“If you see anything better, inform me of it speedily; and, at the same time, remember me in all your prayers, that, if this matter be not of the Lord, the enmity of the Bishop of Lichfield, who must countersign my testimonials; the threats of the chaplain of the Bishop of Hereford, who was a witness to my preaching at West Street; the objections drawn from my not being naturalized; or some other obstacle, may prevent the kind intentions of Mr. Hill.”[66] Footnote 66: Letters, 1791, p. 106. Within a week after the date of this communication, several of Fletcher’s anticipated obstacles were gone. Hence the following, from a letter addressed to the Countess of Huntingdon, who was visiting the Rev. Benjamin and Lady Margaret Ingham, in Yorkshire:— “1760, October 3.—Were I to have my choice, I would prefer waiting at the pool under your roof, or that of those who think like you, to any other way of life; and I will own to your ladyship, that the thought of giving this up is one of the chief difficulties I have now to encounter. But I seem to be a prisoner of Providence, who is going, in all probability, to cast my lot among the colliers and forge-men of Madeley. The two thousand souls of that parish, for whom I was called into the ministry, are many sheep in the wilderness, which I cannot sacrifice to my own private choice. “When I was suffered to attend them, for a few days, some began to return to the Shepherd of their souls, and I found it then in my heart to spend and be spent for them. It is true, when I was sent away from them, that zeal cooled to such a degree, that I have wished a thousand times they might never be committed to my care; but the impression of the tears of those who, when I left them, ran after me crying, ‘Who will now show us the way to heaven?’ never quite wore off, and, upon second thoughts, I always concluded that, if the Lord made my way plain to their church, I could not run away from it without disobeying the order of Providence. “That time is come. The church is vacated; the presentation to it brought, unasked for, into my hands; the difficulty of getting proper testimonials, which I looked upon as insurmountable, vanishes at once; the three clergymen that had opposed me with the most bitterness, signed them; the Bishop of Lichfield countersigns them without the least objection; the lord of the manor, my great opposer, leaves the parish; and the very man (the vicar), who told me I should never preach in that church, now recommends me to it, and tells me he will induct me himself. “Are not these intimations of the will of God? It seems so to me. What does your ladyship think? I long to go and consult you in Yorkshire, but cannot do it now, without giving up the point on which I want your advice.”[67] Footnote 67: “Life and Times of the Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., p. 237.