Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org

voes, and men, and devils would be nothing to me: I have met all such in
the name of Jesus, and have suffered, and have conquered."
And in another letter:—"Were God to restore me to youth again, I
would glory to be your companion,—to go through your thick and
thin,—to lie on the ground, herd with the oxen, or lie down on a bottle of
straw, as I have been obliged to do in former times. I do envy you. Where
duty is concerned, winds, waves, and hyperborean regions are nothing to
me. I can eat even the meanest things—I can dine heartily on a few
potatoes, and some salt, or half a pint of milk. I can wear a sack, if
necessary; for fine clothing I never affected. The S. P. are all gentlemen.
I thank God I bore the yoke in my youth. You do not take too much upon
you. Somebody must work; the burthen is laid on you. If God spare life,
I will stand by you: and he will, should he be pleased to take me."
The writings of Dr. Clarke are very voluminous; and for simplicity,
perspicuity, and energy of style,—for various, extensive, and important
information,—are, perhaps, not surpassed in this or in any other language.
Few writers have more successfully conveyed "thoughts that breathe in
words that burn." The measure of syllables, and the dance of periods,
were beneath his notice. He never sacrificed sense to sound; but
communicated, and that without laborious effort, the treasures of his
mind to others, in words best adapted to convey his meaning and most
likely to be understood. The same great truths on which he laid such
stress in his preaching, are equally prominent in his writings. On the "five
points," all his readers know that his views were similar to those of the
celebrated Arminius, of whom he entertained a high opinion, and once
said to me that "the British public was greatly indebted to Mr. Nichols for
his excellent translation of the Works of that eminent divine," which he
warmly recommended to his friends, at every convenient opportunity. On
the leading subjects of revelation, the doctor spoke and wrote as one
having authority. "For comprehension of thought, clear and forcible
argumentation, and profound views of divine truth, some of his sermons,"
says an able reviewer, "are equal to the best of Farindon, Barrow, or
South; but, on the subject of personal godliness, incomparably superior.