gives to his knowledge. The author has, 
 in fact, so simplified his learning, at least in many instances, as 
 to combine both objects in the same exposition. In many cases, 
 this, of course, could not be done ; and none should be blamed 
 for not accomplishing a contradiction. That the work has some 
 considerable defects, no one certainly will have the courage to 
 deny. This the excellent author himself was free to admit. 
 Much of it, he observed, was written in his younger days ; and 
 in his latter years he had carefully prepared a corrected and im- 
 proved copy for a new edition, when it should be wanted. To 
 name no other, one principal defect of the work, in the judgment 
 of many, is the almost total omission to explain the sense of the 
 
 * Dr. Clarke and his Commentary were incidentally noticed by his 
 Honour the Vice-Chancellor, in his celebrated Judgment on the case 
 between Dr. Warren and the trustees of Oldham-street Chapel, Manchester. 
 " When I recollect," said His Honour, " that this society owes its origin and 
 fii-st formation to an individual so eminently distinguished as the late John 
 W^esley, and when I remember that, from time to time, there have arisen 
 out of this body some of the most able and distinguished individuals that 
 ever gi-aced and ornamented any society whatever, — I may name one for 
 all, the late Dr. Adam Clarke, — I must come to the conclusion, that no 
 persons who have any proper understanding of what religion is, and regard 
 for it, can look uT)on\he general body of the Wesleyan Methodists without 
 the most affectionate interest and coiicern. I lately had an opportunity of 
 looking at that invaluable and excellent work (for such I shall always con- 
 sider it) of the late Dr. Adam Clarke, in which he has shown such a singu- 
 lar exuberance of Christian charily and love, in the observations which he 
 makes in respect to Judas Iscariot, of whom the expression was used that 
 has been applied to Judge Jeffreys ; but, while I admire the charity of the 
 amiable and learned Commentator, I cannot adopt his conclusion." 
 
880 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 prophetic Scriptures, owing to the conviction of the author, that 
 prophecy is not susceptible of any clear and certain explanation. 
 Many portions of it have been admirably executed. We might 
 mention the Pentateuch, the Book of Job, the Gospels, and the 
 Acts of the Apostles. On Job, he exercised much time and 
 pains, thiijking out his opinions on that difficult but interesting 
 book with more than ordinary care and research. And with 
 regard to the Acts, he writes, London, January, 1814, 'Acts 
 will soon be finished. It has cost me more labour than any 
 other part of the work. I thinli it by far the best I have yet 
 done.' And if the opinion of an author, on his own writings, 
 be admitted as authority, the comment on the Books of Moses 
 was also among the most successful efforts of his pen. With 
 regai'd to some other books, he had the candour to allow, that 
 they did not by any means come up to his wishes ; and perhaps 
 the truth is, his strength of mind, gigantic as it was, could not 
 be uniformly sustained throughout the whole of this prodigious 
 undertaking." 
 
 It has long been asserted, that the Doctor made large gains by 
 his Commentary. The most precise and seemingly authentic 
 statement on this head, rests upon the authority of the Eev. W. 
 Jones, author of the History of the Waldenses, who states, 
 
 Mr. Buttenvorth had made over to Dr. Clarke the copyright of 
 the first or quarto edition of the Commentary, pursuant to an 
 agreement between the author and him, the consequence of which 
 w^as, that he paid all the current expenses, kept all the accounts, 
 paid Dr. Clarke a stipulated sum per sheet, or pubhshed section, 
 while the work was in progress ; and, dying soon after its 
 completion, and while Dr. Clarke and his wife were yet living, 
 there w^as found, at the credit of the family, a sum of nearly, if 
 not wholly, seven thousand pounds, the interest of which was 
 receivable by the parents during their lives, and on the decease 
 of the last survivor, the principal itself is to be divided amongst 
 their offspring. This, I understood, from good authority, to be 
 the arrangement in reference to tliis concern ; and, if so, the 
 memory of Mr. Butterworth ought to be held in veneration by 
 the family, for his services were such as very few individuals, 
 besides himself, could have rendered them." 
 
 According to Mr. Monis, Dr. Mason, of New-York, informed 
 Robert Hall, that, though the attempt had been made to sell an 
 edition of Dr. Clarke's Commentary in the United States, it met 
 with so httle encouragement that the publisher desisted, r<? infecta. 
 Now, the fact is, not only that was the edition completed, but that 
 a very great number of copies met with a rapid sale ; and, as 
 Dr. Beaumont has eloquently remarked, " all over the United 
 States of America, Dr. Clarke is read, and studied, and felt, and 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 881 
 
 all but seen and heard, by the germinating mind of that new and 
 teeming hemisphere." 
 
 In Germany also," as the same gentleman was told by a 
 learned traveller present at the Doctor's funeral, " he would be 
 lamented as much as in this country ; for he was, beyond measure, 
 respected and revered there, his works having revealed and praised 
 him in their gates." 
 
 Dr. Clarke's last Uterary employment was, revising his learned 
 and voluminous Commentary for a new edition. In 1830, 
 Mr. Everett suggested this measure. Dr. Clarke adopted the 
 hint, and, through his friend, offered the copyright to Mr. Tegg, 
 for the sum of £'2,000. No bargain, however, was concluded 
 till after the Doctor's death, when Mr. Tegg purchased it, toge- 
 ther with the remaining stock of the first edition, for two 
 thousand guineas. In the mean time, it had been offered to the 
 Wesleyan-Methodist Book- Committee ; but those gentlemen 
 dechned accepting it, although Dr. Clarke's heirs were willing, 
 however unwarrantably^ to expunge certain portions deemed 
 objectionable. 
 
 Dr. Clarke commenced his career of authorship in the year 
 1 797, by the publication of a singular pamphlet, entitled, A Dis- 
 sertation on the Use and Abuse of Tobacco," which had a rapid 
 sale, and went through several editions. It contains much valu- 
 able information, conveyed sometimes in a vein of irony or 
 sarcasm, and evinces the very strong desire of Dr. Clarke to be 
 useful to his countrymen. It has had the effect of inducing 
 many persons who had accustomed themselves to the use of that 
 weed, in its various forms, to abandon their filthy and injurious 
 habits ;* although it was not published with any more ambitious 
 
 * One instance may be cited. It is that of an American clergyman, 
 who was reclaimed from the use of tobacco by the perusal of Dr. Clarke's 
 Dissertation. " About eight or nine years ago,'* says the reverend divine, 
 " T procured for distribution among my people, one hundred copies of 
 Rush's Treatise upon the ' Effects of Ardent Spirits.' Among those to 
 whom they were distributed was a female of colour, who was often ob- 
 served to be under the influence of intoxicating liquors. She was a person 
 ot uncommon shrewdness, and had a great inclination for reading. Some 
 time after she received this tract, she called at my house, in my absence, 
 and left with my wife a tract, which she requested that I would read, and 
 give my opinion as to its correctness. It was Dr. Adam Clarke's pamphlet 
 on the ' Use and Abuse of Tobacco.' She stated, that she herself was in 
 the habit of using tobacco ; but, if she could be made to believe it was 
 sinful, as Dr. Clarke represented it to be, she would certainly lay it aside. 
 To satisfy her mind, she wished for the opinion of her minister, in which 
 she professed to repose entire confidence. When the tract was presented to 
 me on my return, with the accompanying message, it was not difiicult to 
 understand the meaning. I myself had been in the habit of using to- 
 bacco for many years, both by chewing and smoking. I had already ex- 
 
382 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 hope tlian that of deterring young beginners, and saving others 
 from becoming ensnared by one or other of the three foes to 
 health and cleanhness, against wliich, indiscriminately, the 
 writer levels his denunciations ; namely, the pipe, the snuff-box, 
 and the quid. It chiefly consists of medical opinions against 
 the use of tobacco in any form, except as a tincture, wliich, in 
 very small quantities, has been found useful in cases of dropsy 
 and dysury; and of instances in which disease and premature 
 death have resulted from smoking, snuffing, and chewing. 
 
 His translation of Sturm's Eeflections was the first fruit of 
 his pen in Bristol, It was pubhshed in 1800, and had a rapid 
 sale. Not being acquainted with the German language, Mr. 
 Clarke translated the French version. To the second volume of 
 tliis excellent and popular work were prefixed some well- written 
 lines by Mrs. Clarke, wliich afford evidence of a cultivated mind. 
 Some of them, indeed, evince a more than ordinary aptitude for 
 poetical composition ; as, for instance, the line which describes 
 the wide circulation of the original work, 
 
 " Far as his native nervous language ran." 
 
 Durmg the year 1802, Mr. Clarke pubhshed his Bibliographical 
 Dictionary, in six volumes, to which, in 1806, were added two 
 volumes of Bibliographical Miscellany and Supplement. To 
 this succeeded a small work, chiefly extracted from it, entitled, 
 A Succinct Account of Polyglott Bibles," and also " An Ac- 
 count of the Principal Editions of the New Testament." These 
 works were the result of great pains and research ; and, wliile they 
 proved a guide to others in the study of Bibhcal literature, their 
 compilation had materially added to Mr. Clarke's fitness for per- 
 forming the great work which he ultimately achieved. 
 
 Of the Bibhograpliical Dictionary and the S accession of 
 Sacred Literature, Mr. M'NicoU justly observes, that " the 
 
 perienced many struggles in my own mind in relation to the practice, as 
 productive of evils, and not very seemly for a Christian minister ; but, like 
 most others indulging similar habits, I had not been able to come to an 
 effectual resolution to desist. I read Dr. Clarke's Address with great at- 
 tention and pleasure, and in full view of the manner in which it had come 
 into my hands. In addition to the convictions which it wrought in my 
 own mind, I was led to reflect, that it was presented to me by one who ac- 
 knowledged my kindness in furnishing her with arguments for reformation, 
 as to the use of ardent spirits ; that we should undoubtedly meet at some 
 future day, when the subject of the tracts which we had exchanged would 
 be conversed upon ; and, if I had not quitted a practice which I could not 
 but acknowledge to be a bad one, after attending to the arguments of Dr. 
 Clarke, the inquiry would come with an ill grace from me, whether she had 
 been benefited by the Tract on Ardent Spirits. I accordingly took my 
 tobacco from my pocket, and threw it out of my window, and have never 
 used a mite since." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 883 
 
 bibliographical infoiTQation contained in them is extraordinar}- ; 
 especially consideiing his unfavoui^able circumstances as an active 
 superintendent and preacher in the Methodist Connexion. To 
 persons engaged in literai-y and theological researches, these 
 writings are of gTeat value ; for the knowledge they supply of 
 scarce and valuable works on the most important subjects con- 
 nected with ecclesiastical learning, must be highly prized by 
 students in divinity : and the whole is interestingly enlivened by 
 his own characteristic and instructive observations. Notwith- 
 standing the multiplicity and magnitude of the books to which 
 he refers, he trusted not, in general, to other bibliogi'aphers, but, 
 wherever he could seize upon the volumes, carefully analysed 
 and described them for liimself." 
 
 In Manchester, Mr. Clai'ke published a new and enlarged 
 edition of Fleury's Manners of the Ancient Israelites, which 
 was so favourably received, that, in ISO 5, a second edition was 
 called for. The author embraced the opportunity of making 
 additions and improvements, and wrote a dedication to two friends, 
 which was to have been prefixed, and had actually been piinted 
 off, when those for whom he had designed this mark of his es- 
 teem, declined the intended honour. It was consequently sup- 
 pressed ; and, warned by this example, the author took care that 
 aU liis subsequent pubhcations should depend entii'ely on their 
 own intrinsic merits. Dr. Clarke's enlarged publication of 
 Fleury's Maimers of the Ancient IsraeHtes, has gone through 
 four editions, although two several translations (one of which he 
 adopted and improved) had previously appeared, neither of which 
 sold. The success of his was due to the additions and improve- 
 ments which he made. Fleury was a pious abbe, who refused to 
 be a pluralist, declined preferment, and lived uncontaminated in 
 the midst of a splendid court. This is an exceedingly useful 
 work. 
 
 In 1804, also, he pubhshed a Succinct Account of the Princi- 
 pal Editions of the Greek Testament, to which was added, Ob- 
 servations on the Text of the Three Divine Witnesses, 1 John 
 V. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 In September, 1807, Mr. Clarke pubhshed the first volume of 
 a work, entitled " A Concise View of the Succession of Sacred 
 Literature;" but he was prevented, by the multiphcity of his 
 engagements, from completing it ; and it remained impeifect till 
 the year 1830, when his son, the Eev. J. B. B. Clarke, M.A., 
 by the addition of a second volume, brought it to a close. 
 
 In 1808, while residing at the Sun'ey Institution, he pubhshed 
 " A Narrative of the last Illness and Death of Pii chard Porson, 
 M.A., Professor of Greek, in the University of Cambridge. 
 With a Fac Simile of an Ancient Greek Inscription, which was 
 
384 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 the Chief Subject of his last Literary Conversation." Dr. Clarke 
 had been acquainted with that learned man, and a considerable 
 kindness existed between them, which, had life been spared, 
 would, in all probability, have proved mutually beneficial. The 
 Doctor had seen him a short time before his death, when they 
 held the conversation referred to. 
 
 Harmer's Observations, as improved by Dr. Clarke, met with 
 considerable success. The author himself published two editions 
 of his valuable work. Afterwards, three several editions were 
 issued by Dr. Clarke. The first of these, however, was totally 
 destroyed by fire at the printing-office. The second came out a 
 year after, with still further improvements upon Harmer. It 
 was found necessaiy to remodel the whole work. This was ac- 
 complished, however, with a fidelity that affords a lesson to edi- 
 tors, especially those who differ from their authors. Dr. Clarke 
 frequently dissented from Mr. Harmer ; but he gave his reasons, 
 instead of expunging what he disliked ; so that the reader cannot 
 complain that he is presented with a mutilated copy of the origi- 
 nal of this work, which Dr. Clarke enriched with the fruits of 
 the latest discoveries. He remarks, " Every man who wishes to 
 understand the Scriptures, or who proposes to explain them to 
 others, should not only possess a copy of this work, but endea- 
 vour thoroughly to understand its contents." 
 
 One of the most remarkable tracts which Dr. Clarke published, 
 was entitled, "A Letter to a Preacher, on his Entrance into 
 the Work of the Ministr^^" This letter, originally intended for 
 the guidance of the late Mr. Samuel Woolmer, has gone through 
 four editions ; and, besides abounding in excellent maxims, with 
 some respecting which there may be a difference of opinion, gives 
 a tolerable insight into the writer's own character and habits. The 
 third section is devoted to the " choice of texts ;" and some 
 curious instances (now uncommon) are mentioned of absurd and 
 injudicious treatment. "A preacher took for his text, Isaiah 
 xx\dii. 16, 'He that believeth shall not make haste.' On this 
 he preached two sermons : his division was as follows : ' I shall 
 first prove that he who beheveth shall make haste ; and secondly, 
 show in what sense he that believeth shall not make haste.' On 
 the first, which was a flat contradiction of the text, he spent 
 more than an hour ; and the congregation were obhged to wait a 
 whole month, before he could come back to inform them, that 
 he who believeth shall not make haste. Another, a citizen of 
 no mean city, not a thousand miles from the place where I write, 
 took his text from Psalm xxxiv. 19, ' Many ai^e the afflictions of 
 the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.' 
 'In handling this text, I shall first prove that there is none 
 righteous; secondly, that the afflictions of the righteous are 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 385 
 
 maDy; and thirdly, that the Lord dehvereth him out of them 
 all.' " 
 
 Two preachers with whom the Doctor travelled seem to have 
 annoyed him not a little with their barbarous mutilations of 
 Scripture. " Their texts were continually such as these : — 
 'Adam, where art thou ?' 'I have somewhat to say unto thee.' 
 * If thou wilt deal justly and truly with my master, tell me.' ' I 
 have put off my coat, how shall I put it on ? ' ' Thy mouth is 
 most sweet,' " &c. 
 
 The fourth section is, " Concerning your behaviour in the 
 pulpit:" "Never shake or flourish your handkerchief; this is 
 abominable : nor stuff it in your bosom ; this is unseemly." 
 
 " Seldom quote poetry in your sermons ; to say the least of 
 this custom, it certainly is not agreeable to the rules of congruity, 
 to interlard prose discourses with scraps of verse. Keverse the 
 business, and see how oddly a poem will appear, which has here 
 and there scraps of prose in it. It must be granted, that many 
 pubhc speakers use it sometimes ; but the very best speakers use 
 it very seldom." 
 
 The following advices are very characteristic of the Doc- 
 tor, who was, in every respect, a model of neatness, regularity, 
 and good order. He did not despise little things : — " Give the 
 family where you lodge as httle trouble as possible. Never 
 desire any of them, not even the servants, to do anything for you 
 that you can conveniently do for yourself. It is an odious thing 
 to see a person, whose character should be the servant of all, 
 pressing everybody into his service ; giving unnecessary trouble 
 wherever he comes ; turning a house upside down ; and being 
 dissatisfied with everything that is done for him." 
 
 In quoting the annexed it ought to be observed, that the race 
 addressed is now nearly, if not wholly, extinct ; and also, that 
 the greater part of the letter is concerning matters of much more 
 solemnity and importance : — " Never pull off your boots, shoes, 
 or gaiters, in a parlour or sitting-room. Leave your hat, whip, 
 great-coat, &c., in the hall, lobby, or some such place. Do not 
 leave your foul hnen, dirty clothes, shoes, &c., about in the room 
 where you lodge. After having left your bed uncovered for 
 some time, to cool and air, lay on the clothes neatly when you 
 quit your room ; and always throw up yoar window when you go 
 out. Empty the basin in which you have washed your hands, 
 &c., and leave it always clean. Don't splash the walls or the 
 floor. Wipe every drop of water off the wash-stand, and spread 
 your towel always to dry, and, when dry, fold it loosely up, and 
 place it on the head of the water-bottle. Never comb out your 
 hair in a sitting room, or before company ; this is an unpardon- 
 able vulgarity : nor brush your clothes in a bed-room ; this 
 
 2 c 
 
386 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 spoils the furniture. See that you spill no ink on the floors, 
 tahles, &c. Leave ever}'tliing in the place where you found it, 
 and habituate yourself to put every chair you sit on in its proper 
 place when you rise." But, though these advices may he now, 
 in a great measure, unnecessar}', the book contains, as before 
 obseiTed, many others of pennanent utihty, and, on that account, 
 cannot be too tiighly recommended. 
 
 In 1821, Dr. Clarke pubhshed the "Memoirs of the Wesley 
 Family; collected principally from Original Documents." 8vo.* 
 Of the conclusion of this work, we find the following notice in a 
 letter to a friend. " I have finished the Lives of the Wesley 
 Family. The work has cost me about six months' hard labour ; 
 and I would not take a thousand guineas to do it again. It has 
 been a sad hindi^ance to me in my Comment, of which, by the 
 way, I am heartily tired. I have passed threescore, and need 
 rest : for I have had none for more than forty years." Dr. 
 Clarke presented the copyright of the work above-mentioned, to 
 the Wesleyan-Methodist Book- Committee, for the use of the 
 Connexion. 
 
 During the years 1880 and 1881, Dr. Clarke appears to have 
 occupied himself at intei*vals, in preparing an improved edition 
 of his Lives of the Wesley Family. Concerning this, he thus 
 writes to one of his female fiiends, who had supplied him with 
 some of the materials : — " When I had interleaved the printed 
 Memoir with large quarto paper, in tliree volumes, and filled up 
 every page with new matter, I offered it to the Book Committee 
 to be sent to press as soon as they pleased, and, indeed, was sur- 
 prised, after several weeks' delay, to receive, officially, the sine-die 
 adjournment of the business." This valuable work has since 
 been given to the pubhc. The coppight was sold by Mr. T. S. 
 Clarke for £105, one-fourth of which sum he gave for the Shet- 
 land chapels. 
 
 The Sermons of Dr. Clarke, pubhshed in 1828-9, form the 
 
 * About the year 1814, Miss Sliai-p, the neice of Granville Sharp, and 
 granddaughter of the unfortunate Archbishop Shaip, wrote to Dr. Clarke, 
 requesting him to an-ange the manusciipts of her Most Eeverend progenitor, 
 which had come into her hands on the death of her uncle. Dr. Clarke 
 undertook this task the more readily because the collection comprised a 
 con-espondence between the Archbishop and the Rev. Samuel Wesley, the 
 father of the founder of Methodism. Tliis correspondence was inserted in 
 the Doctor's Lives of the Wesley Family. The Rector of Epworth and 
 the Archbishop had one trait in common : they were proselytes to Episco- 
 pacy. The Shai*p Papers contained many documents of interest, one of 
 which was a Life of the Archbishop, in four volumes. Some of them were 
 distributed among the libraries of the several sees to which they related ; 
 and others were deemed of sufficient importance to be deposited in the 
 British Museum. 
 
'dr. ADAM CLAKKK 
 
 387 
 
 only other publication wliicli seems to require particular notice. 
 Every person accustomed to his ministry, must recognise in 
 them the peculiarities of his manner. Each discourse contains 
 a large portion of sound theology and of Biblical exposition. 
 Neai'ly every subject is treated in a manner more or less novel, 
 but always clear and conclusive. Some of the sermons contain 
 remarkable examples of the rare skill and effect with which he 
 made his scientific attainments contribute to the elucidation of 
 Scripture. " For comprehension of thought, clear and forcible 
 argumentation, and profound views of Divine truth," says a judi- 
 cious writer in the Wesleyan- Methodist Magazine, " some of 
 them are equal to the best sermons of Farindon, BaiTOw, or 
 South; but, on the subject of personal godhness, incomparably 
 superior. We know of no sermons in wliich so much learning 
 is brought to bear upon the all-important subject of experimental 
 reUgion." Sometimes, however, he expresses himself in vei*y 
 decided terms, on subjects with respect to which more moderate 
 language would, perhaps, have been better ; as, for instance, 
 when he denounces organs as " heathenish accompaniments," 
 and declares, that, if they be not abolished, singing will soon 
 cease to be a part of Divine worship. Another instance, in 
 which the Doctor may be said to have spoken without due consi- 
 deration, is that in which, without any quahfication, he commends 
 the novels of the late Sir Walter Scott. He whose penetration 
 could discover materialism in the Fifth Book of Paradise Lost, 
 might surely have found something for a Christian minister to 
 condemn in the works of the Author of Waverley, especially when 
 eulogizing their acknowledged merits. Among other persons 
 to whom he presented copies of his pubhslied discourses, was 
 the late Seijeant (or Sir Albert) Pell, who, in acknowledging 
 the gift, styled the giver " one of the most learned men of his 
 age;" and, as to the sermons, expressed his hope "that he him- 
 self was a better man than he was before he perused them." 
 
 It is a happy circumstance, that Dr. Clarke was induced to 
 publish so many of his sermons duiing his life ; for, as he never 
 wrote those which he preached, his survivors would not have been 
 able to supply them to the public. He was led to adopt that 
 measure through fear of their being pubhshed from the notes of 
 shorthand writers, for whom, he says, he spoke too quickly, 
 though with sufficient distinctness. When he was preparing for 
 the press the volume in which he thus speaks, several of his 
 sermons were sent to him in the form in which they had been 
 reported ; and he found that they contained so little of what he 
 had said, in his- own words, or in its perfect shape, that he could 
 make no use of them whatever. " They had given me a strange 
 language," he observes, " worse, bv manv degrees, than mv own. 
 
 2 c 2 ' 
 
388 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 They had often perv^erted my sense, misrepresented my criticisms, 
 and confounded my reasoning." To save his reputation fiom 
 these injuries, he intimated his intention of making a distinction 
 among his papers previous to his death, for the guidance of his 
 executors, as to what portion of them should be printed. 
 
 His style of writing was unstudied. He wrote as he thought, 
 and his thoughts were not about the graces of speech. Like 
 Mr. Wesley, he sacrificed all mere ornament to plainness and 
 intelUgibihty — the desire to shine to the wish to be useful. Dr. 
 Clarke began his literary career as he finished it, studious of one 
 tiling only ; and that was to convey the most information in the 
 fewest and plainest words. Dr. Clarke's style wants the evenness 
 and precision of Mr. Wesley's. He is sufficiently precise in the 
 choice of words, but he is not precise in their arrangement. 
 The punctuation of the Doctor's writings is also vei-y loose. 
 The redeeming qualities of his style consist in its pregnancy, and 
 force, and vigour ; in a sterling and plentiful vocabulary ; and 
 on practical subjects he wi'ote, as well as spoke, with the unction 
 and energy wliich spring out of acute sensibility and intimate 
 experience. He was, undoubtedly, an author of first-rate talent 
 in the field in which he laboui'ed ; and he evinces always the 
 possession of a capacious and acute understanding. Of his 
 knowledge, it were superfluous to speak. " Through a studied, 
 rather than a natural, dishke of what was fine and cautiously 
 finished, (says Mr. M'NicoU,) he was by no means careful to 
 prune and di^ess the produce of his exuberant mind. But even 
 here he might probably have excelled, and might have attained a 
 style of writing truly beautiful and eloquent, without at all 
 impairing its perspicuity and force, but for that high pliilosophi- 
 cal, or rather theological, contempt, with which he usually spoke 
 of such ornaments." "As a writer on the subject of personal 
 religion. Dr. Clarke had few equals."* 
 
 Like most men of letters. Dr. Clarke was called away from 
 the scene of labour before he had fulfilled the intentions of his 
 active mind. For some years before his death (says Mr. Dunn), 
 he was repeatedly sohcited to collect his rich and ample materials, 
 and give to the world a Bibhcal Dictionary ; and Theological 
 Institutes, or a System of Christian Theology, in one or two 
 portable and cheap volumes. He acknowledged that each of 
 these was a great desideratum. He felt strongly inchned to 
 prepare them, and even made a beginning. In one of his letters 
 he writes : — " I have laid the foundation of a Bibhcal Dictionary." 
 In another he says : — " I may possibly write some Institutes ; 
 but I shall put my Homer into a nutshell." On another occasion 
 
 * Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine^ Vol. xv., 3d series, p. 931. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 389 
 
 he observed : " If you were stationed in the South, and would 
 assist me, I could do many things, but my eyes will not now 
 bear any intense application." Such an appointment never took 
 place ; and, before the worthy Doctor had proceeded far, he was 
 called hence. 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to remark, that Dr. Clarke could not 
 have composed the works which have been enumerated, without 
 possessing a large librar)^ He collected, indeed, some thousands 
 of volumes in various languages, among which were many that 
 were very ancient, scarce, and valuable. Of manuscripts, both 
 ancient and oriental, he left behind hun a valuable collection, 
 amounting to nearly one thousand volumes, which is now in the 
 possession of his youngest son. To curiosities, both natural 
 and artificial. Dr. Clarke was strongly attached ; and no oppor- 
 tunity was ever neglected, that promised to enrich its stores. 
 His museum, taken in the aggregate, afforded specimens coeval 
 w^ith almost every age, and had been transmitted from various 
 parts of the world. This collection was sold by auction, and 
 was divided into no fewer than 355 lots, classed under the follow- 
 ing heads : — Minerals, shells, precious stones, &c. ; coins and 
 medals ; Cliinese drawings, charts, maps, engravings, &c. ; an- 
 cient charters, charts, paintings, &c. ; Hebrew rolls, and Cinga- 
 lese and Persian manuscripts ; Egyptian, Hindoo, and other 
 idols ; mathematical and philosophical instruments ; casts in 
 china, from the antique, &c., &c. 
 
 His hbrary was probably exceeded by few private collections ; 
 and, being arranged under his own eye, and kept in exquisite 
 order, he could, at all times, put his hand upon a given volume, 
 at a minute's notice. Aided by his accurate knowledge of books, 
 and liis skill in selecting them, he often acquired great literary 
 curiosities ; and but few bookstalls escaped his practised eye. 
 
 In the month of August, 1831, Dr. Clarke received a visit at 
 Haydon-hall, from two gentlemen, belonging to the British 
 Museum, who were employed by Government to edit the Bible 
 of Wickhffe. Hearing that he had a copy of the original, they 
 begged leave to examine it. — " They thought, I suppose," says 
 the Doctor, " that they should find a few books in a comer, and 
 an old man who had been lucky enough to pick up a Wicklifie ; 
 but, instead of merely this, they found a good library, and in it, 
 first, the finest and most ancient copy they had yet met with of 
 Wicklifie, though they had been through all the Universities ; 
 secondly, they saw a collection of manuscripts, exceeding all they 
 had ever seen in any private library ; thirdly, and among them 
 the rarest and finest they had seen in any ; and, fourthly, manu- 
 scripts similar to several in the Museum, but better conditioned 
 and more perfect, and with very remarkable differences and addi- 
 
390 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 tions. lu short, tliey expressed both gi'eat sui-prise and pleasure, 
 and gave broad hints that such a rare and choice collection 
 should, by some means, become national property." 
 
 The old booksellers, knowing Dr. Clarke's taste, used to send 
 him the earliest copies of their catalogues, which he examined 
 immediately, marking the items that excited his " acquisitive- 
 ness."* In the catalogue of the library of Mr. Fell, Principal 
 of the Dissenting Academy at Hoxton, he obseiTed, " A Black- 
 letter Bible." This he exceedingly desired ; and, being prevented 
 from attending the sale, he deputed Mr. William Baynes, liis 
 friend and bookseller, to buy it for Mm, if he could obtain it at 
 a reasonable price. This that eminent dealer found no difficulty 
 in doing ; the only one who competed with him being a gold- 
 beater, who wanted the skins on which the book was wiitten, and 
 rehnquished the stnfe as soon as he had gone to the extent of 
 their value for his ignoble puiposes. So the book became Mr. 
 Clarke's, at a trifling advance on the gold-beater's mean estimate 
 of its worth. 
 
 Pieleased from the duties of the day, Dr. Clarke filed to 
 Patemoster-row, to leam the event, and was not a little rejoiced 
 to find, that the black-letter Bible was secured. It w^as imme- 
 diately packed up ; and, though weighing little less than a 
 hundred -weight, the gratified owner bore it upon his own 
 shoulder to his own house. On minuter search, it was discovered 
 
 * A catalo^e of books having been sent to him late one evening, he 
 immediately looked over it, and saw advertised for sale the first edition of 
 Erasmus's Greek Testament. Early on tlie following morning, he went off 
 to the bookseller's and purchased the work. A few hours afterwards, a well- 
 known literary character, the late Dr. Gossett, went also to Paternoster-row, 
 with the intention of procuring it ; but the book was gone. Finding by 
 whom it had been bought, he called on Dr. Clarke, and requested a sight 
 of it, observing, " You have been very fortunate, Dr. Clarke, in having ob- 
 tained this work ; but how you came to get it before me, I am at a loss to 
 imagine ; for I was at Baynes's directly after breakfast, and yet it was gone." 
 " But I was there before breakfast," replied Dr. Clarke ; " and consequently, 
 Doctor, I forestalled you." 
 
 On another occasion, Dr. Clarke observed ten Hebrew manuscripts, 
 which foraierly belonged to a Dutch family of the name of Vanderhagen, 
 advertised in a Dutch catalogue. They had never been collated, but were 
 the identical ones concerning which Dr. Kennicott states in the introduction 
 to his Bible, that he had used every argument and entreaty to procure a 
 sight of them, but in vain. Dr. Clarke went off instantly to his bookseller, 
 and directed him to purchase them for him " at anything short of a ransom." 
 The bookseller went over to HoKand, and en the day of the sale bid 
 for, and obtained them. After the sale was over, some of the literary 
 men present requested to know for whom he had purchased them ; 
 and, when they heard, expressed themselves highly gratified that, since 
 th(y must go out of the country, they had fallen into the possession of 
 an individual, who not only knew their value himself, but how to estimate 
 their importance to biblical literature in general. 
 
DR. ADAM CLAKKli. 
 
 391 
 
 to be the oldest copy of the first translation into the Enghsh 
 language. It had been the property of the youngest son of 
 Edward the Third (Thomas a Woodstock), whose arms it bore. 
 It had also passed tlirough tlie hands of the celebrated Dr. John 
 Hunter. Finding hay and bits of mortar in it, Dr. Clarke inferred 
 that it had been hid during the Maryan persecution, sometimes 
 in hay-stacks, and sometimes in walls ; while, from the decayed 
 state of many of its pages, it seemed to have not unfrequently 
 been buried in the earth. Those pages, however, were carefully 
 restored by Dr. Clarke. Happily, the writing was not infringed 
 upon, except in the first page. All the rest he neatly mended 
 with parchment, stained to the colour of that on which the book 
 was written. Bookbinders make their old tinge by an infusion of 
 tobacco leaves ; but even here Dr. Clarke discarded that weed, pre- 
 ferring a dilution of liquorice. In operations of this kind, he was 
 remarkably successful, whether with parchment or with paper ; 
 as, likewise, in repairing the covers of Oriental manuscripts, * for 
 which purpose many of his female friends used to furnish him 
 with patches of stout old-fashioned silk. 
 
 * During a visit which, in 1811, he paid to Ireland, he saw, among other 
 manuscripts in the libraiy of Trinity College, Dublin, the Codex Montfortii, 
 the only written copy of the New Testament which contains the text of the 
 Three Heavenly Witnesses. Finding it in an injured state, he was led to 
 remark as follows : — " This MS. is not taken proper care of, and in the next 
 binding it is likely to suffer considerable damage. There is scarcely a 
 librarian of any public library that has much knowledge of bookbinding or 
 book-mending ; and no man, however respectable his learning may be, is 
 proper to be entrusted with the care of a public libraiy, who does not 
 understand both." 
 
S92 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Manner and Matter of Dr. Clarke's Preaching. 
 
 Before we proceed to sketch the general character of Dr. Clarke, 
 we will describe the mode and matter of his preaching. As 
 abeady stated, he often declared that he never knew beforehand 
 (such are his o^vn words) one single sentence that he should utter. 
 This was o^\ing to the "verbal imperfection of his memory." 
 But, though Dr. Clarke's memory was forgetful of words, it was 
 surprisingly retentive of things. Study and meditation, there- 
 fore, were his only preparation for the pulpit ; and his subject 
 was almost always taken from the Epistle or Gospel for the day, 
 as appointed by the Church. As often as the distance rendered 
 it possible. Dr. Clarke was accustomed to walk to the chapel 
 where he had to preach, and rarely conversed on the road, or 
 before he ascended the pulpit, even with his most intimate friends. 
 His sennons seldom occupied less than one hour in the dehvery .; 
 sometimes they occupied as much as two. 
 
 The Rev. J. B. B. Clarke has given a very reahsing description 
 of his father's preacliing : — " The appearance of my father, and 
 his effect, while in the pulpit, upon a stranger, would probably 
 be sometliing Uke tliis : — he would see a person of no particular 
 mark, except that time had turned his hair to silver, and the calm- 
 ness of fixed devotion gave solemnity to his appearance. He 
 spreads his Bible before liim, and, opening his hymn-book, reads 
 forth, in a clear, distinct, full voice, a few verses, after the singing 
 of which, he offers up a short prayer,* which is immediately 
 felt to be addressed to the Majesty of heaven. The text is pro- 
 claimed, and the discourse is begun. In simple, yet forcible, 
 
 * Dr. Clarke's public prayers were always short. He relates the follow- 
 ing anecdote concerning long prayers : — " At a public meeting, a pious 
 brother went to prayer. I kneeled on the floor, having nothing to lean 
 against, or to support me. He prayed forty-eight minutes. I was unwill- 
 ing to rise, and several times was nigh fainting. What I suffered, I cannot 
 describe. After the meeting was over, I ventured to expostulate with the 
 good man ; and, in addition to the injury I sustained by his unmerciful 
 prayer, I had the following reproof : ' My brother, if your mind had been 
 more spiritual, you would not have felt the prayer too long.' More than 
 twenty years have elapsed since this transaction took place ; but the remem- 
 brance of what T then suffered still rests on my mind with a keen edge. 
 The good man is still alive, will probably read this paper, will no doubt 
 recollect the circumstance, and I hope will feel that he has since learned 
 more prudence and more charity." 
 
THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 393 
 
 language, he gives some general information connected with his 
 subject, or lays down some general positions drawn from either 
 the text or its dependencies. On these he speaks for a short 
 time, fixing the attention by gaining the interest. The under- 
 standing feels that it is concerned. A clear and comprehensive 
 exposition gives the hearer to perceive, that his attention will be 
 rewarded by an increase of knowledge, by new views of old 
 truths, or previously unknown uses of ascertained points. He 
 views with some astonishment the perfect collectedness with which 
 knowledge is brought fi'om far, and the natural, yet extensive, 
 excursions which the preacher makes, to present his object in all 
 its bearings, laying heaven and earth, nature and art, science 
 and reason, under contribution, to sustain his cause. Now, his 
 interest becomes deeper ; for he sees that the minister is begin- 
 ning to condense his strength, that he is calhng in every detached 
 sentence, and that every apparently miscellaneous remark was 
 far from casual, but had its position to maintain, and its work 
 to perform ; and he continues to hear with that rooted attention 
 which is created by the importance and clearness of the truths 
 delivered, by the increasing energy of the speaker, and by the 
 assurance in the hearer's own mind that what is spoken is beheved 
 to the utmost and felt in its power." 
 
 The same writer adds the following interesting particulars : — 
 " He hardly ever wrote a line as a preparation for preaching. I 
 have now in my possession a slip of paper, about three inches 
 long by one wide, containing the first words of a number of 
 texts ; and this was the sole list of memoranda on which he 
 preached seven occasional sermons in various parts of the coun- 
 try. * He never entered the pulpit but with diffidence, and with 
 almost a painful sensation of his responsibility as a messenger 
 of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. I have heard him say, that the 
 thought of so inadequately declaring the counsels of God as to 
 make the Gospel of none effect to the salvation of sinners, fre- 
 quently drank up his spmt, and made his soul tremble ; and this, 
 perhaps, operating as such a feeling ought to operate in a well- 
 
 * The Doctor's method of preparation for the pulpit, is more minutely 
 described by Mr. Everett. " He had," says he, " a large oblong volume, 
 called his text-book, in which there were divisions for dates, the lessons for 
 the day, together with book, chapter, and verse. Each chapter, having been 
 previously examined, had the verse or verses distinctly marked, which offered 
 themselves as candidates to his notice as texts. This plan cost him a great 
 deal of labour and close attention ; but, when completed, as he informed the 
 writer, it amply rewarded him ; for, by adopting it, he was never without a 
 text on any day during the year; while his general knowledge of the sacred 
 writings, and an application of the mind to the selected passage, soon 
 furnished him with a sennon, or such a portion of instruction or spiritual 
 food as was calculated to feed the flock of God." 
 
394 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 constituted mind, caused that fervour of exhortation which 
 frequently marked his discourses, when all the energies of his 
 mind, and power of liis language, were drawn forth to describe 
 the infinite mercies of the God of love." 
 
 The Wesleyan- Methodist Mar/azine, for October, 1828, con- 
 tains an able article concerning Dr. Clarke as a preacher, from 
 which the following are selections: — "Dr. Clarke's preaching is 
 expository. Having read his text, his great business is to explain 
 the terms in which it is expressed, and to ascertain the precise 
 meaning of the Holy Ghost ; and then to apply to the under- 
 standings and consciences of his hearers the hallowing truths 
 thus discovered. He never sanctions, by his example, the prac- 
 tice which is so fashionable in some quarters, of selecting a text 
 merely as a motto ; * while the preacher proceeds to recommend 
 his thesis by rhetorical ornaments, and to establish it by argu- 
 ments of his own invention; leaving his hearers as ignorant 
 of the contents of God's book as he found them. Dr. Clarke's 
 own practice is in strict accordance with the advice which he 
 gives to his brethren. 'All I have ever read on the subject,' 
 says he, ' has never conveyed so much infoi*mation to my mind 
 on the original, and, in my opinion, the only proper mode, of 
 preaching, as Nehem. viii. 8 : "So they read in the book, in the 
 law^ of God, distinctly ; and gave the sense, and caused them to 
 understand the reading." ' Dr. Clarke's preaching is argumenta- 
 tive. He is never declamatory ; and he seldom satisfies himself 
 with a mere statement of what he conceives to be the tmth. 
 His object is to produce conviction. For the attainment of this 
 object, he usually enters into a course of elaborate argumentation 
 in evei*y sermon. His argumentation, in some instances, is too 
 abstract and recondite for the comprehension of ordinary people. 
 We have sometimes heard people of strong sense and deep piety 
 confess their inabihty to follow the learned Doctor through the 
 labyrinths of consecutive deduction, into which he has entered 
 
 * This remark is illustrated by the following extract of a letter, which 
 he addressed to the present Archbishop of Canterbury, in presenting his 
 Grace with a volume of seraions : — " Whatever may be their merit, they 
 are not consti-ucted after the common manner of seraaons. It has ever 
 been my aim, both in preaching and writing, to endeavour to explain the 
 words of God, that by this method I might attain to the knowledge of the 
 things of God. Your Lordship well knows how little is done for the inter- 
 ests of Divine truth, where texts of Holy Scripiure are taken as mottos to 
 sermons, in which only sentiments or maxims of general morality, or social, 
 duties, are explained. To secure the end of public instruction, I have 
 often been obliged to call the attention of the people, not only to the 
 literal meaning of several exotic words, but also to the import of many 
 terms in their mother-tongue, Avhich, though of frequent use in religious 
 matters, are little understood." 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 395 
 
 iu his theological discussions. Dr. Clurke's preaching is deci- 
 dedly evangelical. No minister ever lived, who gave a greater 
 prominence in his discourses to the vital truths of Christianity, 
 or who contended for them with more consistency and zeal. In 
 all his ministrations, there is a constant reference to the Divinity 
 and Atonement of Christ, to the doctrine of free justification 
 through faith in his blood, and to the renovation of human 
 nature by the mighty working of the Holy Spirit. In his esti- 
 mation, the true and proper Divinity of Christ is not an opinion, 
 that may be innocently and safely held or rejected, but the key- 
 stone of the Christian religion. The atonement and intercession 
 of Christ, he constantly represents as the only medium of access 
 to God, and as available to obtain the pardon of sin, and adop- 
 tion into the family of God, in behalf of every penitent believer, 
 whatever may have been his past conduct. Pie everywhere 
 directs the attention of his hearers to the Holy Ghost, as the 
 soui'ce of all strength, and comfort, and purity, in the human 
 soul. These are principles of which Dr. Clarke never loses sight 
 in the pulpit. The absolute necessity of this evangelical method 
 of salvation, through the sacrifice of a Divine Victim, and by 
 the inspiration of the third Person of the Holy Trinity, Dr. 
 Clarke founds upon the universal depravity, guilt, and helpless- 
 ness of fallen man. Dr. Clarke's preaching, above that of 
 almost eveiy other man, is distinguished by enlarged views of 
 the Divine philanthropy. He lays great stress upon the doctrine 
 of general redemption, and the consequent willingness of God 
 to save every human being. Next to the denial of redemption 
 by the death of Christ, no erroneous tenet seems to rouse his 
 indignation more, than the hmitation of that redemption to a 
 part only of the human race, and the absolute abandonment of 
 all the rest to irremediable misery and despair. The religion 
 which Dr. Clarke so forcibly presses upon the attention of his 
 hearers, is eminently experimental and practical. It does not 
 consist merely in orthodox opinions, pure forms of worship, and 
 correct moral conduct ; but is deeply seated in the affections, as 
 well as in the understanding, and is manifest in the uniform 
 exercise of holy tempers, in a pure and upright and useful hfe. 
 It is the Doctor's invariable practice to exhort every penitent 
 sinner immediately to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to 
 expect that dii'ect testimony of the Spirit in his heart Avhich will 
 exclude all giiilty fear, and enable him to rejoice in God with 
 'joy unspeakable and full of glory.' As none can defend the 
 doctrine of Christian perfection wdth greater ability, so there is 
 not one who is in the habit of enforcing it with greater zeal and 
 frequency. The religion which Dr. Clarke is in the habit of 
 teaching, is eminently a happy religion. It finds men under the 
 
39G 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 displeasure of God on account of their guilt and wickedness, 
 and incapable of fellowsliip and communion with him ; and it 
 leads them to the enjoyment of the Di^dne favour, through faith 
 in the sacrifice of Clnist ; and, by the sactif}ing influence of the 
 Holy Spiiit, it disquahfies them for uninterrupted intercourse 
 with God. Numerous as are the excellences of Dr. Clarke's 
 preaching, we think it is in the application of his sermons that 
 he appears to the gi'eatest advantage. Whatever may be the 
 subject of his discourse, or in whatever manner it may be treated, 
 his appHcations are always faitliful, pointed, impressive; and 
 they are often distinguished by great vaiiety of thought and 
 expression. His applications bring the subject home to the 
 understandings and consciences of liis hearers in a manner the 
 most direct and in-esistible. They display the most perfect con- 
 viction in liis own mind of the truth of God's word, and leave no 
 room for doubt in the minds of others. They appear so mani- 
 festly to flow from the heart, and they indicate such an intense 
 desire for the spiritual interests of all present, that they scarcely 
 ever fail to command the deepest and most respectful attention. 
 We never saw a congregation indifferent under Dr. Clarke's 
 preaching ; and we never saw a congregation unmoved under his 
 appHcations. In this essential requisite of good preaching, 
 perhaps, Dr. Clarke was never excelled. His popularity, which, 
 we beheve, has never suffered the least abatement in any of the 
 places where he has been appointed to labour, is not at all occa- 
 sioned by the modulation of his voice, or anything pecuharly 
 attractive in his action and manner ; nor is it occasioned by the 
 arts of a meretricious and seculai* eloquence, which some people 
 profess so greatly to admire : these, indeed, are things to which, 
 we should think, he has never paid a moment's attention through 
 the whole coui*se of his life : it is rather to be attributed to the 
 solid instruction wliich his ministr}^ unifonnly conveys, and to 
 the hallowed feeling wliich, by the Divine blessing, it usually 
 excites." 
 
 To the preceding may be added the opinions of several of 
 Dr. Clarke's suniving brethren, opinions which are rendered the 
 more interesting and the more credible by their virtual coinci- 
 dence, while the semblance of repetition is lost in their verbal 
 variety. 
 
 " The character of his preaching (says Mr. Entwisle) was 
 simple, yet argumentative, and sometimes deep and metaphysical ; 
 but, generally, so plain, that the least informed in his congiega- 
 tion understood him. He seemed to have taken no pains to 
 polish his style. His language was not adorned with rhetorical 
 figures ; he studied not words, but things ; and, therefore, his 
 style, the produce of a gigantic mind, was nenous and bold ; 
 
mi. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 SOT 
 
 and he often astonished liis hearers with something quite novel 
 in his illustrations of Divine truth. His preaching was ener- 
 getic heyond what is ordinarily witnessed. In connexion with 
 the atonement of Christ, and the operations of the Holy Spirit, 
 he held forth a free, present, and full salvation — a salvation from 
 all sin, inward and outward, to he obtained by faith alone in 
 Clmst, and in those promises which are yea and amen in liim. 
 Thus he honoured Clirist, and Christ honoured him ; for, in all 
 the circuits in which he laboured, he had many seals to his 
 ministry, from lii^ entrance on the work, as I have heard many 
 testify ; and, having been once liis colleague, and often succeeded 
 him, I can bear my feeble testimony to the same." 
 
 The following has been collected from the elaborate discourse 
 which Mr. D. M'NicoU preached on occasion of Dr. Clarke's 
 death : — " He himself thought liis popularity was chiefly owing 
 to the mighty power of the essential and pecuhar doctrines of 
 Methodism, which usually called forth all his fervour. He would 
 sometimes say, with his own characteristic expressiveness, ' By 
 constant hammering at these, I can out- congregation them all.' 
 This opinion was unquestionably just to some extent ; but many 
 others, who have preached the same doctrines, have not been 
 favoured with such vast success. The truth seems to be, that 
 God in his sovereignty accompanied the labours of this distin- 
 guished minister with an unusual effusion of his Holy Spirit ; 
 for no intellectual, or even moral, quahties of his discourses, 
 admirable as they were, wilfully solve the problem of his match- 
 less popularity. His matter, it is true, was rich and copious ; his 
 heart was warm ; and he possessed the power of selecting from his 
 stores, almost at once, the suitable materials for the instant occa- 
 sion, which he poured forth with energy and freedom, quite un- 
 shapkled by the stiff severity of artificial preparation. His plan 
 was to prepare his mind, rather than his paper of particular 
 arrangements ; to keep the fountain full, and he knew that at his 
 bidding it would flow ; and, by his commanding genius he gave 
 the proper measure and direction to the streams. But he was not 
 altogether negligent of special preparation for the pulpit, particu- 
 larly when some great public opportunity was presented for 
 accomplishing an object of great usefulness. One usual object 
 with him was to explain first the words, and then the things, of 
 his subject. When this was finished, he proceeded to apply the 
 considerations which he judged of most importance, with great 
 strength of reasoning, infusing extraordinary warmth into his 
 appeals and exhortations. Here he mightily excelled, and here 
 he usually produced his most striking, his happiest, and most 
 lasting effects. His sermons were also distinguished throughout 
 by a most interesting heartiness, and a glow of spiritual senti- 
 
398 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 ment, accompanied wiih the most enchanting simplicity that ever 
 added heaiityto the greatness of a great man. His prayers were 
 usually distinguished by a holy and reverential boldness, as if he 
 spoke to one with whom he was famihar, to one of whom he 
 had an inexpressible estimation, but with respect to w^hom the 
 predominant feeling of liis heart was love. They were dignified, 
 but simple ; they were fervent, but often brief ; they were literally 
 collects, in which the whole collected meaning and ardour of his 
 soul, for the time being, were darted forth at once. And by 
 dwelling with pecuHar astonishment and rapture, as he often did, 
 on the love of God to fallen man, his faith and confidence 
 increased both the ferv^our and the efficacy of his prayers." 
 
 The following is from the pen of Mr. Everett : — ''As a 
 preacher his action was far from varied, and not, perhaps, in 
 every instance graceful to fastidious taste ; but it was rarely ever 
 otherwise than chaste, and always appropriate. His voice, though 
 not round and melodious, was strong and clear ; and, though 
 unable at all times to manage its tones, which rendered it, in the 
 more logical parts of his discourses a little monotonous, yet, 
 when the argument was brought to a close, and the people were 
 wound up to conviction by it, there were outbreakings in the voice, 
 as well as outpourings among the people, rarely heard and rarely 
 witnessed, except from himself and under his own ministry. One 
 instance, among many, I shall never forget. He was preaching on 
 the occasion of opening a new chapel. His text led him to dwell 
 on the love of God to man. After having established the doctrine 
 of universal redemption by a process of reasoning equally oiiginal, 
 powerful, and conclusive, and the hearers had apparently brouglit 
 their hearts and their understandings to the subject — feeling and 
 perceiving more and more the possibility, the certainty of present, 
 personal salvation, he gave a sweep to his arm, drawing it towards 
 himself, and grasping his hand, as though he had collected in it 
 several objects of value, and then, throwing them, like alms, in the 
 full bounty of his soul, among the people, ' Here,' he exclaimed at 
 the close, in a strain the most impassioned, and with one of those 
 sudden and peculiar elevations of voice for which he was remark- 
 able, frequently melting the whole congregation into tears, ' Here,' 
 he said, ' take the arguments among you — make the best of them 
 for your salvation — I will vouch for their sohdity — I will stake 
 my credit for intellect upon them ; yes, if it were possible to 
 collect them into one, and suspend them as you would suspend a 
 weight, on a single hair of this grey head, that very hair would 
 be found to be so firmly fastened to the throne of the all-merciful 
 and ever-loving God, that all the devils in hell might be defied 
 to cut it in two.' He was distinguished by the masculine grasp 
 with which he laid hold of the essentials of religion. Though 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 S99 
 
 never loose and declamatory iu his pulpit exercises, still there 
 was thought without its apparent labour. His mind was like an 
 immense mine ; he seemed to have read all, to have known all ; 
 and, from the inexhaustible treasures within, was perpetually 
 pouring forth from its own fulness. He never appeared to ex- 
 haust a subject; but, when he had preached one hour, seemed 
 as though he could preach another, leaving his auditory always 
 desirous of more, and wondering that he had finished so soon. 
 The Bible appeared like a new book in his hands ; the Divine 
 Being seemed to let him further into its meaning, to give him 
 a clearer and fuller insight into it, than most other men. All 
 his pulpit expositions bore a stamp of their own. Profound 
 and elevated as were his thoughts very often, he was never 
 * hard to be understood.' One of the finest compliments ever 
 paid to a great man, was unintentionally paid to him by a poor 
 woman in one of the Zetland Isles. She had heard of his cele- 
 brity, and went to hear him at Lerwick. On her return home, 
 she remarked with great simplicity, ' They say that Dr. Clarke is 
 a learned man, and I expected to find him such ; but he is only 
 like another man : for I could understand every word he said.' 
 His favour in the eyes of the people was invariably on the in- 
 crease. The sun of their approbation was nearer its meridian 
 altitude at the close of life, and shone more brightly, than at any 
 former given period ; and it is not too much to state, that, when 
 otherwise, there is some radical defect, — something objectionable 
 in those who, as they advance in influence, diminish in glory. 
 No man was so extensively known, out of the pale of the church 
 to which he belonged, as Dr. Clarke. To the character and 
 writings of no man is Wesleyan Methodism so much indebted 
 for the respectability it has attained, and for the influence it has 
 exercised upon the mass of mankind, as to the productions of his 
 pen." 
 
 " There was in his preaching," says Dr. Beaumont, " not only 
 intellectual perception, but also the power of moral suasion. 
 Nothing could separate him and his faith. It was the air of 
 authority in which his message was steeped, that made it altoge- 
 ther his own and perfectly unique. He demonstrated and ex- 
 pounded, perhaps as much as any uninspired man ever did, how 
 the truth was as it was, and that it could not but be so. His 
 manner of preaching was, beyond all comparison, forceful ; and 
 no one could listen to him without being assured, that he was as 
 certain of the truth of what he was enforcing, as of his own exis- 
 tence. The great and prominent characteristic of his preaching, 
 was the high degree of unction that generally pervaded it. Hence 
 it was, that a sermon from him was universally looked forward 
 to, by the people, as a feast. To hear him was regarded by 
 
400 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 multitudes as the greatest treat of their Uves. Some years ago, 
 when he was coming from the pulpit stairs, after preaching he- 
 fore the Conference, the subject having been the account of Bar- 
 nabas, the late Mr. W. E. Miller stepped forward, flung his arms 
 round his neck, wept a flood of tears, and said, ' Bless you ! you 
 are a man of God, full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost.' 
 His ministry is thought to have been more successful than that 
 of any of his contemporaries, except Mr. Benson, and not less 
 than his ; and certainly was far more successful than that of any 
 minister now hving. In any city, town, or village in England 
 or Ireland, he could have crowded the largest chapel, on the 
 morning of any week-day of the six ; and, as to his collections, 
 everybody knows there was a marked difierence between their 
 amount and that of those of the most talented and eloquent of 
 his contemporaries." 
 
 From the honourable testimony home by Mr. Anderson, to 
 the worth of Dr. Clarke, the following sentences have been ex- 
 tracted : — " Dr. Clarke was eminently distinguished, as a preacher, 
 by the clearness and forcibleness with which he expatiated on 
 the theology of the heart. He always avowed a strong predilec- 
 tion for preachers selecting large portions of God's word, as the 
 basis of their public teaching and preaching. If ever those words 
 of the Apostle had a verification in living man, it was in him : 
 ' Let the word of Christ dweU in you richly in all wisdom.' He 
 also preached and taught the word of the Lord in that bold, free, 
 generous, and unfettered manner which characterised the first 
 ministers of the Lord Jesus. And, whilst he discarded every- 
 thing in religion that was visionary and enthusiastic, (no man 
 having more of the rational in his creed and in his teaching,) he 
 was largely gifted with the unction of the Holy One. It consti- 
 tuted the great charm of his pubhc ministrations. It was the 
 grand secret of liis wonderful success. He held in abhorrence 
 the miserable sentiment, that the Holy Ghost was exclusively 
 bestowed on the first ministers of the Lamb. I think I hear him 
 now, as Mr. Fowler described him to me, promising all present 
 the gift of the Holy Ghost, with all the confidence of an apostle ; 
 and demanding of his hearers, w^hy the same Spirit should not 
 fall on them while Adam Clarke preached the same Gospel, as 
 when ' Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all 
 them which heard the word.' Under other circumstances than 
 those in which he was placed by a sound conversion to Christ, 
 and a loud call to his ministry, he might have ranked amongst 
 the giants of our country : he might have been a Porson, or a 
 Parr, or a Johnson ; but he never would have been an Adam 
 Clarke!" 
 
 Mr. Samuel Dunn, his impHcit admirer, says, The question 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKK. 
 
 401 
 
 is not, whether some preachers, by bending the whole of their 
 strength for weeks and months to get up a sermon, and then 
 preaching it again and again for many years, have not produced 
 as finished a discourse as what the Doctor in general gave ; but 
 it is, whether we have known any preachers, who, without having 
 written a word, could go into the pulpit on the shortest notice, 
 and pour forth such a torrent of important matter, and all flow- 
 ing out of the text, as Dr. Clarke frequently did ? I trow not. 
 He might not in every instance please the admirers of elaborate, 
 artificial eloquence, of studied grace and euphony, of methodical 
 exactness and imaginative brilliancy yet he possessed, beyond 
 all doubt, — even if the unbounded popularity and success of fifty 
 years, from the Norman isles in the south, to the Shetlands in 
 the north, were the only proof, — the essentials of a great preacher. 
 The ' Illimitable Mercy of Heaven,' the Universal Eedemption 
 of Mankind, and especially the Witness of the Spirit to the 
 fact of the BeUever's Adoption into the family of God, and 
 Christian Perfection, were his favourite topics, those on which 
 he laid the greatest stress ; and he frequently said, that, if 
 the Methodists gave up these doctrines, they would soon lose 
 their glory. He had also a pecuharly happy method of de- 
 scribing the simple, adapted, expeditious terms of salvation ; 
 and was the honoured instrument of leading many a penitent sin- 
 ner immediately to the Saviour. The rehgion which he recom- 
 mended to his hearers was eminently of an experimental, practi- 
 cal, and happy kind ; such as is felt in the heart, exemplified in 
 the Hfe, and causes its possessor to 'rejoice in the Lord alway, 
 and again to rejoice.' And all his subjects he apphed with 
 pecuhar faithfulness, point, and expressiveness." 
 
 The following is Dr. Clarke's estimate of his own preaching : — 
 After having now laboured with a clear conscience for the 
 space of fifty years, in preaching the salvation of God through 
 Christ, to thousands of souls, I can say, that is the most success- 
 ful kind of preaching which exhibits and upholds, in the clearest 
 and strongest light, the Divine perfection and mercy of the infi- 
 nitely compassionate and holy God, to fallen man ; — which re- 
 presents him to man's otherwise hopeless case, as compassionate 
 as well as just, as slow to anger as quick to mark iniquity. Tell, 
 then, your hearers, not only that the conscience must be sprinkled, 
 but that it was God himself who provided a Lamb ! All false 
 rehgions invariably endow the infinite Being with attributes un- 
 favourable to the present condition of men, and with feelings 
 inimical to their future felicity, and in opposition to their present 
 good. Such descriptions and attributes can never win man's 
 confidence : and, as far as they are used and carried into the 
 Christian ministry, are a broad libel upon the Almighty." 
 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 To liis friend the Eev. T. Smith, of Rotherham, he wrote in a 
 similar strain : — " The only preaching worth anything, in God's 
 account, and which the fire will not bum up, is that which 
 labours to convict and convince the sinner of his sin, to bring 
 him into contrition for it, to convert him from it ; to lead him to 
 the blood of the covenant, that his conscience may be purged 
 from its guilt, — to the spirit of judgment and burning, that he 
 may be purified from its infection, — and then to build him up 
 on this most holy faith, by causing him to pray in the Holy 
 Ghost, and keep himself in the love of God, looking for the 
 mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal hfe. This is the 
 system pursued by the apostles ; and it is that alone which God 
 will own to the conversion of sinners. I speak from the expe- 
 rience of nearly fifty years in the public ministry of the word. 
 This is the most likely mode to produce the active soul of divinity, 
 while the body is httle else than the preacher's creed. Labour 
 to bring sinners to God, should you by it bring yourself to the 
 grave. Avoid paraphrasing a whole book or epistle in a set of 
 discourses ; it is tedious, and often produces many sleepers." 
 
 To all these testimonies it may not be superfluous to add the 
 brief, but pointed, attestation of a public journal: — ''It is no 
 small proof of his greatness in the pulpit, that Ms sermons were 
 equally rehshed by the rich and the poor, by the learned and the 
 illiterate. No man, perhaps, ever ^rew congregations so large, 
 or of so mixed a character. Wherever he went, he was eagerly 
 followed by all classes ; and the scene, when Dr. Clarke formed 
 the principal object in it, was like a special jubilee compared with 
 an ordinary holiday. He brought his learning to bear upon his 
 subject without any parade, and in the most instructive form ; 
 and his native fervour, joined with the clearness of his concep- 
 tions and the vastness of his resources, never failed to elevate and 
 inform his hearers. There was a sort of cordiality in his preach- 
 ing, that was its principal charm. You seemed to be listening 
 to a man, who not only had his own heart filled with the love of 
 God, but had large stores of it at liis disposal for others. No 
 man ever spoke more confidently and freely about God than 
 he, probably from the pecuhar bent of his studies ; and you could 
 not hsten to him long without recognizing in him a man who 
 held communion with the Father, through his Son Jesus Christ." 
 
403 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Character of Dr. Clarke^ hy the Rev. D. M^Nicoll — By the Wesleyan- 
 Methodist Mayazine — By the Rev. Dr. Beaumont — By the Rev. H. 
 Moore— By the Rev. J. Everett— By the Rev. J. B. Clarke— By the Wes- 
 leyan Conference. 
 
 We have now to notice, as briefly as possible, Dr. Clarke's 
 general character. Of this the details of his life are so illustra- 
 tive, that mere description may, by some, be thought unnecessary. 
 But it is interesting to hear what survivors, of competent know- 
 ledge and abihty, have to say concerning the distinguished dead. 
 Of all the estimates of the general character of Dr. Clarke that 
 have yet appeared, that formed by Mr. M'NicoU is by far the 
 amplest and the best considered. 
 
 " In all the relations of life," says this eloquent and philoso- 
 phical writer, " as pastor, husband, father, master, friend, he was 
 remarkably affectionate, condescending, affable, gentle, kind, meek, 
 humble, cheerful, courteous, and communicative. Adam Clarke 
 was an eminent example of true greatness ; a minister, a writer, 
 and a Christian man, much above the ordinary standard of these 
 characters ; a class rather than an individual ; not a star, but a 
 constellation ; a lofty pattern of faithful and ardent devotedness 
 in the most responsible and difficult departments of the service 
 of God, to which men can be called on earth ; a noble evidence 
 of the value of sanctified abihties ; and an instructive instance of 
 the power of religion in forming human nature to a character of 
 righteousness and charity ; a man of whom it may be said, as 
 truly as it ever was affirmed of any statesman or patriot, he would 
 lay down his life for his country, and would not do a base thing 
 to save it ; one who would neither tread upon an insect, nor 
 crouch to an emperor. The name of Adam Clarke is a name, 
 of which the native honours can only be reflected — not aug- 
 mented — by any number of subjoined initials, expressive of his 
 well-won academic reputation." 
 
 In discussing his claims to the title of a learned man, Mr. 
 M'NicoU makes the following remarks : — " That he should have 
 been profound, and critical, and absolutely unparalleled, in every 
 branch of learning and of study, is not to be beUeved of any 
 man that ever Hved ; and he was himself the last person in the 
 world to make the least approach to any such pretensions. On 
 the other hand, we heed not the witticisms of those who would 
 
404 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 insinuate, that he was not, in the main, a man of deep, and 
 accurate, and extensive learning. It is most hkely, the truth 
 hes between the two extremes, and much nearer the side of ex- 
 travagant eulogium, than the other of mean and pitiful deprecia- 
 tion. However he may have been even greatly excelled in cer- 
 tain lines of study, for our own parts, we believe, that, both for 
 variety and quantity of useful knowledge, or knowledge in the 
 general, Adam Clarke was not surpassed by any indi\'idual of his 
 lime. He had studied most of the sciences with great assiduity ; 
 the arts of rhetoric and of composition, as we have said, he deh- 
 berately undervalued. As to languages, he paid the greatest 
 attention to those called oriental. Several of the European lan- 
 guages he did not profess to know perfectly. It does not appear 
 that he was Yery extensively acquainted with the German critics 
 and theologians in general. It was true he made the great body 
 of his knowledge subservient to divinity, and with admirable 
 effect ; but, had his studies been less general, or at least, as to 
 many of them, more superficial ; had he concentrated his talents, 
 his time, and his native powers of thinking, so as to originate and 
 perfect some great work in one department of theolog}% he would 
 most hkely have excelled himself. His original capacity was 
 vigorous and substantial, but far from fine and flexible. He 
 mistook himself in saying, as he sometimes did, that he laboured 
 on a barren soil. The soil was good, but encumbered, and diffi- 
 cult of culture. His understanding possessed great force, was 
 clear and sound, and fitted to investigate, and, what is of the 
 first importance in the operations of the mind, to arrange and 
 generahse the subjects of his thoughts. But, in the fen^our of 
 these operations, and in his great impatience to pass on to other 
 objects, he sometimes failed in that exactness of method, in that 
 perfect exercise of judgment, and in that nice balancing of things, 
 of which, notwithstanding, he was perfectly capable. His imagi- 
 nation was vivid and excursive ; but was not considered by him- 
 self as deserving any special cultivation and direction. His 
 powers of invention were fi'uitful in the extreme ; and the tact 
 and compass of his wit beyond those of most men. 
 
 " His unexampled industry was both an integral part and a 
 general principle — at once a cause and an effect — of his great- 
 ness. It was this industry, pursued with matchless energy, that 
 made his mighty powers to tell with such mighty force upon 
 almost every subject to which he directed his attention. Learned 
 men, who can appreciate such labours, are no doubt astonished at 
 the efibrts Which could produce both the kind and the quantity of 
 his writings. While others slept, or banqueted, or idled out their 
 despicable days in gossiping and folly, he kept the glorious har- 
 vest of this issue full in view, and ploughed with aU his heifers, 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 405 
 
 reckless of the sun and rain. Thus he ran, for, in regard to him, 
 the word was often literally applicable ; thus he ran his lengthened 
 and laborious, but honourable, career; mindless of all things 
 which entered not into the essence of the duty just in hand. His 
 life, indeed, is a study for a statesman or a warrior ; and, if some 
 men, in commerce or in trade, would transcribe the wonderful 
 decision of his character into their own, it would multiply their 
 fortunes. 
 
 " In the natural constitution of his mind, he was somewhat 
 humoursome and restless, and very prone to indulge in meta- 
 physical investigations : and perhaps, with only a small portion 
 of rehgion, he might have been very much unsettled, both in his 
 theological opinions and in the habits of his hfe. But decided, 
 powerful, and progressive piety banded all his other noble quah- 
 ties, directed them to their capable elevation of improvement, and 
 kept them up to their own due pitch, beyond what could have 
 been effected by any principles of merely human strength. 
 
 " His moral and rehgious character was beyond all praise. In 
 this respect, his 'peace flowed like a river, and his righteousness 
 like the waves of the sea.' His integrity was immovable ; he 
 held it fast with the firm and resolute grasp of a Hon. Kectitude 
 and benevolence were, indeed, the two great principles and com- 
 ponent parts of his moral excellence. Another cause of his 
 greatness may be found in the discipline of his mental struggles, 
 and of the vast variety of impressive situations, companies, and 
 circumstances, through which he passed during the most im- 
 provable part of his life. To men of a certain cast, all such 
 privations and collisions are extremely favourable, as the means 
 of giving mental power. 
 
 " The wealth of liis mind, like real property, seemed to in- 
 crease with good management, in a compound ratio, that placed 
 him far above the conmion ranks, and enabled him to exercise the 
 liberal disposition so native to his heart, in largely augmenting 
 the scantier intellectual stores of others. The nature and mag- 
 nitude of the subjects which he studied, gave him greatness. He 
 has said, without the least reference to its effect upon himself, 
 that oriental literature was peculiarly calculated to sublime the 
 mind. He loved to be familiar with men and books, where 
 greatness, combined with goodness, might be closely contem- 
 plated. In this view he was ceaseless in his praise of Mr. Wes- 
 ley. On the same principle, he admired, and studied, and, in 
 some degree, caught, the moral dignity of Dr. Johnson. St. 
 Augustine's City of God was a work on which he set a high 
 value, because of the prodigious reach of mind which he beheved 
 it contained. And many others might be mentioned, which he 
 had studied on the same principle. But his greatness essentially 
 
406 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 consisted in the combination of liis distinguished powers and 
 excellences ; — capacity, energy, piety, and a wide arena and fiill 
 scope for the exercise and proof of all. Had one of these im- 
 portant requisites been wanting, the whole must have failed ; the 
 snapping of a single Hnk would have ruined the whole series. 
 And his simphcity was far from having the most unimportant 
 share in the imposing aggregate, but gave a higher interest to 
 his greatest quahties ; like a transparent cloud on distant rocks, 
 it imparted a peculiar softness and enlargement to them all. 
 
 " As to politics, he was extremely loyal to the monarchy, but 
 frequently disliked the measures of the ministry. To the piinci- 
 ples of the system so strenuously supported by Mr. Pitt, he was 
 strongly opposed, believing that their tendency was to enslave 
 mankind. During the whole of the late w^ar, he scarcely ever 
 cast his eye on the pubHc prints ; not merely on account of his 
 disapproval of the pohcy which led to the contest, but because, 
 as a Christian, and a man of humanity, he could feel no kind of 
 pleasure in the daily perusal of despatches which were filled with 
 blood and slaughter. 
 
 " If he spoke at times with undue strength of expression, on 
 systems of reUgion different fi'om his own, it was the ardent love 
 of Methodism, by which God had saved his soul, that occasioned 
 this excess. With the men who held those systems, he was 
 often very happy to hold a generous communion. Time was, 
 indeed, a general tendency in his mind to a high state of feel- 
 ing. This was frequently obsen able in his language, his wit, 
 in all his motions, not excepting the energy of his looks, and 
 his walk. 
 
 " With regard to his humihty, it may be said, that, however 
 free and familiar he might be among his friends, yet among the 
 learned, the great, and those he deemed his superiors, he was 
 blushingly modest. The same feehng, though in different pro- 
 portions, attended him on all occasions. Of himself, he did not 
 entertain high notions ; of his brethren, he often did, and spoke 
 in their praise, sometimes with a degi'ee of enthusiasm. Self- 
 taught scholars are often charged with speaking too much of 
 themselves in connexion with their learning, while the colhsions 
 and rivalship of the academy are thought to prevent this. To 
 some extent it may be so ; for, if a man should, for the most 
 part, stand alone in the company he keeps, the practice may 
 grow upon him as a habit, and yet he may not be a proud man. 
 Whatever custom of this kind, or of a confident manner, has 
 been noticed in connexion with our departed friend, who was 
 commonly the instructor of his own circle, those who knew him 
 best wiU believe, that it did not arise fi^om pride, but rather from 
 the warmth of his temperament, and his deep conviction of the 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 407 
 
 truth of his sentiments. Among the poor, the idea of conde- 
 scension never seemed to cross his thoughts. He was perfectly 
 as one of themselves, and would stoop to anything which might 
 contribute to their comfort. For example, while visiting the 
 hovel of distress and poverty, and perceiving that, from the con- 
 dition of the bed, it must be a very uneasy one, he has had the 
 patient removed for a few minutes, and straightened up the cord- 
 age liimself with great dexterity. 
 
 " It was his piety, the sustaining sense of Divine presence, 
 the conscientious conviction that he was serving God in a high 
 and responsible employment, and the all-absorbing influence of 
 his subject upon his own mind ; — it was these, and neither pride 
 nor hardihood (for he disHked the gaze of the public, and even 
 of mixed company), that suppUed him with the admirable self- 
 possession and command of his thoughts, which was never known 
 to forsake him. 
 
 " There is good reason to believe that his private devotions 
 were regular and frequent. 
 
 "Little singularities and discrepancies have, perhaps, too 
 carefully been marked by his observers. These defects lay rather 
 in the physiology and instinct of a warm temperament, than in 
 any obHquity of his principle and purpose. Again, they were 
 not always rightly named eccentricities. They were, in some 
 instances, bold and proper deviations from the unprofitable 
 usages of life ; and the true eccentricity, in such cases, lay on 
 that side. And, even here, he often showed the power of his 
 intellect : for he had his reasons ; and he frequently discovered, 
 that, even in smaller concerns, he judged by his common sense, 
 and a constant regard, not to current opinion, but to the nature 
 and absolute propriety of things. But, in the grand principles 
 of character and duty, he showed a noble consistency and dignity 
 through Hfe. Here, there was no hesitation, nothing changeable 
 or contradictory." 
 
 An inteUigent correspondent of the Wesley an- Methodist 
 Magazine, thus forcibly notices the distinguished perseverance 
 of Dr. Clarke :— 
 
 " There is, however, one great lesson to be deduced from the 
 history of this extraordinary man, to which I may be allowed to 
 advert. It is, the incalculable advantages of industry and perse- 
 verance. From Mr. Moore's sermon it is evident, that the Doc- 
 tor's hterary attainments in early life were very limited. He had 
 barely received an elementary knowledge of the Greek and Latin 
 languages, when an attempt was made to initiate him into the mys- 
 teries of trade, and he was employed in the service of a merchant. 
 In this state he was sent to Kingswood School ; and soon after 
 appointed to the lahours of a Methodist circuit It was in the 
 
408 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 midst of these labours, — preaching three or four times on the 
 Sabbath, and ahnost every evening in the week, travelling several 
 miles daily, visiting the sick, and exercising a pastoral care over 
 the societies, — that he commenced and prosecuted those studies, 
 the fruits of which are before the world in several large and 
 learned pubhcations. His income was limited : the acquirement 
 of books therefore must have been a matter of difficulty; and 
 either to engage the ser^dces of efficient tutors, or to attend to 
 their instructions while travelling from place to place, was im- 
 possible. He was therefore almost entirely self-instructed, and 
 self-instructed under such disadvantages as to an ordinary mind 
 would have been ovei'whelming. And yet, such were his attain- 
 ments as an oriental scholar, a biblical critic, a theologian, an 
 antiquarian, and a man of general knowledge, that he had not 
 many equals even among the men who were placed through hfe 
 in the most advantageous circumstances for the prosecution of 
 their studies. Many individuals, doubtless, might easily be 
 found who surpassed him in particular branches of scholarship ; 
 but few men among his contemporaries excelled him in the ex- 
 tent of their acquirements. I am not one of those who ascribe a 
 sort of infalHbility to this great and learned man. Indeed, it 
 would not be difficult to show that on many occasions his con- 
 stitutional ardour led him to make up liis mind prematurely, and 
 to express himself with undue confidence on subjects which he 
 only imperfectly understood ; but I think it doubtful whether the 
 entire history of human nature supplies a more remarkable in- 
 stance of the conscientious redemption of time, and of successful 
 dihgence and perseverance in unassisted study." 
 
 The Editor himself observes, — " He was an honour to the 
 Methodist Connexion, and an honour to human nature. The 
 uprightness of his life, the depth of his piety, the efficiency 
 of his preaching, the extent of his acquirements as a scholar, the 
 appHcation of his learning to the elucidation of the Bible, all 
 conspire to give interest to his biography. The personal history 
 of such a man should be universally known. It will teach youth 
 how to overcome difficulties ; show ministers how to study and 
 preach ; and exhibit to all men the nature and excellence of true 
 rehgion. To us it is an occasion of honest glorying, that the 
 friendless youth who arrived at Kingswood half-a-century ago, 
 with only three halfpence in his pocket, by the blessing of God 
 upon his unparalleled industry, and the native energy^ of his 
 mind, became one of the most distinguished scholars of his age, 
 and hved and died a Methodist preacher. While these sheets 
 are passing through the press [March, 1833], the valuable 
 libraiy of this great man, collected by himself, is on sale in 
 one of the most public marts in London ; and such is its 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 409 
 
 extent, that it cannot be disposed of in less than nine successive 
 days." 
 
 The following sentences are extracted from the warm eulogy 
 which Dr. Beaumont pronounced from the fulness of his heart : — 
 "In losing him, we seem as if a lighthouse had been upset in 
 the midst of the ocean. There never was a man more highly 
 and sincerely honoured while he lived, or more deeply and de- 
 servedly lamented when he died. In his conduct amongst men, 
 he was remarkably plain and manly — natural, simple, honest, 
 ingenuous, and unaffected. His conversation was not learned, 
 except when circumstances so combined as to render it a duty to 
 give it that particular character. As his discourse combined the 
 agreeable with the edifying, he was listened to with delight. 
 He was the very reverse of moroseness ; his heart was the region 
 of cheerfulness, and on his tongue was the law of kindness. A 
 more expansive and generous mind, I know not. His judgment 
 of his brethren was never harsh or severe ; and he was always 
 ready to put the best construction on their sayings and doings, 
 which truth and justice would admit, and almost more than that. 
 His character had nothing hidden or equivocal about it ; it was 
 all wide, open, candid, and majestical. There was a magnani- 
 mity, a strength, a fulness, a freshness, an originahty, about his 
 modes of thinking and acting, which were as evident to the eye 
 of observation as the Hneaments of liis face. And, though he 
 meddled with politics much less than some of his brethren, he 
 was never indifferent to anything that bore, directly or indirectly, 
 upon the weal or the woe of this great empire, which he longed 
 to see filled with knowledge and righteousness." 
 
 Mr. H. Moore, who had known Dr. Clarke longer than any 
 man who survived him, bore the following high testimony to his 
 moral purity : — " Our Connexion, I believe, never knew a more 
 blameless Hfe than that of Dr. Clarke. He had his opponents ; 
 he had those that differed from him, sometimes in doctrine, 
 sometimes in other things ; but these opponents, whatever they 
 imputed to him, never dared to fix a stain, either upon his moral 
 or reUgious character. He was, as Mr. Wesley used to say a 
 preacher of the Gospel should be, 'without a stain;' or, as a 
 greater than he had said. Dr. Clarke could have said, ' Which of 
 you convinceth me of sin ?' Let not that universal consistency, 
 that rigid regard to justice, that blameless conduct which was so 
 manifested in our departed brother — Oh God, grant that none of 
 these may be lost, either upon his friends, upon any that knew 
 him, or any that hear of him ! " 
 
 The following are Mr. Everett's remarks concerning the humi- 
 lity, the peculiai'ities, and the consistency of Dr. Clarke : — " With 
 all his learning, he was perfectly exempt from parade — shunning. 
 
410 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 rather than courting, public gaze. It was partly owing to this 
 that a positive promise could rarely be abstracted from him to 
 preach out of his regular plan, till near the time ; and, of two 
 chapels that have required a supply on any ordinary occasion, he 
 has selected the smaller, and gone into the country, when it ap- 
 peared to others that he ought to preach in the town. The 
 crowd, wliich has an element of its own, and wliich seems to be 
 the only situation in which some men can breathe and support 
 existence, was, of all others, the situation in which he appeared 
 incapable of hving. His peculiarities of conduct were the result 
 of order, and only appeared such when brought to bear upon the 
 iiTegularity of others ; and liis peculiarities of opinion were often 
 the result of leammg, research, and experience. But whatever 
 may have been the pecuhaiities of Dr. Adam Clai'ke, he goes 
 through the world without a stain upon his moral character — 
 without any shiftings in his professions and principles — and 
 with all the essentials of our holy religion in his creed." 
 
 A few extracts may be added from the affectionate, but still 
 impartial, portrait of Dr. Clarke, which liis youngest son has 
 drawn : — " In personal appearance, there was nothing particularly 
 remarkable in my father. He was about five feet nine inches 
 high, and, in the latter years of his Hfe, had a slight tendency to 
 a full habit of body. His frame was one of considerable strength, 
 his hmbs straight and well-proportioned, and his person unbow^ed 
 to the last hour of his life. His features were characteristic of 
 the benevolence of his mind. 
 
 " His personal habits were those of unintermitted industr}^ im- 
 encumbered by busy haste, and directed by the exactcst order. 
 What he had to do was performed at once and to the best of his 
 power. I never once saw my father idle. Even in his relaxa- 
 tions, liis mind was occupied, either in contriving and affording 
 entertainment for others, or else in deriving healthful pleasure to 
 himself ; and he gained a game at marbles with as much delighted 
 satisfaction as any of the children with whom he played. 
 
 " My father's mind never rested still upon its acquirements. 
 ' Onward,' was its motto, while perseverance and method enabled 
 him to overcome every obstacle and diflQculty. But one chief 
 excellency of his power consisted in liis abihty to use knowledge. 
 Greater critical scholars than he there have been, and many, 
 possibly, more deeply versed in the various departments of learn- 
 ing and science ; but I beheve there never was an individual who 
 could use to such purpose all the stores which he possessed. 
 He possessed an astonishing power of gathering together rays of 
 Hght from the whole circuit of his knowledge, and pouring them, 
 in one bright beam, upon any point which he wished to illustrate 
 or explain. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 411 
 
 " The treasures of knowledge which his unwearied industry 
 had drawn together, were all made subservient to the more effec- 
 tive execution of his ministerial office. Even the estimation in 
 which he was held as a man of learning, was, in some measure, 
 made tributary to the advance of piety ; for, in his view, the chief 
 value of his fame consisted in his being able to reflect the light 
 with which he himself shone, upon that excellent body of Chris- 
 tians with whom he was identified. 
 
 "As regards the rehgious feehng of my father, little needs to 
 be said. The religion of Christ Jesus, in all its fulness of saving 
 power, and renewing influence, and sustaining might, was all his 
 enjoyment, his hope, and his trust. He lived, as it were, in a 
 constant intercourse with heaven. There have been few men 
 whose views were so clear concerning the straight course of 
 honest uprightness, and whose conduct was so little warped by 
 interest or expediency. His word once passed, he would no 
 more accept of a refused offer than he would be induced to break 
 a positive commandment. His moral courage partook of the 
 same inflexible property. Whatsoever he thought it right should 
 be done, that he possessed resolution to do : he always possessed 
 the dominion of his own mind. Though constantly living before 
 the public view, he seldom personally appeared before it ; and, 
 so disinterested were his feehngs, that he never once used the 
 influence which he possessed with some of the highest and the 
 worthiest in the land, in behalf of his own family. I am per- 
 suaded that he derived no httle satisfaction from the thought, 
 that he was never looked on as an expectant or dreaded as a 
 requisitionist.* Persons of all ages, capacities, and conditions 
 in Hfe, have, at various times, been inmates at his house ; and 
 none ever left it but with regret, so much could he win upon all 
 classes by his affable manners, cheerful and informing conversa- 
 tion, and the unintermitted kindness of his considerate attention. 
 It was on this account that his friends were many, and his ac- 
 quaintances few. 
 
 "Dr. Clarke's conversational powers were very considerable, 
 and extremely diversified ; and they were at all times suitable to 
 the company, and the circumstances of those around. With the 
 young, he would enter into his own childish labours, disappoint- 
 
 * When he had the opportunity of reaping considerable emolument for 
 his labours under Government, and he was asked what they could do for 
 him, he replied, " Oh ! nothing, I dwell among my own people." He has 
 been heard to say, " I belong to the Methodists, body and soul, blood and 
 sinews. This coat (seizing hold of his own sleeve) is theirs." But, though 
 he refused to take anything for himself, he used his influence to procure 
 the advancement of others, among whom may be mentioned the Rev. 
 Hartwell Horne. 
 
412 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 ments, and encouragements, always blending religious and moral 
 truths with the details of his well-told narrative. To the san- 
 guine feelings of rising youth, he would speak of the shadows 
 which experience throws over the glare of untried life, of the 
 shoals and quicksands which sometimes cause sliipwTeck, yet 
 insisting on how much energy of purpose, and strength of good 
 resolve, enabled a man to cope with advantage against many and 
 mighty evils, when the wide field of life and usefulness lay before 
 him. He was at all times remarkably social in his habits and 
 dispositions ; and his conversation abounded in instructive and 
 humourous anecdotes. While speaking on subjects connected 
 wdth religion, his sayings were the wisdom of experience, result- 
 ing fi'om the knowledge which his own spiiit had gained in the 
 deep things of God. 
 
 " An economist of time himself, he could not bear to see it 
 wasted by others ; and, even w^hen his little grandchildren were 
 around him for a time, he always kept them engaged according 
 to their abihty. To one he w^ould give a book of pictures to 
 look over, — to another, different bits of coloured stones, or paper, 
 to arrange on the floor, — to a third, a piece of board with a 
 little hammer and some nails, to drive in, and pull out again ; 
 and so on, in order that even their infancy should not know the 
 evils consequent on idleness. 
 
 " When the hours of study were over, and he joined the other 
 members of his family, in order to rest his eyes, Mrs. Clarke, 
 or one of the party, was in the habit of reading aloud all the 
 evening, on which occasions his observations on the w^orks, the 
 sentiments, the opinions, of the author and the times, were 
 fraught with important infoimation, but ever treated with a rigid 
 regard to that fair and manly construction which he put upon all 
 things of which he had to judge ; but any evidence of absolutely 
 false sentiment, or unsound reasoning, he analysed and rooted 
 up, that his family might not drink in injuK)us opinions or pre- 
 judicial eiTors. 
 
 " As the head of a family, his conduct was most exemplary. 
 Eegularity kept everything in order. Kindness was the ruling 
 power ; and the obseiTance of every rehgious and moral duty, 
 made all the inhabitants of his fabode unitedly a Christian 
 household. None who were in want, left his door unrelieved. 
 He has several times been known, when near his own gate, 
 to give away his shoes, in order to cover the feet of another. 
 To his servants, his behaviour was perhaps over-indulgent, 
 his natural kind-heartedness making their situation, want 
 of education, imperfect acquaintance with moral obligation, 
 all so many pleas for allowances, and reasons for the excuse of 
 errors. 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 413 
 
 " The present feelings of my mother* are testimonies that the 
 choice of her youth continued to the last the object toward which 
 all her affections turned and were satisfied. His conduct to his 
 children was such as to endear him to them from the earliest 
 age. He was their companion in their play, and often devoted 
 hard-earned time to their amusement. He very seldom directly 
 praised any of his children, in several instances having seen the 
 ruinous effects of this practice. Among other things, he would 
 never allow us to receive money from visitors at his house, as 
 he desired his children to feel, that whatsoever in this way was 
 proper for them, their parents would give. Had he a top, or a 
 whip, or a hoop, to give away, he would always make even the 
 least do something before he obtained it ; — he must run a certain 
 distance, or jump a certain height, or perform some other feat : 
 thus, in all things, striving to create a wholesome spirit of inde- 
 pendence, by making the gift so far the result of their own 
 exertions." 
 
 To complete this narrative, it seems necessary to transcribe 
 the authorized character of Dr. Clarke, entered upon the Minutes 
 of Conference. In that document, which proceeded from the 
 pen of the Rev. David M'NicoU, since deceased, the Commentar}^ is 
 not so much as mentioned. Three several characters were drawn 
 up before one was produced which satisfied all parties. In the 
 former two, the rejection of which is attributed to the Rev. James 
 Bromley, the Commentary was introduced, and condemned as 
 heterodox. The following is the character adopted : — 
 
 " This great man, and valuable minister of Christ, was bom 
 near Coleraine in Ireland, about the year 1762. In early life he 
 gave striking indications of a mind possessed at once of extraor- 
 dinary powers, and of an ardent thirst for knowledge ; and, 
 under the instructions of his father, a teacher of youth, com- 
 menced those studies which he prosecuted with such eminent 
 success through every period of his subsequent life ; and which 
 he employed so nobly and usefully in the illustration and enforce- 
 ment of evangehcal truth. His conversion, which took place 
 
 * Mrs. Clarke was born January 28, 1761, and died Deeemher 20, 
 1837. She bore her widowhood with perfect resignation. Speaking of 
 Dr. Clarke, she said to her daughter, " Mine can scarcely be called a lone 
 pilgrimage, jfor I have never lost the sense of your father's presence. I 
 dwell at times so much in the realities of a future state, that I almost forget 
 that we are separated : the conviction, even that I cannot minister to him 
 as in years past, is accompanied by the softening feeling that he has now 
 higher, bettf r ministrations; and O, my child, the feeling I had when we 
 saw his calm countenance in death, when the sign of labour was erased 
 from his brow, — it has ever since been my consolation !" In this holy, 
 peaceful frame of mind Mrs. Clarke remained, till the eternity, in which 
 her spirit so frequently dwelt, was really present. 
 
414 
 
 THE LIFE AND LABOURS OF 
 
 about the sixteenth year of his age, was remarkably clear and 
 sound ; accompanied with the deepest feehng, first of contrition, 
 and then of 'peace and joy through beheving with an entire 
 change of heart ; and with the most decided resolution to devote 
 his whole soul to the service of God. Having spent a short 
 time at Kingswood School, he was called out by Mr. Wesley, in 
 the year 1782, as an itinerant Preacher in the Methodist Con- 
 nexion ; and soon justified the opinion formed concerning him 
 by that admirable judge of character, who hesitated not to affirm, 
 *Adam Clarke is doubtless an extraordinary young man, and 
 capable of doing much good.' For nearly half- a- century did he 
 continue to perfoiin the most important labours as the servant 
 of God and of mankind, in various departments of the vineyard 
 of the church, with great integiity, and with an industr}^ which 
 perhaps has never been sui-passed. The natural strength of his 
 mind, and the range of his hteran^ and biblical acquirements, 
 were, in the opinion of competent judges, far beyond the com- 
 mon standard, even of those who have attained considerable rank 
 among men of learning and research. Without at all presuming 
 that he was wholly free from defects, either as a man, a preacher, 
 or a writer, we may yet safely place him, in all these characters, 
 among the great men of liis age. He was highly distinguished 
 by his extraordinary attainments in oriental hterature, which 
 appears to have been one of the most favourite studies of his 
 hfe, and by means of which he has often shed a new and profit- 
 able light upon the sacred text. Of his writings in general it 
 may be confidently said, they have added largely to the valuable 
 Hterary and biblical stores of the countiy. The ability and fer- 
 vent zeal with which for so many years he preached the Gospel 
 of the grace of God to enraptured thousands, in almost eveiy part 
 of the United Kingdom, will long be remembered with the livehest 
 gratitude to their Divine Eedeemer, by multitudes to whom his 
 labours were greatly blessed, both as the means of their conver- 
 sion, and of their general edification. Ko man, in any age of 
 the church, was ever known for so long a period to have attracted 
 larger audiences ; no herald of salvation ever sounded forth his 
 message with greater faithfulness or fervour — the fervour of love 
 to Christ, and to the souls of perishing sinners ; and few minis- 
 ters of the Gospel, in modem times, have been more honoured 
 by the extraordinary unction of the Holy Spirit in their minis- 
 trations. To this unction cliiefly, though associated with uncom- 
 mon talents, must be attributed the wondeiful success and popu- 
 larity' of his discourses. In preaching, he had the happy art of 
 combining great originahty and depth of subject, with the utmost 
 plainness of speech and manner. Nor was this simplicity at 
 all destroyed, but rather augmented, by the glow and animation 
 
DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 416 
 
 of his soul, when applying the offer of salvation to all within 
 the sound of his voice, and reasoning strongly on the grand and 
 vital doctrines of the Gospel. The ardent feeling, which, in 
 others, sometimes leads to a rapid invention of elegant or of 
 pompous language, in him was confined to the increased accumu- 
 lation of great and noble sentiments. His favourite and most 
 successful subjects in the pulpit were the love of God to fallen 
 man, the atonement, repentance, faith in Christ as the grand 
 principle of the spiritual life and of practical holiness, together 
 with the undoubted assurance of adoption by the direct witness 
 of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer. On these sub- 
 jects, he would often rise to the genuine grandeur of evangelical 
 preaching, pouring forth, like a torrent, the unostentatious elo- 
 quence of a benevolent and loving heart. Energy, indeed, was 
 one very pecuhar- characteristic of his mind. Nor was he less 
 remarkable for sensibility, and all the tenderness and sympathy 
 of an affectionate disposition. He could be ' gentle, even as a 
 nurse cherisheth her children ;' yet, when environed with great 
 difficulties in the prosecution of his noble objects, he seemed, 
 from the extraordinary vigour and determined pui^ose of his 
 soul, to conquer them with ease. His moral character was above 
 all suspicion and above all praise. In this particular, no cloud, 
 no speck was ever seen to darken the horizon of his life. In 
 prayer, he was simple, spiritual, devout, and sometimes singularly 
 ardent. His piety was sincere, and deep, and eminently practi- 
 cal; the very reverse of that sensitive, but unsound, feehng, 
 which loves to flourish on the subject of experience, but serves 
 not God in a conscientious obedience to all the precepts of his 
 Gospel. He was almost a perfect model of diligence in duty. 
 The ingenuity and energy with which he husbanded his time, 
 and carried forward the arduous plans of usefulness in which he 
 was constantly employed, form one of the most distinguished 
 features of his admirable character. He was a warm-hearted, 
 faithful, affectionate, and constant friend. And in all the rela- 
 tions of domestic fife, as a husband, a father, and a master, he 
 was true to the duties which belong to them — most indulgent, Idnd, 
 and sympathising ; always happy in the bosom of his family, and 
 always labouring, by every art in his power, to make them also 
 happy. He was uniformly a firm, attached, and zealous Metho- 
 dist ; and, in promoting the interests of our great cause, he may 
 be said to have been ' in labours more abundant.' This love to 
 the Body, and the great public interests of Methodism, was never 
 more delightfully evinced than at the last Conference, when, but 
 a very few weeks before his lamented dissolution, he mingled 
 with his brethren in the most affectionate manner, and very cor- 
 dially assisted in despatching the business of that important 
 
416 
 
 THE LIFE OF DR. ADAM CLARKE. 
 
 assembly ; and, writing to a friend on tliis subject, he exclaims, 
 in the pious satisfaction of his soul, * We have had a glorious 
 Conference !' We may just add, that he had been thrice chosen 
 to fill the situation of President of the Conference. He died 
 suddenly of cholera morbus, in the vicinity of London, on the 
 26th of August, 1832, in the seventy-second year of his age. 
 On the day of his death, when first seized, and entering on his 
 sufferings, with painful suspense as to the result of them, he was 
 exhorted by a friend to put his trust in Christ. He replied, 
 with a point and promptness peculiar to himself, ' I have done 
 that already leaving in these, which may be deemed his last 
 words, a subhme lesson to the mortal sumvors who might after- 
 wards reflect upon his hfe and death, that they also should, by 
 early, decided, and persevering piety, be found ready when their 
 Lord should call." 
 
 Here, then, is an example for the young. Not perfect, indeed ; 
 but, therefore, imitable : yet not materially imperfect, and there- 
 fore the more worthy of imitation. Feeble in constitution, slow 
 of understanding, and depraved in heart (as who is not?), by 
 strict temperance, by intent study, and by faith and prayer, he 
 became strong in body, profound in knowledge, pure in heart ; 
 and all his attainments he unreservedly and unremittedly devoted 
 to the public good, in the most extended sense. Finally, what- 
 ever were his faults, he had one virtue which outweighed them 
 all. Tills was the oil by means of which the wheel of his 
 activity was kept in smooth and ceaseless revolution, in spite of 
 frequent jars and constant friction. He was distinguished by a 
 placable temper, a forgiving disposition ; and, instead of resent- 
 ing injuries, he, Uke his Divine Master, prayed for his enemies, 
 and sought to do them good. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by John Stephens, 20§, Warwick-lane, Patemoster-row. 
 
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