“I thought myself a little better last Sunday, but I have since spit more blood than I had done for weeks before. Glory be to God for every providence! His will be done in me by health or sickness, by life or death! All from Him is, and I trust will always be, welcome to your obliged pensioner,
To Michael Onions, one of the poor Methodists at Coalbrookdale, Fletcher wrote:—
“My Dear Brother,—I heartily thank you for your kind letter; and, by you, I desire to give my best thanks to the dear companions in tribulation whom you meet, and who so kindly remember me. If I should be spared to minister to you again, my desire is to do it with more humility, zeal, diligence, and love. I hope to see you before the summer is ended, if it please God to give me strength for the journey. I am, in some respects, better than when I came here, and was enabled to bury a corpse last Sunday to oblige the minister of the parish; but, whether occasioned by that little exertion or something else, bad symptoms have returned since. Be that as it may, all is well; for He, who does all things well, rules and over-rules all.
“I have stood the heats we have had these two days better than I expected. I desire you will help me to bless the Author of all good for this and every other blessing of this life; but above all for the lively hope of the next, and for Christ, our common hope, peace, joy, wisdom, righteousness, salvation, and all. Don’t let me want the reviving cordial of hearing that you stand together firm in the faith. Look much at Jesus. Be much in private prayer. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together in little companies, as well as in public. Walk in the sight of death and eternity, and ever pray for your affectionate, but unworthy minister,
“P.S.—Let none of your little companies want. If any do, you are welcome to my house. Take any part of the furniture there, and make use of it for their relief. And this shall be your full title for so doing,
At this time, the Rev. Henry Venn was preaching in the chapel of the Countess of Huntingdon at Bath; and Fletcher attended his ministry. Her ladyship wrote:—
“Dear Mr. Venn has been preaching most successfully at Bath to overflowing congregations. Captain Scott and Mr. Fletcher have been there, and heard him preach in the chapel. The latter is far gone in a consumptive disorder, but is alive to God, and ripening fast for glory. We have exchanged several letters lately. As a last resource, he is to accompany Mr. Ireland to the south of France.”[409]
When Mr. Venn had completed his services at Bath, he removed to the house of Mr. Ireland, at Brislington, where Fletcher was an honoured guest. Speaking of this visit, after Fletcher’s death, to a brother clergyman, Venn remarked:—
“Sir, Mr. Fletcher was a luminary—a luminary did I say? He was a sun! I have known all the great men for these fifty years, but I have known none like him. I was intimately acquainted with him, and was under the same roof with him once for six weeks; during which time I never heard him say a single word which was not proper to be spoken, and which had not a tendency to minister grace to the hearers. One time, meeting him when he was very ill, I said, ‘I am sorry to find you so ill.’ Mr. Fletcher answered, with the greatest sweetness, ‘Sorry, Sir, why are you sorry? It is the chastisement of our heavenly Father, and I rejoice in it. I love the rod of my God, and rejoice therein as an expression of His love towards me.’ Never,” continued Mr. Venn, “did I hear Mr. Fletcher speak ill of any one. He would pray for those who walked disorderly, but he would not publish their faults.”[410]
In a letter to the Rev. J. Stillingfleet, Mr. Venn remarked:—
“I have been six weeks with the extraordinary and very excellent Mr. Fletcher. Oh that I might be like him! I strictly observed him, but, I assure you, I never heard him speak anything but what was becoming a pastor of Christ’s Church;—not a single unbecoming word of himself, or of his antagonists, or of his friends. All his conversation tended to excite to greater love and thankfulness, for the benefits of redemption; whilst his whole deportment breathed humility and love. We had many conversations. I told him, most freely, that I was shocked at many things in his ‘Checks;’ and pointed them out to him. We widely differ about the efficacy of Christ’s death, the nature of justification, and the perfection of the saints; but I believe we could live years together, as we did, in great love. He heard me twice; and I was chaplain both morning and evening in the family, as his lungs would not suffer him to speak long or loud. He desired his love, by me, to all his Calvinistic brethren; and begged their pardon for the asperity with which he had written. I am persuaded, as I told him, that, if he were to live with some of those whom he has been taught to conceive of as Antinomians, and hear them preach, he would be much more reconciled to them.”[411]
Mr. Venn’s last remarks were quite unneeded, for Fletcher always readily allowed that the hearts and lives of his opponents were far better than their creed.
At the close of the month of July, Wesley came to Bristol, to hold his annual conference with his preachers, and wrote:—
“Wednesday, July 30. I spent an hour or two with Mr. Fletcher, restored to life in answer to many prayers. How many providential ends have been answered by his illness! And perhaps still greater will be answered by his recovery.”[412]
The “providential ends” meant by Wesley were, probably, the steps taken by Fletcher to bring to an end the Calvinian controversy, which had so greatly disturbed the Methodist movement during the last six years.
Wesley’s conference began on Tuesday, August 5, and ended on Friday, August 8.[413] It was short, but important. Its most interesting event, however, was the attendance of Fletcher. Thomas Taylor remarked, in his unpublished diary,—
“On August 7, that great and good man Mr. Fletcher came into the conference. My eyes flowed with tears at the sight of him. He spoke to us in a very respectful manner, and took a solemn farewell. Dear, good man! I never saw so many tears shed in my life.”
Fletcher’s valued friend, Joseph Benson, wrote:—
“August 8. We have had an edifying conference. Mr. Fletcher’s visit to-day and yesterday has been attended with a blessing. His appearance, his exhortations, and his prayers, broke most of our hearts, and filled us with shame and self-abasement, for our little improvement.”[414]
In his “Life of Fletcher,” Benson says:—
“Mr. Fletcher happened to be passing by the door of the stable, belonging to our chapel in Broadmead, when I was lighting from my horse, ‘on my arrival in Bristol.’ I shall never forget with what a heavenly air, and sweet countenance, he instantly came to me in the stable, and, in a most solemn manner, put his hands upon my head, as if he had been ordaining me for the sacred office of the ministry, and prayed most fervently for and blessed me in the name of the Lord.”
By far the best account, however, of Fletcher in connection with the Bristol Conference, was written, not by one of Wesley’s sturdy Itinerants, but by a young Welshman, who was present, for the purpose of offering himself for the Itinerant work. On account of his delicate health and feeble voice, the offer of David Lloyd was not accepted; but, some years afterwards, he was ordained by Bishop Horsley, who gave him the living of Llanbister, which, even now, is not worth more than £150 a year. The parsonage was a plain stone building, the door of which opened into the main room of the house,—its floor consisting of stone slabs, its fireplace wide, with benches in the corners, and the fire on the hearth made principally of turf. On the same floor was another apartment, which served as kitchen, and above were two humble bed-rooms. “Such,” wrote the late Rev. James Dixon, D.D., who, at the commencement of his ministry, was often the delighted guest of Mr. Lloyd,—“Such was the residence of a philosopher, a poet, and a divine, who seemed to enjoy, with unmixed contentment, the inheritance given him by Providence.” Mr. Lloyd’s wife was a good old Methodist; their house was the home of Methodist itinerant preachers; out of his small income, Mr. Lloyd subscribed £10 a year to the Methodist and Church Missionary Societies; presented to each a donation of £500; by his will, directed that the residue of his property should be equally divided between these two Societies; and built a Methodist chapel in his parish, secured it to the Connexion by deed, and gave to it an endowment, “that Methodist preaching,” as he said, “might continue in the parish as long as water should run.”[415]
This remarkable man, for whom Dr. Dixon had the highest admiration, wrote as follows to the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke:—
“Rev. and Dear Sir,—At the conference of the Methodist preachers, held at Bristol in the year 1777, an interview took place between the Rev. Mr. Wesley and the Rev. John Fletcher, of Madeley. I was both an eye- and ear-witness to the facts I here relate. The Rev. Mr. Fletcher had for a long time laboured under the effects of a deep-rooted consumption, which was then adjudged to be rapidly advancing to its final crisis. He was advised by the faculty to make the tour of the Continent, and to breathe his native air. He resided, at that time, with Mr. Ireland, a gentleman of known celebrity for the exercise of catholic love towards all such as possessed the essential attributes of great and good men. On the forenoon of a day, when the sitting of the Conference was drawing to a close, tidings announced the approach of Mr. Fletcher. As he entered the vestibule of the New Room, supported by Mr. Ireland, I can never forget the visible impulse of esteem which his venerable presence excited in the house. The whole assembly stood up, as if moved by an electric shock. Mr. Wesley rose, ex cathedrâ, and advanced a few paces to receive his highly respected friend and reverend brother, whose visage seemed strongly to bode that he stood on the verge of the grave; while his eyes, sparkling with seraphic love, indicated that he dwelt in the suburbs of heaven. In this his languid but happy state, he addressed the Conference, on their work and his own views, in a strain of holy and pathetic eloquence, which no language of mine can adequately express. The influence of his spirit and pathos seemed to bear down all before it. I never saw such an instantaneous effect produced in a religious assembly, either before or since. He had scarcely pronounced a dozen sentences before a hundred preachers, to speak in round numbers, were immersed in tears. Time can never efface from my mind the recollection and image of what I then felt and saw. Such a scene I never expect to witness again on this side eternity. Mr. Wesley, in order to relieve his languid friend from the fatigue and injury which might arise from a too long and arduous exertion of the lungs through much speaking, abruptly kneeled down at his side, the whole congress of preachers doing the same, while, in a concise and energetic manner, he prayed for Mr. Fletcher’s restoration to health and a longer exercise of his ministerial labours. Mr. Wesley closed his prayer with the following prophetic promise, pronounced in his peculiar manner, and with a confidence and emphasis which seemed to thrill through every heart, ‘He shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.’ The event verified the prediction. Mr. Fletcher lived for eight succeeding years, exerting all the zeal of a primitive missionary, and enjoying all the esteem of a holy patriarch.
“I am, dear Sir, with high regard and esteem, your sincere friend and humble servant,
Remembering the position which Fletcher had occupied, during the last six years, as the valiant and greatly abused expounder and defender of Wesley’s Anti-Calvinian doctrines, and also bearing in mind the heavenly-mindedness in which Fletcher was now living, and, apparently, dying, there is no room to wonder at Mr. Lloyd’s account, or to doubt of its being strictly accurate. Who can adequately conceive the influence of Fletcher’s visit on the piety and usefulness of Wesley’s conclave of Itinerant Preachers? This is one of the secrets to be revealed hereafter.
Another incident, belonging to this period, must be introduced. James Rogers was now a young Itinerant of five years’ standing, but already possessed the confidence and esteem of Wesley, and afterwards had the honour of seeing Wesley die. No doubt, all of Wesley’s Preachers, at this time assembled in Bristol, would have been delighted to be introduced to poor Fletcher at Brislington; but, on account of his state of health, this was a privilege not many were permitted to enjoy. James Rogers was one of the favoured few, and he shall be allowed, in his own artless way, to tell the story of his interview, and of an open-air sacramental service. During the previous year, he had been stationed in Edinburgh; now he was appointed to Cornwall. He writes:—
“In the year 1777, I was appointed to labour in the east of Cornwall. A journey of between four and five hundred miles was no small fatigue, in my then weak state of body; but the Lord was with me. I took my appointment as from God, and set out in His name, and found sweet communion with Him in the way.
“I had long desired to see that most eminently pious man of God, Mr. Fletcher; and now an opportunity offered. Stopping at Bristol a few days, to rest myself and horse, I heard of his being at Mr. Ireland’s, about three miles off, and, with two of my brethren, took a ride to see him. When we came there, he was returning from a ride, which he was advised by his physician to take every day. Dismounting from his horse, he came to us with arms spread open, and eyes lifted up to heaven. His apostolic appearance, with the whole of his deportment, greatly affected me. The first words he spoke, while yet standing in the stable by his horse, were a part of the sixteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel. He pointed out from thence the descent of the Holy Ghost, as the great promise of the Father, and the privilege of all New Testament believers, in a manner I had never heard before. My soul was dissolved into tenderness, and became as melting wax before the fire.
“As an invidious report had been spread, that he had renounced what he had lately written against Calvinism, I took the liberty to mention the report, and asked him what he thought had given rise to it? He replied, he could not tell, except that he had refrained from speaking on controverted points since he came to Mr. Ireland’s: partly, by reason of the poor state of his health; and partly, because he did not wish to grieve his kind friend, by making his house a field of controversy; but he assured us, he had not seen cause to repent of what he had written in defence of the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s ‘Minutes.’ And, though he believed his close application to study had been the means of reducing his body to the state in which we then saw it, yet, he said, if he fell a victim, it was in a good cause.
“After a little conversation upon his darling topic, the universal love of God in Christ Jesus, we were about to take our leave, when Mr. Ireland sent his footman into the yard with a bottle of red wine, and some slices of bread upon a waiter. We all uncovered our heads, while Mr. Fletcher craved a blessing upon the same; which he had no sooner done, than he handed first the bread to each, and, lifting up his eyes to heaven, pronounced these words, ‘The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.’ Afterwards, handing the wine, he repeated in like manner, ‘The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ etc. Such a sacrament I never had before. A sense of the Divine presence rested upon us all; and we were melted into floods of tears. His worthy friend, Mr. Ireland, grieved to see him exhaust his little strength by so much speaking, took him by the arm, and almost forced him into the house; while he kept looking wistfully, and speaking to us, as long as we could see him. We then mounted our horses, and rode away. That hour more than repaid me for my whole journey from Edinburgh to Cornwall.”[417]
The scene so simply described is worthy of being painted by an artistic Methodist.
About the same time, Fletcher wrote as follows to the venerable Vicar of Shoreham, the Rev. Vincent Perronet.
“1777, September 6. My very dear father,—I humbly thank you for the honour and consolation of your two kind letters. Your vouchsafing to remember a poor, unprofitable worm, is to me a sure token that my heavenly Father remembers me. He is God, and therefore I am not consumed. He is a merciful, all-gracious God, and therefore I am blessed with sympathizing friends and gracious helpers on all sides. O Sir! if in this disordered, imperfect state of the Church, I meet with so much kindness, what shall I not meet with, when the millennium you pray for shall begin? O that the happy thought, the glorious hope may animate me to perfect holiness in the fear of God; that I may be accounted worthy to escape the terrible judgments, which will make way for that happy state of things, and that I may have a part in the first resurrection, if I am numbered among the dead before that happy period begin!
“We are saved by hope at this time; but hope that is seen is not hope. Let us abound, then, in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost: so shall we antedate the millennium, take the kingdom, and enjoy beforehand the rest, which remains for the people of God.
“One of my parishioners brought a horse, last week, to carry me home; and desired to walk by my side all the way. By the advice of your dear son, Mr. William Perronet, who still continues to bestow upon me all the help I could expect from the most loving brother, I sent the man back. I thank God, I am a little stronger than when I came here. I kiss the rod, lean on the staff, and wait the end. I yesterday saw a physician, who told me my case is not yet an absolutely lost case. But the prospect of languishing two or three years longer, a burden to everybody, a help to none, would be very painful, if the will of God and the covenant of life in Christ Jesus did not sanctify all circumstances, and dispel every gloom. I remember, with grateful joy, the happy days I spent at Shoreham: Tecum vivere amem; tecum obeam lubens. But, what is better still, I shall live with the Lord and with you for ever and ever.
The next letter has not before been published. It was addressed to the lady who afterwards became his wife:—
“Dear Madam,—The hope of thanking you in person for the favour of your friendly directions, as well as bodily weakness, has prevented me sending you a letter full of grateful acknowledgments. But, as Providence may postpone your intended journey to Bath, and hasten mine into Spain, or into eternity, I trouble you with these lines to testify how indebted I am to you for thinking of admitting me into the number of your patients. I have not tried your remedy yet, because the gentlemen of the faculty, who have attended me here, say, that, though it might be very good for persons of a cold, phlegmatic habit of body, it is improper for those who are, like myself, of a dry, bilious habit. I have taken the bark and rhubarb for some days, and I thought yesterday that the former medicine had removed the spitting of blood; but to-night it has again made its appearance. However, I think I can speak a little better, though I cannot bear the motion of a horse so well as I could two months ago.
“All is well that comes from our heavenly Friend and Physician. Shall we receive the sweet at His hands, and not the bitter? Is not His every dispensation of providence and grace to be received with thankfulness? I would not get well against His will for all the world, and for what I esteem more than all the world,—the pleasure of seeing those whom He has chosen out of the world. If Providence parts us on earth, we shall meet in heaven.
“I have had it, however, in my thoughts to antedate that pleasure with respect to you and your devoted family:[419] I was once going to take the pen to ask your leave to enter and die under your friendly roof; but the fear of troubling you and taking a step contrary to the leadings of Providence, made me decline. If you have not a poor Lazarus at your door to trouble you, you have Lazarus’s Friend in your sight and heart, to comfort and save you. May He, every day, appear more glorious in your sight, and may you, every hour, drink deeper into His Spirit!
“My Christian love waits upon Mrs. Crosby, Miss Hurrel, and Miss Ritchie.[420] I hope the Lord binds you each day closer to Himself and to each other, and enables you to see and experience the glory of the promise made to the daughters and handmaids, as well as to the sons and servants of the Lord. Oh, what a day when we shall all be so filled with power from on high, as to go forth and prophesy, and water the Lord’s drooping plants and barren parched garden with rivers of living water flowing from our own souls; and when an ardent fire of Divine love will make us put our candle to the chaff of sin, and fire all the harvests and tents of the Laodiceans! As Abraham saw the day of Christ, our first Comforter, and was glad, so I see the day of the Spirit, our other Comforter, and rejoice. May you live to enjoy it! May you and yours hasten it by the pleadings of mighty prayer! To thank the Father for the unspeakable gift of His Son; and to look to both for the fulness of that other gift of God, for that well of living water which Christ offered to the woman of Samaria, is a blessed work, in which I beg you would assist your obliged brother,
In another letter to Miss Bosanquet, written about the same time, he remarked:—
“I calmly wait, in unshaken resignation, for the full salvation of God: ready to trust Him, to venture on His faithful love and on the sure mercies of David, either at midnight, noonday, or cock-crowing: for my time is in His hand, and His time is best, and shall be my time. Death has lost his sting; and I know not what hurry of spirits is, or what are unbelieving fears, under the most trying circumstances. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.”[421]
At the same period, Fletcher commenced a correspondence with another distinguished lady, the Right Hon. Lady Mary Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Bristol, and aunt of Lord Liverpool. She had been married to George Fitzgerald, Esq., and, for about twelve years past, had been an exemplary member of the Methodist Society. The friendship between her and Wesley was great, and Wesley visited her only nine days before his death. In 1815, at the age of ninety, her clothing caught fire, and she died, her last words being, “Come, Lord Jesus, my blessed Redeemer, come and receive my spirit!” In conformity with a clause in her will, her remains were interred in the burial ground at the front of City Road Chapel; and, in memory of her, there is a plain white marble tablet in that sacred edifice.[422] The following is an extract from Fletcher’s letter to this Methodist lady:—
“Honoured and Dear Madam,—The honour of your Christian letter humbles me; and the idea of your taking half-a-dozen steps, much more that of your taking a journey, to consult so mean a creature as myself, lays me in the dust. My brothers and sisters invite me once more to breathe my native air, and the physicians recommend to me a journey to the continent. If I go, I shall probably pass through London, and, in that case, I could have the honour of waiting upon you. I say, probably, because I shall have to accompany my friend and a serious family, who intend to spend the winter in the south of France, or in Spain; and I do not yet know whether they design to embark at Dover, or at some port in the west of England.
“You have been afflicted as well as myself. May our maladies yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness, complete deadness to the world, and increased faith in the mercy, love, and power of Him, who supports under the greatest trials, and can make our extremity of weakness an opportunity of displaying the greatness of His power!
“I have taken the bark for some days, and it seems to have been blessed to the removal of my spitting of blood. Time will decide whether it be a real removal, or only a suspension of that symptom. Either will prove a blessing, as His will is our health. To live singly to God, the best method is to desire it in meekness; to spread the desire in quietness before Him who inspires it; to offer Him now all we have and are, as we can; and to open our mouth of expectation wide, that He may fill it with all His fulness, or that He may try our patience, and teach us to know our total helplessness. With respect to the weeping frame of repentance, and the joyous one of faith, they are both good alternately; but the latter is the better of the two, because it enables us to do, and suffer, and praise, which honours Christ more. Both are happily mixed. May they be so in you, Madam, and in your unworthy and obliged servant,
To another lady, Mrs. Thornton, Fletcher wrote:—
“I spend more time in giving my friends an account of my health, than the matter is worth. You will see by the enclosed, which I beg you to send to the post, when you have shown it to Mr. John and Charles Wesley, how their poor servant does. I am kept in sweet peace, and am looking for the triumphant joy of my Lord, and for the fulness expressed in these words, which sweetly filled the sleepless hours of last night,—
“With respect to my body, I sleep less, and spit more blood than I did when you were here, nor can I bear the least trot of an easy horse. If this continues many days, instead of thinking to go and see my friends on the continent, I shall turn my steps to my earthly home, to be ready to lay my bones in my churchyard. Two of my parishioners came to convey me safe home, and had persuaded me to go with them in a post-chaise; but I had so bad a night before the day that I was to set out, that I gave it up. I have nothing to look at but Jesus and the grave. May I so look at them, as to live in my Resurrection and my life; and die in all the meekness and holiness of my Lord and my all.”[424]
Fletcher having decided to go to the continent, it became necessary to arrange monetary and other matters before he started. To two of his friends at Madeley, Mr. Thomas York and Mr. Daniel Edmunds, he wrote as follows:—
“My Dear Friends,—The debt of gratitude I owe to a dying sister, who once took a long journey to see me, when I was ill in Germany, and whom I just stopped from coming, last winter, to Newington to nurse me,—the unanimous advice of the physicians whom I have consulted,—and the opportunity of travelling with serious friends,—have at last determined me to remove to a warmer climate. As it is very doubtful whether I shall be able to stand the journey; and, if I do, whether I shall be able to come back to England; and, if I come back, whether I shall be able to serve my church, it is right to make what provision I can to have it properly served while I live, and to secure some spiritual assistance to my serious parishioners when I shall die.
“I have attempted to build a house in Madeley Wood, about the centre of my parish, where I should be glad the children might be taught to read and write in the day, and the grown-up people might hear the Word of God in the evening, when they can get an Evangelist to preach it to them; and where the serious people might assemble for social worship when they have no teacher. The expense of that building, and paying for the ground it stands upon, have involved me in some difficulties; especially as my ill health has put on me the additional expense of an assistant.
“If I had strength, I would serve my church alone, board as cheaply as I could, and save what I was able to do from the produce of the living to clear the debt, and leave that little token of my love, free from encumbrances, to my parishioners.
“But, as Providence orders things otherwise, I have another object, which is to secure a faithful minister to serve the church while I live. Providence has sent me dear Mr. Greaves, who loves the people, and is loved by them. I should be glad to make him comfortable; and, as all the care of my flock, by my illness, devolves upon him, I would not hesitate for a moment to let him have all the profit of the living, if it were not for the debt contracted about the room. My difficulty lies, then, between what I owe to my fellow-labourer, and what I owe to my parishioners, whom I should be sorry to have burdened with a debt contracted for the room.
“My agreement with Mr. Greaves was to allow him forty guineas a year, out of which I was to deduct twelve for his board; but, as I cannot board him when I go abroad, I design to allow him, during my absence, £50 a-year, together with the use of my house, furniture, garden, and my horse, if he chooses to keep one; reserving the use of a room, and a stall in the stable, to entertain the preachers who help us in their Round: not doubting but that the serious people will gladly find them and their horses proper necessaries.
“But I know so little what my income may be, that I am not sure it will yield Mr. Greaves £50, after paying all the expenses of the living. Now I beg you will consult together, and see whether the Vicar’s income, i.e., tithes, etc., etc., will discharge all the expenses of the living, and leave a residue sufficient to pay a stipend of £50. I except the royalty, which I have appropriated to the expense of the Room. If it be, well; if there be any surplus, let it be applied to the Room; if there be anything short, then Mr. Greaves may have the whole, and take his chance in that respect, as it will be only taking the Vicar’s chance; for I doubt if sometimes, after necessary charges defrayed, the Vicars have had a clear £50.
“I beg you will let me know how the balance of my account stands, that, some way or other, I may order it to be paid immediately; for, if the balance is against me, I could not leave England comfortably without having settled the payment. A letter will settle this business as well as if twenty friends were at the trouble of taking a journey; and talking is far worse for me than reading or writing.
“Ten thousand pardons, my dear friends, for troubling you with this scrawl about worldly matters. I am quite tired with writing, but I cannot lay by my pen without desiring my best Christian love to all my dear companions in tribulation, and neighbours in Shropshire; especially to Mrs. York, Miss Simpson, Mrs. Harper, Mr. Scott, Winny Edmunds, and all enquiring friends. Thank Molly for her good management, and tell her I recommend her to our common Heavenly Master. If she wants to go to London, or to come to Bristol, I shall give her such a character as will help her to some good place. I heartily thank Daniel, both as churchwarden and as receiver and house-steward; and I beg Mr. York to pay him a proper salary.
“I am, in the best bonds, your affectionate neighbour, friend, and minister,
A letter on small matters, so far as the reader is concerned; but a letter unveiling Fletcher’s heart, and exhibiting his perfect unworldliness. The following, extracted from a letter to Mr. William Wase, reveals other characteristics:—
“My Dear Brother,—Go to Mrs. Cound, and tell her, I charge her, in the name of God, to give up the world, to set out with all speed for heaven, and to join the few about her who fear God. If she refuses, call again; call weekly, if not daily, and warn her from me till she is ripe for glory. Tell the brethren at Broseley that I did my body an injury the last time I preached to them on the Green; but, if they took the warning, I do not repine. Give my love to George Crannage; tell him to make haste to Christ, and not to doze away his last days.
“The physician has not yet given me up; but, I bless God, I do not wait for his farewell, to give myself up to my God and Saviour. I write by stealth, as my friends here would have me forbear writing, and even talking; but I will never part with my privilege of writing and shouting, ‘Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory’ over sin, death, and the grave ‘through Jesus Christ.’ To Him be glory for ever and ever! Amen!”[426]
To his congregation in Madeley Church, Fletcher wrote as follows:—
“My Dear Brethren,—I thank you for the declaration of your affectionate remembrance, which you sent me by John Owen, the messenger of your brotherly love.
“As various reasons prevent my coming to take leave of you in “erson, permit me to do it by letter. The hope of recovering a little strength, to serve you again in the Gospel, makes me take the advice of the physicians, who say that removing to a drier air and warmer climate may be of great service to my health.
“I am more and more persuaded that I have not declared unto you cunningly devised fables, and that the Gospel I have had the honour of preaching, though feebly, among you, is the power of God to salvation, to every one who believes it.
“Want of time does not permit me to give you more than the following directions. Have, every day, lower thoughts of yourselves, higher thoughts of Christ, kinder thoughts of your brethren, and more hopeful thoughts of all around you. Love to assemble in the great congregation; but, above all, love to pray to your Father in secret; consider your Saviour; and listen for your Sanctifier. Wait all day long for His glorious appearing within you; and, when you are together, by suitable prayers, proper hymns, and enlivening exhortations, keep up your earnest expectation of His pardoning and sanctifying love. Let not a drop satisfy you; desire an ocean. Do not eat your morsel by yourselves, like selfish, niggardly people, but be ready to share it with all. Let every one with whom you converse be the better for your conversation. Be burning and shining lights wherever you are. Set the fire of divine love to the hellish stubble of sin. Be valiant for the truth. Be champions for love. Be sons of thunder against sin; and sons of consolation towards humbled sinners. Be faithful to your God, your king, and your masters. Let not the good ways of God be blasphemed through any of you.
“You have need of patience, as well as of faith and power. You must learn to suffer, as well as do the will of God. Think it not strange to pass through fiery trials. Let your faith be firm in a tempest. Let your hope in Christ be as a sure anchor cast within the veil; and your patient love will soon outride the storm. God is the same merciful and faithful God, ‘yesterday, to-day, and for ever.’ Believe in His threefold name. Rejoice in every degree of His great salvation. Triumph in hope of the glory which shall be revealed. Do not forget to be thankful for a cup of water; much less for being out of hell, for the means of grace, the forgiveness of sins, the blood of Jesus, the communion of saints on earth, and the future glorification of saints in heaven. Strongly, heartily believe every Gospel truth, especially the latter part of the Apostles’ Creed. Believe it till your faith becomes the substance of the eternal life you hope for; and then, come life, come death, either or both will be welcome to you, as, through grace, I find they are to me.
“If I am no more permitted to minister to you in the land of the living, I rejoice at the thought that I shall, perhaps, be allowed to accompany the angels, who, if you continue in the faith, will be commissioned to carry your souls into Abraham’s bosom. If our bodies do not moulder away in the same grave, our spirits shall be sweetly lost in the same sea of divine and brotherly love. I hope to see you again in the flesh; but my sweetest and firmest hope is to meet you where there are no parting seas, no interposing mountains, no sickness, no death, no fear of loving too much, no shame for loving too little.
“I earnestly recommend you to the pastoral care of the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls, to the brotherly care of one another, and to the ministerial care of my substitute. Should I be spared to come back, let me have the joy of finding you all of one heart and one soul; continuing steadfast in the Apostles’ doctrine, in fellowship one with another, and in communion with our sin-pardoning and sin-abhorring God.”[427]
Immediately after the date of this pastoral epistle, in company with Mr. Ireland, two of his daughters, and another family, Fletcher left Brislington for the south of France. During a halt at Reading, he wrote the following to the Rev. Vincent Perronet, the venerable vicar of Shoreham:—
“Honoured and Dear Sir,—I acknowledge, though late, the favour of your letter. I have given up the thought of going to my parish, and am now on the road to a warmer climate. The Lord may bless as much the change of air, as He has blessed the last remedy your son prescribed for me—I mean the bark. If I should mend a little, I would begin to have faith in your prophecy. In the meantime, let us have faith in Christ, more faith day by day, till all the sayings of Christ are verified to us and in us. Should I go to Geneva, I shall enquire after the Swiss friends of my dear benefactors at Shoreham, to whose prayers I humbly recommend myself and my dear fellow-travellers, one of whom, my little god-daughter, is but eight weeks old.”[428]
At the same time, and on the same sheet, he wrote as follows to Miss Damaris Perronet:—
“My Dear Friend,—I snatch a moment upon the road to acknowledge the favour of your letter, and to wish you joy in seeing the Lord is faithful in rewarding as well as punishing. I once met a gentleman, an infidel, abroad, who said, ‘Men have no faith: if they believed that by forsaking houses, lands, and friends, they should receive a hundredfold, they would instantly renounce all: for who would not carry all his money to the bank of heaven, to receive a hundredfold interest?’ The Papists have made so bad a use of the doctrine of the rewardableness of works, that we dare neither preach it, nor hold it in a scriptural manner. For my part, I think that if it were properly received, it would make a great alteration in the professing world. You dare receive it; try the mighty use of it; and when you have fully experienced it, do not keep your light to yourself, but impart it to all within the reach of your tongue and pen. I am glad you see that every reward, bestowed upon a reprieved sinner, has free-grace for its foundation, and the blood of Christ for its mark. May the richest rewards of Divine grace be yours in consequence of the most exalted faithfulness; and let me beseech you to pray that I may follow you, as you follow Christ, till our reward be full.”[429]
Thus did Fletcher leave England, reiterating one of the great truths that he had been explaining and defending during the last six years. On the next day after the date of his letter, he arrived at Stoke Newington. Wesley writes:—
“Wednesday, December 3, 1777. I visited as many of the sick as I could in the north-east part of the town; and spent the evening at Newington, with Mr. Fletcher, almost miraculously recovering from his consumption. On Thursday, December 4, he set out, with Mr. Ireland, for the south of France.”[430]