“Whether the family of the Clarkes were of Norman extraction cannot be easily ascertained.”

It is the grace of God, that shows and condemns the sin that humbles us.

Prayer is not designed to inform God, but to give man a sight of his misery; to humble man’s heart, to excite his desire, to inflame his faith, to animate his hope, to raise his soul from earth to heaven.

This is the case with thousands: they appear desirous of knowing the truth, but have not patience to wait in a proper way to receive an answer to their question.

To suppose more than one supreme Source of infinite wisdom, power, and all perfections, is to assert that there is no supreme Being in existence.

Remember that the word of God is not sent to particular persons, as if by name; and do not think you have no part in it, because you are not named there.

There is no such thing as chance or accident; the words merely signify our ignorance of some real and immediate cause.

Deeply consider that it is your duty and interest to read the Holy Scriptures.

I have lived to know that the secret of happiness is never to allow your energies to stagnate.

Now it would be as absurd to deny the existence of God, because we cannot see him, as it would be to deny the existence of the air or wind, because we cannot see it.

It is to be regretted that few persons who have arrived at any degree of eminence or fame, have written Memorials of themselves, at least such as have embraced their private as well as their public life.

Pride works frequently under a dense mask, and will often assume the garb of humility.

Let it ever be remembered that genuine faith in Christ will ever be productive of good works; for this faith worketh by love, as the apostle says, and love to God always produces obedience to his holy laws.

Multitudes of words are neither an argument of clear ideas in the writer, nor a proper means of conveying clear notions to the reader.

He will enable you to pull down the strong holds of sin and Satan, and that work by which he is pleased will prosper in your hands.

As preachers of the gospel of Jesus, do not expect worldly honors: these Jesus Christ neither took to himself, nor gave to his disciples.

He who is completely sanctified, or cleansed from all sin, and dies in this state, is fit for glory.

if a man be discreet enough to take to hard drinking in his youth, before his general emptiness is ascertained, his friends invariably credit him with a host of shining qualities which, we are given to understand, lie balked and frustrated by his one unfortunate weakness.

The age of credulity is every age the world has ever known. Men have always turned from the ascertained, which is limited and discouraging, to the dubious, which is unlimited and full of hope for everybody.