From Finsbury Square, London to Mary Fletcher in Madeley. Ritchie was not at Mr Jones’ when Fletcher’s letter arrived or she would have replied sooner.
It would be wrong of Fletcher to go short of money now ‘to lay aside a principal, the whole of which will only be wanted by degrees in four or five years. All that I meant was, if you had any part of it by you, which you kept for the dividends when called for, it would save trouble, be an advantage to our Bristol friends and no real loss to you…to let it lie in Mr [William] or Mrs Pine’s hands. But of your nephew [John Fletcher’s newphew from Switzerland] should come, perhaps you cannot spare all the £20 and it would be a pity to straiten yourself.’
Ritchie is pleased that Fletcher has made a financial provision for Sally [Lawrance] out of the stocks although Ritchie would not be surprised if the Lord does not spare Fletcher to see this matter settled. Along with the June dividend, Ritchie will send to Mrs Pine the £5 which she still has out of the £40, so Pine will have £25 to account for.
Fletcher will know from the newspapers what a ferment the political world is in. It is supposed that the seized papers will lead to further discoveries – several people have been sent to Newgate [prison] for treason and it is feared that Britain is on the brink of awful times. [Reference to the arrest of several agitators for parliamentary reform. The men were members of the London Corresponding Society and had been planning to organise a reform convention. When the authorities got wind of the plan three of the leading reformers were arrested and tried for High Treason in October 1794. They were acquitted.] Ritchie has often thought of Archbishop Usher’s [Archbishop James Usher (1580-1656): Biblical commentator who famously dated the creation of the world to 4004 BC] prophecy that the “Protestant Churches will yet endure another persecution; it will be sharp but short, but it will differ from all that have gone before in this: in former persecutions the storm fell chiefly upon the true[?] Israel but in that which is to come, it will fall upon the outward court worshippers and the spiritual Israel be singularly preserved and then the Church will see a brighter day than ever.”
When Ritchie came to London she had a dream which at first she considered only in reference to herself but in light of these recent events at home and abroad, [the continuing horrors arising from the French Revolution.] she has thought might mean more. The dream was as follows: ‘Myself and several persons were going somewhere to spread the knowledge of our common Saviour…we came to a river over which used to be a good bridge but the bridge was gone and the bed of the river greatly enlarged by an arm of the sea which had broke in and now caused the ebbings and flowings of the tide which rendered all expectations of fording the river impracticable. We were at a stand: not one thought of turning back ever crossed our minds and forward we could not go. Our only refuge was the Lord. One of our company retired from us for prayer and the other persons though they remained together silently lifted up their hands to God. Soon after I turned my eyes to the river and saw a path across…immediately I lifted up my hands and eyes to heaven exclaiming to my companions “See what a miracle! A Jordan-like path is provided for us”…while we were rejoicing…I observed the way to grow narrower…I observed to my companions “The Lord has opened the way, but we must embrace deliverance in the divine moment he offers or it may be shut again.”…I stepped upon the path: its breadth increased to the same width as before and we all went over praising our deliverer…as soon as we were all landed on the other side, the path disappeared and we went on our way rejoicing. I awoke filled with a sense of the divine goodness…’
Ritchie has only received accounts from Otley since she last wrote of the work on Yorkshire. It spreads there and she has intentions of visiting Yorkshire in a few weeks.
Ritchie often feels as Miss [Elizabeth] Johnson once said “It is hard work to pray for the nation against so much evil.” She is however encouraged by the fact that while they are chastised on the one hand, on the other, the work of the Lord prevails.