The Paraclete is a short essay by William Robinson Clark. Rev. Professor William Robinson Clark FRSC (26 March 1829 - 12 November 1912) was a Scottish-Canadian theologian. He was born in Daviot, Aberdeenshire, son of Rev. James Clark. Originally educated for the Congregationalist ministry at New College London, he later conformed to the Church of England. After graduating from King's College, Aberdeen MA with honours, he went to Magdalen Hall, Oxford. Foster's 'Alumni Oxonienses' indicates that his BA was conferred by Oxford in 1864 and his MA in 1865. Immediately after leaving New College, London he became minister of the Congregational Church at Lymington, Hampshire. He entered the Church of England in 1856, a fact attributed by his former tutor William Farrer (1820-1908) to the influence of Clark's wife. He was the Curate of St Matthias, Birmingham, 1857-1858, and then the Dean of Taunton and prebendary of Wells Cathedral from 1859 to 1880. He was frequently selected to preach in St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. In 1882, aged about 53, he emigrated to Canada and became the Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy at Trinity College, Toronto, Ontario (from 1883 to 1908). He was noted as a lecturer and preacher. He was also Professor of Theology at Toronto University. He resigned his chair in the College in 1909, after occupying it for twenty-five years. From that date to the time of his death he held the title of Emeritus Professor and as such he sat ex officio on the Council of Trinity College. In recognition of his services to the Church and to education he was created a Canon of St. Alban's Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of St. James (Toronto), by the third Bishop of Toronto, the Dr. Arthur Sweatman. Among these services was the help he rendered in the formation of the General Synod of the Church of England in Canada, in 1893. He was described as one of the foremost theologians in North America, and there are records of him delivering lectures in Michigan. Amongst honours and distinctions which were bestowed upon him by institutions of learning were the degrees of D.C.L., conferred by Trinity College Toronto; D.D., conferred by Queen's University, Kingston; and LL.D., conferred by Hobart College, Geneva, USA - now part of the Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 1888; his appointment by the University of Michigan as Baldwin Lecturer in 1887, and as Slocum Lecturer in 1889; his appointment as Honorary Professor of Hobart College, Geneva, (USA) in 1888. He was eminent in the councils of the Church of England in Canada.