Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that Wesley wished to have in training his successor; and he seems to have had no difficulty in nominating him. His brother Charles was living, and, among his itinerant preachers, there was a small band of remarkable men, including Alexander Mather, Thomas Olivers, George Shadford, John Pawson, Thomas Hanby, William Thompson, Thomas Taylor, John Nelson, Thomas Rankin, Christopher Hopper, Joseph Benson, George Story, Thomas Rutherford, Richard Whatcoat, Joseph Pilmore, Francis Asbury, and others; but all these were passed over, and the man he desired and nominated to be his successor was the saintly Swiss, John William de la Flechère, Vicar of Madeley. The character and the life of such a man must be worthy of attention. Wesley, a keen judge of men, thought him qualified to be the “προεστως” of the Methodists. His reply to Wesley’s proposal need not be inserted here. The position was the highest Wesley could offer him. Was he worthy of it? Let the reader of the following pages form his own opinion. Enough has been said to justify the present attempt to delineate the man. CHAPTER I. _FROM FLETCHER’S BIRTH TO HIS COMING TO ENGLAND_ IN 1752. JEAN GUILLAUME DE LA FLECHÈRE was a descendant of one of the most respectable families in Switzerland; a family, in fact, which was a branch of an earldom of Savoy. After his marriage, Fletcher’s wife found in his desk a seal. “Is this yours?” she asked. “Yes,” replied the poor country parson; “but I have not used it for many years.” “Why?” “Because it bears a coronet, nearly such as is the insignia of your English dukes. Were I to use that seal, it might lead to frivolous inquiries about my family, and subject me to the censure of valuing myself on such distinctions.”[2] Footnote 2: Cox’s “Life of Fletcher,” p. 140. For some time the father of John Fletcher was a general officer in the French army, but, on his marriage, he retired from the service. Later in life, he accepted a colonelcy in the militia of Switzerland.