 Samuel Clarke was born on October 11, 1675, in Norwich, England to Edward Clarke (a cloth merchant, alderman, and representative in Parliament) and Hannah, daughter of Samuel Parmenter, a merchant (Hoadly 1730, i). He took his B.A. degree at Cambridge in 1695 by defending Newton’s views, which were not yet widely accepted. His oral defense “suprized the Whole Audience, both for the Accuracy of Knowledge, and Clearness of Expression, that appeared through the Whole” (Hoadly 1730, iii-iv).