any I ever knew. Hardly a night passed over but some part of it was spent in groans for the souls and bodies committed to his care. I dreaded his hearing either of the sins or sufferings of any of his people, before the time of his going to bed, knowing how strong the impressions would be on his mind, chasing sleep from his eyes.

"And yet I have heard him speak of a time, twelve or fourteen years ago, when he was greatly tempted to think that he was not sensible enough of the afflictions of his fellow-creatures. He thought Christ bore our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; 'but,' said he, ‘I have not that Christ-like temper: I do not bear the sor→ rows of others.' After being for some time buffeted with this temptation, he prayed that a measure of this spirit might be given to him. Not long after, as he was visiting a poor sick family, so lively a sense of their affliction on a sudden fell upon his mind, that he could scarce get home. As soon as he sat down in his house, his soul was penetrated with such a sense of the woes of mankind as utterly depressed and overcame him, and drank up his spirits, insomuch that he could not help himself, nor move from one chair to another: and he was no more able to walk or help himself than a new-born child; at the same time, he seemed to lose the use of his memory and of all his faculties. He thought, 'What is this? Is it a disease? Is it a stroke of the palsy? Rather, is it not an answer to my own ill-judged, though wellintended, prayer? Did I not ask a burden unsuitable to a finite, and capable of being borne only by an infinite Being?' He remained some hours in this situation. Then it came into his mind,' If this be a purely natural event, the will of the Lord be done; but if it be the answer to an improper prayer, God will answer again by removing it.' He cried to the Lord, and was restored to strength, both of body and mind.

11. "When we were at Leeds, in the year 1784, I had another proof of the tender sensibility of his heart. O how deeply was he affected for the welfare of his brethren! When any little disputes arose between them, his inmost soul groaned under the burden; and, by two or three o'clock in the morning, I was sure to hear him breathing out prayers for the peace and prosperity

of Sion. When I observed to him, I was afraid it would hurt his health, and wished him to sleep more, he would answer, 'O Polly, the cause of God lies near my heart.'

"Toward me, his tenderness was exerted in its utmost extent. My soul, my body, my health, my ease and comfort, were his daily study. We had no thought, either past or present, which we purposely concealed from each other. My spiritual advancement was his constant endeavour; and to this he was continually stirring me up, inviting me to walk more closely with God; urging that thought, 'O my dear, let us pray for dying grace; for we shall not be long here.' His temporal affairs he committed solely to me, though he was always ready to assist me in the smallest matters.

12. "One article more remains to be spoken of; namely, his communion with God. Although he enjoyed this, more or less, at all times, and in all places, yet I have frequently heard him observe, that the seasons of his closest communion were always in his own house, or in the church: usually in the latter. It is much to be lamented, that we have no account of it from his own pen. It was his constant endeavour to set the Lord before him, and to maintain an uninterrupted sense of his presence. In order to this, he was slow of speech, and had the greatest government of his words. Indeed, he both acted, and spoke, and thought, as under the eye of God. And thus he remained unmoved in all occurrences; at all times, and on every occasion, possessing inward recollection. Nor did I ever see him diverted therefrom, on any occasion whatever, either going out or coming in, whether by ourselves or in company. Sometimes he took his journeys alone: but above a thousand miles I have travelled with him; during which, neither change of company, nor of place, nor the variety of circumstances which naturally occur in travelling, ever seemed to make the least difference in his firm attention to the presence of God. To preserve this uniform habit of soul, he was so watchful and recollected, that to such as were unexperienced in these things it might appear like insensibility. But no one could converse in a more lively and sensible manner, even on natural things, when he saw it was to the glory of God. He was always striving to raise his own, and every other

spirit, to a close and immediate intercourse with God; and I can say with truth, all his union with me was so intermingled with prayer and praise, that every employment, and every meal, was, as it were, perfumed therewith."

13. I subjoin to the above an extract of a letter, which I wrote to Mr. Wesley, in the year 1786, concerning the character of Mr. Fletcher, and which was published in the former edition of his Life. For, although, as Mr. Wesley observed, most of the particulars thereof are contained in the preceding pages, yet as they are here placed in another order, and have also several new circumstances intermixed, it is hoped they will be both agreeable and profitable to every person of piety.

As to drawing the character of that great and good man, (as I then observed,) it is what I will not attempt; but if I can suggest anything that will assist the reader to form a proper idea of, and excite him to imitate, his excellencies, I shall think my little labour well bestowed. With this view I have looked over most of his letters, and observe in them all, what I have a thousand times observed in his conversation and behaviour, — the plainest marks of every Christian grace and virtue.

Perhaps, if he followed his Master more closely in one thing than another, it was in poverty of spirit. It is one branch of this to think meanly of ourselves. And he certainly thought thus of himself, in every respect; as a Christian, as a Preacher, and as a writer. I need not say how he shone in all those characters ; but he knew not that he shone in any of them. How low an opinion he had of himself manifestly appears from his placing himself at the feet of all, and showing a continual desire to learn from every company he was in. He paid all due deference to the judgment of others, readily acknowledged whatever was good in them, and seemed to think himself the only person in whom there dwelt no excellency worth notice. Hence it was that

he often wrote and spoke, as we have seen in many parts of these Memoirs, as if he had not received that grace which he undoubtedly had received. Indeed, he overlooked what he had attained, through the eager desire he had of higher and greater things; and, as

many of his letters show, thought very meanly of his own attainments, through the continually increasing views which he had of the divine purity, and of the high degree of conformity thereto which is attainable even in this world.

14. As difficult as it is to think meanly of ourselves, it is still more difficult to be willing that others should think meanly of us. And how eminent he was in this respect appears from hence, that he was constantly upon his guard, lest any expression should drop, either from his lips or pen, which might tend to make any one think well of him, either on account of his family, or learning, or parts, or usefulness: yea, he took as much pains to conceal his excellencies as others do to show theirs; having the same desire to be little and unknown which many have to be known and esteemed.

15. "Blessed are they that mourn," said the Lord Jesus. And this blessedness was as certainly his, as that just mentioned. He was a man of a serious spirit; one that stood at the utmost distance from levity of every kind. Though he was constantly cheerful, as rejoicing in hope of the heavenly inheritance; yet had he too deep a sense of his own wants, and the wants of the church of God, as also of the sins and miseries of mankind, to be at any time light or trifling. I have a letter before me, (dated Dec., 1771,) which at once gives us a picture of his seriousness, watchfulness, and earnestness; and contains advices well deserving the consideration of all that fear God." There is, undoubtedly," said he, "such a thing as the 'full assurance of faith.' Be not discouraged on account of thousands who stop short of it it is our own fault, if we do not attain it.—God would give us ample satisfaction, if we did but deeply feel our wants. Both you and I want a deeper awakening, which will produce a death to outward things and speculative knowledge. Let us shut our eyes to the gilded clouds without us: let us draw inward, and search after God, if haply we may find him. Let us hold fast our confidence, though we are often constrained against hope to believe in hope. But let us not rest in our confidence, as thousands do: let it help us to struggle and wait till he come. Let us habituate ourselves to live inwardly. This will solemnize us, and prevent our

trifling with the things of God. We may be thankful for what we have, without resting in it. We may strive, and yet not trust in our striving; but expect all from divine grace."

66

16. In these words, Mr. Fletcher gives us not only an example of "holy mourning," but likewise of "hungering and thirsting after righteousness." In this he was peculiarly worthy of our imitation. He never rested in anything he had either experienced or done in spiritual matters. "But this one thing" he did: "forgetting those things that" were "behind, and reaching forth unto those things which were before," he "pressed toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus:" he was a true Christian racer, always on the stretch for higher and better things. Though his attainments, both in experience and usefulness, were above the common standard, yet the language of his conversation and behaviour always was, " Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfected: but I follow after, if by any means I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." He had his eye upon a full conformity to the Son of God; or what the Apostle terms, "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Nor could he be satisfied with anything less.

17. And he was meek, like his Master, as well as lowly in heart. Not that he was so by nature, but a man of strong passions, and prone to anger in particular; insomuch, that he has frequently thrown himself on the floor, and lain there most of the night, bathed in tears, imploring victory over his own spirit. And he did not strive in vain he did obtain the victory in a very eminent degree. Yea, so thoroughly had grace subdued nature, so fully was he renewed in the spirit of his mind, that for many years before his death, I believe, he was never observed by any one, friend or foe, to be out of temper, nor heard to utter a rash expression, on any provocation whatever; and provocation he sometimes met with, and that in a high degree, especially from those whose religious sentiments he thought it his

duty to oppose. I have often thought the testimony that Bishop Burnet (in the History of his own Times) bears of Archbishop Leighton, might be borne of him