26. - To Miss Hatton.
May the Physician of soul and body refresh, strengthen, establish, and thoroughly heal you, by the virtue of his blood and the word of his power! Bear well, and farewell. Your unworthy servant,
J. FLETCHER.
26. - TO MISS HATTON.
MADELEY, May 27, 1766.
MY DEAR FRIEND, - I am glad to hear that the God of all mercies and grace has raised you from the bed of sickness, where his love had confined you. It is good to see his works in the deep, and then to come and sing his praises in the land of the living. A touch of pain or sickness I find always profitable to me, as it rivets on my soul the thoughts of my nothingness, helplessness, and mortality; and shows me, in a clearer light, the vanity of all the transitory scenes of life. May your afflictions have the same effect upon you, as long as you live! May you be more steadfast than I am, to retain the deep impressions which God’s gracious rod may have left upon your soul! And may you learn to lay yourself out more for the Lord, and to do whatsoever your hand findeth to do, with all your might, knowing that there is no wisdom, nor device in the grave, whither we are going.
If a sparrow falleth not to the ground, nor a hair from our heads, without our heavenly Father’s leave, it is certain that the higher circumstances of our life are planned by the wise and gracious Governor of all things. This kind of faith in Providence I find of indispensable necessity, to go calmly through life, and, I think too, through death also.
How far it might have been expedient to have postponed preaching regularly in my parish, till the minister of - - - - - - had been reconciled to the invasion of his; and how far this might have made my way smoother, I do not pretend to determine: time will show it, and in the meanwhile I find it good to have faith in Providence.
I fear I have left as great a stink at Bath, as Mr. Brown has a sweet savour here. Every thing is good to me that shows me my unprofitableness more and more; but I desire to grieve that the good of my private humiliation is so much overbalanced by the loss of many about me. The Lord fill you with all peace and joy in your soul, and with all strength and health in your body. My respects wait upon your mother and sister, and all friends. Farewell. JOHN FLETCHER.
27. - TO MISS HATTON.
MADELEY, June 21, 1766.
MY DEAR FRIEND, - I am much concerned to hear, by Mrs. Power, that you are so weak; but my concern has greatly increased, since I was told that the foundation of your illness was laid at Madeley, and, I am afraid, by my imprudence in taking you to the woman with whom we received the sacrament. I ask God’s pardon and yours for it, and I hope it will be a mean of humbling me, and making me more tender of my friends. The advice you give me about my health is seasonable: I hope to follow it; nor am I conscious that I have neglected it at all; however, I will endeavour that there be not so much as a shadow of a call for repeating it. If the air of Wem does not agree with you, could you not come so far as Madeley? The remedy is often most successfully applied where the wound was given; and though I am no nurse, though I have been the contrary of one to you, I hope we should wait upon you with more tenderness than when you were here last. Mrs. Power would nurse you, and I would talk to you of the love of Jesus as well as I could.
You know that I perceived your bodily weakness when you were here, and charged you with what you charge me with, “a neglect of your body.” If I was right, I hope you will follow yourself the advice you give me: I am sure you will. The burnt child will dread the fire for the time to come. With regard to kneeling, you must consider what your body can bear, without inconvenience to your health. To recover that is your outward calling now; therefore, so split the hair between the indolence of nature and the weakness of your body, that neither of the two may be increased. Offer yourself to God for life or death, for ease or pain, for strength or weakness. Let him choose and refuse for you; only do you choose him for your present and eternal portion. I want you to be a little bolder in venturing upon the bosom of our Lord. We lose, (I for one,) much sweetness and many degrees of holiness in being shy of the Friend, the loving Friend of sinners. Pray, for God’s sake, don’t forget that your physician is your husband. The joy of the Lord, as well as his peace, is to be your strength. Love is the passion that wants to be stirred; do it in all calmness. “I will love him, I do love him a little, I shall love him much, because he has first loved me,” &c. Ply, I pray you, this sweet Gospel task.