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The Life of the Rev. Adam Clarke, LL.D

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The Life of the Rev. Adam Clarke, LL.D Engi-sr/od bv T B.W WMgJgUg jUTUB) Wo&oA THE LIFE OF THE REV. ADAM CLARKE, LL.R, F.A.S., M.R.I. A., Etc., Etc. by J. W. ETHEEJDGE, M.A., DOCTOR IN PHILOSOPHY OP THE UNIVERSITY OP HEIDELBERG, AND MEMBER OP THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OP PARIS. "Amabat vehementer quod docebat, docebat argute quod ama- bat; utrumque gignit in eo qui scriptis illius propiua intendit animum." Erasmus. REVISED BY THOMAS 0. SUMMERS, D.D. -<•»- Nasfjbtlle, Cemt.: SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. 1859- STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY A. A. 8TITT, SOUTHERN METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE, NASHVILLE, TENN. CONTENTS Prefatory Note to the American Edition v Preface vii Introductory 9 BOOK I. THE MORNING OP LIFE. Chapter I. His Parentage and Childhood 13 II. Regenerate 30 III. First Essays in the Service of Christ 53 IV. The opened Road rough at the outset 61 V. The Evangelist 76 VI. The Evangelist 92 VII. The Missionary „ 115 VIII. The Circuit Minister 144 IX. The Circuit Minister 166 BOOK II. MERIDIAN Chapter I. The Preacher 186 II. The Pastor 203 III. The Preacher and Pastor—continued 218 IV. The Preacher and Pastor—continued 242 V. The President , 257 VI. Itinerancy 279 VII. Itinerancy 289 VIII. The Student and Scholar 305 IX. The Student—continued '. 834 X. The Author 350 XI. The Literary Servant of the State 370 XII. The Coadjutor of the Bible Society 879 XIII. The Commentator 882 (iii) IV CONTENTS. BOOK III. EVENING. Chapter I. The Elder revered in the Church 406 II. Honored by the Great and Good 423 III. The Philanthropist 436 IV The Friend 449 V. The Husband 469 VI. The Father 477 VII. The Saint—in Life and Death 485 SUPPLEMENT of Illustrative Passages from Dr. Clarke's Cor- respondence 502 PREFATORY NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. A new biography of Dr. Adam Clarke has long been desired in this country as well as in Great Britain ; but the work desiderated was not so easily furnished. It could not be written except by one who might have access to the stores of materials known to be in possession of the family and friends of that eminent man ; and then it was exceedingly difficult to find any one who possessed all the qualifications "necessary to the undertaking. After much deliberation, and consultation with the rela- tives of Dr. Clarke, the British Conference pre- vailed on the Rev Dr. Etheridge to write the work. This was a happy selection—the Doctor being a Methodist minister, well acquainted with the his- tory, principles, and leading men of the Connec- tion, a man of liberal spirit and sound judgment, and of rare attainments in oriental and general literature. He entered on the work under favor- able auspices, and seems to have spared no pains — VI PREFATORY NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. to produce a biography worthy of its subject, and one which should be pronounced so by competent judges, particularly those at whose instance it was undertaken. His labors were successful. After receiving the approval of the relatives and friends of Dr. Clarke, and having been highly eulogized by the British Conference, his new Life of the great Commentator passed into rapid and extensive circulation as soon as it issued from the London press. Advanced sheets of the book were courteously forwarded to us by the "Wesleyan editor, but circum- stances forced us to postpone the republication to the present time. As Dr. Clarke has perhaps as many admirers in the United States as he has on the other side of the Atlantic, it is hoped this volume which is an exact reprint of Dr. Etheridge's work will prove a source of pleasure and pnofit to thou- sands of readers. Thos. O. Summers. Nashville, Tenn., April 12, 1859. PREFACE. It has been long felt that the communion of which the eminent person to whose memory these pages are dedicated was a devoted minister, should have its own record of his exemplary life ; a*nd the Committee charged with the literary affairs of the Methodist Connection have the happiness of stating that, by an arrangement with his surviving represent- atives, by which the copyright of many inedited papers lias come into their possession, they are enabled to meet such a demand. Several years have passed since the publication of any biography of Dr. Clarke; and we believe that the time is now come when a new volume on the subject, written on a plan altogether different from any already pursued, may be offered without disparagement to the interests of preceding authors. The ample materials placed at our disposal are sufficient for the creation of a work as voluminous as some of our largest English biographies—those, for example, of Chalmers or of Wilberforce; but the object of the Committee, to offer a memoir which shall be accessible to readers in general, would thereby have been defeated. A book of such dimensions, like the Leviathan ship, is not always easily launched. As it (vii) Vlll PREFACE. is, we have the satisfaction of believing that the present work will be found to present the memorabilia of Dr. Adam Clarke's life and character in such a clear and true light as shall render it an acceptable gift to those who knew and loved him, and a means of pleasure and profit to many others, who, now becoming acquainted with his excellences, will begin to love him too. It will not be deemed at all disrespectful to the Doctor's name, that we have recounted the annals of his life without overloading our recital with a cumbrous mass of particulars, which, important as they may have been, in their own hour, do not extend a sufficient influence on after-time to demand a record on the page of history. This principle has been adopted as the right one in all the ages of literature ; and, therefore, some of the choicest and most classic biographies, both ancient and modern, are distinguished by their compar- ative brevity. We have to express our respectful sense of obligation to Mrs. Richard Smith, the daughter and first biographer of Dr. Clarke, for the kindness with which she. has afforded every facility for the completion of this new Life of her hon- ored father, and, also, our best thanks to Messrs. W Tegg & Co., the proprietors of the Doctor's voluminous works, for their permission to republish the excellent portrait which gives an embellishment to the present volume. Maech, 1858. INTRODUCTORY The most ancient book in the possession of mankind, the Txenesis of Moses, has enregistered for all time a series of biographical memoirs. The Spirit of God, in dictating those recitals by his own inspiration, has thus given a Divine and eternal signature to the lawfulness, and utility of a description of writing which perpetuates the names of the great and good, reechoes the words of the silent dead, and preserves. in imperishable fragrance, the sanctities of their ended life. The same principle is inculcated throughout the Bible. " The memory of the just is blessed." "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." Upon the Christian Church the duty is enjoined, by an express command, to "remember them who have spoken to us the word of God," and to imi- tate their faith. May he then who now writes, and they who shall read, the words l3f this record, be stirred up to follow the high example ofrhim to whose memory these pages are consecrated, remembering "the end of his conversation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." A quarter of a century has already passed since this emi- not for a nent servant of God descended to the grave ; yet day in this long interval has he ceased to preach among the (») 10 INTRODUCTORY living the truths which it was the labor of his life to illus- trate and practice. And while some of his contemporaries, who in their day made a considerable figure, have already disappeared in oblivion, time, the great prover of all things, has, for the name of Adam Clarke, authenticated a title to immortality. The worth of his character, his massive and consecrated learning, the high motives of his laborious life, and the enduring beneficence of its results, have all belh verified by a scrutinizing world. The retrospect of such a career will strengthen the best aspirations of the heart, and show us the way to attain their objects. Adam Clarke uplifts his eyes, at the outset, to the true standard of human effort, the glory and approval of the Most High God. With this great ideal he holds such habit- ual converse as greatly to think, and feel, and live, till at length his character brightens into a deathless grandeur, and he "stands in his lot" with those nobles of the universe who are " a kind of first-fruits" of the creatures of God. Few ministers of the gospel in the present age, by the integrity of their character, the splendor of their learning, and the sterling merit of their works, have • acquired more largely the veneration of enlightened and impartial men in all parts of Christendom, than Dr. Clarke; and, if so many of the good and great in every branch of the catholic Church have learned to esteem his memory, it well becomes that particular communion of which he was a conspicuous orna- ment, and in the most intimate fellowship with which he lived and died, to enshrine his name in her heart, and to teach it to her children. " He was a burning and shining INTRODUCTORY 11 light," and we who, while he was yet personally with us, rejoiced in the benefit of his luminous ministration, should give some.
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