cation of despondency or fear. He esteemed no difficulty too great to be surmounted, no cross too heavy to be endured, nor any enemy too strong to be opposed, in the way of God's appointment. Here he considered himself as under the immediate protection of the Almighty, and knowing in whom he believed, he committed the keeping of his soul to him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator. "Thirdly. He entered into the conflict under a lively impression of the truth of that apostolic declaration : Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life. This sentiment sustained him in the day of trouble, and produced in him a degree of fortitude proportioned to the severity of the trial. He could smile under the langours of disease, and the violence of pain; he could hear, without emotion, the reproaches of malice, and receive, without resentment, the shafts of ingratitude; counting it all joy when he fell into divers temptations, and glorifying the Lord in the fiercest fires of affliction.

"But while he discovered an astonishing degree of firmness under the sharpest trials, he was a perfect stranger to that stoical sullenness, which steels the heart against the attacks of adversity. His fortitude was sustained, not by insensibility, but by patience and resignation. Through the most afflicting providential dispensations, his attention was fixed upon that wondrous example of patient suffering, which was exhibited in the High Priest of his profession and if ever his sensibility constrained him to cry out, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; his resignation as constantly disposed him to add, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Such was the conduct of Mr. Fletcher with respect to trials of every kind. He never created them through imprudence; he never avoided them through timidity; he never endured them, but with an uncommon share of fortitude and patience and it may be added, that he never experienced the

:

removal of a trial, without thankfully ascribing his support under it, and his deliverance from it, to the gracious interference of that invisible Arm, which is mighty to save.

"With such dispositions, it is not difficult to conceive that, like Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, he held communion with the Son of God in the hottest furnace of affiction; so that, like Job, he came forth from the most grievous trials as gold purified in the fire. The friends he has left behind him can joyfully testify, that he had learned the happy art of glorying even in tribulations; from a consciousness, that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope. Nay, they are further prepared to testify, that his hope was matured into the fullest assurance, when they recollect how he would frequently come forth from a state of keen distress, repeating the confidential exclamation of the great apostle: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that hath loved us.'

His devotion to the Lord Jesus was equal to his faith in him, and his other graces. "Though this be strictly enjoined by the Church," as is justly observed by the author last quoted, "it is rarely discernible in the conduct of her members. As the majority of christians are satisfied with a superficial knowledge of the Redeemer, so their devotion to him is purely of a professional nature. Their attachment to Christ may dispose them to some few external marks of respect toward him, but is insufficient to produce in them any single act of genuine obedience, or self-denial. They reverence his name, while they reject his authority; and acknowledge him as a Saviour, while they refuse to follow him as a guide. In all these respects it was totally otherwise with the man, whose

* Portrait, page 65.

character is here faintly delineated. His devotion to Christ was sincere and unreserved, first, as a private christian, and afterwards as a Minister of the gospel. As a private christian, he was a strict and constant follower of the blessed Jesus, renouncing, for his sake, all the transient gratifications of time and sense. Whatever he had formerly admired and pursued, he voluntarily laid at the feet of his Lord. Those requisitions of Christ, which are generally looked upon as strict in the extreme, he submitted to without a murmur; cutting off the right hand, plucking out the right eye, and casting away whatever might prove offensive to his spotless Master, with all the determination of a deep-rooted attachment. He cast aside every weight, he resisted every sin, and neglected nothing, that might prove either the sincerity of his zeal, or the fervour of his love. He dedicated his time, his studies, his acquisitions, and his substance, to the service of his Lord; and desired to present him, at once, with his whole being, as a living sacrifice, expressive of his entire devotion.

"As a minister of the gospel, his devotion to Christ was expressed, if possible, in a still more absolute manner. He entered more universally into his service, and manifested a greater degree of zeal for the honour of his Name. He imitated his perfections in a more unlimited sense, and interested himself more deeply in the extension of his kingdom upon earth. His renunciation of the world became more complete, and his self-denial more strict. He acted with greater resolution, and suffered with greater firmness, in the cause of christianity. His devotion to Christ was now carried to a higher pitch, than most christians are willing to believe attainable in the present life. He had no interest to serve, no inclination to gratify, nor any connection to maintain, but such as was entirely conformable to the nature of his union with the holy Jesus. Wherever he came, he breathed the spirit of devotion, and wherever he was familiarly known, the purity, the resoluU

tion, and the constancy of that devotion, were universally apparent.* He daily felt and acted in conformity to the powerful obligations, by which he was bound to the Captain of his salvation. His vows of inviolable affection and fidelity, were solemnly renewed, as occasion offered, both in public and private: and it was wonderful to observe, through all the vicissitudes of his christian warfare, how perfect a harmony was maintained between his inclinations and his engagements, his habits and his profession. It would be very easy, to expatiate largely under this head, though very difficult to give a description, in any tolerable degree, adequate to the subject. Instead of presenting the reader with several pages upon the point now before us, it

* There was a certain something in Mr. Fletcher's person and manner, that instantly and indescribably affected the passions in almost every one that saw him. That of fear and dismay in the wicked, and love and sympathy in the breast of the good; especially as he entered the Sanctuary of God, his exceeding joy, and while delivering the word of this life to the people, he appeared indeed to perform every religious exercise under the influence of that most Christian temper expressed by St. Paul, thus:

"Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Oh! what a man of God was Mr. Fletcher; how would his enlarged heart have rejoiced had he lived to see this day, when such mighty efforts are making with such glorious effect to introduce the Holy Scriptures amongst all Nations, and Tongues, and People. From the Palace of the Prince to the Hut of the Hottentot the influence of the Bible is felt-Hail Bible Societies! Hail Missionary Societies! "Go on and prosper," until infidelity, the hell born monster, is chased back to his own den. What would Mr. Fletcher have said had he been present when his old and much esteemed friend, the Reverend Doctor Thomas Coke, in the 66th year of his age, with all the zeal and fire of youth, took his departure from England, in November 1813, for the Island of Ceylon, to preach that same blessed Gospel in Asia, which he had preached already with so much wisdom and grace in Europe and America, also to the African race in the West Indies. O may the Lord God of Elijah go forth with all Christian Ministers and Missionaries, in the power of his Spirit, until the whole earth shall be filled with the know. ledge of his glory in Christ Jesus. Amen and Amen. J. K.

shall suffice to say, that this venerable man's entire devotion to Jesus Christ, as a Minister of the gospel, was variously expressed, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report."

Another particular in his character, touched upon by Mr. Gilpin, is his perfect disinterestedness. "Upon his discovering," says he, " the goodly pearl of evangelical truth, Mr. Fletcher, like the merchant in the gospel, immediately bartered his all for the possession of so invaluable a gem.

Till then, he had been engaged in pursuits of a worldly nature; but, from that time, he sought after no other treasure than the unsearchable riches of grace, nor desired any inheritance except that, which is reserved for the saints in everlasting light. Through every period of his religious life, he appeared as a pilgrim and stranger in the world, unallured by its smiles, unmoved by its frowns, and uninterested in its changes. His affections were wholly fixed upon things above; and while thousands and ten thousands were contending around him, for the advantages and honours of the present life, he desired to pass unnoticed through its idle hurry, without being entangled in its concerns, or encumbered with its gifts. It was with him, as with a person engaged in a race, which must be attended with immense gain, or irreparable loss, he kept his eye immovably fixed upon the goal; and whatever gilded trifles were thrown in his way, he resolutely trampled on them all, uninterruptedly pressing toward the mark, for the prize of his high calling in Christ Jesus. His mind was never distracted with a multiplicity of objects, nor did he ever mingle temporal expectations with eternal

• Portrait, page 252,