The Harvard Diary of Pitt Clarke, 1786–1791
Transcribed and Edited by Ernest John Knapton
PREFACE
THE Reverend Pitt Clarke (1763–1835) of Medfield and Norton, Massachusetts, has a significant place in the roster of New England worthies living during the transitional decades when the eighteenth century ended and the nineteenth century began. The recently found manuscript Diary of Clarke’s undergraduate Harvard years (1786–1791) contains a remarkably detailed record of his life, his prescribed studies, and his more general reading. A brief account of Clarke’s whole career and of the contemporary Harvard setting as well as some evaluation of the Diary are given in the Introduction which follows.
A few explanations are in order concerning the general treatment of the manuscript. Clarke’s spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are erratic, in the manner of the times. I have tried to make the text more readable by some modest readjustments in these respects, while retaining a fair number of aberrations in order to convey the flavor of the original. Wherever possible names of individuals when they first appear have been briefly identified by footnotes in the text. Appendix I gives notes concerning Clarke’s class of 1790. Appendix II deals with the solution of the short cryptogram found under the date of 11 May 1790, of the Diary. Appendix III contains Clarke’s touching and now very rare pamphlet, A Pastor’s Legacy to his People, written shortly before his death.
The very large number of book titles which are one of the most striking features of the Diary have with a few exceptions been checked and expanded by use of the Harvard College Library printed catalogues of 1790 and 1830–1831. Since these are not always accurate, the titles have been further verified from the printed catalogues of the Library of Congress and the British Museum and also from the most useful National Index of American Imprints Through 1800.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge assistance from many quarters. The trustees of the Norton Public Library most kindly permitted me to have temporary possession of the Diary for study, transcription, and microfilming. A grant from the research fund of Wheaton College helped substantially. Miss Hilda Harris, formerly librarian of Wheaton College, and her staff have been invariably obliging. The late Dr. Clifford K.
Shipton, formerly curator of the Harvard Archives and editor of Sibley’s Harvard Graduates, generously shared with me his incomparable knowledge of Harvard men in the eighteenth century. It is an honor for me to have Clarke’s Diary included in a volume dedicated to Dr. Shipton’s memory. I also thank the present curator of the Harvard Archives, Dr. Harley P. Holden, for his guidance among the materials under his charge. The late Richard W. Hale, Jr., formerly archivist of the Commonwealth, very kindly arranged to microfilm the entire Diary. Miss Ruth E. Thomas, a skilled genealogist and expert on eighteenth-century handwriting, provided invaluable help with the transcription. Dr. Harold F. Worthley, formerly of Wheaton College, used his wide knowledge of eighteenth-century theology to identify many works which Clarke cited briefly or inaccurately. Dr. R. I. W. Westgate has very kindly looked over my translations of Clarke’s Latin. It is also a pleasure to make reference to my former neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Phillips, who have restored the Clarke parsonage in Norton so as to make it an outstanding example of a late-eighteenth-century home. One of my great debts is to the late Dr. Walter Muir Whitehill, who promptly accepted the Clarke Diary for publication by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts when I submitted it to him. I am equally grateful to Mr. Frederick S. Allis, Jr., who has succeeded Dr. Whitehill as editor of the Colonial Society, for his help and encouragement. Finally I thank my wife, Jocelyn Babbitt Knapton, both for her practical assistance in preparing and improving my text and for her unfailing support in what at times proved to be a most laborious task.
Ernest John Knapton
Chatham, Massachusetts
February 1980
INTRODUCTION
The Diary here printed was written by Pitt Clarke during his four undergraduate years at Harvard from 1786 to 1790 and his subsequent year and a half of keeping school in Cambridge. It gives an unusually detailed picture of a serious youth, the son of a modest farmer in Medfield, Massachusetts, and a veteran of service in the American Revolution, pursuing his studies and embarking on a career which was quickly to lead him from schoolmastering into the ministry—then a normal and easy transition. Some of his college contemporaries were to have genuinely distinguished careers, among them being two future presidents of Harvard. When Clarke entered in 1786, John Quincy Adams was beginning his senior year. By transferring himself the short distance from rural Medfield to Cambridge, Pitt Clarke was entering a very different world. He seems to have been on good terms with nearly all his classmates.
The Diary records in great detail the kind of education given at Harvard towards the close of the eighteenth century under the firm rule of President Joseph Willard. One is made vividly aware of the type of “lectors” to which Clarke was exposed and of the endless “declamations,” “disputations,” “forensics,” and “parts” required of him. In addition he lists the many syllogisms which he prepared and defended, sometimes publicly, before his tutors. Clarke, moreover, was a most diligent reader, keeping note of the books which he “carried” from the library or bought. Though his citations were frequently inaccurate, most of the books can be identified from the two printed Harvard catalogues of 1790 and 1830–1831. Given the times, the resources of the Harvard College Library were impressive, and not merely in the fields of theology, philosophy, and natural science. While history seems to have been somewhat slighted, a fairly substantial literature of the Enlightenment had been accumulated. In the light of this last, and of other works, one can see how the College was emerging from the “orthodoxy” of an earlier period and entering the changing atmosphere of a new and more liberal age.
Clarke’s little notebook apparently remained unknown in our day until the present editor discovered it some years ago in the vault of the Public Library in Norton, Massachusetts. Here it had lain in a box of papers used by the Reverend George Faber Clark (no relation) when producing his History of the Town of Norton (Boston, 1859). Since the Diary had nothing to say about Clarke’s long ministry in Norton, it was not used or even mentioned. It consists of 176 loosely bound pages, 15½ × 10 cm., written in a very small hand which is at times abbreviated and extremely difficult to decipher. The account of Clarke’s first college year is written in Latin. A commonplace book of nineteen pages is included, along with incomplete records of accounts and an interesting list of books purchased. The Diary has been microfilmed; one copy has been deposited in the Archives of the Commonwealth and another in the Archives of the Wheaton College Library. The original remains in the possession of the Norton Public Library.
From the brief manuscript autobiography which Pitt Clarke put together in 1832 the essential facts of his life can be recovered.1 He was born in Medfield, Massachusetts, on 15 January 1763. His paternal greatgrandfather, Solomon Clark, had come from England and settled in the northern part of Wrentham. Pitt’s grandfather, David Clark, later purchased a farm in Medfield. Pitt describes his father, Jacob, as “an honest man, an industrious farmer, and practical Christian.” Pitt’s mother, Meletiah Hammant (or Hammond), is described as devoutly pious, and “of a feeble, gloomy, nervous make,” in contrast to the naturally cheerful and sociable nature of her husband. Clarke goes on to say, however, that she instilled in her three sons and three daughters the first principles of religion, and that he was indebted to his mother for “the many early religious impressions I received from her pious example.” The year of Pitt Clarke’s birth marked the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War between England and France, the momentous outcome of which was the transfer of French Canada to British hands. Pitt’s grandfather was a profound admirer of England’s great war minister, William Pitt the elder, and because of this admiration the name of Pitt was given to his grandson, who in turn named his eldest son William Pitt.
Clarke as a boy was evidently a promising student. He began Latin at the age of ten, and his schoolmaster soon insisted that he plan to attend Harvard. The Revolutionary War and his father’s financial difficulties caused a delay. Early in 1779, at the age of sixteen, Pitt enrolled under the Militia Bill and took part briefly in an expedition to Rhode Island. In November of the same year, however, when his father’s house was completely destroyed by fire, he returned to Medfield. Here he helped with the work of rebuilding and farming for the next six years. Through his own determination and with a year’s tutoring from Miss Hannah Adams, who lived nearby, he at last in 1786 made application to Harvard College.
This Hannah Adams was by any standards a remarkable person. She has, indeed, been described as the first woman in America to have made literature a profession.2 Born in Medfield in 1755, she taught herself Latin and Greek; through family reverses she had to support herself from her seventeenth year. With no great financial success she undertook a career of writing, her books being largely on religious subjects. In 1832, the last year of her life, she published her autobiography under the title, A Memoir of Miss Hannah Adams. Edited, with Additions, by Mrs. Hannah F. Lee (Boston, 1832). A number of prominent people, including Josiah Quincy, Stephen Higginson, and William S. Shaw, appreciating her literary services, had settled a life annuity upon her. More than once the Diary records Clarke while on vacation in Medfield reading in the well-stocked library of the Adams household. Hannah Adams helped him to pass his examinations for entrance to Harvard, and it is a fair deduction that she encouraged those religious attitudes which were to determine Clarke’s career.
The Medfield atmosphere did not lack intellectual stimulus. Hannah Adams’ father, Thomas, although not a college man, was a reader and collector of books. The family was accustomed to take in a few boarders, usually Harvard students, and from these Hannah declares that she learned “the rudiments of Latin, Greek, geography and logic”—a training that she was able to pass along in some degree to her most promising student. In her autobiography Hannah Adams refers to Clarke as a pupil who continued his friendship throughout her life, and “whose uniform excellent character I have ever appreciated.” He married a friend of hers, and this she says, “was the only match I ever had a hand in making.”3 Clarke also owed much to the influence of the Reverend Thomas Prentiss of Medfield, a Harvard graduate of 1766, who took youths preparing for college into his home. Clarke regularly visited him during his vacations, and not unexpectedly Mr. Prentiss preached the inaugural sermon in 1793 when Clarke began his ministry in Norton.
On leaving Harvard and after a year and a half of schoolmastering in Cambridge, Clarke entered the ministry. Following an invitation to succeed the Reverend Joseph Palmer, he was installed as the minister of the Congregational Parish in Norton on 3 July 1793. This post he held until his death on 13 February 1835—a tenure of nearly forty-two years. With aid from the parish he bought some twenty acres of land and built the very substantial house on Mansfield Avenue now admirably restored by its present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Phillips. He soon became a genuine power in the town, helping to found the Norton Library in 1794, a proprietory institution of which he was both a trustee and librarian, the books being kept in his house.4 He was a local school committeeman for a number of years, vice-president of the Bristol County Bible Society, and vice-president of the board of trustees of Bristol Academy in Taunton. He also made it a custom to tutor Harvard students who, whether for academic or disciplinary reasons, were temporarily separated from the College. The Records of the Harvard Faculty show twenty-three such permissions granted to Pitt Clarke.5 According to a local tradition one of these students unhappily shot himself in Clarke’s backyard. As was quite customary Clarke, whose portraits indicate a man of strong physique, farmed his land. He married Rebecca Jones of Hopkinton in February 1798, by whom he had five children, two dying in infancy. Following her death in 1811 he married in November 1812, Mary Jones Stimson, also of Hopkinton and a niece of his first wife, by whom he had four more children, one of whom also died in infancy.
Three of Pitt Clarke’s five sons went to Harvard. John Jones Clarke of the Class of 1823 practiced law in Boston, became the first mayor of Roxbury, and was for several years a representative in the General Court. Manlius Stimson Clarke of the Class of 1839 also practiced law in Boston. Edward Hammond Clarke of the Class of 1841 studied medicine in Philadelphia, practiced in Boston, and in 1854 became Professor of Materia Medica in the Medical College at Harvard. It is a worthy record.
The troubles which beset the last years of Pitt Clarke’s ministry in Norton had a long background and were unquestionably related to his intellectual growth while in college. After preaching on probation for four Sundays in 1793 and being requested to settle, he at first demurred. “I could not,” he wrote, “satisfy the minds of those called orthodox.”6 In the end, however, he agreed to come, but took little trouble to conceal his views. Early in his ministry he revised the church covenant, making it simpler, shorter, and more moderate in tone. In 1803 he abandoned the practice of insisting on a written statement for those wishing to be admitted, requiring them only to give satisfactory evidence of belief. In 1806 Baptists, of whom a small group met in the venerable Hathaway house on Burt Street, were admitted to the church in Norton with regular standing.
For a long time Clarke was able to maintain his position, but by the 1830’s, when the tides of religious change were sweeping over New England, the troubles came to a head. He was charged by a group of orthodox parishioners with having changed his sentiments and not preaching the true Gospel. In 1832 a group including Laban Morey Wheaton and his wife, Eliza Bayliss Chapin Wheaton, seceded, establishing the Congregational Trinitarian Church, which still flourishes, about a quarter of a mile from the original parish church. Shortly before his death Clarke prepared a document, “The Pastor’s Legacy to his People,” expounding his views, which had as their main theme tolerance of the beliefs of all men and the conclusion that all good Christians will be saved.7 His loyal parishioners made plans to replace the meetinghouse of the eighteenth century by the present First Parish Church (Unitarian), in his honor. He did not live to see it completed, dying on 13 February 1835. Pitt Clarke remains, along with Major George Leonard (Harvard 1748), Judge Laban Wheaton (Harvard 1774), and Eliza Bayliss Chapin Wheaton, as one of the most notable figures in the town’s history.
Much of the Harvard College which Pitt Clarke entered on 16 August 1786, is still visible. On the right, as one entered the Yard from the west, stood Massachusetts Hall, built in 1720. Clarke first shared “cubiculum no. 1” with his chamber-mate, or “chum,” Jonathan Bowman. On the left stood Harvard Hall, completed in 1766 after Old Harvard had burned two years before. This was the main center of academic activities. To the right of the entrance passage on the main floor was the hall, an imposing room measuring thirty-six by forty-five feet with a raised dais at the far end. The hall was used for meals, lectures, and other academic exercises. Customs in Clarke’s time probably had not changed from when Timothy Pickering (A.B. 1763) dined in old Harvard Hall. Pickering’s account is as follows:
In Old Harvard . . . was the hall where all dined in Commons. Every scholar carried to the dining table his own knife and fork—and when he had dined, wiped them on the table cloth. . . . The standing dish was fresh beef baked—and now and then a plain, hard Indian pudding—and a baked plum pudding once a quarter. For supper they had their choice . . . for meat or pies—or for a pint of milk and a size of bread.8
To the left of the entrance corridor was the chapel. One part of the upper floor, above the chapel, was given over to the library. This was a fine, carpeted room with the calf-bound volumes arranged in ten alcoves and the names of the principal benefactors emblazoned in blue and gold above. The other half of the upper floor was divided into a “Musaeum,” a smaller lecture room, and a “Philosophy Chamber,” these containing scientific apparatus, mineralogical specimens, stuffed birds, and preserved fishes.
Holden Chapel had been completed in 1744 and Hollis Hall, where Clarke moved for his senior year, in 1764. Near where University Hall now stands were a number of more or less unsightly buildings: a brick brewhouse, a barn, a pigpen, and a row of privies, the southernmost by a solemn vote of the Corporation in 1725 having been put “at the President’s Disposal” for his orchard. Wadsworth House was the president’s dwelling.
Entrance requirements were still those that had been fixed in 1734: “Ex tempore to read, construe and parse Tully [Cicero], Virgil or such like common Classical Latin authors; and to write true Latin in Prose, and to be skill’d in making Latin verse or at least the rules of Prosodia; and to read, construe and parse ordinary Greek, as in the New Testament, Isocrates, or such like, and decline the paradigms of Greek Nouns and Verbs.”9 These requirements Clarke, the village schoolboy, had successfully met.
The daily routine of Harvard was strenuous. Morning prayers were at six, followed by breakfast in hall or chambers. Lectures and recitations, beginning at eight, occupied the morning. Dinner was at noon, followed by recreation until two o’clock. The afternoon was then given to study, reading in the library, preparing essays or syllogisms, and further recitations with the tutors. Then came supper and evening prayers, with students free subsequently to read in their cubicles or to divert themselves until the usual hour of nine. On Sundays all attended two long sermons in the College chapel or in the nearby parish church. Students living more than ten miles from Cambridge could seek an absence of up to twenty-one days twice a year, as Clarke regularly did in each October and April. In addition a winter vacation of five weeks beginning on the first Wednesday of January had been stipulated in 1749 in order to permit poor scholars to keep school.
The president of Harvard College in 1786 was Joseph Willard, an imposing figure much interested in science, in whose presence tutors and students alike stood and removed their hats. His customary opening words to students were, “Well, child, what do you wish?” Only somewhat less imposing were Eliphalet Pearson, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and a tireless instructor of youth, Edward Wigglesworth, Hollis Professor of Divinity, and Samuel Williams, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. Three other names were famous for the beginning of medical studies at Harvard. Benjamin Waterhouse had recently been made Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic. John Warren of the famous Boston family of surgeons and brother of the Joseph Warren who died at Bunker Hill, was Professor of Anatomy and Surgery. Aaron Dexter was Professor of Chemistry and Materia Medica. Since some of their lectures were open to the entire community, their names recur in Clarke’s Diary.
Official authorization had been given in 1767 for four separate tutors, one in Latin, one in Greek, one in logic, metaphysics, and ethics, and one in natural philosophy, mathematics, geography, and astronomy. All, as well as the professors, were expected to teach rhetoric, elocution, and English composition. Since tutors, to whom the term “Dominus” or “Master” was loosely applied, tended to serve for relatively short periods, it is not surprising that Clarke refers to sixteen. Undergraduate opinion of the tutors was often hostile. Joseph Dennie, one of Clarke’s classmates and both brilliantly talented and militantly undisciplined, protested that they treated the scholars with insolence. They were, Dennie claimed, “invariably low-born despicable rustics, lately emerged from the dunghill, who, conscious of their own want of genius, were determined to discountenance all who possessed it.”1 Certainly Pitt Clarke, far less confident of himself than was Dennie, found little to criticize in them.
The curriculum of Harvard College had developed out of the Seven Liberal Arts of the medieval universities of Europe. These were the traditional seven—grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, this last being in some sense a study of the Muses. French became increasingly popular in the eighteenth century, and in 1787 the first salaried instructor, Joseph Nancrede, was appointed to teach it. Since many undergraduates were intending to pursue ministerial careers, instruction in divinity, now moving in a liberal direction, was inescapable for everyone. Under the stimulus of President Holyoke science had shown a remarkable development during the eighteenth century. “Philosophic apparatus,” including a good telescope, had early been acquired and a special room set aside in Harvard Hall for it. The Diary shows the many “lectors” to which Clarke was exposed and the breadth of his reading in the scientific field.
Clarke’s classmates represented a fair cross-section of eighteenth-century New England, with a few coming from the south.2 In his Autobiography he gives his impressions of them:
I had the good fortune of being a member of a large and respectable class, many of whom were of the first talent, and much the greater part of good characters. Another circumstance was much in my favor. The most distinguished scholars in my class were, like myself, in limited circumstances, and the most popular. On this account, the best part of the class set the example of prudence in expenses; and there was no disparagement in it. By receiving help from the charitable funds, and teaching schools, I made my way thro’ college without much assistance from my father.3
On the other hand the famous Jeremy Belknap (A.B. 1762), a member of the Board of Overseers, had his reservations. He noted in his diary for April 1789, that the Class of 1790 had “some very licentious spirits” whose intemperances and other failings were corrupting some students. “The major part of these Scholars,” he added, “who come from the southern States are irregular and troublesome.”4
Two points should be added. The Diary gives no explanation for Clarke’s unusually long absence from Harvard between 11 December 1789, and 29 April 1790, to keep school in Lexington. The answer is found in the Faculty Records which show that he had been separated from the College because of inability to pay his bills. He was readmitted only when he was able to settle his accounts with the steward. A detailed analysis of the Diary will be found in the present editor’s “Pitt Clarke’s Harvard Diary, 1786–1791,” Harvard Library Bulletin, xxi. no. 2 (April 1973).
One can well be impressed both by Pitt Clarke’s solid qualities and by the education which he received at Harvard. The College was, to be sure, very small and to a large degree ingrown. It was in process of transition. Many of the recitations were routine, and some of the prescribed texts mediocre. Yet the library was impressively stocked, and Clarke made full use of its resources. He was well grounded in three ancient languages and became familiar with French. If his tutors are to be described as average, certainly his professors were distinguished men of sound scholarship and strong character, and the links with most of these were not broken after he took his degree. His whole subsequent career was to demonstrate the powerful influence of these formative years.
THE DIARY
[Freshman Year]
[1] Anno Domini 1786, 22 Die Julii, per Tutores et Praesidem Harvardiani Universitatis examinabar. Deinde Praeses me honorabat his verbis Jocundis: Admittaris in Collegium Harvardinum. Collegium veni die 16 Augusti ac intravi meum nomen in promptuarium, cum meis Scholasticis sociis: qui sunt nomine; Thomas Adams, Erasmus Babbit, Stephanus Blyth, Jonathan Bowman, Samuel Chandler, Richardus Cutts, Samuel Chandler Crafts, Robert Emery, Nahumus Fay, Thomas Gray, Jonathan Grout, Benjamen Hasey, [2] Petrus Holt, Johannes Clark Howard, Gilbertus Hubbard, Gulielmus Ingalls, Daniel Marret, Stephanus Moody, Josias Quincy, Nathaniel Ruggles, David Smith, Daniel Staniford, Micas Stone, Johannes Sulliven, Jacobus Sulliven, Georgius Sulliven, Johannes Tappan, Thomas Cushing Thacher, Thomas Thomas, Abijas Tufts, Roger Vose, Jonathan Ware, Josephus Warren, Samuel Wells, Josias Waters. Post multam confusionem et procursionem passim [3] cognito meo contubernali mihi Jonathani Bowman, cubiculum No. 1 Mass: nostrae habitationi paravi. Bostonum ibam veneris, nonulla necessaria obtinere. Die proxima Lunae, recitabam Homeri Iliadem, Xenophontem et novum Testamentum Tutori Jennison: quae erant mea quotidiana Studia, duas Septimanas, praeter unumquemque diem Veneris ac diem Saturni, qui consumebantur discendo legere de arte locutionis, quoque discendo anglam gramaticam ac Rhetoricam.
[4] Proximas duas septimanas recitabam Quinti Horatii Flacci Poemata ac C. Julii Cesaris Commentarios Tutori James: Haec varia Studia, novem fere septimanas, prosequebar; vacatio propinquans, Licentia Praesidis domum ibam die 17 Octoberis. Redabam rursum Collegium die 1 Novemberis, ac inveni Collegium circumdatum cum armatis hominibus, multae cohortes una in planitie cogebantur ornatae bellicis instrumentis supprimere [5] illos, qui, existimabant, imperio insurgerent.
Illis dispersis, proxima die Bostonum ibam mihi emere Xenophontem; recitabam graecam linguam primas Septimanas, tum persequebar eadem varia Studia quae supra explanabam. Die 5 Decemberis erat nivosa procella furens multo vento, ac die 9, et 10 Decemberis tempestuose mingebat, itineribus impletis nive inusitato, Scholastici, egentes valde combustibilibus dimittebantur die 13 Decemberis. Eodem die [6] Bostonum ibam, expectans domum equitare meo Fratre; sed infeliciter neque Frater, nec illae me consanguinitates ibi venerunt ob nives; obligabar domum iter facere per laboriosas vias expletas nive; Nathanaele Ruggles prandebam, et tum ambulabam ad Domini Haven in Dedham, ibi noctem, lassatus, manebam; postridie progrediebar, et, tempore coenae gratiam actionis, domum patris appuli. Illic manebam quinque septimanas; et tres septimanas habui scholam. Collegium rursus veni die 7 Februarii 1787, die 8 Bostoniam ibam: me reverso, primam septimanam, Horatii poemata et C. Julii Caesaris Commentarios recitabam.
THE DIARY
[Freshman Year]
[1] On the twenty-second day of July, in the year of the Lord 1786, I was examined by the Tutors and President of Harvard University. Then the President1 honored me with these joyous words: “You are admitted to Harvard College.” I came to the College on August 16 and entered my name in the buttery, with my classmates, whose names are: Thomas Adams, Erasmus Babbit, Stephen Blyth, Jonathan Bowman, Samuel Chandler, Richard Cutts, Samuel Chandler Crafts, Robert Emery, Nahum Fay, Thomas Gray, Jonathan Grout, Benjamin Hasey, [2] Peter Holt, John Clark Howard, Gilbert Hubbard, William Ingalls, Daniel Marret, Stephen Moody, Josiah Quincy, Nathaniel Ruggles, David Smith, Daniel Staniford, Micah Stone, John Sullivan, James Sullivan, George Sullivan, John Tappan, Thomas Clean [Cushing] Thacher, Thomas Thomas, Abijah Tufts, Roger Vose, Jonathan Ware, Joseph Warren, Samuel Wells, Josiah Waters.2
After much confusion and rushing about,
[3] my roommate Jonathan Bowman becoming known to me, I prepared our room, cubiculum no. 1, Mass[achusetts]. I went to Boston on Friday to obtain some necessary things. On the following Monday I recited Homer’s Iliad, Xenophon, and the New Testament to Tutor Jennison;3 these were my daily studies for two weeks. In addition every Friday and Saturday were employed in studies concerning the art of elocution as well as English grammar and rhetoric.
[4] For the next two weeks I recited the poems of Horace and Caesar’s Commentaries to Tutor James;4 these various studies I pursued for about nine weeks. For the approaching vacation, with permission from the President, I went home on the 17th of October. I returned again to the College on the first day of November, and found the College surrounded by armed men. Many companies were marshalled on the Common, outfitted with weapons to suppress [5] those who, they thought, were raising rebellion.
When these were dispersed, I went on the next day to Boston to buy myself a Xenophon; I recited Greek for the first weeks, then I pursued those various studies which I explained above. On the fifth of December there was a snowy, [7] Prima luce 17 Februarii 1787 declamabam in Sacello. Secunda septimana, Jenison, graecus Tutor noster, absens, non recitabam; nec tenia Septimana recitabam; proximas duas Septimanas, latinam linguam: proximas duas Graecam linguam recitabam. Postremas duas latinam linguam. 10 die Aprilis, exhibitio erat publica. 11 die Aprilis domum ibam. Ibi manebam vacationem perpetuam. Die 25 Aprilis veni Collegium. Primam Septimanam Geographiam recitabam Domino Reed. Die Veneris 4 Maii rursus in Sacello declamabam. Secundam, graecam linguam, tertiam Septimanam, Logicam Domino Burr. Quartam Septim [anam] latinam linguam, Quintam Septimanam, Geographiam. Sextam, graecam linguam recitabam. Die 6 Junii Otis, Prescott, et Wilson publice admonebantur.
[8] Septimam Septimanam Logicam. Die 25 Junii incipiebam Linguam Hebraicam studere: et singula die Veneris et Saturni Hebraicam recitabam Domino Pearson Professori orientium Linguarum. Octavam Septimanam Latinam, Nonam Septimanam Geographiam, Decimam Graecam Linguam. Undecimam Septima[nam] Logicam recitabam. Ex libertate Praesidis domum 10 die Julii ivi. Die 17 Julii adveni Cantabrigiam et ea nocte unum annum perfeci. Proxima die manebam comitia accademica videre. Die 19 Julii domum ibam.
wild storm, with much wind, and on the ninth and tenth of December it stormed furiously, the roads being choked with unseasonable snow. The students, severely lacking firewood, were dismissed on December 13. On the same day [6] I went to Boston, hoping to go home with my brother on horseback, but unfortunately neither my brother or [other] relatives came there on account of the snow. I was obliged to make my way home along toilsome roads full of snow. I had dinner at Nathaniel Ruggles5 and then I went to Dominus Haven’s6 in Dedham; there, exhausted, I spent the night. The next day I set out, and by suppertime, giving thanks, I reached my father’s house. There I remained for five weeks; for three weeks I kept school. I returned again to College on the 7th day of February, 1787. On the 8th I went to Boston. On my return I recited for the first week the poems of Horace and Caesar’s Commentaries.
[7] On the morning of February 17, 1787, I declaimed in chapel. In the second week, Jennison, our Greek tutor, being absent, I did not recite, nor in the third week. For the next two weeks I recited Latin, for the following two, Greek. For the last two, Latin. On the 10th day of April there was a public exhibition. On the 11th day of April I went home. There I remained for the whole vacation. On the 25th day of April I returned to College. For the first week I recited geography to Dominus Reed.7 On Friday, the 4th of May, I declaimed again in chapel. For the second week [I recited] Greek. For the third week [I recited] logic to Dominus Burr.8 In the fourth week I recited Latin; in the fifth week, geography; in the sixth week, Greek. On June 6 Otis, Prescott, and Wilson were publicly admonished.9
[8] In the seventh week [I recited] logic. On June 15 I began to study the Hebrew language; and every Friday and Saturday I recited Hebrew to Dominus Pearson,1 Professor of Oriental Languages. In the eighth week [I recited] Latin, in the ninth Geography, in the tenth Greek. In the eleventh week I recited logic. By permission of the President I went home on July 10. On the 17th I returned to Cambridge, and on that night completed one year. On the next day I remained to see the academic assembly. On July 19 I went home.
Journal for my Soph[omore] Year
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Phillips, Norton, Massachusetts
25. First page of Clarke’s Harvard diary, listing some of his classmates.
Norton Public Library, Norton, Massachusetts
26. Clarke’s Harvard diary—the beginning of his sophomore year.
Norton Public Library, Norton, Massachusetts
28. A page from Clarke’s account of his expenses, 1791.
Norton Public Library, Norton, Massachusetts
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[37]
[38]
[39]
[40]
[41]
[42]
[43]
[44]
[45]
[46]
[47]
[48]
[49]
[50]
[51]
[52]
[53]
[54]
[55]
[56]
[57]
[59]
[60]
[61]
[62]
Journal for Junior Year that Commenced July 16th, 1788
[63]
[64]
[65]
[66]
[67]
[68]
[69]
[70]
[71]
[72]
[73]
[74]
[75]
[76]
[77]
[78]
[79]
[80]
[81]
[82]
[83]
[84]
[85]
[86]
[87]
[88]
[89]
[90]
[91]
[92]
[93]
[94]
[95]
[96]
[97]
[Diary for Senior Year]
[98]
[99]
[100]
[102]
[103]
[104]
[105]
[106]
[107]
[108]
[109]
[110]
[111]
[112]
[113]
[114]
[115]
[116]
[117]
[118]
[119]
[120]
[122]
[123]
[124]
[Cambridge, 1790–1791]
[126]
[127]
[129]
[130]
[131]
[132]
[133]
[135]
[136]
[137]
[138]
[139]
[140]
[141]
[142]
[143]
[144]
[145]
[147]
COMMONPLACES
[149]
- According to your pains will be your gains.
- A friend cannot be easily known in prosperity.
- A good conscience is the best estate.
- A child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
- Contentment is the best earthly good.
- Experience keeps a dear school.
- Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
- Forget other’s faults and remember thine own.
- Fortune commonly favors the courageous.
- Forgive anybody sooner than thyself.
- Govern your tongue well in company.
- He who hunteth after fame is an Hypocrite.
- He who loveth his child correcteth him.
- In bestowing benefits do not vainly publish them.
- Justice without mercy is cruel.
- Lofty hearts like lofty mountains are never fruitful.
- Try a friend before you trust him.
- Liberality without definition is profuseness.
- Malice seldom wants a mark to shoot at.
- Much may be gotten by humility.
- Marriage with peace & piety is this world’s paradise.
- Pride goes before destruction.
- Prosperity procures many friends.
- Policy is a near neighbor to cheating.
- Raise up your genius and exalt your mind.
- Running into debt often tempts people to lie.
- Study sickness in health and old age in youth.
- The first step Hellward is pride.
- To marry only for beauty is like buying a house for a posy.
- The comfort of yoke fellows is grounded on suitableness.
- The rod and reproof give wisdom.
- Time and tide stay for no man.
- Truth wears well and fits easy to the wearer.
- There may be pride in rags and lowly carriage.
- Temperance is the best physician.
- Wine and strong drink have drowned more than the sea.
[150]
- Wisdom measures time by improvement.
- Wilful waste makes woeful want.
- What is done in a hurry is done by halves.
- A fool is better acquainted with his neighbor’s actions than with his own.
- Affectation is Nature’s greatest Monster.
- A frolick if well timed is sweet.
- After pleasure comes pain and after pain virtue.
- By praising to instruct was ever the form of great sense.
- Beauty is no longer amiable than while Virtue adorns it.
- By idleness and dissipation great evils are produced.
- By retorting an obligation for returning is ingratitude.
- Contentment is the source of happiness.
- Custom is the plague of wise Men, & the Idle [Idol] of fools.
- Common swearers may pass for the volunteers of Hell.
- Despise the world and being despised, despise nobody but yourself.
- Day and night the Gates of death are open.
- Ever remember that goodness leads to happiness.
- Fools plead causes but the Wise judge them.
- Friendship sweetens all the enjoyments of life.
- Follow peace with all men.
- Great minds produce vices as well as virtues.
- Good nature is beneficence accompanied with good sense.
- He who despises instruction will die a fool.
- Hope is the dream of him who wakes.
- Humility is the grand virtue that leads to contentment.
- Idleness and Sloth eat up our health.
- Ingratitude is a very great crime.
- It is a part of a great soul to own a mistake.
- It is better to go to bed supperless than to rise in debt.
- Knowledge fills the mind with entertaining views.
[151]
- Keep such company as may be improving.
- Let truth only proceed from your mouth.
- Liberty is more precious than all gifts.
- Little souls are the most easily soured.
- Love is not only blind itself, but makes all blind whom it favors.
- Men often see truth, but seldom hear it.
- Mark the man who doth well and immitate him.
- None are so apt to find fault as those who are guilty.
- Never try to be diverting without being useful.
- Nothing is more fatal to health than an overcare of it.
- No neighbors are more peaceful than the generous.
- No man can say he has done no ill.
- Obedience comprehends the whole duty of man.
- Punishment deferred falls the heavier.
- Poverty is the fruit of idleness.
- Personal merit is all a man can call his own.
- Pleasure and recreation are sometimes necessary.
- Provide for the worst and hope for the best.
- Quiet minded men have always peace within.
- Quarrelsome people are always at war.
- Riches are a crime oftener than a defense.
- Knowledge is the treasure of the soul.
- Money commands all sublunary things.
- Sincerity is the most amiable title.
- Sincerity is the brightest gem of Friendship.
- Some people are busy and yet do nothing.
- Some people are resolved never to mend.
- Opportunity is presented to all mankind.
- ’Tis a hard lesson to learn how to be old.
- Too much familiarity breeds contempt.
- There is no security nor safety in wicked company.
- Learning refines and improves mankind.
- Use the gifts of providence with prudence.
- Virtue exalteth a Nation.
- Wealth gotten by deceit is soon wasted.
- Wealth maketh many friends.
- Veneration is due to long established opinions.
[152]
- The most attractive beauty results from the graces of the mind.
- Women wanting in beauty frequently seek virtue.
- A cultivated mind will render retirement agreeable.
- Subordination is essential to society.
- Riches have no charms compared to the charms of literature.
- The student must be desirous of praise.
- Avoid bad company.
- Bounty brings esteem.
- Constant dripping wears away stone.
- Command your temper.
- Lost time can never be found again.
- Delays are dangerous.
- Emulation seldom fails.
- Experience keeps a dear school.
- Fear accompanies guilt.
- Govern with discretion.
- Humility leads to honour.
- Diligence is the mother of good luck.
- Innocence is a beauty.
- Keep your promise.
- Labour brings wealth.
- Misery attends pride.
- Never put off till tomorrow what ye can do today.
- Negligence brings want.
- Omnipotent is our creator.
- Promise with caution.
- Quality exceeds quantity.
- Riches are uncertain.
- Sincerity is a rarity.
- Temtation ruins many.
- Trusting too much on others’ care is the ruin of many.
- Undertake debliberately.
- Wisdom exceeds strength.
- Who dainties love will beggar prove.
- Xenophon loved virtue.
- Youth want experience.
- Sloth makes all things difficult.
- Zealously pursue virtue.
- There are no gains without pains.
- Money, like manure, does no good till it is spread.
- Prosperity gains friends & adversity tries them.
- Excess of ceremony shows want of breeding.
- By others’ faults wise men correct their own.
- It is a great point of wisdom to hide ignorance.
- To err is human, to forgive divine.
- The prodigal robs his heir, the miser robs himself.
- Blame not before you have examined the truth.
- Misery arises from the passions.
- Let reason go before every enterprise.
[153]
“Whenever, from the concurrence of extraordinary circumstances, the practice of one virtue is rendered incompatible with another of much higher obligation, ‘tis evident that the inferior must yield to the superior duty.” See Thomas Percival’s Moral & Literary Disertation.8
It follows from a standard of right & wrong, that an action is either right or wrong independent of what the agent may think. Thus to assassinate an Atheist for the sake of religion is a wrong action; and, yet the enthusiast, who commits that wrong may think it right. Intention & will signify different acts of the mind. Intention respects the effects; will respects the action that is exerted for producing the effect; for example: it is my intention to relieve my friend from distress; upon seeing him, it is my will to give him a sum of money to relieve him. The external act of giving follows, and my friend is relieved, which was the effect intended.
Instinct is a power of the mind which is exerted indeed with consciousness, but without will and blindly without intention to produce any effect. Infants of the human species, little superior to brutes, are like brutes
[154]
governed by instinct. They lay hold on the nipple, without knowing that sucking will satisfy their hunger, & they weep when pained without any view of relief.
Beauty & ugliness are secondary qualities, and have no existence but when perceived.
Money like manure will always find its level.
Compact Sentences.
- Well begun is half done.
- Rome was not built in a day.
- Diligence is never wholly lost.
- Truth is the basis of excellence.
- A soft answer turns away wrath.
- God’s mercies are over all His works.
- A faithful friend is a great treasure.
- Wonder is a pause of reason.
- Wonder is involuntary praise.
- Excess of ceremony shows want of breeding.
- The first step to virtue is to love others.
- Men’s manners commonly shape their fortunes.
- Many men are made poorer by opulence.
- Small things make mean men proud.
- Few are made wise but by sad experience.
- No man was ever great by imitation.
- Danger & adversity discover true friendship.
- Quiet carries its own reward along with it.
- Few things are impossible to industry and skill.
[155]
- Disguise can gratify no longer than it deceives.
- Nothing valuable can be gained without labor.
- The civilities of great men are never thrown away.
- True wisdom is the greatest pleasure of the mind.
- Dutiful children are the best gifts of providence.
- Much wealth does not always bring satisfaction.
- Too much familiarity commonly breeds contempt.
- Hypocrisy is the tribute, which vice pays to virtue.
- Approve not of him, who commends all you say.
- True wisdom is the greatest pleasure of the mind.
- Friendship is not always the sequel of obligation.
- A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth.
- Every art is improved by the emulation of competitors.
- Without hope there can be no caution.
- Waste brings want, and want brings woe.
- Those that are past shame, are past hope.
- No one loves him, who loves only himself.
- He that is never idle will not often be vicious.
- One vice is more expensive than ten virtues.
- Catch not at a shadow and lose the substance.
- Quarrels are easily begun, but not easily ended.
- Command your temper or it will command you.
- Those who raise envy will easily incur censure.
- Little with quiet is better than strife with plenty.
- They are often caught by deceit, who practise it.
- Whatever is much read will be much criticized.
- Whatever enlarges hope likewise exalts courage.
[156]
Jenyns9 says, that, “to prove the reasonabless of a revelation, is in fac[t] to destroy it; because, a revelation implies information of something, which reason cannot discover, and therefore must be different from its deductions, or it would be no revelation.”
- Take care of these vices which resemble virtues.
- Seek virtue rather than riches.
- To be drawn into a fault shows human frailty.
- Strive to excel in what is truly noble.
- Judge of books, as of men.
- There is none wholly faultless or perfect.
- Honesty sometimes fails.
- Forgive everybody, rather than yourself.
- Never force nature.
- It is easy to live well among good people.
- Virtue in theory only is not virtue.
- Be open with prudence, beautiful with innocence.
- The hand of time heals all diseases.
- Spare yourself inmoderate uneasiness.
- He that has no shame has no grace.
- A foolish youth makes a crazy old age.
Sincerity itself will go but a little way towards forming a character of distinguished excellence. Virtue consists in an undeviating rectitude of action, resulting from perfect rectitude or principle; but sincerity falls far short of this idea of virtue.
[157]
The end of Christianity is by a proper education here to render us fit members of a celestial society hereafter. In all former religions the good of the present life was the first object; in the Christian it is but the second; in those, men were incited to promote that good by the hope of a future reward; in this the promoting of virtue is injoined to qualify the few for that reward. There is great difference, I apprehend, in these two plans: that, in an adhering to virtue from its present utility in expectation of future happiness; and this, living in such a manner as to qualify us for the acceptance & enjoyment of that happiness; & the conduct, and dispositions of those who act on these different principles, must be no less different; in the first, the constant practice of justice, virtue, temperance & sobriety will be sufficient, but in the latter, we must add to these an habitual piety, faith, resignation, & contempt of the world; the first may make us very good citizens, but will never produce a tolerable Christian. Hence it is that Christianity insists more strongly than any preceding institution, religious or moral, on purity of heart & a benevolent disposition, because these are absolutely necessary to its great end; but in those whose recommendations of virtue regard the present life only, & whose promised rewards in another were low & sensual, no preparatory qualifications were requisite to enable men to practise the one or to enjoy the other; and, therefore, we see this object is peculiar to this religion; & with it was entirely new.
Vide Jenyns.1
[158]
The Town of Cambridge Dr.
|
£ |
s. |
d. |
|
|
To teaching a school from July 26th 1791 to October 26th |
17: |
10: |
0 |
|
To teaching a school from Octo. 26 to January 26th 1792 |
17: |
10: |
0 |
|
To teaching school from Jany 26th 1792 to March 1st 1792 |
7: |
5: |
10 |
|
To school keeping from March 1st 1792 til June 1st 1792 |
17: |
10: |
0 |
|
To school keeping from June 1st till commencement 1792 |
10: |
4: |
2 |
|
To 20s according to agreement |
1: |
0: |
0 |
|
Rec’d of the Treasurer in part of the above account a little after Commencement |
1: |
19: |
9 |
|
Rec’d in December of Mr. Warland |
4: |
0: |
0 |
|
Rec’d in January 1792 of Mr. Watson |
5: |
0: |
3 |
|
Rec’d in March of the Treasurer |
5: |
0: |
0 |
|
Rec’d in July of Mr. Warland & others |
15: |
14: |
7 |
|
Rec’d in August of Mr. Richardson |
9: |
12: |
6 |
|
Rec’d in August of Mr. Warland |
3: |
5: |
5 |
|
Rec’d ditto of Mr. Manning in work |
3: |
9: |
7 |
|
Rec’d Septr. of the Treasr. in cash |
1: |
10: |
0 |
|
Rec’d in Nov of Dr.— |
5: |
0: |
0 |
|
Rec’d in Decembr of Mr. Warland |
9: |
0: |
0 |
|
Rec’d in De—of the Treasr., the balance due |
7: |
7: |
11 |
|
£71: |
0: |
0 |
[159]
Duties of a Clergyman. From Knox’s Essays.2
A young clergyman, if he wishes to be esteemed by his Parishioners, & to promote their welfare, must take particular care on first entering upon his duty, that he makes favorable impression on the subject of his morals & his sincerity. However young, he must remember that by assuming the office of a public and religious instructor, he has assumed a grave character. He will avoid evil, and the appearance of evil. If he cannot bring his mind to sacrifice youthful follies to the dignity of his profession he should not engage in it.
The Clergyman, who would be respected, & every Clergyman would be respected, if he would be useful, must preserve a decency of dress.
He must be affable, but his affability must be tempered with reserve.
He must be regular in the performance of parochial duty, & pay as much attention to the poor as the rich.
He must pray & preach with fervency & earnestness, not as if he considered
[160]
his business, as a job, by which he is to earn a certain pay, or as if he does not believe what he uttered. His eloquence must be forcible, but not theatrical, pathetic, but not affected.
He must not be covetous, nor very rigid in execting of the poor his just dues.
He must be benevolent & beneficent in an exemplary degree; winning men by persuasion, forgiving injuries, and teaching more forcibly by his life than by his discourses.
He must not be a more constant attendant on levees & Courts, than at Church, a sycophant, a parasite, or a profes[s]ed preferment hunter; for we cannot esteem him, who, while he recommends to us the pursuit of Crowns of glory in a better world, appears to fix his own heart on the charms of a mitre, & to love this world, vain & transitory as he describes it, with peculiar ardor & constancy of affection.
A Clergyman should appear in the world only for the sake of improving it.
[161]
Of the different accounts of the nature of Virtue, and various systems respecting it. From Smith’s Theory of Morals etc.3
Virtue, according to some authors, consists in propriety; in the proper government & direction of Man’s affections, which may be either virtuous or vicious according to the objects they pursue, & the degree of vehemence with which they pursue them. According to others virtue consists in prudence; in the judicious pursuit of our own private interest & happiness, or in the government of those selfish affections which aim at this end.
Another set make virtue to consist in disinterested benevolence, i.e., in those affections only, which aim at the happiness of others, and not at our own.
Virtue, according to Plato, consists in that state of mind, in which every faculty confines itself within its proper sphere without encroaching upon that of any other, & performs its proper office with that precise degree of strength, which belongs to it.
Virtue, according to Aristotle, consists in the habit of mediocrity according to right reason; not so much in those moderate & right affections as in the habit of this moderation.
Plato & Aristotle were opposed to each other in this, that the former was of opinion that just sentiments & reasonable judgment
[162]
concerning what was fit to be done or to be avoided, were alone sufficient to constitute the most perfect virtue. No man, he thought, could see demonstratively what was right & wrong, & not act accordingly. Aristotle, on the contrary, was of opinion that no conviction of the understanding was capable of getting the better of inveterate habits, and that good morals arose not from knowledge but from action.
According to Zeno, the founder of the Stoical doctrine, every animal was by nature recommended to its own care, & was endowed with the principle of self-love, that it might endeavor to preserve all the different parts of its nature in the most perfect state it was capable.
According to the Stoics, every event should, to a wise man, appear indifferent. And as the prosperity of the whole should be preferred to so small a part as ourselves, our situation, whatever it be, after we found by our utmost endeavor, we could not remedy, ought from that moment to become the object of our choice, and even of our desire, to maintain that complete propriety in which the perfection of our nature consists.
The system of Dr. Clark,4 who places virtue in acting according to the relations of things, in regulating our conduct according to the fitness or incongruity which
[163]
there may be in the application of certain actions to certain things; that of Mr. Woollaston, who places it in acting according to the truth of things, according to their proper nature and essence; that of Lord Shaftesbury, who places it in maintaining a proper balance of the affections & in allowing no passion to go beyond its proper sphere; are all of them more or less inaccurate descriptions of the same fundamental idea, according to which virtue consists in propriety.
Epicurus makes virtue consist in prudence. According to him, the most perfect state of human nature, the most complete happiness which man was capable of enjoying, consisted in ease of body and in security, and tranquility of mind. To obtain this great end of natural desire, was the sole object of all the virtues, which he said were not desirable on their own account, but because they tend to bring about this situation.
The benevolent system, while it fosters & encourages all those milder virtues in the highest degree, denies them the appellation of virtue. It calls them moral abilities & treats them as qualities which do not deserve the same esteem that is due to what is called virtue.
[164]
Mrs. Barbauld’s devotional pieces.5
She observes “there is nothing more prejudicial to the feelings of a devout heart, than a habit of disputing on religious subjects. Free enquiry is necessary to establish a rational belief, but a dedication to disputatious spirit & fondness for controversy gives the mind a sceptical turn & an aptness to call in question the most established truths. It is impossible to preserve that deep reverence for the Deity, with which we ought to regard him, when all his attributes, and even his very existence, becomes the subject of familiar debate.”
A letter of Dr. Amory’s to Mr. I. Smith6 dated Old Jewry Sep. 18, 1772
“I would recommend the attentive perusal of Dr. Clarke’s sermons, as stating & proving strongly & clearly the great doctrines of natural and revealed religion; and explaining the scriptures, & applying them with the utmost clearness & propriety. And Mr. Grove’s for uniting the rational, devotional and practical in the happiest manner. My pupils in Divinity
[165]
I directed, after going through the evidence of natural & rev[eale]d religion given by Wollaston, Clarke, Abernethy, Butler, Lardner, West, Littleton, & others, to prepare themselves for judging of the doctrines controverted among [them?] by reading L’Enfant’s introduction to his &
Beausobre’s Commentary on the N[ew] T[estament]7 in which you have such a view of the state of religious sentiment, manners, customs etc., of the Jewish & Heathen world, when appeared, as makes you in a manner contemporary, and thus qualifies you to determine the genuine sense of writers which have a constant reference to these. Thus prepared read with care the Gospels and the Acts, either with or without a good critical commentator. Then after reading Mr. Locke’s Essay for Understanding St. Paul’s epistle, & Dr. Taylor’s key to the apostolic writings, to read over in Mr. Locke’s method the Epistles to the Romans & Ephesians particularly, &, when you have thus satisfactorily determined the general meaning & design
[166]
of these, you will be qualified to judge with some certainty of the different schemes of relig[ion] which they are cited to confirm. And thus with an honest mind and humble prayer to the God of truth for his guidance, ye may attain the knowledge of all necessary & important truths & be qualified to give it to others.”
Extract from a M. S.
Some enormous accounts of the fecundity of women. From M. de Francheville.8
He says, “Egypt, Greece & Italy furnish instances, in the past period, of 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 children at a birth, & Pliny mentions a miscarriage of 12. He mentions an instance of a Polish Countess, in the territory of Cracovia, named Virbessus who was delivered of 36 living children at a birth, in the 13th century. Martin Cremonensius, who wrote the history of Poland, affirms the fact; which I think must be ranked in the class of fables, along with the delivery of the Countess of Henneborg, at the Village of Losdwin near The Hague, of 365 children at one birth.”
[167]
Bishop Pearce’s inference from his commentary on the Evangelists.9
“That we may reckon Jesus to have been born on December 25th in Herod’s 33d year, & this will bring us, he thinks, to the truth at last; & Christ will, when his birth is reckoned from that period, have been, in the first or second month of Tiberius’ 16th year, beginning to be about 30 years old complete.”
When men of distinguished parts & eccentric principles meet the terrors of death, the world is curious to learn how it effected them; whether the near approach of death would produce any change in their minds; whether they remain fixed in their past professions; or whether “new light is let into the soul’s dark cottage,” as the poet expresses it, “thro’ the chinks of its ruins opening wider, at the moment when the battered fabric is tottering to its dissolution.”
From the life of Mr. D. Hume,1 we have this account of his humour & composure of mind, just before his death.
He being sensible that his vital parts were so affected, he must soon die, he, at that time, recollected Lucian’s dialogues of the dead, & observed to a friend, that he felt the satisfaction of dying so sensibily, that among all the excuses there alleged to Charon for not entering readily into his boat, he could not find one, that fitted him. He then diverted himself with inventing several jocular excuses, which he supposed he very surely might make to Charon, and with
[168]
imagining the very surly answers, which it might suit the character of Charon to return to him. “Upon further consideration,” said he, “I thought I might say to him, ‘Good Charon, I have been correcting my work for a new edition. Allow me a little time, that I may see how the public receives the alteration.’ But Charon would answer, ‘When you see the effect of these, you will be for making other alterations. There will be no end of such excuses, so, honest friend, please step into the boat.’ But I might still urge, ‘Have a little patience good Charon, I have been endeavoring to open the eyes of the public. If I live a few years longer, I may have the satisfaction of seeing the downfall of some of the prevailing system of superstition.’ But good Charon would then lose all temper & decency. ‘You loitering rogue, that will not happen these many hundred years. Do you fancy I will grant you a lease for so long a term? Get into the boat this instant you lazy loitering rogue!”
In such a humorous, happy, composure of mind Mr. Hume expired. Dr. Smith says, “Nothing could exceed his composure of mind. He never dropped the smallest expression of impatience, but when he had occasion to speak to the people about him, always did it with affection & tenderness.”
Thus died the wise & virtous man, Mr. Hume.
[169]
[170]
[171]
1791 AN ACCOUNT OF BOOKS PURCHASED5
|
To a Bible 8/s psalms book 2/s. |
0 |
10 |
0 |
|
To Jenyn’s works, 2 vol. 8 vo |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
To Young’s Night Thoughts |
0 |
5 |
0 |
|
To Hannah Adam’s View of Relig. |
0 |
9 |
0 |
|
Dodredge’s lectors |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Blair’s sermons 2 vol. 12 mo. |
0 |
13 |
0 |
|
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
Hemmenway’s Discourse 2s D. Dana’s 1/6 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
|
Terentii Comoediae |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
Brown’s Concordance 5/., Henry on pr[ayer] 3/6 |
0 |
8 |
6 |
|
Harwood’s Intro. N.T. 2 vols. 8/vo |
0 |
14 |
0 |
|
Annotationes Theodori Besae 2/. Fran. Tuirentino, 2/6 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
|
Jenyn’s lectors on Christianity |
0 |
3 |
9 |
|
Doddridge’s Fam. Exp. 6 vol. 12s per vol |
3 |
12 |
0 |
|
Century sermon by Belknap |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
Dodd’s Commonplace Book |
0 |
18 |
0 |
|
Dodridge’s Rise and Progress |
0 |
4 |
6 |
|
Bible with references |
0 |
5 |
0 |
|
Family lectors by Knox |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hopkin’s System of Divinity 2 vols. |
0 |
18 |
0 |
|
An inquiry concerning Chri[stian] Bapt[ism] etc |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
Sermons on the Mode & Subjects of Div |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
Christ’s Warning to the Churches to Learn |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
Congregationalism Explained |
0 |
1 |
2 |
|
Lavater’s Phisiognomy |
0 |
10 |
6 |
|
Alexander’s Lattin Grammar |
0 |
2 |
6 |
|
Ditto English |
0 |
0 |
9 |
|
3 sermons by Mr. Emmons |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
Wa [blotted]n’s Theological Tracts 6 vol |
3 |
12 |
0 |
|
Enfield’s Biographical Serm |
0 |
3 |
9 |
|
Enfield Prayers |
0 |
3 |
9 |
|
Pain’s Age of Reason |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
Wakefield’s ans[wer] to Paine |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
[18 |
2 |
2] |
AN ACCOUNT OF BOOKS PURCHASED
The following attempts a precise identification of Clarke’s purchases, most of which are mentioned earlier in the Diary. Since several were first published between 1792 and 1795, Clarke must have compiled his list later.
Bible; Psalms Book:
Jenyn’s Works: Soame Jenyns, A Free Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Evil, London, 1761; A View of the Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion, London, 1776. Jenyn’s Works were published, 4 vols., London, 1790.
Young’s Night Thoughts: Edward Young, The Complaint. Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality, London, 1742, and many later eds.
Hannah Adams’ View of Relig.: Hannah Adams, View of Religious Opinion, Boston, 1784.
Dodredge’s Lectors: Philip Doddridge, Course of Lectures on the Principal Subjects in Pneumatology, Ethics and Divinity, London, 1763.
Blair’s Sermons: Either Hugh Blair, Sermons, London, 1777, and many later eds., or Samuel Blair, Sermons, London, 1777, and many later eds.
Lavater’s Aphorisms on Man: Johann Kaspar Lavater, Aphorisms on Man, Boston, 1790. An English translation of the German work.
Hemmenway’s Discourse: Moses Hemmenway, Discourse Concerning the Church, Boston, 1792.
Dana:
Terentii Comoediae: The Comedies of Terence.
Brown’s Concordance: John Brown, A Brief Concordance to the Holy Scriptures, Worcester, Mass., 1791.
Henry on Prayer: Matthew Henry, A Method for Prayer, With Scripture Expressions Proper to be Used Under Each Head, Falkirk, 1790.
Harwood’s Intro. N. T.: Henry Harwood, A New Introduction to the Study and Knowledge of the New Testament, 2 vols., London, 1767, 1771.
Annotationes Theodori Besae: This could be the work of the famous French Protestant scholar, Theodore Beza, Theodori Bezae Annotationes Maiores in Novum Dn. Nostri Jesus Christi Testamentum, n. pl., 1594.
Fran. Turentino: The reference seems to be to Joannes Alphonsus Turretin. The Harvard College Library Catalogue of 1790 has his Traite de la verite de la religion chretienne, 2 vols., Lausanne, 1782.
Jenyn’s Lectors on Christianity: No such work by Soame Jenyns can be precisely identified.
Doddridge’s Fam. Exp.: Philip Doddridge, Family Expositor, 6 vols., London, 1760.
Century sermon by Belknap: Jeremy Belknap was a prolific publisher of sermons, none of which has been identified under this title. It could be A Discourse Intended to Commemorate the Discovery of America, Boston, 1792.
Dodd’s Commonplace Book: William Dodd published several anthologies, among them Reflections on Death, Boston, 1773, and The Beauties of History, Philadelphia, 1787.
Dodridge’s Rise and Progress: Philip Doddridge, Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, London, 1745, and many later eds.
Bible with references:
Family lectors by Knox: Vicesimus Knox, Family Lectures; Or Domestic Divinity, Being a Copious Selection of Sermons Selected from the Divines of the Present Century, 2 vols., London, 1791, 1795.
Hopkins’ System of Divinity: Samuel Hopkins, System of Doctrines Contained in Divine Revelation Explained and Defended, 2 vols., Boston, 1793.
An Inquiry Concerning Christian Baptism:
Sermons on the Mode & Subjects of Divinity:
Christ’s Warning to the Churches to Learn:
Congregationalism Explained:
Lavater’s Physiognomy: Johann Kaspar Lavater, Physiognomy . . . , 3 vols., London, 1789–1798, translated from the German Physiognomische Fragmente. . . .
Alexander’s Lattin Grammar: Caleb Alexander, A New Introduction to the Latin Language, Boston, 1795.
Ditto, English: Caleb Alexander, A Grammatical System of the English Language, Boston, 1792.
3 Sermons by Mr. Emmons: Nathaniel Emmons, Three Sermons Preached to the Society for the Reformation of Morals, n. pl., 1790.
Wa—-n’s Theological Tracts:
Enfield’s Biographical Serm.: William Enfield, Biographical Sermons, Or a Series of Discourses on the Principal Characters in Scripture, London, 1777, Philadelphia, 1791.
Enfield Prayers: This might be his Sermons for the Use of Families. The 2nd. ed., 2 vols., 1769, 1772, is in the Harvard College Library Catalogue of 1790.
Pain’s Age of Reason: Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason, New York, 1794, London, 1795.
Wakefield’s Ans. to Paine: Gilbert Wakefield, An Examination of The Age of Reason, Or an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology by Thomas Paine, London and Boston, 1794.
COMPUTUS PECUNIARUM
Quas expendi et quas expendum dum maneo in Collegia. Ac causa brevitatis conscribam quam pecuniam domo accipio. Accipiebam et ferebam cum me primo quadrante 4 libras 16 solidos. Primo secundi quadrantis I libram 4 solidos. [These are Clarke’s expenses while in College.]
|
Alio tempore C.S. |
£ |
s |
d |
|
Alio tempore |
0 |
17 |
0 |
|
Alio tempore |
1 |
16 |
0 |
|
Alio tempore |
12 |
15 |
0 |
|
Uno anno summa toto |
21 |
14 |
0 |
|
Alio tempore |
1 |
16 |
0 |
|
Alio |
1 |
10 |
0 |
|
Alio |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|
Alio tempore |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|
Alio |
3 |
6 |
0 |
|
Alio |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Alio |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|
Alio |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
Alio |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
Alio |
5 |
5 |
0 |
|
Alio |
13 |
6 |
8 |
|
Total of college necessary [expenses] |
60 |
15 |
8 |
An account of my expenses from Com [mencement] 1791, including board, necessary & extra expense, clothes, washing, etc.
|
s |
d |
||
|
For a horse to Medfield |
0 |
6 |
0 |
|
For expenses, sailing to Gov. Il, for pleas[ure] |
0 |
9 |
0 |
|
For a gownd of Mr. Packard |
0 |
16 |
0 |
|
To mending clothes, barbering, etc |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
To bowls, spoon, paper, etc. |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
To rum, candles, etc |
0 |
6 |
3 |
|
To horse hire & barbering |
0 |
2 |
4 |
|
To wine |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
To board summer vacation 10 s. per w |
1 |
11 |
5 |
|
To soling a pair of shoes |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
To trash |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
To a pair of shoes |
0 |
7 |
6 |
|
To wine & other articles |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|
To a pair of gloves |
0 |
1 |
10 |
|
To two bottles of wine. |
0 |
2 |
9 |
|
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
To an entertainment at Mr. Warland’s |
0 |
5 |
4 |
|
To India cotton for shirting & a pitcher. |
0 |
11 |
6 |
|
To a close brush, & buckle ditto |
0 |
2 |
6 |
|
To painting 1/2 of my room |
0 |
13 |
0 |
|
To 5 yards of Camblet 2/6 per yd & trimming |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
To making a loose coat of camblet |
0 |
3 |
10 |
|
To a right in weekly magazine 3/, to flannel 4/ |
0 |
7 |
0 |
|
To board & room rent in collige |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
To crackers, charity, & c |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
To a load of wood, cutting |
0 |
15 |
0 |
|
To board faul vacation |
0 |
15 |
0 |
|
To stuff for waiscoat & breeches |
1 |
11 |
0 |
|
To trimming, thread, etc. 6/ & making up 10s |
0 |
16 |
0 |
|
To a pocket book 4/6 & hair ribbon od |
0 |
5 |
3 |
|
To a load of wood 10s, cutting 1/8 |
0 |
11 |
8 |
|
To buiscuit /11, to Mongo, waiting 1/ |
0 |
1 |
11 |
|
To candles 2lb.; /8 per lb. |
0 |
1 |
4 |
|
To knee buckles 6/, crackers etc |
0 |
7 |
0 |
|
To cleaning a watch 3s, to crackers 8d |
0 |
3 |
8 |
|
To sugar, butter & coffee, etc. 2/7, to wine 8/ |
0 |
10 |
7 |
|
To a horse a sleigh to Med 4/6, horse to Boston 2s |
0 |
6 |
6 |
|
To board winter vacation 10s a week |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
To board in college 12/6 |
0 |
12 |
6 |
|
To a silk handkerchief 7/ hemming /6 |
0 |
7 |
6 |
|
To pair of stockings 6/s, other articles 2/s |
0 |
8 |
0 |
|
24 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
To tea for two & myself at Mrs. Moor’s |
0 |
3 |
5 |
|
To saddle & bridle |
1 |
10 |
0 |
|
To sealing wax /6, hair ribbond /6 toll /6 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
To muzzlennett 1 yard, 3/s, to crackers /8 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
|
To a pair of stockings |
0 |
5 |
0 |
|
To dressing a hat. |
0 |
1 |
6 |
|
To 2 yds. broad cloth for a coat, £1/10 per yd |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
To trimmings, 7/5, to cutting out, to makings |
0 |
13 |
5 |
|
To expenses riding to Newbury Port |
0 |
4 |
7 |
|
To chaise to Charlestown 1/6—to horse keeping 1s |
0 |
2 |
6 |
|
To pies of Mongo, and his waiting several times |
0 |
6 |
0 |
|
To butter & crackers & for coffee at night |
0 |
1 |
8 |
|
To a pair of shoes of Mr. Leonard |
0 |
9 |
0 |
|
To a pair of shoes made on the Castle |
0 |
6 |
8 |
|
To a pair of black gloves |
0 |
7 |
0 |
|
To a white pocket handkerchief 4/10, trimming /6 |
0 |
5 |
4 |
|
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
To ye Apollo for one quarter 3/0—two over /8 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
|
To Princes stuff 6s per yard, 2 yards & 1/2 |
0 |
14 |
4 |
|
To sundry & other articles of the buttery. |
0 |
2 |
10 |
|
To wine & other articles at Mr. Warland’s |
0 |
11 |
6 |
|
To horse hire of Mr. Warland |
10 |
6 |
|
|
To board spring vac., 15/0 before Com |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
To barbering. /6 to eggs of /3 man; 2/3 |
illegible |
||
|
To an entertainment at Mr. Warland’s |
illegible |
||
|
13 |
14 |
11 |
|
|
24 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
37 |
17 |
0 |
|
|
To princes stuff 6/s per yd 2–1/3 yds. |
0 |
14 |
2 |
|
To making up breeches. |
0 |
2 |
0 |
APPENDIX I
PITT CLARKE’S CLASS OF 1790
- Adams, Thomas Boylston (1772–1832), of Braintree, son of President John Adams. Representative in the General Court, 1805–1806; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, 1809–1811; Fellow of the American Academy; PBK.
- Babbit, Erasmus (1772–1816), of Sturbridge. Son of Dr. Erasmus Babbit; practised law in Oxford, Grafton, and Boston; one of the proprietors of the old Tremont Street Theater, Boston.
- Blyth, Stephen Cleaveland (1771–), of Salem. A “temporary student” entering with the Class of 1790 but not graduating. A publisher in Salem, turned Catholic, and moved to Boucherville, Connecticut.
- Bowman, John (1771–1801), of Pownalborough. Temporarily suspended in 1788 for breaking Tutor Williams’ windows.
- Callender, John (1768–1833), of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Admitted in 1787 as a Sophomore.
- Chandler, Samuel (1766–1829), of Lexington. A schoolmaster in Lexington; PBK.
- Clarke, Pitt (1763–1835), of Medfield. A.M. 1793; PBK.
- Crafts, Samuel Chandler (1768–1853), of Sturbridge. Son of Colonel Ebenezer Crafts who kept the Public House there and later founded Craftsbury, Vermont. Samuel was later governor of Vermont and United States senator.
- Cutts, Richard (1771–1845), of Pepperelboro. Was frequently disciplined for neglect of his work.
- Dennie, Joseph (1768–1812), of Lexington. Admitted as a Sophomore in 1787. Practised law briefly in Charleston, New Hampshire. Started a journal, The Tablet, in Boston in 1795. Later organized a group of “wits” in Walpole, New Hampshire. In 1801 founded the Port Folio in Philadelphia, which flourished for several years. PBK.
- Emery, Robert (1773–), of Newburyport, Salem, and Springfield. Did not graduate. He was frequently in difficulties about discipline, and the authorities voted on 7 December 1788, that because of his long absence he be “no longer considered as a member.”
- Fay, Nahum (1763–1804), of Westborough. Took M.B. in 1794.
- Gray, Thomas (1772–1851), of Boston. Congregational minister in Roxbury; S.T.D. 1826; member of the Harvard Board of Overseers, 1829.
- Grout, Jonathan (1763–1835), of Westborough.
- Hasey, Benjamin (1771–1851), son of Isaac Hasey, A.B. 1762, minister of the First Congregational Church in Lebanon, Maine. PBK.
- Holt, Peter (1762–1851), of Andover. Longtime minister at Epping, New Hampshire. PBK.
- Howard, John Clark (1772–1812), of Boston. Fellow of the American Academy.
- Hubbard, Gilbert Harrison (1771–1803), of Boston. Corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
- Ingalls, William (1769–1851), of Newburyport. M.B. 1794, M.D. 1801, M.D. (Hon.) Brown University, 1813; Professor of Anatomy and Surgery at Rhode Island College.
- Marrett, Daniel (1767–1836), of Lexington. A.M. 1793.
- Moody, Stephen (1767–1842), of Newburyport. A.M. (Hon.) Dartmouth College, 1794. PBK.
- Quincy, Josiah (1772–1864), of Boston. Son of Josiah Quincy, “the Patriot,” and facile princeps in his Class. Gave the English oration at Commencement. Served in the Massachusetts Senate, 1804–1805; in the United States House of Representatives, 1805–1813; mayor of Boston, 1823–1829; President of Harvard College, 1829–1845. PBK.
- Rugcles, Nathaniel (1770–1806), of Roxbury.
- Smith, David (1761–1837), of Ipswich. A.M. 1793. PBK.
- Staniford, Daniel (1760–1820), of Ipswich. A.M. Dartmouth College, 1792. Tutor at Harvard, 1793–1794. Admitted at the age of twenty-six, he was the oldest of his class. PBK.
- Stone, Micah (1770–1852), of Reading. Tutor, 1794–1795.
- Sullivan, George (1771–1836), of Durham, New Hampshire.
- Sullivan, James (1769–1796), of Durham, New Hampshire.
- Sullivan, John (1769–1819), of Durham, New Hampshire.
- These three were sons of General John Sullivan, member of the Continental Congress and New Hampshire’s greatest Revolutionary general.
- Tappan, John (1769–1837), of Kingston, New Hampshire. A schoolmaster at Tyngsboro.
- Thacher, Thomas Cushing (1771–1849), of Boston. Son of the Rev. Peter Thacher, A.B. 1769. Became minister of the First Parish of Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1794.
- Thomas, Thomas Ap (1771–1844), of Newburyport.
- Tilton, Daniel (1770–1830). Admitted to the Junior Class from Dartmouth College in 1788. Became a judge in the Missouri Territory.
- Trapier, Paul (1772–1824), of George Town, South Carolina. Admitted to the Sophomore Class and regularly in trouble with the authorities.
- Tufts, Abijah (1766–1815), of Charlestown where his father was a doctor.
- Vose, Roger (1763–1841), of Milton. Practised law for a time in Walpole, New Hampshire. Representative in Congress, 1812–1817; state senator, 1809–1810, 1812; Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for the Second Circuit.
- Walker, Samuel (1768–1846), of Bradford, Massachusetts. Rusticated for a year in 1787. Later an attorney in Rutland, Vermont.
- Ware, Jonathan (1767–1838), of Foxborough. PBK.
- Warren, Joseph (1765–1815), of Plymouth. He held several Episcopal parishes in Connecticut, New York, and South Carolina.
- Waters, Josiah (1771–1818), of Boston. A.M. 1793.
- Wells, Samuel (1771–1790), of Boston.
- Whitwell, Benjamin (1772–1825), of Boston. Son of Dr. Whitwell of Newton. Entered with the Sophomore Class in 1787; A.M. 1793. Spoke the Valedictory Poem at Commencement and later published some minor poetry.
- Withers, Francis (1769–1847), of George Town, South Carolina. Entered with the Sophomore Class in 1787 and was regularly in trouble with the authorities.
- "Wragg, Samuel (1770–1844), of George Town, South Carolina. Entered with the Sophomore Class in 1787 and was frequently in trouble with the authorities. PBK.
APPENDIX II
CLARKE’S CRYPTOGRAM
The cryptogram on page 117 of the Diary reads as follows:
P. B. Czb Url Ulcxbbzl Iurluvl Ipwb(?) vzg.
Cryptographers will recognize the difficulties in having only fourteen letters with which to work in a very short passage. My astute former colleague, Dr. David Bishop, was able to determine from the manuscript that Clarke had first begun to write these letters in the clear and then had erased them and substituted a cipher. From the incomplete erasures and with the aid of infrared lighting it could be determined that the two words following “P. B.” were “met” and “and.” From these the next word was easily read as “admitted.” Dr. Bishop then took the last two words to be “bastard brethren.” The point of the cryptogram would be that an unidentified person, “P. B.,” or, if put in cipher, “T. D.,” met with Clarke and admitted that some of his family were not legitimate—a fact well entitled to be recorded in cipher. This solution still leaves some difficulties with respect to certain letters of the last two words.
My own interpretation is less intriguing. This is that “P. B.” is a faint disguise for “P. B. K.,” the society to which Clarke had been admitted in the previous year. The statement could then mean that Phi Beta Kappa met and admitted brethren who were “bastard” in the sense of not being properly qualified—an accepted eighteenth-century usage of the word. A more likely alternative is that the last three letters of “Iurluvl” are really a separate word, “url”—that is to say, “and.” (Admittedly the “u” is not capitalized as are all the other words, and the seven letters are run almost together.) The cipher could then be read quite innocently:
P. B. [K.] met and admitted—a-d and—–—t—e—.
Who are these two? The answer is found in the list of those admitted to the Harvard chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1790: Adams, Bixby, Fearing, Harris, Phelps, Pickman, Rice, Stearns, Tucker, Walton, Ward, Whiting, and Whitney. Since one must look for a four-letter and a seven-letter name, each beginning with the same letter, the only possibilities are Ward, Whiting, and Whitney. Ward and Whitney both fit, and consequently the simple solution of the cryptogram seems to be:
P. B. [K.] met and admitted Ward and Whitney.
Clarke may have chosen secrecy because these names had not yet been publicly announced.
APPENDIX III
A PASTOR’S LEGACY TO HIS PEOPLE
Pitt Clarke, 1835*
To the Inhabitants of the First Parish in Norton
The manuscript copy of the following pages, was found among the papers of the late Rev. Mr. Clarke, sometime after his decease. It was doubtless intended, as will readily be perceived by any one who peruses it, for a New Year’s Gift to his Parishioners; and would probably have been published by himself, had not his very sudden sickness and death, prevented. It contains a plain exposition of his views upon several points of controversy between Unitarians and those styled Orthodox, and presents what the author considered as the scriptural views of the Christian faith and the Christian’s duty.
In compliance with what was probably the original intention of your deceased Pastor, this pamphlet is now published and presented to you; with the hope, that it may not only assist you in arriving at a correct understanding of the scriptures and in forming within you stronger convictions of duty; but that it may also serve as a memento of your deceased Pastor.
A NEW YEAR’S GIFT
January 1, 1835
Brethren:
With the compliments of the season, I present you a new year’s gift, which is a small token of my affection for you, and designed to imprint on your mind a remembrance of me, your Pastor. As I approach the common age of man, I am moved to leave with you a written testimony of my earnest desire, that you may all know the truth and be induced to walk in it. To aid your endeavors, I send a printed copy of my views of religion into all your families, entreating you to search the Scriptures diligently, that you may see their conformity to the word of God.
This I do for your good, and to satisfy the minds of some, who wish to know more fully my views of certain doctrines. My preaching, say they, does not sufficiently discriminate between Trinitarianism and Unitarianism—Calvinism and Arminianism. I readily confess that I have not assumed† either of these names; nor dwelt upon these sectarian points. In all these human creeds† I find some good things, and some not supported in scripture. The good I treasure up, the bad throw away. I profess to be a follower of Christ, and glory in being called a Christian, as his followers were first called Christians at Antioch. I have the example of my Master and his immediate followers, not to assume any name but Christian—not to call any one master but Christ. Our Saviour was not a sectarian, or an exclusionist, in the modern sense of these terms. Though he came to his own people and joined the Jewish church, he made no attempt to proselyte to their peculiar faith. He was sent first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and he endeavored to convince them of dangerous errors, and also to enlighten all of every name, who would follow Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When his own people who were set apart as holy unto the Lord, had become so exclusive as to have no dealings with the Samaritans, on the ground of sentiment, he set up the Samaritan as the better man—and exhorted them to go and do likewise. Though I rank myself under no human leader, nor hold doctrines strictly called my own—professing to believe only the doctrines of Christ—nevertheless, I feel it highly important to have a firm belief in all the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel; and am ready to declare openly what I receive as the doctrines of Christ and as the faith once delivered to the saints.
I confess that I cannot believe in the peculiar doctrines of those called Trinitarians and Calvinists, for I cannot find them in any of our Saviour’s preaching. His sermon on the mount, which contains the sum, and the most important parts, of his religion, says nothing about three co-equal persons in the Godhead—nothing about the five points of Calvin. If it were important for us to believe these tenets, I am persuaded, that our Saviour would have taught them. Instead of teaching any of these peculiarities, he clearly enforced doctrines of a different complexion. He made practical religion the ground-work of his system, saying to all who heard his words, that they must do the will of their heavenly Father in order to find acceptance with Him. He plainly taught, that the doing of the will of God from the heart, is the only way to build upon the right foundation. Instead of teaching the innate total depravity of little children, he took them into his arms as innocent subjects of his kingdom; and when some forbade them, he said, forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
Respecting his union with the Father, he said no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father. The highest title he claimed was, the Son of God, and he owned God to be his Father. He declared expressly, that there is only one God, whom we are to worship, and him only to serve—that his mission was from heaven—that the works which he did bore witness, that he came forth from God, and that he derived all his power and authority from the great Jehovah, who sanctified and sent him into the world, to do the will of his heavenly Father.
Having prayerfully and diligently searched the scriptures to obtain a knowledge of their truths, I present the following as the summary of my belief in the essential truths of the Gospel.
I believe, that there is one only living and true God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him—and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
I believe God to be an infinite Spirit, spreading the eminations of his Being throughout the Universe—possessing every adorable attribute and perfection—the only proper object of supreme love, adoration and praise. I believe Him to be the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the world; and that His government is perfectly just, wise, merciful and good. I believe, that He is continually within us and around us, extending his upholding power and superintending care to all beings and all worlds. I believe Him to be the Giver of every good thing, the source of all our blessings, and the righteous Judge of the world, before whom we must all appear to give up our final accounts.
I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and Saviour of the world, possessing the same spirit with the Father. Paul says (Col. i, 15.) “He is the first born of every creature.” St. John says (Rev. iii, 14.) He is the beginning of the creation of God. I believe him to be the promised Messiah and only Mediator between God and man. As a Mediator, I must view him as a distinct Being from the Father—for a mediator is one between two. If the Son be not a distinct Being from the Father, we have no Mediator, nor Intercessor with God. For there is no other name given to be our Mediator, but the Son. There is not the least intimation in prophecy, that the Father would be the Mediator between himself and man. A Son was to be given, and the Son of God came in the fulness of time to be the Christ, the anointed of the Lord, to save his people from their sins. Jesus of Nazareth assumed this exalted character, and when he was accused of blasphemy for it, he replied, “if those are called Gods to whom the word of God came, sayest thou I blaspheme, because I call myself the Son of God?”
He is declared to be the Son of God with power, by his resurrection from the dead. If the Son be the same Being as the Father, then God must have died on the cross, and His death would have caused the destruction of the Universe. For by Him all things subsist. We all must and do make a distinction between the Father and the Son, when we view the latter, as born of a virgin, nourished as a child, reasoning with the doctors, preaching among men, betrayed and crucified, lying dead in the grave—rising from the tomb. I believe all this was a reality—not a mere vision, an appearance of death and a resurrection. I believe, that the Son of God actually suffered, died, and rose again; but the Father dwelt in him—raised him from the dead, and did, in and through him, all the wonderful works recorded of him in the scriptures. I believe, that in him the word was made flesh; i.e. that the word which was with God in the beginning of creation—the same as the energy of God speaking worlds into existence, was in Christ when he took a human body—was thereby in the flesh and dwelt among men. This word was in effect the same as God with us, and by beholding its glory in Christ, we see the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. But, although God dwelt in his Son and did the mighty works in him, still He gave the Son to have life in himself. This Jesus proved to the Jews, by making himself and his Father two distinct witnesses. He said, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father beareth witness of me.” If the Father and Son were one and the same Being, then Christ would have been a deceiver; for one Being could not be two witnesses.
I must, therefore, believe Christ to be only the Son of God, the brightness and the image of the invisible Jehovah, and that in him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and that through him we have access by one spirit unto the Father. Him hath God exalted to give repentance and remission of sin. By him we receive the atonement, even reconciliation with God: for in him, through him, or by him, God is reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses.
I believe, that God has given unto us eternal life, and that this life is in his Son in such a manner, that all, who yield obedience to his commands, may enjoy it. I believe, that God so loved the world as to manifest Himself in flesh by Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, in order that life and immortality might be brought to light—that all mankind might be put into a state of salvation, and that every one might receive according to the deeds done in the body.
I believe, that Christ came to make known the offers of salvation, and that he gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. I believe, that he is able and willing to save all who come unto God by him, and that there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. I believe that God has exalted His Son to an equality with Himself in the work of Redemption, and given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess him to be Lord, to the glory of God, the Father. By loving and honoring the Son, we love and honor the Father also. By receiving and walking with the Son, we receive and walk with the Father; for in both there is the same spirit—and they are co-workers in procuring the salvation of the soul. In this work, they are one; and Christ prayed, that his followers might be one in the same spirit and temper—in the same design and pursuit. “Neither pray I for these alone; but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one.”—John xvii. 20–22. In the same sense he that planteth and he that watereth are one—and God giveth the increase. I believe in the agency of the Holy Spirit, which is the spirit of God, working in the heart—convincing, restraining and constraining—producing every thing that is good, giving efficacy to means in regeneration and conversion. I believe and baptise in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: in devout acknowledgment of God, the Father of all—of Jesus Christ, the Son of God—and of the Holy Spirit, the inward comforter and support of his people.
I believe in the necessity of a new birth, or a change of heart. For, the natural birth gives no idea of God, or of eternity. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh—and sees and enjoys only fleshly gratifications. Children, though born innocent, are destitute of holiness, till they are capable of right affections. When the eyes of their mind are opened to see God and eternity, and the affections of their heart are placed on things above, then the new birth takes place. A new and spiritual world is opened to the view—the affections are raised from earthly to heavenly objects—and the whole man is brought into new and higher relations. I believe, that this change of heart, consists in a change of affections from sensual to spiritual enjoyments—from sin to holiness—from things seen and temporal, to things unseen and eternal. If children grow up without any good instruction, or without setting their affections on things above, as they are taught—and follow only the gratifications of the flesh, then, in order to enjoy God, they must become new creatures by putting off their old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts; and by putting on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. I believe that this happy change is to be brought about through the instrumentality of God’s word, blessed and sanctified by His holy spirit. We are born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives forever. A Paul may plant, but God must give the increase.
I believe, that this change is to be known by the fruits of it, which are good works. He, who does righteousness, is born of God. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, says Christ, if ye have love one to another. For love is the best evidence of a good heart. I do not believe in those conversions, which make men more censorious and uncharitable. Genuine conversions, make better hearts, tempers, and lives; better parents, children, neighbors, and citizens. Such conversions cause their subjects to become more upright, humble and peaceable; more charitable towards those who differ in opinion; more willing to co-operate with all good people, in promoting practical piety. I believe that sudden conversions are not so much to be relied on as those more gradual, which have been brought about by deliberate reflection and consideration. For the subjects of sudden conversions may not know what spirit they are of, till they have time to try the spirits, whether they be of God. The fruits of a good spirit, are love, joy, peace, gentleness, humility, meekness, goodness, faith, hope, temperance, &c; the greatest of all, charity. I believe that there are some good people in all denominations of Christians, and that, at the last day, a great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, will stand before the throne of God, clothed with white robes, and palms of victory in their hands. I believe that those who have no rule but the dim light of nature, are a law unto themselves, their consciences approving or disapproving of their conduct—and that they will be judged accordingly.
But we, who enjoy the Bible, are bound to make this the rule of our faith and practice; and by this Book we shall be finally judged. I believe, that the final judgement will be in perfect accordance with this grand principle of the Gospel, that God is no respecter of persons; but that in every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness, will be accepted of Him.
These are my views of that holy religion, which is given by the inspiration of God. I present them to you for your perusal and assistance. It is my earnest prayer that you may all receive them and follow them, so far as they agree with the sacred volume. They are designed to lead you to search the holy scriptures more diligently, to examine the ground of your faith more closely—to prove all things, and to hold fast that which is good. I exhort you, not only to search the scriptures diligently and prayerfully, but to read them connectedly. Much error arises from not comparing scripture with scripture. Different and apparently opposite passages, are to be compared together, and the more obscure parts, are to be explained by passages clearly understood. I ask you to compare my views with scripture, in this connected sense. If at first, you think, that my views differ from yours, and that you can find any passages of scripture against the leading articles of my faith, come as a friend and let me know it. I am willing to be judged by the Bible; for I make this sacred volume the sole rule of my faith, preaching, and practice. By this standard, we must all be judged in the great day of accounts—and we must receive according to the sentence which it shall then give.
That you may not be deceived as to the foundation of your faith and hope, it is of the utmost importance, that you lay aside all prejudice and wrong prepossessions—and let the word of God have free course in your minds.
Finally, I add this exhortation, that you put away from among you all bitterness, and malice, and anger, and evil speaking; and that ye be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another in love, and that ye live in peace: then the God of love and peace, will dwell with you.