_TWO YEARS MORE._
1766 AND 1767.
FLETCHER began the year 1766 in mournfulness, and yet full of love and
loyalty to Christ. In a letter to Miss Hatton, he wrote:—
“MADELEY, _January 13, 1766_.
“MADAM,—This evening I have buried one of the warmest opposers of my
ministry—a stout, strong young man, aged twenty-four years. About
three months ago, he came to the churchyard with a corpse, but refused
to come into the church. When the burial was over, I went to him, and
mildly expostulated with him. His constant answer was, that he had
bound himself never to come to church while I was there; adding, that
he would take the consequences. Seeing I got nothing, I left him,
saying, with uncommon warmth, though, as far as I can remember,
without the least touch of resentment, ‘I am clear of your blood;
henceforth it is upon your own head; you will not come to church upon
your legs, prepare to come upon your _neighbours’ shoulders_!’ He
wasted from that time, and, to my great surprise, has been buried on
the spot where we were when the conversation passed between us. When I
visited him in his sickness, he seemed _tame_, as a wolf in a trap. O
may God have turned him into a sheep in his last hours!
“This last year has been the worst I have had here,—barren in
convictions, fruitful in backslidings.
“I have filled my page, but not with the name of Jesus. Let your heart
contain what my letter wants,—_Jesus and His precious blood_,—_Jesus
and His free, glorious salvation_. Live to Him; breathe for Him; buy,
sell, eat, drink, read, write for Him. Receive Him as _yours_
altogether, and give Him your _whole_ self. Take us, Lord, into Thy
gracious favour; stamp us with Thy glorious image, and conduct us to
Thy eternal kingdom!”[123]
Footnote 123:
Letters, 1791, p. 165.
Fletcher was depressed. His labours at Madeley, during the past year,
had not been fruitful; and concerning his success even at Bath he was
doubtful. Mr. Brown, his temporary curate, however, seems to have been
useful; and so also were Wesley’s itinerant evangelists; on account of
which he thankfully rejoiced. In another letter to Miss Hatton, he
wrote:—
“MADELEY, _May 27, 1766_.
“The coming of Mr. Wesley’s preachers into my parish gives me no
uneasiness. As I am sensible that everybody does better, and is more
acceptable than myself, I should be sorry to deprive any one of a
blessing; and I rejoice that the work of God goes on, by _any
instrument_, or in _any place_. How far it might have been expedient
to have postponed preaching regularly in my parish, till the minister
of —— had been reconciled to the invasion of his; and how far this
might have made my way smoother, I do not pretend to determine: time
will show it, and in the meanwhile I find it good to have faith in
Providence.
“I fear I have left as great a stink at Bath as Mr. Brown a sweet
savour here. Everything is good to me that shows me my
unprofitableness; but I desire to grieve, that the good of my private
humiliation is so much overbalanced by the loss of many about
me.”[124]
Footnote 124:
Letters, 1791, p. 169.
Thus did Fletcher depreciate himself. The truth is, he was in feeble
health, and hardly knew it. At this time, also, two of his dear friends
were dying—Miss Hatton, of Wem, and Miss Ireland, the only daughter of
James Ireland, Esq., of Brislington, Bristol. Miss Hatton had been at
Madeley, and Miss Ireland was about to migrate to the south of France.
To these ladies, he wrote as follows:—
“MADELEY, _June 21, 1766_.
“MY DEAR FRIEND,—I am much concerned to hear, by Mrs. Tower, that you
are so weak; but my concern has greatly increased, since I was told
that the foundation of your illness was laid at Madeley; and, I am
afraid, by my imprudence in taking you to the woman with whom we
received the sacrament. I ask God’s pardon and yours for it; and I
hope it will be the means of humbling me, and of making me more tender
of my friends.
“The advice you give me about my health is seasonable. I hope to
follow it. I am not conscious of having neglected it; but I will
endeavour that there be not so much as the shadow of a call for
repeating it.
“If the air at Wem does not agree with you, could you not come to
Madeley? Though I am no nurse, and though I have been the contrary of
one to you, I hope we should wait upon you with more tenderness than
when you were here last. Mrs. Power would nurse you, and I would talk
to you of the love of Jesus as well as I could. You know I perceived
your bodily weakness when you were here, and charged you with a
neglect of your body. If I was right, I hope you will follow the
advice you give me.
“Offer yourself to God for life or death, for ease or pain, for
strength or weakness. Let Him choose or refuse for you; only do you
choose Him for your present and eternal portion.”[125]
Footnote 125:
Letters, 1791, p. 170.
Seven months after this, Miss Hatton peacefully expired.[126] Miss
Ireland lived more than two years longer. To her, he wrote the
following:—
“MADELEY, _July —, 1766_.
“MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,—The poor account your father has brought us of
your health, and his apprehensions of not seeing you any more, before
that solemn day when all people, nations, and tongues shall stand
together at the bar of God, make me venture to send you a few lines.
“First, then, my dear friend, let me beseech you not to flatter
yourself with the hopes of living long here on earth. These hopes fill
us with worldly thoughts, and make us backward to prepare for our
change. I would not, for the world, entertain such thoughts about
myself. I have now, in my parish, a young man who has been two years
under the surgeon’s hands. Since he was given up, about two months
ago, he has fled to the Lord, and has found in Him that saving health,
which a thousand times surpasses that with which the surgeon flattered
him; and he now longs to be with Christ, which is far better.
“Secondly. Consider, my dear, how good the Lord is to call you to be
transplanted into a better world, before you have taken deeper root in
this sinful world. If it is hard to nature to die _now_, how much
harder would it be if you lived to be the mother of a family, and to
cleave to earth by the ties of new relations, schemes of gain, or
prospects of success!
“Thirdly. Reflect that, by your illness, the Lord, who forecasts for
us, intimates that long life would not be for His glory, nor your
happiness. I believe He takes many young people from the evil to come,
and out of the way of those temptations, or misfortunes, which would
have made them miserable in time and in eternity.
“Fourthly. Your earthly father loves you much: witness the hundreds of
miles he has gone for the benefit of your health; but your heavenly
Father loves you a thousand times better; and He is all wisdom, as
well as all goodness. Allow, then, such a loving, gracious Father to
chose for you; and, if He chooses death, acquiesce, and say, ‘Good is
the will of the Lord! His choice must be best!’
“Fifthly. Weigh the sinfulness of sin, both original and actual, and
firmly believe the wages of sin is death. This will make you patiently
accept the punishment; especially if you consider that Jesus Christ,
by dying for us, has taken away the sting of death, and turned the
grave into a passage to a blessed eternity.
“Sixthly. Try to get nearer to the dear Redeemer. He offers rest to
the heavy laden, pardon to the guilty, strength to the feeble, and
life to the dead.
“Seventhly. When you have considered your lost state, as a sinner,
together with the greatness, the freeness, and the suitableness of
Christ’s salvation, believe in Him. Be not afraid to venture upon and
trust in Him. Cast yourself on Him by frequent acts of reliance, and
stay your soul on Him by means of His promises. Pray much for faith,
and be not afraid of accepting, using, and thanking God for _a
little_.
“Eighthly. Beware of impatience, repining, and peevishness, which are
the sins of sick people. Be gentle, easy to be pleased, and resigned
as the bleeding Lamb of God. Wrong tempers indulged, grieve, if they
do not quench, the Spirit.
“Ninthly. Do not repine at being in a strange country, far from your
friends; and, if your going to France does not answer the end proposed
for your body, it will answer a spiritual end to your soul.
“Tenthly. In praying, reading, hearing any person read, and
meditating, do not consult feeble, fainting, weary flesh and blood;
for, at this rate, death may find you idle, and supine, instead of
striving to enter in at the strait gate; and, when your strength and
vigour fail, remember that the Lord is the strength of your life and
your portion for ever.”[127]
Footnote 126:
_Ibid_, p. 190.
Footnote 127:
Letters, 1791, p. 174.
Not many even faithful ministers of Christ would have written in such a
strain as this to a young lady, the daughter of a wealthy merchant,
leaving her native land, and apparently dying; but Fletcher, like all
the first Methodists, was intensely in earnest, and never thought of
sacrificing fidelity for the sake of seeming courtesy.
The young lady’s father had given Fletcher a hamper of wine, and a
parcel of broadcloth to be made into a suit of clothes, kindly
requesting him not to send his coat again to be patched. In
acknowledging this generous present, the needy and somewhat seedy Vicar
wrote as follows:—
“MADELEY, _July —, 1766_.
“MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,—You should have a little mercy on your friends,
in not loading them with such burdens of beneficence. How would you
like to be loaded with kindnesses you could not return? Were it not
for a little of that grace which makes us not only willing, but happy
to be nothing, to be obliged and dependent, your present would make me
quite miserable. I submit to be clothed and nourished by you, as your
servants are, without the happiness of serving you. To yield to this
is as hard to friendship as it is to submit to be saved by free grace,
without one scrap of our own righteousness. However, we are allowed,
both in religion and friendship, to ease ourselves by thanks and
prayers, till we have an opportunity of doing it by actions. I thank
you then, my dear friend, and pray to God that you may receive His
benefits as I do yours.
“Your broadcloth can lap me round two or three times; but the mantle
of Divine love, the precious fine robe of Jesus’s righteousness, can
cover your soul a thousand times. The cloth, fine and good as it is,
will not keep out a hard shower; but that garment of salvation will
keep out even a shower of brimstone and fire. Your cloth will wear
out; but that fine linen, the righteousness of saints, will appear
with a finer lustre the more it is worn. The moth may fret your
present, or the tailor may spoil it in cutting it; but the present,
which Jesus has made you, is out of the reach of the spoiler, and
ready for present wear. Let me beseech you, my dear friend, to accept
of this heavenly present, as I accept of your earthly one. I did not
send you one farthing to purchase it: it came unsought, unasked,
unexpected, as the seed of the woman came. It came just as I was
sending a tailor to buy me cloth for a new coat, and I hope when you
next see me, it will be in your present; now let Jesus see you in His.
Accept it freely. Wear no more the old rusty coat of nature and
self-righteousness. Send no more to have it _patched_. Make your boast
of an unbought suit, and love to wear the livery of Jesus.
“You will then love His work. It will be your meat and drink to do it;
and, that you may be vigorous in doing it, as I shall take a little of
your wine for my stomach’s sake, take you a good deal of the wine of
the kingdom for your soul’s sake. Every promise of the Gospel is a
bottle, a cask that has a spring within, and can never be exhausted.
Draw the cork of unbelief, and drink abundantly. Be not afraid of
intoxication; and if an inflammation follows, it will only be that of
Divine love. Be more free with the heavenly wine, than I have been
with the earthly, which you sent me. I have not tasted it yet, but
whose fault is it? Not yours certainly, but mine. If you do not drink
daily out of the cup of salvation, whose fault is it? Not Jesus’s, but
yours. Jesus gives you His righteousness to cover your nakedness, and
the consolations of His Spirit to cheer and invigorate your soul.
Accept and use. Wear, drink, and live to God.”[128]
Footnote 128:
Letters, 1791, p. 178.
Fletcher was religious in everything, and all his faculties were
sanctified. He could not even acknowledge the kindness of his friend
without introducing religion; but, to do this gracefully, he exercises,
not his manly understanding, but his sportive fancy. “Fancy,” said
fanciful Thomas Fuller, “can adorn whatever it touches, can invest naked
fact and dry reasoning with unlooked-for beauty, make flowerets bloom
even on the brow of a precipice, and, when nothing better can be had,
can turn the very substance of the rock itself into moss and lichens.”
Few men have possessed a finer fancy than Fletcher did; but his was
rarely used except for religious purposes. He might have been an
accomplished allegorist; but he preferred to be a scriptural reasoner.
His creed was founded, not upon fancies, but upon facts. Hence, in the
same month that he wrote the foregoing letter to Mr. Ireland, he wrote
as follows to Miss Hatton:—
“MADELEY, _July 17, 1766_.
“Let your faith be _rational_ as well as affectionate. God is good. He
does not want us to take His word without proof. What expectations of
the Messiah from the beginning of the world! What amazing miracles and
wonders were wrought in favour of that people and family, from which
He was to come! What prophecies fulfilled, that we might rationally
believe! What displays of the Godhead in that heavenly man, Christ
Jesus! _In Him dwelt_, of a truth, _the fulness of the Godhead
bodily_. You see the power of God in His miracles; the goodness of God
in His character; the justice and mercy of God in His death; the
truth, and faithfulness, and glory of God in His resurrection, in the
coming of His Spirit, and in the preaching of His everlasting Gospel.
O, my friend, we may believe _rationally_. We may, with calm
attention, view the emptiness of all other religions, and the fulness
of assurance that ours affords.”[129]
Footnote 129:
Letters, 1791, p. 180.
Soon after the date of this letter, Fletcher proceeded to London, to
Brighton, and to Oathall, where he had sweet intercourse with the
Countess of Huntingdon, Romaine, Venn, Sir Charles Hotham, and with a
gentleman and lady from his own country, who were visiting the Countess,
and Mr. and Mrs. Powys of Berwick, in Shropshire, Mr. Powys being a
gentleman of high connections and of large fortune, and who had, about
this period, become conspicuous, in conjunction with Sir Richard Hill
and Mr. Lee, of Cotery, for zeal in the cause of God and truth.[130]
Footnote 130:
“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., p. 375.
While staying with Lady Huntingdon at Oathall, Fletcher wrote another
pastoral letter, which could not have been more faithful, but might,
perhaps with advantage, have been more gentle.
“OATHALL, SUSSEX, _September 23, 1766_.
“To those who love or fear the Lord Jesus at Madeley, grace, peace,
and love be multiplied unto you, from our God and Saviour Jesus
Christ!
“Providence, my dear brethren, called me so suddenly from among you,
that I had no time to take my leave of you, and recommend myself to
your prayers. But I hope the good Spirit of our God, who is the Spirit
of love and supplication, has brought me to your remembrance, as the
poorest and weakest of Christ’s ministers, whose hands stand most in
need of being strengthened and lifted up by your prayers. Pray on
then, for yourselves, for one another, and for him whose glory it is
to minister to you in spiritual things, and whose sorrow it is not to
do it in a manner more suitable to the majesty of the Gospel, and more
profitable to your souls. My heart is with you, nevertheless I bear
patiently this bodily separation for three reasons.
“1. The variety of more faithful and able ministers, which you have
during my absence, is more likely to be serviceable to you than my
presence among you, and I would always prefer your profit to my own
satisfaction.
“2. I hope Providence will give me those opportunities of conversing
and praying with a greater variety of experienced Christians, which
will tend to my own improvement, and, I trust, in the end, to yours.
“3. I flatter myself that, after some weeks’ absence, my ministry will
be recommended by the advantage of novelty, which (the more the pity)
goes farther with some than the Word itself. In the meantime, I shall
give you some advice, which, it may be, will prove both suitable and
serviceable to you.
“Endeavour to improve daily under the ministry that Providence blesses
you with. Be careful to attend it with diligence, faith, and prayer.
Would it not be a great shame if, when ministers come thirty or forty
miles to offer you peace and pardon, strength and comfort, in the name
of God, any of you should slight the glorious message, or hear it as
if it was nothing to you, and as if you heard it not? See then that
you never come from a sermon without being more deeply convinced of
sin and righteousness. In order to this,—
“Use much prayer before you go to church. Consider that your next
appearance there may be in a coffin, and entreat the Lord to give you
now so to hunger and thirst after righteousness that you may be filled
therewith. Hungry people never go fasting from a feast. Call to mind
the text I preached from the last Sunday but one before I left
you,—‘Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and
hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new born babes
desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby’ (1
Peter ii. 1, 2).
“When you are under the Word, beware of sitting as judges, and not
like criminals. Many judge of the manner, matter, voice, or person of
the preacher. You, perhaps, judge all the congregation when you should
judge yourselves guilty of eternal death and yet worthy of eternal
life, through the worthiness of Him who stood and was condemned at
Pilate’s bar for you. The moment you have done crying to God as
guilty, or thanking Christ as reprieved, criminals, you have reason to
believe that this advice is levelled at you.
“When you have been at a means of grace and do not find yourselves
sensibly quickened, let it be matter of deep humiliation to you. For
want of repenting of their unbelief and hardness of heart, some get
into a habit of deadness and indolence, so that they come to be as
insensible and as little ashamed of themselves as stones.
“Beware of the inconsistent behaviour of those who complain that they
are full of wandering in the evening under the Word when they have
suffered their minds to wander from Christ all the day long. Oh! get
acquainted with Him, that you may walk in Him and with Him. Whatsoever
you do or say, especially in the things of God, do or say it as if
Christ was before, behind, and on each side of you. Indeed, He is so,
whether you consider it or not; for when He visibly appeared on earth,
He called Himself ‘the Son of Man which is in heaven;’ how much more
then is He present on earth now that He makes His immediate appearance
in heaven? Make conscience then to maintain a sense of His blessed
presence all the day long, and all the day long you will have a
continual feast. For, can you conceive anything more delightful than
to be always at the fountain of love, peace, beauty, and joy,—at the
spring of power, wisdom, goodness, and truth? Can there be a purer and
more melting happiness than to be with the best of fathers, the
kindest of brothers, the most generous of benefactors, and the
tenderest of husbands? Now Jesus is all this and much more to the
believing soul. Oh! believe, my friends, believe in Jesus now, through
a continual now; and until you can thus believe, mourn over your
unbelieving heart; drag it to Him as you can; think of the efficacy of
His blood shed for the ungodly; and wait for the Spirit of faith from
on high.
“Some of you wonder why you cannot believe, why you cannot see Jesus
with the eye of your mind, and delight in Him with the affections of
your heart. I apprehend the reason to be one of these, or perhaps
altogether.
“1. You are not poor, lost, undone, helpless, despairing sinners in
yourselves. You indulge spiritual and refined self-righteousness; you
are not yet dead to the law, and quite slain by the commandment. Now
the kingdom of heaven belongs to none but the poor in spirit. Jesus
came to save none but the lost. What wonder then, if Jesus is little
to you, and if you do not live in His kingdom of peace, righteousness,
and joy in the Holy Ghost?
“2. Perhaps you spend your time in curious reasonings, instead of
casting yourselves as forlorn sinners at the feet of Christ, leaving
it to Him to bless you when and in the manner He pleases. Know that He
is the wise and sovereign God, and that it is your duty to lie before
Him as clay, as fools, as sinful nothings.
“3. Perhaps, also, some of you wilfully keep idols of one kind or
another; you indulge some sin against light and knowledge, and it is
neither matter of humiliation, nor of confession to you. The love of
praise, that of the world, that of money, and that of sensual
gratifications, when not lamented, are as implacable enemies to Christ
as Judas and Herod were. How can ye believe, seeing ye seek the honour
that cometh from men? Hew then your Agags in pieces before the Lord.
Run from your Delilahs to Jesus resolutely. Cut off the right hand and
pluck out the right eye that offends you. ‘Come out from among them,
and be separate, saith the Lord, and I will receive you.’
Nevertheless, when you strive, take care not to make yourself a
righteousness of your own striving. Remember that justifying
righteousness is finished and brought in, and that your goodness can
no more add to it than your sins diminish it. Shout then, ‘_the Lord
your Righteousness_!’ And, if you are undone sinners, humbly and yet
boldly say, ‘In the Lord have I righteousness and strength.’
“When I was in London, I endeavoured to make the best of my time; that
is to say, to hear, receive, and practise the Word. Accordingly, I
went to Mr. Whitefield’s Tabernacle, and heard him give his Society a
most sweet exhortation upon love. He began by observing that when the
Apostle St. John was old and past walking and preaching, he would not
forsake the assembling himself with his brethren, as the manner of too
many is, upon little or no pretence at all. On the contrary, he got
himself carried to their meeting, and, with his last thread of voice,
preached to them his final sermon made up of this one sentence, ‘My
little children, love one another.’ I wish, I pray, I earnestly
beseech you to follow that evangelical, apostolical advice; and till
God makes you all little children, little in your own eyes, and simple
as little children, give me leave to say, dear brethren, love one
another, and, of course, judge not, provoke not, be not shy of one
another, but bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ. Yea, bear with one another’s infirmities, and do not easily
cast off any one, no not for sin, except it be obstinately persisted
in.
“My sheet is full, and so is my heart of good wishes for and strong
longing after you all. I have just room to tell you I hope to be with
you in three or four weeks’ time. Oh! let me have the comfort of
finding you all believing and loving. Farewell, my dear brethren! The
blessing of God be with you all! This is the earnest desire of
“Your unworthy minister,
“JOHN FLETCHER.”[131]
Footnote 131:
“Thirteen Original Letters,” by Fletcher, published at Bath in 1791,
p. 20.
This is a long but valuable letter—valuable for the sentiments and
advice it contains, and also as showing Fletcher’s loving and faithful
passion to save the souls of his parishioners. Comment upon it would be
easy, but is unnecessary. When he wrote it, on September 23, he intended
to return to Madeley in “three or four weeks’ time,” but at the
beginning of November he was still in London. In a letter to Mr. Powys,
dated the first of that month, Whitefield remarked, “Dear Mr. Fletcher
is become a scandalous Tottenham Court preacher.”[132] How long he
continued to officiate in Whitefield’s far-famed chapel it is impossible
to tell; but at the beginning of 1767 he was at Madeley, and wrote to
Miss Hatton as follows:—
“MADELEY, _January 9, 1767_.
“MY DEAR FRIEND,—The dream of life will soon be over; the morning of
eternity will soon succeed. Away then with all the shadows of time!
Away from them to the _Eternal Substance—to Jesus, the First and the
Last, by whom, and for whom, all things consist_. If you take Jesus to
be your head, by the mystery of faith, you will be united to the
resurrection and the life. The bitterness of death is past, my dear
friend. _Only_ look to Jesus. He died for you—died in your place—died
under the frowns of heaven, that we might die under its smiles. Regard
neither unbelief nor doubt. Fear neither sin nor hell. Choose neither
life nor death. All these are swallowed up in the immensity of Christ,
and are triumphed over in His cross. Fight the good fight of faith.
Hold fast your confidence in the atoning, sanctifying blood of the
Lamb of God. Confer no more with flesh and blood. Go, meet the
bridegroom. Behold He cometh! Trim your lamp. Quit yourself like a
soldier of Jesus. I _entreat_ you, as a companion in tribulation; I
_charge_ you, as a minister, go, at every breath you draw, to Him, who
says, ‘Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out:’ and ‘He
that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.’
Joyfully sing the believer’s song, ‘O death, where is thy sting? O
grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, who giveth us the
victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ!’ Let your surviving friends
triumph over you, as one faithful unto death,—as one triumphing in
death itself.”[133]
Footnote 132:
Whitefield’s Works, vol. iii., p. 339.
Footnote 133:
Letters, 1791, p. 189.
Three weeks after this, the Christian lady thus addressed was dead.[134]
Fletcher, in a letter to Mr. Ireland, wrote:—
“Poor Miss Hatton died full of serenity, faith, and love. The four
last hours of her life were better than all her sickness. When the
pangs of death were upon her, the comforts of the Almighty bore her
triumphantly through, and some of her last words were: ‘Grieve not at
my happiness. This world is no more to me than a bit of burnt paper.
Grace! Grace! A sinner saved! I wish I could tell you half of what I
feel and see. I am going to keep an everlasting Sabbath. O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God,
who giveth me the victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ!’ It is very
remarkable that she had hardly any joy in her illness; but God made
her ample amends in her extremity. He keeps His strongest cordial for
the time of need. Blessed, for ever blessed, be His holy name!”[135]
Footnote 134:
_Ibid_, p. 190.
Footnote 135:
Letters, 1791, p. 192.
As already stated, Fletcher, when in London, had preached in Tottenham
Court Road Chapel. Whitefield wrote a letter, thanking him for his
services. Fletcher’s highly characteristic reply was as follows:—
“REV. AND DEAR SIR,—I am confounded when I receive a letter from you.
Present and eternal contempt from Christ and all His members is what I
deserve. A sentence of death is my due; but, instead of it, I am
favoured with lines of love. Your mentioning my poor ministrations
among your congregation opens again a wound of shame, that was but
half healed. I feel the need of asking God, you, and your hearers to
pardon me, for weakening the glorious matter of the Gospel by my
wretched broken manner, and for spoiling the heavenly power of it by
the uncleanness of my heart and lips.
“I should be glad to be your curate some time this year; but I see no
opening, nor the least prospect of any. What between the dead and
living, a parish ties one down more than a wife. If I could go
anywhere this year, it should be to Yorkshire, to accompany Lady
Huntingdon, according to a design that I had half formed last year;
but I fear I shall be debarred even from this. I set out, God willing,
to-morrow morning for Trevecca, to meet her ladyship there, and to
show her the way to Madeley, where she proposes to stay three or four
days, on her way to Derbyshire.
“Last Sunday seven-night, Captain Scott preached to my congregation a
sermon, which was more blessed, though preached only upon my
horse-block, than a hundred of those I preach in the pulpit. I invited
him to come and treat her ladyship next Sunday with another, now the
place is consecrated. If you should ever favour Shropshire with your
presence, you shall have the captain’s, or the parson’s, pulpit at
your option. Many ask me, whether you will not come to have some fruit
here also. What must I answer them? I, and many more, complain of a
stagnation of the work. What must we do? Everything buds and blossoms
about us, yet our winter is not over.
“Present my Christian respects to Mrs. Whitefield, Mr. Hardy, Mr.
Keen, Mr. Joyce, Mr. Croom, and Mr. Wright. Tell Mr. Keen I am a
letter in his debt, and postpone writing it till I have had such a
sight of Christ as to breathe His love through every line.
“I am, rev. and dear Sir, with sincere affection and respect, your
willing, though halting and unworthy servant,
“J. FLETCHER.”[136]
Footnote 136:
_Evangelical Magazine_, 1802, p. 346.
Captain Scott, the martial evangelist, mentioned in this letter, was a
Shropshire man, and belonged to an ancient and respectable family. He
had begun his military life as a cornet, and had been promoted to the
rank of captain in the 7th regiment of dragoons. A short time before his
first visit to Madeley, Fletcher, in a letter to the Countess of
Huntingdon, remarked:—
“I went last Monday to meet Captain Scott, one of the fruits that have
grown for the Lord at Oathall,—a captain of a truth—a bold soldier of
Christ. God has thrown down before him the middle wall of bigotry, and
he boldly launches into an irregular usefulness. For some months, he
has exhorted his dragoons daily; and, for some weeks, he has preached
publicly in the Methodist Meeting House, in his regimentals, to
numerous congregations, with good success. The stiff regular ones
pursue him with hue and cry; but, I believe, he is quite beyond their
reach. God keep him zealous and simple! I believe this _red coat_ will
shame many a _black one_. I am sure he shames me.”[137]
Footnote 137:
“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., pp. 317, 318.
In the year 1767, the Countess of Huntingdon was much occupied in making
preparations for the opening of her college at Trevecca, in Wales. From
the commencement of this important project, Fletcher was one of her
ladyship’s chosen advisers. In the month of April, he met her at
Trevecca, and escorted her to Madeley, where she spent several days on
her way to Yorkshire. The visit was a memorable one. Her ladyship was
accompanied by Lady Anne Erskine and Miss Orton. The rich Christian
communion of these three noble ladies with the poor vicar may be
imagined, but cannot be described. It was, probably, at this period that
the Countess was led to think of Fletcher as the future president of her
college. At all events, in the following year, he was appointed to that
important office.[138]
Footnote 138:
_Ibid_, vol. i., p. 288; ii., p. iv.
Captain Scott also was at Madeley, and though Fletcher, of course, could
not allow him the use of the pulpit of the parish church, he had him
mounted upon the horse-block of the parish parsonage, where he preached
twice, on Sunday, to large congregations; and on the day following, in
Madeley Wood, an immense concourse of people assembled to hear him, many
of whom were drawn thither by curiosity, to see the famous Countess and
the preaching soldier.
Up to the time of the Countess’s visit, Fletcher was in doubt whether he
would be able to attend her in Yorkshire, but, before she left Madeley
Vicarage, it was arranged that he should follow her immediately after
Whit-Sunday. Mr. Ireland wished him to visit Bristol, and certainly he
had some claim upon him; for, to say nothing of the valuable presents he
had sent, for the use of Fletcher and the poor of Madeley, he had
secured for them a most acceptable curate, to serve the parish during
Fletcher’s absence. Fletcher, for the present, was obliged to decline
his friend’s invitation. Hence the following letter to him:—
“MADELEY, _April 27, 1767_.
“MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,—I have just received your letter, upon my
arrival from Wales with dear Lady Huntingdon, who is, of a truth, a
_tried stone_, built upon the _corner stone_, and such as you have
seen her, such, I am persuaded, you will find her to the last,—a soul
devoted to Jesus, living by faith, going to Christ Himself by the
Scriptures, instead of resting in the letter of the Gospel promises,
as too many professors do.
“I thank you for your care to procure not only a supply for my church,
but such an agreeable, acceptable, and profitable one as Mr. Brown. I
know no one that should be more welcome than he. Tell him, with a
thousand thanks for his condescension, that I deliver my charge over
to him fully, and give him a _carte blanche_, to do or not to do, as
the Lord will direct him. I have settled it, that I shall endeavour to
overtake my lady at Kippax, in Yorkshire, against the Sunday after
Whitsuntide.
“With regard to the Bristol journey, I must first come from the north,
before I dream of going to the south. God help us to steer immovably
to the grand point of our salvation,—_Jesus_, the _Crucified_! To Him
I recommend myself, and you, and my noble guests. Love Him,—praise
Him,—serve Him, who hath loved you, bought you, and died for
you.”[139]
Footnote 139:
Letters, 1791, p. 196.
In the year 1767, Whit-Sunday occurred on June 7, and, during the week
following, Fletcher joined the Countess of Huntingdon at Huddersfield,
where her ladyship was staying, for a few days, with Venn, at the
vicarage. On Sunday, the 14th, he preached twice in Venn’s church, to
large and deeply attentive congregations. He then accompanied the
Countess to Aberford, on a visit to Benjamin Ingham, who had married her
niece, Lady Margaret Hastings. Whilst there, accompanied by the Rev.
Joseph Townsend, Rector of Pewsey, in Wiltshire, who had preached at the
opening of Lady Huntingdon’s chapel at Bath, in 1765, the whole family
party at Aberford made an excursion to Haworth. Grimshaw, the
brave-hearted incumbent, to whom Yorkshire Methodism owes so much, had
died four years before, and had been succeeded by the Rev. Mr.
Richardson, a good man, and evangelical in his principles, but averse to
open-air preaching, in which his predecessor had delighted. The intended
visit to Haworth having become known, and it being understood that
Fletcher and Mr. Townsend would preach, an immense multitude of people
assembled to hear them. Application was made for the use of what was
called “Mr. Whitefield’s pulpit,” that is, a scaffold erected by the
side of Haworth church, and from which Whitefield was wont to thunder
his overwhelming sermons. Mr. Richardson refused the request. Lady
Huntingdon remonstrated; and, though it is not stated that the scaffold
was brought out, it is known that both Fletcher and Townsend preached in
the churchyard.
On leaving Aberford, the Countess and her friends proceeded to Kippax,
on a visit to her niece, Mrs. Medhurst. Here, at the beginning of July,
they were joined by the Rev. Martin Madan; and now the village of Kippax
became the centre of some of the most remarkable evangelistic efforts
recorded in Methodistic annals. For some weeks, Fletcher, of Madeley;
Madan, from London; Venn, Vicar of Huddersfield; Conyers, Rector of
Helmsley; Burnet, Vicar of Elland; Ryland, Curate of Huddersfield;
Bentley, Vicar of Kippax; and Powley, Vicar of Dewsbury, made frequent
excursions not only in the immediate neighbourhood of Kippax, but to
distant parts of the county, affectionately inviting the multitudes who
flocked to hear them to flee from the wrath to come.[140] Unfortunately,
the details of these missionary labours seem to be irrecoverably lost;
and it can only be added that, in consequence of being seized with a
rather alarming illness, the Countess of Huntingdon was not able to take
part in many of the services. After Fletcher’s return to Madeley, he
wrote to her ladyship as follows:—
“MY VERY DEAR AND HONOURED LADY,—The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
who tried Israel, and led them through many a wandering to the good
land—this faithful God has met with you; a _rod_ is in His hand, but
that hand bears so _deep_ a print of love, that the design of His
visitation cannot be mistaken. Nor does He come without the supporting
_staff_. He kills to make alive. He wounds to heal. He afflicts to
comfort, and to do it more deeply and effectually. My hearty prayer
for your ladyship is, that you may drink the cup the Lord holds out to
you as a new token of His unchangeable love. I call it unchangeable,
because it is really so in its nature, though the appearances of it
greatly vary for the trial of faith. ‘I am God,’ says He; ‘I change
not, therefore Israel is not consumed,’ and Shadrach is kept in the
burning fiery furnace.
“I have often heard your ladyship speak admirably upon knowing Christ,
and the power of His resurrection, and _the fellowship of His
sufferings_. The Lord will have you improve in that heavenly
knowledge; therefore He gives you so long a lesson at this time. The
lesson is hard, I grant; but the Master is _so loving_, the science so
noble, and the scholar so used to severe exercises, that it is no
wonder you are placed on the highest form. No cross—no crown! The
heavier the cross, the brighter the crown!
“Till I received Lady Anne’s letter, I often wanted to persuade myself
that your ladyship had got quite well soon after I left Kippax. I beg
my best respects and warmest thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Medhurst, Miss
Medhurst, and the dear company of your ladyship. Their kindness and
patience towards me while at Kippax have laid me under a heavy burden
of obligations, which I desire gratefully to acknowledge.
“Through a mistake of our good friend Ireland, dear Mr. Glascott came
here the day after I arrived from Yorkshire. He stayed only one day.
This stripling will throw down Goliath. I blessed that cross and
accident which brought me acquainted with a young soldier that made me
so ashamed of myself. Mr. Hill[141] is gone to Brighton, where I hope
he will be as useful as he is in Shropshire. Captain Scott set out
last Monday for York, after making a great stir for good in
Shrewsbury.
“I am loth to trouble Lady Anne with a request of a line, to know how
your ladyship does, yet I know not well how to give up the hope that
she will once more steal two minutes for it.
“I am, with peculiar thanks to Lady Anne for her letter, and to your
ladyship for numberless favours, my lady, your most indebted and
obliged servant,
“J. FLETCHER.”[142]
Footnote 140:
“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., pp. 290, 291.
Footnote 141:
Afterwards Sir Richard Hill, Bart., one of Fletcher’s antagonists in
the Calvinian controversy.
Footnote 142:
“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., p. 296.
No further reference to the illness of the Countess of Huntingdon is
needed; but a few lines may be added concerning Mr. Glascott, whom Mr.
Ireland had sent to Madeley to officiate during Fletcher’s supposed
absence. This young clergyman had been ordained at Oxford in 1765. For
two years, he had served the curacy of Cheveley, in Berkshire, and had
been recently dismissed. He was now introduced to Lady Huntingdon,
became her assistant chaplain, and laboured in her connexion till 1781.
Mr. Ireland then presented him to the vicarage of Hatherleigh, in
Devonshire. Here he prayed and preached for nearly fifty years; and here
he died, in the full triumph of the faith of Christ, on the 18th of
August, 1830.[143]
Footnote 143:
_Ibid_, vol. ii., p. 464.
For years past, Fletcher and Whitefield had been sympathizing and
warm-hearted friends, but, up to the present, Whitefield had not been to
Madeley. After Fletcher’s departure from Yorkshire, Whitefield succeeded
him in that county, and glorious were the seasons which Lady Huntingdon
and the great evangelist enjoyed at Kippax, Huddersfield, Leeds, and
other places. Fletcher urged Whitefield to call at Madeley on his way to
what he called his “winter quarters” in London; but Whitefield found it
impracticable to comply with his friend’s request.[144] Thus was lost an
opportunity that did not recur. Whitefield never preached in Madeley
church. He died in 1770.
Footnote 144:
_Ibid_, vol. i., p. 299.
The Countess of Huntingdon spent the winter of 1767 chiefly at Bath, and
was in constant correspondence with Fletcher concerning her college at
Trevecca. Her proposal was to admit no young men except such as were
truly converted to God, and resolved to dedicate themselves to His
service. All admitted might stay three years, and be clothed, boarded,
lodged, and educated gratuitously. Afterwards, those who desired it
might enter the Christian ministry, either in the Church of England or
among Protestants of any other denomination. The scheme was generous,
and as free from bigotry as it could be. Her ladyship had to select
first of all a president, and her choice fell upon Fletcher. He accepted
her invitation. It was impossible that he should be generally resident
at Trevecca, much less constantly; his duty to his Madeley parishioners
would not admit of this; but he promised to attend as often as he
conveniently could; to give advice respecting the appointment of masters
and the admission of students; to revise the studies and conduct of the
latter, and to assist their piety, and judge of their qualifications for
the work of the ministry. All this was to be done without any fee or
reward whatever.
The plan for the examination of candidates for admission was drawn up by
her ladyship. It was then submitted to Romaine, Venn, Wesley, and
others, and received their approval. The Countess finally sent it to her
president elect, who returned the following answer:—
“MADELEY, _November 24, 1767_.
“MY DEAR LADY,—I received the proposals which your ladyship has drawn
up for the examination of the young men who may appear proper
candidates for the Trevecca academy; and I gratefully acknowledge your
kindness in allowing me to propose suitable young men resident in my
parish.
“Our Israel is small, my lady, and if among six hundred thousand only
two faithful men were found of old, the Joshuas and Calebs cannot be
numerous among us. After having perused the articles, and looked round
about me, I designed to answer your ladyship, ‘_Out of this Galilee
ariseth no prophet_.’ With this resolution I went to bed, but, in my
sleep, was much taken up with the thought and remembrance of one of my
young colliers, who told me, some months ago, that for four years he
had been inwardly persuaded he should be called to speak for God. I
looked upon the unusual impression of my dream as a call to speak to
the young man, and at waking desired to do so at the first
opportunity. To my great surprise, he came to Madeley that very
morning, and I found upon enquiry that he had been as much drawn to
come as I to speak to him. This encouraged me to speak of your
ladyship’s design, and I was satisfied by his conversation that I
might venture to propose him to your ladyship for further examination.
“His name is _James Glazebrook_, collier and getter of ironstone in
Madeley wood. He is now twenty-three—by look nineteen. He has been
awakened seven years. He has been steady from the beginning of his
profession, at least so far as to be kept outwardly unblameable, but
has seemed to me to walk mostly in heaviness. What I told him was as
oil put into a glimmering lamp, and he seems to revive upon hearing of
the little outward call. Notwithstanding his strong desire to exhort,
he has not yet attempted to do so; and his not being forward to run of
himself, makes me have the better hope his call is from God. He has no
mean gift in singing and prayer. His judgment and sense are superior
to his station, and he does not seem to be discouraged by the severest
part of your ladyship’s proposals. One difficulty stood in the way. He
maintains by his labour his aged mother; but this is made easy by his
mother’s leave, and the promise of an elder son to maintain her if he
can have his brother’s place in the pit.
“With regard to the superintendency of the college, or the examination
of the candidates, I know myself too well to dream about it;
nevertheless, so far as my present calling and poor abilities will
allow, I am ready to throw my mite into the treasury.
“Some of our conversations upon the manifestations of the Son of Man
to the heart have led me into many an hour’s consideration. The Holy
Ghost alone can clear up the points to pursue. Nevertheless, I have
found both comfort and profit in setting upon paper the reflections I
have been enabled to make upon the mysterious subject; and they have,
through mercy, set my soul more than ever against the rampant errors
of Sandemanianism. Should Providence ever favour me with an
opportunity, I would bespeak an hour of your ladyship’s time to ratify
my views of the point, under God.
“I am happily provided with a schoolmaster to my mind, and my ministry
is the last under which I would advise any one intended for a preacher
to sit. Nevertheless, if the young candidate, (Mr. Eastwood) mentioned
in the letter, wants retirement and a prophet’s room at my house he
may have it, if he can cook for himself or find a table in the
neighbourhood.”[145]
Footnote 145:
“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., p. 82.
There is only one other incident, in the life of Fletcher, deserving
attention and belonging to the year 1767; and as it can be summarily
dispatched, it may be best to mention it at once, before returning to
two matters in his letter to the Countess of Huntingdon, which will
require more extended notice.
On December 1, the tenth Earl of Buchan died at Bath, and was succeeded
by his son, who appointed Fletcher, Venn, and Berridge to be his
chaplains. In a letter to Lady Huntingdon, referring to the appointment,
Fletcher wrote:—
“I have just received a letter from Lord Buchan, in which he says,
‘Pray for me, that I also may be found faithful when our Master calls
for me, and that I may live a martyr to redeeming love, and die a
trophy and a monument of the reality of the despised influences of the
Holy Ghost.’ It is a singular honour to belong to so excellent a
nobleman. Oh! how far below his grace is his nobility! I feel a strong
desire to pray that he may be kept from the fickleness of youth[146]
and the baits of ambition. I share in the happiness of Lady Buchan and
Lady Anne Erskine upon the occasion. May God make them, together with
your ladyship, a fourfold cord to draw sinners unto Jesus.”[147]
Footnote 146:
The new earl was only twenty-four years of age.
Footnote 147:
“Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., p. 19.
Fletcher evidently was pleased with his appointment. The emoluments of
his new office probably were small, perhaps _nil_; but, by means of it,
he became associated with one of the most pious and exemplary noblemen
of the day.
To recur to Fletcher’s former letter to the Countess of Huntingdon.
He nominated James Glazebrook as a fitting candidate to be examined for
admission into Lady Huntingdon’s intended college. As already stated,
Glazebrook was a poor, hardworking collier. He was without money and
without learning; but he had two of the three things by which Wesley
tested the Divine call of his itinerants to preach; namely, “_grace_”
and “_gifts_;” and Fletcher had no doubt that when the opportunity
arrived, he would have the third—“_fruit_.” Wesley’s own definitions of
these three words were:—
“_Grace_: a knowledge of God as a pardoning God; the love of God
abiding in them; desiring and seeking nothing but God; and the being
holy in all manner of conversation. _Gifts_: in some tolerable degree
a clear, sound understanding; a right judgment in the things of God; a
just conception of salvation by faith; and a degree of utterance so as
to be able to speak justly, readily, clearly. _Fruit_: are any truly
convinced of sin and converted to God by their preaching? As long as
these three marks concur in any, we believe he is called of God to
preach.”
Whether Fletcher adopted Wesley’s threefold test, and applied it to
James Glazebrook, it is impossible to ascertain; but that his opinion of
the young man was correct, subsequent events fully proved. Glazebrook
was one of Fletcher’s converts. He was one of the first students at
Trevecca college, if not _the very first_. There he distinguished
himself equally by his superior abilities and his uncommon diligence. He
allowed himself but little time for refreshment, rest, or recreation.
His piety was as remarkable as his gifts and diligence. He was soon sent
forth to preach, and his labours were attended with considerable
success. For three years, he was thus employed in various parts of
England. He then tired of the itinerant life, and desired the Countess
of Huntingdon to procure him orders in the Established Church. With the
assistance of Fletcher a title was obtained, and Glazebrook was ordained
deacon by the Bishop of Lichfield, in December 1771. Soon after his
ordination, he entered on the curacy of Smisby, in Derbyshire; after
which he served the curacies of Rowley Regis, near Birmingham; Shawbury,
Shropshire; Ravenstone, in Derbyshire; and Hugglescote, in
Leicestershire. In 1777, he was ordained priest by Dr. Hurd, Bishop of
Worcester. Two years later, he married the eldest daughter of Thomas
Kirkland, Esq., M.D., of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, an intimate friend of the
Countess of Huntingdon; and, soon after his marriage, became minister of
St. James’s, Warrington. Ultimately, Lord Moira presented him to the
vicarage of Belton, a village in Leicestershire, whose living even now
is not worth more than about £180 a year. Here he continued till the
time of his decease; and here, as well as at Warrington and other
places, he was made the honoured instrument of “turning many to
righteousness.” Besides his ministerial labours, he wrote and published
a “Treatise on Extemporary Preaching,” “Letters on Infant Baptism,” an
“Answer to Gilbert Wakefield’s Treatise on Baptism,” and, after his
death, his family published a volume of his sermons, which was well
received by the public. Such, in brief, was the history of Fletcher’s
convert and _protegé_. Further particulars concerning him may be found
in the _Evangelical Register_ for 1836.
The other matter, requiring attention, in Fletcher’s letter to Lady
Huntingdon, under the date of November 24, 1767, is his reference to the
conversations he had had with her ladyship upon the “Manifestations of
the Son of Man to the heart,” and the fact that he had devoutly studied
this mysterious subject for “many hours,” and had put his thoughts “upon
paper.” This important manuscript was not published until after
Fletcher’s death. The editor of his collected works, in a brief preface,
says:—
“For the Letters on the Manifestation of Christ, the reader is obliged
to Mrs. Fletcher. When they were written, or to whom they are
addressed, is uncertain; but, from the beginning of the first letter,
the decayed state of the manuscript, and the extreme smallness of the
character, which could scarcely have been legible to the author in his
latter years, they are supposed to have been the first essay of a
genius afterwards so much admired. The reader is requested to remember
that the pious author wrote only for himself and his friends; that
these sheets want his perfecting hand; and that the editor thought
himself entitled to take no liberties.”
From this preface, it is evident that the editor was not acquainted with
the foregoing letter to the Countess of Huntingdon; and it may be added,
that there is no need for the apology, that the “sheets want” Fletcher’s
“perfecting hand.”
The Letters are six in number, and fill fifty-three octavo pages in
Fletcher’s collected works.[148] It is extremely difficult to give, in a
brief form, the substance of these important papers; and yet the task
must be attempted, because the subject is one of great interest and
because the Letters seem to have been among the earliest of his
compositions, that were afterwards published.
Footnote 148:
They were first published by the Rev. Melville Horne, in 1791, with
the title, “Six Letters on the Spiritual Manifestation of the Son of
God.”
His object is clearly stated in his opening paragraph:—
“When I had the pleasure of seeing you last, you seemed surprised to
hear me say, that the Son of God, for purposes worthy of His wisdom,
manifests Himself, sooner or later, to all His sincere followers, in a
spiritual manner, which the world knows not of. The assertion appeared
to you unscriptural, enthusiastical, and dangerous. What I then
advanced to prove that it was scriptural, rational, and of the
greatest importance, made you desire I would write you on the
mysterious subject. I declined it, as being unequal to the task; but,
having since considered that a mistake here may endanger your soul or
mine, I sit down to comply with your request; and the end I propose by
it is, either to give you a fair opportunity of pointing out my error,
if I am wrong, or to engage you, if I am right, to seek what I esteem
the most invaluable of all blessings,—revelations of Christ to your
own soul, productive of the experimental knowledge of Him, and the
present enjoyment of His salvation.”
“I shall not be able to establish the doctrine I maintain unless you
allow me the existence of the proper senses, to which our Lord
manifests Himself. The manifestation I contend for being of a
spiritual nature, must be made to spiritual senses; and that such
senses exist, and are opened in, and exercised by, regenerate souls,
is what I design to prove in this letter” (the first), “by the joint
testimony of Scripture, our Church, and reason.”
In his second letter, Fletcher defines what he means, and does not mean,
by the manifestations of the Son of God to the soul of man. In the third
and fourth, he dwells on the uses of such manifestations. The fifth
contains a summary of the numerous appearances of the Son of God during
the Old Testament dispensation, and concludes with answers to the
objection that these appearances proved “only, that God favoured the
patriarchs and Jews with immediate revelations of Himself, because they
had neither the Gospel nor the Scriptures.” Fletcher’s fourth answer to
this objection is so characteristic that it must be quoted:—
“If, because we have the letter of Scripture, we must be deprived of
all immediate manifestations of Christ and His spirit, we are great
losers by that blessed book, and we might reasonably say, ‘Lord, bring
us back to the dispensation of Moses! Thy Jewish servants could
formerly converse with Thee face to face; but now we can know nothing
of Thee, but by their writings. They viewed Thy glory in various
wonderful appearances; but we are indulged only with black lines
telling us of Thy glory. They had the bright Shekinah, and we have
only obscure descriptions of it. They were blessed with lively
oracles; and we only with a dead letter. The ark of Thy covenant went
before them, and struck terror into all their adversaries; but a book,
of which our enemies make daily sport, is the only revelation of Thy
power among us. They made their boast of Urim and Thummim, and
received particular, immediate answers from between the cherubim; but
we have only general ones, by means of Hebrew and Greek writings,
which many do not understand. They conversed familiarly with Moses
their mediator, with Aaron their high priest, and with Samuel their
prophet; these holy men gave them unerring directions in doubtful
cases; but, alas! the apostles and inspired men are all dead; and
Thou, Jesus, our Mediator, Priest, and Prophet, canst not be consulted
to any purpose, for Thou manifestest Thyself no more. As for Thy
sacred book, Thou knowest that sometimes the want of money to purchase
it, the want of learning to consult the original, the want of wisdom
to understand the translation, the want of skill or sight to read it,
prevent our improving it to the best advantage, and keep some from
reaping any benefit from it at all. O Lord! if, because we have this
blessed picture of Thee, we must have no discovery of the glorious
original, have compassion on us, take back Thy precious book, and
impart Thy more precious Self to us, as Thou didst to Thy ancient
people!”
In his sixth and last Letter, Fletcher proves “that the New Testament,
as well as the Old, abounds with accounts of particular revelations of
the Son of God;” and he concludes thus:—
“Having thus led you from Genesis to Revelation, I conclude by two
inferences, which appear to me undeniable. The first, that it is
evident our Lord, before His incarnation, during His stay on earth,
and after His ascension into heaven, hath been pleased, in a variety
of manners, to manifest Himself to the children of men, both for the
benefit of the Church in general, and for the conversion of sinners
and the establishment of saints in particular. Secondly, that the
doctrine, which I maintain, is as old as Adam, as modern as St. John,
the last of the inspired writers, and as scriptural as the Old and New
Testaments, which is what I wanted to demonstrate.”
This is an imperfect outline of Fletcher’s production, but want of space
prevents enlargement. Some, with a scornful jeer, will brand Fletcher as
a mystic; and others, sincerely in search of truth, but who have not
experienced that of which he speaks, will ask his meaning. Leaving the
former to their own infidel or pharisaic wisdom, it may be said in reply
to the latter, Fletcher meant nothing more than what Christ Himself
meant in His sixth beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall _see God_;” and again, in one of His latest utterances, “He that
hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he
that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and
will _manifest Myself to him_.” Or, again, Fletcher meant what St. Paul
meant in texts like the following:—“The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” “God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.” “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the
evidence of things not seen.”
If it be asked, again, what is the meaning of these and such like texts?
it may be answered, substantially,—the meaning is the same as what is
meant by stanzas like the following, written by John or Charles Wesley,
and selected from their Hymn Book, almost at random:—
“Spirit of faith, come down,
Reveal the things of God;
And make to us the Godhead known,
And witness with the blood.
O that the world might know
The all-atoning Lamb!
Spirit of faith! descend and show
The virtue of His name.”
“Come, Holy Ghost, (for moved by Thee
The prophets wrote and spoke),
Unlock the truth, Thyself the key,
Unseal the sacred Book.
Expand Thy wings, celestial Dove,
Brood o’er our nature’s night;
Oh, our disordered spirits move,
And let there now be light.
God, through Himself, we then shall know,
If Thou within us shine;
And sound, with all Thy saints below,
The depths of love divine.”
“Author of faith, eternal word,
Whose spirit breathes the active flame;
Faith, like its finisher and Lord,
To-day, as yesterday, the same:
To Thee our humble hearts aspire,
And ask the gift unspeakable:
Increase in us the kindled fire,
In us the work of faith fulfil.
The things unknown to feeble sense,
Unseen by reason’s glimmering ray,
With strong, commanding evidence,
Their heavenly origin display.
Faith lends its realizing light,
The clouds disperse, the shadows fly;
The Invisible appears in sight,
And God is seen by mortal eye.”
“O disclose Thy lovely face,
Quicken all my drooping powers;
Gasps my fainting soul for grace,
As a thirsty land for showers;
Haste, my Lord, no more delay!
Come, my Saviour, come away!
Dark and cheerless is the morn,
Unaccompanied by Thee;
Joyless is the day’s return,
Till Thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till Thou inward light impart,
Glad my eyes and warm my heart.
Visit, then, this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy Divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.”
If it be asked, again, what means all this? let the enquirer carefully
and devoutly read Fletcher’s Six Letters. He will be wiser and better
for his exercise; and will ascertain that Fletcher and Wesley were not,
in the vulgar sense of the expression, bewildered and bewildering
mystics, but spiritually enlightened, sober, scriptural divines, who,
with reverential and joyous hearts, could sing:—
“What we have felt and seen,
With confidence we tell;
And publish to the sons of men
The signs infallible.
We by His Spirit prove
And know the things of God,
The things, which freely of His love
He hath on us bestow’d.
His glory our design,
We live our God to please;
And rise, with filial fear divine
To perfect holiness.”