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OF THK
PRINCETON, N. J.
SAMUEL AONEW,
OF PHILADELPHIA. PJ
^ I
Phcnyuc^ /er>^/^^<?n
<^?<^9S<^^SSe^!5>3-<^^9'^<'^^&^'^^3^^
ll Case^ Djvision.
I Shelf, Section:..
I
//ll
iL
W-.
Historical
MEMOIRS
OF THE
LIFE
O F
Di\ Samuel Clarl^.
BEING
A SUPPLEMENT to Dr. Sjkeis
and Bifhop Hoadley\ Accounts.
Including certain Memoirs of feveral of
Dr. CLJKKE's Friends.
By WILLIAM WHISTON, M. A.
Sometime Pro^eiTor of the Mathematicks in the
Univerlity oF Cambridge,
Ne quid falfi dicere audeat |
Ne quid veri non audeat.
^hou Jkah not accept Perfons when thou reproveft for Sin : But
do tf J Elijah and Micaiah did to Ahabi and Ebedmelech the
Ethiopian did to Zedekiah ; and Nathan to JDavid j and John
to Herod. Conftitut. VII. lo.
LONDON :
Sold by Fletcher Gyles, over againfl:
Graf %- Inn , Holhorn ^ and by J. Roberts,
near the Oxford- Jrms in IFarwkk-Lane. 1750.
Historical
MEMOIRS
OF THE
LIFE
O F
Dr. Samuel Clarke.
I N C E Dr. Sj^kej has lately
publiflicd, in the ^refent
State of the Kepiibllck of
Letters^ for the Month of
July^ 1725), an Elogium,
as he truly calls his Paper,
. oijyv. Samuel Clarke-^ lincc
Bilhop Hoadley has jult now publilhed, as a
Preface Xo Di. Clarke's Sermons, another and
A % larger
4 Hlfiorical Memoirs of the
larger E LOG I UM, as he might have called
his Account of Dr. Clarke s Life, Writings
and Character : Since Mr. Emlyn publiihed,
^. D. 1 71 8, a faithful Account of his Pro-
fecution 1703, on account of the printing
his Difcovery of part of the old Chriftian
Faith in Ireland: As I had alfo publilhcd a
large and full Account of my laterDiicoveries,
and the Profecutions and Expulfion I there-
upon underwent in Englandy Jl.D, 171 1 ; as
did both Mr, ^eirce of Exeter^ and Mr. l^om-
kins of Newingtonj A. D. 1715), publifh the
Accounts of their Ejedion at that Time by
their Congregations, for the like Caufe ;
while Dr. Clarke, who was deeply concerned in
thofe Difcoveries, and was like to have been
cenfured by the Convocation, j/. D, 171 4,
for publifliing the fame, feem'd to endea-
vour, as much as poffible, to conceal his
own Hiftory, which yet is equally due to
the Publick with the reft: And fince both
thefe E/ogia upon him after his Death,
touch but very imperfedly on the fame Hi-
ftory ; I, who knew Dr. Clarke, his Cha^
rafter, Writings, and Condud, long before
Pr, SykeSj and much more authentickly, in
many Points, than either Dr. Sykes, or Bi-
fliop Hoadley , and in fome Points better
than his own Brother, DeanC/^r^^; being
very dclirous that a full and faithful Ac-
count of thofe Tranfadions, thofe impor-
tant Tfanfadions concerning true Religion,
wherein
Life of Dr. S. C l a r k E. 5
wherein Dr. Clirke^ and my felf, with
ether common Frie.ids, have been long and
deeply concerned, may be f-iithfuUy tranl^
minted to Pofterity, could not but think it
a Duty incumbent en me, to add to the
Llogia or 'J^anegyrkks before-mentioned ,
thefe Historical Memoirs; and
thofe, as near as maybe, digefted according
to the Order of Time; and this with luch
Faithfulnefs and Impartiality, fuch Opennels
and Simplicity as thole important Concerns
do require.
About the Year 16 ^y^ while T was Chap*
lain to Dr. John Moor^ then Bilhop of Nor--
wkh^ I met at one of the ColTee-houfes in
the Market-^/ace of Norwich^ a young
Man, to me then wholly unknown , his
Name was Clarke^ Pupil to that eminent
and careful Tutor, Mr. EUis^ of Gonv'il and
Cams College in Cambridge. Mr. Clarke
knew me lb far at the UniverHry, I being
about eight Years elder than himielf, and
fo far knew the Nature and Succefs of my
Studies , as to enter into a Converfation
with me, about that Syftem of Cartejian
Philofophy, his Tutor had put him to tran-
flate ; I mean Rohaulfs^hyfcks'^ and to ask
my Opinion about the f itnefs of fuch a
Tranilation. I well remember the Anfwer
I made him; that " Since the Youth of
" the Univerfity . muft have, at preient,
^' fome Syftem of Natural philofophy for
A3 ^' their
6 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
*' their Studies and Exercifes ; and fince
** the true Syftcm of Sir Ifaac Newton was
*^ not yet made eaiy enough for that Pur-
" pofe; it was not improper, for their
^* Sakes, yet to tranflate and ufe the Sy-
" ftem of Kohaidt^ [ who was eftecmed the
" bcft Expofitor of Des Cartes^ ] but that
*^ as foon as Sir Jfaac Newton's Philofophy
^' came to be better known, that only
" ought to be taught , and the other
'* dropp'd/* Which laft part of my Ad-
vice, by the way, has not been followed, as
it ought to have been, in that Univerfity :
But, as Bilhop Hoadley * truly obferves,
Dr. Clarke's Rohaiilt is ftill the principal Book
for the young Students there. Though
fuch an Obfervation be no way to the Ho-
nour of the Tutors in that Univerfity, who
in reading Kohaidt^ do only read a ^hilofo-
fhtcal Komaf2Ce to their Pupils, almoft per-
petually contradided by the better Notes
thereto belonging. And certainly, to ufe
Cartefian fiditious Hypothefes at this time
of Day, after the principal Parts of Sir Ifaac
Newton's certain Syftem have been made
eafy enough for the Underftanding of or-
dinary Mathematicians, is like the conti-
nuing to eat old Acorns^ after the Difcovery
of new Wheat^ for the Food of Mankind.
However, upon this Occafion, Mr. Clarke
and I fell into a Difcourie about the won-
* Vagi c,
derful
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 7
derful Difcoveries made in Sir Ifaac Nem-^
ton's Philofophy. And the Refult of that
Dilcourfe was, that I was greatly furpriz'd,
that ib young a Man as Mr. Clarke then
was, not much, I think, above twenty-
two Years of Age, ftiould know fo much
of thofe fublime Difcoveries, which were
then almoft a Secret to all, but to a few
particular Mathematicians. Nor did I re-*
member above one or two, at the moft,
whom I had then met with, that feemed
to know fo much of that Philolbphy, as
Mr. Clarke. Of which Converfation I gave
an Account to my Patron, the Bilhop, as
Jbon as I was returned to the Palace : And
farther toid him what I had learned, that
the young Man's Father was an Alderman
of that City : Whofe moft excellent Cha-
rader alio was fbon known , and which
Charader recommended him fo to the Citi-
zens of Norwich , that they chofe him
without, nay, againft his own Inclination,
to rcprelent them in Parliament. Bifliop
Moor^ who ought to have that Juftice
done his Memory, that he w^as ever am-
bitious of being, and of being efteemed
a Patron of Learning, and learned Men,
immediately defired me to invite Alderman
Clarke and his Son to the Palace, to fee me :
Taking Care, at the fame Time, that they
fhould be handfomely entertained by me
A 4 there,.
8 HiJlo7^ical Memoirs of the
there. They were by me both invited,
and they both came down to the Palace to-
gether accordingly. And then it was that
I had the Opportunity of firft introducing
Mr. Clarke into the Bifliop's Acquaintance,
which proved the happy Occafion of that
great Favour and Friendfiiip which was
ever afterward {hewed him by the Bifhop,
which he highly deferv'd at his Hands;
and which procured him at firft St. Bennefs
^Paurs-JV'barfj and at laft to be made both
Chaplain to Queen Jfnie, and Redor of
St. Jamefs,
The next Year, J, D. i^pS, my Pa-
tron, the Biftiop, gave me the Living of
Lowejroft^ a Market Town by the Sea Side
in Suffolk, with the neighbouring Village of
Kejjinglani annexed to it. This Preferment
made it fit for me to refign the Place of
Chaplain; which though the Bifiiop had
not given me Leave to do before, when I
offered to do it , on account of my ill
Health, and long Abfence; yet did he a
little afterward confent to it, on Account,
I luppofe, of his Choice of fo acceptable a
Perfon for my Succeflbr , as Mr. Clarke^
who now was near 24 Years of Age, and
fo would foon be capable of Priefts Orders ;
which want of Age, till now, was the Oc-
cafion.of my retaining the Place of Chap-
lain fomewhat longer than otherwile I
Ihould have done. Accordingly Mr. Clarke
was
Life of Dr. S, Clarke. 9
was admitted as his Chaplain in my ftcad,
and that I fuppofe about the end of 1 6^^,
or the beginning of 1^99: In which Poft
he continued for feveral Years. BifhopHoaJ/ej
fays * twelve : to Bifhop Moor's great Satisfa-
ction; in intimate Friendfliip with me;
and generally and greatly beloved and e-
fteemed by thofe that knew him.
One ftrange Incident happened at Lowe--
fofty when Mr. Clarke came once thither to
fee me ; which he and I never forgot : and
it ought to be mentioned here for publick
Information. We went together a-board
one of the fmall trading Ships belonging to
that Town : and as we were on Ship-board,
we took notice of two of the Seamen that
were jointly lifting up a Veffel out of the
Hold: When another Seaman that flood by,
clapp'd one of them on his Shoulder, and
asked him, Why he did not turn his Face
away? (for he was looking down as if he
would y^^ what he and his Fellow were lift-
ing out of the Holdy as well as join'd in ////•-
ing it up. ) Upon which he turned his Face
away; but continued to affift in lifting it
up notwithftanding. The meaning of which
we loon underftood to be this ; that he
would be oblig'd to Swear, he Jaw nothing
taken out of the Hold ; not that he took
nothing out of it. This, it feems, is the
Confequencc of our multiplying Oaths on
* Pag. 6.
every
lo Hifiorical Memoirs of the
every trifling Occafion ! And this, it feems,
is a Seamans Salvo for fuch errant Perjury !
In the Year 1^5)^ came out Mr. Clarke's
firft Theological Work, or I'hree ^raBlcal
EJfays en Baptifm^ Confirmation^ and RepeU'^
tance : containing InfiruB'wns for a Holy Life ;
v^lth earneft Exhortations^ efpeclally to young
^erfons^ drawn from the Confideratlon of the
Severity of the Dlfclpllne of the Primitive
Church. This I efteem the moft ferious
Treatife that he ever wrote ; and one that,
with a little Corredion, will be ftill very
ufeful in all Ghriftian Families. And I
venture to fay, the Judicious Sagacity, as.
well as Ghriftian Temper of Mr. Clarke in
his Youth, are moft eminently ftiewn
therein. And I well remember, that I
once told him, with that Ghriftian Freedom
which he always allowed me ; and that af-
ter he had been long at St. James's and
about the Court ; that " I doubted he was
" not now fo ferious and good a Ghriftian
^' as he had been In the days of Hermas.
This he readily underftood to mean the
Time when he wrote thefe three Practical
EJfays^ where he had very often quoted
that excellent but defpifed Book of ^rlmt^
tive Chrlfilanltyj The Shepherd of Hermas,
Seepag. 27, 62, 147, 148, 153, i<^3, 1^5),
216, 230, 231^, 237. of the firft Edition.
After this, J.D. 1704. and 1705. Mr.
Clarke Preached, and loon after Publilhed
his
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. ii
his fixtecn Sermons at Mr. Boyle*s Le6lure,
in two Volumes; containing '' Difcourfes
" concerning the Being and Attributes of
'' God; the Obhgations of Natural Reli-
" gion; and the Truth and Certainty of
" the Chriftian Revelation''. And I have
been informed, that Dr. Smalridge faid, of
one or both thofe Volumes; '* It was the
" beft Book on thofe Subjeds that had been
^' wTitten in any Language''. When Mr.
Clarke brought me his Book, it was thefirft
Volume I fuppofe, I was in my Garden
over again ft St. Jeter's College in Cambridgey
where I then lived. Now I perceived that
in thefe Sermons he had dealt a great deal
in Abftrad and metaphyfick Reafonings. I
therefore asked him how he ventured into
fuch Subtilties, which I never durft meddle
with? And Ihewing him a Nettle, or the
like contemptible Weed in my Garden, I
told him, " That Weed contained better
*' Arguments for the Being and Attributes
" of God than all his Metaphyficks'. Mr.
Clarke confelVd it to be fo : but alledg'd for
himfcif, '' That fince fuch Philofophers as
" Hobbs and Spinoza had made ufe of thofe
^' kind of Subtiities agahiji ; he thought
" proper to fhew that the like way of Rea-
^^ Ibning might be made better ufe of 072
'^ the Side of Rehgion'\ Which Realbn or
Excufe I allowed not to be inconiiderable.
As to my felf, I confcfs I hayelong eileem'd
iuch
I 2 Hijlortcal Memoirs of the
fuch kind of Arguments as the mojl Suhtthj
but the leaf} Satisfa^ory of all others what-
foever.
And my own Opinion is, that perhaps
Angels or fome of the Orders of rational
Beings fuperior to them, may be able to
reafon a great way a ^rlorl^ as it is called,
and from Metaphyficks, to their own and
others Satisfaftion \ but I do not perceive
that we Men^ inourprefent imperfeft State,
can do fo. But of this more hereafter.
Accordingly I intend to fay no more of Dr.
Clarke's Metaphyfical Works, '^ce fupra
nos nihil adnos.
About this Time, or not much later it
was, that I difcovered my Friend Mr.
Clarke had been looking into the Primitive
Writers, and began to fufped, that the
Athanafian Doftrine of the Trinity was not
the Doctrine of thofe early Ages; which I
had not then any particular Knowledge of:
as a Sermon of mine Preach'd upon Chrift-
mas Day about 1704. at great St. Bartho-
lomews^ if now Extant, would Witnefs.
Whether Mr. Newton had given Mr. Clarke
yet any intimations of that nature ; for he
knew it long before this time ; or whether
it arofe from fome enquiries of his own I
do not diredly know : tho' I incline to the
latter.
This only I remember to have heard him
fay, that '' He never read the Jthanajian
\ " Creed
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 13
" Creed in his Parifh, at or near Norwkhy
" but once, and that was only by miftake,
" at a Time when it was not appointed by
" the Kubrick".
However, it was not long after this, that
Iperuied Du'^hfs Account of the Writings
of the three firft Centuries ; whence I foon
found ftrong Reafons for the like Sufpicion
againft the Jthanajian Dot!:lrine; and per-
ceived that Mr. Clarke was not miftaken
in that Matter. And in truth, the reafons
of fuch Sufpicion are every where fo plain
before, and even at the Council ofNire^ that
I can hardly believe that Dr. Ji^aterland him.^
felf, when he firft read thole early Writers,
let his Byals have been never fo ftrong to
the contrary, could wholly efcapc fuch a Sul-
picion : as 'tis plain neither Bifhop Ball not
Dr. Grcibe^ did eicape it. Nor was it fo
late as this^ I fuppofe, that I met with the
Account of a private Tutor to a Noble-
man m Khg's College, whole name I have
forgot, that was^at firft inclinable to Sochiia^
ntfm^ but upon a Conference with Mr.
"Newton^ returned much more inclined to
what has been of late called Jrlamfm,
In the Year 170^. Dr. C/^z-fc^ Tranllated
Sir Jfaac NezDton's Of ticks into elegant La-
tin : which was a thing fo acceptable to him,
that, as the Dr. informed Mr. ^ackfon^ Sir
Jfaac gave him for it no lefs a Sum than
500/. ( the Dn having then five Children )
or loo/e for each Child. la
1 4 Htjlorical Memoirs of the
About the Year 1707. or 1708. Dr.
Clarke heard that I was Writing a Differta-
tion to Prove, that " Our BlefTed Saviour
" had feveral Brethren and Sifters properly
" ib called; i. e. the Children of his repu-
" ted Father Jojeph^ and of his true Mo-
" ther the Virgin Marf\ Upon which he
wrote me a Letter to fupprefs it ; not on ac-
count of its being falfe; which I do not
remember he then infifted on ; tho' he had
formerly done it in his Comment on Matth.
1. 25. but that the common Opinion might
go on undifturbed, and might keep that
poffeffion it had obtained. But fuch fort of
Motives being of no weight with me, in com-
parifon with the Difcovery and Propagation
of Truth; and with the through under-
ftanding the Sacred Writings; I went on
and perfected that Differtation, and publilh-
ed it in my Sermons ^^ndiEJfays^ A, D, 1705).
pag. 182. — 1^6, Nor has any of the Lear-
ned, that I know of, pretended to Anlwer
it to this Day.
About the fame time, or not much earli-
er it was, that Alderman C/<^rfe^ and his Son
Mr. Clarke faw a very curious Sight in
Aftronomy ; which I do not know that any
others before or lince have ever feen. It
was this : They happened to be viewing
Saturns Ring at Norwich^ with a Telefcope
of fifteen or fixteen Foot long ; when, with-
out any previous Thought or Expectation
of
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 15
of fucha thing, as Mr,Clarke affured me;,they
both diftindly faw a fixed Star between the^
Ring and the Body of that Planet : which is
fure evidence that the Ring is properly
diftind from the Planet, and at fome di-
ftance from it: which tho' heliev'd could
hardly be demonjirated before.
In the Year 1708. after I had read over
the two firft Centuries of the Church, and
found th.'Sitxh^Etifebian^ or commonly called
Arian Dodrine was, for the main, the Do-
ctrine of thole Ages, and had made an In-
dex to thofe ancient Tefiimonies ^ which
Index, or its rude Draught, I have ft ill by
me, '* I went to London^ as the Words are
" in my Hijiorkal Preface pag. (5, 7. on
" purpofe to Ihew my Papers to, and con-
^^ verfe with fome worthy and learned Per-
^' fons of my Acquaintance there ; who, as
" I knew, did already Ihrewdly lufped, if
" not know, that part at leaft of the com-
" mon Notions now current were ungroun-
" ded and falfe ; and were willing to examine
" and be affured what were really the ge-
^^ nuine Dodrines of Chriftianity in thefe
'' Matters". I did not then name the Per-
fons meant ; but I name them now^ They
were Dr. Bradford^ Mr. Benjamin Hoadley^
Mr. Clarke^ and Mr. Sydal And at their
recommendation it was, that I took that
great pains of Tranfcribing the Tefti monies
themfelves
1 6 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
thcmfelves at large, which I there give an
Account of.
In the Beginning of the Year 170^. I
fent a Copy of my MS, fourth Volume,
or Account of the 'Primitive Faith concerning
the trinity and Incarnation^ to Dr. Sharp
then Archbifhop of Torh'^ that very good,
that very honeft Man^ that excellent
Preacher, and great Friend to Mr. Clarke
and my lelf. I intended Mr. Clarke fhould
perule it, in its paflage to the Archbifhop.
I knew his Thoughts upon the Merits
of the Caufe pretty well : and at the fame
time, I knew how Cautious and Timerous
he was as to their appearing in publicfc.
Upon which Occafion, I find among my
own Papers, this Copy of a Letter to him,
which I here fet down Verbatim,
My Dear Friend. ^^"^^^ ^^^"^ >^- » 5-
-/ ^ 1708-9.
IHave herewith fent a Copy of my Papers
defign'dfor the Archbifhop of Tork^ that
they may pafs through your Hands firft ;
and that you may then fend them as de-
lign'd. I believe you are afraid to read them,
for fear they fliould difturb your worldly
defigns. I am heartily forry for it, and
fear that you have facrific'd part of that
honeft Chriftian Spirit, which you had in
the days of St. Hernias^ to worldly Efteem
and Preferment. If you perfift in that Re-
folution,
Life of D/\ S. Clarke, 17
folution, not to examine till you are preferred?
I verily believe you will have very little
Comfort in your Preferment, and will one
Day ladly repent it : as plainly fupprefiing
Coniciencc, and delerting the lacred Truths
of God, out of worldly Confiderations :
when your acting honcftly and boldly would
highly promote the defir'd Reformation,
Nor will fuch a defertion of God's Truths
be a fmall Offence another Day, whatever
you may think now. Above all, act open-
ly ; advife with S'n IJhac Newton: and, if
you can do it with a lafe Gonfcience in that
icnle, declare at the time of Sublcription,
that you fign them as Articles of Peace,
which you v/ill never oppofe by Preaching
or Writing, and no farther. Tho' I think
,at this time, you cannot honeftly do io nei-
ther. If you venture againft Confcienc.%
this iTiall he my Compurgator, as having
w^irned you ] and will be your Accufei ano-
ther Day. I am
Tour fnc ere Friend and Brother^
Will. Whiston»
In the Year 1705). not very long after
Mr. Clarke was made Reftor of St. James's^
came on that Ad for hi,s Doctor's Degree in
the Divinity Schools at Cambridge^ which
is fo celebrated and very juftly celebrated
B in
1 8 Hifforical Memoirs of the
in * Eifhop Hoad/ey*s Account. When, if
I may uie the Words of an unknown Admi-
rer of Dr. Clarke^ who was there,- .'' Every
^' Creature prefent was rap't up into Silence
" and Aflonifhment ; and thought the Per-
" formance truly admirable''. The two
Queftions were, that jlll Religion fuppofes
the freedom of human JBlons : and that The
Chrlftlan KeTigton contained nothing contrary
to Reafon. I was then Profeffor of the Mathe-
maticks in that Univerfity ; and having
by that timefatisfy'd my felf that what was of
late called Jrlanlfm^ but ought to be rather
caird Eiifehlanfni^ was for certain no other
than Primitive Chriftianity ; and refolved
at all hazards openly to prof efs the fame ;
and knowing that Mr. Clarke's Opinions in
that Point generally tended the fame way ;
and that, by confequence, he could not,
with perfed Truth and Sincerity, fign the
Jthanafan Parts of the XXXIX Articles :
( which XXXIX Articles yet, to oar Shame
le it Ipoken^ are ftill made abfolutely necef-
fary for every Degree in our Univerfities,
whether of Divinity ^ Law^ or ^hyfck:)
I was concerned that he fhould think of
taking his Degree; which was rather a
thing of Shew and Ornament, than any
way neceffary to his Paftoral Duty ; and
diffaaded him from it. Arid when I could
not prevail on that Head^ I, with the ut-
■^ Pag. 20, 21, 22.
moft
Life of D}\ S. C L A R K E, I g
moll earneftnels, preft'd him at leaft to de-
clare openly, and if it might be, in Wri-
ting alio, hi what Senfe he lublcribed the
fufpefted Articles : that i^o he might be lure to
prelerve, at leaft, Ibme degree of Sincerity,
and a clear Conlcience. I could not prevail
on this Head neither. He told me that
Profcfibr J-ameSj who fufpeSed him of an
Inclination to Heretical ^ravlty^ Hiid to
him, upon his fublcribing the XXXIX Arti-
cles, " He hoped he would not go from his
^' Subfcription", TheDoftor reply'd, "He
" could promife nothing as to futurity ;
^^ and could only anfwer for his prefent
^' Sentiments". He alio told me farther,
that " He determined fome time or other,
" when he had more accurately examined
" the Dodrine of the Trinity, to publilli
" to the World, in what Senle he intended
" his Sublcription to the Athanafan Arti-
'' cles, and his Compliance with xh.^ Atha--
" nafan Forms of Worfliip; and if that
*' Senfe fliould be legally condemned in
^^ Convocation, he would, in that Cafe,
*' take no advantage of the Lav/ ; but
" freely refign his Living, and retire'".
Which indeed feemed ever to m.e to be his
firm Refolution. Accordingly I have been
informed, that he once bought an Houfe in
his own Parifh, whither he intended to re-
tire, in cale the Convocation fhould make
fuch a Determination againft him : tho' up-
B 2 oa
20 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
on his efcape from them, he afterward fold it
again. And this Refolution of his for a Re-
fignation, I verily believe he would have
kept, in cafe of fuch a legal Determi-
nation. And whether he did not allude
to this Refolution, when he afterwards
wrote to the Convocation, as we Ihall fee
hereafter, that " If he fhould write
^' any thing afterwards about the Trinity,
" contrary to the Doftrine of the Church
" of England , he did willingly fubmit him-
^' felf to any fuch Cenfure as his Superiors
^' Ihould think fit to pafs on him'', may de-
ferve to be confidered. For otherwife there
is no meaning in a voluntary Submljfion to
what the Law forces a Man to fubmit to.
In the Courfe of this Aft, where I was
prefent, Profeifor J-ameSy who knew of
the Intimacy of Dr. Clarke and me ; knew
alfo that I was a profefs'd Eujehtan\ and
fulpe£led Dr. Clarke to be a latent one ; di-
grefs'd from one of the Doftor's Queftions,
and prefs'd him hard to condemn one of the
Opinions I bad juil then publifhed in my
Sermons and Effays : which Book he held in
his Hand when he was in the Chair. I
iiippole it might be this, that * " our Sa-
" viour had no Human Soul ^ but that the
" Divine Ki'^c, or Word fupplied its place".
This was done in fuch a rude, indecent, and
almoft profane Manner, as occafion'd the
* Page 216, 217,
fol-
Life of Dr. S. C L A R k: E. 21
following Tetraftick, which was produced by
Dr. Bentky^ when Dr. Clarke and I fupp'd
with him that very Evening.
7'une Mathematicum^ male falfe Jacohe^ LaccJJis^
Hiftrio dum ringis ferium habere njirum ?
Ludis tu Chrifium^ D 0 M i n u m qjj e, D e u M qu e
[ Prof ejus :
Ilk colit D o M I NTJ M, quem negat eJeD'EVU-
\^fu?nmum. ]
Which I have feen thus tranflated,
j^nd do ft thou James, with aukward keennefs mark
Whillon, and fcoffing fret at ferious Clarke?
^houjefift onChrift^ /^j' Lord, a^idGoufu^preme;
Whillon adores him L 0 r d j hut fears him God
to name. ~\
However, Dr. Clarke^ who, I believe, had
not then particularly examined that Point ;
did prudently avoid either the Approbation
or Condemnation of it. Yet have I reafon
to believe he long afterward came into it,
upon a farther Examination : tho' I think
he ever avoided, according to his ufual
Caution, to declare publickly that his Ap-
probation, even upon the moft preffing
Applications. Which is one great inftance
of that impenetrable fecrecy which Dr. Syhes
^ juftly notes to have been in him upon
f. Page 63,
B 3 feve*
iC
2 2 HiJlGrical Memoirs of the
feveral Occafions. Howev-er, what fmall
effect Dr. James's violent Introdudion of
me into Dr. Clarke s Aft had againft me,
take in my own former Words in the H'tJIo^
rical '^reface^ as follows : * " I iay nothing
^^ of the Rudenefs offered, and the Imputa-
^' tion intended to be laid upon me at Dr.
*^ Clarke s remarkable Ad in the Divinity
" Schools ; becaufe the unfair Procedure on
^' the one fide, and the prudent Caution on
" the other, did fo wholly prevent any
Diigrace to me thereby, that after the
Heats which were then excited, were a
^^ little over, and the Univerfity began to
^' confider better of it, all luch Attempts
" turned rather to my Advantage.
Bilhop Hoadley ohi^iYCs one thing almoft
peculiar to Dr. Clarke ; I mean this, that \ the
jirft flrokes ofKnowledge mfome of its Branches
Jeentd to he little lefs than natural to hhn *
but he gives no Example to fupporthis Ob-
fervation. I can give a remarkable one, to
fupply that defed ; and this from his own
Mouth ; communicated to me many Years
ago : and probably upon fome of our early
Converlations. It was this : One of his Pa-
rents asked him when he was very Young,
Whether God could do every thing ? He
anfwered. Yes. He v/as asked again. Whe-
ther God could do one particular Thing,
could tell a Lie? He anfwered, Noo And
* Fage 92, f Page 35.
be
Life of Dr.?>. Clarke. 23
he underftood the Queftion to fuppofe that
this was the only thing that God could not
do : Nor durft he fay he thought there was
any thing elie which God could not do :
While yet he well remembred, he had even
then a clear Conviction in his own Mind,
that there was one other thing which God
could not do, viz. that he could not aiiiu-
h'tlate that Space which was in the Room
wherein they were. Which linpoffibility
now appears even in Sir IJaac Newton's own
Philolbphy.
In the fameYear i yo^. I tranfiated the Jpo-
fGl'icalConft'itiitions into EngllfJj : and becaule
rny own Studies had been chiefly upon Th'tugs^
and had rendred me incapable of being alio
aCritick mlVords or Languages^ Idefiredmy
great Friend and great Critick V^^ .Clarke to re-
vife it : which he was lb kind as toa2;ree \.o.
We read a great Part of it over together, as
he correded the reft by himfelf, and lent
me the Corrcdions : Ibme or all which I
have now by me, under his own hand. I
perceived their Contents m.ade then a very
great Impreffion upon him : Tho' he feemed,
I know not how, to have fufferedfomepart
of that Impreffion gradually to wear off af-
terward. When he had reviled and correct-
ed the whole, and found about ten or
twelve Places which he helitated about, he
recommended it to me to go to our great and
B 4 com*
24 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
common Friend Dr. Smalndge^ ( with whom
my Acquaintance commenced about the
fame time that it did with Dr. Clarke^ if
not a httle fooner,) for the laft Corredion
of thofe more difficult places : Who as he
was a very great Admirer of the Book it
felf, fo was he pleas'd to examine and corred
my Verfion of it as to every one of thofe
Places. Thefe were the two Perfons intima-
ted, but not named by me on this Account
in the Jdvertifement to the firft of my four
Volumes of ^^rminve Chnfltamty Revived:
where I juftly call * Dr. Clarke^ one excellently
skilled tnjuch Matters^ and an accurate hand:
and Dr. Smalrldge^ a very Learned and Judt^
cmis^erfon. But to proceed,
OBoher 30. 171c. I was banilhed the
Univerfity of Camhrldge.
In March 1 7 1 1 . Soon after the publicati-
on of my HlfiGrkal Preface , the Convoca-
tion fell upon me with great Fury. Of all
which Proceedings both of the Univerfity
and Convocation, I foon gave the Worl4
diftind Accounts: which now make the
two Appendices to that Hijiorkal ^reface^
when it was prefixed before my four Volumes
of ^Trimitive Chr'iftlanlty Reviv'd, Which
A^ccounts were neVer contradidled : and to
w^hich Accounts I refer the inquifitive Rea-
der.
-Page.... ^^^
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 25
The reafon of mentioning the Convoca-
tion here is, that, during its fitting it was,
that Ibme of Dr. Clarke's and my Friends
were endeavouring to procure hands to a
Petition to the Convocation, that inttead
of this way of Violence and Perfecution,
they would take the way of Peace and Ex-
amination, and would make a publick Re-
mew of the Churches Dodrine about the
Trinity, in order to fet the Minds of Men
right and eafy in fo important a Point. I
find a Form of fuch a Petition among my
Papers, drawn up by a common Friend of
Dr. Clarke s and my felf; aad its general
Defign highly approved of by us both. It
is perhaps too prolix. However, I here
give it the Reader Verbatim : with this only
Intimation, that the Convocation was foon
grown too hot and too violent to permit
it to be either fubicrib'd or prefented.
Tg the moji Reverend Father In God Thomas
Lord Jrchbijhop of CdintQxhniYj ^Prefdent
of the Convocation^ the follozmng Reprefen-
tation is with all Humility and Submifjion
offered.
u
May it f leaf e your Grace.
WHereas it is too evident and vifible
" to all ferious Chriftians, that the
" Church
z.
6 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
''- Church of Chrift is mifcrably rent, and
" more than ordinarily divided into feveral
" Seels and Parties, whereby great Offences
'' are pretended to be either taken or given ;
^' and that Unity of Faith, and Bond of
" Peace, which fhould diftinguifli Chriftians
^^ from the reft of the profane World, is very
" much weakened and impaired, to the great
" Scandal of our holy Religion, and to the
^' manifeft Increafe cf all ibrts of Licenti-
oufnefs and Immorality.
" And whereas through the feveral Dif-
putes and Controverfies that have of late
arifen among good and learned Men, con-
cerning the true Scripture-Dodrine of the
Holy Trinity, the Enemy of Mankind
^^ hath been bufy to increafe the Number of
^^ Infidels, Deifts, and all forts of Hereticks,
'^ that oppofe themfelves to the Intereft of
'' Chrift's Religion.
" And again. Whereas it is to be lamented
'^ that through the Ambiguityof many Ex-
'' preffions yet remaining in the Articles and
*' Liturgy of our holy and reformed Church,
^' many of our moft learned Divines in their
'^ expounding the Church's Doctrine relating
" to the Holy Trinity, have been tempted
" to fay Things much favouring l^ritheifm
'^^ on the one Hand, and Sahelllan'ifm on the
^^ other ; whereby the Minds of Men have
^^ been very much perplexed and diftracled in
'' the
Life of Dr. S. C L A R k e. 27
'^ the moft folemnAds of religious Worfhlp,
" to the great Hindrance and Decay of true
" Piety and Godlinfs.
" Upon all thefe Confiderations, We who
arefenfibly touch'd with the prefenttV^/j///?^^
and Divijtons^ and upon no other Motive
w^hatfoever, but the promoting the Glory
and Honour of Almighty God, and the re-
trieving a primitive Spirit of Chriftianity
among us by Union and Love, do with
'^ the utmoft Submiffion and Deference to the
^' Authority of our Superiors, moft humbly
" beg Leave to reprefent to your Grace, the
^' prefent Neceffity we apprehend there is of
" a ferious Review of the Articles and Litur-
'<- gy of our Church: Thew^ayand manner
whereof we do not prefumetoDiftate; but
do leave it to the Learning, Piety and god-
ly Wifdom of your Grace, and the reft of
the Lords the Bifliops : Not doubting but
that the united Councils of fo many learn-
ed Perfons of known Holinels and Integri-
ty, will procure it to be done in fuch a
manner, as that all Occafion of Offence may
be cutoff, the Minds of all fincereChrifti-
ans made eafy, the Intereft and Welfare of
the Chriftian Religion, by found Doftrine,
and holy Difcipline maintained, according
" to the divine Will revealed to us in the
^' holy Scripture, and thereby the Honour of
Almighty God propagated and preferved
amongft
u
a
2 8 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
"-' amongft us. All which is the earneft and
*-' fincere Defire of us,
May It pleafe your Grace,
Tour G R A c e's mojl Obedient^
And moft Humble Servants.
But befides this long Form, I find
among my Papers a Specimen of another
very fliort one, without any Names, but
correfted by Dr. Clarke' % own Hand, in thefc
Words :
" We whofe Names are hereunto fub-
" fcribed,having read fome Parts ofMr.^;&i-
" Jlon'^ Papers, and particularly of his Ac-
^' count of the Primitive Faith^ do hereby
^^ declare, that we find therein fome [ ma-
" ny ] Paflages, both of Scripture and the
'' Primitive Writers of fuch Importance,
" that we cannot but think them highly
^' worthy the ferious and publick Confide-
^^ ration of all learned Men in the Chri-
" ftian Church.
The fame Year 1 7 1 1 , I publiftied my four
Volumes of Primitive Chrifltanity Revh'd. A
little after which, I was fent for to Mr.
Benjamin Hoadley's^ who was then Reftor of
St. Jeter's ^cory and my particular Friend ;
where I found himfelf j his Brother, Mr.
John
Life of Dr. S. CLAkKE, 29
yohn Hoadley^ together with Mr. Craig^
Mr. William and Mr. Gilbert Burnet^ and
Dr. Clarke ; whether there were any o*
ther^ prefent, I do not certainly remem-
ber. The principal Reafon of fending
for me was, to difcourfe about the Autho-
rity of the Apofiolical Conjiltutlons, For as
to my Jccount of the Primitive Faith ^ about
the Trinity and Incarnation^ the Company
did not feem much diffatisfied with it.
Upon my coming, the Difcourie foon began
on the Subjed of the Conftitutions. Mr.
Craig was tlie firft that fpake, and he
feemed greatly concerned at the Rules in the
Conftitutions about Faflng ; and he fear'd
they would extend to luch as could not, on
account of their Health, admit of even
fuch a fmall degree of Mortification. I re-
plied, that I knew of no fuch Rules there;
and that it was particularly faid of the
Praftice of Fafting, or as every one Is
able ^. Which direftly liippofes no fuch
Rigor was intended, as might impair the
Health of any. After this, Mr. Benjaynlu
Hoadley fy^-kc his Mind; " That without
" entring into the Difpute, whether the
" Conftitutions were really Genuine and
" Apoftolical, or not, he was for receiving
" them, as much better than what was al-
^^ ready in the Church." I cannot fay the
fame of Mr. John Hoadley^ who then, and
* L. V. c. 19.
ever
30 Hijl or ical Memoirs of the
ever fince, has lliew'd a great Averfion to
their Admiffion, and indeed to the Admil-
fion of any old proper Chriftian Rules and
Dilcipline at all ; and he has always
efteem'd me as one defirous of bringing
^erjecufion into the Church, by my En-
deavours for the Reftoration of that Dif
clpUne.
But when Dr. Clarke came to declare his
Opinion, who was, beyond Compare, the
bell Judge of thofe I then conversed with ;
it was this, that " He would not argue
" with me, whether thele Conftitutions
" were really written by Clement in the
" Days of the Apoftles, as I afferted, or
" not : For if they fliould be fuppos'd
" written a good deal later, from the Pra-
" clices and Settlements of the Churches
" founded by the Apoftles, [ which Hypo-
" thefis he leemed to favour,] yet fince
" they plainly contain the Rules which
^' the fecond and third Centuries of the
" Church obferv'd , they were fo much
" elder, and more authentick than what is
" in the prefent Churches, that he w^as al-
" fo for receiving them." I told him, that
if he would be entirely honeft in his Con-
ceffions, he ought to add , that " Thofe
" fecond and third Centuries obferv'd
^' thefe Rules, not as eftablilhed by la-
" ter Church Authority, but as derived
^' from the Apoftles themfelves/' He rea-
dily
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 31
dlly agreed it to be fo. And if any think
even the former part of this Gonceffion too
libera], he need but read lS/lv,^Tcter King's
excellent Enquiry into the Confutation^ DiJ-
eipline^ Unity and WorJJnp of the Primitive
Churchy written before he had ever read
thele Conftitutions, and while his Educati-
on among the Diffenters had naturally given
him, fome Averfenefs to not a few Things
contained in them ; where yet he will foon
fee the main part of Dr. Clarke s Gonceffion
undeniably confirmi'd from the other Re-
cords of the three firft Genturies.
Upon this Occafion I fhall take Leave to
add feme other Gonceffions of learned Men,
as to the ylntiquity of thole eight Books of
Apoftolical Gonftitutions ^ for as to their
Contents m general, they are hardly lefs at-
teiled to, than are the Gontents of the
known Books of the New Teftament.
x\3 to what Affiftance I had in my own
Enquiries into thele Gonftitutions, I name
but one Perlbn here, as being by far the
Principal, Mr. Richard AlUn^ Fellow of
Sidney Gollege in Cambridge : and muft now
inform the Reader, that he is that* '' Learn-
^' ed Friend, to whofe honcft, impartial
'' and laborious Affiftance and Sagacity, I
^' in one Place, own my fell to be too deep-
^' ly indebted, to be eycr able to make a
* HilW. Pref. Pag. 13.
" fuitabk
gi Hijiorical Memoirs of the
*' fui table Return/* And that he it i^ alfo
whom I ellewhere mean, when I mention
" the great, the laborious, the honeft and
^^ the conftant Affiftance of a ^ learned and
" pious Friend in my Diicoveries about
" thefe Conftitutions.
The learned Dr. Grahe ( whofc dread of
the Jrian PafTages affrighted him from
owning the whole as really Apoftolical )
would fain perfaade us they were put to-
gether later 'by fome Jrian^ out of the
Didafcaltes of Clement^ Ignatius^ and other
Apoftolical Men, without producing any
proper Evidence in the World for fuch an
Hypothefis. Yet did he freely own, both
inConverfation, and in Print, (in his learn-
ed Notes on the firft Apology of ^iiflln
Martyr) that the admirable Liturgy of the
Church of the Gentiles in the eighth Book,
was really AfofioltcaL See Clem, and Ircn. Vin-
dication of the Conftttnt, StippL Page ^—13.
Our great Mr. Mead \\ fuppofes the Con-
ftitutions as ancient as ■ro'r/'/////t7/^ ; i.e. writ-
ten either at the end of the fecond, or be-
p-innins; of the third Century.
Our learned Bifhop^-'' i3////efteems its Li-
*^ turgy among the moft undoubtedly ancient
^' Liturgies, and as earlier than the Council
" of Nice" ; or, in other Words, he ellewhere
affirms, that " the Clementine Liturgy is by
f Prim. Chrift. Reviv'd, Vol. III. Pag. 6. :
II Op. ?(^g- 419- * Corruption of the Church of
'B^ome, Fage, 27. Op. Seft. ii, §. 6/ Of Angels.
" the
Life of Dr, S. Clarke. 33
" the Learned on all Hands confefs'd to be
" very Ancient, and to contain the Order of
" Worftiip obferv'd in the Eaftern Churches
" before the times of Conjlant'ine.
The very learned ^|^ Renaudot , in his
highly valuable Account of the ancient Ori-
ental Liturgies, confeffcs the Conjiltution
Liturgy to be the oldefl: of them all, and
at leatt about the Age of the Council of
Nlce'^ nay rather a great deal earlier thaa
that II Council. \_Altq^i.iot feculh fcljjionem
Ecclejt^ per yacobitiis antecedentes. ]
Grottus X himfelf, Ipeaking of the Jpo-*
folkal Canons^ ( which feem to be in general
ExtraBsiiova^ and are ftili the la ft Chapter
of the Apoftolical Conjlitutions ) thinks
them probably to have been coUeded at the
end of the fecond Century.
Our excellent Bifhop Bevertdge^ who has
largely written upon thefe ApojloTical Ca--
nons^ and fully prov'd they were the Eccle--
Jiajiical Rules by which the Churches were
governed in the fecond and third Centuries,
luppofes them made by Councils of Bifhops
in thofe Ages, and frequently proves they
were made by fuch Councils and BilTiops,
from Manufcripts and Teftimonies, which
fay they were made by the Apoftles. See
my third Volume of ^Vrimltlve Chriftianity
Revh'dy Page 83 — ^6".
t Differt. I. Pag. s, lo. i| II. Pag. i'u. t In i Tlra;
iii
C Our
34 Hifiookal Memoirs of the
Our very learned Mr. Wajfe alio, Rector
of Atnho in Northamptonfblre^ who has gone
deeper into the Examination of fuch Mat-
ters than moft of the Learned here, has,
more than once acknowledged to me, that
they are not later than the former part of
the fecond Century. As they cannot cer-
tainly be , becaufe that very Helleyiifikal
St'tle or Language^ wherein they are unde-
niably written, was loft by the middle of
that Century, and never after reviv'd a-
mong Chriftians to this Day. The fame
Mr. iVaJfe al fo, at the end of the Preface to
his Reformed Devotions^ printed at Oxfordy
J, D, 1 7 1 9, recommends it to the Church
of England to improve and correct her own
Common-Prayer-Book by this Conjlttntlon
Liturgy. His Words are thefe ; " By the
*' fineft Paflages in the Jew'ifi Prayers, an-
" cient and modern, ( which he had fet
down before ) it is certain, the Liturgy
'' of the Conftitutions is vaftly preferable
" to them ; and I cannot but wifh our ex-
" cellent Common-Prayer were perfeiled
" from It : That for the Confecratton of the
'' Elements hi the Holy Sacrament particu-
'' larly."
Give me Leave alfo to add, That that
truly learned and good Man, Mr. BiUerSy
once Fellow of St. John's College, and pub-
lick Orator of that Univerfity , as I have
been
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 35
been certainly informed, did, foon after my
Baniftiment from that Univerfity, fet him-
felf throughly to examine thofe Conftitu-
tions. What the Refult was, becaufe Mr.
BUkrs fell into a Hate of Melancholy and
Diforder of Body fome Years before his
Death, and his Papers were jadg'd too im-
perfeft to appear, I cannot certainly learn.
However, from that Account I had con-
cerning his Examination, it feemed to me
that he was of my Opinion, and judged the
Conftitutions genuine. This Account I
had from Mr. Thomas Baker^ our great and
common Friend, flill alive, and refident in
St. John's College. Now theie two Per-
fons, Mr. Blllers and Mr. Baker ^ were
among thofe that I moft familiarly con-
vers'd with at Cambridge^ ail ihe while I
Was examining the Primitive Faith, and
the Apoitolical Conftitutions. The Men-
tion of whom puts me naturally in m.ind of
two Sayings of Mr. BUlers to me in thofe
Days: The one w^as, that he feared our
Bnglljlo Divines would not be able to anfwer
me about the Trinity, but that he hoped
fome of the Foreign Divines would be able
to do it. The other was, that he expeded
the Church would lirft yield me up the
[fupreme] Divinity of the Holy Ghoft^ be-
fore they yielded up that of the Son ; which
confideiing the fmall, the very fmail Pre-
C 2 tences
36 Hijlorical Memoirs oj the
tenccs there are either in Scripture or Anti-
quity, for th.2Xfupreme Divinity of the Holy
Ghofi^ was no other than a moil juft and
equitable Expedation; though it has not
hitherto been comply'd with by the Church,
And the Reader is farther to take Notice,
that it was Mr. Baker whom I particularly
meant in my Hijlorical ^Preface , where I
fay, " When I began to fpeak of Jrianifin
*' to fome Friends, and freely to declare
" my Thoughts about the Dodrine of the
*' Trinity, I was immediately made fenti-
" ble what a Noife, and Buftle, and Odi-
*^ um, and perhaps Perfecution I ftiould
" raife againft my felf, if I ventured to
" talk and print at that Rate ; and how I
" and my Family would probably be ru-
*' in'd by llich a Procedure." And the in-
timate Friendlhip Mr. Eillers and Mr. Ba--
ker had then with me, by degrees became
fo vifible, that it occafion'd a Report, as if
they were both of my Opinion ; as appears
by Mr. Baker's Letter to me, dated from
Ca?7ihridge^ November 1^. [1710. ] whofe
Words are thefe : " — Dr. 0. makes a Noife
*' in the Coffee-houfes, that you had given
*' out that Mr. Billers and I were of your
" Opinions^ which though I do not be-
" lieve, having always referv'd my felf till
*^ I faw the Strength of what could be faid
" in your Books, and the Anfwers ; yet it
" makes
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 37
^' makes as much Noife as if it were true/'
I am.
Dear Sir,
Tour Obedient Humble Servant ^
Mr. Billers prefents you
with his Service,
Thomas Baker,
Nor could I well avoid mentioning two
fuch excellent Perlbns as Mr. Billers and
Mr. Bakery by way of Honour to my felf,
and Commendation to them ; as two of
thofe my Friends who flood laft and
longeft by me ; and, as far as they could,
diverted or flopped the Profecution againft
me at the XJniverfity. But this is too great
a Digreffion. I return
To the Antiquity and Genuinenefs of
the Apoftolical Conftitutions, and to Dr.
Clarke's Opinion afterwards about them.
As to which Matter, I perceived, by diC-
courfing with him, that upon the Publica-
tion of the famous Fragment of Iren^usy
concerning certain Contents of t\it fecofid
Conjiltutlons of the Jpojilesy by the learned
^ ^fyffitiSy and afterwards by my felf ; he
was greatly moved, and knew not well
how that Citation could be made by Ire^
* St. Clem, and St. Inn. Vindication of the Conflitut. Pa^.
19--.26,
C 3 n^^eus
3 8 Hiflorlcal Memoirs of the
na^us^ unlels he had feen the Eighth Eoofc
of the ApoftolicalConftitutions. As I have
heard that Dr. Bare attempted to avoid the
faid Evidence, by fuppofing this Irenjeas
to be Ibme later Iren^us^ and not the old
Bifhop of Lyons ; contrary to the Evidence
produced by ^ ^f^ffitis^ who difcovered tliofe
Fragments.
I have alfo been informed, that Dr. Clarke
was fo far moved with that 'Principal Ob--
fervafion I afterwards made |j, that '' Ail the
^' Citations made out of the Old and New
^' Teftament, in the Apoftolical Conftitu-
^' tions, were made according to the origi-
^^ ,nal Copies, as they flood before the Jews
" corrupted them in the Days of Bar-
^^ chocab^ about the end of the firft, or be-
^^ ginning of the fecond Century ^ and as
*' they have never fince flood among Chri-
" ftials^" as to allow that this Oblervati-
on w^ould prove thofe Parts of the Confti-
tutions genuine : though he cared not to al-
low the other Parts of the fame Conftitu-
tions to be genuine with them. This laft
Account, I think, I had from Dr. Rundky
a common Friend of Dr. Clarke and my
felf, w^ho was once w^ith me a zealous Pro-
jnotqr of ^rlnntive CJorlJiianity^ and, if I
do not greatly miftake, one that was then
ftrongly inclined to believe the Apoflolical
f Ubi pi-ius & vSupplem. Pag. 1,2. || EiTay on the Old
Teftament, Appendix, Pa^. 116 — 130.
Con-
Life of Dr, S. Clarke. 39
Conftitutions genuine. If he thinks them
now to be otherwife, he is at Liberty to
give his Reafons. In the mean time, if he
would ufe thofe great Revenues of the
Church which he now enjoys, for the pro-
moting that Primitive Chriftianity which
he knows to be contained in them, and for
which, before he had thofe Revenues, he
was fo zealous, he would not repent it
another Day. This Evafion of Dr. Clarke's^
made me loon look over thofe Conftitu-
tions, to fee how many of their Chap-
ters would be found genuine by this Rule.
And they were no fewer, by my Catalogue,
then made, than fifteen of the fecond Book,
two of the third, four of the fourth, thir-
teen of the fifth, eleven of the fixth, twelve
of the feventh, and eight of the eighth;
lixty five in all. Now if there be any one
truly learned Man befides Dr. C/arJie^ that
fhall allow all thefe Parts of the Conftituti-
ons genuine, and deny or doubt of the
Genuinenefs of the reft, I ftiall greatly
marvel.
I conclude this Digreffion at prefent with
my own Words, ufed to Mr. Anthony ColUnSj
in the * ^ropoj ah for printing my Authentkk
Records^ which include two other Conceffions
relating to the Conftitutions. Mr. CoUins
had afferted, that " the Apoftolical Con-
* At the end the Lit. Accomp. of Scripture Proph. Pag. 3.
C 4 " ftitutions
40 Hijiorical Meinoirs of the
'^ ftitutions were manifeftly a forg'd mo-
'' dern Book." To which I replied, f '' Yet
^^ have I given, as I verily believe, an
^' tmanfwerahle , I am fure an hitherto
*^ unanjwered Demon fir at ton , that thofe
^' Conftitutions were written in the firft
*^ Century. I can alfo affure this Au-
*^ thor , that one of the moft learned
*' and excellent Perfons in this Nation,
^^ fince dead, when it was proposed at the
*^ firil Publication of my four Volumes,
*^ that fomebody ought to be employed to
^^ prove againft me, that that Book was
^^ fpurious \ made this Reply, He took that
^^ to be an hard Thing to do. As alfo,
*- that a Brother Unbeliever of this Au-
^* thor's, of greater Sagacity than himfelf,
*^ though now dead, was fo moved by the
*^ fame firft Evidence, that he confefs'd I
^^ had proved that Book genuine : And
^' thence he infer'd, that Jefus Chrift pre-
^' fum*d to give fo great Authority to the
^' Clergy, that he was juftly put to Death
^^ by the Reman-, Governor." And I now
^dd, that by one of the moji learned and ex--
ceUent Perfons in this Nation^ whom I there
defer ibe, I meant no other than Dr. Smai^
ridge ; of which Saying of his more here-
after. Though I do not even now think
fit to name the other. But: to return from
this very long Digfeffion.
f EiTay on the Old Tellam^nt, Append. Pag. 116—138.
May
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 41
May 16. 171 2. I wrote the following
Letter to Dr. Clarke^ of which I find a Co-
py among my Papers. The Contents of
which will fufficiently difcoyer the Occa-
fion:
Dear Sir, ^'^y ^^' ^"^ ^ ^^^^^» ^712.
I Heartily thank you for your Book, be-
caufe it will be of mighty Ufe for
the Reftoration of old Chriftianity ; but I
am beyond Meafure forry for fome things
in it, on your Account. For fo vifibly
betraying your Refolution to comply with
any Thing , rather than break with the
Church, nay, even as to the Jthanajian
Creed it felf; for your Condemnation of
Arianifm in grofs, without Diftin6tion ; and
particularly y^r your avoiding the Dodrine
or Expreffion that Chrift was created^ and
the owning as it were, his eternal Genera^
tion:, when you know that Eternity was
before his Generation : So that I think this
Book will lie heavy upon you at the great
Day. Take care that your Regard to the
Peace of the Church may be Apology fuf-
ficient for you then. You have not fo much
as own'd, as 1 fee, that you will not ufe
the Athanafan Creed, as you ought moft
certainly to have done. In fliort, your un-
fincere Excufes and Palliations for that
Creed, and the like Things in the Church,
are
42 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
are fo vifiblc, that this Book will utterly fink
your Reputation with the honeft, while it
will get you no Intereft, perhaps not Safety
among others. However, correct ^^r^. 182.
lAne 7. brcught into the World by the Father
before all Jges^ fince 'tis a manifeft Blun-
der. I lament that * cL^Axt^iiai iv-Tn^gttTK;^
which you cannot get clear of, and which I
cannot but, with the utmoft Regret, fee.
I fend this before I have read one quarter of
your Book, on account of your Blunder,
that it might be ftill corrcded : And am,
Mof ajfeBionately yoursy j
Will. W h i s t o n.
This Letter fhews , that at this very
Time it was that Dr. Clarke^ in Purliiance
of his former Refolution to explain the
Senfe in which he had figned the Jthana-
pan Claufes in the XXXIX Articles, and
had fubmitted to the Ufe of the Jthanafan
Forms in the Liturgy ^ as well as to lay be-
fore the World the entire Refult of his En-
quiries about the Dodrine of the Trmity,
publifhed his famous Scripture DoBrine of
the Trinity ; a Book which made a very
great Impreffion upon not a few that read it.
Concerning which, what my real Thoughts
* [Heb.xii. I.]
were
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 43
were upon its entire Perufal at that Time,
I fliall take Leave to give the World large-
ly and authentickly : I mean by Republifh-
ing thole Observations, I then print-
ed, as xh^frft Jppendlx to the fifth Volume
of my ^rimltwe Chrijiianity Revived -^ ha-
ving been firft communicated to himfelf in
Maaulcript : Noting withal, that I now
omit the fifth and fixth Obfervations, about
the Creation or Coeterntty of Chrift, with
the large Collection of Teftimonies upon
thofe Subjefts under the fixth, as being too
long, too remote from my prefent Defign,
and having been more than once publiflied
elfewhere, particularly in my Debates with
the Earl of Nottingham^ with great Im-
provements. Noting farther, that the fiiort
Apology for Dr. Clarke^ contained there un-
der the third Obfervation, are the Doctor's
own Words, by him given to me, and al-
low'd to be by me inferted in that Place,
with my own Anfwer to them. And no-
ting in the laft Place, that what I fay there
ib fully and warmly under the eighth Ob-
fervation, againft the Dodor*s forced and
unnatural Expofitions of certain Parts of
our prefent Greeds and Liturgy, is only
meant againfl: thofe Parts of the Doftor's
latt Chapter, as it Hood in his firft Edition;
but the main Parts of which have been by
him very wifely and honeftly dropped in
the fecond Edition ; though without that
publick
44 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
publick Declaration oihxs Repentifnce^ which
I think he ought to have made upon fo im-
portant an Occafion : Of which more here-
after.
Observations (?;^ Dr, Clarke'j Scripture
DoBrine of the Trinity.
WITH how great Pleafure and Sa-
tisfaction I muft have read this
moft remarkable Book concerning the Scrips
tiire DoBrlne of the Trinity^ every one that
is at all acquainted with me, or my Wri-
tings, will eafily fuppofe ; fince it contains,
for the maln^ thole very Chriftian Doctrines
which I have fo very earncftly recommen-
ded to all Chriftians, efpecially to all Pro-
teftant Churches, and that in great Part
from the fame original Evidence, and on the
fame facred Authority. And T cannot but
look upon it as a moft happy Omen of the
Fall of Error and Antichriftianifm among
us, that fo Learned, Judicious, and Emi-
nent a Perfon as Dr. Clarke^ has fo openly,
and with fuch undeniable Strength of Rea-
fon and Evidence, confirmed much the grea-
teft Part of what I have fo long and fo zea-
loufly been contending for : And this with-
out the dlreB ContradlBlon of almoft an^
one thing that I haveafferted. Yet becaufe
I cannot approve of fome Things in this no-
ble
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 45
ble Work ; and do really believe that the
Dodor's Notions, as here delivered, are ih
fome degree fhort of the original Chriftian
Doftrines ; and fome Pradices here allowed
more different from the original Chriftian
Duties; and becaufe fo great an Authority
as Dr. Clarke's may have too much influence
on many, to make them avoid the own-
ing and obferving Ibme plain Truths and
Laws of the Gofpel, as they were honeftly
received and oblerved in the firft Ages ; I
ftiall take the Liberty, where I ftill lee
Realbn to differ from him, without the leaft
Breach of Friendlhip, to tell him and the
World my Mind with theutmoft Freedom :
That IlO either he may own his miftake, and
come entirely up to the Dodrines and Duties
of Chriftianity as I have proposed them ; or
that I may have a better Opinion of his
Notions and confequent Pradices ; if they
appear not difagreeable to our old and un-
defird Religion ; as upon Convidion I am
moft ready to have. Being ever fatisfyed
when I fee the real, entire, genuine Do-
drines and Pradices of the Gofpel, and not
any human Notions and Decrees, prevail
among Mankind. Now in this Cafe I fliall
comprize what I have to fay to Dr. Clarke
under the Obfervations following. I Ob-
ferve.
I. That here fometimes appears, efpeci-
ally in the fecond Part, to be a vifible By-
als
46 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
afs indalg'd of reprefenting the Chriftian
Doftrines and Praftices, as near as pofiible
in a prudential way ; in language not moft
exact, but moft inofFenfive ; in terms not
moft authentick, but moft agreeable to the
prefent Settlements ; with the Omiffion of
luch original Expreffions at leaft, if not
Notions, as are not likely to go down fo well
in this Age: Here are alio in the laft Part
all the moft plaufible Pleas and Apologies
made for the Articles, Creeds, and Forms
now in the Church of England : Here are
Practices endeavoured to be excus'd^ if not
juftifyed, w^hen no direct Warrant can be
pretended. In fhort, here ieems to befuch
an Account of the Chriftian Faith and Wor-
fliip as is too much intermixed with the un-
warrantable Additions now in the Church ;
even where there is not the leatt facred or
primitive Authority for them. Now if all
this had been done by a Party-man, wri-
ting for any particular Church; if it had
been done by a profefs'd Writer on thele
Matters of Controverfy ;, how great a Man
foever otherwife, I fhould not have been
furpriz'd. But to be done by one fo very
fenfible of the Impofitions of that Sort of
Writers, of fo folid a Judgment, and io
great Skill in the Bible, and the reft of the
original Books of our Religion, in a matter
w^hich he owns to be fo facred, and v/here
we are not to receive him th^it teaches not
only
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 47
only cijiy other Gofpel^ but even ^ any thing
bejides what the Apoflh'i taught in fuch mat-
ters ;, and this in a Defign of giving the
Church an Account of the h'ezv Tefiameiit
Faith ; and in a Book entituled, The Scrip-
ture Do[irine of the Trinity ^ ieems to me not
fb perfectly agreeable to the very Nature of
his Undertaking, nor to be the way of an
impartial Repreientation.
There are already Writers enow for every
Party, who have reprefented the Doctrines
and Duties of Chriftianity in a way but too
agreeable to their own Notions, and in
Words but too agreeable to their own Set-
tlements. And I had my felf Temptation
enough m the drawing up mj Jcconnt of the
Primitive Faith to induce me to make it as
ealy and inofFenfive as poffible, nay to per-
fvvade me, to omit thofe Words and Exprel^
fions that would not eafily now pafs in the
World, and that were likely to expofe me
to the Difpleafure of thofe in Authori-
ty, and perhaps to Perfecution alio. Yet
was I fo fully fenfible of the indifpenfible
Obligation I was under of reprefenting every
thing as it really was, and of exactly keep-
ing to the original Notions, Language, and
Expreffions of Chriftianity, that [ was not,
I blefs God, in the leaft byafs'd by any of
thofe Temptations ; nor did once, to my
Knowledge, at all corrupt or mitreprefent
a Gal i. 8,
the
48 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
the Dodrines of the Gofpel, or its Pradices,
on any fuch occafion : which I own has been
a conftant Foundation of Comfort to me
under all the Oppofition and Difficulties I
have met with. I wifh Dr. Clarke and all
other Writers may ever take the fame Care,
on the like occafions: that fo nothing may
be at any time either faid or omitted on fuch
facred and important Subjefts, out of any
other regards but thofe to real Truth, Sin-
cerity, and Chriftianity. I Obferve
11. Thar the Dodor fully afferts, ^ that
the Scripture^ or the known open publicfc
Books of the New Teftament, are the real
and only Kule of Truth among Chriftians •
and that the original Creed it felf was there-
fore to be believ'd, becaufe it expreffed the
Senfe of Scripture only, and was an Extract
out of the fame ; nay, and that Iren^us in
particular has that Dodrine. This I affirm
to be entirely falfe in fad, and without the
leaft ground that I ever faw in Antiquity;
and particularly contrary to the exprefs Do-
drine oilreiwus. And I infift upon it, that,
on the other hand, the Traditionary Do-
Brines^ the Traditionary Creed^ and the Tra-
ditionary 'breaching of the Apofles^ which
are either authentickly now preferv'd in the
Jpojlolical Confitutions^ or no where, or
however the Scriptures as interpreted ac-
cording to them, w^ereeyer in the firll times
fc Introdua. p. 4. ^r.
own'd
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 49
own'd the only certain Foundations of the
Chriftian Settlements ; and that the Arti-
cles of Faith contained in the original Creed
were not extracted from the Scriptures, but
were of more Ikcred Authority 5 were pro-
bably earlier than any of the Books of our
New Teftament ; and were looked on as
immediately deriv'd from Heaven, or from
our Saviour himfelf, after he had been in
Heaven.- All which has been already proved
in my ^j[ply on the Jpojiolkal Conjiitiitions,
And I beg of the Doftor to give me but one
lingle Proof of this his Affertion of fo great
Importance, in any of the moft early Ages
of the Church. Without which he cannot
but know that any Man's or Churches mo-
dern Opinions are of no Authority at alL
But this is not a proper Place to enlarge on
that Matter. I Obferve
III. That the great Latitude Dr. Clarke
allows, ^ that every Perfon may reafonably
agree to modern Forms, under a Proteftant
Settlement, which owns the Scripture as
the Rule of Faith, whenever he can in any
Senfe at all reconcile them with Scripture^ if
it be with a Declaration how he reconciles
them ^ even tho* it be in a Senfe which is
own'd to be plainly forc'd and unnatural ;
feems to me not juftifyable • but contradi-
ftory to the direft Meaning and Defign of
thole Forms j and of the moft pernicious con-
« Pag. 20. 5:c.
D fequencc
5 o HtJlGrical Memoirs of the
fequence in all parallel Cafes. Nor do I fee
at this rate, that the fame Liberty can be
wholly deny'd toaProteftant, as to the Po-
pifli Doftrines and Praftices ; fince there alfo
'tis fuppos'd that thofe Forms are intended
to oblige Men to nothing but what is agreea-
ble to Chriftianity. If to this Obfervation
the Dodor Ihould reply, that complying
with the Church of Kome^ and joining with
a Proteftant Church in the manner and with
the Declarations he does, are quite different
Things on thefe two Accounts, (i.) Becaufe
the Church of Korae will not permit any
of her Members to make any fuch Beclara^
t'lon concerning her Doftrines, hut pofitively
infifts upon every ones implicit Submiffion
to them, in the Senfe that Church and her
Councils receive them, without examining
them by the Rule of Scripture; And (2.)
becaufe many of the Dodrines of the Church
of Rome^ fuch as the Invocation of the Vlr-
gin Mar}\ and of Saints, &c. with the Wor-
fliip of Images, can in no Senfe be reconci-
led, but are direftly contrary to it, as fet-
ting up other Mediators inftead of Chrift,
iind teaching Men to apply to fuch Beings
as have no ^ower or Dominion over them j
whereas the Invocation of the Holy Ghoft,
and fo of the whole Trinity as ufed in the
Church of England^ fome of the moft fuC-
picious of all the Things allowed by him;
may be underftood (and Declared) to be
only
Life of D7\ S. C L A R K E. 51
only a defiring him to beftow thofe Gifts
upon us, in Subordination to the Father
and the Son, which we are fure from Scrip-
ture it is his proper Office^ and in his '^czver
to diftribute: If I fay the Dodor fliall make
this Reply, I muft Anfwer, (i,) That I
doubt our Church does not properly allow
her Members to make any fuch Declarati-
ons as is here intimated, bat expeds their
Submiffion in that Senfe (lie and her Synods
have imposed her Dodrines and Devotions ;
and tho' it be not under the Notion of i/?2-
flicit^ Faith^ and zvithont Examination^ yeC
as acquiefcing in her Judgment, interpret-
ing the Scripture according to her Articles
and Creeds, andfubmitting to her Authori-
ty In Controverjies of Faith. (2.) That there
are even in the Church of Rome few or no
fuch DodrinesorPradices, but Perlbnswell
diipofcd to it can in fome Senfe or other re-
concile them with Scripture; or at leail
think they can ; which is here almoft the
fame Cafe; without dreaming of fetting up
other Mediators inftead of Chriu, or doubt-
ing of fome Degree of Power and Authori-
ty in the Beings fo Invocated. So that if
we, without all facred or even primitive
Command or Example, may follow our
Church in the Invocation of the Holy Spi-
rit, and foof the whole Trinity, from fome
uncertain Reafonings of our .own, I do not
fee hovv^ wx can condemn the Papids for fol-
D z lowing
5 2 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
lowing their own Church in the Invocation
of Angels, nay hardly in that of Sahits
alfo, and of the Virgin Mary her felf. Nor
can any Explications of Forms directly a-
gainft the known Senfe of Words, and of
the Impofers, be other than ^roteftatw con-
tra fciBiim^ and fo wholly unjuftilyable.
Nor indeed, if this were fomewhat tolera-
ble in fome particular Cafes of Imall mo-
ment, can it be at all fo in the moil facred
Articles and Offices of Religion. If this
way be allowable, ^ then is the Offence of
the Crofs ceafed:^ then the Martyrs have
commonly loft their Lives without lufficient
caufe ; and thofe Jews who would dye ra-
ther than eat Swines Flefh, and thole Chri-
ftians that would fuffer the like Punilhment
rather than caft a little Incenfe on the Hea-
then Altars, were very unfortunate, as ha-
ving fuffered without neceffity. What will
become of all Oaths, Promifes, and Securi-
ties among Men, if the plain, real Truth
and Meaning of Words be no longer the
Meafure of what wx are to profefs, afTert,
or practife ; but every one may, if he do
but openly declare it, put his own ftrained
Interpretation, as he pleafes upon them?
Efpecially if this be to be allowed in the
moft facred matters of all, the figning Ar-
ticles of Faith, the making Iblemn Con-
feffions of the fame, and the offering up
i Gal. V. 1 1 ,
publick
Life of Gr. S. C L A R K E. ^^
publick Prayers, Praifes, and Doxologies to
the great God, in the Iblemn Affemblies of
his Worfhip ? This I own, I dare not do,
at the Peril of my Salvation : And if I can
no way be permitted to en*joy the Benefit of
Chrift's holy Ordinances in publick, without
what I own would be in my felf grofs In-
fincerity and Prevarication, I fliail, I believe,
think it my Duty to aim to enjoy that Be-
nefit fome other way : whatever Odium or
Suffering I may bring upon my felf thereby.
I Obferve
IV. That Dr. Clarke aflerts, « that there
are the greatefi things fpoken of, and the
htghejl Titles afcribed to the Son of God in
Scripture; even fuch as include ^// Di:^//?^
lowers y excepting abfolute Supremacy and
Independency ; and accordingly, among the
Particulars, he fets down his ^ Knowledge of
aUthingSy without making any Exception.
Now this AlTertion, as it ftands here, I take
to beperfeftly indefenfible ; and that if the
greatefi Things fpoken of Chrift, and the
htghejl Titles given to him, be but taken
with all the other Paflages fpeaking of his
Inferiority, Subordination, Generation, Crea-
tion, Dependance, Submiffion, Obedience,
Prayers, Praifes, lefTcr Power, leiTer Know-
ledge, leffer Goodnels, and the Series and
Scope of every place be attended to, it will
moft evidently appear, that the Propofitioa
'^ P. 298. f P. 299.
D 3 1%
54 Hlfiorlcal Memoirs of the
is entirely falfe in fact ; and that on the con-
trary, thefe very Great Things and High Ti-
tles^ which are really fuch, if compared with
the vaftly inferior State of all the fubordi-
nate Creatures,* efpecially of Mankind,
which wxre all made and are governed by
his Miniftration ; and with the diminilhing
Reprefentation of them in Scripture, are
yet Small Things and Mean Titles^ if they be
compared w^ith the moft exalted State, Per-
feftions and Attributes of the One, Supreme,
Eternal, Immortal, and Invifible God of
the Univerfe ; as they are every-w^here re-
prefentcd in the fame Scriptures. And for
the Truth of this I do here fairly Appeal,
not only to my owm, but even to t>^. Clarke's
s Collections of the feveral Texts relating
to thefe Points; and put it to every honeft
Chriftian's Confcience, whether what I here
fay be not certainly true. Nor can Dr.
Clarke^ who fully owns that the very Being,
and Attributes, and Powers of the Son were
derived from the Y'dXht^: freely and voluntarily j
have any Foundation for this Suppofition,
that thofe Powers and Attributes include
all Divine ^Vowers^ excepting ah folate Supre^
■macy and Independency ; Since God muft on-
ly have communicated them according to
his own good Pleafure, and fo in what De-
grees and at what Times he pleafed, but
S Compare pt. 2. §. i. — ii- particularly §. 10. tvith^. 12.
— 18. ^" 24. — 27' ^34.-38.
not
Life of Dr, S. C l a r k e. 55
not otherwife ; which laft Obfervarlon alio
highly delerves the careful Confideration of
every Chriftian. I faid above, that only,
as It Jlanis here^ this Aflertion is indefenli*
ble • meaning that it appears to me that in.
the full Senle the Words bear, 'tis not very
agreeable to the reft of Dr. Clarke^ Doftrine
in many other Parts of his Book, efpecially
in thofe places above referred to. According-
ly I hope, that when he comes to reconfidcr
thefe Words, he will fee reafon to alter them
and to own fome other Things and Titles to
belong to God the Father, in diftinftion
from God the Son, befides thofe of ahfohite
Supremacy and Independency, I Obferve
VIL That Dn Clarke's ^ nice Obfervati-
ons, that the metaphyjick manner of the Son
and Spirit's Generation or Creation by the Fa-
ther are not defined in Scripture, and lb not
to be explain'd by us, are of no great
weight ; 6nce the like metaphyfick man-
ner of the Eternity of the Father, or of the
Creation of the ordinary Creatures, or in-
deed of any thing elfe, is not fet down there.
So that as we can thence tell that God has
ever exifted ; and the ordinary Creatures
have not, without fuch Definitions ^ lb may
we know that the Son is not coeternal with
the Father, nor the Spirit ftridly coeval v/ith
either the Father or the Son, from the ob-
» P. 272. t^c. P, 290. £ffr.
D 4 viou§
5 6 Hijlortcal Memoirs of the
vious Paffages therein, and in the oldefl
Authors relating to them, without the Ex-
pectation of fuch Definitions. I am content
that my Chriftian Faith be let down in plain
obvious Words, as it is \ and do not mightily
defire nice metaphyfick Definitions ; or if
I did, I find by the moft antient Recogni^
tlonsj and Eunomlus from them, that the
Opinions of the Moderns are contrary to
thole earlieft Traditions in the Church of
Chrift which are delivered in Philolbphick
Language to us.
Nor is there the leaft antient Authority
for any proper ^ Eternity of the Holy
Ghoft ; nor indeed for any other Doclrine,
as to his Origin, but that he was the ^ prin-
cipal of thofe Beings, which God the Fa-
ther made by the Miniftration of his Son ;
and when Dr. Cbrke feems to depend on
the Text in the Hebrews ^ dio^vl'dTivdyiLtah^y
Eternal Spirit J while he acknowledges, that
feveral Copies have there dyin i^vA'/LtaJcSy Holy
Spirit^ ( Dr. MlHs reckons about a dozen )
and knov/s that the Word ocioiyios does not
properly fignify Eternal in our modern Senie
neither, I can only wonder at his Procedure,
without being able to give any tolerable
account of it. No more than I can give a
good account, why the modern Word y^/^c?r-»
^ p. 290. Isfc. §2, 3, 15.
* See Account of the Primitive Taitb Artie > XIX.
?* P. 200. Heb. ix. 14.
dlnate
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 57
dlncite to the Father is only put into his
34th Scdion ^ or Propofition, whcnibma-
ny of the Texts and Ttftimonies alledg'd
for the Proof of it, do plainly Jhew, that
he is lejfer than, and Inferior to, the Father
alfo. I Obferve,
VIII. That DnCA-trJt/slaft Chapter ^ is
fo evidently forc'd, and unnamral; efpe-
cially as to the Expofitions belonging to the
Third and Fourth Petitions in the Litany, to
the Athanafian Creed, and the proper Pre-
face for Trinity Sunday, that I know not
how with Decency to exprefs my real
Thoughts about it. I am lure 'tis very
fhocking to honeft and unbyafs'd Minds,
unmov'd by the Temptationsof this World,
or the modern Authority of Churches. And
what I durft not have written for any Con-
fideration whatibever. This I am afraid
will but encourage many to go on in the Ufe
of thofe unjuftifyable Forms which they
cannot believe to be true, even without any
fuch open Declaration of their real mean-
ing in them, as the Dodor has been lb ho-
neft as to make s here to the World ; and
perhaps will encourage fome of the Gover-
nors of the Church in their ftill oppofing a
Reformation; fince they have, as they may
think, now got fo great an Authority for
the Palliating and Excufing, tho' not for
« P. 304. ^c. f p. 415. ^c.
« Introduit. />. 24, 25.
Juftifying
5 8 Hijlorkal Memoirs of the
Jultifying the continuance of fuch Impofiti-
ons. And I am afraid that the Invocation of
the Holy Ghoft, without all Authority from
God the Father, the One and only Supreme
God, and Lord, and Governor of all, and
whole Will and Command is the proper
Foundation of all Invocation to the Son
himfelf, to whom alone he appears to have
communicated fuch Power and Authority
and Attributes, as render him an Object fit
for the fame, w^ill at laft appear to be not
only not fupported by Scripture, but a dl^
red Breach of the very firft Commandment,
and of abundance more of the Divine Laws,
both in the Old and New Teftament, to
the fame purpofe. However, that I may at
once ad, if poffible, inoffenfively my felf ;
-and yet not be w^anting to my duty of ^^ not
hating my Brethren in my hearty but oirebuh-
tngtheni^ 2inA not fuffering Jin upon them^ or
hearing Jin for tkem^ I fhall here prefent to
Dr. Clarke^ and thereby to all fuch other good
Men, as fee no fmall Part of the Errors and
Corruptions of this nature in the Church,
but yet too far comply with them ; fome o^
the moft remarkable Texts of Scripture re-
lating to our Duty in fuch Circumftances;
and fliall beg of them., tho' perhaps they
v/ill not vouchfafe to hear me in this cafe,
yet that they will hear the Holy Spirit of
God himlelf, fpeaking by the Mouth of the
Ji levit. xix. 17.
facrcd
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 59
facred Writers of the Old and New Tefta-
xnent.
Thou i fiialt not follow a multitude to
do evil.
Thou ^ Ihalt Worfhip no other God: for
the Lord, whofe Name is Jealous, is a Jea-
lous God.
I ^ will be ianftified in all them that
come nigh me ; and before all the People I
will be glorified.
Behold, ^ to obey is better than facrilice-
and to hearken than the fat of lambs.
And ^ Nathan faid to David^ Thou art
the Man.
The ° Integrity of the upright iliall
guide them; but the Per ver fen els of TranC-
greffors ftiall deftroy them.
The P righteoufnefs of the perfed Ihall
direct his way ; but the wicked fliall fall by
his own wickednefs.
The q righteoufnefs of the upright fiiall
deliver them ; but tranfgreffors ihall be ta-
iien in their own n^ughtinefs.
The. "^ Preacher fought to find out ac^
ceptable words ; and that which was writ-
ten was upright, even words of truth.
To s this Man will I look, even to him
that is poor, and of a contrite Spirit, and
trembleth at my word.
* Exod. xxili. 2. ^ xxxiv. 14: 3 Levit. x. 3.
^ 1 Sam. 15. 22. " zSiim. xii. 7. o Prozf. xi. 3.
P «'. 5, ^ 2/. 6. f Ecc/. xii. 10.
« I/a. Ixvi. 2.
Thou
6o Htfiorical Memoirs of the
Thou ^ ftialt go to all that I fhall fend
thee ; and whatfoever I command thee thou
ihalt fpeak. Be not afraid of their faces;
for I am with thee, to deliver thee, faith
the Lord.
Thou " therefore gird up thy loins, and
arife, and fpeak unto them all that I com-
mand thee: be not difmayed at their faces,
left I confound thee before them.
And ^^ thou, Son of Man, be not afraid
of them; neither be afraid of their words ;
tho' briars and thorns be with thee, and
thou doft dwell among fcorpions; be not
afraid of their words, nor be difmayed at
their looks, tho' they be a rebellious houfe.
And thou fhalt fpeak my words unto them :
whether they will hear, or whether they
will forbear ; for they are moft rebellious.
But thou, Son of Man, hear what I fay
unto thee ; Be not thou rebellious, like that
rebellious houfe.
Son of "^ Man, I have made thee a Watch-
man unto the houfe of i/r^^/: therefore hear
the word at my Mouth, and give them
w^arning from me.
If y the watchman fee the fword come,
and blow not the trumpet, and the People
be not warned ; if the fword come, and take
any perfon from among them, he is taken
away in his iniquity : but his blood will I
*■ Jerem. i. 7, 8. ^ c/. 17. ^ Exek. ii. 6, 7, 8.
^ iii. 17. y xxxiii. 6, &c.
require
Life of Dr.S. Clarke. 6i
require at the watchman's hand, &c. See
XXXIV. I. &c.
Now ^ when D^;^/V/ knew that the writ-
ing was figned, he went into his houfe ; and
his windows being open in his chamber to-
ward ^^^r^/d-;;?, he kneeled upon his knees
three times a day, and prayed, and gave
thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
My ^ People are deftroyed for lack of
knowledge : becaufe thou haft rejeded know-
ledge, I willalfo rejeftthee, that thoufhalt
be no Prieft to me. Seeing thou haft for-
gotten the Law of thy God, I will alfo for-
get thy Children.
The ^ Prieft's lips Ihould keep know-
ledge ; and they fhould leek the law at his
mouth : for he is the melTenger of the Lord
of Hofts.
Whofoever ^ therefore ihall break one of
thefe leaft commandments, and Ihall teach
men fo, he ftiall be called the leaft in the
kingdom of heaven.
What ^ I tell you in darknefs, that fpeafc
ye in light : and what ye hear in the ear,
that preach ye upon the houfe tops. And
fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the foul : but rather fear him
which is able to deftroy both body and foul
in Hell.
^ Dan. vl. 10. » Hof. iv. 6. ^ Mai. ii. 7. *^ Matth.
V. 19. ^ X. 27, 28,
Who.
6 2 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
Whofoever ^ ftiall confefs me before men ,
him will I confefs alio before my Father
which is in heaven. But whofoever fliall
deny me before men, him will I alfo deny
before my Father which is in Heaven.
Then ^ faid Jefus unto his Difciples, If
any man will come after me, let him deny
himfelf, and take up his crofs and follow me.
For whofoever will fave his life fliall lofe it /
and whofoever will lofe his life for my fake
Ihall find it.
Whether s it be right in the fight of God,
to hearken unto you more than unto God,
judge ye. For we cannot but Ipeak the
things which we have feen and heard.
And ^^ now Lord behold their Threat-
jiings ; and grant unto thy fervants, that
with all boldnefs they may fpeak thy word.
And ^ when they had prayed — they
wxre all filled with the Holy Ghoft, and
Ipake the word of God with boldnefs.
And ^ when they had called the Apoftles
and beaten them, they commanded that
they ihould not fpeak in the Name of Je-
fus ; and let them go. And they departed
from the prefence of the Council; rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to fuffer
fhame for his Name. And daily in the
Temple, and in every Houfe, they ceaied
not to teach and preach Jefus Chrift.
e Verfe 32, 33, ^ xvi. 24, 25. s ABs'iy. 19, 20.
^ Vcrfe 29. ' Verfe 31. ^ Verfe 40, 41, 42.
I I tak^
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 63
I ^ take you to record this day that I am
pure from the blood of all men. For I have
not fhunned to declare unto you all the
Counfel of God. Take heed therefore unto
your felves, and to all the flock, over which
the Holy Ghoft hath made you Overleers,
to feed the Church of the Lord which he
hath purchafed with his own blood, &c.
He ^^ thatdoubteth is damned if he eat,
becaufe he eateth not of faith j for what-
foever is not of faith is fin.
It " is required in Stew^ards^ that a Man
be found faithful.
Our o rejoicing is this, the teftimony of
our Confcience, thatinfimplicity, and god-
ly fincerity ; not with flelhly vv^ildom, but
by the grace of God, we have had our con-
verfation in the world.
We i' are not as many which corrupt the
word of God ; but as of fincerity, but as of
God, in the fight of God, fpeak we in
Chrift.
We 1 have renou^nced the hidden things
of difhonefty; not walking in craftinefs;
nor handhng the w^ord of God deceitfully :
but by manifeftation of the truth, com-
mending our felves to every man's confcience
in the fight of God.
^ XX. 26,27, 28. &c. w Rom. XIV. 23. " I Cor. iv. 2.
*• 2 Cor. I 12. P ii. 17. 1 iv, 2,
I end
64 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
I end thefe few Obfervations with the
excellent words of our Church j in which I
am fure we fhall all heartily icin :
^ J
Blejfed ^ Lord^ who haji caufed all Holy
Scriptures to he written for our learnmg ;
Grant that we may in fuch wife hear themy
read J markj learn^ and inwardly digefl theniy
that by patience y. and comfort of thy Holy
Wordy we may embrace^ and ever hold faffy
the hlejfed hope of everlajiing life^ which thou
haf given us in our Saviour Jefus Chriff.
Amen.
Almighty ^ Gody by whofe providence y thy
fervant fohn Baptift was wonderfully horny
^nd fent to prepare the way of thy Son our
Saviour y by preaching of repentance ; make
us fa to follow his doBrine and holy lifey that
we may tndy repent according to his preach^
ingy and after his example confantly fpeak
the truthy boldly rebuke vicey ajid patiently
fuffer for the truths fakey through Jefus Chrif
cur Lord. Amen.
So far out of thofe O b s e rvat ions.
Nor ought I here to fupprefs the mention
of thofe frequent and vehement Admoniti-
ons I gave Dr. Clarke [ and not him only ; '\
to aft fincerely, openiy, and boldly in the
Declaration of his true Opiniens, and in
' Collet for the fecond Sunday in Advent.
* Collet for Midfummer Day*
the
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 65
the confequent Practices, according to the
exad Dodrines and Duties of Primitive
Chriftianity; and the like frequent Repre-
fentations I made to him, [and not to him
only] of the Danger he might incur here-
after, by his too infincere, oyer-cautious,
and over-timerous way of Speaking, Wri-
ting, and Ading, in Points of the higheft
Conlequencc : which as he always heard
with Patience and Temper, fo was he not
a little moved by them. His general An-
fwer was by this Queftion, Who are thofe
that ad better than I do? Very few of
which I could ever name to him ; tho* I did
not think that a fufficient Excufe. * Tho*
'hand join tn hand , the wicked (hall not be
unpumjloed. And indeed he ft ill proceeded,
after all thofe Admonitions, iri a cautious
and clofe Way of Ipeaking, wTiting, and
ading, or rather of not fpeaking, not
writing, and not ading what I thought he
ought to have fpoken, written, and aded^
and this in Cafes where Chriftian Piainnels,
and Oppofition to vulgar Errors and»,Vices,
feem'd to be evidently his Duty : arid this,
as appeared to me, without any clear latis-
fadion in point of Conlcience, that he did
entirely as he ought to do. He alfo feemed
fo much more to have fet his Heart upon
corredting a few of the groffcfc Athanajtan
Corruptions, that greatly difguiled him,
* Prov.TA. 21. xvi, 5.
E than
66 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
than upon a thorough Reformation of Mo-
dern Antkhrifliamfm^ upon the Original
Foot of Chriftianity ; which and which alone
I had entirely fet my Heart upon ; that the
Intimacy of our Friendfliip gradually di-
minifh'd, and our Gonverfations were gra-
dually lefs frequent and lefs acceptable to
one another, than of old they had been :
tho' in reality that Friendfliip was never
diffolv'd. And I muft be allow'd to fay,
:?Lnd to fay it with the utmoft Grief, that
I have long looked on the great Coldnefs of
Dr. Clarke^ and the perfed Indifference of
the Lord Chancellor Kingy as to fuch a
thorough Reformation of the Church up-
on an Apoftolical Foundation, to have been
the principal Hindrarices of any fuch Defigns
for that Reformation. But to proceed.
About this Year 171 2. I fuppofe it was,
that Dr. Smalrldge had a Conference with
Dr. Clarke about the Dodrine of the Trini-
ty, at ^ho. Cartwrlghfs Efq^ at Jynho Nor-
thamptonplre : A Place where afterwards I
had a4fo a Conference with Dr. Lupton^
upon 'the fame Subjed: A Place where
fuch ferious Conferences about Points of
Religion, and about Points of Learning,
with the kindeft Treatment of all good
Scholars and good Chriftians, were not in-
frequent ^ and at which Perlbns of Honour,
and Members of the Univerftty of Oxford
were often prefeut : and a Place whe" the
Konou-
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 67
Honourable Mrs. Car fwr/ghf^ was never ab-
ient, nor unconcern'd at lUch Conferences^
The Conference between Dr. Smalrldge and
Dr. Clarke was propofed by the former, in
order to the Conviftion of the latter.
And if any Perfon in England was able
to convince upon that Head, it muft have
been Dr. Smalrldge : who had fully con-
fidered my Fourth Volume, and was d.
thorough Mafter of thole original Books
of Chriftianity wlience the Arguments
were to be taken : and who wanted no Sa-
gacity nor good- will to enforce them^
However he failed of fuccels : and on
the contrary, the Company were generally
fatisfied that the Evidence on Dr. Clarke's
fide was greatly fuperior to the other.
And whether Dr. Smalridge did not himfelf
fomewhat feel it, I cannot certainly telL
So far I think will appear hereafter, that^
excepting his Condemnation of the grois
Art an s^ v/hom neither Dr. Clarke nor I
ever fuppbrted, he after this, chofe rather
to refer to others who had managed the
Athanajian Caufe, than ever to enter di-
ledly into its Vindication. Nor did he
efcape the Sufpicion of being himfelf in-
clinable to what has been of late called
Artamfm ; efpecially at Oxford , as will
hereafter appear*
"\\ % 0. A. D.
68 Htftorical Memoirs of the
A.D. 1 7 13. I publilhed The Liturgy of
the Church of Enghnd^ reduced nearer to the
^rhnitive Standard^ and before it was pub-
lilh'd " I procured from many of my Lear-
" ned and Pious Friends of feveral Perfua-
fions", as I informed the Reader in its Prer
face, " no fmall Affiftance in order to its
" Correftion, Improvement, and inoffenfive
" Reception among all good Men". Among
the principal of which Friends, I now in-
form the Reader, were Dr. Smalrldge and
Dr. Clarke ; who both gave me their Corre-
ctions accordingly: and who both, I believe,
would have been thoroughly fatisiied, if it
had been admitted andufedby the Church.
About the fame Year 1 7 1 3. A Conference
was held at my Houfe with Mr. Lacy^ and
feveral others of our modern Prophets:
wherein T gave them my Reafons, why, up-
on Suppofition of their Agitations and Im-
pulfes being Supernatural^ I thought they
were evil and not gocd Spirits that were the
Authors of thofe Agitations and Impulfes.
The Heads of the Reafons I infilled on are
ftill preferv'd. The Occafion of the men-^
tion of it here is this ; that Dr. Clarke and
Mr, D'ttton were particularly invited to be
prefent and affifting : but that, as Mr. D'tt^
ton canie not till the middle of the Confe-
rence, fo did not Dr. Clarke come to it at
all 3 tho' I think he had once a Conference
with
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 69
with fome of them another time, when I
was nor prefent.
This Year 1 71 3. Ifuppofe it was alfo that
Dr. Clarke^ in order to avoid the Reading
of tht proper Preface for 'T'rtmty Sunday at
his own Church, omitted the ufual Com-
munion on that Day ; to the great difcon-
tent of thofe Perfons which expefted to
receive it. This made no fmall Noife ; and
when I came to know of it, I was greatly
difpleas'd with his Condud \ that he fhould
prefer the Difappointment of fo many
Chriftian Communicants, to the Omiffion
of a fingle Colled, fo direftly contrary to
Primitive Chriflianity. The mention of
which Coiled puts me naturally in mind of
a Diftrefs I was my felf once in, about that
veryColledjwhen I adminiftred the Commu-
nion for my Brother Daniel at Horfe-heath in
Cambridgejlnre on Trinity Sunday, about fix
Years before. At which time, before I was
well aware, I was got into that proper ^re^
face. But as I was reading the lame, I
found it contained what I did not believe,
about the abfohte Equality of the three Di-
vine Perlbns. Upon which I went no far-
ther in that Preface, but brake off abruptly
in the midft, and proceeded to the follow-
ing parts of the Communion Service, with-
out any farther notice or difturbance what-
foever. Nor was it probably any thing elfe
that gave the immediate Occafion to Dr
E 3 Clarke's'
70 Hijlorical Memoirs gJ the
Clarke^ difmifnon from being one of Queen
Anne\ Chaplains in Ordinary, as he was till
that time, than the Clamour which this his
Omiflion of the Communion on Trinity
Sunday, with its known Occafion, did excite.
The next Year, 17 14. the Convocation
fell upon Dr. Clarke s Scripture DoBrine of
the Trinity. The moft authentick Account
of which Matter we have in that Apology
for Dr. Clarke which w^as publifhed this
Year, by a Worthy Clergyman in the Coun-
try, a common Friend of Dr. Clarke^ and
mine; and contained true Copies of the
Original Papers relating to the Proceedings
of the Convocation and Dr. Clarke^ com-
municated by the Doftor, and occafion'd
by our Friend's firft Letter to him ; which is
that M/;^2^. 7. It would be too tedious to fet
down here, The Lower Houfe's Complaint ; The
Bifiops Jnfwer\ The Bijhops Mejfage^ di-
reding an ExtraB of Particulars ; The Ex-
traB of ^T articular s ; with Dr. Clarke's Reply
to that ExtraB : which may all be feen in
that Apology. But then it could not be
thought other than a defertion of plain
Truth, and a concealing things that ought
not to be concealed, if I Ihould pretend to
•write Hiforical Memoirs of the Life of Dr.
Clarke^ and omit thofe other Authentick
Papers about the Convocation, which are of
the greatefx Confequence to his Condud and
Charader, So far I can fay, that I was not
I ' at
Life of Dr. S. C la r k e. 71
at all confulted at the time, nor privy to
thefe Affairs; nor was I therefore able to
put any flop to the Delivery of that New
Declaration of his Belief of a fort of Eternity
of the Son and Spirit, which made fuch a
Noife, and was commonly fuppoled not
confiftent w^ith his other Principles, and was
by many efteem'd a Recantation of them.
The Delivery of this New Declaration^ I
have heard him long afterward ilile a
fooUfb Thing, The Occafions of which, I
think, befides the fmifter Motives of hu-
mian Caution and human Fear , were thele
two : Eirll , his own Metaphyfick Opi-
nion, which he conftantly and vigorouily
maintained, and of which the Reader has
a foft Intimation in his own Words in this
Appendix^ p. 7. incalce^ was this; That any
Creature whatfoever might pojjibly have been
Coeternal with its Creator. See the amazing
Subtilty of a great Metaphyfician ! and
contradictory to his own natural Notion,
exprefs'd in the eighth Sermon of his iirft
Volume, page 173, where the Dodor juftly
affirms, that " He who made all things
" could not but be before the things that
'^ he made/' And fecondly, that Bifhop
Sjnalrldge ^ whole Opinion was chiefly re-
garded, had dropp'd fome Words before-
hand, that " As to other of Dr. Clarke s Me-
^' taphyfical Notions about the Trinity, he
^^ did not think it neceffary to proceed to
E 4 '' their
7 2 Hifiorkal Memoirs of the
" their Condemnation ^ provided he could
" but [ truly ] declare , he believed the
^' [real] Eternity of the Son of God:''
Which accordingly he appeared to do by the
Paper, Niunb, 6, And endeavoured to ex-
plain, or vindicate himfelf from having
thereby recanted his former Do6bine, by
the Paper Numb. 5). Although I perceive
that laft Paper, which was privately fhewn
to particular Bifhops, and among them to
Bifhop Smalrtdge^ was never taken any pub-
lick Notice of by either Houfe of Convo-
cation. It is alfo to be remembred, that
this New Declaration of Dr. Clarke's^ which
included his Belief of a fort of Coeternity of
the Son and Spirit, and was by many fuppofed
tobe a kind of Recantation of his former Do-
drine, though it feems it was not fo de-
figned, was by him made, contrary to the
wifer Advice of Dr. Bradford^ with whom
he confuited ; who would have had him ra-
ther tranfcribe fome fuch Parts of his own
Books, as came neareft to the common Do-
ctrine, and fend them to the Convocation,
as fo far a Declaration of his Faith ^ w^hich
would have been a Method of Proceeding
both more honeft, and more unexceptio-
nable. And I believe there is a great deal
of Truth and Force in the wording this
Account of Dr, Clarke'^ laying his Islew fuC.
picious Declaration before the Bifhops, in
the Jpolo^yy out of which I am goint to
print
Life of Z)r.S. Clarke. 73
print it ; I mean thefe, ^age 44. Dr. Clarhe
( It feems ) was Prevailed upok* I think
the true Point was, Save thy self and
u s. Both which were obtained by the De-
livery of the aforementioned T>iew DeclarU'^
t'ton. As to my felf, when I was in the
like Straits with a former Convocation, the
Reader may fee the fincere and open Letter
I wrote to them, and that not without th^
Advice of Dr. Clarke^ in the fecond Jppen-^
dix to my Hijiorkal ^reface^ ^age 10 — 14.
and elfevvhere; and may compare it with
Dr. Clarke's New Declaration. He may al
fo obferve on the Comparifon, and on the
Comparifon of the Succefs of both Me-
thods, how much downright Honefly , in
foch Points, is better than all worldly ^0^
licy whatfoever. Nor was Dr, Smalridge
wanting in giving Intimations of his good
Intentions then towards my Deliverance^
by declaring openly, upon the reading that
my Letter in a Committee, " That it
" would be harder to come at me now
" than before." And by declaring openly in
Convocation, " that it was his private Opi-
^^ nion that I fliould be heard before I was
*' cenfur'd ," againft the Current of the
Houfe. So that as Dr. Smalridge in Ibme
Meafurc affifled my Elcape from that Con-
vocation, fo was Bifhop Smalridge the prin-
cipal Occafion of Dr. Clarke's Eicape from
the other*
Jpology^
74 Hijlorkal Memoirs of the
apology. Page 44 — 6a,.
" After this, there appearing, in almoft
" the whole Upper Houfe, a great Difpofi-
^' tion to prevent Dlflentions and Divifions,
" by coming to a Temper in this Matter;
" Dr. Clarke ( it feems ) was frevaird upon
to lay before them the following Paper.
u
E
Numh. VI. ^ ^aper laid by Dr. Clark
before the BiJhopSy July 2. 17 14.
I. TV /TY Opinion is. That the Son of
jLV J^ God was eternally begotten by
the eternal incomprehenfible ^ower and
Will of the Father ; and that the Holy Spi-
rit was likewife eternally derived from the
Father, by or through the Son, according
to the eternal incomprehenfible ^ower and
Will of the Father.
2. Before my Book, Intituled, The Scrips
ture-DoBrine^ SCc. was publifh'd, I did in-
deed preach two or three Sermons upon this
Subjed; but fince the Book was pubJifli'd,
I have never preached upon this Subjeft :
And ( becaufe I think it not fair to propofe
particular Opinions, where there is not Li-
berty of anfwering, ) I am willing to pro-
mife ( as indeed I intended ) not to preach
any more upon this Subjed.
3. I do not intend to write any more con-
cerning the Doctrine of the Trinity. But
if I fliall fail herein^, and write apy Thing
hereafter.
Life of Dr, S. Clarke. 75
hereafter, upon this Subjeft, contrary to
the Dodrine of the Church of England^ I
do hereby willingly lubmit my felf to any
fuch Cenfure as my Superiors fliall think fit
to pafs upon me.
4. And whereas it has been confidently
reported, That the Athanafian Creed, and
the third and fourth Petitions in Xh^Lltany
have been omitted in my Church by my
Direftion, I do hereby declare, That the
third and fourth Petitions in the Litany
have never been omitted at all, as far as I
know ; and that the Athanafian Creed was
never omitted at eleven a Clock Prayers,
but at early Prayers only, for brevity Sake,
at the Difcretion of the Curate, and not by
my Appointment.
5. As to my private Converfation, I am
not confcious to my felf, that I have given
any juft Occafion for thofe Reports which
have been fpread concerning me, with rela-
tion to this Controverfy.
I am forry that what I fincerely intended
for the Honour and Glory of God, and fb
to explain this great Myftery, as to avoid
the Herefies in both Extremes, Ihould have
given any Offence to this Synods and parti-
cularly to my Lords the Bilhops. I hope
my Behaviour for the time to come, with
Relation hereunto, will be fuch, as to pre-
vent any future Complaints againfl me.
Numb.
76 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
Numh. VII. J Letter to Br. Clarke,
occajioned by the foregoing ^aper.
To the Reverend Dr. Clarke , ReBor of
St. James'j Weftminfter.
Reverend S i r^
THE Paper you was pleafed to deli-
ver in to the Bifliops, and have fince
puDiilhed, has occafioned a real and fenfible
Grief to my felf, as well as the reft of your
Friends hereabouts. Not that we think it
contains ( what your Enemies would have
it thought ) a real Retratiatton of any thing
you had before faid ; but becaufe it is fo
very like a Retradation , and yet is not
fuch ; and feems to be penn'd with a plain
Intention only to ward off Perfecution.
Befides, you had hitherto difcreetly avoided
thofe modern Terms, eternally begotten,
and eternal Generation, upon Account of
their ambiguous Meaning : Whereas in this
Paper you exprefs your Belief of them in
an unlimited Senfe ; as if you thought the
Word eternal fignified the fame thing in
the hlgheji Senfe, when apply *d to the Ge-
neration of the Son, and Proceffion of the
Holy Ghoft, as when apply'd to the ^ower
and If'tll of the Father. If fo, the whole
Caufe would be given up. For though the
Genera-
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. yj
Generation of the Son and Proceffion of the
Holy Ghofi may in a Senle be laid to be etcr^
nal^ as they were Trep irivTCDv and 'z^^ dijevoev ;
yet what is this to the abfolute Eternity of
a Self-exiftent Being ? Novatian's Expreffi-
on is very remarkable : '-Tater Ulum prcece-*
dit \ qtwd neceffe efi prior fty qua ^Pater (it ;
^oniam antecedat neceffe eji emn qui habet
Origmemj tile qui Originem nejcit. In the
higheji and moft proper Senfe of the Words,
eternal Generation implies a manifefl: Con-
tradidion. To fay fomething that has a
double Efitendre to flop the Rage of Perfe-
cution, and to pleafe the Orthodox, how
natural is it to make ufe of that Method ?
But whether that be not corrupt Nature,
I am loth to lay ; becaufe I know not my
own Frailty,, and indeed none of us know
our own Strength and Courage till we come
to be try'd.
I am not able to think what I could fay
or do for lb valuable a Thing as the ^Teace
oj the Churchy which certainly is greatly to
be regarded : But there is ^falfe Notion of
Peace, which would have effedually put a
Stop to the Reformation, had the Cry
of it been then regarded. Good Sir, liip-
pofe the Report had been true, that you
had directed or conniv'd at the Omiffion of
Jthanajtus's Creed, it had been no way to
your Difreputation ; for then you had acted
but agreeable to your Principles : For I
could
7 8 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
could tell you of many, many others be^
fides my felf, that would not for all the
World have it thought that they liked that
Creed, though they have never exprefs'd
their Diflike in Print.
Pardon me Sir, that I am thus free with
you; did not your Learning and Virtues
render you fo exceedingly valuable to me, I
fhould not take lb much Pains as I do to
clear your Reputation. And the Freedom
I ufe, is chiefly w^ith this View; that you
will pleafe to let me have the Favour of
fomething under your Hand, that may be
a better Apology than any I can at prefent
think of. For I will fuppofe that you are
yet that Good and Great Man I always took
you to be. And though joufcem to me to
have weakned your Scripture-DoBrine ; yet
I cannot forbear telling you, 'tis what I
would not willingly part with for half the
Vatican,
We hear of a Second ^a^er you delivered
to the Bifnop of London^ more explanatory
of your Sentiments and Condud than the
firil ; a Sight of v/hich would be acceptable
to us. I Ihall give you no further Trouble
at prefent. Only I hope you will do me
the Juftice to believe that / am^
Reverend Sir,
Tour mcft affeti'tonate Brother y
and Hiimhle Servant.
Namth
I
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 79
Numh. VIII. T^art of a Letter from Dr.
Clarke, In Anfwer to the foregoing.
MY Intention in the firft Para-
graph of the Paper you are fb
much difturbed at, was not to aflert any-
thing different from what I had before writ-
ten j but only to fhow, that I did not ia
any of my Books teach ( as had by many
been induftrioufly reported ) the Dodrine
of Arius^ \_ VIZ. that the Son of God was O'
Creature^ made out of nothings pip before the
hegtnning of 'This World \ ] but that he was
begotten eternally, that is, without any
Limitation of Time, [a;^eP^oeJ^> ^tP X^^'^^^
olioevictiVj Ttep^icovioo^y ire) irivizcv a <>!yct)j', ] in
the incomprehenfible Duration of the Fa-
ther's Eternity : Not by ablblute Necefji^ty
of Nature^ ( which infers Self-exiftence and
Independency, ) but by the ^ower and by
the Will of the Father : So that the Father
alone is, and is to be honoured, as being
the Supreme Original and Lord of All,
himfelf without Original, See Scripture^
DoBrlne^ Pag. 43 1 ; Ref'ly to Mr. Nelfon,
^ag. 113; and Anjwer to the Author of fame
Confid^ratlonsj Pag. 22^, 227.
And the like is to be underftood refpe^
Blvefyy concerning the Holy Sprit.
Wherefore if any Writer in this Con-
troyerfy, Ihall at any time from the Word
Exter-
8o Hijlorical Memoirs of the
Eternal^ infer ( as you feem to fear ) un^'
originate^ necejfary^ or independe?it Exiftttice ;
I did then and do Jiill declare, that, iu that
Senfe, I think the Word can only be ap-
plied to the Father.
The Intention of the fecond Paragraph,
was not to fignify that I would, in my
Preaching, explain Scripture otherwile than
I had formerly done , but that having al-
ready fufficiently expreffed my Opinion in
my JVrltingSy I was willing for the future
to refer to thofe Writings in Matters abftrad
and controverfial, and confine my breach*
ing to the Parts that immediately relate to
Pradice.
In the third Paragraph, (as I then de-
clared ) I did not oblige my felf never to
write any more upon this Subject, but only
expreffed my Intention ( as I had before
done at the Conclufion of my Anjwer to the
Author of Joiue Confderations^ &C. ) to ac-
quiefce in v/hat I had already written, as
containing a fuiSicient Explication of my
Opinion, unlefs any new Adverfary ftiould
give Occafion for further Controverfy : In
which Cafe, what fhould hereafter be pub-
lilhed, I was willing to leave to the Judg-
ment of my Superiors, whether it defcrved
Cenllire or no.
In the fourth Paragraph, I did not mean
to give any Occafion of judging, that I had
at all altered the Opinion I had expreffed in
my
hife of D?\ S. C L A R K E. 81
my Scrlpturc-DoB^rine^ ^ag, 454 — 46*1 , con-
<:erning the Litany ; and ^ag. 44(^-— 454,
concerning the Athanajtan Creed: ( Of which
the Great and Pious Archbilhop TiUotfoUy
in a Letter dated at Lamheth^ OBober 23,
i^j^4, thus fpeaks ; '' The Account given cf
" Athanafius i Creed' , feems to V2e [ laith
^^ he J no wije fatisfaBory ; I wijh we were
" wSl r'ld of It .*'') But fome of my Lords
the Biftiops having received Information of
a Fad; which was wholly jalfe^ I did not
think it reafonable to fuffcr my felf to lie
under any Prejudice upon Account of a
Matter altogether without Ground.
The 5th and laft Paragraph was occafion-
ed by an tinjuft- Report induftrioufly fpread,
that I had in private Converfation ipoken
Things, with relation to this Controverfy,
tending to diminifh the Honour of Cliriil:i-
an Religion : For which Report, you will
eafily believe, there never was given the leaft
Ground.
" After the Paper which was the Occafioa
'' of the two foregoing Letters, had been laid
'' before the Upper-Houfe • Dr. Clarke^ it
'' feems, being apprehcnfive, that ifitfliould
" be publiihedy<?/?^n7/^^/)/, ( as has fince hap-
" pen'd, ) without any true Account of the
" preceding and following Circcmilances, it
" might beliable to be mifunderftood in fome
" Particulars^ caufed the foilo wing £A'/7i:?;^^3
F - " tton
8 2 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
'^ tlon to be prefented to the Right Reverend
^'' the Lord Bifhop of London^ the next Time
^' the Upper-Houfe met/'
Numh, IX. J[ ^aper delivered to the Blfiop
<?/" London, July 5th, 1714.
May It pleafe your Lordfilps^
WHereas the Paper laid before your
Lordfliips on Friday laft , was ,
through Halle and want of Time, not
drawn up with fufficient Exaftnefs; fome
Things therein being not i^o fully exprefs'd
as they might have been; and others ex-
preflcd in fuch a manner, as may be liable
to be mifunderftood, as not explaining with
fufficient Clearnefs and Diftindnefs my
whole Thoughts to your Lordfliips upon
the Subjed therein contained : And where-
as, if my preient Meaning in any part of
it, fliould now be mifunderftood, I may
hereafter be thought not to have fully and
fmcerely opened my felf to your Lordfliips;
I do humbly, and with all Submiflion ,
beg Leave to take this immediate Oppor-
tunity of reprefenting to your Lordfliips,
that i think my fclf indifpenfabJy obliged
in Confcience, to lay before your Lordfliips
the following Explanations of the aforefaid
Paper, viz.
That
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 83
That whereas I declared in that Paper
my Opinion to be, that the Son was eter-
nally begotten^ by the eternal tncomprehcnji'-
hie Power and Will of the Father : Jnd
that the Holy Spirit, &:c. I did not mean
thereby toRetraB any Thing I had written ;
but to declare that the Opinion let forth at
Large in the Book entituied, The Scripture^
DoBrine of the Trinity , and in the Dejenfes
of it', iSjthat xh^ Son was eternally begotten^ by
the eternal incomprehenfihle Power and V/iil,
&c. Which Words, [ the eternal incompre'-
henfible Power ^;^i Will of the Father, '\ I
defire may be fo underftood, as to fignify
that God the Father alone is, and is to be
honoured, as being, dvctmcs and Tnivalnocy
the Original of All, himieli ^vithout Ori-
ginal.
And whereas I declared I did not intend
to write any more concerning the DoBrine of
the Trinity: But if I fmuld fail herein, and
write any thing hereafter, &c. I defire it
may be io underftood, as not to preclude
my lelf in point of Confcience from fi Li-
berty of making any inoffenfive Corrections
in my former Books, if they lliall come to
another Edition : Or from vindicating rny
lelf from any Mifreprefentations or Afper-
iions, which i^ay poffibly hereafter be caft
upon me on the Occalion of this Gontrover-
iy ; but only to fignify, that I have xiopre-
Jent Intention of wTiting any new Book ;
F 2 sind
84 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
and that, if hereafter I ftiall at any time
write any thing which your Lordihips fliall
judge worthy of Cenfure, I fliail readily
fubmit to fuch Cenfure.
Niimh, X. ^he Resolution of the Up-
pe-Houfe, {after the Delivery of the
joregoing Explanation to the Bifhop of
London,) July 5. 17 14.
WE having received a Paper fub-
fcribed by Dr. Clarke^ containing
aUtciaration of his Opinion concerning the
Eternity of the Son and Holy Spirit, toge-
ther with an Account of his Condud for the
Time paft^ and Intentions for the Time to
come ; which Paper we have ordered to be
entered in the A6ts of this Houfe, and to
be communicated to the Lower-Houfe, do
think fit to proceed no farther upon the
Extra£t laid before us by the Lower-
Houfe.
Ntimh. XL The Resolution of the
Lower-Houfe of Convocation, July 7.
REfolvedy That it is the Opinion of this
Houfe, that the Paper fubfcribed by
Di. Clarke^ and communicated by the Bi-
fliops to the Lower-Houfe on the jth In-
ftant, doth not contain in it any Recanta-
tion of the Heretical Affertions, and other
offen-
Ljife of Dr. S. Clarke. 85
five Paflages, complained of by this Houfe
in their Reprefentation, and afterwards pro-
duced in their Extrad out of the Books
pubhfhed by that Author ; nor doth give
fuch Satisfadion for the great Scandal oc-
cafioned by the faid Books, as ought to put
a flop to any further Examination and Cen-
fure thereof. So fir out of the Apology.
Thus ended this unhappy Affair. Un-
happy to Dr. Clarke s own Conlcience ; un-
happy to his bell Friends ; and above all un-
happy as to its confequence in relation to the
Opinion the Unbelievers were hereupon
willing to entertain of him, as if he had
prevaricated all along in his former Wri-
tings for Chriftianity. I fhall mention here
one Example, which I long ago, with great
concern, informed him of, and it was the
Declaration of that lagacious Unbeliever,
already hinted at, but not named, pag. 40.
that '' As for Di^.C/arke^ he and other ob-
*' ferving Infidels, his Brethren, did think,
" both from his Life and Writings, that
" he had really believ'd Chriftianity; that
" is, till the Convocation fell upon him.
" But fince his prevaricating Behaviour at
" that time of Trial, they concluded he did
" not believe it". Now tho' this Conclufion
were much too hafty, and Dr. Clarke did by
degrees recover part of his former Character ;
he was fo far diflatisfyed with what he had
F 3 done.
86 Hijlorkal Memoirs of the
done, that he left out of his Second Editi-
on that third part which defended or excused
his former Sabfcriptions and Pra&ices ; he re-
fufedto take any Preferment that requir'd a
rew Subfcription ; nay, he refufed a Lay Em-
ployment of 1200/. or 1500/. a Year, be-
caufe it was not agreeable to his Spiritual
Cure : all which will appear hereafter : and
by fuch very good Evidence appeared in ear-
neft to believe the Chriftian Religion to his
Death: yet I cannot but fay, what I believe
I added when I told him of this Scandal,
" That I would not have given the like oc-
^' cafion of Offence for all the World".
* Wo unto the world becaiife of offences ; for
it mtiji needs be that offences come : But wo
unto that man by whom the offence cometh.
In the Years 1715, 171^, 1717. J. So-
ciety for ^Promoting Primitive Chrifiianlty
met Weekly at the Primitive Library at
my Houfe in Crofs-ftrcet Hatton-Garden ^
compofed commonly of about 10 or 12
honeft, and fome of them learned Men,
of feverai Perfuafions in Chriftianity ; and
to w^hich Chriftians of all Perfuafions were
equally admitted. This is here mentioned,
becaule Sir 'l^eter King^ Dr. Harej Mr.
Benj» Hoadley^ and Dr. Clarke were particu-
larly invited ; tho' they none of them ever
came. However, Sir Teter Kingy as well
as Dr. Clarke^ were by me confulted upon
*^Matth, viiic 7,
par-'
Life of Dr, S. C l a r ic e. 87
particular occafions, or particular difficulties
occurring in our Examination. And the
Minutes of this Society were fometimcs
carried to Jynho^ to Mr. Cartwnght and
his Lady and Mr. Wajfe, who were all very
ready to hear what Progrels we made : and
where the Difcoveries therein contained had
fometimes a great effeft, as to the Determi-
nation of the genuine Records of old Chri-
ftianity. This Society, with only one In-
terruption, continued two Years : and what
its Defigns and Procedure were, will beft
appear by our printed Rules'^ which after
great Debates and long Confideration were
agreed upon ; which we really endeavoured to
be governed by j and which I Ihall here in-
fert Verbatim.
A Society fo7' Promoting Primitive
Christianity.
I. The Defgns of the Society.
THE Society, propofing to it felf, as
much as poflible, to lay afidc the
Prejudices of Education and Temper, and
whatever may hinder them from the Dii'^
covery of the Truth, Defigns,
I. The Impartial Difcovery of the tme
genyine Chriftian Religion, both as to Faith
F 4 and
8 8 Hifiorkal Memoirs of the
and Praftice, as it was at firft fettled by
Chriil: and his Apoftles ; and that as abftra-
fted from all Party Notions, and Human
Determinations.
2. The Reje.clion of fuch Modern Opini-
ons, and Philofophical Notions, as are un-
fupported by the Chriftian Revelation ; and
the Determination of the feveral Points by
Texts and Teftimonies out of the Original
Records of Chriftianity.
3. The conlequent Uniting of all Chri-
ftians in One Faith, Worihip, Difcipline,
and Government, according to the Will of
Chrift^ and in the ftrideft Bonds of mutual
Love and Affedion one towards another:
With the Propagation of the true Chrilxian
Religion throughout the World.
II. 'The general Rules of the Society,
1. To begin and end every Solemn Meet-
ing with ibme Ihort but fervent Prayers to
God, through Chrift, for the Affiftance of
his Good Spirit, and for the Divine BleiTing
on all the Religious Defigns and Endeavours
of the Society : which Prayers are to be ufed
by a Clergyman, if any fuch be prefent, or
elfe by the Chairman.
2. To lay afide all Levity, and behave
our felves with that Gravity and Serioufnels
which becomes fo important Defigns.
q. To
Life of Dr. S. C l a r k e. 89
3. To invite all good ChriftianSj of what
Perluafion or Denomination foever, to thefe
Societies.
4. To treat one another with Refpcctand
AfFedion ; and to avoid all fevere Refledi-
ons upon one anothers Perfons or Opinions,
however different our Sentiments may be.
5. In all Dodrines and Duties of Confe-
quence to prefer the undoubted and original
Language and Pradices of the Apoilolical
AG:e, before thole of later and bare human
Introdudion.
6. To keep a Correfpondence by Letter
with other fuch Religious Societies ; and to
affiftthem and defire their mutual Affiftance
in the promoting the common Interefts of
Chriftianity.
7. Not to intermeddle with any other
Matters which are foreign to the proper De-
iigns of the Society.
III. The partkular Orders of the Society.
1. That the Society meet at the Primi-
tive Library in Crojsfreet Hatton-Garden^
every Friday ; fo as to enter upon Bufinefs
exadly at Five a Clock in the Afternoon,
and to continue together till Seven.
2. That the Prayers to be ufed be taken
out of the publick Liturgy of the Church
of Englaf?dy and be thofe fix CoUeds that
are hereafter enumerated j but that if any
2. do
90 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
do Icruple to join with the reft in thofe Forms,
it be left to them to beg the Divine Blef-
fing on the Societies Endeavours in fuch o-
ther Manner or at fuch other Times as they
Ihall think fit.
3. That a Chairman be chofen every Ca-
lendary Month, by the Confent and Vote
of the Major Part of the Society \ and that
fuch Eledion, if difputed, fhall be deter-
mined by Balloting \ and that on an equal
Divifion the Chairman's Vote prevail.
4. That the Chairman keep good Orders ;
prevent Heats, and Speaking too long, or
too warmly ; propofe the Queftion to be de-
bated, with the Arguments and Replies,
and compare their Force together; dired
the Secretary in drawing up the Minutes of
the Debates, and of the Refolutions there-
upon : and that in general he take care that
all the Rules and Orders agreed on be pun-
dually obferved.
5. That a Secretary be alio chofen as be-
fore, and altered as the Society fliall think
fit.
6. That the Secretary attend at every
Meeting of the Society \ minute down the
Queftion debated, the Arguments fro and
contra^ with the Refolutions of the Society
thereupon; keep a Correfpondence with
other Societies, and the abfent Members of
this ; fend them the Minutes of our Pro-
ceedings ; communicate Letters ; read the
I Minutes :
Life of Dr, S. Clarke. 91
Minutes ; and all according to theDireftion
of the Society; and that he procure Necei-
faries for the Society, to be reimhurs'd by
a Quarterly Contribution of the Members.
7. Th^t all Members be admitted, after
a due Enquiry into their Charader, by the
Confent of the Majority, as before.
8. That the Minutes of the laft Debate
fliall be read over every Meeting, before the
Society proceed farther.
5). That none fpeak out of their Turn or
Order, which is that beginning from the
Right Hand of the Chairman ; according to
which every one is to place himfelf as he
comes in ; without any Regard to Prece-
dence.
10. That every Member may, in his
Turn or Order, Propofe any other Queliion
to be debated ; but that that Queftion fhall
be chofen as the Subject of Debate which
Ihall be determined by the Majority, as be-
fore.
1 1. That the Queftion to be debated fliaH
be agreed on at leaft a Fortnight before-
hand ; that fo time may be ailow'd for every
one to prepare himfelf to fpeak to it, and
for its Communication to the abicnt Mem-
bers alfo.
1 2. That only One Member fpeak at a
time, and that as briefly as may be; ftill
direfting his Speech to the Chairman; and
that inMatters of Fad he always have his
Proofs
9 2 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
Proofs ready, from the Original Authors
he relies on, for the Satisfaction of the So-
ciety.
13. That every confiderable Argument
advanced in order, be in order ftrengthned
by fuch as are able, till its full Force appear ;
and till the Chairman be enabled to propofe
it, with its utmoft Advantage to the So-
ciety.
14. That then Time be given for any Re-
ply that may be made, in order, to the firft
Argument; and that Reply be ftrengthned,
in order, after the fame manner; till the
Chairman be enabled to propofe it alfo,with
its utmoft Advantage : And this ftill for the
compleat Difpatch, and minuting down of
one Argument and Reply, before the So-
ciety proceeds to the Confideration of ano-
ther.
15. That every Member have a Copy
of all the Orders of the Society given him.
1 6. That no Perfons be occafionally ad-
mitted, but fuch as are known to fome of
the Society.
17. That no Orders be repealed, nor new
Ones eftabliftied, but by the Confent of the
Majority at three Meetings fucceflively.
IV. Things Recommended by the Society to all
Its Members.
I. That they Refolve to Speak and Aft,
according to the Light of their own Con-
fciences
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 93
iciences, and let no Worldly Motives prevail
with them, to prevaricate with any of the
Sacred Truths and Duties of the Gofpel;
that by doing God's Will^ fo far as they are
latisfyed of it, they may be better dilpos'd
to receive his Truths, and to know of other
DoBrines and Duties ^ whether they he of God
or not,
2. That they be willing and ready upon
all fitting Occafions, openly to Recommend
and Encourage the Pious and Chriftian De-
figns of thefe Societies among Mankind.
3. That in their own private Devotions
they pray to Almighty God for a Bleffing
on the Confultations, Enquiries and Endea-
vours of thefe Societies ; in order to the
Reftoration and Propagation of Primitive
Truth, Piety, and Chriftianity in the World.
V. The Collects at prefent ufed by the Society.
At the Beginning.] Colleds for Whit-
funday^ for Simon znd yude*j and the Fourth
after the Communion,
At the End.] Part of the Colled for all
Conditions of Men ; that for the Second
Sunday in Advent ; and the Third for Good-
Friday,
VI. The
94 Hijlorkal Memoirs of the,
VI. ^he Evidence which the Society Intends to
go by.
The Society, fuppofing the proper Ufe
of Realbn in judging of Evidence offered,
Admits,
1. In the higheft Degree, thofe known
Books of the Old and New Teftament,
which appear to have been ever received by
the yewip and Chriftian Church without
any confiderable Difpute or Contradiction.
2. In the next Degree, thofe known Books
of the Old and New Teftament which ap-
pear to have been more generally received;
tho' fome had confiderable Doubts about
them.
3. In the next Degree, thofe Books not
now received ; which appear to have been
lead in the moft early Ages, in the Jewijb
Synagogues or Chrtftian Churches; or at
leaftto have been Written by the known
Companions of the Apoftles.
4. In the next Degree, all other Ancient
Records, Remains, Traditions, Conftitu-
tions, and Canons, deriv'd from the Apofto-
lical Age; fo far as the Arguments for their
Genuine Truth, Antiquity, and Authority,
Ihall recommend them.
5. In the laft Degree, the Primitive Wri-
ters and Councils, efpecially thofe of the
Three Firft Centuries; according to the
different
I
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 95
different Degrees of their Antiquity and
Credibility.
VII. The Rules and Meafures the Society in--
tends to be governed by in the life of that
Evidence,
1. To prefer what the Ancients fpeak of,
as the common Faith or Practice of Chri-
ftians in general, before what they deliver
as their own or others particular Opinions
or Cuftoms.
2. To prefer what the Ancients deliver
in plain Words, before what is gathered
from them by Confequences only.
3. To Diftinguifli every where, as far as
poffible, the Dodrinesof Chriftianity them-
Iclves, from the Philofophy of fpme Chri-
ftians about them.
4. As to Time^ to Prefer what appears
conftantly to have obtained in the firft Ages,
above what may be diredly trac'd to its later
Original.
5. As to ^lace^ To prefer what appears
generally or univerfally to have then obtained
before what can be dilcovered in fome Parts
only.
6. To take care that no Modern Diftin-
ftions may fet afide plain Teftimonies of
Antiquity,
7. To
9 6 HiJlo7^ical Memoirs of the
y. To determine every Queftion by fupe-
rior Evidence^ fo far as it appears to the
Society.
Our Chairmen were three : The firfl: Dr.
yohn Gale^ from yuly ^d. 17 15. when we
firftmet, till Feb. 10. 17 1|. Thefecond was
Mr. Arthur Onflow^ from ¥eh, 17. 1712
till December 28. iyi6. The third was
Mr. Thomas Emlyn^ from January 4. \y%
till y^;^^ 28. 1 71 7. which was the laft Day
of our Meeting. And I my felf officiated
ail the while as their Secretary, Nor have
the Minutes of this Society been preferv'd
with lefs exadnefs, perhaps, than thofe of
any Court in this Kingdom : as I take them
to be of greater Confequence than any of
them. And as foon as the Thoughts of
Men are turned from their prefent Difputes,
and Parties, and Follies, it will certainly
be very fit to publilh thofe Minutes
themlelvcs; and to attempt to reviv^e the
fame Society, for the common Benefit of
Truth and true Religion, and forthe Refto-
ration of Primitive Chriftianity among us.
iV. B, I fhall take leave, upon this Occa-
fion, to repeat here that folemn Wifh -^ fifth
Time, which 1 have in vain repeated y^^/r
times already, and that in the fame Words,
and with the fame Sincerity as formerly.
" O that I might Live to fee that Happy
" Day here in Great Britain.^ ^Yhen Pub-
'' lick
Life of Dr. S. C l a r k e. 97
lick Authority, Ecclcfiaftical and Secular
fliould depute a Committee of Learned,
Impartial, and Pious Men, with this
Commiflion, That they diligently, freely,
and honeftlyExamine her prefentConftitu-
tion, in all its Parts ; and bring in an un-
byafs'd and unprejudiced Account of her
" Defeds and Aberrations, whether \n Do-
" £l:rine, Worfhip, or Difcipline, of all
" Sorts, from the Primitive Standard ; in
^^ order to their effedual Corredion and
" Reformation. Then would our Ston be
^' indti^d a ^ralfe In the Earth '^ the Darling
^' and Pattern of all the other Proteflant
" Churches in the World : and by fuch an
" lUuftrious Precedent w^ould effedually re-
^^ commend the like Reformation to all the
" other Churches ; and fo become the Foun-
dation and Center of their Unity, Love,
and Peace, and thereby moft cfFedually
* hajlen the coming of that Glorious day
of Godj when, according to our Lord's
moft fure Promife, and that of the Fa-
ther alio, We look for New Heavens and
a New Earth ; a New and Better State
of the Church here on Earth ; ^ wherein
Rlghteotfnefs will dwellj till it end in the
Glorious MlUennmm^ the Kingdom of our
*^ Lord, advanced to its higheft Perfection,
and fpread over the Face of the whole
* Z Pet, 'ill, 12. f Verfeii,
G " Worldr
a
9 8 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
" World, till the Confummatlon of all
*^ things! Serm. and Effay, ^ag. 280, 281.
Reafons againft the Court of Delegates^ "Tag.
11, 12. Addrefs to Princes, ^ag.yi^yi,
Henley's Letters, ^Pag. 32.
About the Year 1717. I wrote a fmall
Paper, not yet publifhed, containing very
briefly the Reafons of what I had eight
Years before declared to be my Opinion in
the Serm9ns2inA. EJfays page 220, 221. agatnjl
the Eternity of the Torments of Hell.
And I think I m.ay venture to add, upon
the Credit of what I difcovered of the (Opi-
nions of Sir Ifaac 'Newton and Dr. Clarhey
that they were both of the fame Sentiments.
Nay, Dr. Clarke thought that '' few or no
^' thinking Men were really of different
^' Sentiments in that Matter". And as to
my felf, to fpeak my Mind freely, I have
many Years thought, that the common
Opinion in this Matter, if it were for cer-
tain a real part of Chriftianity, would be a
more infuperable Objeftion againft it, than
any or all the prefent Objedions of Unbe-
lievers put together.
About theYear 1 7 1 8.Dr. Clarke attempted
a fmall Alteration for his Parifli of St.
Ja7nes's^ in a Cafe where I had attempted
a great one long before for the Charity
Schools at Cambridge : I mean in the Forms
of Doxology of the finging ^falms : * which
*Hillor. Pref. ^age 128. 132.
% as
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 99
as they are not eJfMiJhed by any legal Au-
thority, Ecclefiaftical or Civil, feemed with,
in the Care of the prefent Stewards of the
Charity Schools, and of the prefent Incum-
bents of Pariflies. Dr. Clarke s Alteration I
think was this ; Ti? God^ through Chrif^ his
Son^ our Lord^ Jill Glory be. Which is the
moft undoubted old Chriftian Form that is
now extant in the Church ; and is the moft
ufual Form at the ends of the Prayers and
Thankfgivings in our own publick Liturgy.
This I efteem one of Dr. Clarke s moft Chri-
ftian Attempts towards Ibmewhat of Refor-
mation, upon the Primitive Foot, that he
ever ventured upon. But this Attempt was
fo highly refented by Bifliop Roh'infon^ that
it produced a moft flagrant Claufe, in a
Letter which he then wrote to the Incum-
bents of his Diocefe, to caution them a-
gainftufingit. Which Old Forniy the Bifliop,
in the Simplicity of his Heart, feemed to
think a New Form of Dcxology. This Let-
ter occafion'd feveral Pamphlets on both
fides ; two of which I was the Author of:
To which I muft refer the inquifitive Rea-
der. Nor need I add, that the Bifliop, in
way of Modern Authority^ was quite too
hard for Dr. Clarke^ in way of Primitive
Chrljllanity.
About this time it was, that the Lord
Lechmere^ Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lan-
cajier^ prefented Dr. Clarke to the Mafter-
G 2 ihip
ICO Hijlorical Memoirs of the
fhip of V/'igfian's Hofpital in LekeJIer.
Which requiring no Jthanafjn Subfcription,
nor Athanajian Creed, nox Athanajian Wor-
Ihip, was a piece of Preferment very accep-
table to him ; as it is now to his and my
great Friend Mr. Jachfin^ who fucceeds him,
on the very lame Accounts. Where, in the
Words of his Succeffor Mr. Jackfon^ " Dr.
" Clarke^ as often as he came to Leicejier^
" Read the Prayers of his Chappel for me,
" and Preached every Sunday at St. Martins
" Church for me or the Vicar ; and left a
" Legacy of an lOo/. to the Poor Inhabi-
" tants of the Town of Letcefier^ which
" has been paid by his Widow''.
The next Year, 17 15). Dr, Clarke defired
me to write a Commentary on the prji Epfile
of St. John : which Requeft I comply'd
with^ and extended it to all his three Rpi-
ftles. He alio at another time recommended
to me to write againft the Genuinenefs of
that famous Text in the lirft EpiiHe of St.
yohn^ Chap, v. 7. concerning the Three that
bear record in Heaven^ which he knew I be-
lieved to be an Interpolation. But as we
both knew that Sir Ifaac Newton had writ-
ten fuch a DilTertation aheady, and I was
then engaged in other Purfuits, I excufed
xny feif at that time ; and we both agreed
to recommend that Matter to Mx.Emlyni
which Work he undertook and performed
with great Impartiality and Accuracy. This
Trea«
htfe of Dr, S. Clarke, ioi
Treatife, as I have been inform'd, was alluded
to by Dr. Bentley in his own famous Ledure
at Cambridge foon afterward, when he ftood
Candidate for the Chair of Kegius ^rofejjdr
of Divinity: wherein he alfb entirely gave
up that Text, and publickiy prov'd it to
be Spurious. I have been alfo informed,
that when Dr. Waterland v^2iS asked " whe-
^' t\iQr:T>r. Bentley' s Arguments did not con-
" vince him''; he replied, " No: for he
*' was convinced before''. Nor does the Dr.
I think ever quote that Text as Genuine in
any of his Writings. Which in fo zealous
and warm a Trinltanan deferves to be taken
great notice of, as a Angular Inftance of
Honefty and Impartiality.
In the fameYear 1 7 1 p. fe veral of us w^ho did
not believe the Jthanaf an Doctrine, defign-
ed to Petition the Parliament for a ^'olera-
t'ton. Dr. Clarke was among the principal
Perfons confulted, and among thole that
moft heartily wifh'd good Succefs to our
^ Defign. Upon this Occafion we drew up
and Printed a Paper, to be given among
the Members of Parliament. This Attempt
was foon complain'd of and oppos'd, and
is mention'd with dilguft by the luOxANottlng--
ham. See his Book againft me, page 3, 4.
I5p. and my Rt^lj page y6. and io it foon
fell. The Paper it felf having not been, I
think, elfewhere publifhed entire, I ihall
• G 3 here
10 2 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
here reprint it, and defire Dr. Waterland and
his Antagonift Dr. ^yt^jand indeed any Cler-
gyman that figns or ufes thefe Church Forms,
to lay their Hands upon their Hearts, and
honeftly declare, whether ^;^/ one of them Ao^^
londfde believe what they all have Subfcri-
b'd and almof all ufe, as it here follows
Verbatim.
WHEREAS in an Ad of Parlia-
ment 1° GuL & Mar, for exempt-
ing Proteftant Diffenters, &c, from diverfe
Penalties, &c. there are feveral Reftriclions
and Limitations, by which many of his
Majefties peaceable Proteftant Subjefts are
ftill left incapable of receiving the Benefit of
fuch Exemption, &c. Therefore for the
Quieting the Minds of all fuch his Ma-
jefties good Proteftant Subjects, be it enaded,
&c. That every Proteftant DilTenter from
the Church of England by Law eftabliflied,
who ftiall make and fubfcribe the Declarati-
on againft Popery, and take the Oaths in the
faid Aft mentioned ; and who fliall, inftead
of any other Declarations and Subfcriptions
therein required, declare and fubfcribe his
unfeigned Affent to and his Belief of, the
Holy Chrtfian Religion, as contained in the
Scriptures of the Old and 'New Teftament,
and in the Cr^^i commonly called the Apo^
pies Creed^ ftiall have the full Benefit of the
faid Exemptions, as if he had made all the
Declara-
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 103
DeclarationsandSubfcriptionstherein hitherto
required; any Thing in the aforefaid Aft or
in any other Ad to the contrary in any wife
notwithftanding.
IV. 5. No Preachers or Teachers, except
Quakers, are at prefent tolerated by Law
in England, without fubfcribing the folio w-
Propofitions.
Out of the XXXIX Articles.
Jrtkle I. 'TpH E R E is but one liyjng,
JL ^^^ ^^'^^ ^^^' everlafting,
without Body, Parts, or Paffions, of infinite
Power, Wifdom, and Goodnefs, the Maker
and Preferver of all Things both vifible, and
invifible. Jndtn Vnlry of this Godhead there
he three '^erfons of one Suh fiance^ ^ower^ and
Eternity^ the Father^ the Son^ and the Holy
Ghoft,
IT. The Son, which is the Word of the
Father, begotten from everla fling of the Fa^
ther^ the very and eternal God '^ of one Suh^
fiance with the Father^ took Man's Nature in
the Womb of the bleffed Virgin, of her
Subftance, fo that two whole and perfeSf
Natures^ that is to fay^ the God-head and
Manhood were joyn'd together hi one ^erfon
never to be divided, whereof is one Chrift
very God and very Man^ who truly fuffer'd,
was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile
G- 4 hh
1 04 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
his Father to lis, and to be a Sacrifice not
only for Original Guilt but alfo for adual
Sins of Men.
V. The Holy Ghoft proceeding from the
Father and the Son, Is of one Subjiance^ Ma-
jefy^ and Glory with the Father and the Sony
very and eternal God.
VIII. The three Creeds, Nice Creedy
Athanajtus'^ Creedy and that which is com-
monly caird the Apoftles Creed, ought
throughly to he received and hellev'd^ fof they
may be proved by moji certain Warrants of holy
Scripture.
IX. Original Sin ■ ■ In every ^erfon
horn Into this Worldy deferveth God's Wrath
and Damnation.
XIII. Works done before the Grace of
Chrift, and the Infpiration of his Spirit are
not plealant to God ; we doubt not
hut they have the Nature of Sin.
XVII. ^redejilnatlon to Llfe^ is the ever--
lafilng ^urpofe of Gody whereby (before the
Foundations oj- the World were laid) he hath
conjlmtly Decreed by his Counfely fecret to uSy
to deliver from Curfe and Damnation., thofe
whom he hath chofen In Chriji out of Mankind y
and to bring them by ChrlJi to everlajilng SaU
vatlon^ as Vejfels made to Honour. Wherefore
they which be endued zvlth Jo excellent a Be-
nejit of Gody be called according to God's ^ur-
fcfe by his Spirit working in. due Seafon : They
through Grace obey the Calling : They bejufti-
I fed
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 105
fed freely : ^hey he made Sons of God hy
^Adoption : 'They be made like the Image of his
only begotten Son Jefus Chrif : They walk re-
Ugiou/ly in good Works : and at lengthy hy
God's Mercy they attain to everlafting Feli-
city.
As the Godly Conf deration of ^redejiina-
tion and our EleBion in Chriji^ isfuUoffweet^
fleafant andtinffeakable Comfort to Godly ^er-
Jons J andfiich as feel in themf elves the work-
ing of the Sprit of Chrif ^ mortifying the
Works of the Flefh^ and their Earthly Mem-
hers^ and drawing up their Mind to high
and heavenly Things: as well becaufe it doth
greatly ejiahlifh and conf rm their Faith of eter-
nal Salvation^ to he enjoyed through Chrif y
as hecaufe it doth fervently kindle their Love
towards God ; So^ for curious and carnal^er-
fons^ lacking the Spirit of Chrif ^ to have
continually before their Eyes the Sentence of
God*s ^redejiination^ is a mof dangerous down-
fall whereby the Devil doth thrujt them either
into Defperation^ Gr into Wretchlefnejs of mof
unclean Living \ no lefs perilous than T^efpe-
ration.
N. B. Inftead of the thirty nine Articles
the Quakers are by Law required, among
other Things, to fign the following Pro-
feffion.
I
J. B. Profefs Faith in God the Father,
and in Jefus Chrift his eternal Son^ the
true
I o6 Hifiorkal Memoirs of the
true God^ and in the Holy Spirit, One God
hlejfcd for evermore,
N. B. In the Sfb. Article foregoing it is
affirmed, that the Athanafian Greed is
Mhanafiis's ; which the Learned agree is
not fo. And it is there affirmed, among
other Things, that that Creed ought throughly
to he recerSd and heliev'd^ hecaufe it may he
frov'd hy mof certain Warrants of Holy Scrl]^^
tares.
Some Part of the Athanafian Creed here
follows.
Whofoever will he faved^ hefore all things
it is necejpiry that he hold the CathoUck Faith.
Which Faith ^ except every one do keep whole
and undefled^ without douht he Jhall perijh
everlafungly ,
And the CathoUck Faith is this : 'That We
worjhip one God in Trinity^ and Trinity in
Unity.
But the Godhead of the Father ^ of
the Son^ and of the Holy Ghoji^ is all one .'
the Glory equals the Majejiy co-eternal.
Such as the Father isy fuch is the SoUy and
fuch is the Holy Ghojf.
The Father uncreate^ the Son uncreate^ and
the Holy Ghofi uncreatc.
The Father incomprehenjihkj the Son incom-^
prehenfbky and the Holy Ghoji incomprehen^
fihle. ' The
Life of Dr. S.Clark-e. 107
The Father eternal^ the Son eternal^ and
the Holy Ghoji eternal.
j4nd yet they are not three Eternals^ hut
one Eternal.
As alfo there are not three incomprehenftbleSy
nor three tmcreated : But one uncreated^ and
one incomprehenjible.
So Ukewife the Father Is Alm'ighty^ the Son
Almighty^ anA the Holy GhoJi Almighty.
And yet they are not three Almighties^ hut
one Almighty.
So the Father is God^ the Son is Gody and
the Holy Ghofi is God ;
And yet they are not three Gods : hut one
God.
So Ukewife the Father is Lord^ the Son
Lord J and the Holy Ghof Lord ;
And yet not three Lords ; hut one Lord.
— And in this Trinity none is afore ^ or
after other , none is greater or lefs than ano^
ther"^
But the whole three ^erfons are co^eternal
together y and co-equal.
So that in all Things., as is aforefald^ the
Unity in Trinity ^ and the Trinity in Unity is
to he worfiipped.
Hs therefore that will he faved rnuf thus
think of the Trinity.
This is the Catholick Faith: which
except a Man believe faithfully y he cannot he
faved^
J.D.
I o 8 Htjlorical Memoirs of the
A. D. 1720. came out Dr. Clarke's Se--
cond Edition of his Scripture DoBrine of the
trinity J with proper Emendations and Cor-
reftlons. What was here moft remarkable
was this ; I give it the Reader in the Words
oilL>xJVaterIand\ that *" The moft ofFen-
*-' five Paflage of the Introdudion relating
^^ to Subfcription, [viz. 'Tis plain that every
<c cp^fjon may reafonahly agree to Modern
u Pqjt^j^ whenever he can in any fenfe at all
*' reconcile them with Scripture ; ] was left
^' out : and befides that, all thofe ftrange
'^ and unaccountable Interpretations of the
'^ Athanafan Creed, &c, ( which had ap-
*' peared in the fiift Edition ) werealfopru-
" dently omitted. — — tho' he did not
*^ flrike out every Claufe that looked that
*^ way; [and ufed 3 great Referve and
" Caution in not telling the World plainly
^^ that he had changed his Mind: ■
*' which [change of Mind] muft appear
" more for the Dodor's Honour, ( with all
'^ Men of Senfe, ) than perfifting in an er-
*^ ror". In all which I agree with Dr.
Waterland : and would recommend it to him
to imitate nay to outdo Dr. Clarke : I mean
in no more vindicating or figning the Calvi-
nif Articles : which he himfelf does not
much more believe than the other believed
the Athanafan, But iVi?/^ videmus id mantic(^
quod in tergo ef,
* Arian Subfcription, page 5, 6.
How-
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 109
However, It will be very proper on this
Occafion to give a particular Account of Dr.
Clarke's and fome of his Friends late Conduct
about this their Subfcription to Jthanafan
Articles, ufe of Athanafian Creeds, and
compliance with Jthanajian Forms of Wor-
fliip. As to Mr. Emlyn and my felf, we
have ever not only retained our own integrity
in this Cafe, but taken cate to afford no
Sujpk ion upon us of any fuch Prevarication.
Infomuch that 'Di.JVaterland juftly quotes
my Opinion at large againft his Adverfary
Dr. SykeSj in his Supplement * to the Cafe of
Arian Subfcription ; as the Words are fet
down above out of my Olfervations ^ on Dr.
darkens Scripture Do Brine of the Trinity.
As to Dr. Clarke's Condud, fince the J^-
cond Edition of his Book, it has been, th®'
not open and publick enough, yet, for the
main, more and more in the way of Hone-
fty, and againft fuch fort of Prevarications.
Mr. Emlyn J Mr. Jackfon^ and my felf, have
many Years known from his own Mouth,
that he has never encouraged thofe that con-
fulted him to fubfcribe, and that he had
been long greatly inclined to meddle no more
in that way himfelf. And I have of late
met with undeniable Evidence, befides what
Intimation is given by Biihop || Hoadley ^
from what he has faid to three of his moil
intimate Friends, and of the moft unquc-
• ? Page 72.--75' t ^^S- 49—53- %ra. || Pag. ^-j, 4^.
ftionable
no Hijiorical Merdoirs of the
ftionable Probity, the Matter of the Rolls j
Mr. Emlyn^ and Mr. Jachfon^ that for fome
Years before he died, he perpetually refufed
all, even the greateft Preferments, which
required the fame Sublcription : And he let
both his hlgheji ^ and his mo ft intimate
Friends know, that he would take no fort
of Preferment which required it.
As to his and, my great Fiend, Mr. Jack"
fon's Conduct about fuch Sublcription, it is
indeed very true, that Jl. D. 1721, when
he was difturb'd and profecuted on Sufpi-
cion of Arianifm at Letcejfer^ he was about
writing againft Dr. Waterland's Artan Sub-
fcrlptlon ; and that in the way both of an
Apology for fuch Subfcriptions, and of Re-
crimination upon Dr. Waterland's and the
Churches own Prevarication in figning other
Articles which themfelves did not really be-
lieve. Infifting that he, and others of his
Eujeblan Opinions, might as innocently iign
Athanafian Articles, without being Athana-
jians\ as Dr. Waterland^ and the Church,
without being Cahlnljisy do fign Calvinljt
Articles. When I heard this News, and
met with what I took to be Mr. yackfon's
Vindication of fuch Subicriptions, I wrote
Mr. Jack/on a Letter to dilTuade him from
what I thought fo wicked, and fo foolilh an
Attempt: A Copy of which I have not
preferv'd. Take his Anfwer to it in his
own Words, out of his Letter to me, da-
ted
Life of Dr.S. Clarke. hi
ted [from Lekejier'] November 4, 1721,
which I have by me.
— -" You are miftaken in having read
^^ my Vindication againft Dr. W^ — ~-'s
^' Arian Subfcription ; I have not yet pub-
^' Hfhed any Anfvver to it. [It was Dr.
Syhes's Cafe of Suhfcrlptwn that i had read,
which, being without a Name , I then
thought to' have been Mr. ycickfon's,~]
" When I do, I fhall confider fully the
" Athdnafan Creed, and the Antentcene
" Language, for the Ground of my Senie
^^ of the Church Forms. I think I can not
" only retort upon Dr. W , but hope
" to ftiew, that though there are Dijtiicul-
" ties in point of Subfcription, which I de-
" ny not, yet that, all things confider'd,
^' I may confiftently with Honejiy fublcribe.
^^ As I do aifure you there is no Klan to whom
^' I more defire to approve my felf, as an
^^ honefi Man^ than to you, of whofe entire
^^ Honefty I have the greateft Opinion, fo
*' I hope you will not find Reafon to con-
^' demn me. And if after I have given
" my Reafons for Subfcription, I can be
" fliewn that thofe Reafons are not good,
" or will not excufe my Subicription from
" Prevarication, I Ihall be forry for having
" already fubfcrib'd, and Ihall think my
'^ felf bound in Duty and Confcience to
^^ fubfcribe no more, not for the whole
'' World/'
To
112 Hijlorkal Memoirs of the
To this I find a Copy of my Reply,
which was as follows Verbatim.
Dear Sir London, 'November 9. 17 21.
<' nr^ H E Receit of yours of the 4th
\ " Inftant gives me no fmall Un-
eaimefs, fince I find thereby that the Sub-
fcription to, and Ufe of even the grofTeft
and moft notorious Corruption now in
our Church, I mean the Athanajian Creed
it felf, is to be excused and apologized for
by you; which almoft all the ioh^x Atha--
najians are greatly afham'd of; and which
is frequently omitted by themfelves, as
" unwarrantable and unchriftian. If you
had not appeared in Publick in this Con-
troverly, this Procedure would have been
even then very unjuftifiable ; but as you
have it is abfolutely abfurd and into-
" lerable. Nor do I think this Procedure
^^ of yours only wicked in point of Con-
fcience, but foolifli in point of Prudence
alfo. After your new Subfcription ,"
Monthly AlTents and Confents, and fuch
an Apology, you will for certain be con-
temptible to the Athanajians^ defpis'd
and affronted at Lelcejier^ and very coldly
received by thofe fince re and honeft Chri-
ftian Friends that fupported me in my
Troubles, and brought me fo through
" them, that 1 think I am now fomewhat
*^ richer than if I had been Profeffor at
" Cam-
Life of Dr. S. C l a r ke. 1x3
" Cambridge to this Day. Mr. Emlyn^ and
" my felf, have begun and carried on tliis
^'- glorious Defign of a Reformation, with-
" out the leaft Thought of tricking and
'^ prevaricating in fuch facred Matters.
" Dr. Clarke and you come in the third and
" fourth Place: We deny not, with greater
" Learning : but in fuch a way, that there
" is great Reafon to fear the Defign will be
ruin'd by your worldly Politicks, and
Prevarication. What your Guilt will be,
if fo it prove , I need not lay. Nor
would I have a Imall part of it chargeable
on me at the great Day for all the World.
Not to mention the Danger of not only
hindring the. Legiflature from giving us
any. farther Relief, as Men of Probity
and Gonfcience, but of provoking it to
make new Laws againft us, as Knaves
and Villains : Confider what Daniel did>
*' when even his Life was at Stake, vi. 10
" ■ — 13. and old £/^^^^.r, . when he might
have eicaped much greater Punilhment
by much lefs Prevarication than you can,
2 Macr, vi. 1 8 — 31. And remember you
were fealbnably put in mind of all this
by your Friend. However, if you do
refolve to go through this dangerous Bu-
finefs, I beg of you at the very time
openly, and under your Hand, to declare
in w^hat Senle you mean every dubiou§r
Article or Promile, that you may at leaft
H " void
1 1 4 Hifiorical Memoirs oj the
'^ avoid the Imputation of Popifli Equtvo-'
*' cation and mental Keferv at ton ^ infuchim-
" pQrtant Matters ; which is the leaft, I
" think, that an honeft Man can poffibly
^' do in your Cafe : Which I earneftly, but
^^ in vain, exhorted Dr. Clarke to do, when
" he took his Dodor's Degree at Cam"
" bridge'^ and which the prefent Bifliop of
^' Coventry and Vtchjield was permitted to
" do in open Court, when he took the Af-
^' fociation many Years ago. If not, I in-
*' treat you to ufe fome other Friend to af-
^' lift you in your Management; fori fhall
^^ go with fo unwilling and uneafy a Mind
" about it, as may be to your Difadvan-
'^ tage, and cannot be to my Satisfaction.
*' You are now come to the great Tryal of
^' your Integrity ; I pray God dired your
'^ Refolution- [Integrity is vaftly prefera-
" ble to Orthodoxy. ] I conclude with the
^' Words of Jeftis^ the Father of Sirach^
<^ jlrive for the ^rtith unto Death ^ and the
" Lord jh all fight for thee^ Eccluf. iv. ^8»
'^ BE HONES T.''
Tours Jincerely^
Will. W h i s t o n.
My DifTaafions however being afterwards
upon one Motive or another, feconded by
Dr. Clarke and Mr. Emlyn^ Mr. Jachfon at
" length
^^ Life of Dr.S. Cla RKE. 115
length yielded, and dropp'd that Defign to
all our Satisfadion. Since which time
Mr. Jackfon has fully recovered his Integri-
ty, as to fach Sahfcriptlons^ and that foon
after this Letter was written. For it ap-
pears from fome of his Letters to me, and
particularly from a Letter of his to Mr.
Emlyn^ dated 03oher 27. 17:22, which I
have feen, that he was at that time almoft
refolv'd to fubfcribe the XXXIX Articles
no more. His Words are thefe; " If the
*-' XXXVIth Canon extends to '^rehenda-
" ries^ I fliall have a Difficulty upon me ;
" being not [ upon late and mature Confide-
" ration of every Particular fubfcrib'd,] fully
*^ fatisfy'd of the lawfulnefs of fubfcribing.
^^ ■ ■ I own of late, I have not thought
" of any Living, till the Point of Subfcrip-
" tion is more clear to me. I alfo own I
^^ cannot fubfcribe, but with fuch a Lati-
" tude as is hard to be admitted/' Ac-
cordingly he not very long after that loft the
Hopes he had of a Prebend of Salisbury^ on
Account of his Refufal of Subfcription ;
which yet is not, I perceive, the only Pre-
ferment he has loft on the fame Account.
And this lofs of that Prebend is fo remar-
kable, and lies fo much at the Door of
Bifliop Boadley^ the Writer of Dr. Clarke's
Life, and in which I find he acted contrary
to Dr. Clarke s Opinion, that 'tis very fit the
Publick fhould know^ it on this Occafion.
H 2 The
i i6 Hifiorkal Memoirs of the
The Matter lay thus ; 'Tis not, it feems,
at all clear in our Law, that Subfcription is
aQualification neceflary for holding aPrebend.
Mr. Jackfon's private Prebend of Wherwell
did not at ail require it ; no more than Dr.
Clarke's and his Hofpital at Leicejicr. The
Bifhop of Sarum^ alio was follicited by Dr.
Clarke that Mr. Jackfon might have one of
his Prebends; and Mr. Jackjon was ready to
accept it, provided he would not require
Subscription ; being willing to run the Ha-
zard of the Law, in cafe his Title fhould be
caird in Queftion. Dr. Clarke alfo informed
him that it did not appear that Prebends
requir'd Subfcription. However the Biftiop
did not fliew any readinefs to admit him
without Subfcription. How confiftent this
was with his own Notion of Liberty ofCon^
fciencey or with that Chrifltan Freedom^
of which he has always appeared the ftrong-
eft Advocate, I do not well underttand.
However, fmce the Affair of that Prebend,
Mr. Jackfon has always refused to make any
fuch Subfcription. And I can my felf af-
fure the Publick, that I have feveral Years
certainly known That his Refolution, from
his ow^n Mouth, even upon the Suppofition
that he Ihould by fuch Refufal, be rendred
uncapable of any farther Preferment in the
Church. And I muft needs do Mr. Jack-
fon this farther Juftice, as to profefs, that
had he been left to himfelf, and his own
I Thoughts
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 117
Thoughts all along, and not been over-born
by his Regards to Dr. Clarke^ to his Perfua-
fions, Example, Emendations, and cauti-
ous Management, I believe he would have
more readily difcover'd, and more openly
profefs'd fome Parts of what he is now latii-
fied was the original Chriftian Doftrine, and
earlier refolv'd upon the true and open Gon-
feffion ofthe fame, than he really did.
As for Dr. Sykes^ another of Dr. Clarke's
Friends and mine, he is, I think, the on-
ly Perfon that has ventured in diftind Pa-
pers, of late, to fupport fuch Subfcription :
And he very unhappily, ^, D. 1721,
WTOte for the Lawfulnels of Suhfcrlplon^ in
the Pamphlet already intimated , againft
Dr. Waterland, And A. D. 1722, reply'd
to Dr. Waterland'^ Supplement againft him :
That is, he has tw^ice endeavoured to wafj a
Blackmore white. And he has in thefe laft
feven or eight Years, twice ftiew'd his Be-
lief of his own Palliations and Excufes, or
his Ability to conquer the Scruples which
naturally arife on thofe Occafions ; I mean
for his Prebend of Sarum^ and for his Deane-
ry of Eur}ef2, Heconfelfes in his * Elogtum
upon Dr. Clarke., that " the Doctor's Scru-
" pies about Subfcription were very great,'"
without knowing, it feems, that he was
refolv'd fome Years before his Death, to
fubfcribe no more* In which honeft Relb-
H 3 luton^
X I 8 Hijlorkal Memoirs of the
lution, I hope, this his great Admirer will
follow him , and timely repent of thofe
two Pamphlets, which he formerly wrote
^to encourage himlelf, and others of the
Clergy, f To leave the ^aths of Uprlghtnefsy
to walk, in the ways of Darknefs*^ or, to
fign and ufe what they do not, they can-
not really believe to be true and right, to
the great Scandal of Religion , the Re-
proach of that facred Fundion to which
they belong, and to the fpreading of Infi-
delity and Prof;ncnefs in the World. 0 my
Soul^ come not thou Into their Secrets I 'To
their JjfenMy^ mine Honour^ he not thou
united/ Nor has the prefent Lord Chan-
cellor, noxWiOxo^i Hcadley^ nor Bifliop ii?/-^,
nor any other of the great Advocates for
Liberty about the Court, or in Parliament,
made the leaft Motion all this while, that
I know of, for this true Chrijiian Liberty ;
I mean the eafing the Confciences of thofe
honeft Clergymen, who groan under the
Burden of the prefent Impolitions in Atha-
nafan Creeds, Jthan.fan Forms of Prayer
and Doxology, and Athanafan and Cahinifi
Articles of Faith.
But then. How other wife great and good
Men, even fuch as Mr. Chillingworth him-
felf, who is wiih fome of our Divines, of a
kind of Apofolical Authority^ come ever to
fatisfy^ or rather to fancy they do fatisfy
f Prov. ii. 13.
their
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 119
their Confciences, in going on from Generati-
on to Generation, in fuch Athanajian and
Calvmji Subfcri prions and Praftices, is an
hard, very hard Thing to account for. And
that I may fee how much this fort of Apo--
jlolkal Authority ^ join'd to the ftrongelt
Reafons, will weigh, I Ihall give the Rea-
der an entire Letter of Mr. ChiUhigworth's^
written at a Time when his Confcience
ftarted at the very Thoughts of Subfcrip-
tion, as it occurs in his Life. The Con-
tents of which Letter, of which very mo-
ving, very Chriftian Letter, deferve the
moft ferious Confideration. It was written
'To the Right WorJJnpfal., and his much FIo"
mur'd Friend Dr. Sheldon ^ [ afterwards
Archbifhop of Canterbury ] and dated from
Tew J September 21, i<^35.
Good Dr. Sheldon y
^' T Do here fend you news, as unto my
" JL t>eft friend, of a great and happy
" vittory, which at length with extream
^' difficultie I have fcarcely obtained over
'^ the only enemie that can hurt me, that
^' is, my felf.
" Sir, fo it is, that though I am in debt
" to your felfe and others of my friends
^^ above twenty pounds more than I know
" how to pay ; though I am in want of
^^ many conveniences j though in 2;reat
H4 "d^a-
I 20 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
danger of falling into a chronical! infir-
mitie of my body ; though in another
thing, which you perhaps gueffe at what
it is, but! will not tell you, which would
make me more joyful! of preferment
"^ then all thcfe ( if I could come honeffly
' by it ^ ) though money comes to me
*^ from my father's purfe like blood from
^^ his veinSj or from his heart; though I
*^ am very fenfiblc that I have been too
long already an unprofitable burden to
my Lord, and muft not ftil! continue
fo ; though my refufing preferment, may
perhaps ( which fear, I aflure you, does
'^ much afflid m.e ) h)e injurious to my
^' friends and intimate acquaintance, and
^^ prejudicial to them in the way of theirs ;
*' though conicience of my own good in-
^' tent ion and defire, fuggefts unto me ma-
^* ny flattering hopes of great poffibilitie
'^ of doing God and his Church fervice, if
^' I had that preferment which I may fairly
'^ hope for; though I may juftiy fear, that
'' by refufing thofe preferments which I
'' fought for, I fhall gain the reputation of
^^ wcalcncffe and levity, and incur their dil-
*' pleafure, whofe good opinion of me, next
^' to God's favour, and my own good opi-
*^ nion of my felf, I do efteem and defire
*' above all things ; though all thefe and
*^ many other terrihiks vifii form(:!e have re-
a
prefented themfelves to my imagination
" in
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 121
^' in the moft hideous manner that maybe;
" yet I am at length firmly and unmoveably
" refolved, if I can have no preferment
" without Stthfcrlpticn^ that T neither can,
*' nor will have any.
" For this refolution I have but one rea-
" fon againft a thoufand temptations to the
" contrary, but it is tv fjJiyt^ againft which
" if all the little realbns in the world were
^' put in the ballance, they would be light-
" er than vanity. In brief, this it is.* as
'^ long as I keep that modeft and humble
^' aiTurance of God's love and fivour which
" I now enjoy, an^ wherein I hope I fiiall
*^ be daily more and more confirmed ^ lb
" long, in defpite of all the world, I may
" and fnall and will be happy. But if I
once lofe this ; though all the world
ftiould confpire to make me happy, I fliall
and muft be extremely miierable. Now
this ineftimable jewel, if I fubfcribe
( without fuch a Declaration as will make
the Subfcription no Sublcription, ) I ihall
wittingly and willingly and deliberately
throw away. For though I am very well
perfwaded of you and my other friends,
who do fo with a full perfwafion that
you may do it lawfully ; yet the cafe
ftands fo with me, and I can lee no re-
medy but for ever it will do fo, that if I
^' fubicribe, I lubfcribe my own Damnati-
^* on. For though I do verily believe the
" Church
12 2 Htfiorkal Memoirs of the
*^ Church of England a true member of the
^' Church ; that fhe wants nothing necefla-
^^ ry to falvation, and holds nothing repug-
*' nant to it; and had thought that to
" think fo, had fufficiently qualified me
^^ for a Subfcription: yet now I plainly fee,
*' if I will not juggle with my Confcience,
^^ and play with God almighty, I muft
" forbear.
" For, to fay nothing of other things,
" which I have fo well confider'd as not to
^' be in ftate to fign them, and yet not fo
" well as to declare my felf againft them ;
*' two points there are, wherein I am fully
" refolved, and therefore care not who
" knows my mind. One is, that to fay
" the fourth Commandment is a Law of
*^ God appertaining to Chriftians, is falfe
*^ and unlawfull : the other, that the damn-
^' ing fentences in St. Athanafius's Creed
*' ( as wc are made to fubfcribe it ) are moft
*^ falfe, and alfo in a high degree prefump-
^' tuous and fchifmaticall. And therefore I
" can neither fubfcribe that thefe things
^' are agreeable to the word of God, feeing
^^ I believe they are certainly repugnant to
^' it : nor that the whole Common-Grayer is
^' lawful to he tifed^ feeing I believe thele
" parts of it certainly unlawful; nor pro-
" mife that 1 my felf will ufe tt^ feeing I
^' never intend either to read thefe things
" which
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 123
^^ which I have now excepted againft^ or to
" fay Amen to them.
" I {hall not need to intreat you, not to
*^' be offended with mee for this my moft
" honeil, and ( as I verily believe ) moft
" wife Refolution : hopeing rather, you
^' will do your endeavour, that I may nei-
^^ ther be honeft at fo dear a rate, as the
" loffe of preferment, nor buy preferment
'^ at fo much dearer a rate, the lolTe of ho-
" nefty.
'^ I think my felfe happy that it pleafed
^^ God, when I was refolved to venture up-
^' on a Subfcription without full affurance
" of the lawfuinejGTe of it, to caft in my
" way two unexpeded impediments to di-
" vert m.e from accomplifhing my reibluti-
" on. For I profefs unto you, fince I en-
^^ tertained it, I have never enjoyed quiet
^' day nor night, till now that I have rid
'' my felf of it again ; and I plainly per-
^' ceive, that if I had fwallowed this pill,
" howfoever guilded over with gloffes and
^' refervations, and wrapt up in confervcs
^' of good intentions and purpofes, yet it
" would never have agreed nor ftay'd with
" me, but I would have caft it up again,
" and with it whatfoever preferment I
^' Ihould have gained with it as the wages
" of unrighteoufnefs ; which would have
" been a great injury to you, and to my
^^ Lord Keeper : whereas now, res eji inte^^
'^ gra J
I 24 Hijlorlcal Memoirs of the
^^ gra\ and he will not loofe the gift of
^' any preferment by bellowing it on mee,
^' nor have any engagement to Mr. An-
^' drewcs for me.
*^ But however this would have fucceed-
" ed in cafe I had then liibfcribed, I thank
" God, I am now fo refolved, that I will
^' never do that while I am living and in
" health, which I v/ould not do if I were
^' dying ^ and this T am fure I would not
^' do. I v/ould never do any thing forpre-
*' ferment, which I would not do but for
^* preferment: and this, I am fure, Ifhould
'' not do. I will never under value the hap-
'' pinefs which Gods love brings to mee
" vv'ith it, as to put it to the leaft adven-
^' ture in the w^orld, for the gaining of any
" worldly happinelTe. I remember very
^' well, qucente prhnum rcgnum Del^ &
*' C(;etera omnia adjictentur t'lht : and there-
*' fore whenever I make fuch a prepofterous
^' choice, I will give you leave to think I
" am out of m.y wits, or do not beleeve in
" God, or at leaft am fo unreafonable as to
" do any thing in hope I fhall be forry for
" it afterwards, and wifh it undone.
" It cannot be avoided, but my Lord
^' of Canterbury muft come to know this
** my refolution, and, I think, the iboner
*' the better. Let me entreat you to ac-
*' quaint him with it, (if you think it ex-
!' pedient,) and let me hear from you as
" foon
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 125
^' foon as poffibly you can. But when you
'' write, I pray remember, that my fore-
" going preferment ( in this Hate wherein
" I am ) is grief enough to me ; and do
*' not you add to it, by being angry with
'' mee for doing that, which I muft do or
" be miferable. I am your moll loveing
" and true Servant, &c. See Mr. ChiU'ing"
worth's Life page 86 ^8.
In the fame Year 1721. I wrote and loon
after Pubhflied, a Chronological Table^ from
the Beginning of the World till Dr. ^Vrideaiix
began his Connexion of the Old and Isew
Tefiamenty and to Compleat Bifliop Lloyd
and Bilhop Cumberland's mod learned Dc-
figns of that nature. The Reafon why I
mention it here is this, that I was defirous,
by the means of Dr. Clarke^ w^ho was moft
intimate with him, to obtain Sir Ifaac New-
ton's Opinion and Corredions; w^ho I knew
had gone deep into that Study. But I could
not compafs the fame. And indeed fince
the Publication of Sir Ifaac Newton s Chro-
oology J I am fatisfied we went upon Founda-
tions fo vaftly different, that I ihould pro-
bably have received little Advantage from
his Perufal : as every one will eafiiy judge
that reads my Confutation of that Chrono-
logy. Nor did I ever defire Dr. Clarke's own
Corredions in Chronology. Of which Sci-
ence,
126 Hijlortcal Memoirs of the
ence. and thofe that in good Meafure de-
pend upon it; fuch as the judging of the
Characters of Time, in order to determine
whether Authors be really as Ancient as
they pretend to be, and the Accomplifli-
ment of Scripture Prophecies, he feemed to
me to have the leaft Tajle that I ever met
with in any great Man whomlbever. Nor
could Dr. Clarke be at all compared with
Bifhop Smalridge as to Sagacity in things of
this nature, tho' in Mathematicks and Na-
tural Philofophy he was far his Superior.
As to metaphyfical Learning, if it may be
called Learning, Dr. Clarke was vaftly fupe-
rior to Bifliop Smalridge, Whofe freedom
yet from the Delufions of that fort of Lear-
ning, I reckon among thofe Advantages of
the Bifhop which rendred him a more Saga-
cious and Impartial Judge than Dr. Clarke^
what the plain ancienteft Teftimonies of
Chriftian Antiquity have, without any
metaphyfick Language, delivered to us, as
the genuine Doftrines and Duties of Chri-
ftianity. 'Tis true, Bifhop Smalridge'^ re-
gard to modern Church Authority; his
dread of the ill Confequences of difcover-
ing fo great and lafting Errors in the Church ;
the Situation he was in at Oxford and in
Convocation; with his Sufpicion of the
harm Politicians and Unbelievers would
turn fuch Difcoveries to, inftead of Uniting
with good Men to corred the Errors them-
felves^
Life of Dr, S.Clarke. 127
felves, would not permit him to exert thole
very great Talents which God had given him
for the Diicovery and Reftoration of True
Primitive Chrijllamty ; which 'True Primitive
Chrifitanity yet Bifhop Smalridge^ as I have
long thought, was not otherwife lefs able
to Dilcover, and at the Bottom, not lefs
wilHng to Promote, than any other Learned
Man that ever I was acquainted with. Nor
do I believe that Dr. Clarke confiderably
differed from me in my Opinion of him.
But of Bifliop Smalrtdge^ that truly learned
and judicious Man, that excellent Preacher,
vigilant Pallor, and moft ufeful Governor
of a College, with his Behaviour and Opi^
nions ; more hereafter. To whole Memory,
and Friendlhip to Dr. Clarke and me, which
lafted till his Death, I could not but endea-
vour to do juftice upon this Occafion. But
to proceed.
About the Year 1723, I revised, and im-
proved, andcorreded aformer Propofallhad
intended to make, for " Printing at the
" Charge of the Publick, an Edition of all
" the Primitive Fathers before the middle
" of the fourth Century, to be tranfmitted
" as Parochial Libraries, to all Pofterity/'
This Grand Pro pos al of mine began
to be communicated to the Learned about
this Time, and had been feveral Years ago
made Publick, had not Mr. Collins'^ Grounds
and Keafons interrupted my Defigns, and
a turned
12 8 Htjlorical Me moirs of the
turned my Thoughts towards the Examina^
tion and Vindication^ inflead of the Difcovery
and Propagation of Primitive Chriftianity,
asmylaterTreatifesfhevv. However, I hope
Providence will e'er long bring on fuch a
Time, and fuch a Situation of Affairs, when
that moft ufcful Defign may be revived with
better Profped of Succefs. This is here
mentioned particularly on Account of Dr.
Clarke^ who was intended for one of the
Editors • and the Book recommended to
him was Iren^us^ an Author I knew he
was very fond of, and well verfed in : To
w^hich Recommendation, when I informed
him of it, he feemed not much averfe.
And here I fhall take Leave to mention
another Learned Friend of mine, who was
early let into this Defign , appeared very
hearty in it, and w^as intended for an Edi-
tor alfo ; I mean Dr. Nathanacl Marfial,
lately deceased. This Dr. Marjhal^ fome-
what like Dr. Clarke^ publifhed his excel-
lent and moft ferious Book Of the Veniten^
tial Dijcipline of the 'Primitive Churchy when
he was comparatively young, or^.D. 1714.
Cyprian was the Book now recommended to
him. Which excellent Author he had with
great Skill and Purity of Language, for-
merly tranflated, or rather Paraphrased in
the Englifh Tongue. My Acquaintance
with Dr. Marfal was during the laft ten or
twelve Years of his Life, He leemed to
me
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 129
me one of the moft able, moll judicious,
and moft diligent Preachers that I had met
with ; and had not very many among us
more skilful or fagacious in Chriftian An-
tiquity. He was alfo to be mentioned here,
as one of Dr. darkens lateft Acquaintance ;
and of whom I know he had a good Opi-
nion. And had not a large Family ; too
great an Inclination to rife in the Church;
and his too great Regard to modern Church
Authority byafs'd him , he would, I be-
lieve, have been /•i'/W, li not Jkond^ to Bi-
fliop Smalrldge^ in difcovering and promo-
ting Primitive Chriftianity. However, fo
far I knew of his Mind, touching our mo-
dern Difputes, that he had refused to preach
the Lady Moyer's Sermons about the Trini-
ty; that he looked upon many Original
Parts of the ^' Conftitutions as exceeding
ancient, and upon the Confiitution Liturgy y
as by far the beft and moft authentick ex-
tant, and had little Regard to all the reft
that pretended to Antiquity. And I be-
lieve I may venture to lay farther, thart if
I John V. 7. f had been left out of the Text
and put in the Margin ; and if the Atha^
najian Creed had been intirely left out of our
Common-Prayer-Book , he would have
made no Com.plaints about them : Though
he had by no Means fuch a difmterefted
Chriftian Courage, as directly to propole
* See his Penitent Difcip . page 6"/,
•j- See his Cyprian, page loo.
I fuch
13
o Hijlorical Memoirs of the
fuch Alterations. However, I mull be al-
lowed to fet down here, from one of his^
Sermons on ^h'lL ii. 7.. Who thought it no
Robbery to be equal with God ^ this Paflage,
which Mr. Emlyn took great Notice of;
that " As to the prefent Tranflation of this
*' Text, he could not juftify it. That the'
'^ he did not love to go out of the com-
" mon Road, yet where Truth appeared to
" him to be out of that Road, he could
*' not, he durft not but follow it." And
to add out of his Preface to his Engltjh Cy^^
prlan one very honeft Conceffion of his, that
is very valuable alfo. Which is this ; || " It
^' is the Glory of our EtigUfl:) Churchy fays
" Dr. Marjhalj and what fhe often boafts
*^ of, that fhe is the neareji of any now in
*' the Chriftian World, to the Primitive
'* Model. It is not, I prefume, denied
" that fhe might be nearer ftill.'' And if
HER Glory be great for being so
NEAR, IT WOULD CERTAINLY BE
GREATER IF SHE WERE YET NEARER.
And now I am fpeaking of Dr. Marjhaly
I cannot but digrefs fo far out of my Way,
as to relate a Paffage between him and
Dr. Waterland^ (the grand Antagonift of
Dr. Clarke^ Mr. Jackfon^ and Dr. Sykes :,
indeed one of the moji Learned^ and, as I am
willing to hope, the la/i learned Supporter
of the Athanafian Herefy amongfl us ; )
which Paffage 1 had from Dr. Marjhal him-
II Page 12.
felf.
Life of Dr. S. Clakke. 131
felf. Some Years ago there pafTed certain
Letters between Dr. Waterland and Dr.
Marjhal^ concerning the former's Metaphy-
fical Solutions of Difficulties in the Atha^
najian Scheme of the Trinity : Which Me-
taphyfical Solutions Dr. Marjhal did not
readily come into. He Ihevved me the
Letters between them. Ail that I remem-
ber of the Difpute is this ; that Dr. Marjhal
once thought he had caught Dr. Waterland
in a Metaphyfical Abilirdity. Upon which
I faid to Dr. Marjhal^ " That is impoffible ;
" a new Diftindlion always fetsa Metaphy-
" fician clear." In a little Time I met
Dr. Marfoal^ who faid to me, after he had
received Dr. /^f^Z-^rto^i's Anfwer, "He is got
" out, Mr. Whijion ; he is got out [ of the
" Abfurdity. ]
And perhaps it will not be here impro-
per, by way of Caution, to take Notice of
the pernicious Confequence fuch Metaphy-
fical Subtilties have fometimes had , even
againft common Senfe, and common Expe-
rience ; as in the Cafes of thofe three fa-
mous Men, Monlieur Leihnltz^ Mr. Lcch^
and Mr. Berkley. The firft of which was
by Dr. Clarke prelTed fo hard, from Matter
of Fad, known Laws of Motion, and the
Difcoveries of Sir Ifaac Newton^ ( who hear-
tily aiEfted the Dr.) I mean in thofe Letters,
which by the Means of her prefent Maje-
fty, then Princefs of Wales^ to her own
I 2 great
I
2 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
great Honour, and the great Advantage of
the Publick, pafs'd between them, and were
afterward printed \ that he was forc'd to
have Recourfe to Metaphyfick Subtilties,
and to a ^re^ejiablijlfd Harmony of ThingSy
in his own Imagination ; which he ftiles a
fuperlor Reafon : 'till it was foon feen, that
Monfieur Leibnitz's fuperlor Reafon ferved to
little elfe, but to confirm the great Superi-
ority of Experience, and Mathematicks ,
above all fuch Metaphyfical Subtilties what-
foever. And I confels I look upon thele
Letters of Dr. Clarke j as among the moft
ufeful of his Performances in Natural Phi-
lolbphy. And as to the Hand her prefent
Majefty, then Princefs of Wales^ had in that
Debate, I fliall give it in the Words of Mr.
yackfon^ from Dr,Clarke's own Mouth. I have,
** fays he, heard theDodor fay, that ftie un-
" derftood what Anfwers were to be given
'^ to Leibnitz's Arguments, before he drew
" up his Reply to them, as well as he him-
'' felf did.'' To which Mr. Jackfon adds,
that '' He had often heard him fpeak with
*' Admiration of the Queen's marvellous
*' Sagacity and Judgment, in the feveral
•' Parts of that difficult Controverfy." He
adds farther, that He heard Six Ifaac Newtoti
alfo once pleafantly tell the Dodor, that
" He had broke Leibnitz's Heart with his
[[ Reply to him."
As
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 133
AstothefecondPerfon named, yix.LGcke^
who had entred deeper into Metaphyficfc
Reafbning, and perhaps with better Succefs
than any before him : He was however at
length driven into fuch great Diftrefs, by
Profeffor LimhorcVa famous Metaphyfical
Argument againft human Liberty^ that he
honeftly confefs'd he could not anfwer it.
I have heard Dr. Clarke fay, he thought
himfelf could anfwer it ; though that he
ever did publifh fuch Anfwer, I do not
know. However, Mr. Locke had fo much
good Senfe , as to believe he was a free
Creature^ on the Credit of his own Expe-
rience, let Metaphyfick Difficulties be ne-
ver fo infuperable ^ as all wife Men will
ever do.
And as to the third Perfon named, Mr.
Berkley^ he publifh'd, J. D. 1710, at
Dublin^ this Metaphyfick Notion, that
Matter was not a real Thing ; nay, that the
common Opinion of its Reality was ground-
lefs, if not ridiculous. He was pleafed to
fend Dr. Clarke and my felf each of us a
Book. After we had both perufed it, I
went to Dr. Clarke^ and difcourfed with
him about it, to this EfFea.- '' That I [ be-
ing not a Metaphyfician] was not able
to anfwer Mr. Berkley's Lfubtile] ^re-
mijes'j though I did not at all believe his
[ abfurd ] Conclufon. I therefore defircd
that he, who was deep in liichSubtiltics,
I 3 " but;
u
iC
134 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
'' but did not appear to believe Mr. Berk^
" ley'^ Conclufion, would anfwer him:''
Which Task he declined. I fpeak not thefe
Things with any Intention to reproach either
Mr. ^Loc\e or Dean Berkley, The former
of which, on account of other of his
Woiks, and in particular of his excellent
Commentaries on feveral of St. ^aiit% Epi-
ftles, I greatly efteem. And I own the
latter's great Abilities in other Parts of
Learning ; and to his noble Defign of fet-
tling a College in or near the Weji -Indies^
for the InurucLiori of the Natives in Civil
Arts, and in the Principles of Chrifiianity,
I heartily wilh all poffible Succefs. 'Tis the
pretended Metaphyfick Science it felf, ( de*
riv'd from the fcepticalDifputes of the Greek
Philofophers, ) not thole particular great
Men who have been unhappily impofed on
by it, that I complain of. Accordingly,
when the famous Milton had a mind to re-
prefent the vain Reafoning of wicked Spi-
rits in Hades^ he defcribes it by their end-
lefs Train of Metaphyficks, thus :
Others apart fat en a Hill retlr'd^
In thoughts more elevate^ and reafon'd high
Of Providence ^ Foreknowledge^ Will and ¥ ate :^
Fix'd Fate J Free-will^ Foreknowledge ahfohte^
And found no end in wandring Mazes lof.
Paradife Loft;, Uh, 11. v. 557—5(^1;
J, Z).
Life of Dr. S. C L -A R K E. 135
A. D. i7^S'> I^^- Clarke publifhed a Dlf-
coiirfe aga'infi Mr. Collins, on the ^Vrofhec'ies
of the Old Tejiament. Wherein, befides
Ibme very good Oblervations at the Begin-
ning, and others exceeding good at the Con-
clufion ; there feemed to me fo many weak
Things about the Middle, particularly a-
bout the double Senje of ^'Prophecies^ and Sir
Ifaac Newton'^ Hypothefs of DanieFi LXX
V/'eeks ; which Dr. Clarke adopts here for
his own, without ^any Intimation of the
real Author; that I was obliged to publilh
Objervatwns upon them, in my Snppleinent
to the Literal AccornpTtfmcjit of Scripture
^rophectesy Pag. (;>— ij?. whereto I refer the
Reader ; and to which he never made any
Reply.
lA. D. 17:17, Upon the Death of Sir
Ifaac Newton^ Dr. Clarke w^as offered by the
Court the Place he poffefs'd, of Ma/ler of
the Mint J worth CG?nmunibns anms^ i 200 /.
or 1500/. a Year. Upon this Offer the
Doftor advis'd with his Friends, and parti-
cularly with Mr. Emlyn and my felf, about
accepting or refufing it. We were both
heartily againft his Acceptance, as what he
wanted not ; as what was entirely remote
from his Profeffion, and would hinder the
Succefs of his Miniftry. To which I ad-
ded, as my principal Reafon againu it, that
fuch Refuial would foew that he was in
Earneji in Religion ; the Satisfadion al^out
I 4 w^hicii
136 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
which would have more EfFed on the Infi-
dels of this Age, than the moft plaufible
Sermons or Writings whatfoever. Dr. Clarke
was himfelf generally of the fame Opinion
with us, and could never throughly recon-
cile himfelf to t\\\^ fee ular Preferment. It
xnuft be taken Notice of alfo, to the Ho-
nour of Mrs. Clarke^ that Ihe never fct her
Heart upon the Advantages this Place
would naturally produce to her Family ,
but left the Doftor at full Liberty to ad as
his own Inclination and Confcience fliould
direft him. Whereupon, after no fmall
Confideration , he abfolutcly refused it.
Nor do I give Credit to thofe Surmifes, as
if Mr. Conduit^ who fucceeded, was obliged
to give the Doftor privately an annual
fliare of his Profits, or what was equivalent
thereto; with this only Abatement, that
Mr. Conduit did actually give 1000/. to
void a Place among the King's Walters ^
which Place was freely befl:owed on a Son
of the Docioi's, who could not otherwife
be fo well provided for, after himfelf had
refufed the former much greater Place.
The Acceptance of which latter Place for
his Son, in thefe Circumftances, no fober
Peifon, I fuppofe, will think to be blame-
worthy. And as for the Doftoi's own Re-
fufal of the former improper Preferment,
though entirely omitted by Dr. Sykes and
Bifliop Hoadley^ I take it to be one of the
moft
Life of Dr. S. C l a r k e. 137
moft glorious Adions of his Life, atrd to
afford undeniable Convidion that he was
3:eally in ~Earnefl in his Religion.
And indeed, if the Reader will pardon a
Ihort, and not unfealbnable Digreilion, it is
clearly my Opinion, that " 'Till our Defen-
" ders of Chriftianity do more than they
" have moft of them hitherto done, as to
" affording the World this Con vidion, that
" they are really m Earnejt themfelves 9
" particularly, till cur Bifliops leave
" off" procuring Commendamsy and heaping
" up Riches and Preferments on them-
" felves, their Relations and Favourites :
" Nay, 'till they corred their Non-Ref-
" dence^ 'till they leave the Court, the
" Parliament, and their Politicks, and go
" down to their leveral Diocefes, and there
^' labour in the Vineyard of Chrift, inftead
" o^ fan ding the moft part of the Day idle
" at the Metropolis : They may write what
*' learned Vindications and '^af oral Letters
" they pleafe, the obferving Unbelievers
" will not be fatisfied they are in Earnef^
" and, by Confequence, will be little mo-
" ved by all their Arguments and Exhor-
" tations/'
And here I cannot but wonder, How
Bifliop * Hcadley can himfelf fo diitindly
take Notice, to the Honour of Dr. Clarke^
that he was almoft conftantly refident upon
* Pag. 26.
his
138 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
his Cure, without the bittereft Refleftion
on his own different Condud. Since every-
body acquainted with him knows, that
lince he has been Biihop of Hereford and
Salisbury J he has not only, like fome other
Bifliops, been much the greateft part of his
Time at London ; but that during the fix
Years Time he was Biihop of Bangor^ and
pafs'd through the entire Bangorian Con-
trover/y^ he went beyond the Example of
other Bifhops, and never once iht his Foot
within the Diocefe of Bangor. The Biihop
may aifo pieafe to remember, that when
he had abfented himfelf from his Diocefe
three or four of thofe Years, and I had pro-
portionably withdrawn my lelf from my
wonted Acquaintance with him, I fent
him a friendly, very gentle Admonition to
this Effect J '' That I defired to receive
" from him a Letter under his own Hand,
^' dated at Bangor J* To which Meffage he
returned me this Anfwer, by the fame
Hand that carried it : That " He fliould
^' be glad to fee me at Bangor the next
" Year:'' Whither yet he did not go that
Year, nor any other. I beg of him, that
he will confider what the Apoftles have or-
dained in their thirty-feventh, and thirty-
eighth Canons, which belong to fuch grofs
Negligence^ viz. that, '' If any Biihop
*^ that is ordain'd does not undertake
" his Office, nor take Care of the People
a " com-
Ltfe of Dr. S.Clark-r, 139
committed to him, he is to be fuipended
until he does undertake it. And in like
manner as to a Presbyter, and a Dea-
con." And that " a Bifhop or Presby-
ter, who takes no Care of the Clergy or
People, and does not inftrud: them in
Piety, is to be feparated j and if he con-
tinue in his negligence, is to be de-
prived."
About the fame Year 17:17, Dr. Clarke
was incautioufly betrayed into a great Mi-
ftake : There was a Perfon who has no De-
gree at the Univerfity, and whofe infa-
mous Character is well known in xhtNorthy
that at Court contracted fome fmall Ac-
quaintance with Dr. Clarke ; and having
obtained a Family Prefentation to a Li-
ving in the Bilhoprick of Durham^ of near
400 /. a Year, procured Dr. Clarke's Hand
to a Commenda?nus^ or Teftimonial for holy
Orders ; whole Hand, when the Bifliop of
Durham^ ( who had ever a great Efteem
for Dr. Clarke^ ) law at the bottom of his
Tcilimonial, he was prevaiFd upon to pre-
cipitate both his Ordination and his Infti-
tution, without the Allowance of fufficicnt
Time for writing to Dr. Clarke^ and re-
ceiving an Anfwer from him. As to the
Name of the Perfon, I lliall ufe the Chri-
ftian Words of Ignatius ^ when he once o-
mitted the Name of the Old Hereticks,
againft whom he cautions the Church of
Smyrna :
1 40 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
^ Smyrna: " As for his Name, I thought
" it not fitting at this time to write it :
" And may I have no occafion to name
*^ him until he repent/' But as to the
Cafe it felf, it is fo flagrant, as deferves the
great Notice of the Publick, and the deep
Repentance of all concern'd ; as I perceive
it was one of the Things that Dr. Clarke
was heartily forry for to his dying Day.
^ Lay Hands fuddenly on no Man^ neither he
Partaker of other Mens Sins: Keep thy felf
pure.
It may not be amifs here to take Notice
of that Chriftian Law for the Marriage of
the Clergy hut once^ which is now io fre-
quently broken by Proteftants, and gives the
Papifts a great Handle againfl: them, as ob-
ferving no Rules for reftraining their In-
clinations of that Kind. I fay, the Prote-
ftants do allow their Clergy, not only to
marry more than once, but to ad as Cler-
gymen after fuch fecond Marriages, with-
out the leaft Permiflion under the Gofpel
for fo doing. Now though the Law of
Chriftianity be plain, not only from fome
Copies of thofe Laws of || Mofes^ which
oblige Chriftians; but from the prefent
New Teftament, the Apoftolical Conftitu-
tions, and the known Interpretation and
Praftice of the four firft Centuries, that Bi-
* Ad Smyrn. §. 5. I Tim. v. 22. || See Horeh
Covenant, Pag, 87, 88.
Ihops
Life of Dr.S. Clarke. 141
fliops, Priefts and Deacons, are allow'd to
marry but once ; yet am not I fure but they
might marry a jecond time without Re-
proach, if they voluntarily degraded them-
felves, and reduced themlelves among the
* Laity; in whom fecond Marriages were
not condemned ; though I confefs I do not
remember one Example of fuch voluntary
Degradation and KeduBion in all Chriftian
Antiquity. I am confident our great Men
are, with \ Grothis^ too good Criticks, and
know Chriftian Antiquity too well , to
pretend that St. || haul's Ordinances, that
a Bilhop, a Prieft, and a Deacon, muft be
the Husband of but one Wtfe^ fignifies but
07ie Wife at a \time ; as fome of our weaker
Authors are willing to interpret it. Nor
was this Conftitution fo fevere then as the
Moderns imagine ; for almoft all the Bi-
Jhops + were originally fifty Years of Age
e'er they were ordain'd. The next Order
feem to have been in general confiderably
above fifty; which their very Name ^r^-
hyter^ i. e. Elders of the Parifti or Diocele,
diredly fignifies. And as for the Deacons,
they were, by Parity of Reafon, to be fup%.
pos'd between thirty and forty ; which
Ages for thefe three Orders, when we once
reftore, the Objections of the Moderns a-
* See Conftitut. iii. i. f In i Tim. iii. 2. Refponf.
ad Confult. Caffand. Pag. 44* || i Tim. iii. 2. 12. Tit. i. 6.
I Conftitut. ii. i.
gainft
142 Uijlorical Memoirs of the
gainft this Law will come to little. I men-
tion this here, becaufe I had once a DiC-
courfe with Dr. Clarke upon this Head,
who looked upon that latter Interpretation
as ridiculous. Nor had he any Thing elfe
to alledge for the modern Proteftant Pra-
ftice, but that this Command might be
fuppos'd peculiar to the firft Ages of Chri-
ftianity : Which yet I dare fay was a Secret
to all thofe^r/? Ages of Chnjllanlty : which,
fo far as I have obferv'd, always efteemed
every Law of the Golpel to belong equally
to all under the Gofpel, from the firft 'till
the fecond Coming of Chrift, our Legi-
flator.
About the beginning of the Year 1725),
Dr. Clarke publiftied his celebrated twelve
former Books of Horner'^ Iliads '^ which he
was fb kind as to give me, even after I had
been very free with him in my Expoftula-
tions, as to his feeming thereby to defert
the Studies of his own Profeffion, and pre-
fer Profane Authors • and this at a Time
when there was particular Occafion for the
moft able of the Clergy to engage in Divine
Studies. However, when I perceived that
the Pains he had taken about Horner^ were
when he was much younger, and the Notes
rather tranfcrib'd than made new, I was leis
uneafy at his Procedure. However, as I
heartily wifh that the prefent Difficulties
and D'tfcouragements to the Study of the
Serif-
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 143
Scriptures^ fo acutely reprefented by- Dr.
Harc^ were taken away ; fo do I think no
fuch Difficulties ought to Difcourage great
and good Men among the Clergy, from
bending their own Studies to their own
Profeffion ; efpecially in its prefent Circum-
ftances. And I venture to add this, that
if once fuch as thefe would be themfelves
in Earneji in Chriftianity, and would in
Earnefi fall to this great Work, the CoWnfeSj
the Tmdals^ the ^olands^ and the Wooljions^
would foon become contemptible ; and the
Religion of our Bleffed Saviour, now at fo
low an Ebb, would foon flourifh and fpread
it felf over the World. To obferve fuch
Laymen as Grotius^ and Newton^ and Locky
laying out their nobleft Talents in facred
Studies; while fuch Clergymen as Dr. Bent-
ley ^ and Bifliop Hare^ to name no others at
prefent, have been^ in the Words of Sir
Ifaac Newton^ fighting with one another
about a ^ lay book \_ Terence, ] This is a
Reproach upon them, their holy Religion,
and holy Fundion plainly intolerable.
At the latter end of the lame Year 172^.
came out Dr. Clarh/s pofthumous Expoftion
of the Church Catechijm ; which I have not
yet read : nor indeed have I any mind to
read either that or any modern Catechifms
or Expofitions of them. They being of no
ufe to me, who am wholly intent upon the
carl i eft Ages of the Gofpel, and moft Pri-
mitive
1 44 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
mitive Chriftianity only. Befides which
general Reafon, I have another, which is
to me not inconfiderable, that my own Bro-
ther, Mr. Daniel Whifion^ did about A, D.
1 7 17. draw up, from the known Scriptures,
and the Apoftolical Conftitutions, a truly
Primitive Catechtfm : which when I had
my felf reviewed and improved, was Pub-
lifhed as written by a Presbyter of the
Church of England^ A. D. 17 18. And till
the Ancient ^ihiyY\ tSov 'AttostJ Ace)i', or DoBrine
of the Aj^oJtJes^ which feems to have been
in the nature of an Apfolkal Catechtfm^ be
recovered, I intend to makeufe of no other
Catechifm whatfoever.
However, I having heard that Dr.Wa-
terland complains of two things in that
Catechifm , viz. that Dr. Clarke inti-
mates, the Son is not himfelf to be properly
Worfolpped or Invocated\ and that he puts
a flight upon the ^ofitlve Infltutlons of
Religion ; I can fo far vindicate the Do-
fl:or, that I never, in all my Conver-
fations with him, found any Occafion to
fiifped him in either of thofe Points : nor
do I find that in any of his former Writings
he has droptany Expreflionsof fuch natures,
nor did he drop any part of what he had
formerly advanced for the Worfliip of the
Son, in the Second Edition of his Scripture
DoBrlne. His old Temptation was the
contrary way, as to the Worfliip of the
Son and Spirit j I mean rather to comply
with
Life of Dr. S. C L A K K £. 145
with modern Worfhip too far, than the
contrary. Mr. Emlyn alfo aflures me^ that
he had heard him fay, that th^tfkbor dilate
Worfhip and Invocation of the Son, which
Mr. Emlyn had vindicated in a diftind Trea-
tife, was by Dr. Clarke own'd to be proved
by him to a DemGn/rrattGf?, And as to
any difregard to pojtfive Duties^ or divine
Inftitutions ^ I mean this when they are
confider'd in their proper Place, and not re-
duced to an Opus Operatum^ or bare Cere-
mony; or are to ferve injiead of true in-
ward Chriftian Piety, Charity, and Mora-
lity, but 2LsfubJervient to them all, I never
obferv'd Dr. Clarke to fliew the leaft Difre-
gard to them. Nor do I perceive he has
given juft Occafion of Complaint on this
Head, even in this Catcchifm. And as to
the higher pofitive Inftitutions, Dr. Clarke's
long regard to one of the lefler ritual Pre-
cepts of Chriftianity, and this m general lit-
tle regarded, I mean Ahflmence from Bloody
and from things jir angled^ that is^ in the La-
titude I have explained it in my Horeh Cg^
venant^ page 65), 70, 71. will certainly and
ftrongly contradift any fuch Sufpicion upon
him. As to the Complaint that I have
heard made on occafion of fome Words
dropp'd in this Catechifm, that pojjibly good
Men may enjoy Happinefs in the interme-
K diate
146 Hifiorkal Memoirs of the
diate State between their Death and Refur-,
redion ^ as if fuch an intermediate State
of Happinefs were uncertain^ and the Soul
plight fleep 'till the Refurredion \ I never
heard Dr. Clarke mention this Sufpicion in
any of Qur Converfations : Nor do I take
it to be the refult of any Opinions or En-
quiries of his own ; Nay, it is certain on
the contrary, not only from his Confuta-^
tipn of Mr. Dodwell's natural Mortality of
the Soul, and its Defenfes, but from a par-
ticular Sermon in the Volume publilhed ir^
his Life-time; which was a Funeral Ser^
mon on a &f . v. 8. preached OBoher 11.
1705)5 that he was then clear and plain
againft any fuch Sleep of the Soul. Nay,
he there proves, both from Scripture and
Antiquity, " That the State of Separa-
" tion is not only not a State of Infenfi-
^^ bility, but to good Men a State of great
5' Happinefs ; although that Happinels be
** by no means equal to the Happinels
'^ which thoft good Men fiiall be polTefs'd
" of after^ the Refurre£tion." Which Do-
ftrines were certainly thofe of our Saviour
of his Apoftles, and of all the ancient Ca-
tholick Writers of Antiquity.
But if any blame nie for not my felf
reading fuch Books as Dr. Clarke s Expji--
fwn of the Church Catechlfm^ &Co I muft
inform
Life of Dr, S. Clarke. 147
inform them, that fince the principal Inten-
tion of my Life has long been to do what-
ever I canto reftore the Faith, the Worlhip,
the Pradice, and the Difcipline which Chrift
by his Apoftles left to his Church, without
the leaft regard to any modern Opinions
and Parties , that contradid them ; the
reading of fuch modern Expofitions would
be rather an hindrance to my defign ; as ca-
pable of giving me an infenfible Bias towards
ibme Party Notion or another: which I
ought entirely to avoid. In which Proce-
dure I can juftify my felf by the Sentiments
of the great Dr. Smalridge. The Occafion
was this. Before the Publication of my
Four Volumes, when Dr. Gaflrel and I were
once debating at Dr.Smalridge's about the
Doctrine of the Trinity, Dr. Gajirel was
alledging fomewhat that he had formerly
laid upon that Subjeft in a Pamphlet of his
own. I replied, that " I muft beg Dr.
*-' QaJlreV^> pardon for not having read his
*' Book. That had I had a mind to know Dr.
'^ Gajirel's Opinion, I would certainly have
<' read Dr. GaJireV% Book : But that fince I
" had no Mind to know any Modern's Opi-
" nion upon that Head, but only the Do-
" drine of Chrift and his Apoftles; v/ith that
^^ of their next Companions and SuccefTors, I
'' had no mind to read any but the Primi-
^^ tive Books themfelves". Whereupon
Dr. Smalridge rejoin'd, " Mr. Whifiony you
" are in the Right.
148 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
Some time before Dr. Clarke died, Dr,
Sykes perfuaded him to leave out of the
future Editions^ o^\i\^Boyle\ Lectures^ that
famous Pafllige in ^hlegon of an Eclipfe of
the Sun, and an Earthquake, which was ci-
ted by him, and has been generally cited by
others of the Learned, as an Atteftation to
the fupernatural Eclipfe of the Sun, and the
Earthquake at our Saviour's Paffion, men-
tioned by the Evangelifts. When I came
to enquire of Dr. Sykes his Reafons for fuch
his Perluafion of Dr. Clarke^ I found it was
only a Snppofal^ that fome natural Solar
Eclipfe or other might be fitted to fome
Earthquake in Blthynia ; at which Place
alone '^hlegon fpake of the EfFeds of his
Earthquake. Upon this, being greatly dif-
pleas'd with him for going upon a Suppofal
in a thing that was capable of Certainty ;
I took the Pains to Calculate, by my Coper-
nicus , all the natural Eclipfes of the Sun
that could happen in any Year that ^hlegon
* could mean. And I found that no 'Natural
Eclipfe of the Sun could poffibly happen,
fo as to fuit his Defcription, but only that
Supernatural one '^it the Paffion, which ex-
adly agreed to it. This was fit to be men-
tioned here, not only to prevent any fuch
Alteration in Dr. Clarke's Sermons, ( which
Alteration how he came to be perfuaded to
make upon fuch a groundlefs Suggeftion I
* Page 273. Edit. 5.
cannot
Life of Dr. S. C l a r k e. i 49
cannot imagine ; ) but alio on account of
the Coniequence of thofe and- the like Cal-
culations of Eclipfes to my feif. For it
was this pretended Correction that was one
Occafion of fome of the nobleft and moft
important Difcoveries that I ever made in
Aftronomy and Chronology ; concerning
which I mull at prefent appeal to the Au-
ditors of my late Jftronomkal LeBures^ till
I have Leifure and amdifpofed to digeft and
publilh thofe Difcoveries. I only here hint
at their principal Contents : viz. That none
of the Aftronomical Charaders of Chono-
logy now prelerv'd reach earlier than about
500 Years after the Flood, in the Sacred
Chronology : that this Sacred Chrono-
logy is however to be taken from the
Samaritan Pentateuch ^ Septuagint Verfion,
and Jofephus^ and not from our Majorete
Copy : which laft Chronology feveral of
thofe ancient Aftronomical Characters do
plainly contradift : That the Chinefe Annals,
when determined by the Julian Year of
'^6^\ Days fince the Olympiads began \ and
by the old Year of 3^ Days before that
time ; and when at their Beginning they
are reduced 500 Years later than they
now ftand, perfectly agree with the Aftro-
nomical Characters, and the beforementioned
Sacred Chronology, but not otherwifc.
That the Prophet Amos was the lirft that
ever foretold Eclipfes of the Sun, and an
Earthquake : and the Prophet Ifa'iah the
K % fecond:
150 Hifiorical Memoirs of the
fecond : and that he not only foretold an
Eclipfe of the Sun , an Ecliple of the
Moon, and an Earthquake, but an 0^-
cultatlon of Stars by the Moon; and that
"Jeremiah foretold the Eclipfe of the Sun
at our Saviour's Paffion, all which exact-
ly came to pafs accordingly : That T'hales
foretold his famous Eclipfe, not by Aftrono-
my, which could not be done till above
400 Years after his Time, but rather by
learning it from the Jezvs in Egypt, who
had it from the Prophet Ifaiah : That the
Grand Intermediate Breaches in every one of
the four Monarchies were immediately pre-
ceded by great Eclipfes of the Sun ; and
their Endings by great Eclipfes of the Moon ;
all vifible in the fame Monarchies : and that
accordingly, 1736^, the grand Period of the
ten Kingdoms, or of the laft State of the
Roman Monarchy , will be peculiarly re-
markable for fuch great Eclipfes of the
Moon. All w^hich Difcoveries are of the
utmoft Importance, and by me Demon ft ra^
ted ail along from Altronomical Calculations.
I conclude this my Account of Dr. Clarke
with an honeft and judicious Letter fent me
by a Clergyman wholly unknown to me,
which is dated Jpril 1%. 1716. And tho'
when the Author was ill, he feems to have
given me leave to ufe his Name publickly ;
yet fin ce he is recovered, and I have no
2 farther
Life of Dr\ S. C L A R K E. I 5 I
farther leave from him to ufe it, I chufe
rather to fupprefs it ; as alfo the Name of
the Place whence it was written. The
Letter contains the free Sentiments of an
upright Examiner, concerning Dr. Clarke's
and my Dodrines. And the Refult being
no way for his worldly Intereft, there is not
the leaft reafon to fufped the Author's In-
tegrity in the Declaration of thofe his Sen-
timents.
SiR^ April i^. 1726.
a ''"|~^H E 2eal which you exprefs in all
" JL your Writings for Truth, makes
me hope that you will excufe this Trouble
from a Perfon utterly unknown to you.
I am Curate to a Parifh near this Place,
and have always liv'd very obfcurely and
privately ; lb th?.t I cannot have theVanity
to imagine that my Opinion can be of
great weight with any in Points of Con-
troverfy : Yet I think I ought to leave
behind me a Teftimony of the Refult of
my Searches. Being very defirous to know
^' on which fide Truth was in feveral Points
" warmly debated of late, I furnifhed my
" felf with the moft early Chriftian Wri-
ters, and upon fearching into them as
well as into the Scriptures, I found that
the true antient Doftrine of the Trinity-
is the fame, or very nearly the fame with
K 4 '' that
152 Hijiorical Memoirs oj the
^' that which you and Dr. Clarke have lately
" maintained. Particularly, I do find that
" the Primitive Writers as well as the
^' Scriptures do declare,
" That the One and only true God, is
" God the Father.
^' That the Son is truly and properly
" Subordinate and Subjeft to God the Fa-
" ther, and that his Divinity is communi-
" cated to him by God the Father.
" The Ancients do acknowledge the Ge-
" neration of the Son to have been by the
" voluntary and free Ad of the Father.
" Almoft all the Jnte-Kicene Fathers,
^^ fpeaking of the Son, do ufe the Word
^' created. But they feem not to derive
" him from nothing, but from the Sub-
" ftance of the Father.
'* Several of them do teach , that the
" Son did from Beginninglefs Eterni-
" ty exift in the Father, as his internal
Word, Wifdom or Reafon ; and that be-
fore the beginning of the World he was
generated or created, and that by him
the Father did create all Things ; which
laft Particular is undoubtedly the Do-
drine of Scripture, and of all the an-
" cient Writers.
'' They do acknowledge the Son to have
^' been after his Generation a Perlbn truly
" and properly diftind from the Father,
but I cannot find that they do acknow-
ledge
(C
Life of Dr. S.Clarke. 153
^^ ledge he was fo before his Generation ;
^' or that any of them do own two Gene-
*^ rations of the Son antecedent to his In-
carnation.
" Some of them do fpeak of an Union
and Communion of Subftance ; particu-
larly TertulUan^ and perhaps Athenagoras
and Ignatius^ \_ the lelTer I mean, whom
I do think the true] though they do
not fpeak in exprefs Terms, may mean
the fame Thing.
" According to the Jnte-Nlcene Writers,
the Worlhip to be paid to the Son, is
what Dr. Clarke calls a Secondary or Me-
^' diatorial Worfliip ; and in this they feem
" to me to accord with the Scriptures.
" They do feldom, the earlieft of them do
" never ufe the Word God to fignify more
" Perfbns than one.
" They do feldom or never exprefly
" ftile the Holy Ghoft God. Neither is
" there any exprefs Precept, nor certain
" Warrant in the holy Scriptures, or in
" any Apoftolical Writer, for praying or
" afcribing Glory to him.
" I do think likewife that your Opinion
^' that the Logos did become truly paflible,
" and was in Chrift what the ^neima is
'' in other Men, is moft agreeable to the
" Expreffions of the Ante-Ktcene Writers
" as well as of Scripture.
a
I am
154 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
" I am very forry that I have not pub-
" lickly declared my Opinion in thefe Points
^^ before, as I think I ought to have done. I
'' am now in a low and as I think a decli-
^' ning Condition, tho' my Phyficians tell
'^ me I am out of Danger. If I die, this
" Teftimony can do no hurt ; If I live, I
" fhall gladly fpend the remainder of my
" days in doing what Service I am able to
*' God's true Religion. Pray Sir, pardon
[[ this Scrawl. I am
Sir,
Your moji humble^ &c.
I would have tranfcrWd
Ms fairer , but my
Illnejs does not permit
me. ^ray^ Sir, let
me have a Share m
your Prayers.
I have now finifliedmyownJy/y?^w^/ik&-
moirs of Dr. Clarke : and muft, in juftice to
the Publick, corred fome Miftakes which
Dr. Sykes and Biihop Hoadley have run into
concerning him. Not meaning in general
that they ?iXC falfe Accounts^ either as to Dr.
Clarke s Charader, or Writings; but that
they are not always done with fuch Care,
Caution^
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 155
Caution, and Accuracy as they ought to
have been.
Dr. Sykes ftill fpeaks, as if ^ Dr. Clarke &
Philofophy was his own, or of his own In-
vention : when it was generally no other
than Sir Ifaac Newton's Philofophy ; tho*
frequently applied by Dr. Clarke^ with great
Sagacity, and to excellent purpofes, upon
many Occafions. He alfo fpeaks as if it
were peculiar to Dr. Clarke^ \ to " fee clear-
'^ ly that if all things were pufti'd on by
" Fate and Neceffity, there could be no fuch
" thing as perfonal Merit or Demerit in
" intelligent Beings'' : Whereas I believe
that has been the common Notion of every
Man from Jdara till this day.
As to the JJmty of God^ and Dr. Clarke's
great Argument for it a '^'Priori., as it is
called ; which is here mightily celebrated ;
* I who derive my Notions of this kind
only a ^ofteriorij am I believe, as fully
fatislied of the Unity of God as either Dr.
Clarke or Dr. Sykes themfelves : and indeed
am entirely of the Mind of the Apoftles in
their Conftitutions, || that 'tis a Lazv infert-
ed hy God in the Nature of aU Men^ That
there is only One God in Heaven and on Earth.
And to this Law of Nature^ all the ^^hceno^
mena of Nature do, I think, agree, with-
out a fingle Exception.
* Page 54, efr. t Page 54. % Page 56, S7> 5^-
jl Conllitut. VI. 20.
Dr.
156 Hijlorical Memoirs of the
Dr. 5/J^^i fuppofes that * '^ Dr. Clarkeh^d
^' taken much Pains in the Study of the Pro-
" phetical Writings, efpecially thofe of the
" New Teftament.'' This is News to me
indeed: who never knew any thing of thefe
great ^ains of Dr. Clarke in that Study. I
believe he had read Mr. Mead's and my
Books on the Prophecies ; and aflented to a
great deal of what he read there : But he
did never himlelf, that I know of, enter
deeper into any fuch Enquiries. Nor had
he any Talent that way; as I have noted
already. His Talents indeed were very
great, but did not extend to all Parts of
Learning; as indeed the Talents of few or
none do. 'Tis very true alfo, that he ufed
frequently to hear Sir Ifaac Newton interpret
Scripture Prophecies ; to whofe fuperior Au-
thority, tho' fo great a Man himfelf, he
ufed entirely to fubmit. And he did I be-
lieve fometimes fpeak of fuch Interpretati-
ons without telling their true Author.
This was the Cafe in his Interpretation of
Daniel's 70 Weeks, as I have already obfer-
ved ; f and this is the very Cafe of that
particular || " Expreffion of his Fears, that
*' the Face of ^rotejiantifm would once
" more be covered by as foul a Corruption
<^ as ever was that of ^operjy before the
" happy Liberty and Light of the Gofpel
Ihould take place". Which Dr. Sjkes here
* Page 64. t Pagcprius. || Page 64,
afcribes
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 157
afcribes to Dr. Clarke ; while yet I verily be-
lieve, or rather know, it was only a Conje-
fture of Sir Ifaac Newton's^ and I think a
Conjedure not well grounded neither. Of
which Matters lee my Supplement to the
Literal AccompTtjhrnent oj Scripture '^Vrophe^
ctes^ page id — i^. Where tho' I then verily
believed or rather knew fiich Interpretations
to be originally not Dr. Clarke's but Sir
Ifaac Newton's^ jtt^mQt'Dx, Clarke had pub-
lifhed them in his own Book, and his owa
Name, and was not, I perceiv'd, willing
the true Author Ihould be known in his
Life-time, I confuted them as Dr. darkens
Interpretations, without a Syllable of Sir
Ifaac Newton, When Sir If a ads own great
work upon the Scripture Prophecies is
publilhed; which we exped this Sum-
mer; what I now^ fay will more plainly
appear to be true. However, it is not
impoffible that fuch a Notion of a long
future corrupt State of the Church foon
coming on, according to the Scripture Pro-
phecies, might be one Difcouragement to
Sir Ifaac Newton's and Dr. Clarke's making
publick Attempts for the Reftoration of
Primitive Chriftianity: as I confefsmy Ex-
pectation of the near approach of the Gon-
clufion of the corrupt State, and by Confe-
quence of the Commencement of the State
when Primitive Chriftianity is, by thole
Prophecies, to be reftored, greatly encou-
rages me to labour for its Reftoration.
158 Hiftortcal Me moirs of the
As to Bifhop Hoadley's Accounts, tho*
much larger than Dr. Sykes's^ yet are they
much more carefully written, and with fewer
Miftakes : and abating for that Encomiafticfc
and Panegyrick way of Writing, common
to them both, which of courfe reprefents
great and good Men as Angels^ is not con-
fiderably wide from the Truth, either as to
Dr. Clarke s Life, Writings, or CharadVer.
For exacmfil the Bifhop ^' ought I believe,
to have fet down exercttlft'r^ and it ought to
be added, that the Profeflbr faid, " Now
" he might well retire and leave the Chair ;
^' fince one fo able to fill it appear'd among
^' them ^'' which I diftinclly remember.
But as to what the Bifhop fays, concerning
the DoSirine of the Trinity ; f as if it v/ere
in it felf, or in the New Teftament, and
the earlieft Catholick Writers of Chriftianity
a difficult ^lejiiofi ; and that honeft Enqui-
rers after Truth may differ upon fuch Sub-
iefts ; and that thence we ought not to be
^pjitive about deterrmning any one Senfe of
the ancient PafTages; I no way agree to it.
Modern Writers of Controverfy, who are
fond of Modern Hypothefes, and very de-
lirous the later Ages of the Church be not
found in too grofs Miftakes, may think
there is great difficulty here. As for my
felf, I have more than once or twice peruled
the earlieft of thofe original Sacred Primitive
* Page i2. t P^S^ 24? 25,
Records.
Ijife of Dr. S. Clarke. 159
Records, without the leaft Regard to the
Moderns. And I do not find any more
Difficulty in thefe, than in the other fun-
damental Doctrines of Chriftianity, Nay,
I do not much doubt, if Ghriilian Learn-
ing continue in Chrijiendom^ but the Athar
mjian Herefy will gradually fink out of the
learned World, in like manner as the other
^ncienter Herefies have long ago funk out of
it. Nor is it other than a great Reproach
upon the Religion of our Saviour, to fup^
pofe, that the very Baptifmal Fundamen-
tals of that Religion, concerning our BeHef
in the Father^ the Son^ and the Holy Ghojiy
fliould be left in fo dark a State of Uncer-
tainty, as this Suppofal amounts to. Nor
indeed, to Ipeak my Mind freely, do I be^
lieve that the Bifliop is in fuch a Condition
of Doubt and Difficulty himfelf about thole
Points, as his Words fuffer his Readers to
imagine concerning him.
Whether the Bifiiop was fufficiently in-
forrn'd of Dr. Clarke s Notions at the Time
of his Acceptance of St. James's^ I much
doubt. His Words are thefe; " * Dr. Clarke
" w^as happy in that Sation in which it had
" pleafed God to fix him, before the Rea-
" Ions which hindred him from feeking af-*
" ter, or accepting certain farther Promo-
^^ tions, took Place*/' Which the Reader
* Page 47, 48.
may
1 6o Hijiorical Memoirs of the
irray now compare with my Accounts of
that Matter.
When the Bifliop fays, that " * the Cha-^
" rlty of Dr. Clarke s Affiftance and Benefi-
*' cence was as extenfive as the Circum-
" fiances of his Family would prudently
" admit : And afterwards, that he had not
*-' in him the love of Riches ftrong
*^ enough to make him unealy for any
*' Thing more, than what afforded him
" and his Family a decent Appearance and
" Place in Life:'^ This may be true in the
Biftiop's Opinion ; who with many of his Bre-
thren, by twice changing his Bifhoprick for
a better, contrary to an \ Apoftolical Canon,
and by raifing an Eftate out of his Ecclefia-
ftical Revenues, contrary, as we Ihall fee
prefently, both to the Apoftolical Conftitu-
tions and Canons, feems to be of Opinion,
that the Circiimjiances of Bifhops and PreC*
byters Families ought to be not fmall, and
their decent Jppearance in Life very great,
under Chriftianity. Nor do I pretend that
theBiftiop is fingular in thofe his Opinions*
The Behaviour of moft of his and my Bre-
thren, I mean Bifliops and Presbyters,
makes it too evident, that whatever Senti-
ments they may have in Theory ^ or may
preach out of the Pulpit, yet is thdx Notion
for brattice with the Bifliop in thefe Mat-
ters. However, let us hear fome better*
Judges
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. i6i
Judges in thefe Points ; I mean the Apo-
ftle ^aiil^ writing to his Bifhop Timothy ^
with the reft of the Apoftles, \r their Con-
ftitutions, writing to all their Bilhops. Ha-
vtng Food and Raiment^ fays the Apoftle
^aul to Ttfnothy^ || Let us he therewith con^
tent. But they that will he rich fall into
Tcmptationj and a Snare^ and into many foo-^
lifl) and hurtful Lufsj which drown Men in
DeJiruBion and Perdition, For the Love of
Money is the Root of all Evil ; which while
fome coveted after ^ they have erred from the
Faith J and pierced themfelves through with
many Sorrows. But thou^ 0 Man of God^
fee thefe I'hing^ I
^' Bifhops, fay the reft of the ^ Apoftles^
" ought to be not vainly expenfive, not
" lovers of delicacies, not extravagant,
^' ufing the Gifts of God, as good Stew-
" ards appointed over them, and thole
" who will be required by God to give an
" Account of the fame. Let the Bifliop
" efteem fuch Food and Raiment fufficient
" as fuits Neceflity and Decency. Let him
" make ufe of the Lord's Goods, [ but ]
" moderately, for \ the Labourer is worthy
" of his Reward. Let him not be luxu-
{| I Tim. vl, £*-«ii, * Conflitut, ii. 24, 25.
'\ Liic. X. 7.
Ja ^^ rious
1 6 2 Hiftorical Memoirs of the
" rious in Diet, or fond of idle Furniture,
" but contented with fo much alone as is
^' neceffary to his Suftenance. Let him
^^ ufe thofe Tenths and Firft-fruits which
'' are given according to the Command of
^' God, as a Man of God. As alfo, let
^' him difpenfe in a right manner the Free-
^' will Offerings which are broue.ht in on
^' account of the Poor, the Orphans, the
^' Widows, the AfHifted, and Strangers in
^^ Diftrefs, as having that God for the Ex-
'^ aminer of his Accounts, who has com-
" mitted this Difpofal to him. Diftribute
" to all thole in Want with Righteoufnefs,
" and your felves ufe the Things which
" belong to the Lord, but do not abufe
^^ them \ eating of them, but not eating
^^ them all up by your felves ; communis
" cate with thofe that are in Want; and
" thereby fhevv your felves unblamable be-
^' fore God. For if you ftiall confume
^' them by your felves , you will be re-
^' proached by God, who fays to fuch un-
" fatiable People, who alone devour all,
^^ ^ Te eat tip theMlIk^ andcloath your felves
^' with the Wool. And in another Paflage,
" ^ Mafl you alone live upon the Earth ? Up-
" on which Account you are commanded
* Ezek. xxxiv. 3. f ^^^^^h v. 8.
ii
m
Liife of Dr. S. C l a k k e. i 63
in the Law, || Thou fljcilt love thy Ne'/gh"
hour as thy felf» Now we lay thefe
Things, not as if you might not partake
of the Fruits of your Labours, for 'tis
written , % Thou JJjalt not muzzle the
Mouth of the Ox which treadeth out the
Corn ; but that you fhould do it with
Moderation ' and Righteoufnefs. As
therefore the Ox that labours in the
Threftiing-floor without a Muzzle, eats
indeed, but does not eat all up ; fo do
you, who labour in the Threlhing-floor, .
that is, in the Church of God, eat of the
Church, &cr See alfo Can. Jpof. 5. 3^9,
40, 41, S9-> ^^^ 7^' which are too long to
be here tranfcrib'd.
And now, if any think I break in upon
the Rules of Generofity and Friendlhip, in
preferving fiuch Obfervations and Memoirs
as are fonietimes in Diminution of the Cha-
rader of lb great, and in general lb good a
Man, and for many Years lb great and good
a Friend of mine, as Dr. Clarke^ I fhail
venture to Reply ; that what I have here
pubhckly laid of him, [ or of other com-
mon Friends] is not near lb much as I
ufed all along to fay to themfelves in pri-
vate ^ that what I then faid, and now write^
II Levit.xLx. 18, X Deut. xxv. 4,
L 2 -was,
1 64 HiJlorkalMemGirs of the
was, and is (incerely intended, not for their
Reproach, but Amendment, and for the
Correction of the Errors and Faults com-
plained of. In which I am fure my earneft
Endeavours to keep them innocent , is an
Inftance oftruerFriendfhip than all the Com-
pliments and Elognims of others : That the
Doctor is, I believe, now in a Place where
no Flattery norFalfiJication, nor even Con-
cealments of his Miftakes is defired by him ^
nor will fuch Arts do him any Good there ;
that no Man can juftly lay Claim to more
or better Reputation than he really de-
ferves : That unravelling fuch Errors, even
of the Dead, efpecially in Points of this
publick and important Nature, may be
greatly for the Caution and Benefit of the
Living : That the greateft Part of the
Chriftian World have not the fame Opinion
of Dr. Clarke with his particular Friends;
among whom my plain and impartial Ac-
counts will perhaps do him more Juftice
and Kindnefs than the Elogiums or Pane-
gyricks of others : That, however, Hiftory
ought to be written truly, and to reprefent
Things and Perlbns as they really were ^
left inftead of inJiruBing^ we do rather im^
fofe upon Mankind : And laftly, and prin-
cipally, that the Lives of the greateft and
beft Men among the Hebrews^ are always
leprefented by the Sacred Penmen, after
X this
Life of Dr. S. C L A R K E. 165
this plain and lincere Manner; and include
their Faults and Failures, as well as their
Virtues and Excellencies, and this through
the whole Bible : Whofe unbyalVd Impar-
tiality and Sincerity therefore, I have en-
deavoured to imitate in thefe HI ft one al Me-
moirs. Nor did St. '^anV^ Plainnefs and
Boldnefs in * withjl and'ing ^S/.Peter to the Face^
and before all the Company^ hecaiife he was to he
blamed^ mentioned in his Epiftle to the Gala-
tlans^ at all hinder St. ^eter from ftiling ^
St. ^aulj his beloved Brother ; and from ac-
knowledging the Wifdom gven to htm by
God, and appearing in all his Epiftks.
However, If any of Dr. Clarke s Rela-
tions or Friends think I am too fevere
upon him all along, I fhail be fo fair as to
fet down his great Friend, Mr. Jackfon's
jipology for him in his own Words, out of
his Letter to me of May 16", whence
I have tranfcribed a few other Claufes al-
ready ; and leave the Reader to judge for
himfelf. '' I think you may, fays Mr.
" Jachfonj ( I doubt not but you will do
^^ it withTendernefs) mention the Dodor's
^^ Infirmity, in not having Courage enough
" to fet forward a Reformation. The
" Reafons of which feem to me to have
" been, Firft, His natural over-great Cool-
^^ nefs and Caution of Temper : Secondly,
f Gal. ij. i\, b'c, t 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16.
L 3 « His
1 66 Hijiorical Memoirs of the
" His great Experience of Men ^ by which
" he faw, that political Confiderations pre-
*' vail'd io far over even many of thofe
^' who were of the fame Sentiments with
" him, and of whom he had a good Opi-
" nion, as to make them difgviiJe their real.
^' Opinion and Perfuafion , and comply
" with the Bigotry and Iniquity of the
'^ Times, that^he Doctor thought he muft
^^ have almoft walked alone in any Steps
<' towards a Reformation. He had the
" Heart and Will of the Queen, and of a
^^ few learned and great Men on his Side ;
*' but there were too many of thole, both
*' Clergy and Laity, in high Places and
" Power, who, he knew, would difcou-
^^ rage any Attempts he fhould make to
^' reftore Primitive Chrifdanity. ThisCon-
" fideration, I know, often grieved his
*^ honeft Mind. And I have often heard
*^ him exprefs great Concern on that Ac-
^' county and blame fome of even his great
^' Friends on that Score. And this made
^^ him even dread a Situation in the
^' Church, wherein he had no hopes of being
*' able to do that Good to Religion, which
" might juftly be expefted he fnould en-
" deavour to do, &c.
I conclude with Dr. Clarke* s Charader,
drawn long ago by the mafterly Hand of
the
Life of Dr. S. Clarke. 167
the Author of DlfficuUtes and Dlfcourdge-
ments zvhlch attend the Study of the Scrip-
tures, in the way of private Judgment j
whom all conclude to be Dr. Hare. To
which Charader, with iuch Abatements,
as the foregoing Memoirs will make nece.C-
fary, I fully agree.
" Dr. Clarke is a Man who has all the
" good ^alities that can meet together, to
" recommend him. He is poflefs'd of all
*' the Parts of Learning that are valuable
^' in a Clergyman, in a Degree that few
" poffefs any ftngle one. He has joined to
" a good Skill in the three learned Langua-
'' ges, a great Compafs of the beft ^hilojo"
" phy and Mathematicks, as appears by his
" Latin Works: And his E?2gl if j ones are
^' fuch a Proof of his own ^Piety, and of
^' his Knowledge in Divinity, and have done
" fo much Service to Religion, as would
" make any other Man, that was not un-
" der the Sufpicion of Herefy, fecure of
" the Friendfhip and Efteem of all good
'' Churchmen, efpecially of the Clergy.
" And to all this ^iety and Learning, and
^' the good Ufe that has been made of it;
" is added a Teinper happy beyond Expref-
" fion: A fweet, eafy, modeft, inoffen-
*' five, obliging Behaviour, adorn all his
'' Aftions; and no Paffion, Vanity, Info-
L 4 '' lence,
i68 Htfiorical Memoirs^ &c.
*' knee, or Oftentation, appear either in
^' what he writes or fays : And yet thefe
'' Faults are often incident to the beftMen,
'' in the Freedom of Converfation, and in
writing againft impertinent and unrea-
fonable Adverfaries, efpecially fuch as
ftrike at the Foundations of Virtue and
Religion. This is the Learnings this the
Temper of the Man, whole Study of the
Scriptures has betrayed him into a SuJ^
plctcn of fome Heretical Opinions/'
A P P E N
APPENDIX.
SINCE Dr. Clarke's and my common
Friend Bilhop Smalridge has been ofteu
mentioned in theie Memoirs ; and had
indeed no fmall Hand in thofe important
Matters there related ; I fliall take leave to
add part of a Sermon of his on Trimty
Sunday^ publifhed in his large Volume:
with his own Letter to me on thefirft Pub-
lication of my four Volumes, now by me;
with part of another Letter of his to Bi-
lhop Trelawney^ to vindicate himfelf fi^om
the Imputation of Ananlfm^ which fell into
jny Hands long ago. To all which I fhall
pin the Reflexions I made upon the lirft
Sight of this laft Letter^ with one or two
more fince added.
T>r. Smalridge's XXXIIId. Sermon^
page 348. preachUi on Trinity Sunday.
It muft be own'd that the Dodrine
of the Trinity as it is proposed in our Ar-
ticles, our Liturgy, and our Creeds, is not
in fo many Words taught us in the Holy
Scriptures. What weprofefs in our Prayers
we no where read in Scripture, that the
one God the one Lord is not one only Per-
fon
I70 APPENDIX.
fon bat three Perfons in one Subftance.
There is no llich Text in Scripture as this,
that the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity
in Unity is to be Worfhipped : No one of
the infpir'd Writers hath expreffly affirmed,
that in the Trinity none is aibre or after
other, none is greater or lefs than another ;
but the whole three Perfons are coeternal
together and coequal: But altho' thefe
Truths are not read in Scripture, yet they
may eafily, regularly, and undeniably be
inferred from Scripture. If indeed it can
be fhewn that theie Inferences are wrong,
they may fafely be Rejected, but they
ought not to be Rejected for no other reafon
but this, that they are not plain AlTertions
of Scripture, but bare Inferences from it.
Thele Truths, tho' they are not in Scrip-
ture delivered in the fame Terms, yet are
there delivered in other Terms of the fame
Import and Signification. There would be
no neceffity of our ufing any other Lan-
guage but that which the Scripture hath
us'd, had not Heretichs put a wrong Senfe
upon the Words of Scripture, which is re-
pugnant to other Paffages of Scripture.
Our Saviour faith in Scripture, f That he
and the Father are one \ this Unity the
Heretick underftands not of an Unity of
Nature, but of Confent, they are both one,
faith he, becaufe they agree together : We
+ John X. 30.
declare
APPENDIX. 171
declare therefore our Belief of their being
one, not only in Confent, for fo we our
felves alfo may be one with God, but in
Nature, left we Ihould derogate from the
eternal Godhead of the Son, which is in
other Scriptures expreflly declared. We do
not therefore add any thing by thofe terms
which Vv^e make ufe of to that which the
Scripture hath taught, but we vindicate
the true Senfe of Scripture from the falfe
Glofles of Deceivers.
I have not time now to prove, that every
thing which we believe and teach, concer-
ning the Trinity may be eafily infer'd from
the Scriptures \ that hath been done fre-
quently and irrcfragably by Ancient and
Modern Writers, &c.
Dr. Smalridge'i Letter/^ me.
Sir,
I Did not fend for the * Books fooner,
becaufe I had rather have them Bound,
than in Sheets. I pray God the Publication
of them may not do that Diflervice to our
Holy Religion, which I am perfwaded you
are far from intending. It feems to me
much more likely that Unbelievers fliould
thereby be ftrengthned in their Infidelity,
than that thole whom you fuppofe miftaken
Ihould be induc'd to reform the Opinions
* My Four Volumes of Primitive Chrijiia?iity Revived,
then juil publifhed.
which
172 APPENDIX.
which you take to be Erroneous. There is
one Suffrage of our Litany, in which you
will heartily join with us, That it may pleafe
God to bring into the way of truths all fuch
as have erred and are deceived. This is the
caineft Prayer of
Tour faithful Friend and Servant^
Nov, lid, 1^1711.] George Smalridge,
Bijhop Smalridge to the Bijhop of
Winchefter.
- _ . Chrifl Churchy Oxon,
My very good Lord, sept. 23. 171 9.
A Mong the many Proofs your Lordftiip
Jf\^ has given me of your Favour and
rriendftiip to me, none could be greater,
or more obliging, than the generous Con-
cern you have Ihewn for my injured Repu-
tation ; and I am very much furprized to
hear that I fhould be fufpeded of Jrianifniy
having never given, as I know of, the lead
Ground for fuch Sufpicion : I have from
the Chair, (while I fupply'd Dr. James's
Place,) from the Pulpit, when I have
preached at the new Chapel ; and here at
Oxon^ on Chrifl mas Day was Twelvemonth ;
and on the lame Day at Court, when I was
APPENDIX. 173
Almoner, the firft Chrlftmas after the King's
Acceffion ; and in Convocation , when a
Cenfure pafled on Mr. JVhifion's Doftrines,
( whilft I was Presbyter, and a Member of
the Lower Houfe ) and upon all other pro-^
per Occafions, exprefs'd my Sentiments a-
bout the Divinity of our Lord and Saviour,
in Oppofition both to the Socinians and
Artans. I did on Sunday laft ordain Ibme
Clergymen, and I examined them particu-
larly as to the Points controverted betwixt
the Catholick Church and the Ar'tans^ and
faid what to me feem'd proper to confirm
them in the Catholick Faith, and to arm
them againft the Objedions ufually brought
by the Arians. I have read over more than
once, and as well as I was able, have con-
lidered Dr. Waterland's late Book, and have
in Converfation fignified my Approbation
of it, and recommended it to my Friends,
as a fubftantial Vindication of received Do-
drines, and Confutation of Arianijm.
Treiawney, Nov. 16. 1719.
This is a true Copy of part of the Bi-
fhop of BriJioV^ Letter to me ; and with-
out going deeper into it, is a lliSicicnt Vin-
dication of him from the damnable, but
thriving Herefy of Ariantfm,
W'ttnefs my Hand^
J o N A J H A N Winchester.
K B. Whe-
174 APPENDIX.
N. B. Whether Biihop Smalrldge meant
by Ariamfm the Enfeblan Doctrine of late
revived, is not here exprefly laid. But why
the Bifhop of Winch e per ftiould fupprefs
thofe Parts of Bifhop Smalridge's Letter,
which declared the Regard he had for Ibme
Perfons, not of the Athanajian Opinion;
and his little Approbation of at leaft the
damnatory Sentences in the Athanajian
Creed^ which my Lord Nottingham informed
me were in that Letter, I do not well un-
derftand.
Will. Whiston.
iV. B. When in my fecond Appendix to
the Hiftorical "-Treface^ Pag. 33, 34, 35. I
laid 5 That Propofition from the Upper
Houfe of Convocation, w^hich condemns as
Herefy my affirming, that The One God of the
Chrlfiians was not the Three '^erfons taken
together^ but God the Father only^ was own'd
not to be Heretical by more than one of
the Lower Houfe ; I meant, by Dr. Sinal^
ridge and Dr. Cannon ; and when I add,
that one of them accordingly entred his
Proteftation againft its Condemnation as
Heretical, I meant Dr. Cannon.
K B. Bifhop Smalrldge leemed always
to me readily enough to give up the Atha^
najian Creed: Only he loved to put it upon
another Foot than I Ihould have done ; I
mean, that it ftiould be given up to the
Clamours
APPENDIX. 175
Clamours of the Dijfenters^ who ftill made
its damnatory Sentences an Objedion a-
gainft Conformity with the Church oi Eng--
land, I was alfo informed by an Eye-wit-
nels. Sir Robert Clarke^ that when he was
once at Briftol Cathedral, on an Athanajfian
Creed Day, and not believing that Creed
himfelf, had nothing elfe to do but to
watch YASkio'^Smalridge'^ Behaviour, he took
Notice that He did not repeat that Creed
any more than himlelf.
Upon my committingmy fourth Volume
in MS. to Dr. Smal ridge before it was Prin-
ted, he was pleafed to perufe it with great
Care, and to confefs '' That I had therein
" aded very uprightly ; that my Quotations
" v/ere fair and juft ; that vvhereas a Friend
*' of his had fuggeited to him that he
" thought I had omitted fome Pallages in
" Antiquity that feemed to make againft
" me, he, upon Comparifon, found that I
" had not omitted them ; but that they
" were all in my Papers ; that he had met
^' with a farther Suggeilion from another
" Perfon, that ftill fome fuch PalTages were
" omitted." I made Anfwer, that if he
pleafed to fend m^e any fuch CoUeftion of
PalTages I would certainly infert them into
my Book : which Colledion yet I never re-
ceived from him. He confeffed to me,
" that I had proved^ that fo far as our pre-
'^ fent
176 APPENDIX.
^' fent Records go, the Holy Ghoft was not
^^ called God^ nor irrjocated in the three firlt
*^ Centuries.* tho* he thought Bajil had
^' given good Reafons why we might venture
*' farther. Upon which I reply'd, that had
*^ Dr. jUix or Dr. Grabe told me fo, I could
*' have believ'd them ; becaufe Itook them
'' to have greater Learning than Judgment ;
" But Dr. Smalridge^ faid I, God has given
" you greater Judgment than to think that
" any Man has Power to alter fuch Sacred
" Laws of the Gofpel, and then give good
*^ Reafons why they have altered them".
To which I think he made no Reply.
And about the fame Time that he had my
MSS Papers, I once went down to him, and
defir'd him to go v/ith me to the late
Archbiihop of Tork^ Dr. Sharps in order to
try whether we could not find out fome way
for a fair Examination of my Papers before
they wxre Printed, which I earn eftly endea-
voured. He reply'd, " that there was no-
" thing to be laid againft Examination,
'^ nothing to be faid againft it'' : and he
ac^cordingly went along with me to the
Archbifhop's Houfe in ^eUy-France JVefi^
minjler immediately. But the Archbifhop
not happening to be at Home, there were
no farther fteps taken at that time. Some
time after the Publication of the then Bilhop
of Bangofs famous Sermon, and about the
Time of the Publication of my Scripture
A P P E N D I X 177
Politicks, T waited upon Bif^iop Smalridge^
and among other things, cicGicd that his
Lordfhip, of whom botuFartics had fbgcod
an Opinion, would do Ibmcthipg to bring
us out of that DiloRier in which we then
were, and particularly that '^ He would
" pleafe to write a little Bock, to recom-
" mend a fair and impartial Review of Chri-
" ftian Antiquity to the World, in order
" to the Correction of fuch Errors and Pra-
'' ftices as might have crept into the Church
^' fince the firft Settlement of Chriftianity :
" which Recommendatian from him would
" I believ'd have a very good effed''. His
Lordfliip's Anfwer, as near as I can remem-
ber the Words, and that with great Emotiori
of Mind and Body, was this : '' Mr. IFh^Jlony
" I dare not Examine; I dare not Examine.
" For if we Ihould Examine, and find that
" You are in the Right, the Church has then
*' been in an Error (b many hundred Years !
— -I asked him, '' How he could lay fo, and
'' ftill be a Protellant." He replied, " Yes,
he could/' This I Teftify under my
Hand,
u
'Junei^, 1722. "^11.1., Wh
ISTOK.
y. S. When Mr. Jnderfon, now ReSor of
Lutterworth in Lekejierjhire^ was once in
Company with the late Archbifhop Sharp
and Dv,SmaIruIge'^ and the Archbilhop or
M ibme
lyS APPENDIX.
fome other in Company, faid, fomebody
muft be appointed to Prove, againft Mr.
JFhi/iony that the Jpcftolical Confiltutlons
were fpurious, Dr. Smalrldge made Anfwer,
" That he took that to be an hard thing to
" do'\ This Mr. Anderfon himfelf infor-
med me of.
Will. Whiston.
ERRATA.
PAge9. lin. 6. read, almofi \z. pag. 13. lin. 28. and'^^g. 14
lin. 2. read Mr. Clarke ; lin. 9. dele or fine e ; ibid. lin. penult,
i^2idi f event een Feet ; pag. 21. lin 19, 20. {or I have Reafen te be-
lieve, read, I hare undoubted Evidence that', pag. 23. lin. 4.
read, Nor durfi he fay, fo young zuas he then, that he', pag. 33.
lin. ult. add. N. B. Tho' Grotius and Bijhop Beveridge did not
fully fee it, yet the S^th Canon of the Apo flies, in all Copies and
Verfions, reckoning the eight Books ofConfiitutions among the Ca-
no7ilcal Books of the New Teftajnent, if the Ca?2ons be Authentic k,
the Conftitutions muft be fo too-, pag. 98. din. \z. read, proper
Eternity, pag. 99. lin. antepenult, read Mr. Lechmerc, pag.
ic6, lin. 7. add. And which Dr. Waterland has fully and
learnedly proved not to be fo', pag. 108, lin 2, read 171 9; pag.
124, lin. 26, read, a Thing-, pag. 130, lin. 22,23, 24, add
the double Co?n?nd's in the Margin-, pag. 136, lin. penult, read,
entirely by Dr. Sykes, and almoft entirely by Bifhop Hoadley ;
P^g- i39> lin- i3> i"e«id, a very ignorant P erf on,
N. B. The Words of Dr. darkens Queftions were, i. Nu/-
lum Fidei Chrifliance Dogma, in S. Scripturis Traditum, efl
ReElie Rati an i diffentaneum. 2. ^ine A^ionum Humananm Li-
hertate nulla pot eft ejfe Religio,
AD'DEN-
A D D E N D A.
After Tage 32. Line 16. Addy
THat very great Man Dr. Barrow^ often
quotes the Apoftolical Conftitutions
and Canons, in his Dilcourfe againft the
dope's Supremacy ; and that ftill as Anci-
ent, nay as Contemporary with the lirft
Fathers, or early in the fecond Century.
See^^^^ 81. ^o. III. 164.
At the bottom of ^age 40. Add,
About this Time, or before the Publica-
tion of Dr. Clarke's Scripture Dodtrme of the
'Trinity^ there was a Meflage fent him from
the Lord Godolphln , and fome others of
Queen Jtine's Minifters, that " The Affairs
■ " of the Publick were with Diifficulty then
kept in the Hands of thofe that were for
Liberty ; that it was therefore an unfea-
^^ fonabie Time for the Publication of a
'' Book that would make a great Noife and
Difturbance ; and that therefore they de-
" fired him to forbear, till a fitter Oppor-
" tunity fhould offer it felf." Which Mef-
fage Dr. Clarke had no Regard to ; but went
on, according to the Dictates of his own
Confcience, with the Publication of his Book
notwithfl:anding. This Hifl:ory, which I
have from undoubted Authority, but which
I neyer heard of 'till very lately, affords us
M % one
; u
iSo ADD E N DA
oPxC of the greateft Inftances of Dr. Clarke's
Chriftian Courage and Sincerity, of all other.
And this Hiftory puts me naturally in mind
of a kind of parallel Meflage fent me a few
Years earlier to Carabndge^ by Dr. Cannon j
from the fame Lord Godolphwy in order to
put a flop to the Publication of my Account
of the Primitive Faith ^ concerning the trinity
and Incarnation. I well remember the An-
fwer I then made, that " If we muft never
" fet about a Reformation in Church Af-
^' fairs, 'tjU aLordTreafurer fends us word
" 'tis a proper thne^ I believed it would be
" long enough before that Time would
" come ; and that I ftiould have no regard
" to the Lord Treafurer's Opinions in that
^^ Point at all." To which the Reader will
eafily fuppofe I refer, when in my firft Let-
ter to the two Archbifhops , I had thefe
Words: Hlftorical <^Preface , ^ag. i8. '^ I
" am aware that feveral Political or Pru-
" dential Confiderations may be alledg'd
" againil either doing this at all ^ or at leaft
" the doing it now. But then, if the fa-
" cred Truths of God muft be always fup-
" prefs'd, and dangerous Corruptions never
" enquired into, 'till the Politicians of this
" World ftiould fay it were a proper Time
^^ to examine and correct them, I doubt it
" would be long enough e*er luch Exami-
*' nation and Corredion could be expeded
^' in any Cafe.'* And I confefs I take it,
that
ADDENDA. i8i
that upon this Refufal, and the confequent
Progrefs I made in thole Enquiries^ it was,
that under the Miniftry of the fame Lord
Godolph'in^ Queen Anne thus exprefs'd her
felf to her Parliament, April s* 17 lo. That
" She could heartily wifh that Men would
^' ftudy to be quiet, and do their own Bu-
" finefs, rather than bufy themfelves in
" reviving Queftions and Difputes of a very
" high Nature \ and which mull be with an
" ill Intention ; fince they could only tend
'^ to foment, but not to heal our Divifions
" and Animofitics." Which Words I al-
ways took to concern me, and to be a Re-
fledion on my reviving what has been
caird Arianlfm^ in Oppofition to the Lord
Godolphln's Opinion at that Time.
After ^ age i\6. Line 11, Add.^
Since I have now procured Mr. Jackfon^s
own authentick Account of this Refu-
lal of a Prebend of Salisbury by the Bilhop,
I Ihall give it the Reader Verbatim.
[Leicejlery"] June 20. 1730.
I Was abroad w^hen yours came hither,
and received it at my return Home
the other Day. The Gale of my not be-
ing made a Prebendary of Saram^ was, my
refuting to comply with the Bilhop's De-
mand (made hy DwClarkcj) oi Subfcrtpfton,
I never talked with the Bilhop my ielf a-
M 3 bout
i82 ADDENDA.
bout it ; but Dr. Clarke did feveral times ;
and told me more than once, that the Bi-
fliop would give me a Prebend on the
Terms of Subfcription, but not otl^erwife.
Dr. Sykes told me to the fame Purpofe,
when I was laft at London. Dr. Clarke had
( as he told me ) urg'd the Bilhop, that the
Law did not require Subfcrlption ( which I
thought might have prevailed with him,
who had written againft Imfojitions \) but
the Biftiop's Anfwer was, that all others liib-
fcrib'd, and it would not look well in his
Books to admit one without Subfcription ;
though he could not lay that the Law re-
quired it. This is the true State of my Cafe,
as I had Information from Dr. Clarke.
After ^age 135. Vine 18. Add this Note.
N. B. Having here occafion to mention
the Book of Daniel^ the Reader will give
me leave to obferve, that all the Infidels
that I have met with, ancient or modern ,
agree, that if the Book of Daniel be ge-
nuine, and was written under the laft Bahy^
Ionian^ and firft ^erjian Kings, there is no
Poffibility of denying him to have been a
true Prophet of God ; and his Book to be
the ftrongeft Attcftation both to the Jewijh
and Chrijiian Revelations. Now I have
formerly obferv'd, that the Antiquity of
Daniel
ADDENDA. 183
Daniel is fupported by the Prophet '^ Eze"
h'tel^ by the Prophet Efdras^ by the Septuagln^
Verfion, by Jaddus the High-Prieft in the
Days of Alexander the Great ^ by Eleazar^
an ancient Prieft in the Days of '^Ptolemy
^hilopator^ and by Mattathias the Father
of the Maccabees^ all earlier than the Death
of Jnttochus Epiphanes ; after which yet
^Vorphyry^ and tlie other Unbelievers, are
forced to fuppofe it to have been written.
Only one great Objeftion is railed againft
all this Evidence, v'lz, that the Author of
the Book of Ecclejtajikus^ when he celebrates
\ the other eminent Jeimjh Heroes, and par-
ticularly their Prophets, entirely omits this
Daniel^ and him alone, of all thol® Prophets,
Ecclus xliv. — 1. Now to pals by what our
] earned and excellent Bifhop Chandler |j, or
others, or even I my felf, have formerly
faid y by way of Apology in this Cafe, I
fhall venture now to deny the Fad it felf,
and to affure the Reader, that I verily b^^
lieve this Author did here originally men»-
tion Daniely as well as the reft of thtjewifh
Prophets : Nay, that part of what he faid
of him, IHU remains in our prefent Greek
Copies, and modern Verfions. It is evi-
dent the natural Place for Daniel was, in the
* Lit. Accompl. of Proph. page 49.-, 53. Aiuhent.
Records, page i. 106. 107.
-f- Eccluf. xlviii. 22. xlix. 6 — -lo.
li Vind of Defena^, Fo/, I. page 80 86.
M 4 Days
i84 ADDENDA.
Days of the Author of EccleJiajficuSy and
IS ftill in our common Bibles, between -E^^-
kiel X and the twelve Minor Prophets. It is
alio true 5 that the remaining Copies of this
Book greatly differ from one another, and
are very impeifedand dilbrdered, as Bifliop
Chandler has fully oblerv'd, and proved.
Now here, after the mention of Ezekiel ^
Verfe 8. as he that * jaw the glorious Vljion
zvhich was fijewed htm tipon the Chariot of
the Cherubim^ there follows this Claufe, Ka.';
ykp i/xvncd'/} Ticv iy^poov o^ ojuS^St), For even he
made mention of the Enemies In Rain, Where
does EzcktH make mention of the Enemies
in RainF Or what Senfe is there in that
AlTertion? Kcti hyxScoa^ t^' cv^vovIccs 6^8<^.
^nd he did Gcody in Grotius'^ Paraphrafe,
He foretold goodThings^ to thofe that walked up-
rightly. How is this at all peculiar to Eze--
helF And Vhat is the meaning of the In-
troduction to thefe Claafes, Kdi j^'p, for
even? Since there i? not the leaft Connedi-
on between what goes before, and what fol-
lows in the prelent Context. Here is there-
fore evidently a DefeB in thofe Copies ; which
indeed is in part iupplied in this very Place,
both in the Syriack 2indJrabi ckY tx{\ons. The
'\ Syriackf^.ys^ He faid a fo of Joh^ that all his
J'Fays were Righteoufnejs : And the Jrabick^
X Eccmf. xlix- 8, 9, to.
* Ezek. i. and-x.
•f See Bi&op Chandler as above,
Ee
ADDENDA. 185
iJe dlfo fatd of Job the juft^ that his ways
were innocent and pious. Which Citation of
Ezehlel^ by the Author of Rcclejiajlkus^ we
know belongs to Ezeh xiv. 14, 16 j 18, 20.
though theje three Men., Noah, Daniel and
Job were In It., they jhall delwer neither Son
nor Daughter., they jhall deliver hut their ozvn
Souls hy their Klghteoufnefs'. This Citation
renders it highly improbable that the fame
Author fliould omit Daniel j w^ho had not
omitted either \ Noah or Job. Accordingly,
what follows in our prefent original G reeky
and later Verfions, feems to me evidently to
belong to no other than to Daniel: I mean,
if we corred that ftrange and abiiird Read-
ing, ^p QjuiSpCf) in Rain, for the plain and
true Reading, c^ bilqcf)^ in a Dream., or Ti-
Jion. See how fmaii the Difference is^
EN OMBPn,
EN ONEIPQ;
when part of the old Text will run thus .
— For even he [Daniel^ made mention of the
Enemies In a Dream or Vljion : and did good.,
\_foret old good things^ to thoje that walked
uprightly. Which Charaders exadly agree to
Daniel: who in his famous Dreajn or VI [ton
Chap. vii. foretold what the Enemies of
God's People would attempt againil them :,
as alfo what Happinefs God would beftow on
his own People at length. V/hich laft is alfo
peculiarly a true Defcription of the Prophet
f Eccluf. xliv. 17, 18. xlix. ii*
Daniel^
i86 A D D E NBA.
Danlelj who, as Jofephus obferves, diftlndly
from the other Prophets, * dycSniov iyvsTo
Treppnin^y foretold good things. 'Tis a little
flrange, that fo obvious an Emendation
ftiould efcape the Criticks till this Day. Its
Importance will excule this Digreffion.
After ^ age 16^- Line 15. Jddy
N. jB. It will not be here improper to
add two farther Paffages, which may ferve
for a Vindication of my felf, as to the great
Freedoms I have taken with Dr. Clarke, and
Ibme common Friends, both formerly, and
in this Paper i the one in the honeft and em-
phatical Words of Bifliop Burnety concern-
ing the great Archbifhop Lfher , which I
have long taken Notice of my felf, as they
occur in his Life of the excellent Bilhop
Bedell. The other, in the honell and re-
markable Difcourfe of Dr. Clarke himfelf,
in his own fecond Sermon lately publiflied
concerning the Unity of God ; which Difcourfe
of Dr. Clarke's is not by any means improper
alfo in way of fiich Vindication.
The Words of Bifliop Burnet are thefe :
fage 85 — &8.
No Man, fays Bifliop Burnet, was more
fenfible of the Abufes of the Court called
the Spiritual Court, than Archbilhop
Uper was; no Man knew the Begin-
* Antiq. /. X. Cap, ult.
ning
ADDENDA 187
ning and Prbgrefs of them better, nor
was more touched with the ill EfFeds of
them: And, together with his great and
vaft Learning, no Man had a better Soal^
and a more Apoftolical Mind. In his Con-
verfation he expreffed the true Simplicity of
a Chriftian: For Paffion, Pride, Sejf-Will,
or the Love of the World, feemed not to
be fo much as in his Nature. So that he
had all the Innocence of the Dove in him.
He had a way of gaining Peoples Hearts,
and of touching their Confcicnces that
look'd like fomewhat of the Apoftolical
Age revived \ he fpent much of his Time
in thofe two beft Exercifes, fecret Prayer,
and dealing with other Peoples Confcicnces,
either in his Sermons or private Difcourfes ;
and what remained he dedicated to his Stu-
dies: In which thofe many Volumes that
came from him, fhewed a moft amazing
Diligence and Exa6tnefs, joined with great
Judgment. So that he was certainly one
of the greateft and beft Men that the Age,
or perhaps the World has produced. But
no Man is entirely perfeft ^ he was not
made for the governing part of his Fundi-
on. He had too gentle a Soul to manage
that rough Work of reforming Abules:
And therefore he left things as he found
them. He hoped a time of Reforniation
would come : He faw the Neceffity of cut-
ting off many Abuies, and confeiTed that
the
i88 ADDENDA.
the tolerating thofe abominable Corruptions
that the Cancnifts had brought in, was
luch a Stain upon a Church, that in all
other Relpeds was the beft reformed in the
World, that he apprehended it would bring
a Curie and Ruin upon the whole Confti-
tution. But though he prayed for a more
favourable Conjundure, and would have
concurred in a joint Reformation of thefe
Things very heartily ; yet he did not be-
ftir himfelf fuitably to the Obligations that
lay on him for carrying it on. And it is
very likely that this fat heavy on his
Thoughts when he came to . die ; for he
prayed often, and with great Humility ,
that God would forgive him his Sins of
Omiffion, and his Failings in his Duty.
It was not without great Uneafinefs to me
that I overcome my felf fo far, as to fay
any Thing that may diminifti the Charader
of fo extraordinary a Man, who in other
Things was beyond any Man of his Time,
but in this only he fell beneath himfelf:
And thofe that upon all other Accounts
loved and admired him, lamented this De-
led: in him \ which was the only Allay that
feemed left, and without which he would
have been held, perhaps, in more Venera-
tion than was fitting. His Phyfician Dr,
Bootias^ that was a Dutchman^ faid truly of
him, // Gur 'T^rimate of Armagh were as
exj3 a Dlfciprtnanany as he is eminent in
1 fearching
ADDENDA. 189
fearchlug Jntlquity^ defending the Truth, and
preaching the Go/pel, he might without doubt ^
deferve ^to he made the chief Churchman of
Chriflcndom. But this was neceflary to be
told, fince Hiftroy is to be writ impartial-
ly ; and I ought to be forgiven for taxing
his' Memory a little ^ for I was never lo
tempted in any Thing that I ever writ, to,
difguife the Truth, as upon this Occafion.
Dr. Claries Words are thefe :
* Secondly, The zvorfiipping the Lord our
God, as it denotes primarily that internal
Reo-ard we are to bear towards him in the
Affedions of our Minds, fo it implies like-
wife, in the next Place, our making fuita-
ble Confeffton with our Mouths, Rom. x. ic»
With the Heart Man helieveth unto Righteouf
nefs, and with the Mouth Confejfion is made
untl Salvation. For 'tis our Duty not only
to have a conftant Senfe of God upon our
own Minds, but to honour him alio before
Men, and to promote the Knowledge of
Him^dnd his Truth in the World. And this
Obhgation includes many Particulars. The
firft and moil obvious, is our Obligation to
make q^rofejfton of the True Religion, how
detrimental foever fuch Profeifion may
prove to our prefent temporal Inteieft.
This is the Foundation of all the Slanders
and Calumnies, of all the Reproaches and
Perlecutions which the bell and moll vu-
* Sermon IL Page 37 — 40.
tuous
igo ADDENDA.
tuous Men have in all Ages, and in all
Nations, fuffered upon Account of their
adhering to the Caufe of Truth and Righ-
teoufnefs. Whofoever , fays our Saviour ,
jhall confefs file before Men^ him will I con-
jfefs aljo before my Father which Is In Heaven :
But whofoever (Jjall deny me before Men^ him
will I alfo deny before my Father which Is In
Heaveny Matth. x. 32. And ftill more di-
ftindly, Mark viii. 38. Whofoever fball be
afhajned of me^ and of my Words ^ In this
adulterous and finjul Generation^ of him alfo
fball the Son of Man be afharncd^ when he
Cometh In the Glory of his Father^ with the
Holy Angels. This therefore is the iirft and
principal Inftance of conf effing God with our
Mouths : The making conftant ^rofefJJon of
the true Dodrine of Religion, how much
Ibever we may poffibly fuffer thereby in
our temporal Intereft. Nor need I here to
have added the Word pofjtble ; fince indeed
it can fcarce poffibly be otherwife , but
that Mens ftedfaftly adhering to what is
true and right, will always be more or lels
hurtful to their temporal Intereft. For
though In the general the Profeffion of Chri-
ftian Religion does not now expofe Men to
Perfecution, as in the Apoftles Days ^ but
on the contrary , Chriftianity is in fome
Countries publickly fupported and encou-
raged : yet in the particular Circumftances
of Life, fuch is the Ignorance and Super-
ftition, fuch the Prejudices^ Paffions and
Ani-
ADDENDA. igr
AnimoGties of Men ; that whofoever will
not lufFer himfelf to be fwayed according to
the Cuftoms^ of a corrupt Age, by other
Arguments than thofe of Truth and Right,
will certainly lofe very many Advantages ;
and perhaps be defpifcd and ill fpoken of
for fo doing : Tea^ and all that will live god--
ly hi Chr'ijl Jcfus^ fays the Apoftle, ihall
fuffer ^erfecution ^ 2 Tim. iii. 12. Next
therefore to the '^rofefjton of true Religion
in general^ there is farther implied in this
Duty of confejjtng God with our Mouths^ an
Obligation not to be afliamed of Truth and
Rlght^ of Virtue and Goodnefs^ in all parti-
cular Cafes wherein they may happen to be
contefted. St. ^aul^ as he declared in ge-
neral^ that he was not ajhamed of the Gof
pi of Chrlji ^ Rom. i. id. fo when in a
particular Clrcumjlance he judged St. ^eter
to have departed from the Simplicity of
the Gofpel, he with flood him to the Face^
Gal. ii. II. And 'tis accordingly excellent
Advice which is given by the Son of Sy-^
rachy Ecclus iv. 20. Beware of Evllj and
be not ajhamed^ when It concerns thy Soul :
For there is a Shame that brlngeth Sln^ and
there is a Shame which is Glory and Grace :
Accept no ^Perfon agalnji thy Soul^ and let
mt the Reverence of any Man caufe thee
to fall: Refrain not to fpeak when there Is
Occajion to do Good'^ fl rive for the Truth unto
Death J and the Lord Jhall fight for thee-.
^ugufti. ,730. Will. Whiston.
A Catalogue of the WORKS of the Reverend Br,
Samuel Clarke, in the Order of Time in.
which they were puhlijhed.
I. ^ A C O B T Rohaulri Phyfica, ^c, Tranflated from
I the "Bench into Latln^ with large Annotations. In
%vo. firft publifhed in 1697 Of this there have
been already four Editions, in every one of which Im-
provements have hQ.Qn made, efpecially inthelaft, 1718.
n. Three Praftical Eflays on Baptifm, Confirmation,
and Repentance, ^c. idpo. Fo/zr Editions of this have
been Printed.
III. Some Reflexions on that part of a Book called
AmyntoY, which relates to the Writings of the Primitive
Fathers, and the Canon of the New Teftament. A fmall
Traafirft publifhed 1^5,9, without a Namej and fince
added to Dr. Clarlez Letter to Mr. DodnveU, &c.
^ IV. A Paraphrafe on the Four Evangelifts, with Cri-
tical Notes, Qpc. That on Sr. Matthew was firft publifhed,
1 701. A Second Volume on Sr. Mark and St. Luke follow-
ed in 1702 ; and after this a Third Volume on St. John.
They were foon all reprinted together, in two Volumes,
8^^.^ A Fourth Edition has been lately publifhed.
1* ^I^^^courfe concerning the Being and Attributes of
GOD; the Obligations of Natural Religion ; and the
Truth and Certainty of the Chriftian Revelation, &c,
Thefewere the Sermons he preached at Mr. BoyJe"^ Le-
cture, 1704, 1705. They were printed in two diflina
\olumes; The Former in 1705. The Latter in 1705.
Since that, they have been printed all together in One
Volume, and have pafs'd thro' feveral Editions. In the
4th and 5th Editions were added feveral Letters to Dr,
Clarke, from a Gentleman, relating to the ^fii ft Part of
this Book, with the DoBorsKnU^ZYS. In the 6rh and 7 th
Editions were added, A Difcourfe concerning the Connexi-
on of the Prophecies, gf^. And an Anfwer to a Seventh
Letter concerning the Argument a Priori.
VI. A Letter to Mr. Do^ir^// about the Immortality
of the Soul, and the Judgment of the Fathers, &>c, firft
printed in 1705. After this, foon followed K)«yDe/^?7f:^j of
it, in four feveral Letters to the Author of the Remarks oti
|he foreHieationed Letter, They are all printed together
A Catalogue of the IV 0 R KS, Kc.
Ill a fifth Edition : And theAnfwerto Amyntor, added ro
them.
Vri. Ifaaci NewtoniOptice This is a Tranflation of
^'\Y Ifaac Newton s Opticks, from the En^Jijh into Latins
firft publilhedin 4/0. 170^ Afterwards in 8w. 1719.
VIII. C, Julii Caefaris q line extant, Qpc. 1712. This is a
very Pompous and Eeautifui Edition, in Folioy of tafay's
Commentaries, accurately compared v/ith the beft AiSS.
and illuftrated with the Dolor's Nores. This Book was
afterwards reprinted, for common Ule, in Svo. 1720.
IX. Tne Scrip'ure-Doftrine of the Trinity, in three
Parts, Qpc. JnSvo, Firft publiOied in 17 12. Afterwards,
therewas^SecondEdicion,wirhfome Alterations, in nipr
X. Three fliort Papers, occafionedby the Complaint of
the Lower Houfe of Convocation againft the Foremention'd
Book: v/z* A Reply to the Extrad of Particulars made by
the Lower-houfe; A Paper laid before the Bifhops.* A
Paper delivered to the Biiliop of London : All printed in.
a little Piece called an Apology for Dr. Clarke,, 1 710. To-
gether with Part of a Letter /ro;?/ him to a Frioid.
XL A Letter to the Reverend Dr. Wells, in Anfwer to
his Remarks upon the foregoing Treatife, 17^4.
XII. A Reply to the ObjedHons of Robert Ne'lfon, Efq;
and an Anonymous Writer; being a Commen ary on forty
Texts : Together with an Anfwer to the Remarks of [Bp,
G.^firel'\ the Author of fomeConfiderationsupon the Tri-
nity, &c. I 7 14.
XIIL "Dr. Clarke"^ Anfwers to three Letters writ to him
by a Clergyman concerning his Scripture Doftrine of the
Trinity; piiblifhed, together with the Letters, by that
Clergyman himfelf, 17 14.
XIV. A Colleftion of Papers which palTed between the
late iQ^rnQiXlslv. Leibnitz and Dr. Clarke, relating to the
Principles of Natural Philofophy and Religion ; To
which are added, Letters from Cambridge to Dr. Clarke^
concerning Liberty and Neceffity, with the Dct6Jor*s An--
fwers ; And, Remarks upon a Book entitled, A Phiiofo-
phical Enquiry concerning Human Liberty, 17 17. 8w.
XV. A Letter to the late Reverend Mr. R.M. [Mayo}
concerning his plain Scripture-Argument,
XVI. A Letter to the Author of a Book, entitled, The
True Scripture-Doftrine of the Trinity, continued and
x'indicated ; Recommended firft by Mr. Nelfony and fince
by Dr. WaterUnd. Thefe two little pieces were publiiliedj
1719. at the End of a Tract of another Author, entitled,
The modefl Pha^
N XVn. Th@
A Catalogue of the Pf 0 R K S, &c.
XVII. The iModeft Plea, &c. continued: Or, A Brief
and Diftinft Anfwer to Dr. Waterland:^ Queries relating
to the Doctrine of the Trinity, 1720.
XVllI Obfervations on Dr. WaterJa-rS^ Second Defence
of his Queries, 8ro. i7-4-
XIX. Seventeen Sermons on feveral Occafions, ^vo.
1724. Eleven of which never before printer. Of this
CollcQ;ion there is a Second Edition.
XX A Sermon preach 'd at the Par ifli- Church of St.
JameCzy Apr. i8. 1725. upon the Erefting a Charity-
School for the Education of Women-Servants.
XXI. A Letter to 'h\.r, Benjamin Hoadlevy F. R. S. occa-
fioned by the Controverfy relating to the proportion of
Velocity and Force in Bodies in Motion. Publifhed in the
Philof. Tranf. N°. 401. 1728.
XXII. Homeri Ilias. Graece & Latine Annotationes ,
^c. This was the laft Piece he publifhed, viz. The firft
Twelve Books of Homer's Illasy with the Tranflation ac-
curately corre8:ed, and Learned Notes, 1729. in ^.fo,
N- B. It is hoped that the Papers he has left behind him
will furnifh out the remaining Twelve Books of that
Poem in a very good manner.
Puhlified ftnce his Death^ from his MS. hy Dr.
[oHN Clarke Dean of Sarum, Brother to
\he AUTHOR,
AN Expofition of theChurch-Catechifm, 1722. which
is already come to a SeconA Edition.
Four Volumes of Sermons upon very Important Sub-
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Thefe are to be followed by feveral other Volumes of
Sermons left by himfelf prepared for the Publick j Two
©f which are now in the Prefs,
A Com-^
A Compleat Chronological Catalogue of
Mr, W H I s T o jSI 's Writings.
\, A New Theory of the Eartk, from the Creation to
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publifhcd a. little foone^% Svo. is. 6 d.
47. Hiftorical Memoirs of Dr. Samuel Clarke ; ^eing a
SupplemiCnt to Dr. Sykes's and Bifhop Hoadley's Accounts .•
Including certain Memoirs of feveral of Dr. Clarke's
Friends, is.
45. An Hiftorical Review of all rny W^ritings; with
proper Correftions and Improvements through the whole,
not yet publifh'd, 8i'o. To be gii^en to all Vvhobuy ccm-
pleat Setts.
Ko. 5^, 57, 4T, and 44, contain entirely what I efteem
my Opus Palmarmm.
Price of all Bound and Kumhred, in Twenty Five Vo-
lumes, is Eight Guineas, includiiig the Schemes.
Jum 29. 17 5'^. W,
W
Propofalsfor Printing hy Suhfcrip:?on^ Mofis Gho-
renenfis Hiilorise Armeniacse Libri III. (\ccf dit
ejufdem Scriptoris Epitome Geographic. Arn.e-
niace ediderunt, Latine verterunc, Notifque
illuftrarunt Guliehniis & Georgius, Gul. IVbifionij
Filii.
AS we hadreafon to think that the old ^rwm^?? Lan-
guage, tho' almoft quite neglefted by E«ro/?f.^^7i, and
but very imperfeftly known by the modern Armenians
themfelves, contained feveral antient and curious works
Written in it, we have employed ourfelves for fome time
to attain the knowledge of it, and have accordingly found
our expeftations prove true. For befides the Armenian
Veriionof the Bible, it felf highly valuable for its accu-
racy and antiquity, as being made about A. D. 42c. buc
not yet publifhed in any Fclyglotty and feveral odier works
of different Authors, which the learned World will in
time probably be better acquainted with , there is this our
Auihor, Mofes Chcrenenjhy who has wrote a compendious
Hiftory of Armenia in three books j the firft of which con-
tains the ftate of Armenia from the difperfion of Bahel to
Alexander the Great; the fecond from him to the death of
their King Th-idates about A. D. 900.; and the laft frojii
thence down to the middle of the 5th Century, at which
time this Author lived. This Work feems very curious,
as well upon Account of the Hiftory it felf, it being the
only one that afrords us any tolerable Account of the an-
tient ftate of the Armenian Nation, as of the Authorities
upon which it is founded. What thev are, with regard
to the eariieft times, he fufficiently informs us in that part
which v/e have therefore chofe for a fpecimcn, and he is
generaly no lefs careful to produce his Vouchers for what
relates to fubfequent times, from thence quite dovv'n to
his own : but as the Subjefl: is entirely new, we defire
not to anticipate the Judgment of the Learned how far
all thefeAiithorities are to be depended on ; tho' we cannot
but think they highly merit their perufal and examinati-
on. This Hiftory was printed by an Arme?2ian Arch-Ei-
Ihopat JmJIerdamy in the Year 1695, ^""^ ^^ i^ has never
yet appeared in any other Language than that in which
it was originally v/ritten, we have tranilaced it into Latin
and deiign to add ftiort Notes, referring to thofe Authors
Vvho eirher illuftratCj confirmj or coiitradici what is
advanced by ours.
TV
We iiiall fubjoin to this, a fmall li^reatife of Geogra-
phy, compiled by the fame Author; which, tho' it does
not declare cither the Lacirndes or Longitudes of places,
fo as to enubieus roderermine the firtiation of them vvith
any certainty, yet will be very ufeful in preferving to us
many of the anricht and oriental names, and is valuable
on account of it's being extra£l:ed froai a work of Papfus
Alex.wdrhus. quoted by Suidasy but now loft.
We have been already enabled, by the kind contribu-
tion of feveral Gentlemen, whofe bounty we hereby
gratefully acknovv ledge, to defray the expence of Arme-
man types, which this nation did not before afford; in or-
der to the introducing of the knowledge of this language,
and to the more authentic publication of works wrote in
it ; and do therefore propofe it in Armenian and Latin upon,
the following Terms.
I.'TpHIS Work foal 1 he printed in QuartO't with the fame
X Letter and Paper as the Specimen already publijhed,
II. It 'Vjill contain hyJLjlimat'ion het'Wrxt forty and Jifty Sheets.
The Price to Stthfcrihers to bs t^welve Shillings in Qnires^ one
half to he -paid at the Tims of Subfcription^ and the remainder
upon delivery of a perfect Book»
III. It f:aU be pHt to the Prefs immediately after one hundred
Copies arefuhfcrihcdfor^ and carried en with all Expedition,
IV. The Na-mes of the Contrlhittors ajid Subfcribers pall be
printed, if mt otherxVlfe dejired. The Subfcribers are dejlred to
demand their Copies ivithin t'-selve Months after Publication,
Proposals are delivered, and SirascRiPTioNs taken,
By th^ Editors in Great-Ruffel-Stveety Bloomsbury; and
Mr. IxNvs in St. PauVs Church -Yard ; Mr. Gyles in
Uolborn; Mr. Svmon- in jCornhill ', Mr. Davis in Pater-
Nofier-Roiu; and Mr. Prevost in the Strand, London.
Mr. CrvoWNtiELD at Cambridge; and Mrs. Fletchlr at
Oxford, Bookfellcrs.
DATE DUE
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