From Manchester, to Revd. James McDonald in Wakefield, Yorkshire, thanking him for his letter. Reference is made to the difficulty in obtaining a good Italian dictionary.
Clarke agrees with McDonald that there-are problems associated with the present system of stationing, and he suggests that the stations should be decided by lot.
He expresses disappointment with the "Phil Soc" (Philsophical Society?), and relates how Mr. Wood refused to take the chair after Clarke's removal. He criticises the antinomian tendencies of some of the members.
Clarke refers to his essay on the bravery of soldiers, in which he examines the concepts of heroism and bravery.
He is a member of a flourishing Manchester "PS" (Philosophical Society?), the other members of which include a Swedenborgian Minister, several members of the Methodist New Connexion, and "the Socinian Minister of Mosley Street-a very amiable and sensible man".
He is experiencing some difficulty in his preaching, and wonders if he should give it up, and establish an academy instead-"not to teach hic, haec, hoc", but to train young men for the ministry.