“Money is so scarce here, at this time, that I shall sell at a very great loss; but necessity and justice are two great laws, which must be obeyed. As I design, on my return to England, to pinch until I have got rid of this debt, I may go and live in one of the cottages belonging to the vicar, if we could let the vicarage for a few pounds; and, in that case, I dare say Mr. Greaves would be so good as to take the other little house.
“My dear friend, let us die to sin. Hold fast Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. Walk by faith in Him; and not by the sight and passions of the old Adam. I hope the sun of affliction, which burns poor England and us, will ripen us all for glory. Give my best love to all our friends in Christ, and tell them that the hope of seeing them does me good.”[[474]]
Fletcher was hard at work; the weather was cold; and, for the present, exercise out of doors was impracticable. The following, taken from an unpublished letter written by William Perronet, contains an amusing scene:—
“Nyon, March 1, 1780. As this is Mr. Fletcher’s native village, no wonder that it agrees with him; otherwise, it must be very trying to so tender a constitution as his; for the weather here is much hotter in summer, and much colder in winter, than in England; and the transitions from intense heat to extreme cold are often very sudden.
“Mr. Fletcher was once told by two physicians (somewhere), that the benefit of exercise, for consumptive persons, must be estimated by the violence of it; consequently, that riding on horseback was better than going in a carriage, that walking was better than riding, running than walking, and jumping better than all of them put together. Our worthy friend has scrupulously followed this maxim; so that, whenever he does not take his little hasty rides (which by-the-bye frequently occurs), he allows himself, for exercise, not more than three minutes, from his studies, just as dinner is being served, and then, like harlequin, he takes about half a score such violent leaps and plunges across the room, that I am sometimes in pain for the floor, and always for his bones.”
During the year 1779, Fletcher and William Perronet had lodged in the same house in Nyon; now, as might be expected from the foregoing extract, William Perronet’s state of health obliged him to seek a more salubrious situation. He went to Lausanne; Fletcher remained at Nyon; and was thus pictured by his friend in the month of July next ensuing:—
“About half a year ago, we broke up housekeeping at Nyon. Poor dear Mr. Fletcher, with difficulty, procured a miserable lodging in the neighbourhood; and I was obliged to go to Lausanne, which is seven leagues from Nyon. I submitted the more willingly to this, because he talked of spending some time at Lausanne. I have been disappointed in this respect; but, once or twice, I have had the pleasure of seeing him at Nyon. I found him to-day sitting in his small apartment, surrounded with books and papers, writing, or, as he expressed it, ‘finishing the first part’ of one of his pieces. When the whole is likely to be finished, one cannot pretend to say.”[[475]]
Fletcher intended to return to England in the month of September, but two occurrences prevented him. First of all, he mislaid a portion of the manuscript which he wished to publish before he left Switzerland, and had to re-write what was missing.
“The misfortune I hinted at,” said he to William Perronet, “was the mislaying of a considerable part of my manuscript. After giving it up as lost, I fell to work again; went through the double toil; and, when I had done, last night, I accidentally found what I had mislaid. This has thrown me back a great deal. The Lord’s will be done in all things! I thank God, I have been kept from fretting on the occasion; though I would not for a great deal have such another trial.”[[476]]
Added to this, and, perhaps, partly in consequence of it, his health relapsed. These, and other matters, are referred to in the following letter, addressed to his curate, Mr. Greaves:—