Human praise could not be higher than this; and yet even the Monthly Review, which had so often and so unjustly denounced the Methodists, in its notice of Wesley’s sermon, remarked:—
“Mr. Fletcher was one of the most considerable among the Methodist ministers of the Wesleyan division. We have long been acquainted with his good character; and we firmly believe that the high encomiums here passed on him were justly merited in their fullest extent.”[[642]]
Scores of other eulogies have been written, but only four shall be added here, and these by persons who were well acquainted with the man of whom they speak.
The Rev. Joshua Gilpin’s elaborate biographical “Notes,” interspersed in Fletcher’s “Portrait of St. Paul,” are too numerous and lengthened to be introduced, but an extract from the last of them (the twenty-ninth) must be given:—
“On the day of Mr. Fletcher’s departure, as I was preparing to attend my own church, which was at the distance of nine miles from Madeley, I received a message from Mrs. Fletcher, requesting my immediate attendance at the vicarage. I instantly followed the messenger, and found Mr. Fletcher with every symptom of approaching dissolution upon him. I had ever looked up to this man of God with an extraordinary degree of affection and reverence; and, on this afflicting occasion, my heart was uncommonly affected and depressed. It was now in vain to recollect that public duty required my presence in another place. Unfitted for every duty, except that of silently watching the bed of death, I found it impossible to withdraw from the solemn scene. I had received from this evangelical teacher, in days that were past, many excellent precepts with respect to holy living; and now I desired to receive from him the last important lesson with respect to holy dying. And truly this concluding lesson was of inestimable worth, since so much patience and resignation, so much peace and composure, were scarcely ever discovered in the same circumstances before.
“While their pastor was breathing out his soul into the hands of a faithful Creator, his people were offering up their joint supplications on his behalf in the house of God. Little, however, was seen among them but affliction and tears.[[643]] The whole village wore an air of consternation and sadness, and not one joyful song was heard among its inhabitants. Hasty messengers were passing to and fro with anxious enquiries and confused reports; and the members of every family sat together in silence that day, awaiting, with trembling expectation, the issue of every hour. After the conclusion of the evening service, several of the poor, who came from distant parts, and who were usually entertained under Mr. Fletcher’s roof, still lingered about the house, and seemed unable to tear themselves away from the place without a sight of their expiring pastor. Secretly informed of their desire, I obtained them the permission they wished; and the door of the chamber being set open, immediately before which Mr. Fletcher was sitting upright in his bed, with the curtains undrawn, they slowly moved, one by one, along the gallery, severally pausing as they passed by the door, and casting in a look of mingled supplication and anguish. It was, indeed, an affecting sight.
“And now the hour speedily approached that was to put a solemn termination to our hopes and fears. His weakness very perceptibly increased, but his countenance continued unaltered to the last. Mrs. Fletcher was kneeling by the side other departing husband, the medical attendant sat at his head, while I sorrowfully waited near his feet. Uncertain whether or not he was totally separated from us, we pressed nearer; but his warfare was accomplished, and the happy spirit had taken its everlasting flight.”
James Ireland, Esq., was one of Fletcher’s most loving and well-beloved friends. In an unpublished letter, addressed to Mrs. Fletcher, and dated “Brislington, November 6, 1785,” he says, Wesley had informed him he was about to write the “Life of Fletcher,” and had asked him to supply materials. In his reply, he had said, “I cannot assist you to write the life of my dear friend, though I have ever respected and honoured you.” Mr. Ireland adds, that whatever information he can furnish he will send to Mrs. Fletcher, and leave it to her to use as she thinks best. He then proceeds:—
“I have often felt that I would have divided my last shilling with Mr. Fletcher. We were once for months together, day and night; and when we parted, we both wept. Such a soul I never knew; such a great man, in every sense of the word. He was too great to bear the name of any sect. Mr. Townsend, with whom I lately parted, speaks of him as the greatest man that has lived in this century, and begs his life may not be penned in haste.”
In another unpublished letter, also addressed to Mrs. Fletcher, and dated “October 6, 1786,” Mr. Ireland wrote:—