upon himself, he cheerfully endeavoured to lighten the burdens of his brethren, though it was by redoubling his own. He laboured to quicken, and not to retard the progress of the weak and inexperienced. He compassionated their defects, and made excuse for their constitutional infirmities, in the manner of his gracious Master, who kindly apologized for the inattention of his sleeping disciples.

He studied to present the religion of Jesus in its most alluring form, not as a vial of wrath but as a cup of consolation; not as a galling yoke, but as a sacred tie; not as a ⚫ depressing burden, but as a never-failing support. When he beheld the incautious entangled in the mazes of temptation, he tenderly lamented the effects of their indiscretion; and instead of throwing unnecessary impediments in the way of their escape, he affectionately laboured to break through the snare, and deliver the captive. If his brother was overtaken in a fault, he endeavoured to restore him in the spirit of meekness,-if his conscience was wounded with a sense of his guilt, he hastened to meet him with healing remedies,-if he was overwhelmed with the dread of his besetting sin, and harrassed with the apprehension of future miscarriages, he encouraged him to come boldly to the throne of grace, that he might obtain mercy, and find grace to help him in every time of need. In his whole deportment towards the ignorant and unfaithful, he copied the character of a skilful and affectionate preceptor, who keeps future difficulties as far removed as possible from the view of his pupils, accommodating their exercises to their several capacities, overlooking their past negligence, supplying their present deficiencies, and mentioning their poor attainments with commendation and praise.

But while his conduct towards others was marked with unusual lenity and tenderness, he exercised the strictest severity with regard to himself. He sought after an entire conformity to the perfect will of God. And to accelerate his progress towards this desirable state, he cheerfully re

nounced his natural habits, and resolutely opposed his own will, unweariedly labouring to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. He struggled against the most innocent of his infirmities; he entered upon the most painful exercises; and refused to allow himself in the least temporary indulgencies, which were not perfectly consistent with a life of unfeigned mortification and selfdenial. He engaged himself in every kind of spiritual labor, with the most intense application, suffering no talent to remain unoccupied, nor any moment to pass by unimproved and so perfectly was he inured to habits of christian industry, that he never discovered an inclination to sweeten the most laborious exercises, with those refreshments and relaxations, which he esteemed not only allowable, but, in some cases, necessary, to his weaker brethren. Considering himself as a member of Christ's militant church, he complained of no hardships, nor thought any difficulty too great to be encountered, in the course of his warfare. He was careful to act, in every instance, consistently with his high profession; training himself up to spiritual hardness and activity, by a resolute attention to the strictest rules of christian discipline; preferring the path of duty before the lap of repose; neither listening to the suggestions of fear, nor regarding the dictates of worldly prudence; stifling even the necessary calls of nature, that he might follow, with less interruption, the leadings of grace; and, finally, counting neither ease, nor interest, nor reputation, nor even life itself, dear to him, that he might finish his course with joy."

OF THE EXCURSION'S HE MADE TO DIFFERENT PLACES, HIS FIRST VISIT TO HIS NATIVE COUNTRY, HIS OFFICE AND USEFULNESS AT TREVECKA, AND OF THE STEPS WHEREBY HE WAS LED TO WRITE ON CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECTS.

ALTHOUGH Mr. Fletcher was attached in no common degree to those among whom he was appointed to labour; and although his endeavours were chiefly exercised for their spiritual benefit; yet was his heart enlarged also toward all the children of God, by whatever name they were distinguished, or wherever the bounds of their habitation were fixed. And he was ready, at all times, as far as his duty to his parishioners would permit, to minister to them the word of life. "Considering himself as a debtor* both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians, he was ready, had it been possible, to have visited the uttermost parts of the earth with the truths of the Gospel: and wherever a christian church was established, he appeared deeply interested in its welfare, expressing a vehement desire, that it might be regulated in all things as the House of God, and become, to happy thousands, the gate of Heaven. When the members of any distant Church were represented, as exemplary for their faith, their zeal, or their love, he received the report of their advancement in grace with demonstrations of the sincerest joy, and publicly expressed his gratitude to that great Master of Assemblies, who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants. When the professors of christianity, in any part of the world, were observed to grow weary of well-doing, either declining from the Faith of the Gospel, or neglecting to walk worthy of their high vocation; his heart was penetrated, on their account, with the most lively concern: he lamented their in

* Gilpin's notes.

stability in secret, and watered his couch with his tears. When the spiritual Vine, in some remote part of the vineyard, appeared to be in danger from the fury of the oppressor; when her hedges were broken down and her fruit torn away by the hand of persecution, he entered deeply into the distresses of the suffering church; he fasted, he wept, he prayed, making continual intercession before the great Lord of the Vineyard, that he would look down from heaven, and visit the plant, which he had formerly strengthened for himself; that spreading forth its boughs again unto the sea, and its branches unto the river, the hills might be covered with the shadow of it, and the land be filled with its fruits.

In 1767, he was in Wales and Yorkshire, he also occasionally visited Bristol and Bath, during which time, as well as during his absence in the preceding year, the Rev. Mr. Brown was entrusted with the care of his flock. Of him Mr. Fletcher entertained a high opinion, and placed an entire confidence in his prudence, piety, and zeal. " I thank you," says he to Mr. Ireland, " for your care to procure not only a supply for my church, but such an agreeable, acceptable, and profitable one as Mr. Brown. I know none that should be more welcome than he. Tell him, with a thousand thanks for his condescension, that I deliver my charge over to him fully, and give him a carte blanche, to do or not to do, as the Lord shall direct him." How long Mr. Brown continued at Madeley, I cannot say, nor whether he supplied Mr. Fletcher's church during the time the latter spent in his native country, in company with his faithful and tried friend Mr. Ireland, in the spring of the year 1770. He had formed the design of paying his friends this visit in the preceding spring, as appears by the following paragraph of a letter to the same friend, dated March 26, 1769.

"I shall be obliged to go to Switzerland, this year or the next, if I live, and the Lord permit. I have there a bro

ther, a worthy man, who threatens to leave his wife and children to come and pay me a visit, if I do not go and see him myself. It is some time since our gracious God has convinced him of sin, and I have by me some of his letters which give me great pleasure: this circumstance has more weight with me than the settlement of my affairs."

Nevertheless he did not go during that year, for in 1770 he was still undetermined respecting his intended visit to France and Switzerland, as appears by a letter of the 13th of January to Mr. Ireland, written from Wales.

"I know not what to think of our journey. My heart frequently recoils; I have lost all my hopes of being able to preach in French, and I think if I could, they will not permit me. I become more stupid every day: my memory fails me in a surprising manner. I am good for nothing, but to go and bury myself in my parish. Judge, then, whether I am fit to go into the world. On the other hand, I fear that your journey is undertaken partly from complaisance to me, and in consequence of the engagement we made to go together. I acquit you of your promise, and if your business do not really demand your presence in France, I beg you will not think of going there on my account. The bare idea of giving you trouble would make the journey ten times more disagreeable to me than the season of the year.

"If your affairs do not really call you to France, I will wait until Providence and grace shall open a way for me. to the mountains of Switzerland, if I am ever to see them again. Adieu. Give yourself wholly to God. A divided heart, like a divided kingdom, falls naturally, by its own gravity, either into darkness, or into sin. My heart's desire is, that the love of Jesus may fill your soul, and that of your unworthy, and greatly obliged servant,

J. F." His friend, it appears, had solved his doubts, and answered his objections so much to his satisfaction in his re