Wesley's designated successor: the life, letters, and literary labours of the Rev. John William Fletcher

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WESLEY'S DESIGNATED SUCCESSOR.

OF THE

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" TEAN GUILLAUME DE LA FLECHERE," wrote

Robert Southey, "was a man of rare talents, and rarer virtue. No age or country has ever produced a man of more fervent piety, or more perfect charity ; no Church has ever possessed a more apostolic minister. He was a man of whom Methodism may well be proud, as the most able of its defenders ; and whom the Church of England may hold in remembrance, as one of the most pious and excellent of her sons."

" Fletcher was a saint," said Isaac Taylor, " as unearthly a being as could tread the earth at all."

"Fletcher," remarked Robert Hall, "is a seraph who burns with the ardour of divine love. Spurning the fetters of mortality, he almost habitually seems to have anticipated the rapture of the beatific vision."

Dr. Dixon, one of the greatest of Methodist preachers, observed, " I conceive Fletcher to be the most holy man who has been upon earth since the apostolic age."

No apology is needed for publishing the life of such a man, unless it can be shown that a life worthy of him is already in existence.

Excepting the brief and exceedingly imperfect biography by the Rev. Robert Cox, in 1822, only two Lives of Fletcher

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have been published since his death, ninety-seven years ago ; namely, Wesley's in 1786, and Benson's in 1804.

It is true that, in 1790, the Rev. Joshua Gilpin, Vicar of Rockwardine, appended twenty-nine biographical " Notes " to different chapters of Fletcher's " Portrait of St. Paul ; " but the facts they contained, in addition to those which Wesley had already given, were not many.

A year later, in 1791, the Rev. Melville Home, Curate of Madeley, published " Posthumous Pieces of the late Rev. John William De La Flechere," a volume of 435 pages, nearly 400 of which are filled with Fletcher's Letters to his friends. This volume has been of great service to me in the present work. Many quotations are made from it, and are indicated by the footnotes, "Letters, 1 791."

When Fletcher died, some of his admirers wished Mr. Ireland to be his biographer ; others desired Fletcher's widow to undertake the task. Both of them judiciously declined. Wesley was then fixed upon. He asked Mr. Ireland to supply him with materials, but Mr. Ireland refused : Mrs. Fletcher, however, rendered him important help. In unpublished letters to Sarah Crosby, she writes : —

" Mr. Ireland knew and loved my dear husband as scarcely any other person did ; and if he chooses to print a journal of their travels and of the great spiritual labours of which he was an eye-witness, it would not be wrong. But this is not his intention. He only wishes to gather materials for me. With a good deal of labour, I have collected some sweet fragments, on different subjects, from little pocketbooks, but I have handed them to Mr. Wesley, who, however, tells me he has done nothing towards the Life, and that he has enough to occupy his time for a year to come. Indeed, he seems to be in doubt whether he will be able to write

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vii the Life at all. I hope the accounts I have given him will not be shortened ; if they be, I shall repent that I did not print them myself."

This was written on June 20, 1786, and shows that ten months after Fletcher's death, Wesley had not even begun Fletcher's biography. Fourteen weeks afterwards, he made a start. An extract from his journal is worth quoting : —

"1786. September 25. Monday. We took coach" at Bristol, " in the afternoon ; and on Tuesday morning reached London. I now applied myself in earnest to the writing of Mr. Fletcher's Life, having procured the best materials I could. To this I dedicated all the time I could spare till November, from five in the morning till eight at night. These are my studying hours ; I cannot write longer in a day without hurting my eyes."

For little more than a month the venerable biographer, now in the eighty-fourth year of his age, devoted all the time he " could spare " in preparing the Life of one whom he pronounced the most " unblameable man, in every respect, that, within four-score years," he had " found either in Europe or America ! " The biography was finished in the month of November, and in December was published with the title " A Short Account of the Life and Death of the Rev. John Fletcher. By the Rev. John Wesley. Sequor, 11011 passibus cequis. London, 1786." It certainly was a " SJwrt Account" — a i2mo volume of 227 pages, which would have been much smaller if the type and the space between the lines had been different. This was the first Life of Wesley's greatest friend, and his " Designated Successor" ! The veteran was far too busy to do justice to his great " helper."

Eighteen years elapsed before another and larger Life viii

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was given to the public. This was undertaken in 1801 by the Rev. Joseph Benson, at the request of Fletcher's widow, and of the Methodist Conference of that year. In 1804 it was published with the following title : — " The Life, of the Rev. John W. de la Flechere, compiled from the Narratives of the Reverend Mr. Wesley ; the Biographical Notes of the Reverend Mr. Gilpin ; from his own Letters ; and other Authentic Documents, many of which were never before published. By Joseph Benson." This is the only Life of Fletcher which, in a separate form, has been circulated during the last seventy-eight years.

Of course, during this long period of nearly fourscore years, many new facts and incidents concerning Fletcher have come to light ; and, among these new biographical materials, special mention must be made of the Fletcher MSS. deposited in the Wesleyan Mission House, London, in 1862. Since then, the Methodist "Committee on Book Affairs " has repeatedly expressed the opinion that a new Life of Fletcher ought to be prepared, and, at least, two of the foremost men in Methodism have been requested to undertake the work. One of the two is dead, and the other seems to have as much literary labour in hand as he is able to accomplish. Under such circumstances, I have had the temerity to attempt the task.

I have carefully used all the biographical matter that I have found in the " Short Account " by Wesley ; in the Letters published by Melville Home ; in Gilpin's " Notes ; " in the Life by Benson ; in the Fletcher MSS., just mentioned ; in other MSS. belonging to myself ; in MSS. kindly lent to me ; and in all the Methodist and other publications relating to Fletcher with which I am acquainted.

I have no artistic talent ; and if I had, I should not

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ix employ it in writing biographies. In such publications I am only desirous to see the man, not the artist's drapery. I want to know his doings, sayings, and sufferings, rather than to read philosophic discourses concerning them. My aim, therefore, from first to last, has been to let Fletcher speak for himself. His Letters are invaluable ; the man who can read them without being profited is greatly to be pitied. The extracts from his sermons show how the first Methodists used to preach. The chapters respecting the Calvinian controversy may, to some readers, be somewhat dry, but they could not be omitted, because that controversy was the great event in Fletcher's life, and hastened his death. Besides, it was by his publications on this subject that he rendered service to Wesley and the Methodist movement, which neither Wesley himself nor any other of Wesley's friends could have furnished. I have refrained from discussing the truths which Fletcher's pen defended ; but I have said enough to indicate what the doctrines were which created Methodism, and which alone can perpetuate its spiritual life and power.

The portrait of Fletcher is taken from an exceedingly scarce engraving, in the Methodist Museum, at Centenary Hall, London.

I think I may say, without exposing myself to the charge of arrogance or conceit, that, in this volume, the reader will find all the facts of any importance that are known concerning Fletcher, and that here, more than in any previous publication, is illustrated the intellectual and saintly character of one of the holiest men that ever lived.

L. TYERMAN.

Stanhope House, Clapham Park, S.W.

October 7, 1882.

GENERAL CONTENTS.

Introduction

PAGE

Wesley requests Fletcher to be his successor — Others who might have been designated I — 3

Chapter I

From Fletcher's Birth to his coming to England in 1752.

Parentage — Birthplace — Early piety — Remarkable deliverances from danger — Education at Geneva — Removed to Lentzburg — Wishes to be a soldier 4 — 9

Chapter II

From his coming to England to his Ordination, 1752 — 1757.

Arrives in London— Admitted to Mr. Burchell's school — Becomes tutor to sons of Thomas Hill, Esq. — Letter to his brother Henry — Introduced to Methodists — His conversion — A millenarian — A Catechumen — Acquaintance with Mr. Vaughan — Richard Edwards, his class-leader — Letters to Wesley — His ordination . 10 — 27

Chapter III

From His Ordination to his Settlement at Madeley, 1757— 1760.

A favourite among the first Methodists — Preaches in Shropshire — Letter to Wesley — Thomas Walsh — Letter to his class-leader — Introduced to Lady Huntingdon — Preaching to French prisoners — Letter to Charles Wesley — Letter to Sarah Ryan — Christian Perfection — Fletcher and his foes — Proposal to go to the West Indies — Death of Thomas Walsh — Letter to Charles Wesley — A Convert — Conversion of Mr. Richard Hill — Temptation — Letters to Charles Wesley — Dorothy Furley — Visits Lady Huntingdon — Her ladyship's proposal — Fletcher's first published sermon — Earl Ferrars — Glorious services at Everton — Choosing a benefice — Letters to Lady Huntingdon — Commencement of ministry at Madeley . . 28 — 60 xii

Chapter IV

First Two Years at Madeley, 1760 — 1762. page Madeley — Branded a Methodist — Increasing labours — Madeley Wood and Coalbrook Dale — Rev. Mr. Prothero's sermon — The publicans — Fletcher's first sermons at Madeley — Mary Matthews — Answers to an objection — "The Rock Church" — Letter to a Papist— Persecutions — Letter to Rev. Mr. Hutton — Testimony of Rev. Mr. Gilpin . ... . . . ; . . 61—83

CHAPTER V. Three Quiet Successful Years. 1762 — 1765

Fanaticism among the London Methodists — Rules of Fletcher's Methodist Societies — A troublesome member — A quiet year — Reasons for and against matrimony — The furious butcher — Letters to Miss Hatton — Wesley's first visit to Madeley — Simplicity of living — Alexander Mather — -Fletcher at Breedon — Fletcher's first pastoral letter — Fletcher and his relatives .... 84 — 105

CHAPTER VI. Two Years More. 1766 — 1767

Fletcher depressed — Rejoicing on account of other men's success — Letters to Miss Hatton and Miss Ireland — Thanks for a present — An excursion to Brighton, etc.— Pastoral letter — Miss Hatton dying — Letter to Whitefield — Lady Huntingdon at Madeley — Captain Scott — Fletcher in Yorkshire — Letter to Lady Huntingdon — Rev. Cradock Glascott — Trevecca College — Fletcher appointed chaplain of the Earl of Buchan — James Glazebrook — "Manifestations of the Son of God " 106 — 130

Chapter VII

Trevecca College : Visit to Switzerland, etc. 1768 — 1770. Joseph Easterbrook — Books for Trevecca College — Letter on Conversation — Expulsion of six students at Oxford — Letter to Whitefield — Opening of Trevecca College — Letters to Mr. and Miss Ireland— Rev. John Jones — Mr. John Henderson, B.A. — First anniversary of Trevecca College — Rev. Walter Sellon — Anti- Popery sermon— Joseph Benson — Letter to Mr. Ireland— Visit to Switzerland 131 — 163

Chapter VIII

Commencement of the Calvinian Controversy. 1770—1771. Letter to masters and students of Trevecca College — Fletcher at Trevecca College — Letter to Rev. David Simpson — Wesley's Doctrinal Minutes — Second anniversary of Trevecca College — Wesley's sermon on the death of Whitefield — Letter of Lady Glenorchy — Joseph Benson dismissed from Trevecca College — Fletcher's unpublished letter to Wesley — Fletcher resigns his

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office at Trevecca — Important unpublished manuscript — The storm brewing — Shirley's Circular Letter — Fletcher's " First Check to Antinomianism " — Shirley's " Narrative" — Fletcher's Letter to Shirley — Fletcher's Vindication of Wesley's " Minutes "

164—205

CHAPTER IX. " Second Check to Antinomianism." 1771

Letters in the Gospel Magazine — Unpublished letter to Joseph Benson — Prevalent Antinomianism — Richard Hill's pamphlet respecting a conversation with a monk .... 206 — 217

CHAPTER X. "Third Check to Antinomianism." 1772

Edward Elwall — Unpublished letter to Sellon — -Letter to the Dublin Methodists — Richard Hill's Five Letters — Fletcher's reply to them — Divine Grace given to all — Good men doing the Devil's work — Advices to Arminians 218 — 233

CHAPTER XL "Fourth Check to Antinomianism." 1772.

Richard Hill's "Review of all the Doctrines taught by the Rev. J. Wesley"— -Richard Hill's " Six Letters" to Fletcher— Rowland Hill's " Friendly Remarks" — " Logica Genevensis" — Wesley's "Remarks o?z Mr. Hill's Review" — Unpublished letter by John Pawson — Fletcher rebukes Rowland Hill — Absurdities of Calvinism — Free Will — Unpublished letter by Richard Hill to W T alter Sellon 234 — 253

Chapter XII

"Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense." 1772. Manuscript lost — Dedication — Doctrine of Original Sin — Colliers, bargemen, and iron-workers — England's favourite amusements — Ten inferences . 254 — 262

Chapter XIII

Wesley's Designated Successor, etc., etc. 1773. Wesley requests Fletcher to be his successor — Fletcher's reply — Wesley respecting Fletcher and Whitefield — Samuel Bradburn visits Fletcher — Correspondence in 1773 — The penitent thief — The earthquake — Fletcher's sermon on it . . . . 263 — 278

CHAPTER XIV. "The Finishing Stroke," etc. 1773

" The Finishing Stroke" — " The Farrago Double Distilled" — Berridge's " Christiaji World Unmasked" — Letters by Berridge — Richard Hill desiring peace — Richard Hill's " Three Letters" to Fletcher — " Creed for Arminians and Perfectionists" 279 — 293 xiv

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Chapter XV

"Fifth Check to Antinomianism." 1774. page Toplady's letter to Ambrose Serle — " Logica Genevensis continued'' — Remaining differences — Fletcher answering Berridge — Wesley on Fletcher's " Checks" — Lady Huntingdon wishes an interview with Fletcher— Fletcher's reply— Fletcher writing and weary. 294—301

CHAPTER XVI. Further Publications in 1774

"Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism" — Doleful picture — Letter to Lady Huntingdon — Saving Faith — The Athanasian Creed — Letters to J. Benson and C. Wesley . . 302 — 311

CHAPTER XVII. Publications in the Year 1775

" Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism continued'''' — ' ' Scripture Scales " — ' ' The Fictitious and the Genuine Creed ' ' — The controversy has done Fletcher good — Rev. Thomas Reader visits Fletcher — Christian perfection — Letter to J. Benson — Wesley dangerously ill — Charles Wesley writes to Fletcher — Fletcher's reply — "Checks to Antinomianism" — Reconciliations — Dr. Coke's Letter to Fletcher — Letter to C. Wesley

3 12 — 333

CHAPTER XVIII. Publications in the Year 1776

Toplady — Fletcher's "Answer to the Vindication of the Decrees" — Toplady attacks Wesley — Fletcher answers Toplady — Review of six years' work — Rev. Caleb Evans' letter on Wesley's " Calm Address" — Fletcher's " Vindication of the Calm Address" — Mr. Evans' 11 Reply" to Fletcher's " Vindication" — Fletcher publishes "American Patriotism" — A Public Fast — "The Bible and the Sword" — The Monthly Review on Fletcher — Government desires to reward Fletcher .... 334 — 353

CHAPTER XIX. Correspondence in 1776

Fletcher's labours and abstinence — Again objects to become Wesley's successor — An excursion with Wesley — Fletcher discouraged — Unpublished letter by J. Benson — Another work for the press — ' ' Driving Methodism and Still Mysticism — Fletcher dangerously ill — C. Wesley's hymn — Michael Onions — Letters — Fletcher apparently dying — An impromptu hymn — Wesley escorts Fletcher to London — Another excursion with Wesley — Second visit to Berridge — Fletcher and Venn at St. Neots— Charles

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Greenwood — Fletcher resides with him — Letter "to the parishioners of Madeley " 354 — 375

CHAPTER XX. Publications and Correspondence in 1777

"The Doctrines of Grace and Justice eqitally Essential to the Pure Gosftel" — Fletcher a millenarian — " Bible Arminianism a?id Bible Calvmism" — "The Plan of Reco7iciliation'" — Another letter to his parishioners — Letter to W. Wase — Letters to Rev. V. Perronet and his daughter — -Fletcher visited by his friends — Fletcher's letter to his bishop — Charles Perronet dies — Fletcher's sojourn at Stoke Newington — Removes to Mr. Ireland's, at Brislington — Meets Henry Venn — Attends Wesley's Conference — Rev. David Lloyd — James Rogers visits Fletcher — Letter to Rev. V. Perronet — Unpublished letter to Miss Bosanquet — Lady Mary Fitzgerald — Letters to her and to Mrs. Thornton — Preparing to leave England — Farewell letters . . . 376 — 408

CHAPTER XXI. A Long Retirement. 1778 — 1781

Journey to the south of France — Unpublished letter to Miss Bosanquet — Sermon concerning the New Birth — Letters to Rev. Mr. Greaves, W. Perronet, the Wesley Brothers, and Dr. Conyers — The Perronet estate in Switzerland— Unpublished letter to Mr. Power — Fletcher among children — Fletcher and his nephew — Messages to Madeley — Preaching at an execution — William Perronet joins Fletcher — A perilous journey — Letter to Mr. Ireland — Letters to Madeley — Other letters — Trials in Switzerland — An attack of rheumatism — Letter to his curate — National distress — Methodist meeting house at Madeley Wood — W. Perronet' s unpublished letter — In a "miserable lodging" — Loss of manuscripts — Religion in Switzerland — Letters to Madeley — House of Fletcher's nativity — Letters to W. Wase, J. Owen, and M. Onions — Joins Mr. Ireland at Montpelier — Return to England — Thomas Rankin visits Fletcher at Brislington — Unpublished letter to Miss Bosanquet. . 409 — 450

Chapter XXII

Literary Work done in Retirement. • ' La Grace et la Nature "— ' ' The Portrait of St. Paul. ' ' 45 1—459

Chapter XXIII

The First Three Months after the Return to Madeley. 1781 Affairs in confusion— Letter to Wesley— Rev. Cornelius Bayley— Correspondence with Miss Loxdale— Letters to Wesley and T. Rankin— Attends Wesley' s Conference at Leeds — Joseph Pescod' s letter — Fletcher the guest of Miss Bosanquet — A remarkable meeting at Leeds — Sanctification— Visits Sheffield . . 460 — 472 xvi Contents.

CHAPTER XXIV. Fletcher's Marriage. 1781

Letters to Miss Perronet and to Lady Mary Fitzgerald — History of Miss Bosanquet — Her Orphanage at Leyton — Her fortune and her debts — Her removal to Yorkshire — She turns farmer and maltster — Debts and difficulties — Fletcher proposes to marry her — Fletcher on celibacy — Unpublished love-letter — Unpublished letters to Miss Bosanquet' s uncle and her brother — Further correspondence — Settling affairs in Yorkshire — The wedding and letters respecting it 473 — 500

Chapter XXV

Two Years of Married Life at Madeley. 1782— 1783. How Fletcher began the year 1782 — Husband and wife go to Madeley — Wesley visits them — William Tranter — Dr. Jobson and L. Tyerman at Madeley — Letter to author of "The Fool of Quality" — The Methodists of Dublin invite Fletcher and his wife to visit them — Mrs. Fletcher's letter to Wesley — Fletcher has an accident which disables him — Letter to Charles Wesley — A new poem — Nathaniel Gilbert and Melville Home — Letters to Mrs. Thornton and to John Valton — Fletcher and his wife visit the Dublin Methodists — Their successful labours — Unpublished letter, thanking them for their services — Unpublished pamphlet by Fletcher — Fletcher begins Sunday schools at Madeley — Rev. H. Venn visits Fletcher .... 501 — 529

CHAPTER XXVI. Last Days on Earth. 1784 — 1785

Dr. Coke and his friends begin the Methodist Missionary Society — Fletcher one of the first subscribers — Unpublished letter by Dr. Coke — Fletcher's unpublished letter to Rev. Mr. Bouverot — Dr. Priestley — Fletcher' s " Rational Vindication of the Catholic Faith'' 1 — Fletcher's " Socinianism Unscri^tural" — Fletcher's Millenarianism — Unpublished letters to Mrs. Smyth and to Lady Mary Fitzgerald — Fletcher at Wesley's Conference at Leeds — Sermons preached — Fletcher a peacemaker — Remarkable scene — Fletcher objected to — Enoch Wood and Fletcher's discourse on Wesley's bust — Fletcher in his " Sentry Box " — Letter to his god-son — Rev. Charles Simeon visits Fletcher — Modified millenarianism— Letters to Rev. Peard Dickenson and Rev. Melville Home — Mrs. Fletcher ill of fever — Letter to Lady Maty Fitzgerald — Fletcher ill of fever — Mrs. Fletcher's account of him — Last service in Madeley Church — Dying — Death and burial — Mrs. Fletcher's letter to C. Wesley — Wesley preaches Fletcher's funeral sermon — Testimonies concerning Fletcher — Inscription on his tombstone — Inscription on the tablet in City Road Chapel 530—575

IX TR D UCTION.

EIGHTEEN years before his death, Wesley wrote the following letter to Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley —

"January, 1773.

" Dear Sir, — What an amazing work has God wrought in these kingdoms, in less than forty years ! And it not only continues, but increases, throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland ; nay, it has lately spread into New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and Carolina. But the wise men of the world say, 1 When Mr. Wesley drops, then all this is at an end ! ' And so it surely will, unless, before God calls him hence, one is found to stand in his place. For, ov< ayadov TroXvicoipavtr). Eis Koipavos earco. I see more and more, unless there be one Trpoecrrcos, the work can never be carried on. The body of the preachers are not united : nor will any part of them submit to the rest ; so that either there must be one to preside over all, or the work will indeed come to an end.

" But who is sufficient for these things ? qualified to preside both over the preachers and people ? He must be a man of faith and love, and one that has a single eye to the advancement of the kingdom of God. He must have a clear understanding ; a knowledge of men and things, particularly of the Methodist doctrine and discipline ; a ready utterance ; diligence and activity, with a tolerable share of health. There must be added to these favour with the people, with the Methodists in general. For, unless God turn their eyes and their hearts towards him, he will be quite incapable of the work. He must likewise have some degree of learning, because there are many adversaries, learned as well as unlearned, whose mouths must be stopped. But this cannot be done unless he be able to meet them on their own ground.

" But has God provided one so qualified ? Who is he ? Thou art the man ! God has given you a measure of loving faith, and a single eye to His glory. He has given you some knowledge of men and things, particularly of the old plan of Methodism. You are blessed with some health, activity, and diligence, together with a degree of learning. And to these He has lately added, by a way none could have foreseen, favour both with the preachers and the whole people. Come out in the name

I of God ! Come to the help of the Lord against the mighty ! Come while I am alive and capable of labour !

Come while I am able, God assisting, to build you up in faith, to ripen your gifts, and to introduce you to the people. Nil tanti. What possible employment can you have, which is of so great importance ?

"But you will naturally say, 'I am not equal to the task; I have neither grace nor gifts for such an employment.' You say true ; it is certain you have not. And who has ? But do you not know Him who is able to give them ? perhaps not at once, but rather day by day : as each is, so shall your strength be. > But this implies,' you may say, ' a thousand crosses, such as I feel I am not able to bear.' You are not able to bear them now, and they are not now come. Whenever they do come, will He not send them in due number, weight, and measure ? And will they not all be for your profit, that you may be a partaker of His holiness ?

"Without conferring, therefore, with flesh and blood, come and strengthen the hands, comfort the heart, and share the labour of " Your affectionate friend and brother,

"John Wesley." 1

In all respects, Wesley's letter is remarkable. He wished Methodism to be perpetuated ; but he was convinced that this could not be done unless the ruling and administrative power could be confided, not to the Conference, or to a committee of the Conference, but to a single person. His description of the necessary qualifications of such a ruler is worthy of being studied. Especially ought Methodist preachers and the Methodist people all over the world, and in all generations, to notice the fact that Wesley's first and pre-eminent qualification was that he who "presided both over the preachers and people must be a man of faith and love, and one who had a single eye to the advancement of the kingdom of God." For thirty-eight years, since he left the Oxford University, Wesley's labours had been herculean and incessant. His health had begun to fail ; so much so, that, only a few months before he wrote to Fletcher, his friends in London had become alarmed by signs of age and debility, and had contributed to provide him a carnage in

1 Dr. Whitehead's "Life of Wesley," vol. ii., p. 355.

Introduction.

which to pursue those extensive and laborious journeys, which hitherto he had made on horseback. In Edinburgh, he had undergone a medical examination by Dr. Monro, Dr. Gregory, and Dr. Hamilton, after which he wrote: "1772, May 1 8. They satisfied me what my disorder was ; and told me there was but one method of cure. Perhaps but one natural one; but I think God has more than one method of healing either the soul or the body."

Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that Wesley wished to have in training his successor ; and he seems to have had no difficulty in nominating him. His brother Charles was living, and, among his itinerant preachers, there was a small band of remarkable men, including Alexander Mather, Thomas Olivers, George Shadford, John Pawson, Thomas Hanby, William Thompson, Thomas Taylor, John Nelson, Thomas Rankin, Christopher Hopper, Joseph Benson, George Story, Thomas Rutherford, Richard Whatcoat, Joseph Pilmore, Francis Asbury, and others ; but all these were passed over, and the man he desired and nominated to be his successor was the saintly Swiss, John William de la Flechere, Vicar of Madeley.

The character and the life of such a man must be worthy of attention. Wesley, a keen judge of men, thought him qualified to be the " TrpoecrTOis" of the Methodists. His reply to Wesley's proposal need not be inserted here. The position was the highest Wesley could offer him. Was he worthy of it ? Let the reader of the following pages form his own opinion. Enough has been said to justify the present attempt to delineate the man.

Chapter I. From Fletcher's Birth To His Coming To England

JEAN GUILLAUME DE LA FLECHERE was a descendant of one of the most respectable families in Switzerland ; a family, in fact, which was a branch of an earldom of Savoy. After his marriage, Fletcher's wife found in his desk a seal. " Is this yours ? " she asked. " Yes," replied the poor country parson ; " but I have not used it for many years." " Why ? " " Because it bears a coronet, nearly such as is the insignia of your English dukes. Were I to use that seal, it might lead to frivolous inquiries about my family, and subject me to the censure of valuing myself on such distinctions." 1

For some time the father of John Fletcher was a general officer in the French army, but, on his marriage, he retired from the service. Later in life, he accepted a colonelcy in the militia of Switzerland.

John, his father's youngest son, was born at Nyon, on September 12th, 1729. His birthplace was a fine old mansion, that had withstood the storms of centuries, and, like many of the ancient houses in Switzerland, was entered by a spiral stone staircase, which opened into a spacious hall. "The house where I was born," said Fletcher, "has one of the finest prospects in the world. We have a shady wood, near the lake, where I can ride in the cool all the day, and enjoy the singing of a multitude of birds." From one of the windows of Fletcher's ancestral home, there was a magnificent

Anecdotes of Early Life, view of hill and dale, vineyards and pastures, stretching right away to the distant Jura mountains. At a few paces from the chateau, there was a terrace overlooking Lake Leman, with its clear blue waters and its gracefully-curved and richlywooded bays. On the right hand, at a distance of fifteen miles, was Geneva, the cradle of the Reformation ; on the left, Lausanne and the celebrated castle of Chillon. High up in the heavens were Alpine peaks, embosoming scenes the most beautiful ; and, not far away, was Mont Blanc, robed in perpetual and unsullied snow.