Chapter XX (1)

_PUBLICATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE IN
1777._

IN the year 1777, Fletcher terminated his controversy with the Calvinists. He wrote:—

“To the best of my knowledge, I have not fixed one consequence upon
the principles of my opponents, which does not fairly and necessarily
flow from their doctrine. And I have endeavoured to do justice to
their piety, declaring, again and again, my full persuasion that they
abhor such consequences.”

His publications, in 1777, were the following:—

1. “The Doctrines of Grace and Justice equally essential to the pure Gospel: Being some Remarks on the mischievous divisions caused among Christians, by parting those doctrines. Being an Introduction to a Plan of Reconciliation between the Defenders of the Doctrines of _Partial Grace_, commonly called _Calvinists_; and the Defenders of the Doctrines of _Impartial Justice_, commonly called _Arminians_. By John Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley, Salop. London: Printed by R. Hawes, 1777.” 12mo, 39 pp.

It is needless to furnish an outline of this able pamphlet, inasmuch as the doctrines it enforces and the doctrines it condemns are substantially the same as have been repeatedly introduced to the reader’s notice. There is one statement, however, which Fletcher’s admirers have generally overlooked, but which proves, beyond controversy, that Fletcher was, what is now-a-days called, a Millenarian. After dwelling on what he designates the “four dispensations,” namely, “Gentilism,” “Judaism,” “the Gospel of John the Baptist,” and “the perfect Gospel of Christ,” which “is Gentilism, Judaism, and the Baptism of John, arrived at their full maturity,” he proceeds to argue that “another Gospel dispensation” is yet to come. Hence the following:—

“In the Psalms, Prophets, Acts, Epistles, and especially in the
Revelation, we have a variety of promises, that, ‘in the day of His’
displayed ‘power,’ Christ will ‘come in His glory, to judge among the
heathen, to wound even kings in the day of His wrath, to root up the
wicked, to fill the places with their dead bodies, to smite in sunder’
antichrist, and ‘the heads over divers countries,’ and to ‘lift up
His’ triumphant ‘head’ on this very earth, where He once ‘bowed His’
wounded ‘head, and gave up the ghost.’ Compare Psalm cx. with Acts i.
11, 2 Thess. i. 10, Rev. xix., etc. In that great day, another Gospel
dispensation shall take place. We have it now in prophecy, as the Jews
had the Gospel of Christ’s first advent; but when Christ shall ‘come
to destroy the wicked, to be’ actually ‘glorified in His saints, and
admired in all them that believe,—in that day,’ ministers of the
Gospel shall no more prophesy, but, speaking a plain historical truth,
they shall lift up their voices as ‘the voice of many waters and
mighty thunderings, saying, Allelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth; the marriage of the Lamb is come; His wife, the church of
the first-born, has made herself ready; blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection; he reigns with Christ a thousand
years’ (Rev. xix. 20). ‘Blessed are the meek, for they do inherit the
earth’ (Matt. x. 5). ‘The times of refreshing are come; and He has
sent Jesus Christ, who before was preached unto you, whom the heavens
did receive’ till this solemn season; but now are come ‘the times of
restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all
His holy prophets since the world began’ (Acts iii. 19, etc.) May the
Lord hasten this Gospel dispensation! and, till it take place, may,
‘the Spirit and the bride say, Come!’”

It must be granted that this is but remotely related to the Calvinian controversy; but, in a Life of Fletcher, it is too interesting to be omitted.

2. Fletcher’s second publication, in 1777, was a composite one, and embraced, First, “Bible Arminianism and Bible Calvinism: A two-fold Essay,—Part the First displaying the doctrines of Partial Grace, Part the Second, those of Impartial Justice.” 12mo., 84 pp. Secondly, “The Reconciliation; or, an Easy Method to unite the professing People of God, by placing the Doctrines of Grace and Justice in such a light as to make candid _Arminians_ Bible-Calvinists; and the candid Calvinists, Bible-Arminians.” 12mo, 85 pp. Thirdly, to these was appended, “The _Plan_ of Reconciliation,” the whole making a small 12mo volume of 187 pages. The pamphlets were dedicated to his friend “James Ireland, Esq., of Brislington, near Bristol,” as follows:—

“DEAR SIR,—To whom could a plan of reconciliation between the
Calvinists and Arminians be more properly dedicated, than to a son of
peace, whose heart, hand, and house are open to Calvinists, Arminians,
and neuters? You kindly receive the divines who contend for the
doctrines of grace; and I want words to describe the Christian
courtesy which you show me and other ministers who make a stand for
the doctrines of justice. To you I am indebted for the honour of a
friendly interview with the author[390] of the ‘Circular Letter,’
which I thought myself obliged to oppose; and, as you succeeded in
that labour of love, it is natural for me to hope that by your
influence, and by the patronage of such candid, generous peacemakers
as the gentleman” (John Thornton, Esq.) “to whom I have often compared
you, these reconciling sheets will be perused by some with more
attention than if they had no name prefixed to them but that of your
most obliged, affectionate friend and servant,

J. FLETCHER.

“NEWINGTON, _April 16, 1777_.”

Footnote 390:

The Rev. Walter Shirley.

It is a well-known fact that men like Romaine were often the guests of Mr. Ireland; and that Berridge, Venn, and others of the same way of thinking were always welcome guests in the mansion of Mr. Thornton. Both, however, were large-hearted men, and wherever they met with undoubted piety, whether in a Calvinist or an Arminian brother, they were thankful and glad.

No record of the “friendly interview” between Fletcher and Walter Shirley now exists; but, bearing in mind the position which Mr. Shirley occupied, there cannot be a doubt that the result of their “interview” would be considerable, and in harmony with the object at which Fletcher was now strenuously aiming.

The task which Fletcher undertook was arduous, and he knew it. He writes:—

“Some persons will urge that truth should never be sacrificed to love
and peace; that the Calvinists and the Arminians holding doctrines
diametrically opposite, one party, at least, must be totally in the
wrong; and, as the other party ought not to be reconciled to error,
the agreement, I propose, is impossible: it will never take place,
unless the Calvinists can be prevailed upon to give up unconditional
election, and their favourite doctrines of partial grace; or the
Arminians can be persuaded to part with conditional election, and
their favourite doctrines of impartial justice; and as this is too
great a sacrifice to be expected from either party, it is in vain to
attempt bringing about a reconciliation between them.

“This objection is weighty; but, far from discouraging me, it affords
me an opportunity of laying before my readers the ground of the hope I
entertain, to reconcile the Calvinists and the Arminians. I should,
indeed, utterly despair of effecting it, were I obliged to prove that
either party is entirely in the wrong; but I expect some success,
because my grand design is to demonstrate that both parties have an
important truth on their side.”

Fletcher proceeds to give his own view on the Calvinian side of the question, as follows:—

“The partial election and reprobation of free grace is the gracious
and wise choice which God, as a sovereign and arbitrary Benefactor,
makes or refuses to make of some persons, churches, cities, and
nations, to bestow upon them, for His own mercy’s sake, more favours
than He does upon others. It is the partiality with which He imparts
His talents of nature, providence, and grace, to His creatures or
servants; giving five talents to some, two to others, and one to
others; not only without respect to their works, or acquired
worthiness of any sort, but frequently in opposition to all personal
demerit.”

This admirable definition of a sound doctrine is sustained by references to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and other Old Testament personages; also to the cities of Jerusalem, Chorazin, and Bethsaida; to the countries of Egypt, Judea, Syria, and England, etc.

Then, turning to the Arminian side of the controversy, Fletcher gives the following equally correct definition:—

“The impartial election and reprobation of justice is the righteous
and wise choice which God, as an equitable and unbribed Judge, makes,
or refuses to make, of some persons, churches, cities, and nations,
judicially to bestow upon them, for Christ’s sake, gracious rewards,
according to His evangelical promises; or judicially to inflict upon
them, for righteousness’ sake, condign punishments, according to His
reasonable threatenings.”

This definition is also supported by a large number of Scripture examples, showing Fletcher’s perfect knowledge of the holy books. He then writes:—

“Rigid Calvinists and rigid Arminians are both in the wrong; the
former in obscuring the doctrines of impartial justice, and the latter
in clouding the doctrines of partial grace. But moderate Calvinists
and candid Arminians are very near each other, and very near the
truth; the difference there is between them being more owing to
confusion, want of proper explanation, and misapprehension of each
other’s sentiments, than to any real, inimical opposition to the
truth, or to one another.”

Fletcher next propounds his “Plan of Reconciliation.”

First of all, he adduces the well-known plan of union, which Wesley, thirteen years before, had ineffectually proposed to the evangelical clergymen of the Church of England, including Romaine, Shirley, Newton, Venn, and Berridge; after which he proceeds to observe:—

“I do not see why such a plan might not be, in some degree, admitted
by all the ministers of the Gospel, whether they belong to or dissent
from the Establishment. I would extend my brotherly love to all
Christians in general, but more particularly to all Protestants, and
most particularly to all the Protestants of the Established Church;
but God forbid that I should exclude from my brotherly affection, and
occasional assistance, any true minister of Christ, because he casts
the Gospel net among the Presbyterians, the Independents, the Quakers,
or the Baptists! So far as they cordially aim at the conversion of
sinners, I will offer them the right hand of fellowship, and
communicate with them in spirit. Might not good men and sincere
ministers form themselves into a Society of reconcilers, whatever be
their denomination and mode of worship? There is a Society for
promoting religious knowledge among the poor; some of its members are
Churchmen and others Dissenters; some are Calvinists and others
Arminians; and yet it flourishes, and the design of it is happily
answered. Might not such a Society be formed for promoting peace and
love among professors? Is not charity preferable to knowledge? There
is another respectable Society for promoting the Christian faith among
the heathen; and why should there not be a Society for promoting
unanimity and toleration among Christians? Ought not the welfare of
our fellow-Christians to lie as near our hearts as that of the
heathen?

“Many gentlemen, some laymen and others clergymen, some Churchmen and
others Dissenters, wanted lately to procure the repeal of our articles
of religion. Notwithstanding the diversity of their employments,
principles, and denominations, they united, wrote circular letters,
drew up petitions, and used all their interest with men in power to
bring about their design. Again, some warm men thought it proper to
blow up the fire of discontent in the breasts of our American
fellow-subjects. How did they go about the dangerous work? With what
ardour did they speak and write, preach and print, fast and pray,
publish manifestoes and make them circulate, associate and strengthen
their associations, and at last venture their fortunes, reputations,
and lives, in the execution of their warlike project! Go, ye men of
peace, and do at least half as much to carry on your friendly design.
Associate, pray, preach, and print for the furtherance of peace.

“Might not moderate Calvinists send, with success, circular letters to
their rigid Calvinian brethren; and moderate Arminians to their rigid
Arminian brethren, to check rashness and recommend meekness,
moderation, and love? Might not the Calvinist ministers who patronise
the doctrines of grace display also the doctrines of justice, and open
their pulpits to those Arminian ministers who do it with caution? And
might not the Arminian ministers, who patronise the doctrines of
justice, make more of the doctrines of grace, preach as nearly as they
can like the judicious Calvinists, admit them into their pulpits, and
rejoice at every opportunity of showing them their esteem and
confidence? Might not such moderate Calvinists and Arminians as live
in the same towns, have from time to time a general sacrament, and
invite one another to it, to cement brotherly love by publicly
confessing the same Christ, by jointly taking Him for their common
head, and by acknowledging one another as fellow-members of His
mystical body?

“The sin of the want of union with our pious Calvinian or Arminian
brethren is attended with peculiar aggravations. We are not only
fellow-creatures, but fellow-subjects, fellow-Christians,
fellow-Protestants, and fellow-sufferers, in reputation at least, for
maintaining the capital doctrines of salvation by faith in Christ, and
of regeneration by the Spirit of God. How absurd is it for persons,
who thus share in the reproach, patience, and kingdom of Christ, to
embitter each other’s comforts, and add to the load of contempt, which
the men of the world cast upon them! Let Pagans, Mahometans, Jews,
Papists, and Deists do this work. We may reasonably expect it from
them. But for such Calvinists and Arminians as the world lumps
together under the name of Methodists, on account of their peculiar
profession of godliness,—for such companions in tribulation to ‘bite
and devour’ each other is highly unreasonable and peculiarly
scandalous.”

In such a spirit did the Arminian polemic address his Calvinian opponents. The following is extracted from his concluding remarks:—

“God is my record how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of
Jesus Christ, in whom there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither bond nor
free, neither Calvinist nor Arminian, but Christ is all in all. Grant
me my humble, perhaps my dying request, reject not my plea for peace.
If it be not strong, it is earnest; for, considering my bodily
weakness, I write it at the hazard of my life: _animamque in vulnere
pono_.

“But why should I drop a hint about so insignificant a life, when I
can move you to accept of terms of reconciliation by the life and
death, by the resurrection and ascension, of our Lord Jesus Christ. I
recall the frivolous hint; and, by the unknown agonies of Him whom you
love, by His second coming, and by our gathering together unto Him, I
beseech you, put on, as the Protestant ‘elect of God, bowels of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,
forbearing one another, and forgiving one another; even as Christ
loved and forgave you, so do ye.’ Instead of absurdly charging one
another with heresy, embrace one another, and triumph together in
Christ. Bless God, ye Arminians, for raising such men as the pious
Calvinists, to make a firm stand against Pharisaic delusions, and to
maintain, with you, the doctrine of man’s fallen state, and of God’s
partial grace, which the Pelagians attack with all their might. And,
ye Calvinists, rejoice that heaven has raised you such allies as the
godly Arminians, to oppose Manichean delusions, and to contend for the
doctrines of holiness and justice, which the Antinomians seem sworn to
destroy. Pharisaism will never yield but to the power of
Bible-Calvinism and the doctrines of grace. Nor can Antinomianism be
conquered without the help of Bible-Arminianism and the doctrines of
justice. When Pharisaism and Antinomianism shall be destroyed, the
Church will be sanctified, and ready to be presented to Christ a
glorious Church, ‘not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.’
Then shall we sing with truth what we now sing without propriety,—

“‘Love, like death, has all destroy’d,
Render’d all distinctions void;
Names, and sects, and parties fall,
Thou, O Christ, art all in all.’”

Nothing more need be said respecting Fletcher’s praiseworthy effort to put an end to the contentions then so rampant. No doubt, his object, to some extent, was realized; but, for many a long year afterwards, not a few of the Calvinists and Arminians bore a striking resemblance to the ancient Jews and Samaritans. They worshipped the same God, but did not love each other.

Fletcher spent four months, from December 16, 1776, to April 16, 1777, in the hospitable home of his Methodist friends, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Greenwood, at Stoke Newington; and never did he forget their remarkable kindness to him. Here he wrote a long pastoral letter to his parishioners on December 28, 1776; and, sixteen days afterwards, another, from which the following extracts are taken:—

“NEWINGTON, _January 13, 1777_.

“MY DEAR COMPANIONS IN TRIBULATION,—All the children of God I love;
but, of all the children of God, none have so great a right to my love
as you. Your stated or occasional attendance on my poor ministry, as
well as the bonds of neighbourhood, and the many happy hours I have
spent with you before the throne of grace, endear you peculiarly to
me.

“With tears of grateful joy, I recollect the awful moments when we
have bound ourselves to stand to our baptismal vow: to renounce all
sin, to believe all the articles of the Christian faith, and to keep
God’s commandments to the end of our life. Asking pardon of God for
not keeping that vow better, I determine, with new courage and
delight, to love our _Covenant God_,[391] Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
with all my mind, heart, and strength; with all the powers of my
understanding, will, and affections.

“In my weak state of health, I find much comfort from my relation to
my _Covenant God_: I mean (1) My clear, explicit knowledge of the
Father as my Creator and Father; who so loved the world, you and me,
as to give His only-begotten Son, that we should not perish, but have
everlasting life. (2) I mean my relation to the adorable Person, who,
with the strength of His Godhead, and the strength of His pure
manhood, took away my sin. O how my soul exults in that dear Mediator!
O the comfort of cleaving to Christ by faith, and of finding Christ is
our all in all!

“I sometimes feel a desire of being buried where you are buried, and
of having my bones lie in a common earthen bed with yours; but I soon
resign that wish, and exult in thinking that, whatever distance there
may be between our graves, we can now bury our sins, cares, doubts,
and fears, in the one grave of our divine Saviour. If I, your poor
unworthy shepherd, am smitten, be not scattered; but rather be more
closely gathered unto Christ, and keep near each other in faith and
love, till you all receive our second Comforter and Advocate, the Holy
Ghost, the third Person in our _Covenant God_. He is with you; but, if
you plead the promise of the Father, ‘which,’ says Christ, ‘you have
heard of me, He will be _in_ you.’ He will fill your souls with His
light, love, and glory, according to that verse, which we have so
often sung together,—

“‘Refining fire, go through my heart,
Illuminate my soul,
Scatter thy life through every part,
And sanctify the whole.’

“This indwelling of the Comforter perfects the mystery of
sanctification in the believer’s soul. This is the highest blessing of
the Christian covenant on earth. Rejoicing in God our Creator, in God
our Redeemer, let us look for the full comfort of God our Sanctifier.
So shall we live and die in the faith, going on from faith to faith,
from strength to strength, from comfort to comfort, till Christ is all
in all to us all.

“I earnestly recommend to you my dear brother Greaves. Show him all
the love you have shown to me, and, if possible, show him more, who is
so much more deserving.”[392]

Footnote 391:

Wesley had held, in London, the usual “Covenant Service,” on
Wednesday, January 1st. Probably, Fletcher had attended it, and,
perhaps, taken part in it.

Footnote 392:

Letters, 1791, p. 30.

The letter from which these extracts are taken was forwarded to the care of Mr. Wase, who, probably, was a Methodist Local Preacher. Mr. Wase wished to be employed by the Church of England in America. Fletcher disapproved of this. Hence the following to Mr. Wase, written on the same day as the pastoral letter to the parishioners of Madeley. In fact, the pastoral letter was appended to it.

“NEWINGTON, _January 13, 1777_.

“MY DEAR BROTHER,—I am two letters in your debt. I would have answered
them before now, but, venturing to ride out in the frost, the air was
too sharp for my weak lungs, and opened my wounds, which has thrown me
back again.

“I am glad to see, by your last, that you take up your shield again.
You will never prove a gainer by casting it away. Voluntary humility,
despondency, or even a defeat, should never make you give up your
confidence.

“Take no hasty steps about removing. Your family and estate seem to me
to tie you where you are, unless you have a very striking call to
remove. You must not be above being employed in a little way. The
great Mr. Grimshaw” (of Haworth) “was not above walking some miles to
preach to seven or eight persons; and what are we when compared to
him? Our neighbours will want you more when Mr. Greaves and I are
gone. In the meantime, grow in meek, humble, patient, and resigned
love; and your temper, person, and labours will be more acceptable to
all around you. I saw last week a gentleman from America, who said,
all the church-livings there are in the gift of the Governor; and
those who get them are brought up at the American Colleges, and come
over for ordination to the Bishop of London. Supposing the peace were
made, and missionaries were wanted, you might be employed in America;
but of the latter I see little prospect; and you need not seek trials
beyond the seas, seeing yours at home are as much as you can stand
under.

“I have many things to say to you about your soul; but you will find
the substance of them in two of Mr. Wesley’s sermons, the one
entitled, ‘The Devices of Satan,’ and the other, ‘The Repentance of
Believers.’ I wish you would read one of them every day, till you have
reaped all the benefit that can be got from them. Nor eat your morsel
alone, but let all be benefited by the contents.

“When you meet with our serious friends at Broseley, Madeley, Madeley
Wood, the Dale, Dawley-Green, Wheater, Aston, Sheriff-Hales, and the
two Banks, give my kindest love to them, and read them the following
scrawl.[393]

“My kind love to Mrs. Wase, and all your and my friends by name. Thank
Michael Onions, and I. Owen; I shall answer their letters when I can,
if God spare me.

“Your affectionate brother,
“J. FLETCHER.”[394]

Footnote 393:

The Pastoral letter already mentioned. The places here named were,
probably, Fletcher’s _Methodist_ Circuit, in each of which Methodist
Societies had been formed.

Footnote 394:

Letters, 1791, p. 23; and _Wesleyan Methodist Magazine_, 1846, p. 141.

The good “Archbishop of Methodism,” the Rev. Vincent Perronet, Vicar of Shoreham, Kent, and his noble daughter, invited Fletcher to visit them; to whom Fletcher replied in the two following letters:—

“NEWINGTON, _January 19, 1777_.

“DEAR FATHER IN CHRIST,—I beg you to accept my multiplied thanks for
your repeated favours. You have twice entertained me, a worthless
stranger; and, not yet tired of the burden, you again kindly invite me
to share in the comforts of your house and family. Kind Providence
leaves me no room, at present, to hang a third burden upon you. The
good air and accommodations here, and the nearness to a variety of
helps, joined to the kindness of my friends and the weakness of my
body, forbid me to remove at present. God reward your labour of love
and fatherly offers! Should the Lord raise me up, I shall be better
able to reap the benefit of your instructions, a pleasure which I
promise myself some time, if the Lord pleases.

“I have of late thought much upon a method of reconciling the
Calvinists and Arminians. I have seen some Calvinian ministers, who
seem inclined to a plan of pacification. I wish I had strength enough
to draw the sketch of it for you. I think the thing is by no means
impracticable, if we would but look one another in the face, and pull
together at the feet of Him ‘who makes men to be of one mind in a
house,’ and who once made all believers to be of one soul in the
Church. Let us pray, hope, wait, and be ready to promote the blessing
of reconciliation; in which none could be more glad to second you,
than, honoured and dear Sir, your affectionate, obliged son in the
Gospel,

“J. FLETCHER.”[395]

Footnote 395:

Letters, 1791, p. 239.

In another letter, soon to be introduced, it will be seen that, among the “Calvinian ministers,” whom Fletcher had seen, were the Rev. Walter Shirley, the Rev. Rowland Hill, and the Rev. Dr. Peckwell.

In his letter to Miss Perronet, Fletcher dwells upon the great truth which then filled his mind and heart, and which was the chief topic of his conversation with his friends,—the mission of the Spirit, and His sanctifying work. It was written on the same day as the letter to her father:—

“NEWINGTON, _January 19, 1777_.

“DEAR MADAM,—I thank you for your care and kind nursing of me when at
Shoreham; and, especially, for the few lines with which you have
favoured me. They are so much the more agreeable to me, as they treat
of the one thing needful for the recovery of our souls,—‘the spirit of
power, of love, and of a sound mind;’ together with our need of it,
and the grand promise that this need shall be abundantly
supplied,—supplied by an outpouring of that ‘Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus, which makes us free from the law of sin and death.’ May we
hunger and thirst after righteousness in the Holy Ghost, and we shall
be filled! May we so come to our first Paraclete, Advocate, and
Comforter, as to receive the Second, as an _indwelling and overflowing
fountain_ of light, life, and love!

“I trust my view of this mystery is scriptural. The Father so loved
the world as to give us the first Advocate, Paraclete, and Comforter,
whom we love and receive as our Redeemer. The first Advocate has told
us, it was expedient that He should leave us, because, in that case,
He would send another Advocate, Paraclete, or Comforter, to _abide
with us_, and be _in us_ for ever, as our _Sanctifier_, our Urim and
Thummim, _our lights and perfections_, our oracle and guide. This is
the grand promise to Christians,—called _the promise of the Father_,
and brought by the Son. O may it be sealed on our hearts by _the
Spirit of promise_! May we ever cry—

“‘Seal thou our breasts, and let us wear
That pledge of love for ever there!’

“Then shall we be filled with pure, perfect love; for the love of the
Spirit perfects that of the Father and Son, and accomplishes the
mystery of God in the believing soul.

“Come then, let us look for it; this great salvation draws nigh. Let
us thank God more thankfully, more joyfully, more humbly, more
penitently, for Christ our first Comforter; and, hanging on His word,
let us ardently pray for the _fulness_ of His Spirit,—for the
indwelling of our second Comforter, who will lead us into all truth,
all love, all power. Let us join the few who _besiege_ the throne of
grace, and not cease putting the Lord in remembrance, till He has
again raised Himself a _Pentecostal Church_ in the earth,—I mean a
church of such believers as are all of one heart and one soul.”[396]

Footnote 396:

Letters, 1791, p. 240.

Fletcher’s friends were most ardently attached to him; and no wonder that they were. The man seemed to be an incarnation of humble, loving piety. All, in his serious illness, were eager to help him. Ten days after the date of his letters to Mr. and Miss Perronet, he wrote, as follows, to Mr. Ireland:—

“NEWINGTON, _January 29, 1777_.

“Thanks be to God, and to my dear friend, for favours upon favours,
for undeserved love and the most endearing tokens of it!

“I have received your obliging letters, full of kind offers; and your
jar, full of excellent grapes. May God open to you the book of life,
and seal upon your heart all the offers and promises it contains! May
the treasures of Christ’s love, and all the fruits of the Spirit, be
open to my dear friend, and unwearied benefactor!

“Last Sunday, Providence sent me Dr. Turner, who, under God, saved my
life, twenty-three years ago, in a dangerous illness; and I am
inclined to try what _his_ method will do. He orders me asses’ milk,
chicken, etc.; forbids me riding, and recommends the greatest
quietness. He prohibits the use of Bristol water; advises some water
of a purgative nature; and tries to promote expectoration by a method
that so far answers, though I spit by it more blood than before.

“With respect to my soul, I find it good to be in the balance,—awfully
weighed every day for life or death. I thank God, the latter has lost
its sting, and endears to me the Prince of Life. But O! I want Christ,
my resurrection, to be a thousand times more dear to me; and I doubt
not He will be so, when I am _filled_ with the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Him. Let us wait for that glory,
praising God for all we have received, and trusting Him for all we
have not yet received. Let our faith do justice to His veracity; our
hope to His goodness; and our love to all His perfections. It is good
to trust in the Lord; and His saints like well to hope in Him.

“I am provided here with every necessary and convenient blessing for
my state. The great have done me the honour of calling,—Mr. Shirley,
Mr. Rowland Hill, Mr. Peckwell, etc.[397] I exhort them to promote
peace in the Church, which they take kindly. Lady Huntingdon also has
written me a kind letter. This world to me is now become a _world of
love_.”[398]

Footnote 397:

Berridge, of Everton, also came to Fletcher at Stoke Newington.

“They met and parted in the spirit of Christian love; and I believe
saw each other no more in the body.” (The Works of the Rev. John
Berridge, A.M.; with a Memoir of his Life, by Rev. R. Whittingham, p.
63.)

Another, who visited him, was Dr. Price, who, afterwards, said, “I was
introduced to the company of a man, whose air and countenance bespoke
him fitted rather for the society of angels, than for the conversation
of men.” (Cox’s “Life of Fletcher,” p. 114.)

Footnote 398:

Letters, 1791, p. 242.

Madeley was the centre of a kind of Methodist circuit, which, however, had no Methodist meeting-house. Services were held in cottages; chapels did not exist. In the midst of his affliction, Fletcher and his friends projected the building of one in Madeley Wood.[399] As will be seen in subsequent letters, the execution of the scheme brought upon him considerable anxiety. Robert Palmer was the builder, and the entire cost was £296 17_s._ 5_d._, including £1 4_s._ 2_d._ “paid for drink for the men with the teams,” and £3 12_s._ paid for “sixteen stones of malt, for drink for the workmen.”[400] The following letter, addressed to Mr. Wase, refers to this humble edifice:—

“NEWINGTON, _February 18, 1777_.

“MY DEAR BROTHER,—My dear friend Ireland brought me, last week, Sir
John Elliott, who is esteemed the greatest physician in London, in
consumptive cases. He gave hopes of my recovery, upon using proper
diet and means. I was bled yesterday for the third time. I calmly
leave all to God, and use the means without trusting in them. Death
has lost its sting. I know not what hurry of spirit is, or unbelieving
fears, under my most terrifying symptoms. Glory be to God, for this
unspeakable mercy! Help me to praise Him for it.

“With respect to our intended room, I beg Mr. Palmer, Mr. Lloyd, and
yourself to consult about it, and that Mr. Palmer would contract for
the whole. I shall contribute £100, including £10 I have had for it
from Mr. Ireland, and £10 from Mr. Thornton.”[401]

Footnote 399:

The chapel was enlarged a short time before Fletcher’s death in 1785.
On the morning of the day when his friends began to hew the stones for
the enlargement, he went to the quarry, and said, “First of all, let
us pray.” The workers knelt upon the rock; Fletcher prayed in a way
that few besides himself could pray; and then, till duty called him
elsewhere, assisted in shaping the stones for the extension of the
building. (Crowther’s “Portraiture of Methodism,” p. 96.)

Footnote 400:

MS. in Fletcher’s own handwriting.

Footnote 401:

Letters, 1791, p. 24.

In other ways, Fletcher evinced his profound interest in the welfare of his Madeley friends. Mr. Greaves occupied his pulpit, and preached, with great acceptance, to his parishioners; but Mr. Greaves was not a priest, and, therefore, was not qualified to administer the holy sacraments. To meet the case, Fletcher wrote as follows to the Bishop of Hereford:—

“STOKE NEWINGTON, _March 22, 1777_.

“My LORD,—It is near a year since I was taken ill with a cough,
spitting of blood, and hectic fever. This complication of disorders
obliged me to go to Bristol last summer, for the benefit of the
waters; and it now detains me here, where I stay on account of the
greater mildness of the climate, and the help I can have from the
London physicians, who, as well as those of Bristol, absolutely forbid
me doing duty.

“It is with great difficulty that I have got my church properly
served. My chief assistant has been Mr. Greaves, a young clergyman of
the next diocese, who is only in deacon’s orders, and who, considering
my weak state of health, has kindly left his curacy to oblige and help
me. I give him a title, and do humbly recommend him to your lordship,
begging you would admit him to the holy order of priest; without which
he cannot properly supply my church, my parishioners having always
been used to a monthly sacrament, and dying people, in so populous a
part of the diocese, frequently wanting to have the ordinance
administered to them.

“I am sorry to be obliged to trouble your lordship on this occasion;
but hope, my lord, you will not deny me a favour which few clergymen
in your lordship’s diocese can want as much as your lordship’s dutiful
son and obedient servant,

“JOHN FLETCHER.”[402]

Footnote 402:

Unpublished MS.

With this letter, Fletcher sent the following certificate:—

“To the Right Reverend Father in God, James Lord Bishop of Hereford.

“These are to certify to your lordship that I, John Fletcher, Vicar of
Madeley, in the county of Salop and your lordship’s diocese of
Hereford, do hereby nominate and appoint Alexander Benjamin Greaves,
late Curate of Glossop, in Derbyshire, to perform the office of a
Curate in my church of Madeley aforesaid; and do promise to allow him
the yearly sum of £42 for his maintenance in the same; and to continue
him to officiate in my said church until he shall be otherwise
provided of some ecclesiastical preferment, unless, by fault by him
committed, he shall be lawfully removed from the same. And I hereby
solemnly declare that I do not fraudulently give this certificate to
entitle the said Alexander Benjamin Greaves to receive Holy Orders,
but with a real intention to employ him in my said church, according
to what is before expressed.

“Witness my hand this twenty-second day of March, in the year of our
Lord 1777,

“JOHN FLETCHER.”[403]

Footnote 403:

_Ibid._

The Perronet family at Shoreham dearly loved poor Fletcher. He had been their guest, and they had seen his spirit. Damaris Perronet was occasionally one of his correspondents; and William Perronet was now his loving medical attendant. The saintly Charles Perronet had died in the month of August, 1776, but was most tenderly remembered by all who knew him. To Miss Perronet, Fletcher now wrote as follows:—

“NEWINGTON, _April 21, 1777_.

“MY DEAR FRIEND,—A thousand thanks to you for your kind, comfortable
lines. The prospect of going to see Jesus and His glorified members,
and among them your dear departed brother, my now _everliving friend_,
is enough to make me quietly and joyfully submit to leave all my
Shoreham friends, and all the excellent ones of the earth. But why do
I talk of leaving any of Christ’s members by going to be more
intimately united to the Head?

“‘We all are one who Him receive,
And each with each agree;
In Him the _One_, the _truth_ we live,
Blest _point_ of unity!’

“A point this which fills heaven and earth, which runs through time
and eternity. In it sickness is lost in health, and death in life.
There let us ever meet.

“I cannot tell you how much I am obliged to your dear brother for all
his kind brotherly attendance as a physician. He has given me his
time, his long walks, his remedies. He has brought me Dr. Turner
several times, and will not allow me to reimburse his expenses. Help
me to thank him for all his profusion of love, for I cannot
sufficiently do it myself.

“My duty to your father; I throw myself in spirit at his feet and ask
his blessing, and an interest in his prayers. Tell him that the Lord
is gracious to me; does not suffer the enemy to disturb my peace; and
gives me, in prospect, the victory over death. _Absolute resignation_
to the Divine will baffles a thousand temptations, and _confidence_ in
our Saviour carries us sweetly through a thousand trials.”[404]

Footnote 404:

Letters, 1791, p. 246.

The time of Fletcher’s happy sojourn with Mr. and Mrs. Greenwood at Stoke Newington was now ended. One of the family wrote:—

“When he first came, he was, by Dr. Fothergill’s advice, under the
strictest observance of two things—rest and silence. These, together
with a milk diet, were supposed to be the only probable means of his
recovery. In consequence of these directions, he spoke exceeding
little. If ever he spoke more than usual, it did not fail to increase
his spitting of blood, of which indeed he was seldom quite clear,
although it was not violent. Therefore, a great part of his time was
spent in being read to; but it was not possible to restrain him
altogether from speaking. His natural vivacity, with his intense love
of Jesus, impelled him to speak; but on being reminded of his rule,
with a cheerful smile he was all submission, consenting by signs only
to stir up those about him to pray and praise. Those who had the
privilege of observing his spirit and conduct, will not scruple to say
that he was a living comment on his own account of Christian
perfection. When he was able to converse, his favourite subject was,
_the promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Ghost_, including the
rich peculiar blessing of union with the Father and the Son, mentioned
in the prayer of our Lord, recorded in John xvii. ‘We must not be
content,’ said he, ‘to be only cleansed from sin; we must be filled
with the Spirit.’ One asking him, What was to be experienced in the
full accomplishment of _the promise_ of the Father? ‘O,’ said he,
‘what shall I say? All the sweetness of the drawings of the Father,
all the love of the Son, all the rich effusions of peace and joy in
the Holy Ghost, more than ever can be expressed are comprehended here!
To attain it, the Spirit maketh intercession in the soul, like a God
wrestling with a God.’

“In some of these favoured moments of converse, he mentioned several
circumstances, which, as none knew them but himself, would otherwise
have been buried in oblivion. ‘In the beginning,’ said he, ‘of my
spiritual course, I heard the voice of God in an articulate, but
inexpressibly awful sound, go through my soul in those words, _If any
man will be My disciple, let him deny himself._ At a later date, I was
favoured, like Moses, with a supernatural discovery of the glory of
God, in an ineffable converse with Him, face to face; so that whether
I was then in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell.’

“On another occasion he said, ‘About the time of my entering into the
ministry, I one evening wandered into a wood, musing on the importance
of the office I was going to undertake. I then began to pour out my
soul in prayer; when such a sense of the justice of God fell upon me,
and such a sense of His displeasure at sin, as absorbed all my powers,
and filled me with the agony of prayer for poor lost sinners. I
continued therein till the dawn of day; and I considered this as
designed of God, to impress upon me more deeply the meaning of those
solemn words, _Therefore, knowing the terrors of the Lord, we persuade
men._’

“One end of his retiring to Newington was that he might hide himself
from company; but this design was in nowise answered, for company came
from every side. He was continually visited by high and low, and by
persons of various denominations; one of whom being asked, when he
went away, what he thought of Mr. Fletcher, said, ‘I went to see a man
who had one foot in the grave; but I found a man who had one foot in
heaven.’ Among them who now visited him were several of his beloved
and honoured opponents, to whom he confirmed his love by the most
respectful and affectionate behaviour; but he did not give up any part
of the truth for which he had publicly contended; although some, from
whom one would have expected better things, did not scruple to affirm
the contrary.

“It was not without some difficulty that Mr. Ireland prevailed upon
him to sit for his picture. While the limner was drawing the outlines
of it he was exhorting both him and all that were in the room not only
to get the outlines drawn, but the colourings also of the image of
Jesus on their hearts. He had a very remarkable facility in making
allusions of this kind. To give an instance. Being ordered to be let
blood, while his blood was running into the cup he took occasion to
expatiate on the precious blood-shedding of the Lamb of God. And even
when he did not speak at all, the seraphic spirit which beamed from
his languid face, during those months of pain and weakness, was—

“‘A lecture silent, yet of sovereign use.’”

To this interesting account, probably written by Mr. Greenwood himself, Wesley adds:—

“It is necessary to be observed that this facility of raising useful
observations from the most trifling incidents, was one of those
peculiarities in Mr. Fletcher which cannot be proposed to our
imitation. In him, it partly resulted from nature, and was partly a
supernatural gift. But what was becoming and graceful in Mr. Fletcher,
would be disgustful almost in any other.”[405]

Footnote 405:

Wesley’s “Life of Fletcher.”

In the month of May, 1777, Fletcher left the hospitable home of Mr. Greenwood, at Stoke Newington, and went to his kind friend Mr. Ireland, at Brislington, near Bristol. In a letter dated “May 28, 1777,” and addressed to his “very dear friends and benefactors Charles and Mary Greenwood,” he wrote:—

“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,

“J. FLETCHER.”[406]

Footnote 406:

Letters, 1791, p. 248.

To Michael Onions, one of the poor Methodists at Coalbrookdale, Fletcher wrote:—

“BATH, _July 8, 1777_.

“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,

“J. FLETCHER.”[407]

“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,

“Witness my hand, JOHN FLETCHER.”[408]

Footnote 407:

Letters, 1791, p. 26.

Footnote 408:

Wesley’s “Life of Fletcher.”

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]

Footnote 409:

“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., p. 71.

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]

Footnote 410:

“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., p. 72.

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]

Footnote 411:

“Life of Rev. Henry Venn, M.A.,” p. 240.

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]

Footnote 412:

Wesley’s Journal.

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.”

Footnote 413:

Wesley’s Journal.

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]

Footnote 414:

Macdonald’s “Life of Benson,” p. 62.

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.”