“Rev. and Dear Sir,—I thank you for your hint about exemplifying the love of Christ and His Church. I hope we do. I was afraid, at first, to say much of the matter; but, having lived thirteen months in my new state, I can tell you, Providence has reserved a prize for me, and that my wife is far better to me than the Church to Christ, so that if the parallel fails, it will be on my side.

“Be so good as to peruse the enclosed sheets. Mr. De Luc, to whom they are addressed, is reader to the Queen, and the author of some volumes of Letters to her: he is a true philosopher. I flatter myself, he will present my letter to the Queen. Do you find anything improper in the addition I have made to my poem? I wish I were near you for your criticisms; you would direct me, both as a poet and a Frenchman.

“I have yet strength enough to do my parish duty without the help of a curate. O that the Lord would help me to do it acceptably and profitably! The colliers began to rise in this neighbourhood: happily the cockatrice’s egg was crushed, before the serpent came out. However, I got many a hearty curse from the colliers, for the plain words I spoke on that occasion. I want to see days of power both within and without; but, meantime, I would follow closely my light in the narrow path.

“My wife joins me in respectful love to Mrs. Wesley and yourself; and, requesting an interest in your prayers for us, I remain, my dear Sir, your affectionate, obliged brother, servant, and son in the Gospel,

“John Fletcher.”[[575]]

The “poem,” mentioned in this letter, was “La Grace et la Nature,” which Fletcher had composed in Switzerland, and published in Geneva. He had now enlarged it, and wished to publish a second edition of it, and to dedicate the book to the Queen of King George the Third. This was done a few months before he died; but, previous to committing his sheets to the press, he submitted them to the criticism of Charles Wesley, Methodism’s unequalled hymnologist.

This, however, was not the only poem on which Fletcher was now engaged. On November 30, 1782, the preliminaries of the peace with America were signed; and, on January 20, 1783, peace was concluded with France and Spain. The termination of the long and disastrous war gave no one greater joy than it did Fletcher. He celebrated it in another poem, written also in French, and dedicated to the Archbishop of Paris.[[576]] This was published, but is now extremely scarce. Fletcher enlarged it; and, in 1785, Mr. Gilpin translated it into English, and intended to dedicate his translation to the author; but, just as this English edition was being printed, Fletcher died, and the dedication, dated exactly a fortnight after Fletcher’s death, was, “To the Honoured Mrs. Mary de la Flechere, of Madeley, in Shropshire.” The title of the poem was, “An Essay upon the Peace of 1783. Dedicated to the Archbishop of Paris. Translated from the French of the Rev. J. Fletcher, late Vicar of Madeley. By the Rev. J. Gilpin, Vicar of Wrockwardine, Salop. London: Printed by R. Hindmarsh, 1785.” 4to, 79 pp.

Want of space renders it impossible to furnish extracts from this poetical production. In rhyme and rhythm, Fletcher, or, more probably, his translator, was far from perfect; but that the Vicar, bred among the inspiring scenery of Switzerland, was possessed of real poetic genius, there cannot be a doubt. His descriptions of a naval battle, and of a fight on land, and of the bombarding of Gibraltar, are very graphic. So also are his definitions of the passions which war too frequently evokes.

Though hardly worth mentioning, it may be stated, that the only thing published by Fletcher, in the year 1782, was the following: “A Race for Eternal Life: being an Extract from the Heavenly Footman. A Sermon on 1 Cor. ix. 24: written by the Author of the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress.’ By the Rev. Mr. Fletcher. London: printed by R. Hindmarsh.” 12mo, 16 pp. Fletcher says:—

“This extract is published,—1. To stir up lazy and inconsistent Arminian professors, who assert that we should work out our own salvation with all diligence, and yet neglect doing it. And, 2. To convince of partiality the contentious Calvinists, who quarrel with their brethren for preaching consistently the very same doctrine, which is inconsistently maintained by their orthodox teachers, among whom pious John Bunyan stands in the first rank.”