CLARKE (Dr. Samuel)
, a celebrated English divine, philosopher, and metaphysician, was the son of Edward Clarke, Esq. alderman of Norwich, and for several years one of its representatives in parliament; and was born there the 11th of October 1675. He was instructed in classical learning at the free-school of that town; and in 1691 removed thence to Caius college in Cambridge; where his uncommon abilities soon began to display themselves. Though the philosophy of Des Cartes was at that time the established philosophy of the university, yet Clarke easily mastered the new system of Newton; and in order to his first degree of arts, performed a public exercise in the schools upon a question taken from it. He greatly contributed to the establishment of the Newtonian philosophy by an excellent translation of Rohault's Physics, with notes, which he finished before he was 22 years of age: a book which had been for some time the system used in the university, and founded upon Cartesian principles. This was first published in the year 1697, and it soon after went through several other editions, all with improvements.
Mr. Whiston relates that, in that year, 1697, while he was chaplain to Dr. Moore bishop of Norwich, he met with young Clarke, then wholly unknown to him, at a coffee-house in that city; where they entered into a conversation about the Cartesian philosophy, particularly Rohault's Physics, which Clarke's tutor, as he tells us, had put him upon translating. “The result of this conversation was, says Whiston, that I was greatly surprised that so young man as Clarke then was, should know so much of those sublime discoveries, which were then almost a secret to all, but to a few particular mathematicians. Nor did I remember (continues he) above one or two at the most, whom I had then met with, that seemed to know so much of that philosophy as Mr. Clarke.”
He afterwards turned his thoughts to divinity; and having taken holy orders, in 1698 he succeeded Mr. Whiston as chaplain to Dr. Moore bishop of Norwich, who was ever after his constant friend and patron. In 1699 he published two treatises: the one on Baptism, Confirmation, and Repentance; the other, Reflections on that part of a book called Amyntor, or a Defence of Milton's Life, which relates to the Writings of the Primitive Fathers, and the Canon of the New Testament. In 1701 he published A Paraphrase upon the Gospel of St. Matthew; which was followed in 1702 by the Paraphrases upon the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Luke, and soon after by a third volume upon St. John.
Mean while bishop Moore gave him the rectory of Drayton near Norwich, with a lectureship in that city. In 1704 he was appointed to preach Boyle's lecture; and the subject he chose was, The Being and Attributes of God. He succeeded so well in this, and gave so much satisfaction, that he was appointed to preach the same lecture the next year, when he chose for his subject, The Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion. These sermons were first printed in two volumes, in 1705 and 1706; and contained some remarks on such objections as had been made by Hobbes and Spinoza, and other opposers of natural and revealed religion. In the 6th edition was added, A Discourse concerning the Connection of the Prophecies of the Old Testament, and the application of them to Christ.
About this time, Mr. Whiston informs us, he discovered that Mr. Clarke (having read much of the primitive writers) began to suspect that the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity was not the doctrine of those early ages; and it was particularly remarked of him, that he never read the Athanasian Creed at his parish church.
In 1706 he published A Letter to Mr. Dodwell; answering all the arguments in his epistolary discourse against the immortality of the soul. Bishop Hoadley | observes, that in this letter he answered Mr. Dodwell in so excellent a manner, both with regard to the philosophical part, and to the opinions of some of the primitive writers, upon whom these doctrines were fixed, that it gave universal satisfaction. But this controversy did not stop here; for the celebrated Mr. Collins, coming in as a second to Dodwell, went much farther into the philosophy of the dispute, and indeed seemed to produce all that could be said against the immateriality of the soul, as well as the liberty of human actions. This enlarged the scene of the dispute; into which our author entered, and wrote with such a spirit of clearness and demonstration, as at once shewed him greatly superior to his adversaries in metaphysical and physical knowledge; making every intelligent reader rejoice that such an incident had happened to provoke and extort from him such excellent reasoning and perspicuity of expression.
In the midst of these labours, Mr. Clarke found time to shew his regard to mathematical and philosophical studies, with his exact knowledge and skill in them. And his natural affection and capacity for these studies were not a little improved by the friendship of Sir Isaac Newton; at whose request he translated his Optics into Latin in 1706. With this version Sir Isaac was so highly pleased, that he presented him with the sum of 500l. or 100l. to each of his five children.
The same year also, bishop Moore procured for him the rectory of St. Bennett's, Paul's Wharf, in London: and soon after carried him to court, and recommended him to the favour of queen Anne. She appointed him one of her chaplains in ordinary; and also presented him to the rectory of St. James's, Westminster, when it became vacant in 1709. Upon this occasion he took the degree of D. D. when the public exercise which he performed for it at Cambridge was highly admired.
The same year 1709, Dr. Clarke revised and corrected Whiston's translation of the Apostolical Constitutions into English, at his earnest request. In 1712 he published a most beautiful and pompous edition of Cæsar's Commentaries. And the same year, his celebrated book called, The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity. Whiston informs us, that some time before the publication of this book, there was a message sent to the author by lord Godolphin, and others of queen Anne's ministers, importing, “That the affairs of the public were with difficulty then kept in the hands of those that were for liberty; that it was therefore an unseasonable time for the publication of a book that would make a great noise and disturbance; and that therefore they desired him to forbear till a fitter opportunity should offer itself:” which message, says he, the doctor paid no regard to, but went on according to the dictates of his own conscience with the publication of his book. The ministers however were very right in their conjectures; for the work made noise and disturbance enough, and occasioned a great many books and pamphlets, written by himself and others. Nor were these the whole that his work occasioned: it rendered the author obnoxious to the ecclesiastical power, and his book was complained of by the lower house of convention. The doctor drew up a preface, and afterwards gave in seve- ral explanations, which seemed to satisfy the upper house; at least the affair was not brought to any issue, the members appearing desirous to prevent dissensions and divisions.
In 1715 and 1716 he had a dispute with the celebrated Leibnitz, concerning the principles of natural philosophy and religion; and a collection of the papers which passed between them, was published in 1717. This work was addressed to queen Caroline, then princess of Wales, who was pleased to have the controversy pass through her hands. It related chiefly to the subjects of liberty and necessity.
About the year 1718 he was presented by the lord Lechmere, to the master ship of Wigston's hospital in Leicestershire. In 1724 and 1725 he published 18 sermons, preached on several occasions. In 1727, on the death of Sir Isaac Newton, he had the offer of succeeding him as Master of the Mint, a place worth from 12 to 15 hundred a year: but to this secular preferment he could not reconcile himself; and therefore absolutely refused it.—In 1728 was published, a Letter from Dr. Clarke to Mr. Benjamin Hoadley, occasioned by the Controversy relating to the Proportion of Velocity and Force of Bodies in Motion; and printed in the Philosophical Transactions, num. 401.—In the beginning of 1729 he published the first 12 books of Homer's Iliad: a work which bishop Hoadley calls an accurate performance; and his notes, a treasury of grammatical and critical knowledge. And the same year came out, his Exposition of the Church Catechism, and 10 volumes of Sermons: books so well known and so generally approved, that they need no recommendation. But the same year, on Sunday the 11th of May, going to preach before the Judges at Serjeant's Inn, he was seized with a pain in his side, which made it impossible for him to perform his office. He was carried home and continued under his disorder till the 17th of the same month, when he died, in the 54th year of his age, after long enjoying a vigorous state of health, having scarce ever known sickness.
Three years after the doctor's death, appeared the other 12 books of the Iliad, published in 4to by his son, Mr. Samuel Clarke, who says in the preface, that his father had finished the annotations to the first three of those books, and as far as the 359th verse of the 4th; and had revised the text and version as far as verse 510 of the same book.
Dr. Clarke married Catherine, the only daughter of the Rev. Mr. Lockwood, rector of Little Missingham in the county of Norfolk, by whom he had seven children, four of whom survived him.
Queen Caroline took great pleasure in the doctor's conversation and friendship, seldom missing a week in which she did not receive some proof of the greatness of his genius, and the force of his understanding.
As to the character of Dr. Clarke, he is represented as possessing one of the best dispositions in the world, remarkably humane and tender, free and easy in his conversation, cheerful and even playful in his manner. Bishop Hare says of him, “He was a man who had all the good qualities that could meet together to recommend him. He was possessed of all the parts of learning that are valuable in a clergyman, in a degree that | few possess any single one. He has joined to a good skill in the three learned languages, a great compass of the best philosophy and mathematics, as appears by his Latin works; and his English ones are such a proof of his own piety, and of his knowledge in divinity, and have done so much service to religion, as would make any other man, that was not under a suspicion of heresy, secure of the friendship of all good churchmen, especially the clergy. And to all this piety and learning was joined, a temper happy beyond expression; a sweet, easy, modest, obliging behaviour adorned all his actions; and neither passion, vanity, insolence, or ostentation appeared either in what he said or wrote. This is the learning, this the temper of the man, whose study of the Scriptures has betrayed him into a suspicion of some heretical opinions. Bishop Hoadley too having remarked how great the doctor was in all branches of learning, adds, If in any one of these he had excelled only so much as he did in all, he would have been justly entitled to the character of a great man: but there is something so very extraordinary, that the same person should excel not only in those parts of knowledge which require the strongest judgment, but in those which require the greatest memory too. So that, in a very high degree, divinity and mathematics, experimental philosophy and classical learning, metaphysics and critical skill, were united in Dr. Clarke.—Much more may be seen, said in his praise by bishop Hoadley, Dr. Sykes, and Mr. Whiston, in their Memoirs of his life.
