In the minutes of the Methodist Conference which met at Bristol, in July, 1786, the following entry occurs: “John Fletcher, a pattern of all holiness, scarce to be paralleled in a century.” Such is the brief record that marks the passing away of a man whose place in the love and veneration of Wesley and of the Methodists was unique. Second only to the great leader himself in his influence, and in the special character of that influence leaving even Wesley behind, Fletcher's loss was the greatest sustained by the Revival from the death of Whitefield, in 1770, to that of Wesley, in 1791. One word in the short obituary notice reveals the secret of his power; it was holiness. “Fletcher of Madeley” is a biography about this great leader of the Methodist movement.
