This lake with azure glows, and burnished gold;
What brilliant rays, what awful glories stand,
To show the wonders of Thy mighty hand!”
To several of the cantos of his poem, Fletcher attaches lengthened notes, in prose; most of them levelled against the infidelity of Voltaire, Rosseau, and the Unitarians.
Leaving the poem, “La Grace et la Nature,” another of Fletcher’s works in Switzerland must be briefly noticed. This also was written in the French language; and after Fletcher’s death was translated, and published with the following title: “The Portrait of St. Paul; or, the true Model for Christians and Pastors: translated from the French Manuscript of the late Rev. John William de la Flechere, Vicar of Madeley. To which is added, Some Account of the Author, by the Rev. Joshua Gilpin, Vicar of Rockwardine, in the County of Salop. In two volumes. Shrewsbury. 1790.” 12mo, pp. 377 and 330.
Mr. Gilpin was an ardent admirer of Fletcher, as his biographical “Notes” amply show. He had been a resident in Fletcher’s vicarage, and had enjoyed the unspeakable benefit of his example, prayers, and instruction. He writes:—
“Before I was of sufficient age to take holy orders, I thankfully embraced the offered privilege of spending a few months beneath the roof of this exemplary man; and I well remember how solemn an impression was made upon my heart by the manner in which he received me. He met me at his door with a look of inexpressible benignity; and, conducting me by the hand into his house, intimated a desire of leading me immediately into the presence of that God to whom the government of his little family was ultimately submitted. Instantly he fell upon his knees and poured out an earnest prayer that my present visit might be rendered both advantageous and comfortable, and that our society might be crowned by an intimate fellowship with Christ. This may serve as a specimen of the manner in which he was accustomed to receive his guests.
“In his social prayers, he paid but little attention to those rules which have been laid down with respect to the composition and order of such devotional exercises. His words flowed spontaneously, and without premeditation, though always wonderfully adapted to the occasion. Nothing impertinent, artificial, or superfluous appeared in his addresses to the Deity. His prayers were the prayers of faith; always fervent, often effectual, and invariably a mingled flow of supplication and gratitude, humility and confidence, resignation and fervour, adoration and love.
“Of his secret supplications, He alone can judge ‘who seeth in secret.’ His closet was his favourite retirement, to which he constantly retreated whenever his public duties allowed him a season of leisure. Here, in times of uncommon distress, he continued during whole nights in prayer before God; and that part of the wall, against which he was accustomed to kneel, appeared deeply stained with the breath he had spent in fervent worship.”
In the preface to his translation, Mr. Gilpin remarks:—