Wesley's Designated Successor, by Luke Tyerman

“In his ‘Checks to Antinomianism,’” wrote Wesley, “one knows not which to admire most—the purity of the language, the strength and clearness of the argument, or the mildness and sweetness of the spirit that breathes throughout the whole. Insomuch that I nothing wonder at a serious clergyman, who being resolved to live and die in his own opinion, when he was pressed to read them replied, ‘No, I will never read Mr. Fletcher’s “Checks,” for if I did, I should be of his mind.’”^[323]

Of course, contrary opinions have been expressed. The author of “The Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon” tells his readers that,—

“Fletcher dazzled with eloquence instead of reasoning, and substituted tropes for arguments. He was too loquacious for a deep reasoner, and too impassioned to investigate duly the most profound and awful themes which can occupy the human understanding.”

Isaac Taylor, also, in his “Wesley and Methodism,” takes the same position. He acknowledges that,—

“In a genuine sense, Fletcher was a saint; a saint such as the Church of every age has produced a few samples. Sanctity and purity of manners were his distinctive characteristics. He was as unearthly a being as could tread the earth at all; and his Methodism was Christianity as little lowered by admixture of human infirmity as we may hope to find it anywhere on earth.” But while “as a theologian he possessed acquaintance enough with doctrinal literature and with the Scriptures to give him always a point or two of advantage in relation to his antagonists, he was no such reasoner, he was no such master of Biblical criticism, as might have made it possible for him to overstep the limits of his appointed task, or, as a theological writer, to survive his day.”^[324]

The first of these critics was too much of a Calvinist to do justice to Fletcher, an Arminian; and it is not rash to say respecting the second, that it is extremely doubtful whether he had carefully perused the writings he condemns. At all events, his assertion that “as a theological writer” Fletcher did not “survive his day,” is utterly untrue. Fletcher’s “Checks” are as much read today as they were a hundred years ago. The demand for them increases almost every year, both in England and in America; and they are found in every land where Methodism has been founded. At the time when they were first published, they occasioned exasperation among the Calvinian Methodists, but that was not the fault of their distinguished author. What was called “bitterness” in Fletcher was not bitterness of temper, but “of unwelcome doctrine, set forth with all the advantages of language, confidence, and argument.” Soon after they were completed, a Dissenting minister at Bristol called upon Fletcher, when, to all human appearance, he was dying, and rudely said, “You had better have been confined to your bed by palsy than have written so many bitter things against the dear children of God.” “My brother,” replied the invalid, “I hope I have not been bitter. Certainly I did not mean to be so; but I wanted more love then, and I feel I want more now.”^[325] Fletcher’s soft answer silenced his sour assailant, and sent him away, it is to be hoped, a wiser and better man.

It is a pleasant fact to put on record that Fletcher and his opponents in the Calvinian controversy lived long enough to be affectionately reconciled to each other. Shirley, the first in the field, had, at least, one brotherly interview with Fletcher, in Ireland.^[326] In the Methodist Museum at the Centenary Hall, London, there is an unpublished letter, which Mr. Richard Hill wrote to Fletcher in 1784, full of Christian affection. Rowland Hill, with admirable candour, said of his own writings, “A softer style and spirit would better have become me;” and he also suppressed the sale of one of his severest publications.^[327] Then as it respects dear old Berridge at Everton, it will be seen, in a succeeding chapter, that he and Fletcher were more than reconciled to each other. Their meeting at Everton, in the month of December, 1776, is one of the most charming incidents recorded in Methodistic annals.

Another name must be introduced. Dr. Thomas Coke was now twenty-eight years of age. He had taken his degrees at Oxford, had received episcopal ordination, and was now curate at South Petherton. As yet, he had not been introduced to Wesley; but he had read his sermons and journals, and also the “Checks” of Fletcher,—all kindly lent to him by the Rev. Mr. Brown, a clergyman residing in the neighbourhood of Taunton. A year elapsed before Wesley met him, but in the meantime, the young curate wrote the following letter ^[328] to Fletcher:—

“South Petherton, near Crewkerne, Somerset,

“August 28, 1775.

“Rev. Sir,—I take the liberty, though unknown to you, but not unacquainted with your admirable publications, of writing you a letter of sincerest thanks for the spiritual instruction, as well as entertainment, they have afforded me; and for the spirit of candour and Christian charity which breathes throughout your writings. The charming character which my best of earthly friends (the Rev. Mr. Brown, of Kingston, near Taunton), has given me of you, emboldens me to hope that, though my situation in life be only that of a poor curate of a parish, you will excuse this liberty I have taken of addressing you in the fulness of my heart.

“You are indubitably, Sir, a sincere friend of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I also am an humble admirer of the blessed Jesus, and it is on that foundation only I would wish, and it is on that only I am sure I can recommend myself to you.

“Your excellent ‘Checks to Antinomianism’ have riveted me in an abhorrence and detestation of the peculiar tenets of Calvin, and the monstrous errors into which those great and good men, Bishops Hopkins and Beveridge, have run, have frequently filled me with wonder.

“Your ‘Essay on Truth’ has been more particularly blessed to me. Your ‘Scripture Scales’ I am just going to read with great attention. Many thanks to you for your treatise on the ‘Fallen State of Man.’ It has been of service to me, and of much more, I have reason to think, to many of my congregation.

“O, Sir, I have frequently prayed to my God that He will make you a great pillar of His Church. In return, I do humbly beg that you will pray for me. I am sure you will grant me the favour when I inform you that (as nearly as I can guess) a thousand or more immortal souls come to me on every Lord’s Day, in the afternoon, to receive their portion of the manna of the Word, the bread of everlasting life.

“I will so far transgress against the public and your dear flock as to request an answer. I am almost afraid to hope for more. May the God who loves you, and whom you love, make you a great instrument of His glory in this life, and grant you the height of your ambition in the next.

“I am, Rev. Sir, with great respect, your much obliged and very humble servant,

“Thomas Coke.”

Little, at this time, did the obscure Dr. Coke imagine that, eight years afterwards, Fletcher would be one of the first twenty-six subscribers to the Methodist “Society for the Establishment of Missions among the Heathen,” which Coke and a few of his friends then instituted.

One more fact respecting the “Checks to Antinomianism” must be added. The Rev. Thomas Jackson, a good authority, remarks:—

“Mr. Charles Wesley took a lively interest in the rise and progress of this” [the Calvinian] “controversy, though his name has rarely been connected with it. He corresponded with his friend, the Vicar of Madeley, and encouraged him in his arduous undertaking. Mr. Fletcher transmitted his manuscripts to him for revision, begging of him to expunge every expression that was calculated to give unnecessary pain, and to pay especial attention to the grammar and theology of the whole. He also confided to Mr. Charles Wesley the task of conducting them through the press, the correction of which was inconvenient to himself, because of his distance from London. The fact is, that nearly everything that Mr. Fletcher published, not even excepting his political tracts and his treatise on original sin, passed under the eye and hand of Mr. Charles Wesley before it was given to the world. Not that the compositions of his friend needed much emendation, but his criticisms gave Mr. Fletcher confidence, and were highly valued. In 1775, Mr. Fletcher said to him, ‘Nobody helps me but you; and you know how little you do it. Deprive me not of that little. Your every hint is a blessing to me.’”^[329]

“Madeley, December 4, 1775.

“My Very Dear Brother,—I see the end of my controversial race, and I have such courage to finish it, that I think it my bounden duty to run and strike my blow, and fire my gun, before the water of discouragement has quite wetted the powder of my activity. This makes me seem to neglect my dearest correspondents.

“Old age comes faster upon me than upon you. I am already so grey-headed, that I wrote to my brother to know if I am not fifty-six instead of forty-six. The wheel of time moves so rapidly, that I seem to be in a new element; and yet, praised be God! my strength is preserved far better than I could expect. I came home last night at eleven o’clock tolerably well, after reading prayers and preaching twice and giving the sacrament in my own church, and preaching again and meeting a few people in Society at the next market-town.

“The Lord is wonderfully gracious to me, and, what is more to me than many favours, He helps me to see His mercies in a clearer light. In years past, I did not dare to be thankful for mercies, which now make me shout for joy. I had been taught to call them common mercies, and I made as little of them as apostates do of the blood of Christ, when they call it a common thing. But now the veil begins to rend, and I invite you and all the world to praise God for His patience, truth, and lovingkindness, which have followed me all my days. O how I hate the delusion, which has robbed me of so many comforts!

“Farewell! I am, etc.,

“J. Fletcher.”^[330]

317. After most ably arguing the matter, Wesley, in the sermon here referred to, concludes “that faith is the only condition which is immediately and proximately necessary to sanctification;” and that the “faith whereby we are sanctified—saved from sin, and perfected in love, is a divine evidence and conviction, first, that God hath promised it in the Holy Scripture; secondly, that what God hath promised, He is able to perform; thirdly, that He is able and willing to do it now; and, fourthly, a divine evidence and conviction that He doeth it. In that hour,” continues Wesley, “it is done; God says to the inmost soul, ‘According to thy faith, be it unto thee!’ Then the soul is pure from every spot of sin; it is clean ‘from all unrighteousness.’ The believer then experiences the deep meaning of those solemn words, ‘If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’”