esaary articles. Thus devoted to his holy office, ho soon changed the tide of opposition -which had raged against him, and won the reverence and admiration of his peo- ple, and many looked upon their homes as consecrated l)y liis visits. In the summer of 17G9 ]Mr. Fletcher visited France, Italy, and Switzerland. Towards the close of the summer he returned to England, when, at the request of Lady Huntingdon, he became presi- dent of her seminary for educating young men for tiie ministrj^ at Trevecea, in Wales. In 1770 he went there to reside, but shortly afterwards resigned, on ac- count of some difference with Lady Huntingdon. Ben- son describes Fletcher at Trevecea in glowing terms : '■ The reader," he says, " will pardon me if he thinks I exceed; my heart kindles while I write. Here it was tliat I saw, shall I saj', an angel in human flesli ? I should not far exceed the truth if I said so. But here I saw a descendant of fallen Adam so fully raised above the ruins of the fall, that though by the body he was tied down to earth, j'et was his whole conversation in heaven; yet was his life from daj' to day hid with Christ in God. Prayer, praise, love, and zeal, all ar- dent, elevated above what one would think attainable in this state of frailty, were the elements in which he continually lived. Languages, arts, sciences, gram- mar, rhetoric, logic, even divinity itself, as it is called, were all laid aside when he appeared in the school- room among the students. And they seldom hearken- ed long before they were all in tears, and every heart caught fire from the flame that burned in his soul." On leaving Trevecea he resumed his missionarj' and pastoral labors, making Madeley his centre. But his health failed, and again he was obliged to visit Switz- erland. He derived great benefit from the change of climate, and, soon after his return to England in 1781, he married. ]Mr. Fletcher had for many years seen, with regret and pain, the neglected condition of poor children, and he opened a school-room for them in Madeley Wood, which was the last public work in which he was employed. On the 14tli of August, 1785, he expired, in sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection. In his life the primitive excellence of apostolical Christianity was emulated and illustrated; and if any man, since the apostolic time, has deserved the title of saint, it is Fletcher. "For a time he fell Into asceticism, living on vegetables and bread, and devoting two whole nights each week to meditation and prayer, errors which he afterwards acknowledged. He received AVesley's doctrine of Perfection, and not only wrote in its defense, but exemplified it through a life of purit}', charit}', and labor, which was as fault- less, perhaps, as was ever lived by mortal man. Southey says : ' No age or country has ever produced a man of more fervent piety or more perfect charitj' ; no Church has ever possessed a more apostolic minis- ter' {Life of Wesley, ch. xxv). His preaching is de- scribed as greatly effective. He spoke the English language not only with correctness, but with elo- quence. There was, sa3's Gilpin, who heard him often, an energy in his discourse which was irresisti- ble ; to hear him without admiration was impossible. Powerful as are his writings, his preaching was mighti- er ; ' his living word soared with an eagle's flight ; he basked in the sun, earned his j'oung ones on his wings, and seized the prey for his Master.' He was Wesley's most ardent coadjutor among the clergj' ; his counsellor, his fellow-traveler at times in his evan- gelical itinerancy, an attendant at his Conferences, the champion of his theological views, and, above all, a saintly example of the life and power of Christianity as taught bj^ Methodism, read and Itnown, admired and loved !)y Methodists throughout the world. Made- ley, liis vicarage, is familiar and dear to them next to Epworth itself" (Stevens, Methodism, i, 3(J7, 422). He was eminent, also, as a contrcTvcrsial writer, for point, directness, acuteness, and logical skill. He wrote largely upon the Calvinistic controversj', against Top-
lady and others ; and his writings, especiallj' his Checks to Antiiioinianism, are essential to the thorougii stud}' of that controversy. "Written as detached pamphlets, and abounding in contemporary and per- sonal references, the Checks could not possibly have the consistence and compactness of a thorough treatise on the difficult questions of the great ' Quinquarticu- lar Controversy.' But they comprehend, neverthe- less, nearly every important thesis of tlie subject. Its highest philosophical questions — theories of the freedom of the will, prescience, fatalism — are elabo- rately discussed by them, as in the lifmarls on Top- lady's Scheme of Necessity, and the Ansicer to To})lady's Vindication of Decrees. The scriptural argument is thorough ; and exegetical expositions are given in de- tail, as in the Discussion of the ninth Chapter to the Romans, and the View of St. Pauls Doctrine oftkefrst Chapter to the Ephesians. No writer has better bal- anced the apparently contradictory passages of Scrip- ture on the question. The popular argument has nev- er, perhaps, been more effectively drawn out. No po- lemical works of -a former age are so extensive^' cir- culated as these Checks. They are read more to-day than the}' were during the excitement of the contro- versy. They control the opinions of the largest and most effective body of evangelical clergymen on the earth. They are staples in every Methodist publish- ing-house. Every ]\Iethodist preacher is supposed to read them as an indispensable part of his theological studies, and the)' are found at all points of the globe whither Methodist preachers have borne the cross. They have been more influential in the denomination than Weslej''s own controversial writings on the sub- ject ; for he was content to pursue his itinerant work, reph'ing but briefly to the Hills, and leaving the con- test to Fletcher" (Stevens, History of Methodism, ii, 53-55). His Ajipeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense is an admirable, and, in some respects, novel treatise on the doctrine of universal depravity. Mr. Fletcher's En<;lish style is a marvel of puritj' and pre- cision, considering that he acquired the language after twent}-. His writings have been collected in several editions in England, and also in America, under the title. The Works of the Rev. John Fletcher (New York, Methodist Book Concern, 4 vols. 8vo). For his life, see Gilpin's account, prefixed to Fletcher's Portrciil of St. Paul; and Benson's Life of the Rev. J. W. de la Flichiere (New York, 1833, 12mo). See also Stevens, History of Methodism, a'oIs. i and ii ; Jones, Christian Lioyraphy ; New Yoi'k Review, i, 76.