Fletcher and his brother translated all the papers of William Perronet into French, and, in other ways, assisted him, in reference to the estate which he had gone to Switzerland to obtain. Notwithstanding the delicate state of Fletcher’s health, the three set out, in the wintry weather of that December month, to visit Chateau d’Oex, where the property was situated. The distance from Nyon was fifty-seven miles. When they had made about a quarter of the journey, “the horses were tired out, the coachman refused to proceed further,” and they were obliged to return home again.[[448]] A few days later, they made another attempt, and arrived at their destination on January 10, 1779. Five days afterwards, they were again at Nyon.
In Fletcher’s state of health, such a journey was perilous; but his love to the Perronet family was such that, to him, no labour and risk, on their behalf, were too great. In letters to his venerable father, at Shoreham, William Perronet states, that none of them having been to Chateau d’Oex before, they were obliged to employ a guide, and that “on account of the badness of the ways,” they had “to go some leagues about,” which made their journey about eighty miles. Their coach had to pass “over mountains of snow and rocks of ice.” When nine miles from Chateau d’Oex, they were obliged to exchange their coach for “an open sledge;” and now they “travelled through narrow passes, cut through the snow, which, on both sides, was many feet above their heads; on the sides of mountains, whose summits the eye could scarcely reach; and frequently on the brink of precipices, at the bottoms of which they could hear the waters roar like thunder.” In one place, Fletcher and William Perronet, being obliged to walk, their feet slipped: Fletcher “received a violent blow on the back part of the head;” and William Perronet “sprained” his “wrist.” In crossing the Alps, they had to lie “two nights in beds that were not only damp, but musty and without curtains;” and, “being in a Popish canton, and Friday and Saturday being meagre days,” they “were almost starved with hunger as well as cold.” “The weather was extremely severe, and it was scarce in the power of clothes, or even of fire, to keep” them “warm.” William Perronet concludes his narrative of their adventures as follows:—
“Whether I succeed in my temporal business or not, I shall ever remember, with pleasure and thankfulness, the opportunities I have been blessed with in spending so much time in company with our inestimable friend; who, wherever he goes, preaches the Gospel, both by his words and example; nay, by his very looks, not only to his friends, but to all whom he meets: so that, on the top of the frozen Alps, and in the dreary vale of Chateau d’Oex, good seed has been sown. At Chateau d’Oex, he was visited by some of the principal inhabitants, who stood around him, in deep attention, for almost an hour, while he exhorted and prayed.”[[449]]
In a postscript to this letter, Fletcher wrote:—
“I have had the pleasure of accompanying your son to your father’s birthplace. It is a charming country for those who have a taste for highland prospects; but what is it to our heavenly Father’s Hill of Sion? Thither may we all travel, summer and winter, and there may we all have a happy meeting, and find an eternal inheritance!”
Three weeks later, Fletcher wrote the following to Mr. Ireland:—
“Nyon, February 2, 1779.
“My Dear Friend,—I am sorry to hear that you are still tried by illness; but our good, heavenly Father is wise; His will be done; His name be praised!
“I am better, thank God! and ride out every day, when the slippery roads will permit me to venture without the risk of breaking my horse’s legs and my own neck. You will ask me how I spend my time? I pray, have patience, rejoice, and write, when I can; I saw wood in the house when I cannot go out; and eat grapes, of which I have always a basket by me.
“Our little Lord-Lieutenant has forbidden the ministers to let me exhort in the parsonage, because it is the sovereign’s house. My second brother has addressed a memorial to him, in which he informs him that he will give up neither his religious nor civil liberty, and will open his house for the Word of God. According, we have since met at his house.