Chapter XXI: A Long Retirement (2)

“I am better, thank God! and ride out every day, when the slippery
roads will permit me to venture without the risk of breaking my
horse’s legs and my own neck. You will ask me how I spend my time? I
pray, have patience, rejoice, and write, when I can; I saw wood in the
house when I cannot go out; and eat grapes, of which I have always a
basket by me.

“Our little Lord-Lieutenant has forbidden the ministers to let me
exhort in the parsonage, because it is the _sovereign’s house_. My
second brother has addressed a memorial to him, in which he informs
him that he will give up neither his religious nor civil liberty, and
will open his house for the Word of God. According, we have since met
at his house.

“On Sunday, we met at the young clergyman’s who writes against the
conduct of the clergy; but I fear we fence against a wall of brass.
However, I am quite persuaded that Providence calls me to leave a
testimony to my French brethren, and it may be of some use when I
shall be no more. I have been comforted by the apology of a minister
at Yverdon, who was persecuted at the beginning of this century under
the name of Pietist; and I have become acquainted with a faithful
minister of Geneva, but he dares no more offer me his pulpit than my
brother-in-law at Lausanne.

“Several young women seem to have received the Word in the love of it,
and four or five grown-up ones; but not one man, except the young
hopeful clergyman I mention, who helps me at my little meetings, and
begins to preach extempore. The truths I chiefly insist upon, when I
talk to the people who will hear me, are those which I feed upon
myself as my daily bread. ‘God, our Maker and Preserver, though
invisible, is _here_ and _everywhere_. He is our chief good, because
all beauty and all goodness centre in and flow from Him. He is
especially _love_; and love in us, being His image, is the sum and
substance of all moral and spiritual excellence—of all true and
lasting bliss. In Adam we are all estranged from love and from God;
but the Second Adam—Jesus, Emanuel, God with us,—is come to make us
know and enjoy again our God as the God of love and the chief good.
All who receive Jesus receive power to become the sons of God,’ etc.,
etc.

“I hope I shall be able to set out for England with Mr. Perronet, in
April or May. O that I may find that dear island in peace within and
without![450] Well, I hope you make peace in the Church if you cannot
make peace with the patriots.

“The coats and shoes you gave me have lasted _all this while_, and are
yet good; so that I need not draw upon your banker. Thank God, and
you, for a thousand favours! God bless and comfort you, my dear
friend! We are poor creatures, but we have a good God to cast all our
burdens upon, and who often burdens us that we may have constant and
free recourse to His bounty, power, and faithfulness. Stand fast in
the faith. Believe _lovingly_, and all will be well.”[451]

Footnote 450:

The war with the American Colonists was now raging, and England was
greatly excited.

Footnote 451:

Letters, 1791, p. 271.

To his friend and Methodist helper among the Madeley Societies, William Wase, Fletcher wrote as follows:—

“NYON, _February 11, 1779_.

“MY DEAR FRIEND,—I have just received yours of January 24, and rejoice
to hear of the welfare of your friends, whom I long much to see; but
there is no blessing _here_ without some alloy of grief, and such was
to me the account of the poor state of health of dear Mrs. Wase. Tell
her I should be glad to hold up her hands in her fight of affliction;
but, if the poor, unprofitable, weak servant is afar off, the Master,
who is rich in mercy, who fills the whole world with His goodness and
patience, is near to her and to all His afflicted ones. I recommend to
her two remedies. One is a cheerful resignation to the will of God,
whereby her animal spirits will be greatly raised or sweetly
refreshed. The other is, four lumps of heavenly sugar, to be taken
every half hour, day and night, when she does not sleep. I make a
constant use of them, to my great comfort. They have quickened my soul
when I was dying, and I doubt not they will have the same effect upon
hers. They are: ‘God so loved the world,’ etc. ‘If any man sin,’ etc.
‘It is a faithful saying,’ etc. ‘Come unto Me, all ye that are weary,’
etc.

“Tell my little god-daughter, Patty Cartwright, she is big enough and
bad enough to take these heavenly pills. Tell her mother to take them
regularly with her. What a shame it is to have such a remedy and not
to make more use of it!

“Remember me in much love to dear Mr. Hatton. Thank brother Costerdine
and his fellow-labourer[452] for their occasional help. May the Lord
vouchsafe to consecrate our little Zoar[453] by calling one sinner and
establishing another saint! How abundantly shall we be repaid for our
little expense and trouble! Thank the brethren you have mentioned;
salute them kindly from me, not forgetting John Tranter and our
friends at the Fore Bank—Thomas Pool and Thomas Banks, and our friends
at Dawley Green. You may see in the enclosed that I am not without
hopes of telling you in May how much I am yours,

“J. FLETCHER.”[454]

Footnote 452:

James Barry and Robert Costerdine, the two Methodist itinerant
preachers stationed in the Chester circuit, of which Madeley and its
neighbourhood were a part.

Footnote 453:

The meeting-house Fletcher had recently erected in Madeley Wood, and
which is now a part of the Wesleyan Chapel there.

Footnote 454:

Letters, 1791, p. 47, and the _Christian Miscellany_, 1877, p. 333.

“The enclosed” communication bore the same date as this letter to William Wase, of Broseley, and was addressed “To the Brethren in and about Madeley;” _i.e._, the Methodists:—

“MY DEAR COMPANIONS IN TRIBULATION,—Peace and mercy, faith, hope, and
love be multiplied to you all from the Father of mercies through the
Lord Jesus Christ, by the Spirit of grace! I thank you for your kind
remembrance of me in your prayers. I am yet spared to pray for you. O
that I had more power with God! I would bring down heaven into all
your hearts. Strive together in love for the living faith, the
glorious hope, the sanctifying love once delivered to the saints. Look
to Jesus. Move on; run yourselves in the heavenly race, and let each
sweetly draw his brother along, till the whole company appears before
the redeeming God in Sion.

“I hope God will, in His mercy, spare me to see you in the flesh; and
if I cannot labour for you, I shall gladly suffer with you. If you
will put health into my flesh, joy into my heart, and life into my
whole frame, be of _one heart_ and of _one soul_. Count nothing your
_own_ but your _sin_ and _shame_; and bury that dreadful property in
the grave of our Saviour. Let all you are and have be His who bought
you. Dig hard in the _Gospel_ mines for hidden treasure. Blow hard the
furnace of prayer with the bellows of faith until you are melted into
love, and the dross of sin is purged out of every heart. Get together
into Jesus, the heavenly ark, and sweetly sail into the ocean of
eternity; so shall you be true miners, furnacemen, and bargemen.
Farewell, in Jesus! Tell Mrs. Cound I shall greatly rejoice if she
remembers Lot’s wife.”[455]

Footnote 455:

Letters, p. 48, and _ibid_, p. 334.

Six weeks after the date of this letter to the Madeley Methodists, Wesley visited them, and wrote:—

“1779. March 25, _Thursday_. I preached in the new house which Mr.
Fletcher has built in Madeley Wood. The people here exactly resemble
those at Kingswood, only they are more simple and teachable. But, for
want of discipline, the immense pains which he has taken with them has
not done them the good which might have been expected. I preached at
Shrewsbury in the evening, and next day, about noon, in the
assembly-room at Broseley. It was well we were in the shade, for the
sun shone as hot as it usually does at midsummer. We walked from
thence to Coalbrook Dale, and took a view of the bridge which is
shortly to be thrown over the Severn. It is one arch, a hundred feet
long, fifty-two high, and eighteen wide; all of cast-iron, weighing
many hundred tons. I doubt whether the Colossus at Rhodes weighed much
more.”[456]

Footnote 456:

Wesley’s Journal.

Fletcher’s health was still feeble, but he longed to be back to his parishioners and to the Methodists surrounding Madeley. Hence the following to the Vicar of Shoreham:—

“1779, March 29. I am still weak in body, but able to ride out and
exhort some children. Well, the time shall come when, in a better
state, we shall be able to glorify our heavenly Father. In the
meantime, let us do it either in the stocks of weakness or in the
fires of tribulation; and on our death-bed may we sing, with hearts
overflowing with humble love, ‘The Resurrection and the Life, the
Friend and Saviour of sinners, loved me and gave Himself for me; and I
am going to see Him and to thank Him, face to face, for His matchless
love!’

“I hope the prospect respecting the inheritance of your fathers in
this country clears up a little, and I trust the matter will be
decided without a lawsuit. As soon as the affair is brought to some
conclusion, we design to set out for England. The will of the Lord be
done in all things!”[457]

Footnote 457:

Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.”

This was written in the week before Easter. The Puritanical Calvinists of Switzerland of course denounced the observance of holy days, and hence, at Nyon, there was no service on Good Friday, April 2; but Fletcher and William Perronet, who all their life had been accustomed to commemorate the death of the incarnate Son of God, crossed the lake into Savoy, to hear a celebrated Capuchin.

“He made,” says Mr. Perronet, “a very good discourse, and he and his
brethren invited us to dine with them. This we declined; but, after
dinner, we paid our respects to them, when Mr. Fletcher spent two or
three hours with them in serious and friendly conversation.”[458]

Footnote 458:

_Ibid._

Fletcher had expressed a hope that he would be able to return to his flock at Madeley in April or May, but his hope was not realized. The reasons for this will be found in the following extracts from his letters. To his curate, the Rev. Mr. Greaves, he said:—

“Nyon, May 18, 1779. My dear fellow-labourer,—My departure being
delayed some weeks gives me much concern, although, from the
confidence I have in your pastoral diligence, I am easy about the
flock you feed. Last week, a Visitation was held here, and the clergy
of the town took my part against the Visitor and others, who said I
was of a sect everywhere spoken against. The conversation about it
held so long, and was so trying to my grain of humility, that I went
out. The matter, however, ended peaceably by a vote that they should
invite me to dinner. God ever save us from jealous and persecuting
zeal.

“I hope, my dear friend, you go on comfortably, doing more and more
the work of an evangelist. Remember my love to as many of my
parishioners as you meet with, and especially to all our good
neighbours and to the Society.”[459]

Footnote 459:

Letters, 1791, p. 49.

On the same day, he wrote to Michael Onions as follows:—

“I have complied with the request of my friends to stay a little
longer among them, as it was backed by a small Society of pious people
gathered here. Three weeks ago, they got about me, and on their knees,
with many tears, besought me to stay till they were a little stronger
and able to stand alone; nor would they rise till they had got me to
comply. However, yesterday, I spoke with a carrier, from Geneva, to
take me to London, who said he would take us at a fortnight’s notice.

“My love to your fellow-leaders, and, by them, to the companies you
meet in prayer; also to the preachers who help in the
Round[460].”[461]

Footnote 460:

The name often given by the old Methodists to a Methodist Circuit.

Footnote 461:

Letters, 1791, p. 51.

On May 22, William Perronet, in a letter to his father, observed:—

“On the 9th of this month, Mr. Fletcher preached in the church, on 2
Cor. v. 20—‘We are ambassadors for Christ,’ etc. He spoke with a
strong and clear voice for more than three-quarters of an hour, and
did not find himself hurt by it. He has preached four times in the
church since I have been here, and might have preached much oftener if
his health would have allowed him; for, by his friendly and prudent
conduct towards the three ministers of the place, he is upon good
terms with them now, although, at his first coming hither, they were
afraid to own him, on account of his _irregular conduct_; for such
they deemed his exhorting the children, and holding meetings in
private houses.”[462]

Footnote 462:

Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.”

On the same day, Fletcher remarked to the same venerable minister:—

“MY VERY DEAR BROTHER, AND HONOURED FATHER,—I rejoice that you are yet
preserved to be a witness of the grace and saving health of Jesus. Let
us rejoice that when _our_ strength shall decay, _His_ will remain
entire for ever, and, in His strength, we, who take Him for our life,
shall be strong. Our Redeemer liveth; and, when sickness and death
shall have brought down our flesh to the earth, we shall, by His
resurrection’s power, rise and live for ever with Him in heavenly
places; for the new earth will be a heaven, or a glorious province in
the kingdom of heaven. The meek shall inherit it; and that inheritance
will be fairer than yours at Chateau d’Oex, and surer too.

“I hope to accompany your son soon to England.”[463]

Footnote 463:

_Ibid._

The following, also, was written at the same time, and was addressed to his honoured host and friend, Mr. Charles Greenwood, of Stoke Newington:—

“NYON, _May 22, 1779_.

“MY DEAR FRIEND,—“I am yet alive, able to ride out, and now and then
to instruct a few children. I hope Mr. Perronet will soon have settled
his affairs, and then, please God, I shall inform you, by word of
mouth, how much I am indebted to you, Mrs. Greenwood and Mrs.
Thornton. Thank and salute, on my behalf, Mr. John and Mr. Charles
Wesley, Dr. Coke, and Mr. Atlay.[464] Thanks be to God for His
unspeakable gifts,—His Son, His Spirit, and His Word! And thanks be to
His people, for their kindness towards the poor, the sick, the
stranger, and especially towards me! But, at this time, a sleepless
night and a constant toothache unfit me for almost everything but
lying down under the cross, kissing the rod, and rejoicing in hope of
a better state, in this world or in the next. Perhaps weakness and
pain are the best for me in this world. Well, the Lord will choose for
me, and I fully set my heart and seal to His choice. Let us not faint
in the day of adversity. The Lord tries us, that our faith may be
purged of all the dross of self-will, and may work by that love, which
beareth all things, and thinketh evil of nothing. Our calling is to
follow the crucified, and we must be crucified with Him, until body
and soul know the power of His resurrection, and pain and death are
done away.

“I hope my dear friend will make, with me, a constant choice of the
following mottoes of St. Paul,—_Christ is gain in life and death—Our
life is hid with Christ in God—If we suffer with Him, we shall also
reign with Him—We glory in tribulation—God will give us rest with
Christ in that day—We are saved by hope._ To the Lord our God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, let us give glory _in the fires_.
Amen.”[465]

Footnote 464:

Wesley’s Book Steward, who, nine years afterwards, seceded from the
Methodists, and took possession of a chapel which they had built at
Dewsbury.

Footnote 465:

Letters, 1791, p. 272.

Besides his own physical weakness and suffering, Fletcher had other trials in Switzerland. In a letter, written about the same time as the foregoing, he remarked:—

“Let us bear with patience the decays of nature; let us see, without
fear, the approach of death. We must put off this sickly, corruptible
body, in order to put on the immortal and glorious one. I have some
hopes that my poor sister will yet be my sister in Christ. Her
self-righteousness, I hope, breaks as fast as her body. I am come
hither to see death make havoc among my friends. I wear mourning for
my father’s brother, and for my brother’s son. The same mourning will
serve for my dying sister, if I do not go before her. She lies on the
same bed where my father and mother died, and where she and I were
born. How near is life to death! But, blessed be God, Christ, the
Resurrection, is nearer to the weak, dying believer!”[466]

Footnote 466:

Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.”

Fletcher, notwithstanding his longing to get back to his flock at Madeley, was still detained in Switzerland. Hence the following, addressed to Mr. Thomas York:—

“NYON, _Ibid._.

“MY DEAR SIR,—Providence is still gracious to me, and raises me
friends on all sides. May God reward them all, and may you have _a
double reward_ for all your kindness! I hope I am getting a little
strength. The Lord has blessed to me a species of black cherry, which
I have eaten in large quantities. I have had a return of my spitting
blood; but, for a fortnight past, I have catechized the children of
the town every day; and I do not find much inconvenience from that
exercise. Some of them seem to be under sweet drawings of the Father,
and a few of their mothers begin to come, and desire me with tears in
their eyes to stay in this country. They urge much my being born here,
and I reply, that I was _born again_ in England; that is, _of course_,
the country which, to me, is the dearer of the two.

“My friends have prevailed on me to publish ‘A Poem on the Praises of
God,’ which I wrote many years ago. The revising it for the press is
at once a business and a pleasure, which I go through on horseback.
Help me, by your prayers, to ask a blessing on this little attempt.

“I wish I could procure you an estate in this fine country, as I hope
to do Mr. Perronet, one of the physicians who showed me so much love
when I lay sick at Newington. His grandfather was a Swiss, who was
naturalized in the reign of Queen Anne. By calling upon some of his
relations, I have found that he is entitled to an estate of some
£1000, of which he is come to take possession. So Providence prepares
for me a friend, a kind physician, and a fellow-traveller, to
accompany me back to England; where one of my chief pleasures will be
to embrace you, and to assure you, how much I am, my dear friend, your
obliged servant,

“J. FLETCHER.”[467]

Footnote 467:

Letters, 1791, p. 53.

Alas! little did Fletcher think that William Perronet would not return to England.

“Providence,” said Fletcher, in the letter just quoted, “raises me friends on all sides.” He soon had need of them. In the month of September, William Perronet wrote:—

“Mr. Fletcher has been wont to preach, now and then, in the church
here (Nyon), at the request of one or other of the ministers; but,
some time ago, he was summoned before the Seigneur Bailiff, who
sharply reprehended him for preaching against Sabbath-breaking and
stage plays. The former, he said, implied a censure on the magistrates
in general, as if they neglected their duty. And the latter he
considered as a personal reflection on himself, he having just then
sent for a company of French Comedians to come to Nyon. Accordingly,
he forbade Mr. Fletcher to exercise, any more, any of the functions of
a minister in this country. However, one of the Ministers here has
given him a room in his own house to preach in; and here Mr. Fletcher
meets a few serious persons, particularly a number of children, two or
three times a week. Hitherto, his lordship has not interfered with
respect to this mode of exhortation; and both the number and the
seriousness of the congregation increase daily.”[468]

Footnote 468:

Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.”

Referring to the same incident, Fletcher wrote:—

“Our Lord Lieutenant, being stirred up by some of the clergy, and
believing firmly that I am banished from England, took the alarm, and
forbade the ministers to let me exhort in their houses; threatening
them with the power of the Senate if they did. They all yielded, but
are now ashamed of it. A young clergyman, a true Timothy, has opened
me his house, where I exhort twice a week; and the other clergymen,
encouraged by his boldness, come to our meetings.”

William Perronet completes this story by relating that the minister, who began this discreditable opposition, died suddenly, as he was dressing to go to church; and that his successor continued the same intolerant behaviour towards poor, well-meaning Fletcher. Mr. Perronet adds:—

“Mr. Fletcher now thinks himself obliged, before he leaves his native
country, to bear a public testimony to the truth. When his writing
will be finished, I cannot say, for it multiplies under his fertile
pen; so that, I fear, we shall be obliged to spend another winter in
this severe climate.”[469]

Footnote 469:

_Ibid._

There can be little doubt that the “public testimony,” which Fletcher was now composing was his “Portrait of St. Paul,” to be noticed anon.

Soon after this, Fletcher had an attack of rheumatism, and wrote as follows to William Perronet, who had gone to Lausanne. After relating that the pain in his left shoulder had deprived him of sleep, and almost crippled him, he added:—

“I have partly recovered the use of my shoulder; but it is still very
weak. I drink a decoction of pine-apple, which is as warm as guaiacum.
My writing does not go on; but the will of the Lord is done, and that
is enough. I would press you to come back soon, if I were not
persuaded you are better where you are. I have been afraid that our
bad meat here would make you lose your flesh; and, for the honour of
Switzerland, I should be glad you had some to carry back to England,
if we live to go and see our friends there. I had last Sunday
(December 19), a great trial in my family. I see the Lord will not use
me in this country for good, and, when we shall have finished our
little matters, I shall be glad to go to my spiritual friends, and to
my flock; so much the more, as Mr. Ireland mentions my curate’s danger
of being in a consumption. My compliments and thanks wait on Miss
Perronet. She was very obliging to share her drops with me. May we all
share the springs of grace and glory together! If you will come a few
leagues southward, and try the weather here, your room waits for you,
and I shall be glad to see you. In the meantime, keep yourself warm by
the Word of God within, and a good fire without. The Lord direct us in
all things! Oh for quietness and English friends!”[470]

Footnote 470:

Benson’s “Life of Fletcher;” and _Wesleyan Methodist Magazine_, 1825,
p. 744.

Two days after writing this, Fletcher addressed his curate, Mr. Greaves, as follows:—

“NYON, _December 25, 1779_.

“MY DEAR BROTHER,—Glory be to God for His unspeakable gift! May that
Jesus, that eternal, all-creating, all-supporting, all-atoning,
all-comforting Word, which was with God, and is God, and came, in the
likeness of sinful flesh, to dwell among men, and to be our Emmanuel,
God with us,—may He, by a lively faith, be formed in our hearts; and,
by a warm love, lie and grow in the manger of our emptiness, filling
it always with the bread that comes down from heaven!

“Though absent in body, I am with you and the flock in spirit. You are
now at the Lord’s table. O may all the dear people, you have just now
preached to, receive Jesus in the pledge of His dying love, and go
home with this lively conviction, ‘God has given _me_ eternal life,
and this life is _in His Son_!’

“Glory be to God in heaven! Peace on earth! Love and good-will
everywhere! Especially in the place where Providence has called us to
cry, ‘_Behold! what manner of love the Father has testified to us, in
Jesus, that we, children of wrath, should be made children of God_, by
that only-begotten Son of the Most High, who was born for our
regeneration, crucified for our atonement, raised for our
justification, and who now triumphs in heaven for our sanctification,
for our full redemption, and for our eternal glorification. To Him be
glory for ever and ever;’ and may all, who fear and love Him about
you, say, for ever, Amen! Hallelujah!

“Out of the fulness of my heart, I invite them to do so; but how
shallow is my fulness to His! What a drop, compared to an ocean
without bottom or shore! Let us, then, receive continually from Him,
who is the overflowing and ever-present source of pardoning,
sanctifying, and exhilarating grace; and, from the foot of the Wrekin,
where you are, to the foot of the Alps, where I am, let us echo back
to each other the joyful, thankful cry of the primitive Christians,
which was the text here this morning, ‘_Out of His fulness, we have
all received grace for grace._’

“I long to hear from you and the flock. How do you go on? Let me know
that you cast _joyfully_ all your burdens on the Lord. Mr. Ireland
sends me word, that Mr. Romaine told him you are not very well. Take
care of yourself. Lay nothing to heart. Should your breast be weak,
preach but once on Sundays; for you know the evening sermon is not a
part of our _stated_ duty. I say this, that you may not _over-do_, and
lie by, as I do. God direct, sustain, and comfort you in all things!

“Give my pastoral love to all my flock. May all see, and see more
abundantly, the salvation of God! May national distress be sanctified
unto them; and may they all be loyal subjects of the King of kings,
and of His Anointed, our King! May the approaching new year be to them
a year of peace and Gospel grace! I hope Molly takes good care of you.
God bless her!”[471]

Footnote 471:

Letters, 1791, p. 56.

Fletcher refers to the “national distress.” This was great. Parliament was excited. Ireland was in a state of veiled rebellion. England rang with reports of threatened invasion. The war with the American colonists had already added sixty-three millions to the national debt. Trade was paralysed, and taxes were intolerable. Popery had been established in Canada, and had received encouragement in England. The Protestant Association had sprung into existence, and the Gordon riots were at hand. In the midst of this state of things, Fletcher wrote to a nobleman, whose name is not given, but who, probably, was Lord North, as follows:—

“NYON, _December 15, 1779_.

“MY LORD,—If the American Colonies and the West India Islands are rent
from the Crown, there will not grow one ear of corn the less in Great
Britain. We shall still have the necessaries of life, and, what is
more, the Gospel, and liberty to hear it. If the great springs of
trade and wealth are cut off, good men will bear that loss without
much sorrow; for springs of wealth are always springs of luxury,
which, sooner or later, destroy the empires corrupted by wealth. Moral
good may come out of our losses. I wish you may see it in England.
People on the Continent imagine they see it already in the English on
their travels, who are said to behave with more wisdom and less
haughtiness than they used to do.”[472]

Footnote 472:

Letters, 1791, p. 273.

Lord North, King George the Third’s Prime Minister, was, at this time, harassed by the American rebellion, incessantly assailed by the Opposition, and frequently threatened with impeachment. Probably, Fletcher’s letter, of which the above is only a part, was intended to help him in his troubles. Though a foreigner by birth, John de la Flechere was a most loyal and devoted subject of King George. Hence, also, the following, taken from a letter to his curate, Mr. Greaves:—

“March 7, 1780. I long to hear from you. I hope you are well, and grow
in the love of Christ, and of the souls bought with His blood, and
committed to your care. I recommend to you the most helpless of the
flock,—I mean the _children_ and the _sick_. They most want your help,
and they are the most likely to benefit by it; for affliction softens
the heart, and children are not yet quite hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin.

“I beg you will not fail, when you have opportunity, to recommend to
our flock, to honour the King, to study to be quiet, and to hold up
the hands of the Government by which we are protected.”[473]

Footnote 473:

_Ibid._, p. 57.

On the same day, Fletcher wrote to his friend and helper, Mr. William Wase, on another matter which was causing him considerable anxiety. His Methodist meeting-house in Madeley Wood had cost much more than he expected. The letter to Mr. Wase needs no further explanation, except that the work, ready to be printed, was, probably, his poem, in French, entitled, “La Louange.”

“NYON, _March 7, 1780_.

“MY DEAR BROTHER,—I am sorry the building has cost so much more than I
intended; but, as the mischief is done, it is a matter to exercise
patience, resignation, and self-denial; and it will be a caution in
the future. I am going to sell part of my little estate here to
discharge the debt. I had laid by £50, to print a small work, which I
wanted to distribute here; but, as I must be just, before I presume to
offer that mite to _the God of truth_, I abandon the design, and send
that sum to Mr. York.

“Money is so scarce here, at this time, that I shall sell at a very
great loss; but necessity and justice are two great laws, which must
be obeyed. As I design, on my return to England, to pinch until I have
got rid of this debt, I may go and live in one of the cottages
belonging to the vicar, if we could let the vicarage for a few pounds;
and, in that case, I dare say Mr. Greaves would be so good as to take
the other little house.

“My dear friend, let us die to sin. Hold fast Jesus, the way, the
truth, and the life. Walk by faith in Him; and not by the sight and
passions of the old Adam. I hope the sun of affliction, which burns
poor England and us, will ripen us all for glory. Give my best love to
all our friends in Christ, and tell them that the hope of seeing them
does me good.”[474]

Footnote 474:

Letters, 1791, p. 58.

Fletcher was hard at work; the weather was cold; and, for the present, exercise out of doors was impracticable. The following, taken from an unpublished letter written by William Perronet, contains an amusing scene:—

“Nyon, March 1, 1780. As this is Mr. Fletcher’s native village, no
wonder that it agrees with him; otherwise, it must be very trying to
so tender a constitution as his; for the weather here is much hotter
in summer, and much colder in winter, than in England; and the
transitions from intense heat to extreme cold are often very sudden.

“Mr. Fletcher was once told by two physicians (somewhere), that the
benefit of exercise, for consumptive persons, must be estimated by the
violence of it; consequently, that riding on horseback was better than
going in a carriage, that walking was better than riding, running than
walking, and jumping better than all of them put together. Our worthy
friend has scrupulously followed this maxim; so that, whenever he does
not take his little hasty rides (which by-the-bye frequently occurs),
he allows himself, for exercise, not more than three minutes, from his
studies, just as dinner is being served, and then, like harlequin, he
takes about half a score such violent leaps and plunges across the
room, that I am _sometimes_ in pain for the floor, and _always_ for
his bones.”

During the year 1779, Fletcher and William Perronet had lodged in the same house in Nyon; now, as might be expected from the foregoing extract, William Perronet’s state of health obliged him to seek a more salubrious situation. He went to Lausanne; Fletcher remained at Nyon; and was thus pictured by his friend in the month of July next ensuing:—

“About half a year ago, we broke up housekeeping at Nyon. Poor dear
Mr. Fletcher, with difficulty, procured a miserable lodging in the
neighbourhood; and I was obliged to go to Lausanne, which is seven
leagues from Nyon. I submitted the more willingly to this, because he
talked of spending some time at Lausanne. I have been disappointed in
this respect; but, once or twice, I have had the pleasure of seeing
him at Nyon. I found him to-day sitting in his small apartment,
surrounded with books and papers, writing, or, as he expressed it,
‘finishing the _first part_’ of one of his pieces. When the _whole_ is
likely to be finished, one cannot pretend to say.”[475]

Footnote 475:

Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.”

Fletcher intended to return to England in the month of September, but two occurrences prevented him. First of all, he mislaid a portion of the manuscript which he wished to publish before he left Switzerland, and had to re-write what was missing.

“The misfortune I hinted at,” said he to William Perronet, “was the
mislaying of a considerable part of my manuscript. After giving it up
as lost, I fell to work again; went through the double toil; and, when
I had done, last night, I accidentally found what I had mislaid. This
has thrown me back a great deal. The Lord’s will be done in all
things! I thank God, I have been kept from fretting on the occasion;
though I would not for a great deal have such another trial.”[476]

Footnote 476:

_Ibid._

Added to this, and, perhaps, partly in consequence of it, his health relapsed. These, and other matters, are referred to in the following letter, addressed to his curate, Mr. Greaves:—

“NYON, _September 15, 1780_.

“MY DEAR FELLOW-LABOURER,—I had fixed the time of my departure for
this month; but now two hindrances stand in my way. When I came to
collect the parts of my manuscript, I found the most considerable part
wanting; and, after a thousand searches, I was obliged to write it
over again. This accident compelled me to put off my journey; and now
the change of weather has brought back some symptoms of my disorder. I
speak, or rather whisper, with difficulty; but I hope the quantity of
grapes I begin to eat will have as good an effect upon me as in the
last two autumns.

“Have patience then a little while. If things are not as you could
wish, you can do but as I have done for many years,—_learn patience by
the things which you suffer_. Crossing our will, getting the better of
our inclinations, and growing in experience, are no mean advantages,
and they may all be yours.

“Mr. Ireland writes me word that if I return to England now, the
winter will undo all I have been doing for my health for many years.
However, I have not quite laid aside the design of spending the winter
with you; but don’t expect me till you see me. I am, nevertheless,
firmly purposed that, if I do not set out this autumn, I shall do so
next spring, as early as I can.

“Till I had this relapse, I was able to exhort, in a private room,
three times a week; but the Lord Lieutenant will not allow me to get
into a pulpit, though they permit the schoolmasters, who are laymen,
to put on a band and read the Church prayers; so high runs the
prejudice. The clergy, however, tell me that if I will renounce my
ordination, and get Presbyterian Orders among them, they will allow me
to preach, and on these terms one of the ministers of this town offers
me his curacy. A young clergyman of Geneva, tutor to my nephew,
appears to me a truly converted man; and he is so pleased when I tell
him there are converted souls in England, that he will go with me to
learn English, and converse with the British Christians. He wrote last
summer, with such force, to some of the clergy, who are stirring up
the fire of persecution, that he made them ashamed, and we have since
had peace from that quarter.

“There is little genuine piety in these parts; nevertheless, there is
yet some of _the form_ of it; so far as to go to the Lord’s table
regularly four times a year. There meet the adulterers, the drunkards,
the swearers, the infidels, and even the materialists. They have no
idea of the double damnation that awaits hypocrites. They look upon
the partaking of that sacrament as a ceremony enjoined by the
magistrate. At Zurich, the first town of this country, they have
lately beheaded a clergyman who wanted to betray his country to the
Emperor, to whom it chiefly belonged. It is the town of the great
reformer, Zuinglius; yet there they poisoned the sacramental wine a
few years ago. I mention this to show you there is great need to bear
a testimony against the faults of the clergy here; and, if I cannot do
it from the pulpit, I must try to do it from the press. Their canons,
which were composed by two hundred and thirty pastors, at the time of
the Reformation, are so spiritual and apostolic that I design to
translate them into English, if I am spared.

“Farewell, my dear brother. Take care, _good, constant, care_ of the
flock committed to your charge; especially _the sick_ and _the young_.
Salute all our dear parishioners. Let me still have a part in your
prayers, public and private; and rejoice in the Lord, as, through
grace, I am enabled to do in all my little tribulations.”[477]

Footnote 477:

Letters, 1791, p. 60.

On the same day, Fletcher wrote to Mr. Thomas York:—

“I have been so well, that my friends here thought of giving me a
wife; but what should I do with a _Swiss wife_ at Madeley? I want
rather an English nurse; but more still a mighty Saviour, and, thanks
be to God! that I have. Help me to rejoice in that never-dying,
never-moving Friend.

“Having heard that my dear friend Ireland has discharged the greatest
part of my debt, I have not sent the money; but I hope to bring with
me £100, to reimburse my friends in part, till I can do it altogether.
But I shall never be able to pay you the debt of kindness I have
contracted with you. I look to Jesus, my Surety, for that. May He
repay you a thousand-fold!”[478]

Footnote 478:

Letters, 1791, p. 62.

To William Wase, the good old Methodist, Fletcher wrote, at the same time:—

“Give my love and thanks to the preachers” (William Boothby and
Jonathan Hern) “who come to help us. Enforce my exhortation to the
Societies in much love. Go and comfort, from me, Mrs. Palmer and Mrs.
Cartwright; and, since God has placed you all in a widowed state,
agree to take Jesus for a never-dying Friend and Bridegroom. Your
Maker is your husband. He is all in all. What, then, have you lost?
Christ is _yours_ and _all things with Him_. The resurrection day will
soon come. Prepare yourselves for the marriage feast of the Lamb; and
till then, rejoice in the _expectation_ of that day. I sympathize with
our sickly friends, widow Matthews, M. Blummer, E. Whittaker, I. York,
and S. Aston. Salute them kindly from me. Help them to trim their
lamps, and to wait for the Bridegroom. Thank Thomas and Nelly Fennel
for their love to the” (Methodist) “preachers, and give them mine, and
also give it to the little companies they meet with, to call for
strength, comfort, and help, in time of need. Fare ye all well in
Jesus! I say, again, farewell!”[479]

Footnote 479:

_Ibid._, p. 61.

Fletcher’s “Exhortation” to the Methodist Societies was as follows:—

“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]

Footnote 480:

Letters, 1791, p. 63.

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]

Footnote 481:

_Wesleyan Methodist Magazine_, 1830, p. 831.

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]

Footnote 482:

Benson’s “Life of Fletcher.”

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]

Footnote 483:

_Ibid._

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]

Footnote 484:

The Methodist meeting-house.

Footnote 485:

The bridge across the Severn at Coalbrookdale, the first iron bridge
erected in England; cast in 1779, under the direction of Mr. Abraham
Darby.

Footnote 486:

Letters, 1791, p. 67.

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]

Footnote 487:

Letters, 1791, p. 65.

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.