“I hope you are settled to your satisfaction; and I shall be glad to do what is in my power to make your stay at Madeley agreeable. I wish you may have as much success as we desire; but, whatever success we have, we must cast our bread upon the waters, though we should see as little fruit as he that said of old, ‘I have laboured in vain:’ for our reward will be with the Lord, if not with men.”[[434]]
In company with his brother, Fletcher left Montpelier, and arrived at Nyon, the place of his nativity, where, in the house once occupied by his father, he received the utmost attention from his affectionate relatives, and had medical advice equal to any to be obtained in Europe. One of his first acts was to write “to the Societies in and about Madeley.” He addressed them as “My dear, very dear brethren;” charged them all to meet him in heaven, “with all the mind that was in Christ;” and sent his “love and thanks to Mr. Murlin and Mr. Roberts,” the two Methodist preachers stationed at Chester, showing that Madeley, at this period, was a part of the Chester circuit.[[435]]
Soon afterwards, he wrote to his beloved medical adviser, in England, Mr. William Perronet, as follows:—
“Nyon, May 15, 1778.
“The climate, and prospect, and fine roads, and pure air I enjoy here, had contributed to strengthen me a little; when, about a month ago, something I was chewing got into my windpipe, and caused a fit of coughing which lasted half-an-hour. I then began to spit blood again, and ever since I have had a bad cough, which has sometimes exercised me violently for an hour after my first sleep. My cough, however, has been better the last two days, and I hope it will go off. I have bought a quiet horse, whose easy pace I can bear; and I ride much. I have not ventured upon preaching since I came hither: it would be impossible for me now to go through it. If the weather should grow hot, I may, at any time, go to the hills, the foot of which is five or six miles distant. I drink goats’ milk, and have left off meat since the cough came on, but design eating a little again at dinner.”[[436]]
Two days after the date of this letter, Fletcher was at Macon, whither he had gone to meet his friend Mr. Ireland, on his return from Montpelier to England. Whilst he was here, he wrote two letters, which must be quoted. The first, addressed to “The Rev. Messrs. John and Charles Wesley,” was as follows:—
“Macon, in Burgundy, May 17, 1778.
“Rev. and Dear Sirs,—I hope while I lie by, the Lord continues to renew your vigour, and sends you to water His vineyard, and to stand in the gap against error and vice.
“I preached twice at Marseilles, but was not permitted to follow the blow. There are few noble, inquisitive Bereans in these parts. The ministers in the town of my nativity have been very civil. They have offered me the pulpit; but, I fear, if I could accept the offer, it would soon be recalled. I am loath to quit this part of the field without casting a stone at that giant, sin, who stalks about with uncommon boldness. I shall, therefore, stay some months longer, to see if the Lord will give me strength to venture an attack.
“Gambling and dress, sinful pleasure and love of money, unbelief and false philosophy, lightness of spirit, fear of man, and love of the world, are the principal sins by which Satan binds his captives in these parts. Materialism is not rare; Deism and Socinianism are very common; and a set of Free-thinkers, great admirers of Voltaire[[437]] and Rosseau, Bayle and Mirabeau, seem bent upon destroying Christianity and government. If we believe them, the world is the dupe of kings and priests. Religion is fanaticism and superstition. Subordination is slavery. Christian morality is absurd, unnatural, and impracticable; and Christianity the most bloody religion that ever was. And here it is certain, that, by the example of Christians so called, and by our continual disputes, they have a great advantage, and do the truth immense mischief. Popery will certainly fall in France, in this or the next century; and I have no doubt God will use those vain men to bring about a reformation here, as he used Henry the Eighth to do that work in England; so the madness of His enemies shall, at last, turn to His praise, and to the futherance of His kingdom.