Fletcher of Madeley

by Frederic W. Macdonald

"One of these remarkable passages was, 'In the beginning,' said he, 'of my spiritual course, I heard the voice of God, in an articulate, but inexpressibly awful, sound, go through my soul in those words: "If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself."' He mentioned another peculiar manifestation of a later date, 'in which,' said he, 'I was favoured, like Moses, with a supernatural discovery of the glory of God, in an ineffable converse with Him, face to face; so that, whether I was in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell.'

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

Throughout the whole of his long illness Fletcher's spirit was, not only calm and tranquil, but attuned to an ardour and heavenliness that deeply impressed all who saw him. His frail body seemed to be the abode of a spirit purified and perfected till every trace of earthly corruption was lost.

During the months of enforced absence from his parish his heart was still with his people. In a pastoral letter, which is dated Newington, December 28th, 1776, he writes:

"I hoped to have spent the Christmas holidays with you, and to have ministered to you in holy things; but the weakness of my body confining me here, I humbly submit to the Divine dispensation.... The sum of all I have preached to you is contained in four propositions. First, heartily repent of your sins, original and actual. Secondly, believe the gospel of Christ in sincerity and truth. Thirdly, in the power which true faith gives, run the way of God's commandments before God and men. Fourthly, by continuing to take up your cross, and to receive the pure milk of God's word, grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ....

"The more nearly I consider death and the grave, judgment and eternity, the more I feel that I have preached to you the truth, and that the truth is solid as the Rock of ages. Although I hope to see much more of the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living than I do see, yet, blessed be the Divine mercy! I see enough to keep my mind at all times unruffled, and to make me willing calmly to resign my soul into the hands of my faithful Creator, my loving Redeemer, and my sanctifying Comforter, this moment, or the next, if He calls for it."

Fletcher's almsgiving was proportionate with his prayers. He was in receipt of an income from his little property in Switzerland of about £100 a year. He generally gave it all away. His money, his clothes, his furniture were alike at the service of the poor and suffering. At one time he sends back £80 to Switzerland for distribution among the poor, saying, "As money is rather higher there than here the mite will go further abroad than it would in my parish." At another time he deposited £105 with a friend, but the whole was drawn for charitable purposes in a few months, the balance, which was £24, going to complete the preaching-house he had built at Madeley Wood. During his illness he writes to one of the poor Methodists at Coalbrookdale: "Let none of your little companies want. If any do, you are welcome to my house. Take any part of the furniture there, and make use of it for their relief. And this shall be your full title for so doing. Witness my hand, John Fletcher."

Leaving Stoke Newington in the beginning of May, 1777, Fletcher went to Bristol, to the hospitable home of his old friend Mr. Ireland, for change of air, and for what benefit might be found in drinking the waters. Here he spent several months in feeble health, but in unbroken tranquillity and elevation of spirit. "Far gone in a consumptive disorder, and ripening fast for glory," was the judgment of those who saw him at this time. He had many visitors, devout persons of all classes, to whom his conversation, his prayers, his very presence, were means of grace. Mr. Venn, who had been on the opposite side to Fletcher in the recent controversy, spent some weeks with him under Mr. Ireland's roof. "Oh that I might be like him!" was his testimony in after years. "I have known all the great men for these fifty years, but I have known none like him.... I never heard him say a single word which was not proper to be spoken, and which had not a tendency to minister grace to the hearers; ... not a single unbecoming word of himself, or of his antagonists, or of his friends. All his conversation tended to excite to greater love and thankfulness for the benefits of redemption; whilst his whole deportment breathed humility and love."

In the month of July Wesley and his preachers met in Bristol to hold their annual conference. One morning during its session a visit from Fletcher was announced. As he entered what was then called the New Room—now the old chapel in Broadmead—leaning on Mr. Ireland's arm, the whole assembly, by a common impulse, stood up. Wesley rose and advanced to receive him. He seemed like a visitor from another world. His worn features shone as with the light of heaven. All present were profoundly moved at the sight. He had scarcely begun to speak before every one was in tears. "His appearance, his exhortations, and his prayers," says Benson, "broke most of our hearts." It was such a scene as the oldest person present had never witnessed before, as the youngest could not expect to witness again. It was brought to a close by Wesley, who suddenly fell upon his knees at Fletcher's side, the whole company of preachers kneeling with him, and offered an earnest prayer for Fletcher's restoration to health and to his labours in the cause of Christ. He finished his prayer by pronouncing "in his peculiar manner, and with a confidence and emphasis which seemed to thrill through every heart, 'He shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.'"

During the eight remaining years of Fletcher's life, it was believed amongst the Methodists that God had spared him in answer to their prayers.