“Mr. Fletcher then, with lifted hands, cried, ‘Who will thus be saved? Who will believe the report? You are only in an improper sense called believers who reject this. Who is a believer? One who believes a few things which his God has spoken? Nay, but one who believes all that ever proceeded out of His mouth. Here then is the word of the Lord: As sin abounded, grace shall much more abound! As no good thing was in you by nature, so now no evil thing shall remain. Do you believe this? Or are you a half believer only? Come! Jesus is offered to thee as a perfect Saviour. Take Him, and He will make thee a perfect saint. O ye half believers, will you still plead for the murderers of your Lord? Which of these will you hide as a serpent in your bosom? Shall it be anger, pride, self-will, or accursed unbelief? O be no longer befooled! Bring these enemies to thy Lord, and let Him slay them.’”[[519]]
Mrs. Rogers was not a shorthand writer. She wrote from memory; and though what she relates in the foregoing extracts is, no doubt, substantially correct, yet Fletcher must not be held accountable for every word she uses. The narrative, however, is very valuable, because it exhibits Fletcher at a most important epoch of his life, and exhibits him in his free-and-easy religious dishabille among his friends. Wesley says:—
“There is a peculiar difficulty in giving a full account of either the life or character of Mr. Fletcher, because we have scarce any light from himself. He was upon all occasions very uncommonly reserved in speaking of himself, whether in writing or conversation. He hardly ever said anything concerning himself, unless it slipped from him unawares. And, among the great number of papers which he has left, there is scarce a page (except the account of his conversion to God), relative either to his own inward experience, or the transactions of his life. So that the most of the information we have is gathered up, either from short hints scattered up and down in his letters, from what he had occasionally dropped among his friends, or from what one and another remembered concerning him.
“This defect was indeed, in some measure, supplied by the entire intimacy which subsisted between him and Mrs. Fletcher. He did not willingly, much less designedly, conceal anything from her. They had no secrets with regard to each other, but had indeed one house, one purse, and one heart. Before her, it was his invariable rule to think aloud; always to open the window in his breast. And to this we are indebted for the knowledge of many particulars which must otherwise have been buried in oblivion.”[[520]]
No doubt this statement is perfectly accurate. Fletcher, like Wesley himself, was never a talkative religious professor; and the outpourings of his heart, related by Hester Ann Rogers, may be regarded as exceptional.
Nothing more need be added to the present chapter except the incident that, both in going to Leeds and returning to Madeley, Fletcher preached at Sheffield, where the husband of Hester Ann Rogers was at that time Wesley’s “Assistant.” He was the guest of Mr. Thomas Holy. The following is taken from an unpublished memoir of Mr. Holy, written by the late Rev. James Everett:—
“The sainted Fletcher was twice an inmate of Mr. Holy’s house. This extraordinary man preached twice in Norfolk Street chapel, on going to and returning from the Conference at Leeds, in 1781. One of of his texts was, ‘The kingdom of God is within you;’ and the other, ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’ On both occasions, the chapel was crowded, and several clergymen were present. When he was introduced to Mr. Holy, his salutation was, ‘Peace be to thee, my brother;’ and, on crossing Mr. Holy’s threshold, he said, ‘Peace be to this house.’ Mrs. Brammah, the widow of an old itinerant preacher, and one of Mr. Holy’s pensioners, was present, and observed that Mr. Fletcher frequently repeated the latter text, as if desirous to impress the company with its importance and its blessedness. ‘Mr. Fletcher’s conversation,’ remarked Mr. Holy, ‘was always instructive and impressive; and I felt while I was with him as if I were in the presence of a superior being.’ During his stay in Sheffield, Mr. Fletcher bathed every morning in a river, about half a mile distant from Mr. Holy’s residence. His host always accompanied him, and was much struck with his excellent swimming.”
This is a trivial matter, but trifles concerning “mighty men, men of renown,” are worth preserving.
A journey from Madeley to Leeds, a hundred years ago, was a somewhat serious affair. In an unpublished letter, addressed to Mr. Ireland, Fletcher tells his friend that the journey occupied two days and a half, and that his new saddle was so hard that, to save himself from suffering, he was obliged to put the hair-skins, used for the protection of his chest, into his “breeches.” In the same letter, he gives an account of the suicide of his “atheistical nephew;” and concludes as follows:—
“If Mr. Romaine be still with you, please to remember me in much love to him. I went yesterday to Salop, saw Mr. De Courcy,[[521]] and invited Mr. Rowland Hill to preach here to cement love.”