CHAPTER 10

THE AUTHOR

“Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” ( Matthew 13:51,52.) Dr. Clarke belonged to that class of authors whose affluence of information and fertility of thought render the communication of knowledge to others at once a duty and a pleasure. He wrote, as well as preached, out of the abundance of the heart. The same guiding Power which had given him the impulse to learn, moved him also to teach. His views were but humble at first. When, in the Norman Isles, he commenced writing some reflections on various chapters of the New Testament, he expressed in one of his letters a doubt whether they would ever be read by anyone but himself; and signified, in another, his persuasion that the Lord had not appointed him to be an instructor of others by the pen. But the time had not then come. The fallow ground is first prepared, and the seed sown; then does the earth bring forth of itself the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear; and the sickle is put in because the harvest is ripe. We have seen how he labored in the improvement of his mind; his works, whether as a preacher or an author, show the result. Those toilsome seasons of intellectual tillage yielded, and are still yielding, harvests unto life eternal.

The characteristic of his literary works is INSTRUCTIVENESS. If he wrote, it was because he had something to tell you worth your knowing. Hence his pages are crowded with information, and that which has generally a bearing on the personal welfare of the reader. As to style, he is perfectly unpretending; if not ornate, still never commonplace or unpleasant; and, though plain, yet often solemnly forcible. The staid self-possession and dignity of the scholar are blended with the gracious dispositions of the Christian. Such, indeed, are the intrinsic reality and value of what he is telling you, that you become insensible to the manner in which it is told.

You have the feeling, while reading, that the author who is absorbing your attention more and more is an honest and earnest man, who is bent on doing you good for time and eternity. Such is the good spirit which breathes in these works, that a person who reads much of them will get to feel toward the writer as if he were a personal friend, or a wise and loving father.

The Doctor’s writings are so voluminous, and our limits so restricted, that we can do little more in the present chapter than indicate the subjects which he has treated.

With the exception of a few papers written for the Magazine, nothing had appeared from his pen (bearing his own name) before 1797; when he published “A Dissertation on the Use and Abuse of Tobacco,” — an essay which, it must be confessed, is well argued and well written. It abounds with useful and curious information, botanical, medical, and historical; and, in relation to the purpose which the author had at heart in writing it, — to offer a warning against the indiscriminate use of tobacco, — he has said what well merits the attention of its votaries [devoted followers]. The recent discussions which have been so extensively carried on in “The Lancet” and other publications, on the same subject, have given the strongest scientific corroboration to the view which Mr. Clarke takes of the injurious effects, both physical and moral, which follow the immoderate use of the fragrant but seductive and dangerous leaf. It should be added, that this pamphlet has been the means of doing much good, in fulfilling to some extent the wishes of the author.

His next considerable venture was an improved translation of Sturm’s “Reflections on the Being and Attributes of God, and on His Works both in Nature and Providence;” a popular work, too well known to need any description here. Though the translator worked upon a French edition, so producing a version of a version, yet he had carefully collated his exemplar with the German original, to be satisfied as to its correctness. It is to be regretted that he did not do this with the first German edition, as that is enriched with many beautiful devotional verses, which are not given in the French translation. Still, he preferred the latter as his text, on account of many substantial improvements in it. For it was Mr. Clarke’s purpose, not so much to give a literal translation of Sturm, as to provide a book of religious meditations as good as he could make it. He has accordingly augmented the work with a variety of matter, scientific and devotional, giving it high rank among works of the class in the English or any other language. The manuscript, in Mr. Clarke’s bold handwriting, may be seen in the library of the Wesleyan College at Richmond.

A similar undertaking was a translation of Fleury’s “Treatise on the Manners of the Ancient Israelites; containing an Account of their Customs, Ceremonies, Laws, Polity, Religion, Sects, Arts, and Trades; their Division of Time, Wars, Captivities, Dispersion, and present State.”

Claude Fleury was abbe of Argenteuil, and a member of the Royal Academy; a man of piety and learning. His work has always been a favorite one with good men of every church. Bishop Horne, in giving it his hearty recommendation, says that “it is an excellent introduction to the reading of the Old Testament, and should be put into the hands of every young person.” Mr. Clarke may be said to have published a new edition, rather than a new translation, of this pleasing manual; as he took for his text the translation published in 1756, by Ellis Farneworth, though made in reality by Thomas Bedford, of Compton, Derbyshire. In acknowledging this, he says he was convinced that a better one on the whole could scarcely be hoped for, the language being pure and elegant, and the spirit and unction of the original excellently preserved. As in the case of Sturm, the editor enriched the book with many important additions.

A more formidable work was now in progress, — the Biblio-graphical Dictionary, in six volumes; the first of which issued from the press in 1802, and the last two years later. In this elaborate compilation he gives a chronological account of the most curious, scarce, and important books in all departments of literature; Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Coptic, Syriac, Chaldee, Ethiopic, Arabic, Persian, and Armenian; from the infancy of printing to the beginning of the nineteenth century. In doing this, he has condensed the most valuable materials treasured up in many expensive works: as Le Long’s Bibliotheca Sacra; Maittaire’s Annales Tyypoqraphici; Vogt’s Catalogus Historico-Criticus; Marchand’s Histoire de l’Origine et de’s Progres de l’Imprimerie; De Bure’s Biblioqraphie Instructive; Meerman’s Origines Typographicae; Osmont’s Dictionnaire Typographique, Historique et Critique des Livres Rares; De Rossi’s Apparatus Biblicus; Cailleau’s Dictionnaire Typographique; Panzer’s Annales Typographici; Heinsius’s Allgemein es Bucher Lexicon; Bowyer’s “Origin of Printing,” and Harwood’s “View of the Classics,” — which last he has transferred, bodily, into his work. The dry details of book-craft are relieved by biographical notices and anecdotes of the most eminent authors, and critical judgments of their productions. On the editions of the Holy Scriptures, both separately, and in the Polyglot collections, the Dictionary is of especial value. Great attention is also paid to the classical authors in Greek and Latin. In the department of Rabbinical literature, we do not find the amount of information which might have been expected; and the same failure may be observed in most of the above works which Mr. Clarke took as his authorities. In following years he kept a steady eye on an improved and enlarged edition, for which he noted down some thousands of additions and amendments.

In 1806 he published a Supplement to the Dictionary, with the title of the “Bibliographical Miscellany,” in two volumes; in the first of which may be found, 1. An account of the English translations of all the Greek and Roman classics and ecclesiastical writers, with critical remarks, from the best authorities; and, 2. An extensive list of Arabic and Persian grammars, lexicons, and elementary treatises; with a description of the principal works of the best Arabic and Persian writers, whether printed or in manuscript, with such English translations of them as had been hitherto accomplished.

The second volume is equally a “Miscellany.” It opens with remarks on the origin of language and of alphabetical characters, and then gives a short history of the origin of printing, and the introduction and perfection of the art in Italy; a catalogue of authors on Bibliography and Typography, in four classes; an alphabetical list of all the cities and towns where printing was carried on in the fifteenth century, with the title of the first book printed in each place. Then follow an Essay on Bibliography, which dilates on the knowledge and love of books; and an account of several bibliographical systems, exhibiting the proper method of arranging books in a large library. It will be perceived that this work has great attractions for reading men; and its value is yet enhanced to the student, by copious tables of the Olympiads, the Roman calendar, and the Mohammedan Hegira and Chalifate.

Though the Bibliographical Dictionary had a very encouraging sale, it has never been reprinted. Large materials were left by Dr. Clarke for an improved edition. He had intended also to supply the deficiencies of the Dictionary, by a supplementary work of the same kind on the literature of the modern European languages.

While these works were yet in hand, his active pen threw off several minor pieces, which were eagerly read at the time, and will always reward the attention of those who are interested in the subjects of which they treat.

Among them were two polemical pieces against M. Dr. Perron, occasioned by that gentleman’s attack on the literary characters of Sir William Jones, and Mr. William Hunter of Bengal; a Dissertation on the Silver Disc in the Cabinet of Antiquities in Paris, commonly called “Scipio’s Buckler;” a curious Essay on Witchcraft; two very useful Compendiums of the various Editions of the Polyglot Bibles, and of the Greek Testament; and a critical Dissertation on the Text of the Three Divine Witnesses, with facsimiles of 1 John 5:7-9, as they stand in the first edition of the New Testament printed at Complutum in 1514, and in the Codex Montfortii, — a manuscript in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.

The conductors of the Eclectic Review, which was established in 1804, wished, at the very outset of their undertaking, to secure Mr. Clarke as a regular contributor, especially in the Biblical and Oriental branches; and, in compliance with their pressing invitation, he prepared for the opening number a review of Granville Sharp’s Tracts on the Hebrew Language, and Yeates’s Hebrew Grammar. And subsequently, from time to time, he wrote for that periodical articles of so much intrinsic value, that we rejoice to find them embodied in a permanent farm in the tenth volume of his Miscellaneous Works. They comprise Reviews of Sir William Jones’s Persian Grammar, Bell’s Greek Grammar, Whittaker’s Latin Grammar; Lord Teignmouth’s Memoirs of Sir W. Jones; Stock on the Prophet Isaiah; Holmes’s Edition of the Septuagint; Wilkins’s Arabic and Persian Dictionary; Barrett’s Evangelium secundum Matthaeum; Gilchrist’s New Theory of the Persian Verbs; De Sacy’s Chrestomathie Arabe; Weston’s Fragments of Oriental Literature; and Dean Graves’s Lectures on the Pentateuch. All these disquisitions are marked by a thoroughness and solidity which will always make them most acceptable to inquirers into the various subjects of philology and criticism to which they refer. The writer, with no ostentation, shows his own mastery of the brands of learning forming the subject of the books reviewed; and not only gives a lucid account of their contents, but adds to the sum of information to be found in them, from his own rich stores. In September, 1807, he published, in one volume, “A concise View of the Succession of Sacred Literature, in a Chronological Arrangement of Authors and their Works to the Year of our Lord 345.” Most of the sheets had been printed more than three years, the author having been prevented from completing it. The main value of this book lies in the analytical account it gives us of the writings of the Greek and Latin Fathers who lived before the council of Nice. Mr. Clarke’s account of these writings is not second-hand compilation, but derived in general from a personal examination of the works themselves. Even the “Bibliotheque des Auteurs Eccclesiastiques” of the Sorbonnist, Du Pin, (in itself a treasury of that kind of lore,) was not in his possession while engaged in this task. The author’s original design, to bring down the resume of the ecclesiastical writers to the time of the invention of printing, was not accomplished by himself, but by his son, the Rev, J. B. B. Clarke, who fulfilled it in the production of a second volume much larger than the first, and in a manner that bore out the high estimate his father had taken of his qualifications and ability for such a work. The second volume was published in 1831, the year before the decease of Dr. Clarke, who prefixed the following words: “As the continuation is announced under another name, it may be necessary to state that I have been obliged to seek that help in others once found in myself, of which length of days and impaired sight have deprived me. To my son, J. B. B. Clarke, M. A., I have delivered up all my papers, (the whole of which have been added to what was previously published, and constitute the completion of the first part,) with the fullest conviction that from his natural taste for this species of study, so nearly allied to his sacred function, and from his various learning and thorough knowledge of the subject, he is amply qualified to conduct it, with credit to himself and profit to the reader, to that issue at which his father aimed, — the glory of God, and the good of His church.”

About the time of the publication of the first volume, Dr. Clarke was diligently at work on a new edition of Shuckford’s “Sacred and Profane History of the World,” for which he had made numerous notes and corrections: but the book, when nearly through the press, was consumed by a fire which burned down the printing office. This calamity destroyed also another work in which he had spent yet more labor, — an edition of Harmer’s “Observations on various Passages of Scripture.” Shuckford he did not resume, but gave it over to the Rev. Mr. Creighton, who brought it forward again; but to Harmer he applied with renewed zeal. By improving the style, and inserting the Hebrew and Greek words (where it could be done advantageously) in the Scripture quotations, with the Masoretic pronunciation of the Hebrew, — by illustrating some passages from Eastern authors, and adding a series of observations designed to show the benefit afforded by the Greek and Roman classics as means of illustration in many passages of Scripture, — he produced an edition of this useful work incomparably superior to any one of the four which had preceded it.

Another editorial undertaking was a reprint of the Concordance to the Bible which had been published a long time before by the Rev. Mr. Butterworth, of Coventry; a good work of the kind, which, however, under the care of Dr. Clarke, became much better, by the incorporation of additional matter prepared by the author himself, by the expunging of some erroneous statements relating to the natural history of the Bible, by more critical expositions of the proper names, and by revision of the theological definitions. As a Concordance, this edition comprises the good qualities of being correct, pleasant, and portable.

In original composition, the Account of the Ecclesiastical Writers was now followed by a treatise on the Holy Communion, with the title of “A Discourse on the Nature, Institution, and Design of the Holy Eucharist.”

The primary idea of this disquisition may be expressed by a sentence from the Introduction: — “The Eucharist I consider a rite designed by God to keep up a continual remembrance of the doctrine of the atonement.” In bringing this out to view, great stress is laid upon the analogy between the Lord’s Supper in the New Testament dispensation, and the paschal supper under the Old. In the introduction he examines the question, whether our Lord ate the Passover with His disciples in the last year of His ministry; and inclines to the opinion that He did partake of the paschal supper with them, but not at the same hour with the Jews; and that He expired on the cross the same hour in which the paschal lamb was slain. He then proceeds to his theme; “that Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, and that He has instituted this rite as a perpetual memorial of that — His precious death, until His coming again; and they who, with a sincere heart and true faith in His passion and death, partake of it, shall be made partakers of His most blessed body and blood:” in the discussion of which he points out, —

I. The nature and design of this institution: here drawing a parallel between it and the Passover; embodying, as he goes on, some rich quotations from the great doctors of the Hebrew and Christian communions.

II. The manner of its celebration: where he gives a harmony of the Gospel narratives of the last supper, and takes occasion to urge the importance of retaining the materials of the communion as the they were appointed by our Saviour; i. e., unleavened bread, to be broken in the act of administration; and the use of the purest wine, or the unadulterated juice of the grape.

III. The proper meaning of the different epithets given to it in the Scriptures and the primitive church.

1. The Eucharist.

2. Lord’s Supper.

3. Sacrifice.

4. Breaking of Bread.

5. Communion.

6. Sacrament.

7. Paschal Feast, Passover.

He explains these terms with a profusion of learning. In defining the term “sacrament,” he seems to restrict the meaning to the oath of fidelity and obedience. He takes occasion in one place to ask, “Who, then, should approach this awful ordinance?” and answers,

1. Every believer in Jesus Christ.

2. Every genuine penitent; “for the promises of pardon are made to him.” And as to the question, “Who are they who should administer it?” he answers, “Every minister of Jesus Christ, and he only;” adding, “I shall not dispute here about manner in which a man may be appointed to officiate in any branch of the church of God. The pure church of Christ exists exclusively nowhere. It lives in its universality in the various congregations and societies which profess the Gospel of the Son of God: therefore I contend not here for this or that mode of ordination. But I contend that the man alone who is appointed to minister in holy things, according to the regular usages of that church to which he belongs, has a right to preach God’s holy word or to administer His sacraments.”

IV. The reasons for frequent communion.

1. The command given by our Lord to do this in remembrance of Him.

2. The Eucharist sets forth the truth of the atonement; it represents the great Sacrifice, and should therefore be constantly observed.

3. It is the duty of the pastor to urge its observance on the flock.

4. It is a standing and inexpugnable proof of the authenticity of the Christian religion.

In a postscript the author gives some extracts from a Saxon homily, and others from Aelfric’s Epistles, to show that the early English churches did not hold the doctrine of transubstantiation.

On the memorable words of our Saviour, “Take, eat; this is My body,” Dr. Clarke, in opposition to the Romish doctrine, affirms the meaning to be, “This represents My body; “ observes that in the same way the Paschal lamb is called the Passover, because it represented the means for the preservation of the Israelites from the blast of the destroying angel; and then proceeds to make a philological remark which has called forth some grave discussion. “Besides,” writes he, “our Lord did not say, Hoc est corpus meum, ‘This is my body,’ as he did not speak in the Latin tongue; though as much stress has been laid upon this quotation from the Vulgate version by the Papists as if the original of the three evangelists had been written in Latin. Had he spoken in Latin, following the idiom of the Vulgate, he would have said, Panis hic corpus Meum significat, or symbolum est corporis Mei: ‘This bread signifies My body.’ But let it be observed, that in the Scriptures, as they stand in the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Chaldeo-Syriac languages, there is no term which expresses to mean, signify, or denote, though both the Greek and Latin abound with them: hence the Hebrews use a figure, and say, It is, for, It signifies.” Of this mode of speaking he gives a variety of examples. The same train of remark he has embodied in his commentary on the twenty-sixth chapter of St. Matthew.

Cardinal Wiseman, at that time a professor in the Collegio della Sapienza at Rome, in a work on Syrian literature, published by him in 1828, took occasion to animadvert [criticize, censure] on this statement, and to show that in the Syrian language there are many terms expressive of signifying, meaning, and denoting; of which he gives a variety of examples, for the purpose of obviating [doing away with] Mr. Clarke’s argument against the Romanist view of transubstantiation. The objection of Mr. Wiseman was hereupon met by Professor Lee, of Cambridge, who replied to it in his Prolegomena to Bagsters’ Polyglot Bible. It is many years since I perused those works: and, not having access to them at present, I cannot state the precise terms in which the argument was conducted: but I advert [refer] to the point just here, to observe that, judging from the words which Mr. Clarke uses in the treatise before me, as well as in his commentary on Matthew 26., the learned Italian professor seems to have launched his polemical javelin against an antagonist created by his own imagination. Mr. Clarke never said that in the Syrian LANGUAGE, as it was cultivated by ecclesiastical writers ages after the time of our Saviour, there is no word which answers to signify or represent; but, as the reader will see by reverting to his own words, that “in the scriptures, as they stand in the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Chaldaeo-Syriac languages,” there is no such term.

The Syriac language after the apostolic time received many accessions of terms and words, which at that time were unknown in it.

Returning for a moment to the treatise on the Eucharist, we may deferentially remark, that the chief defect we discover in this substantial and profitable discourse is, that, while the Doctor gives great prominence to the Holy Supper as a memorial, he does not point our attention sufficiently to its sacramental character as a sign and seal of the promises of God’s covenant in Christ; nor is he sufficiently explicit on the efficacy of the solemn rite as a means of grace. Neither can we be satisfied with the restricted sense he gives to the term “sacrament,” as denoting an oath of fidelity. In the Vulgate New Testament the Latin word sacramentum answers to the Greek musterion, “a mystery,” something veiled under an emblematic form; and the sense in which the apostles employed the latter term ought to be taken into account in defining the meaning of the former.

Thus St. Paul, speaking of the marriage-bond, says, that, representing as it does the union between Christ and the church, it is musterion mega, “a great mystery;” which the Vulgate renders sacramentum magnum. So, in Revelation 1:20, “the mystery of the seven stars” is in the Vulgate “the sacrament of the seven stars.” The Syrians use the word roza in the same passages, and apply that term also to the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.

In all these cases it is very plain that the Roman military oath has nothing to do with the matter. Nevertheless Dr. Clarke’s work on the blessed Eucharist is one of the best in the English or any other language; and it would be a cause of thankfulness if the Methodist literature were enriched by a treatise equally good on the other sacrament of baptism.

Several minor pieces were communicated from time to time by Dr. Clarke to various periodicals, of which we regret to be only able to afford room for the titles. Several of them are of an antiquarian character; such as —

1. An Attempt to explain an Inscription on what is called Arthur’s Tombstone, near Camelford.

2. A short Description of three Round Towers in Ireland.

3. An Account of three remarkable Crosses at Munsterboyce, in Ireland.

4. An Account of Mount Rough-tor, with its Druidical Monuments,

5. A Dissertation on Diplomas and Diptychs.

6. On the Poem of “King Hart,” by Gawin Douglas.

7. On the Bow of Ulysses.

8. On a Bourbonnese Inscription. — Others refer to the phenomena of nature —

1. On Prognostications of the Weather.

2. An Account of an agricultural Experiment.

3. An Account of the miraculous Growth of a Woman’s Hair.

4. Extraordinary Sagacity of a Dog.

5. On some medical Cases in the Philadelphia Medical Museum.

Another class consists of dissertations and fragments on Biblical subjects: —

1. On the Genealogy of Jesus Christ.

2. Critical Remarks on the Thirty-second Chapter of Exodus.

3. Introduction to Fisher’s “Grand Folio Bible,” — a masterly essay.

4. A Preface to the Book of Psalms.

5. On the Words, Anathema Maranatha.

6. Directions for reading the Bible.

And another, of papers on ecclesiastical subjects: —

1. On the Creed of the Abyssinians

2. Translation of the Liturgy of Dioscorus.

3. On Kneeling in Worship.

4. A Letter of Counsel to a Preacher.

5. On the Methodist Chapels and Trustees.

The next class are polemical: —

1. A Reply to various Critiques on Dr. Clarke’s Bible.

2. On a Pamphlet entitled “A Vindication of the Hindoos.”

3. Remarks on a Criticism in the Christian Observer.

4. Another Letter to the Same.

5. A Letter to the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. — All these, along with a translation of the History of St. Leucio, an establishment near Naples, founded as an experiment in social economy by the late king Ferdinand, are found in the tenth and eleventh volumes of his collected Works.

The remaining class are biographical, — six notices of eminent Christians, among whom are his early friend Coleman, and his revered colleague Mr. Pawson.

In coming to the next considerable book, the “Memoirs of the Wesley Family,” it should be observed that Dr. Clarke had long entertained the idea of writing a biography of the founder of Methodism himself; of whom, with an almost boundless veneration, he was wont to say, that “as a scholar, poet, logician, critic, philosopher, politician, legislator, divine, public teacher, and deeply pious and extensively useful man, he had no superior, and few, if any, equals;” and that justice can never be done him unless he be viewed in all these characters. At the Conference of 1820 he was officially requested to write Mr. Wesley’s Life. The widely-read memoir by the poet-laureate was then making a great impression on the public mind; and a number of influential persons who dissented from the worldly-minded and sinister view of the character of Mr. Wesley presented in that biography, urged him by earnest solicitations to acquiesce in the request. Among these, Mr. Butterworth offered him for the copyright. Nor was Dr. Clarke averse from the task, but greatly inclined to undertake it. He had, indeed, a feeling, produced by some incidents in conversation with him, while living, that such a thing would have been agreeable to Mr. Wesley himself; and he had been for years accumulating materials which would be highly effective in the construction of an authentic life of that servant of God.

Yet this project, through certain unpropitious hindrances, came to nothing; or rather, we should say, it issued not in a Life of the Founder of Methodism, but in a Memoir of the Family from which he sprang. The Rev. Henry Moore declined to confide to his use certain papers which he had in possession as one of the trustees of Mr. Wesley’s literary property. Upon this Dr. Clarke offered him all his own collections, provided he would undertake the memoir himself. But this, too, was at that time declined. The result has just been stated.

This work, written, we may truly say, con amore, and in the short space of four months, was published in 1823. The copyright of the first edition was presented by the author to the Methodist Book-room, for which he received the most cordial thanks of the Conference. It was subsequently reprinted, with a large accession of matter, in two volumes. In addition to his own collection, ample materials had been supplied him by Miss Sarah Wesley, and other friends, including Miss Sharp, from whom he received some important letters out of the correspondence of her grandfather, the archbishop of York, which threw much light on the early history of Mr. Wesley’s father, the rector of Epworth. That indefatigable Methodist antiquarian, the late Thomas Marriott, Esq., also freely opened his treasures for the Doctor’s use. From all these sources he has been able to perpetuate the memory of a family remarkable alike for their genius, their exemplary piety, and their relation to a revival of apostolic religion, the influences and effects of which strengthen with the years of time, and widen in their range of action on the nations of the world at large.

The next publication to be mentioned is a useful tractate, the design of which is best described in the ample terms of the title page; namely, the “Clavis Biblica: or, a Compendium of Scriptural Knowledge, containing a general View of the Contents of the Old and New Testaments; the Principles of Christianity derived from them, and the Reasons on which they are founded; with Directions how to read most profitably the Holy Bible. Originally drawn up for the Instruction of two Teerunanxies or High Priests of Buddhoo from the Island of Ceylon.” Of these Indian priests we with give an account, further on. The little volume before us (which is dedicated to the Rev. Jabez Bunting, M.A., President of the Conference for 1820, and to the Secretaries, Treasurers, and Committee of the Wesleyan Missionary Society) recites the circumstances under which the interesting strangers had been confided to the writer’s care, and is accompanied with an affectionate and fatherly letter, replete with wise counsel, and a most suitable introduction to the book he had written for their learning. The work itself is admirably salted to the instruction of catechumens, and young persons in general.

Dr. Clarke in the latter years of his life wrote a number of homiletic Discourses, not so much for his own use in the pulpit, as for publication through the medium of the press. In his collected Works they are comprised in four volumes, and thrown together in a miscellaneous manner. For the sake of method and brevity, I will arrange them under their proper heads.

I. THEOLOGICAL.

1. On the Existence and Attributes of God. ( Jeremiah 10:11.)

2. The Being and Providence of God. ( Hebrews 11:6.)

3. St. Paul’s Metaphysics: or, the Invisible made known by the Visible.

4. The Doctrine of Providence.

5. The different Methods which God has used to bring men to the Knowledge of Himself.

6. Divine Revelation.

7. Worship.

8. The Love of God to a lost World.

9. His Willingness to save all men.

10. The Plan of human Redemption.

11. The Love of God to Man.

12. The Necessity of Christ’s. Atonement.

13. The God of all Grace.

14. The Gift of a Saviour — the Fulfillment of Prophecy.

15. God’s Love in Christ considered in its: Objects, Freeness, ,and Results.

16. The Miracles of Christ a Proof of His Divinity.

17. The Gospel a Proclamation of Life and Immortality.

18. Life the Gift of the Gospel, the Law the Ministration of Death.

19. Life, Death, and Immortality,

20. The, Corruption, of the World.

21. The condescending Entreaty of God to Sinners.

22. Repentance.

23. Salvation, by Faith.

24. Holiness,25. The true Circumcision.

26. Christ crucified, Stumblingblock to the Jews, & Foolishness to the Greeks.

27. The Design of Jewish Sacrifices; that of Christ the only Atonement.

28. The Gospel of Christ the Power of God unto Salvation.

29. The Glory of the Latter Days.

II. EXPERIMENTAL

1. True Happiness, and the Way to attain it.

2. Genuine Happiness the Privilege of the Christian in this Life.

3. The Confidence of the true Christian.

4. Experimental Religion and its Fruits.

5. The Hope of the Gospel through the Resurrection of Christ.

6. The Operations of Providence and Grace calculated to inspire Confidence and Gratitude.

7. St. Peter’s Character of the Dispersed among the Gentiles, and his Prayer for the Church of God.

8. Confidence in God, and its Reward.

9. Probation and Temptation.

10. Promises to the Man who has set his Love upon God.

11. Acquaintance with God, and the Benefits which result from it.

12. The Family of God and its Privileges.

III. ETHICAL.

1. On the Decalogue.

2. The Wisdom that is from above.

3. Love to God and Man the Fulfilling of the Law.

4. The Lord’s Prayer.

5. The Prayer of Agur.

6. The Traveler’s Prayer; a Discourse on the third Collect, for Grace.

7. Christian Moderation.

8. The Christian Race.

9. The Origin and End of civil Government.

10. The Rights of God and Caesar.

IV. Relating to the CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.

1. The high Commission.

2. Apostolic Preaching.

3. The Christian Prophet and his Work.

4. The Wise Man’s Counsels to his Pupil: or, the true Method of giving, receiving, and profiting by religious Instruction.

5. Characteristic Affection and prime Objects of the Christian Ministry.

V. MISCELLANEOUS.

1. The rich Man and the Beggar.

2. Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream.

3. Two important Questions answered. ( Psalm 15:1-5.)

4. Death unavoidable.

The topics of these discourses, it will be perceived, are of the weightiest moment; and they are discussed with a correspondent seriousness and gravity, with a breadth of investigation, a force of argument, and a fidelity of application, which will insure them a high and permanent place in the homiletic literature of our country. As to the graces of composition, many of them are far from being finished in style. Designedly unadorned, their very simplicity gives them a characteristic strength. The truth is made known in deep and well-defined outlines; not in highly enameled pictures, but in cartoons [a sequence of drawings with speech], struck off by the bold hand of a master.