Wesley's Designated Successor, by Luke Tyerman

“To the Societies in and about Madeley.

“Grace and peace, truth and love, be multiplied to you all. Stand fast in the Lord, my dear brethren. Stand fast in Jesus; stand fast to one another; stand fast to the vow we have so often renewed together, upon our knees, and at the Lord’s table. Don’t be so unloving, so cowardly, as to let one of your little company fall into the hands of the world and the devil; and agree to crucify the body of sin altogether.

“I am still in a strait between the work which Providence cuts out for me here, and the love which draws me to you. When I shall have the pleasure of seeing you, let it not be embittered by the sorrow of finding any of you half-hearted and lukewarm. Let me find you all strong in the Lord, and increased in humble love. Salute from me all who followed with us fifteen years ago. Care still for your old brethren. Let there be no Cain among you, no Esau, no Lot’s wife. Let the love of David and Jonathan, heightened by that of Martha, Mary, Lazarus, and our Lord, shine in all your thoughts, your tempers, your words, your looks, and your actions. If you love one another, your little meetings will be a renewed feast; and the God of love, who is peculiarly present where two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, will abundantly bless you. Bear me still upon your breasts in prayer, as I do you upon mine; and rejoice with me that the Lord, who made, redeemed, and comforts us, bears us all upon His. I am yours in Him,

“J. Fletcher.”^[480]

For some time after his arrival in Switzerland, Fletcher lived in the house where he was born, a respectable old building, erected on an elevated site at the extremity of the town. Close at hand was the shady wood, where he used to read, meditate, and pray, and meet his flock of little children. Near the house was a terrace, from which the whole of the glorious lake of Geneva was visible; and, in the distance, might be seen the city itself. Towering above all, there was the unutterably grand Mont Blanc. No wonder Fletcher spoke of the “pleasant apartment” where he was born, as having “one of the finest prospects in the world.” For some reason, however, he now exchanged the house of his nativity for another not so enchanting. Hence the following letter to William Perronet, who was residing at Lausanne:—

“Nyon, October 3, 1780.

“My Very Dear Friend,—I thank you for your letters. They have given me much pleasure, as I see that you will at last end your business, and get ready to set out in the spring with Mr. Ireland, who comes with his family, I know not where; but I think he will spend the winter at or about Avignon. If you will go and join him, I shall be glad to go also, for the stream under this house does not make it very wholesome.

“My brother thinks, as well as myself, that you may conclude upon the terms you mention. ‘Better a dinner of herbs with peace, than a stalled ox and noise therewith.’

“I hope to go to Lausanne, directly after vintage, to offer a manuscript to the censors, to see if they will allow its being published; so I do not invite you to share my damp bed. My sister was so kind as to look for another house, but we find none to let under a year. We are here travellers, so we must expect some difficulties and a good many inconveniences.

“If Mr. Ireland goes to Marseilles, you might go and see your cousin there. Lift up your heart, and see by faith our Lord and Saviour, our heavenly Kinsman and Brother; and when you rise there, take by the hand of prayer your affectionate friend,

“John Fletcher.”^[481]

Soon after this, William Perronet was seized with mortal illness. In a letter to the Vicar of Shoreham, Fletcher wrote:—

“December 5, 1780. Our wise and good God sees fit to try my dear friend, your son, with a want of appetite and uneasiness in his bowels. He also often returns the little food he takes. Some time ago, he came to Nyon, from Lausanne, and we went together to Geneva, where we settled your affair with three of the Geneva co-heirs, upon the same footing as he had settled with those of Chateau d’Oex. He bears his weakness with much patience and resignation.”^[482]

Fletcher was now employed in finishing the poem, which he wished to publish before he left Switzerland; but he delighted in spending as much time with his dying friend as possible.

“Every night,” says William Perronet, in a letter dated January 22, 1781, “after praying with me, he sings this verse at parting:—

“‘Then let our humble faith address
His mercy and His power;
We shall obtain delivering grace
In the distressing hour.’”[483]

Within three weeks after this, Fletcher’s book was finished, and the business of William Perronet was ended. Fletcher wished to set out for England, but was still detained in Switzerland. Hence the following, addressed to Mr. Wase:—

“Nyon, February 14, 1781.

“My Dear Friend,—I thank you for your kind remembrance of me. I need not be urged to return; brotherly love draws me to Madeley, and circumstances drive me hence.

“I am exceeding glad that there is a revival on your side the water” [the river Severn], “and that you are obliged to enlarge your Room.^[484] I wish I could contribute to shake the dry bones in my parish, but I have no confidence in the flesh. What I could not do when I was in my strength, I have little prospect of doing now that my strength is broken. However, I don’t despair, for the work is not mine but the Lord’s. If the few who love the Gospel would be simple and zealous, God would again hear their prayers for those who are content to go on in the broad way. I thank you for your view of the iron bridge.^[485]

“My friend Ireland invites me to join him in the South of France; and I long to see whether I could not have more liberty to preach the Word among Papists than among Protestants. But it is so little that I can do, that I doubt much whether it is worth while going so far upon so little a chance. If I were stronger, and had more time, the fear of being hanged should not detain me. I trust to set out next month, and to be in England in May; it won’t be my fault if it is not in April.

“I am here in the midst of rumours of war. The burghers of Geneva have disarmed the garrison, and taken possession of one of the gates. I had, however, the luck to get in, and to bring away my nephew, who is a student there. Troops are preparing to block them up. The Lord may, at this time, punish the repeated backslidings of those Laodicean Christians, most of whom have become infidels. This event may a little retard my journey, as I must pass through Geneva. It also puts off the printing of my manuscript, for there is nothing going on in that unhappy town but disputes, and fights, and mounting of guards.

“Remember me in much love to Mr. Greaves, Mr. Gilpin, and the” [Methodist] “preachers who labour with us.”^[486]

At the same date, Fletcher wrote to Mr. John Owen, his schoolmaster at Madeley, as follows:—

“Nyon, February 14, 1781. I thank you, my dear brother, for your kind lines. I hope you help both Mr. Greaves and the” [Methodist] “preachers to stir up the people in my parish. Be much in prayer. Take counsel with Michael Onions, Mrs. Palmer, and Molly Cartwright about the most effectual means to recover the backsliders, and to keep together to Christ and to each other those who still hold their shield. Salute them kindly from me, and tell them that I hope they will give me a good account of their little companies” [Methodist classes] “and of themselves.

“If I were not a minister, I would be a schoolmaster, to have the pleasure of bringing up children in the fear of the Lord. That pleasure is yours; relish it, and it will comfort and strengthen you in your work. The joy of the Lord and of charity is our strength. Salute the children from me, and tell them I long to show them the way to happiness and heaven. Have you mastered the stiffness and shyness of your temper? Charity gives a meekness, an affability, a child-like simplicity and openness, which nature has denied you. Let me find you shining by these virtues, and you will revive me much. God bless your labour about the sheep and the lambs!

“Read the following note to all who fear God and love Jesus and each other, assembling in Madeley church:—

“My Dear Brethren,—My heart leaps with joy at the thought of coming to see you and bless the Lord with you. Let us not stay to praise Him till we see each other. Let us see Him in His Son, in His works, and in all the members of Christ. How slow will post-horses go in comparison of love! Meet me, as I do you, in spirit; and we shall not stay till April or May to bless God together. Now will be the time of union and love.”^[487]

For another month Fletcher was detained at Nyon, when he wrote to Michael Onions the following:—

“Nyon, March 1781.

“I thank you, my dear brother, for your kind remembrance of me, and for your letters. I hope to bring my fuller thanks to you in person.

“Hold up your hands. Confirm the feeble knees. Set up an Ebenezer every hour of the day. In everything give thanks; and, in order to this, pray without ceasing, and rejoice evermore. My heart sympathizes with poor Molly Cartwright. Tell her, from me, that her husband lives in Him who is the Resurrection. In Christ there is no death, but the victory over death. O! let us live in Him, to Him, for Him, who more than repairs all our losses. My love to your wife. Tell her she promised me to be Jesus’s, as well as yours. My love to John Owen and all our other” [Methodist] “leaders, and by them to the few who do not tire by the way. With regard to the others, despair of none. Charity hopeth all things, and brings many things to pass. All things are possible to him that believeth; all things are easy to him that loveth. God be with you, and make you faithful unto death! This is my prayer for you, and all the Society, and all my dear parishioners, to whom I beg to be remembered. I have no place to write their names, but I pray they may all be written in the book of life. God is merciful, gracious, and faithful. I set my seal to His lovingkindness. Witness my heart and hand,

“J. FLETCHER.”^[488]

Fletcher had promised to join Mr. Ireland at Montpelier; but, meanwhile, William Perronet, who had returned to Lausanne, was so much worse in health, that it was impossible for him to accompany his friend. Two days before leaving Switzerland, Fletcher visited him, and, in a letter to the aged Vicar of Shoreham, wrote:—

“Miss Perronet and her mother ^[489] are as kind to him as my dear friends at Stoke Newington were to me when I lay sick there. His mind is quite easy; he is sweetly resigned to the will of God.”^[490]

At Montpelier, Fletcher overtaxed his strength; and at Lyons, on his way to England, wrote as follows to his sick and dying friend, whom he had been obliged to leave behind him:—

“Lyons, April 6, 1781.

“My Dear Friend,—We are both weak, both afflicted; but Jesus careth for us. He is everywhere, and here He has all power to deliver us; and He may do it by ways we little think of: ‘As Thou wilt, when Thou wilt, and where Thou wilt,’ said Baxter: let us say the same. It was of the Lord you did not come with me: you would have been sick as I am. I am overdone with riding and preaching. I preached twice in the fields. I carry home with me much weakness and a pain in the back, which I fear will end in the gravel. The Lord’s will be done! I know I am called to suffer and die. The journey tires me; but, through mercy, I bear it. Let us believe and rejoice in the Lord Jesus.”^[491]

Three weeks after this, Fletcher preached in City Road Chapel, London, and, the next day (April 28), set out to the hospitable home of his friend, Mr. Ireland, at Brislington. At this time, one of the Methodist preachers, stationed in the Bristol circuit, was Thomas Rankin, who had spent nearly five years in America, and who, in 1778, had been driven home by the American rebellion. Hearing of Fletcher’s arrival at Brislington, Rankin went to visit him, and wrote:—

“I had such an interview with him as I shall never forget. I had not seen him for upwards of ten years. His looks, his salutation, and his address, struck me with wonder, solemnity, and joy. We retired into Mr. Ireland’s garden; and he began to inquire concerning the work of God in America. I gave him a full account of everything that he wished to know. During this relation, he stopped me six times, and, in the shadow of the trees, poured out his soul to God, for the prosperity of the work, and for our brethren there. He several times called upon me, also, to commend them to God in prayer. This was an hour never to be forgotten. Before we parted, I engaged him to come to Bristol, on the Monday following, to meet the select band in the forenoon, and to preach in the evening. During the hour he spent with the select band, the room appeared as ‘the house of God, and the gate of heaven.’ At night, he preached from, ‘We are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.’ The whole congregation was in tears. He spoke like one who had but just left the converse of God and angels. The different conversations I had with him, and his prayers and preaching, during the few days he stayed at Bristol and Brislington, were attended with such effects upon me, that, for some months afterwards, not a cloud intervened between God and my soul, no, not for one hour. Of all the men I ever knew, I never saw such love to God and man, such deadness to the world, such entire consecratedness to Jesus, as in him. It often appeared to me that his every breath was prayer and praise. He lived more like a disembodied spirit than a human being.”^[492]

When at Marseilles, on his way to Switzerland, in March, 1778, Fletcher wrote a long letter,^[493] to Miss Bosanquet, on Christian Perfection, and respecting his unpublished Essay on the New Birth. Miss Bosanquet replied to that, in a letter dated August 30, 1778. Strange to say, this letter was not put into Fletcher’s hands until nearly three years afterwards. During this interval, there seems to have been no correspondence between him and the lady who was speedily to become his wife. On his return from Switzerland, he wrote her the following, which is now for the first time published:—

“Brislington, near Bristol, May 1, 1781.

“Dear Madam,—Your kind favour dated August 30, 1778, having been mislaid in a drawer and forgotten, did not come into my hands till this morning. I hope my speedy taking of the pen, to acknowledge so unexpected a favour, will atone for the forgetfulness of my friend.

“You speak, Madam, of a letter from Bath; I do not recollect, at present, your having favoured me with one from that place. Is it my lot to be tried, or disappointed in this respect? Well, the hairs of our heads, and the letters of our friends, are all numbered: not one of the former falls, not one of the latter miscarries, without the will of Him, to whose orders we have long since fully and cheerfully subscribed.

“I have sincerely aimed at truth in writing the Essay you have been so kind as to peruse.^[494] If I am not mistaken, Dr. Coke told me, when I passed through London, that he had it; but I went out of town in such a hurry that I had not time to take it with me. I feel the propriety of your remarks, and shall make the alterations you mention, as soon as I shall have the manuscript.

“I had thought of what you name, respecting a less plan of the doctrine of the New Birth,—a plan calculated to make way for the larger essay, and to guide into the truth those who have never taken one step without the leading strings of prejudice, and who cannot judge of a doctrine if it be not brought within the narrow compass and focus of their understanding. I shall be glad of an opportunity of consulting you about that sketch, if I live to make it. I love truth, because I love Jesus; but I am, every way, too feeble an instrument to defend and hold it forth with success. Your thought about it makes me pray with earnestness that I may, in some degree, answer your too favourable opinion of the importance of my little attempts to vindicate, or clear up, some part of the Gospel truths.

“Alas! what am I? A cracked voice crying in the wilderness;—a blunted pen scribbling in a village. Thanks be to grace, however, I sincerely desire to be a living shadow of the Divine Man, who is truth and love incarnate. I sincerely desire to embrace those great and precious promises given unto us, whereby we may become partakers of the Divine nature. I will not rest in the first Comforter, so as to slight that other Comforter, who is to abide with us for ever. I want not only to see Jesus altogether lovely, but to feel Him altogether powerful and wise, both in myself and in all my fellow-Christians. Restless, resigned for this, I wait for this. My vehement soul is on the stretch. Some tell me I carry my views too high; but how can that be, if God can do in us exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think? Is not the soul joined completely to the Lord, one spirit with Him? Are we not called to come to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ? Is a dwarf’s state of grace the full prize of our high calling? If this hope preys upon my feeble frame, I dare not cast it off: let me rather die a martyr to it than lose it. Why should there not be true martyrs for the hope, as well as for the faith of the Gospel? At all events, let us wait for the great salvation of God the Spirit. Against hope, let us believe in hope that we shall see the royal priesthood clothed with Divine righteousness, and all God’s saints rejoice and sing.

“The openness with which you mention what some might call your enthusiasm, makes me reveal to you, Madam, what some call mine. I own I do not believe that Scripture repealed, ‘Your young men shall see visions; your old men shall dream dreams.’ ‘These signs shall follow them that believe,’ etc. (See Mark xvi. 17, 18). ‘My sons and my daughters shall prophesy.’ ‘Desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy’ (1 Cor. xiv. 2). Shall I offend you, if I ask you in simplicity the following questions? Do you know any soul filled with all the fulness of God? Anyone walking as Christ also walked, and able to say, in truth, ‘As He was, so are we in this world?’ Do you know any knit together in love, sharing all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of Christ in us the hope of glory (Col. i. 27; ii. 2)? Or, are the professors about you (far from having the full assurance of understanding with respect to this mystery) ready to say, when one speaks of this mystery, ‘Thou bringest strange things to our ears’?

“If you condescend to favour me with an answer, please to direct it to me at Madeley, Salop. There I hope to be next week. In the meantime, I pray the Lord to give us an understanding, that we may know more of Him, and be completely in His Son Jesus Christ, that is, in the true, Divine, and eternal life. May the living unction be and abide with you! I ask it ardently for you; condescend to ask it also for, dear Madam, your obliged friend and servant in the Gospel,

“J. Fletcher.

“P.S.—The third part, which I designed to add ^[495] to the ‘Essay on the New Birth,’ was an application to the disciples of Moses, of John, and of Jesus glorified; to those who have the fear of God, the faith of the Son, and the love of the Spirit. My health is mended, thanks be to God! but my lungs remain weak. Please to remember me in Christian love to Sister Crosby.

“Miss Bosanquet,
“At Cross Hall,
“Near Leads (sic),
“Yorkshire.”

A few days after the date of this letter, Fletcher, accompanied by Mr. Ireland, returned to Madeley, having been absent from his flock since November 1776,—four years and a-half.