pen'd, to provoke and extort from Him that Plenty of strong Reasoning, and Perfpicuity of Expreffion, which were indeed very much wanted upon this Intricate and obfcure Subject. And I am perfuaded that, as What He has writ in this Controverfy, comprehends the Little that the Antients had faid well; and adds ftill more Evidence than ever clearly appeared before; and all in Words that have a Meaning to them: It will remain the Standard of Good Senfe on That fide of the Question on which He spent fo many of his Thoughts, as upon One of his Favorite

Points.

ABOUT this time, His Worthy Patron brought him to Court, and procured Him to be made One of the Chaplains in Ordinary to Queen ANNE; to whose greater Favor His own Excellent Qualifications recommended Him fo foon and fo powerfully, that, upon the Vacancy of St James's Westminster, She immediately confented to the Request of the Bishop and prefented Him to that Rectory. In this Station, which placed Him in the obfervation of Many of the Noblest part of our World, How He conducted Himself for above Twenty Years;

What

What an Undisturbed Unanimity there was between Him, and all his Parishioners, thro' the whole Time; What his Preaching, and What his Conversation were; how inftructive Both, and how acceptable, to All of every Sort and Party into which We are diftinguished; Let Them testify who were Eye-Witneffes and Ear-Witneffes to Them: who all equally rejoyced in his Difcourfes and in his Prefence whilft He was alive; and equally lamented their own Lofs, at his Death. As foon as He was fettled in this Parifh, He left off his former Way of preaching without the affiftance of Notes; and made it one of his chief Studies to compofe, and write down, as accurate Sermons as He could. Not, as I believe, because He could not proceed in the former Method, with a Copioufnefs of Good Senfe and Clear Expreffion, which the Nobleft Audience might with pleasure have attended to; but chiefly, because from that Time It became his Refolution to prepare his Sermons in fuch a Manner, that They might hereafter be as Usefull from the Prefs, as He wifhed Them then to be from the Pulpit.

UPON

UPON his Advancement to fuch a Station, it was esteemed a Piece of Decency for Him to take the Degree of Doctor in Divinity, for which He was now of sufficient Standing in the University. For this purpofe, He went down to Cambridge, and proposed his Two Questions; and performed a long publick Exercife upon Them; the Memory of which will, I believe, remain, and be delivered down from one Succeffion of the Learned in that University to Another. The Questions were These :

1. Nullum Fidei Chriftiana Dogma, in S. Scripturis traditum, eft Recta Rationi diffentaneum.

2. Sine Actionum humanarum Libertate nulla poteft effe Religio.

1. No Article of the Chriftian Faith, delivered in the Holy Scriptures, is Difagreeable to Right Reafon.

2. Without the Liberty of Humane Actions there can be no Religion. Two Questions, worthy of fuch a Divine and fuch a Philofopher, to propofe for Publick Debate?

THE Royal Professor of Divinity, Dr James, who was a Learned, Ready, and very Acute Difputer, exerted Himself,

beyond

To the

beyond what was his Common Practice, in order to oppofe and try Him to the Utmost. By the help of a Great Memory, and Fluency of Words, and a certain Knack in the Art of Difputing, He firft went into a long Examination of Dr Clarke's Thefis, (which was an Elaborate Difcourfe upon the Former of these two Questions,) fifting Every part of it with the strictest Nicety; and afterwards, prefs'd Him with all the Force of Syllogifm, in its various Forms, through the Course of the Difputation. Here was an Adverfary worthy of fuch a Respondent. former Dr Clarke made an Extempore Reply, in a continued Difcourfe for near half an hour; in which, without any hefitation either for Thoughts, or for Language, He took off the Force of All that the Profeffor had faid, in fuch a Manner, that Many of the Auditors declared Themselves aftonished; and owned that, if They had not been within Sight of Him, They should have fuppofed Him to have read Every word of this Reply out of a Paper. After this, through the Course of the Syllogistical Difputation, He guarded fo well against the Arts which the ProVOL. I. felfor

b

felor was Mafter of, in perfection; He replied fo readily to the greatest Difficulties that fuch an Objector could propose; and prefs'd upon the Profeffor fo clofe and fo hard with his Anfwers, clear and intelligible to All ; that perhaps Never was fuch a Conflict heard in thofe Schools; never fuch a Difputation kept up for fo long a time with fuch Spirit; nor ever Any, which Ended with greater, if Equal honour, to the Refpondent. The Profef for himself, who was a Man of Humour as well as Learning, faid to Him aloud towards the End of the Disputation, (an Accidental Debate having arisen, as I have been informed, about the meaning of the word Exacuo,) Profecto, Me probé exacuifti: which I hardly know how to interpret to the English Reader, unless by a phrase of a low kind, In truth You have thoroughly rubb'd me up. Others think the word was Exercuifti. They remember that the Profeffor ufed often to speak to a Refpondent, after a long Difputation, Finem jam faciam; Nam Te probé exercui: I will now make an End; for I have fufficiently work'd You and fay That He was going to use the fame Expreffion to

.