There were other combatants in the field whose power over themselves was not so great and so praiseworthy. Walter Sellon was one of them, to whom Richard Hill addressed the following, hitherto unpublished, letter, just about the time when the Fourth Check of Fletcher first appeared:—
“Hawkstone, December 24, 1772.
“Dear Sir,—It will answer no end for you and me to continue our disputes, except that of stirring up the old man in us both. I believe you have the grace of God, and I am sure you are blest with a good understanding, which is well cultivated by acquired knowledge. With these endowments and qualifications, I trust it will please God to make you abundantly useful in the cause of Christ. I heartily forgive whatever has savoured more of Walter Sellon than of Jesus Christ in your two letters to me; and I beg the same on behalf of poor Richard Hill. Come, my dear Sir, let us pray for each other. If ever I have the pleasure of seeing you in the flesh, be assured that I shall embrace you in the bonds of brotherly love; if not, I trust we shall one day meet in a better place, where there will be no other contention between us than who shall sing loudest, ‘Grace, grace unto it!’ Without undervaluing myself in any respect, this will certainly be the privilege of that amazing monument of mercy who desires always to subscribe himself,
“Very dear Sir, your sincere and affectionate friend, in the best of bonds,
Richard Hill.”
“To the Rev. Mr. Sellon,
Ledsham, near Ferry Bridge,
Yorkshire.”
This polemical chapter cannot be more fitly concluded than with these breathings of Christian love, to which may be added an extract from a letter which Fletcher wrote to Mr. Charles Perronet, who was suffering great affliction of body and mind:—
“1772, September 7.—My Very Dear Friend,—No cross, no crown; the heavier the cross, the brighter the crown.