letter four weeks later in date, which is, pretty certainly, the last

of the series. As will be seen, it consists in reality of three letters, one to Mrs. Fletcher, one to her and her husband conjointly, and one to Fletcher alone. They are written, however, continuously, on one sheet of paper. The fears and forebodings to which he gives expression are familiar to all who are acquainted with the history of Methodism. It will be remembered that the question of a successor to Wesley had been mentioned several years before; Charles Wesley joining with his brother in designating Fletcher to that office, and Fletcher declining it, and urging in return that, in the event of John Wesley's decease, the leadership must naturally devolve upon Charles. The latter had now made up his mind that nothing could save the Methodist societies from falling to pieces as soon as he and his brother should be removed, events that could not be far distant.

"LONDON, _June 21st, 1785_.

"MY DEAR SISTER,--

"If you are weary of writing, I much more, who have almost lost the use of my hand and eyes. You owe _me_ no thanks for _my_ care of you. The care of all the Churches has lain upon my brother.

"We agree in our 'willingness to be hid and forgotten.' Surely I have been _thrust out_ into the harvest. If I am saved, let my memorial perish.

"When we get to the other side we shall know all; till then our life must continue a mystery.

"Your partner was certainly given to the prayers of the people; therefore he is their debtor so long as he lives.

"Don't you know poets are all envious? Yet you challenge me, who never ventured at an acrostic in all my life.

"If you saw 'Sam in the cradle,' you saw him in his best estate. One out of them has some desire of salvation, but she seeks rather than strives.

"My wife and I are quite willing 'to come and see you at Madeley,' but our way is hid. It is most probable that if we ever meet again, it should be in London or Bristol. Let us help each other by our prayers at least. You will not, I know, forget your old, useless, but still affectionate servant and friend,

"C. W.

"This side is for you _both_.

"I trust you are resigned (after mine and my brother's departure) to gather up the wreck. Be sure the sheep will be scattered. All the beasts of the forest are waiting for them. Many will find shelter among the Moravians; many will turn to the Calvinists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Quakers. Most, I hope, will return to the bosom of their mother, the Church of England. Not one, but several sects will arise, _and Methodism will be broken into a thousand pieces_.

"It is impossible for you to know _now_, or to divine, or to conjecture what you are intended for. Therefore the less you think about it the better, for we penetrate, we prophesy, in vain. You must stand still, and see the design and the salvation of God.

"Had I a sufficient body, I would strive to visit you, that we might compare our thoughts. So far I _can_ see, that the Lord is preparing His people for some great event. But who shall live when the Lord doth this? I am far entered on my last stage, and expect every month to be my last. Providence (if you survive me) will call you to this place. My widow can tell you my mind, if worth your knowing, and show you my posthumous papers, if worth your seeing.

"Pray on, and help to a peaceful end, my beloved friends,

"Your faithful Brother,

"C. W.

"TO MR. J. F.

"'Spared to keep the people,' says my dear friend? _Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?_ The longer our time, the greater our danger of failing. I have always feared for myself that I should live a little too long. Now I fear it for my brethren also.

"Be not too sanguine for the American Methodists. _First_, know their _real_ condition. You justly fear that _our_ Methodists should get into the prelatical spirit. I fear the fanatical spirit also. I cannot explain this in writing.

"You think I know nothing about the peace; I think you know nothing about it. Yet I wish your poem a good sale.[14]

"Happy would Sally be to die like her god-sister. I am not without hope that she will live to be a Christian. She presents her duty. We all join in love. I _need_ no invitation to Madeley. While I had strength I wanted opportunity. Now I have neither."

For two or three years longer this question, 'What was to become of the Methodists after Wesley's death,' continued to exercise his brother Charles. Perhaps some anxiety would have been spared him had he acted more upon the advice he gave to Fletcher: "The less you think about it the better, for we penetrate, we prophesy, in vain. You must stand still, and see the design, the salvation of God." To this he seems finally to have come, for in one of his last letters to his brother he says: "Keep your authority while you live; and, after your death, _detur digniori_, or rather, _dignioribus_. You cannot settle the succession; you cannot divine how God will settle it." Meanwhile, so far as Fletcher was concerned, he had little to learn, even from his dearest friend and counsellor, as to waiting for the Lord. No man was ever less inclined to "penetrate or prophesy." Whether he lived, he lived unto the Lord; whether he died, he died unto the Lord; living or dying, he was the Lord's. No room was left for anxiety about the future.

The summer of 1785 was an unhealthy one at Madeley. There was a good deal of fever about, "a bad, putrid fever," and Fletcher and his wife were much engaged among the sick. Two persons died within a few yards of the vicarage. Mrs. Fletcher visited them in their illness, and took the fever. "Now," she says, "I had a fresh instance of the tender care and love of my blessed partner; sickness was made pleasant by his kind attention." During this illness many thoughts passed through her mind for which she could scarcely account. Something seemed to tell her that she must yet drink deeper of the cup. She adds, "My dear husband and I are led to offer ourselves to do and suffer all the will of God." The time was fast approaching when this submission to the will of God was to have its crowning test.

On Thursday, August 4th, Fletcher was busy amongst his flock from three in the afternoon till nine at night. On returning home he said, "I have taken cold." During the two following days he went about much as usual, though with some difficulty. On Saturday night he was very feverish, and his wife begged him not to go to church in the morning, but to let one of the Methodist preachers who was staying with them preach in the churchyard; but he replied that it was the will of the Lord that he should go. The morning came, and he began the service at the usual hour. While reading the prayers he almost fainted. His wife pressed through the crowd, and entreated him to leave the reading-desk and come home. In his gentle manner he bade her let him go on. The windows were opened, and he seemed a little refreshed as he proceeded with the service. When prayers were ended he ascended the pulpit, and gave out his text, "How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings." After the sermon he went up the aisle to the communion table, saying, "I am going to throw myself under the wings of the cherubim, before the mercy-seat." The congregation was large, and the service lasted till nearly two o'clock. He was often obliged to stop for want of power to speak. The people were deeply affected; nearly all were in tears.

As soon as the service was over he was hurried away to bed, and immediately fainted. During the three following days he was restless in body, but in mind alternately calm, and filled with holy joy. Again and again he would say, "God is love, God is love." His symptoms were still thought to be not unfavourable. On Thursday, the 11th, his speech began to fail, but when he could say nothing else to be understood, he would repeat "God is love." The next day his faithful wife felt a sword pierce through her soul as she found his body covered with spots. She knelt by his bed, with her hand in his, and entreated the Lord to be with them both. On the afternoon of Saturday he stretched out his hand to each of the friends who stood around him. His wife said to him: "My dear, I ask not for myself, but for the sake of others; if Jesus is very present with thee, lift thy right hand." He did so. She added, "If the prospect of glory opens before thee, repeat the sign." He raised his hand again; and, in half a minute, a second time.

The end was fast drawing near. It was Sunday evening, and the church was filled with a weeping congregation offering up their prayers for their dying pastor. At the conclusion of the service the people lingered about the vicarage, and seemed unable to go to their homes. Many of them were admitted to the house, and allowed to pass by the open door of his room, where they could see him, propped up with pillows in his bed. His countenance continued unaltered, but his weakness perceptibly increased. He sank into a kind of sleep, and at half-past ten o'clock on Sunday night, August 14th, 1785, Fletcher of Madeley breathed his last, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.

* * * * *

Three days afterwards he was buried in Madeley churchyard amid the tears and lamentations of his people.

The inscription on his tombstone was written by his widow. A longer and more detailed epitaph, from the pen of Richard Watson, in City Road Chapel, sets forth his character and labours. Fletcher of Madeley will continue to be remembered for what he did, but still more for what he was. "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance."

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: "The English Church in the Eighteenth Century." By C. J. Abbey and J. H. Overton. Vol. ii., p. 113.]

[Footnote 2: MOZLEY: "Theory of Development," p. 141.]

[Footnote 3: GLEDSTONE: "Life of Whitefield," p. 304.]

[Footnote 4: An expression in one of Fletcher's letters to Charles Wesley, written in 1759, is noteworthy in connexion with the ecclesiastical development of Methodism. He speaks of "the Methodist Church." Is not this the earliest instance of the use of this term?]

[Footnote 5: I am indebted to the Rev. George Mather for the opportunity of examining the documents relating to Fletcher's ordination, license, induction, &c. They are as follows:

1. Deacon's orders, March 6th, 1757, Bishop of Hereford.

2. Priest's orders, March 13th, 1757, Bishop of Bangor.

3. License to the curacy of Madeley, March 14th, 1757, Bishop of Hereford.

4. Presentation to vicarage of Madeley, October 4th, 1760.

5. Institution to vicarage of Madeley, October 7th, 1760.

6. Mandate for induction, October 7th, 1760.

7. Certificate of Fletcher's conforming to the Liturgy, October 7th, 1760.

8. Certificate of subscribing to the Thirty-nine Articles, October 7th, 1760.

9. Certificate, signed by two parishioners, stating that on Lord's day, October 26th, 1760, John Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley, had read prayers, and declared his unfeigned assent and consent, &c., dated December 1st, 1760.

These documents are all in good condition, and the signatures perfectly fresh and clear.]

[Footnote 6: Published in a sermon preached on the occasion of the death of Fletcher's widow in 1816, by the Rev. John Hodson, who had the incident from "a pious woman who for many years was intimately acquainted with Mr. Fletcher." Quoted from Tyerman's "Life of Fletcher."]

[Footnote 7: The characteristic of Fletcher's letters which we consider their greatest blemish is the frequent spiritualizing of common facts and incidents. We will illustrate our meaning. His friend Mr. Ireland had sent him a hamper of wine, and some cloth to be made into a suit of clothes. In acknowledging the present, he says: "Your broadcloth can lap me round two or three times; but the mantle of Divine love, the precious fine robe of Jesus's righteousness, can cover your soul a thousand times. The cloth, fine and good as it is, will not keep out a hard shower; but that garment of salvation will keep out even a shower of brimstone and fire. Your cloth will wear out; but that fine linen, the righteousness of saints, will appear with a finer lustre the more it is worn. The moth may fret your present, or the tailor may spoil it in cutting it; but the present which Jesus has made you is out of reach of the spoiler, and ready for present wear." These comparisons are pursued considerably further, and then the other part of Mr. Ireland's present has its turn. "As I shall take a little of your wine for my stomach's sake, take you a good deal of the wine of the kingdom for your soul's sake. Every promise of the gospel is a bottle, a cask that has a spring within, and can never be exhausted. Draw the cork of unbelief, and drink abundantly. Be not afraid of intoxication; and if an inflammation follows, it will only be that of Divine love."

On another, but similar, occasion he writes to his good friend, "I want the living water rather than cider, and righteousness more than clothes."

These are not the extremest instances that Fletcher's letters afford of his habit of "spiritualising." It is plain that no suspicion of anything incongruous in his comparisons ever crossed his mind. Happy the man of whom it can be said that the only quality in which he is deficient is a sense of humour!

Wesley's remark upon this characteristic of Fletcher's style is: "This facility of raising useful observations from the most trifling incidents was one of those peculiarities in him which cannot be proposed to our imitation.... What was becoming and graceful in Mr. Fletcher would be disgustful almost in any other."]

[Footnote 8: In Archdeacon Pratt's "Eclectic Notes," pp. 185-189, there is an interesting discussion of one of the questions referred to above, viz. the advantages and disadvantages of religious societies. Mr. Venn is quoted as saying, "Dr. Woodward's societies were the first we read of. They might have existed to this day, had not Mr. Wesley's arisen."]

[Footnote 9: More than half a century afterwards, when all the parties to this controversy had passed away, and time had given opportunity for a calm estimate of the whole matter, Mr. Watson, at once the most competent and the most reverential of Wesley's biographers, expressed himself as follows, concerning the "Minutes" of 1770: "That there were passages calculated to awaken suspicion, and that they gave the appearance of inconsistency to Mr. Wesley's opinions, and indicated a tendency to run to one extreme in order to avoid another--an error which Mr. Wesley more generally avoided than most men,--cannot be denied....

"Mr. Wesley acknowledged that the 'minutes' were 'not sufficiently guarded.' This must be felt by all; they were out of his usual manner of expressing himself, and he had said the same truths often, in a clearer, and safer, and even stronger manner. He certainly did not mean to alter his previous opinions, or formally to adopt other terms in which to express them, and therefore to employ new modes of speaking, though for a temporary purpose, was not without danger, although they were capable of an innocent explanation."]

[Footnote 10: "Wesley's Designated Successor," pp. 177-179.]

[Footnote 11: Referring to the death of Whitefield in 1770.]

[Footnote 12: "Wesley's Designated Successor," p. 487.]

[Footnote 13: Rev. W. Tranter, _Methodist Magazine_, 1837, p. 903.]

[Footnote 14: Fletcher had written a poem in French on the peace which, in January, 1783, had been concluded with America, France, and Spain. At the time of Charles Wesley's letter, an English version of it, by the Rev. J. Gilpin, was in the press. It appeared shortly after Fletcher's death.]

* * * * *

APPENDIX.

EXTRACTS from Fletcher's manuscript "Book of Devotions," referred to on p. 38.

CHRISTIANA PRÆCEPTA.

Contemplare Dei Natum, legesque benignas; Omnia te Christi vita docere potest.

Appage te mea mens absisque philautia longè, Filius ipse Dei sua nunquam vota secutus. Ut mea vota Deo mactarem, se duce, lætus Sponte sua summo paruit patri inter olivas.

Porcina qui quærit Divina solamina perdit. Ne dapium ventrisque tui mala gaudia quæras; Mens tibi pura nequit saturato ventre vigere. Cibus enim nimius Divinæ particulam auræ Certo affigit humi Coelique afflamine privat.

Ne doleas si pauper habes seu scommata mundi, Seu risus hominum titulos et prædia sola; Pauper cum Christus vilique a plebe jocatus In turpi ligno vitam componat amaram.

RESISTE TENTATIONI HIS CONSILIIS.

Dæmona ne dubita te certo vincere posse, Hunc tunc haud dubio Christo auxiliante fugabis. Ne ruas in vetitum, brevis est et fluxa Libido: Sperne Voluptatem, dirum ponè linquit acumen. Crede mihi, Satanæ minimam ne cedito partem; Fortiter ac subito plagam repelle priorem. Numinis auxilium precibus rogato benignis. In cruce pro culpis morientem cernito Jesum. Coelestes palmas, et Tartara dira memento. Offert judicium cita mors, hilaremque triumphum. Viribus indomitis, rigidisque resistito membris Dæmonis impetibus; Christus hunc _appage_ vicit. Vivida sit fides, te certa corona manebit.

There is no need either to point out, or to apologize for, the shortcomings of Fletcher's Latin verses. They are little more than private memoranda for use in prayer and meditation, written in Latin, perhaps, as a kind of cipher. The following resolutions are interesting:

"Hæc Deo juvante facere decerno.

3 edere die. quod ubi primum violaverim, pauperibus b. asses dandi et venia per horam petenda erit, nullo fulcro utens.

Pueros nunquam ob doctrinam castigare, sub eâdem poenâ.

Precans nunquam jacere, sed stare vel genu flectere."

This may be translated:

These things, God helping me, I determine:

To take food three times a day; for a breach of this rule, twopence to be given to the poor, and pardon to be implored for an hour, using no bodily support.

Never to punish the boys for their lessons, under the same penalty.

Never to lie down while engaged in prayer, but stand or kneel.

LE BONHEUR DU CHRÉTIEN.

Heureux qui n'a point de désir, Heureux qui se fait violence, Qui se prive des vains plaisirs, Et se plaît dans la dépendance. Heureux l'homme de bonne foi, Simple, sage, plein d'innocence, Qui, toujours sévère pour soi, Pour son prochain est rempli de clémence.

Heureux qui chérit le silence, Qui ne parle que utilement, Et se repose uniquement Sur la Divine Providence.

Heureux qui connaissant son extrême indigence L'expose au ciel incessamment, Et qui de son Dieu seulement Attend toute son assistance. Heureux qui n'a rien d'affecté, Heureux l'homme sans volonté, Et qui, vide de lui même, Est tout plein du vrai Dieu qu'il aime.

Heureux qui penétré des besoins du prochain Lui partage son coeur, son Esprit, et son pain. Heureux celui qui l'édifie. Heureux celui qu'on humilie, Et qui sait profiter de ses abaissements. Heureux qui n'a jamais de vertus chimériques, Et qui chérit ses domestiques Comme s'ils étaient ses enfants. Heureux qui ne va point par des routes obliques, Heureux, plus heureux qu'on ne croit, Qui marche constamment dans le chemin étroit. Heureux qui par ses soins, par son économie, Sait amasser pour l'autre vie, Et ménager si bien ses précieux moments Qu'il n'en pert pas un seul en vains amusements. Heureux qui se voit sans attache, Qui se fait petit, qui se cache, Et qui ne suit jamais ses propres mouvements. Heureux qui sur la grace uniquement se fonde, Qui sait, et ne croit rien savoir. Qui peut, et qui n'a du pouvoir, Que pour obliger tout le monde. Heureux celui qui du Sauveur S'Efforce d'être la copie. Heureux celui de qui le coeur Goute la parole de vie. Heureux qui sait aimer, craindre, croire, espérer, Comme le fait un vrai fidèle. Heureux qui sait persévérer, Et soumettre a l'esprit une chair si rebelle. Heureux l'homme nouveau, qui souvent dans son coeur Trouve une utile, douce, et sainte solitude, Et qui fait toute son étude De la croix de son Rédempteur. Heureux le grand sans tyrannie; Heureux le petit sans envie; Heureux l'homme toujours égal, Qui ne pense d'autrui ni ne dit aucun mal. Heureux qui gémit et qui prie Pour le prochain comme pour soi, Et qui sent pour le vice une horreur infinie. Heureux qui se fait une loi De son devoir qu'il aime, et qu'il veut toujours suivre. Heureux qui souffre tout et ne fait rien souffrir; Heureux celui qui sait bien vivre, C'est le moyen de bien mourir.

Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.

* * * * *

MEN WORTH REMEMBERING:

A SERIES OF POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES.

_Price 2s. 6d. each, Handsomely Bound in Cloth._

NOW READY, THE NEW VOLUME

By F. W. MACDONALD.

FLETCHER OF MADELEY.

CONTENTS.--Early Life.--Settles in England.--His Connexion with Wesley and the Methodists.--Spiritual Discipline.--Enters the Ministry.--First Years at Madeley.--Difficulties and Discouragements.--Controversy and Correspondence.--Trevecca College.--The Calvinist Controversy.--Wesley's Proposal.--Failing Health.--Residence in Switzerland.--Return to England.--Marriage.--Last Years.

IN THE SAME SERIES.

I.

WILLIAM WILBERFORCE.

By JOHN STOUGHTON, D.D.

"This series of biographies has a distinct aim, and occupies a distinct place. It purposes to record the lives of men eminent for religious character or service. The series is well begun by Dr. Stoughton's excellent memoir of Wilberforce, which is done with equal literary skill, sound judgment, and good taste. It is admirable in feeling, and from beginning to end full of interest."--_British Quarterly Review._

II.

HENRY MARTYN.

By CHARLES D. BELL, D.D., Honorary Canon of Carlisle, and Rector of Cheltenham.

"A worthy record of a noble life."--_Whitehall Review._

"In every way a most delightful volume."--_Rock._

III.

PHILIP DODDRIDGE.

By CHARLES STANFORD, D.D.

"The story of the life and life-work of Doddridge is told by Dr. Stanford with felicitous grace and extraordinary animation. The romance and the conflict of the life, the delicate culture and high breeding of the man, and the various results of his sanctified intelligence and consecrated sense, are delineated with subtle tact and fine feeling."--_Evangelical Magazine._

IV.

STEPHEN GRELLET.

By WILLIAM GUEST, F.G.S.

"The singularly adventurous history of Grellet, a son of noble parents established at Limoges, in France, who yet became one of the most distinguished American Quaker preachers, is not wholly unknown even beyond the Society of Friends. Mr. Guest necessarily condenses his facts, but his little book nevertheless presents many scenes of striking interest."--_Daily News._

"If it were in our power, we would induce every one of our readers to invest his first spare half-crown in this book, and then we would persuade him to read it through and through."--_Sword and Trowel._

"A marvellous story of adventurous mission and extraordinary acceptance."--_Evangelical Magazine._

V.

ROBERT HALL.

By E. PAXTON HOOD.

"Whatever thou art, orthodox or heterodox, send for the Life of Robert Hall."--_Bulwer Lytton's "The Caxtons."_

"Mr. Paxton Hood's brilliant pen has given us a sketch of Robert Hall worthy to rank beside Dr. Stanford's 'Philip Doddridge.'"--_Christian._

"We have not often taken up a more interesting biography."--_Record._

"Mr. Hood has delineated Robert Hall very successfully. A wide range of knowledge, a fine instinctive perception, and considerable literary aptitude, make this memoir about the best delineation of the great preacher that we know."--_British Quarterly Review._

VI.

THOMAS CHALMERS.

By DONALD FRASER, D.D.

"Characterized by a true appreciation of Dr. Chalmers' character and work, and is written in a vigorous and interesting manner."--_United Presbyterian Magazine._

"Dr. Fraser has evidently found the subject a congenial one, and he has treated it in a skilful and effective manner."--_Rock._

VII.

WILLIAM CAREY.

By JAMES CULROSS, D.D.

"The work has a special value in recording an important chapter of Anglo-Indian history. It seems to us very well written."--_Academy._

"An excellent monograph on Carey. Dr. Culross has done his work well."--_Athenæum._

"The little book has great literary excellence. Dr. Culross has taken no ordinary trouble in the collection of his material. He understands how to arrange it in felicitous style, and so to tell the story as to make it eminently attractive and useful to his readers."--_Congregationalist._

VIII.

ANDREW FULLER.

By his Son, ANDREW GUNTON FULLER.

_Letter from the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon to the Author:_--

"Venerable Friend,--I thank you for sending me your 'Andrew Fuller.' If you have lived for a long time for nothing else but to produce this volume, you have lived to good purpose. I have long considered your father to be the greatest theologian of the century, and I do not know that your pages have made me think more highly of him as a _divine_ than I had thought before. But I now see him within doors far more accurately, and see about the Christian man a soft radiance of tender love which had never been revealed to me either by former biographies, or by his writings. You have added the moss to the rose, and removed some of the thorns in the process. Yours most respectfully, C. H. SPURGEON."

"It is a remarkable production, when one remembers that Mr. Gunton Fuller is now eighty-two years of age, and he lost his father as far back as the year 1815. An excellent addition to Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton's series of 'Men Worth Remembering.'"--_Christian World._

IX.

ALEXANDER DUFF, D.D., LL.D.

By THOMAS SMITH, D.D.

"Dr. Smith, who has enjoyed very intimate association with Duff, both in private life and in public work, has executed his task with much skill and fine sympathy."--_Outlook._

"We heartily commend this compact and interesting little volume."--_Evangelical Magazine._

"As an original study of a great man by one of his most intimate friends and co-workers, it would be impossible to speak too highly of this little volume."--_Christian Leader._

X.

SAMUEL RUTHERFORD.

By ANDREW THOMSON, D.D., F.R.S.E., Edinburgh.

"The volume is written in a popular style, and contains all that is really needful to be known regarding Rutherford's career, character, and writings. Dr. Thomson has imparted vivacity to the narrative by visiting the localities where Rutherford lived. The author has produced a volume which, in respect at once of completeness, sustained interest, and freshness of interest, is unequalled by any preceding memoir of Rutherford."--_Scotsman._

"An admirable and delightful biography, written with great literary grace and equally great spiritual sympathy. A most interesting account of religious Scotland as it was two hundred years ago."--_British Messenger._

XI.

RICHARD BAXTER.

By the Very Rev. G. D. BOYLE, M.A., Dean of Salisbury.

"The Dean of Salisbury has given in a popular form a trustworthy and attractive summary of a somewhat puzzling and complex personality and career. Mr. Boyle's estimate of Baxter's theological position is marked by a singular candour and liberality of sentiment. His presentation of fact is as accurate as his criticism is sound."--_Academy._

"The biography of Richard Baxter by Dean Boyle is an intellectual feast. In it we have vivid pictures of the troublous times of the seventeenth century, and of course we get a particular account of the eminent Nonconformist, his religious convictions, his ministerial work, his sufferings under persecution, his trial before the terrible Chief Justice Jeffreys, the strong and the weak sides of his character, his political influence, his voluminous writings, his majestic prowess as a casuist, his yearning for a real and comprehensive unity amongst Christians, and, above all, his childlike resignation to God's will. All these topics are delightfully descanted upon by the Dean of Salisbury."--_Clergyman's Magazine._

XII.

JOHN KNOX.

By WM. M. TAYLOR, LL.D.

"A bold and vigorous sketch of the illustrious preacher, for whom a claim is made that 'if not pre-eminently the Scotchman of history,' he is certainly 'one of the three mightiest,' of 'the first three' of his nation."--_Daily Chronicle._

"An admirable biography of John Knox. The volume forms the most compendious and trustworthy and, perhaps we may add, interesting memoir of the great reformer available to the general reader."--_Liverpool Daily Post._

LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW.

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes

Made minor punctuation corrections. Spaced the oe ligatures. Transliterated the Greek text. Reindexed and moved Footnotes to end of main text, before Appendix.

End of Project Gutenberg's Fletcher of Madeley, by Frederic W. Macdonald