got. Clark had the misfortune to entertain a hopeless passion for a
very beautiful lady, in a station of life far above him; his despair of
success threw him into a deep melancholy; in short, he grew weary of his
life, and on the first day of December, 1707, shot himself. He was
determined upon this method of putting an end to his life by an event
which, strange as it may seem, is attested by the late Mr. Samuel
Weeley, one of the lay-vicars of St. Paul's, who was very intimate with
him, and had heard him relate it. Being at the house of a friend in the
country, he took an abrupt resolution to return to London; this friend
having observed in his behaviour marks of great dejection, furnished him
with a horse and a servant. Riding along the road, a fit of melancholy
seized him, upon which he alighted, and giving the servant his horse to
hold, went into a field, in a corner whereof was a pond, and also trees,
and began a debate with himself whether he should then end his days by
hanging or drowning. Not being able to resolve on either, he thought of
making what he looked upon as chance the umpire, and drew out of his
pocket a piece of money, and tossing it into the air, it came down on
its edge, and stuck in the clay. Though the determination answered not
his wish, it was far from ambiguous, as it seemed to forbid both methods
of destruction, and would have given unspeakable comfort to a mind less
disordered than his was. Being thus interrupted in his purpose, he
returned, and mounting his horse, rode on to London, and in a short time
after shot himself. He dwelt in a house in St. Paul's Churchyard,
situate on the place where the Chapter-house now stands. Old Mr. Reading
was passing by at the instant the pistol went off, and entering the
house, found his friend in the agonies of death.

"The compositions of Clark are few. His anthems are remarkably pathetic,
at the same time that they preserve the dignity and majesty of the
church style. The most celebrated of them are 'I will love thee,'
printed in the second book of the 'Harmonia Sacra;' 'Bow down thine
ear,' and 'Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem.'

"The only works of Clark published by himself are lessons for the
harpsichord and sundry songs, which are to be found in the collections
of that day, particularly in the 'Pills to Purge Melancholy,' but they
are there printed without the basses. He also composed for D'Urfey's
comedy of 'The Fond Husband, or the Plotting Sisters,'