Wesley Corpus

But, waving this, can it possibly be supposed, that either Mr. Hill, or his sons, then verging toward manhood; would have borne the austere rigour and severity of a young man that received his bread from them? yea, and that year after year? Surely the supposition shocks all credibility. 8. Equally incredible is the assertion of his “austere severity and rigour ’’ toward the young men, at Trevecka. This is inconsistent with the whole account given by Mr. Benson, an eye and ear witness of all his conduct. Had it been true in any degree, would it have been possible that he should have been so esteemed and beloved by those very young men? I cannot form the least conjecture whence such an assertion could arise unless it was invented by some young man after Mr. Fletcher was dismissed, in order to ingratiate himself with his patroness. 9. The farther account which Mr. Benson gives of him from personal knowledge is this: “Mr. Fletcher,” says he, “was maturally a man of strong passions, and prone to anger in particular; insomuch that he has frequently thrown himself on the floor, and laid 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. For twenty years and upwards before his death, no one ever saw him out of temper, or heard him utter a rash expression, on any provocation whatever. 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 with equal propriety: “After an intimate acquaintance with the Archbishop for many years, and after being with him by night and by day, at home and abroad, in public and in private, on sundry occasions and in various affairs, I must say, I never heard an idle word drop from his lips, nor any conversation which was not to the use of edifying. I never saw him in any temper in which I myself would not have wished to be found at death. Any that has been intimately acquainted with Mr. Fletcher will say the same of him. But they that knew him best, will say it with the most assurance. 10. His “disengagements from the world, and love of the poor,” Mrs. Fletcher joins together.