 Thus Leibniz charges both Lockeans and Newtonians with presenting philosophical views of the human and of the divine that lead to theologically unsavory consequences, such as the idea that the human soul might be material and the view that God must employ something akin to an organ in order to perceive happenings in the world. These were fighting words. Although Locke had died in 1704, he had various followers in England at the time (Gascoigne 1985: 172–3), and Newton himself was at the height of his influence: he had by then been knighted, as Leibniz acknowledges by calling him “Sir” in his letter, and was at that time President of the Royal Society. Moreover, Samuel Clarke had given the Boyle lectures in 1704 and again in 1705, so he was a public figure associated with the state of Christianity in England. Once Clarke took the bait, replying that same month to Leibniz’s charges, Locke’s views quickly dropped from view and the two focused specifically on Leibniz’s numerous objections to Newtonian ideas and methods. But why did Clarke respond on Newton’s behalf, and what was Newton’s actual role in the correspondence? These questions continue to puzzle scholars (see Cohen and Koyré 1962; Bertoloni Meli 1999 and 2002; Vailati 1997). There is no documentary evidence, such as letters, between Clarke and Newton indicating the contours of his role; then again, at this time, both men lived in London and Clarke was Newton’s parish priest, so the lack of letters or other papers is perhaps unsurprising. That fact alone is intriguing, for the theological differences between the two are salient: since Newton was a committed anti-Trinitarian—a fact known to figures like Locke and to others such as William Whiston—he may have decided that Leibniz’s contentions about “natural religion” in England would best be answered by what we might now call a more mainstream theological figure like Clarke. In any event, there is no doubt that Clarke was taken by Leibniz and his followers to be speaking for Newton and his circle. Nonetheless, there are certainly aspects of Clarke’s views that may deviate from Newton’s own opinions, so it would be unwise to (as it were) remove Clarke from our conception of the correspondence by regarding it effectively as Newton’s work.