Note 90 — Chapter IV · FIRST TWO YEARS AT MADELEY. FROM OCTOBER 17, 1760, TO NOVEMBER 22, 1762.

Jonathan Crowther, President of the Methodist Conference in 1819, relates, in his unpublished autobiography, the following anecdote: “Mrs. Fletcher told me that one Sunday, after the forenoon service, Mr. Preston, a gentleman farmer near Madeley, very grossly insulted Mr. Fletcher in the churchyard, and evinced great enmity against his faithful ministry. In his sermon in the afternoon, Mr. Fletcher said, he had a powerful impression that before the next Sabbath God would give a signal mark of His displeasure against the enemies of His cause and truth. The week was drawing to a close; nothing remarkable had happened; but on Saturday night, Mr. Preston, when returning home from market in a state of intoxication, fell from his horse and died on the spot.”