“Nevertheless, I would not leave this place, without a fuller persuasion that the time is _quite_ come. Not that God uses me much here, but I have not yet sufficiently cleared my conscience from the blood of all men. Meantime, I beg the Lord to guide me by His counsel, and make me willing to go anywhere, or nowhere, to be anything, or nothing. “Help by your prayers, till you can bless by word of mouth, Rev. and dear Sir, your willing, though unprofitable servant in the Gospel, “J. FLETCHER.”[280] Footnote 280: Wesley’s “Life of Fletcher,” p. 66. Fletcher did not decline Wesley’s proposal; but he deferred coming to a decision until “the time was quite come.” Whether the proposal was afterwards _formally_ renewed, it is difficult to determine; but Dr. Whitehead, who, from 1764 to 1769, had been one of the itinerant preachers, and who was well acquainted with both Wesley and his friend Fletcher, remarks concerning Wesley’s request:— “This warm and sincere invitation to a situation not only respected but even reverenced by so large a body of people, must have been highly flattering to Mr. Fletcher; especially as it came from a person he most sincerely loved; whose superior abilities, learning, and labours he admired; and to whose success in the ministry he wished to give every assistance in his power. But he well knew the embarrassments Mr. Wesley met with in the government of the preachers, though he alone, under the providence of God, had given existence to their present character, influence, and usefulness. He was also well acquainted with the mutual jealousies the preachers had of each other, and with their jarring interests: and, above all, with the general determination which prevailed among them not to be under the control of any one man after the death of Mr. Wesley. Under these circumstances, he saw nothing before him but darkness, storms, and tempests, with the most threatening dangers, especially if he should live to be alone in the office. He therefore determined not to launch his little bark on so tempestuous an ocean. “I cannot, however, but lament that he did not accept Mr. Wesley’s invitation, as he would have done much good while he lived, and have prevented many of the evils which have since taken place.”[281] Footnote 281: Whitehead’s “Life of Wesley,” vol. ii., p. 356. The evils which Dr. Whitehead deprecated were the resolutions enacted by the Methodist Conferences, held after Wesley’s decease, respecting the preachers being allowed to administer the sacraments to their Societies, to hold services in Methodist chapels “in church hours,” and other kindred matters. Of all this, Dr. Whitehead, an able and honest man, strongly disapproved, and hence his regret that Fletcher, by declining Wesley’s invitation, had not helped to, at least, postpone such serious changes.