Fletcher of MadeleyMacdonald, Frederic W. (Frederic William)
Religion
Fletcher of Madeley
Macdonald, Frederic W. (Frederic William)
Fletcher, John, 1729-1785
In another letter, written from Aix, he says: "Soon after our arrival
here, I rode out most days with my dear and valued friend. Now and then
he complained of the uneasiness of the horse, and there were some
remains of soreness in his breast, but this soon went off. The
beginning of February was warm, and the warmth, when he walked in the
fields, relaxed him; but when the wind got north or east, he was braced
again. His appetite is good, his complexion as healthy as it was eleven
years ago. As his strength increases he increases the length of his
rides. Last Tuesday he set out on a journey of a hundred and twelve
miles. The first day he travelled forty miles without feeling any
fatigue, and the third day fifty-five. He bore the journey as well as I
did, and was as well and as active at the end of it as at the
beginning. During the day he cried out, 'Help me to praise the Lord for
His goodness; I never expected to see this day.' He accepted a pressing
invitation to preach to the Protestants here; and he fulfilled his
engagement on Sunday morning, taking as his text, 'Examine yourselves,
whether ye be in the faith.' Both the French and English were greatly
affected; the word went to the hearts of both saints and sinners. His
voice is now as good as ever it was, and he has an earnest invitation
to preach near Montpellier, where we are going. You would be
astonished at the entreaties of pastors as well as people. He has
received a letter from a minister in the Levine Mountains, who intends
to come to Montpellier, sixty miles, to press him to go and preach to
his flock. He purposes to spend the next summer in his own country, and
the following winter in these parts."
From Montpellier Fletcher wrote to his curate, Mr. Greaves: "Please
God, I shall set out next week from this place, where the winter has
been uncommonly rainy and windy. We had over half an inch of snow last
week, but it was gone long before noon. The climate has, nevertheless,
agreed with me better than England, and as a proof of it, I need only
tell you that I rode last Friday from Hyères, the orange gardens of
France, hither, which is near fifty miles, and was well enough to
preach last Sunday, in French, at the Protestant chapel.... At the
first convenient opportunity, please to read the following note in the
church: John Fletcher sends his best Christian love to the congregation
that worships God in the parish church at Madeley. He begs the
continuance of their prayers for strength of body and mind, that he may
be able (if it be the will of God) to serve them again in the gospel.
He desires them to return Almighty God thanks for having enabled him to
speak again in public last Sunday, without having had a return of his
spitting of blood, which he considers as a token that his life may be
spared a little, to exhort them to grow in grace, in the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and in brotherly love;--the best marks that we
know God, and are in the faith of Christ."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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