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THE LIFE

OF THE

REV. JOHN W. DE LA FLECHERE.

CHAPTER I.

OF HIS PARENTAGE AND YOUTH.

JOHN WILLIAM DE LA FLECHERE (this was properly his name) was born at Nyon, in Switzerland,* a town about fifteen miles north of Geneva, on September the 12th, in the year 1729. His father was an officer in the French service, till he left the army in order to marry. But after a time he returned to the same line of life, and was a Colonel in the militia of his own country. Of this gentleman, whose family is one of the most respectable in the Canton of Berne, and a branch of an Earldom of Savoy, Mr. Fletcher was the youngest son.

2. He passed the early part of his life at Nyon, where he soon discovered an elevated turn of mind, accompanied with an unusual degree of vivacity. After having made a good proficiency in school-learning, he was removed, with his two brothers, to Geneva, where he was distinguished equally by his superior abilities, and his uncommon application. The two first prizes for which he stood a candidate, he carried away from a number of competitors, several of whom were nearly related to the Professors; and on these occasions he was complimented by his superiors in a very flattering manner. During his residence at Geneva, he allowed himself but little time, either for recreation, refreshment, or rest. After confining himself closely to his studies all the day, he would frequently consume the greater part * Wesley's Life of Fletcher.

+ Gilpin's notes subjoined to Fletcher's Portrait of St. Paul.

of the night in noting down whatever had occurred, in the course of his reading, worthy of his observation. Here he acquired that true classical taste which was so frequently and justly admired by his intimate friends, and which all his studied plainness could never conceal. Here also he laid the foundation of that extensive and accurate knowledge for which he was afterwards distin guished, both in philosophical and theological researches. After quitting Geneva, he was sent by his father to Lentzbourg, a small town in the Swiss Cantons, where he not only acquired the German language, but diligently prosecuted his other studies, to which he ever discovered a passionate attachment. On his return from this place, he continued some time at home, studying the Hebrew language, and perfecting his acquaintance with mathematical learning.

3. His early piety was equally remarkable with his early attainments. From his childhood he was impressed with a deep sense of the majesty of God, and a constant fear of offending him, and manifested great tenderness of conscience, as appears by the following instances. One day, having offended his father, who threatened to correct him, he did not dare to come into his presence, but retired into the garden; and when he saw him coming toward him, he ran away with all speed. But he was presently struck with deep remorse, and said to himself, "What! do I run away from my father? Perhaps I shall live to have a son that will run away from me!" And it was several years before the impression which he then received was worn off.

4. Another instance of his tenderness of conscience occurred when he was about seven years of age. He was one day reproved by the nursery-maid, saying, "You are a naughty boy. Do you not know, that the devil is to take away all naughty children?" He was no sooner in bed, than he began to reflect very deeply upon her words. He thought, "I am a naughty boy. And how do I know, but God may let the devil take me away this night?" He then got up, fell down upon his knees before God, and prayed earnestly for a considerable time, till he felt such a sense of the divine love, as quieted every fear. He then lay down in peace and safety. 5. Mr. Fletcher's early acquaintance with the holy

Scriptures guarded him on the one hand from the snares of infidelity, and preserved him on the other from many vices peculiar to youth. His conversation was modest, and his whole conduct marked with a degree of rectitude, not usually to be found in early life. He manifested an extraordinary turn for religious meditation; and those little productions which gained him the greatest applause, at this period, were chiefly of a serious. tendency. His filial obedience, and brotherly affection, were exemplary; nor is it remembered that he ever uttered one unbecoming expression in either of those characters. He was a constant reprover of sin; and his modest freedom, in this respect, is said once to have of fended a mother he tenderly loved. While she was, on some occasion, expressing herself in too warm a manner to one of the family, he turned his eye upon her with a gentle reproof. She was displeased with the modest reprehension, and repaid it with some severity, which he received with the utmost submission, making only the following reply:-"When I am smitten' on one cheek,' and especially by a hand I love so well, I am taught to " turn the other also." " This expression was not employed with an air of bravado, but with a look of so much tender affection, that the indignation of his mother was instantly turned into a look of pleasing admiration.

6. Persons who are designed by the Almighty for eminent services in the church are frequently distinguished in their youth by striking peculiarities, which awaken in those around them an expectation of something extraordinary in their future character. Of this kind was the following circumstance :-During Mr. Fletcher's residence at Geneva, his sister, Madame de Botens, who had taken a house in that city for the convenience of her brothers, was visited by a widow lady from Nyon. This lady was accompanied by her three sons, who were not the most happily disposed, and whose improper conduct, at this time, provoked her to so uncommon a degree, as to extort from her a hasty imprecation. Mr. Fletcher, who was present upon this occasion, was so struck with the unnatural carriage of this exasperated mother, that, instantly starting from his chair, he addressed her in a very powerful remonstrance. He reasoned with her in an affecting and pointed

manner.

He observed and lamented the difficulties of her situation; but entreated her to struggle against them with discretion, and not with impatience. He exhorted her to educate her children in the fear of God, and to second such education by her own pious example. After assuring her that her conduct on the present occasion had filled him with the utmost horror, and that he could not but tremble for the consequences of it, he concluded his address by alarming her fears, lest the imprecation she had uttered should be followed by some unexpected family affliction. That same day the widow, in her return to Nyon, embarked upon the lake, where she soon was overtaken with a tremendous storm, and brought to the very point of perishing. In the midst of her danger, the words of her young prophet, as she afterwards termed Mr. Fletcher, were deeply impressed upon her mind. But they shortly returned upon her in a more forcible manner, with the melancholy intelligence that two of her sons were lost upon the lake, and the third crushed to death at one of the gates of Geneva. At this time, Mr. Fletcher was not more than fourteen years of age.

7. While Mr. Fletcher was yet a youth, his life was sundry times in imminent danger, but was mercifully preserved. One day, as he informed Mrs. Fletcher, he and his elder brother, being about to exercise themselves in fencing, had taken real, instead of wooden swords, with buttons fixed upon the points of them. His brother making a hard push at him, the button upon the point of his sword split in two, and the sword entered Mr. Fletcher's side, near his bowels, and gave him so deep a wound that he carried the scar of it to his grave.

At another time, he and his brother went upon the Lake of Geneva in a little boat, and rowed forward till, being out of sight of land, they knew not what way they were going, nor whether they were approaching or removing further from the shore from which they had set out. The evening now came on, and it was beginning to grow dark; and as they were proceeding towards the middle of the lake, in all probability they would have been lost, had it not providentially happened that, in consequence of some news arriving in town, the bells began to ring. They could but just hear them, but

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