Matthew Clerk (1659 – 25 January 1735), was an Irish

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

minister.

Life

Clerk was in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

during the siege in 1689 and received a bullet wound on his temple, leaving a sore over which he wore a black patch to the end of his days. It was not until after the siege that he began his studies for the ministry. He was ordained in 1697 by the Route presbytery as minister of

Kilrea Kilrea ( , ) is a village, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It gets its name from the ancient church that was located near where the current Church of Ireland is located on Church Str ...

and Boveedy,

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

. In 1721 he was the sole dissent to the

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

's 'charitable declaration' enjoining forbearance towards the nonsubscribers to the

Westminster Confession The Westminster Confession of Faith, or simply the Westminster Confession, is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it beca ...

. The following year he and two others entered a strong protest against any compromise with the non-subscribing party. This party attacked him in his own presbytery, but though the matter was referred to the synod, the nonsubscribers were too much occupied in defending themselves to proceed with it. Clerk's literary contributions to the controversy were the first on either side which appeared with the author's name. His friends considered his manner of writing not sufficiently grave in tone. 'I don't think,' writes Livingstone of

Templepatrick Templepatrick (; ) is a village and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim. It is also close to Belfa ...

Robert Wodrow Robert Wodrow (167921 March 1734) was a Scotland, Scottish minister and historian, known as a chronicler and defender of the Covenanters. Robert Wodrow was born at Glasgow, where his father, James Wodrow, was a Professor of Divinity (Glasgow), pr ...

, on 23 June 1723, 'his reasoning faculty is despisable, but I wish it were equal to his diverting one, for I think he is one of the most comical old fellows that ever was.' On 29 April 1729 Clerk resigned his charge and emigrated to

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. On landing he found that James Macgregor, formerly minister of Aghadowey, and founder of the township of Londonderry on the

Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into M ...

, had died on 5 March. He succeeded him as minister, and also engaged in educational work. Clerk was a strict

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

, but his abstemious diet did not subdue his warlike spirit. Among the quaint anecdotes told of him is one of his criticising to this effect the prowess of St. Peter: 'He only cut off a chiel's lug, and he ought to ha' split doun his held.' Clerk died on 25 January 1735. He was carried to his grave by old comrades at the Derry siege. He married three times, his third wife being the widow of Macgregor.

Works

He published : *'A Letter from the Country to a Friend in Belfast, with respect to the Belfast Society,' &c. (Belfast), 1712 (misprint for 1722), 18mo (issued in June 1722). *'A Letter from the Belfast Society to the Rev. Mr. Matthew Clerk, with an Answer to the Society's Remarks on ... A Letter from the Country,' &c. (Belfast), 1723, 12mo (the Belfast Society's Letter, signed by six of its members ee Bruce, Michael, 1686-1735 was sent to Clerk in October 1722).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerk, Matthew 1659 births 1735 deaths 17th-century Irish Presbyterian ministers 18th-century Presbyterian ministers 17th-century Irish non-fiction writers 18th-century Irish non-fiction writers 17th-century Irish Anglican priests Place of birth missing