“My religion, alas! having a different foundation from that which is in Christ, was built merely on the sand; and no sooner did the winds and floods arise, than it tottered and fell to ruins. I formed an acquaintance with some Deists, at first with the design of converting them, and afterwards with the pretence of thoroughly examining their sentiments. But my heart, like that of Balaam, was not right with God. He abandoned me, and I enrolled myself in their party. A considerable change took place in my deportment. _Before_ I had a form of religion, and _now_ I lost it; but as to the state of my heart, it was precisely the same. I did not remain many weeks in this state; the Good Shepherd sought after me, a wandering sheep. Again I became professedly a Christian; that is, I resumed a regular attendance at church and the communion, and offered up frequent prayers in the name of Jesus Christ. There were also in my heart some sparks of true love to God, and some germs of genuine faith; but a connection with worldly characters, and an undue anxiety to promote my secular interests, prevented the growth of these Christian graces. Had I now been asked on what I founded my hopes of salvation, I should have replied, that I was not without some religion; that, so far from doing harm to any one, I wished well to all the world; that I resisted my passions; that I abstained from pleasures in which I had once indulged; and that if I was not so religious as some others, it was because such a degree of religion was unnecessary; that heaven might be obtained on easier terms; and that if I perished, the destruction of the generality of Christians was inevitable, which I could not believe was consistent with the mercy of God. “I was in this state of mind when a dream, which I could not but consider as a warning from God, aroused me from my security.” Footnote 5: The elder of these sons died on coming of age; the younger became M.P. for Shrewsbury, and afterwards for Shropshire. In 1784, he took his seat in the House of Lords, as Baron Berwick. The title still exists. The old Tern Hall has long been called Attingham House.—Debrett’s “Peerage” and Wesley’s and Benson’s “Lives” of Fletcher. At great length Fletcher here relates his dream respecting the final judgment, and then continues:— “For some days, I was so dejected and harassed in mind as to be unable to apply myself to anything. While in this state, I attempted to copy some music, when a servant entered my chamber. Having noticed my employment, he said, ‘I am surprised, Sir, that you, who know so many things, should forget what day this is, and that you should not be aware that the Lord’s day should be sanctified in a very different manner.’