A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

by John W. Cousin

CLARE, JOHN (1793-1864). —Poet, s. of a cripple pauper, was b. at Helpstone near Peterborough. His youth is the record of a noble struggle against adverse circumstances. With great difficulty he managed to save one pound, with which he was able to have a prospectus of his first book of poems printed, which led to an acquaintance with Mr. Drury, a bookseller in Stamford, by whose help the poems were pub., and brought him £20. The book, Poems descriptive of Rural Life (1820), immediately attracted attention. Various noblemen befriended him and stocked a farm for him. But unfortunately C. had no turn for practical affairs, and got into difficulties. He, however, continued to produce poetry, and in addition to The Village Minstrel, which had appeared in 1821, pub. The Shepherd's Calendar (1827), and Rural Muse (1835). Things, however, went on from bad to worse; his mind gave way, and he d. in an asylum. C. excels in description of rural scenes and the feelings and ideas of humble country life.

CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE, EARL of (1608-1674). —Lawyer, statesman, and historian, s. of a country gentleman of good estate in Wiltshire, was b. at Dinton in that county, and ed. at Oxf. Destined originally for the Church, circumstances led to his being sent to London to study law, which he did under his uncle, Sir Nicholas H., Chief Justice of the King's Bench. In early life he was the friend of all the leading men of the day. Entering Parliament in 1640 he at first supported popular measures, but, on the outbreak of the Civil War, attached himself to the King, and was the author of many of his state papers. From 1648 until the Restoration C. was engaged in various embassies and as a counsellor of Charles II., who made him in 1658 his Lord Chancellor, an office in which he was confirmed at the Restoration, when he also became Chancellor of the Univ. of Oxf., and was likewise raised to the peerage. His power and influence came to an end, however, in 1667, when he was dismissed from all his offices, was impeached, and had to fly to France. The causes of his fall were partly the miscarriage of the war with Holland, and the sale of Dunkirk, and partly the jealousy of rivals and the intrigues of place hunters, whose claims he had withstood. In his enforced retirement he engaged himself in completing his great historic work, The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, which he had begun in 1641, and which was not pub. until 1702-4. C.'s style is easy, flowing, diffuse, and remarkably modern, with an occasional want of clearness owing to his long and involved sentences. His great strength is in character-painting, in which he is almost unrivalled. The History was followed by a supplementary History of the Civil War in Ireland (1721). C. also wrote an autobiography, The Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon (1759), a reply to the Leviathan of Hobbes, and An Essay on the Active and Contemplative Life, in which the superiority of the former is maintained. C. d. at Rouen. He was a man of high personal character, and great intellect and sagacity, but lacking in the firmness and energy necessary for the troublous times in which he lived. His dau. Anne married the Duke of York, afterwards James II., a connection which involved him in much trouble and humiliation.

Agar Ellis's Historical Enquiry respecting the Character of Clarendon (1827), Life by T.H. Lister (1838), History (Macray, 6 vols., 1888).

CLARKE, CHARLES COWDEN (1787-1877). —Writer on Shakespeare, was a publisher in London. He lectured on Shakespeare and on European literature. Latterly he lived in France and Italy. His wife, MARY C.-C. (1809-1898), dau. of V. Novello, musician, compiled a complete Concordance to Shakespeare (1844-45), and wrote The Shakespeare Key (1879) and, with her husband, Recollections of Writers (1878).

CLARKE, MARCUS (1846-1881). —Novelist, b. in London, the s. of a barrister. After a somewhat wild youth he went to Australia where, after more than one failure to achieve success in business, he took to journalism on the staff of the Melbourne Argus, with brilliant results. He wrote two novels, Long Odds and For the Term of his Natural Life (1874), the latter, which is generally considered his masterpiece, dealing in a powerful and realistic manner with transportation and convict labour. He also wrote many short tales and dramatic pieces. After a turbulent and improvident life he d. at 35. In addition to the works above mentioned, he wrote Lower Bohemia in Melbourne, The Humbug Papers, The Future Australian Race. As a writer he was keen, brilliant, and bitter.

CLARKE, SAMUEL (1675-1729). —Divine and metaphysician, b. at Norwich, was ed. at Camb., where he became the friend and disciple of Newton, whose System of the Universe he afterwards defended against Leibnitz. In 1704-5 he delivered the Boyle lectures, taking for his subject, The Being and Attributes of God, and assuming an intermediate position between orthodoxy and Deism. In 1712 he pub. views on the doctrine of the Trinity which involved him in trouble, from which he escaped by a somewhat unsatisfactory explanation. He was, however, one of the most powerful opponents of the freethinkers of the time. In addition to his theological writings C. pub. an ed. of the Iliad, a Latin translation of the Optics of Newton, on whose death he was offered the Mastership of the Mint, an office worth £1500 a year, which, however, he declined. The talents, learning, and amiable disposition of C. gave him a high place in the esteem of his contemporaries. In the Church he held various preferments, the last being that of Rector of St. James's, Westminster. He was also Chaplain to Queen Anne. His style is cold, dry, and precise.