burn, occasioned by the death of Mrs. B., the beloved wife of the minister of the old chapel there, under the following distressing circumstances:-In company with her husband, she was returning home from a party of friends in the neighbourhood, mounted upon a spirited horse. Being young, and a courageous rider, she ventured to pass across a ferry while the waters were much swollen, and the stream very rapid. Though cautioned against the attempt, she plunged in. She was overwhelmed, and seen no more for several hours, when her lifeless body was discovered at some distance from the spot. This melancholy event produced a great sensation in the whole neighbourhood, which was overruled for good. Her bereaved husband was, in this deep distress, led to review his past course, and completely to change the matter and manner of his ministry. He became an earnest preacher and pastor, holding up Christ to his people, fully and faithfully, as the only Saviour and all-sufficient refuge. Many were awakened to deep concern; prayer meetings were held every evening; and those who never prayed before, became earnest supplicants at a throne of grace. The head of a respectable family, hearers at the chapel, who had been formerly indifferent, if not opposed to spiritual religion, was so moved and changed in heart by the power of Divine grace, that he converted a large billiard-room, then in process of building, into a room for prayer. He and his partner joined the church, became great blessings to the whole neighbourhood, and by their influence and example effected incalculable good in this important station. Under their roof the young pastor at Chapel-street often refreshed himself, in after life, in periods of physical exhaustion, with the cheering influence of Christian intercourse and hallowed friendship.'-pp. 106, 107.

In this sphere of labour Mr. Fletcher abode till 1823, making full proof of his ministry.. During this period he not only discharged with credit and success the various onerous duties of a large pastorate, and took an active part in various public institutions, but appeared several times as an author. He contributed considerably to the Eclectic Review, in articles marked as strongly as any of the productions of his mind and pen by his peculiar excellences, published some single sermons, and delivered and presented to the public the most important of all his publications, the lectures on the Roman Catholic Religion. During the last six years of his residence at Blackburn, he filled the laborious and responsible office of tutor to an academy for students for the ministry, to which he devoted himself with a diligence, wisdom, and grace, which we have heard referred to by those best qualified to bear a testimony, in terms which any one might covet. Besides the readings in the Hebrew Bible and Greek Testament, the various examinations in class, and the superintendence of the establishment, he composed complete courses of lectures on intellectual and moral science, universal

grammar, Christian evidences, and theology. These multiplied and arduous engagements told injuriously upon a constitution not naturally of great strength, and doubtless had an important influence in causing his subsequent severe indisposition and premature decease. Having declined several invitations to other spheres, he at last accepted a second call to the ancient church at Stepney, as the pastor of which he was recognised, Feb. 19, 1823.

Stepney, anciently called Stebonhyth, Stebonheath, or, Stebonhede, was formerly a small village, distant from the city of London by a considerable interval of uninhabited, though not uncultivated, ground. It is rich in associations, literary and ecclesiastical, and not altogether destitute of such as are connected with king and parliament. 'Rare Ben Jonson' knew the village well, spending large portions of his time in the place. Milton, too, if we may judge from one of his sonnets, was accustomed to visit it in his perambulations. In 1299, King Edward the First held his parliament there, at the residence of Henry Wallis, lord mayor of London; and King John's gateway still stands little more than a stone's throw from Stepney meeting, and now forming part of the Baptist College. The ecclesiastical antiquities of Stepney are almost coeval with the introduction of Christianity into England, and probably some of the first heralds of the cross delivered their message to the early aborigines of the place.

'Independency, too, finds here some of its most ancient records, and the vestiges of its earliest and greatest men. The church, long accustomed to assemble in Stepney meeting-house, dates its origin from 1644, in the days of Archbishop Laud. Henry Burton, the author of The Protestant Protested,' and one of the earliest promoters of modern congregationalism, was honoured in being present and aiding in its formation. Grenhill, Mead, Galpine, Mitchell, Hubbard, Brewer, and Ford, constituted the line of its pastors; and amongst those who have, occasionally ministered to its spiritual wants, we find the names of Owen and Caryll, Howe and Guyse. Where the church met during the earliest period of its existence is not known; although it is matter of tradition, that after the passing of the Act of Uniformity, in 1662, it was accustomed to hold fellowship in a place near what is called The Walnut Tree. In 1674, the present edifice was built. The original form, after the style of a private mansion, was suggested by the persecuting spirit of the age, which rendered seclusion and secresy at times needful. Both internally and externally, the ancient structure has been considerably altered from the primitive form, in succeeding periods.'-pp. 310–312.

We cannot attempt a chronological reference to the events and experiences of the twenty years spent by Mr. Fletcher in this important post of labour. His pastoral relation to the church at Stepney was attended with manifest tokens of the

He

divine blessing. He found that church in a state far from prosperous; he left it greatly increased in number, and actively devoted to the good of the dense population around it. But the labours of Dr. Fletcher would be very inadequately estimated by any one who confined his attention to his pastoral proceedings and success. He was gifted with a large measure of public spirit. Nothing was alien from him that concerned his denomination, his country, or the world at large. Primarily devoted to the people of his charge, he presented a fine example of intelligent and active effort for the spread of every cause that involved the enlightenment and evangelization of his race. regarded his pastoral position as important, not alone on its own account, but as facilitating his connection with the general movements of benevolence and Christian charity. Stepney was the centre, but not the circumference, of his ministry. He had to preach the gospel to others also. Hence, in addition to the requirements of his own charge, he met, as far as his strength permitted, the calls which are inseparable from a prominent post and a popular name. The nature and number of these calls can be but poorly conceived by any one who has not been so situated as to feel them. Of all positions of difficulty, delicacy, and fatiguing duty, that of a minister of a large congregation, with some good measure of public acceptance, is one of the worst. A correspondence almost sufficient to employ a secretary; invitations abroad, which if accepted would prevent his being ever at home, and duties at home which, if performed, would prevent his being ever abroad; demands of the pulpit which would keep him always in his study, and expectations of visits which would forbid his entering it; incessant summonses to committees and public meetings; and interruptions without end from callers, each one of whom naturally supposes his own business the most important that can engage his attention ;* all this, besides the common obligations which come upon all men, personal and social, may well give peculiar emphasis and intensity to the exclamation-Who is sufficient for these things? Dr. Fletcher had his full share of employment and anxiety from these sources, and in reading his memoirs we have been again

* We have heard an anecdote from the lips of one of our most popular ministers, strikingly illustrative of the thoughtlessness of many hearers. The preacher in question was visiting one of his people, who rebuked him for the neglect he supposed to have been shown himself. Upon a calm expostulation with him on the ground of his unreasonableness, from the size of the congregation, &c., the complainer replied,-' But my father has died, and you never called to see and comfort me.' 'I did not know of your father's death,' was the speedy answer. 'Not know ?' continued the unmoved rebuker; 'do you think I should not have known had your father

died ?'

impressed with the superlative absurdity of the custom which dooms a man unaided and alone to bear the burden and responsibility of duties such as those which devolved on him. Though firmly believing in an apostolical plurality of pastors over single churches, we are not careful to ask for New Testament sanction or example in such a case. The matter is not one that can be decided by criticism, citation of texts, or appeals to antiquity. An imperative necessity pronounces an irresistible judgment. The question is simply, whether churches of a large size shall have any pastors, not whether they shall have a certain number of them. No man can be a pastor to a thousand or two thousand people at any time, and, at the present time, it would be impossible, if it were not so at all times. Such a church as that at Stepney should have at least three pastors, and not to have them must be death somewhere-death to the minister, or death to the people.

Dr. Fletcher took an active part in the different movements connected with the civil rights and liberties of dissenters. His views on the great questions of non-conformity and church establishments were very decided and firmly fixed, and he was faithful, above many, in defending and promoting them. Writing to his sister, Mrs. Reynolds, in 1829, he thus refers to an article in this journal :

'What does brother R. think of the article in the Eclectic' for December on Church Reform? It appears to me a most inconsistent piece of hypothetical reasoning, on principles which are at complete variance with Conder's 'Nonconformity.' Why, in the name of consistency, are we Dissenters at all on such principles? Will the national Church, however reformed, ever be such as to answer the ends of a spiritual constitution on scriptural grounds? Can it be ever so reformed as to enable its members to follow out into practical results the laws of Christ? Let these be applied, and, like the touch of Ithuriel's spear, the monster of Church patronage rises up and slinks away abashed and confounded! 'Tis rotten at the core, and all the evangelicals will sooner or later find it so. They are already startled at the enquiries set on foot, and are now trying to lay the devil they have raised, in the spirit of political innovation.'-p. 391.

The following incident may amuse some of our readers. The last sermon Dr. Fletcher published was on the birth of the Prince of Wales, and he transmitted a copy of it to her Majesty, through the lord chamberlain, Earl De La Warr, with the following note:

'Her Most Gracious Majesty's acceptance of the sermon accompanying this note, is humbly requested by her Majesty's most loyal and devoted subject,

་

Mile-end Road, Jan. 17, 1842.

J. FLETCHER.'

In the course of the next month Earl De La Warr sent a note to Dr. Fletcher, stating that, after having given to the request the best consideration in his power, he had arrived at the conclusion, that it would not be consistent with his duty 'as a public officer,' to present the application to her Majesty, as it had not, and obviously could not, have the sanction of the Established Church.' Dr. Fletcher replied, not questioning the right of Lord De La Warr to exercise his discretion in the case, but expressing his surprise that, having frequently been presented to her Majesty in the capacity of a dissenting minister, and as a member of a body whose privilege of approach to the throne on public occasions was acknowledged ever since the reign of Queen Anne, the mere circumstance of his not being a minister of the Established Church should now be the reason for refusing to comply with his request. The lord chamberlain returned the following answer :—

17, Upper Grosvenor-street, March 12, 1842. 'SIR,-In reply to your note of the 9th inst., I have the honour to state, that I consider the fact of your discourse having been de livered in a dissenting meeting is of itself sufficient to justify me in declining to present a copy of it to the Queen.

With many apologies for having detained the copies so long, I have the honour to be, Sir,

'Your obedient servant,

'DE LA WARR.'

We should have liked to give a longer account than our space will permit of Dr. Fletcher's publications. We agree with his son that he never did himself justice. Always fully occupied, averse to the mechanical process of writing, it was something to accomplish what he did. But it may truly be said, that he did every thing in haste.' Yet, notwithstanding this, we are persuaded that as an author he had no reason to be ashamed. Our own judgment is that he appears in print to greater advantage than he did as a preacher, for though he pos sessed some peculiar endowments which could not affect his writings, yet there were others and of more importance which they alone could fully display. It is the gift of some men to do at once all that they can do; their first view is their clearest and longest; and under the influence of special excitements, their passions giving light and stimulus to their intellect, they command a vigour of thought and affluence of language, which they might seek in vain in the cool moments of silent meditation. Other men there are who grope rather than see, and who are unfitted for both perception and utterance, by the demands of a pressing necessity. Without controverting the assertion of his son, that Dr. Fletcher, on some sudden emergency,