{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_24693/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_24693","id":"gutenberg_24693","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24693","summary":null,"tags":["Black, William, 1760-1834","Category: Biographies","Category: History - Other","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Wesleyan Methodist Church -- Clergy -- Biography"],"text":"Produced by Diane Monico and The Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive/Canadian Libraries)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: WILLIAM BLACK]\n\n\n\n\nWILLIAM BLACK\n\nTHE APOSTLE OF METHODISM IN THE\nMARITIME PROVINCES OF CANADA.\n\nBY\nJOHN MACLEAN, PH. D.,\n\nAuthor of \"Canadian Savage Folk,\"\n\"The Indians of Canada,\"\n\"The Making of a Christian,\" &c., &c.\n\nHALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA:\nTHE METHODIST BOOK ROOM,\n1907.\n\n\n\n\nEntered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada,\nin the year one thousand nine hundred and seven,\nby John Maclean, at the Department of Agriculture.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nWhile there are several sketches of the life and work of the subject\nof this book, they are all based upon the \"Memoirs of William Black\"\nby the Rev. Matthew Richey, D. D., which was published in Halifax,\nNova Scotia, in 1839. Some additional information is to be found in\nDr. T. Watson Smith's History of the Methodist Church of Eastern\nBritish America. The former volume contains the interesting Journal of\nthe famous missionary, and is therefore of great value. As it has long\nbeen out of print, and it is well-nigh impossible to secure an old\ncopy, and as there is no likelihood of it being republished, we have\ndeemed it commendable to publish the following pages. We have sought\nto condense as far as possible, giving the chief facts in his life,\nand to produce in popular form a volume which might be read with\nprofit, and within the reach of all. As a study of spiritual forces\nand an appreciation, it might have been enlarged to considerable size,\nand it has been difficult indeed to keep within the limits which we\nhad set for the volume, but that would have been to defeat our object,\nof writing a small book, in which the salient features of his life and\nwork were seen, and at such a price that the poorest in the land might\nsecure a copy.\n\nWe dare not forget the work of our fathers, and we must not permit the\nmemory of William Black to be lost in oblivion, for he builded better\nthan he knew, and we are heirs of his work and influence, and his\nexample is a stimulus to us all. In that spirit have these pages been\nwritten, and we hope that they will help keep alive the memory of a\ngreat and noble man, a pioneer and patriot, who gave his life for\nChrist and his fellow man.\n\n                      JOHN MACLEAN.\n\nWESLEYAN OFFICE,\n  Halifax, Nova Scotia.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n_Chap._                                _Page._\n\n  I. The Birth of a Movement              9\n\n II. Making the Man                      17\n\nIII. The Maritime Itinerant              24\n\n IV. The Intrepid Pioneer                33\n\n  V. Black and Wesley                    40\n\n VI. Personal Characteristics            49\n\nVII. Last Days and After                 57\n\n\n\n\n_WILLIAM BLACK._\n\nI.\n\nTHE BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT.\n\n\nHad Longfellow the poet extended his studies a few years later than\nthe time of the event which formed the subject of Evangeline, he would\nhave come in contact with another race of men, of different breed,\nlanguage and faith, than that of the Acadians, who were as brave as\nany of those who sailed away from the valley of the Gaspereaux. For\nalmost coincident with the expulsion of these hardy folk from the\nfertile fields of the Annapolis Valley, there came visitors from the\nNew England colonies, induced by offers of land, but these were\ndeterred from settlement on account of a fear lest freedom of\nreligious worship should not be accorded them.\n\nBrought up under the influence of the descendants of the Pilgrim\nFathers, they prized too highly their religious liberty to barter it\nfor lands or gold, and not until a second proclamation was issued,\ngranting liberty of conscience and worship to all Protestants, did\nsettlers come in large numbers. Five years after the Acadians were\nexpelled emigrants began to arrive in considerable numbers from New\nEngland and from Great Britain and Ireland. This was the beginning of\na new era, in which the principles of the Protestant Reformation were\nto be tested, upon soil consecrated by the faith and piety of the\nRoman Catholic exiles, and an opportunity was found for the expression\nof the new faith in the moulding of individual character.\n\nWhile the province was issuing invitations for new settlers and\nwishing to grant concessions to sturdy and loyal folks, a great\nawakening was taking place in England, the influence of which was\ndestined to become a strong factor in making a new race on the Western\nContinent, and to mould in a great measure the social and religious\nlife of the people of Nova Scotia. A revival of spiritual life was in\nprogress under the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield, which was\nquickening the consciences of the people, imparting high ideals and\nrenovating the social and political life of the nation.\n\nMethodism was doing greater things for the English speaking race than\nLuther among the Germans, as it infused a spirit of joy and freedom\nfrom ritual, with greater liberty of thought and action. It was an era\nof great names beyond the pale of the national church. The passion for\nsouls became so intense in the hearts of many of the clergy that they\ngladly espoused the hated name of \"Methodist,\" while others no less\nzealous stood aloof from the special movement because of its Arminian\ndoctrines.\n\nWhitefield, the prince of orators, stalked through the land\nproclaiming salvation for sinners, and not content with conquests won\nin the sea-girt isles, he needs must cross the ocean to tell the story\nof the ages to wondering thousands. John Berridge, the witty yet\nzealous vicar of Everton, itinerated through the country and in one\nyear saw not less that four thousand awakened. William Grimshaw, the\neccentric curate of Haworth, superintended two Methodist circuits\nwhile attending to his own parish, and Vincent Perronet, vicar of\nShoreham, who was so trusted a counsellor that Charles Wesley called\nhim the Archbishop of Methodism, gave two sons to the Methodist\nministry, and besides being the author of the hymn, \"All Hail the\npower of Jesus Name,\" Wesley dedicated to him the \"Plain Account of\nthe People called Methodists.\"\n\nThe great revival brought into greater prominence Rowland Hill, the\neccentric preacher; Augustus Toplady, the author of the Hymn \"Rock of\nAges;\" Howell Harris, the famous Welsh orator, and the Countess of\nHuntingdon. These and many others were brought into closer touch with\nthe great spiritual movement, at the period when Nova Scotia was\nbidding for settlers, by the famous controversy on Calvinism, which\nwas full of spleen, and has shown us how good men may retain their\npiety, and still say bitter and nasty things, and use gross epithets\nin their zeal for religious doctrines.\n\nBut Methodism, though treated as a sect composed of ignorant and\nilliterate folks, was not lacking in men of culture and force. It had\ndiscovered the secret of picking men from the streets and transforming\nthem into saints and scholars, and it was successful in its efforts.\nIt found Thomas Olivers, a drunken Welsh shoemaker, and led him on,\ntill he became known as a great force in the pulpit, and the author of\nthat majestic lyric, \"The God of Abraham praise\" and of the tune\n\"Helmsley,\" sung to the hymn, \"Lo, He comes with clouds descending.\"\nIt laid hands upon Samuel Bradburn, the shoemaker, and developed his\ngifts by the grace of God, until his discourses, rich in sublimity,\nand pulsating with great thoughts, charmed multitudes, and his\neloquence was so irresistible that Adam Clarke, the famous scholar,\ndeclared that he had never heard his equal, and could give no idea of\nhis powers as an orator. In its ranks at this period were to be found\nable scholars as Joseph Benson, the commentator, Fletcher, the saintly\nand acute theologian of the new movement, and Thomas Walsh, whom\nWesley called, \"that blessed man,\" and of whom he said, that, he was\nso thoroughly acquainted with the Bible that \"if he were questioned\nconcerning any Hebrew word in the Old, or any Greek in the New\nTestament, he would tell after a brief pause, not only how often the\none or the other occurred in the Bible, but what it meant in every\nplace. Such a master of Biblical knowledge he says he never saw\nbefore, and never expected to see again.\"\n\nThere were many others possessed of great gifts and culture, whose\nhearts were set on fire with a passion for souls, and the revival\nstarted spiritual forces which were felt far beyond the shores of\nGreat Britain.\n\nWesley was drawing near to seventy years of age, and while travelling\nincessantly, and preaching every day, he was engaged in the\npublication of a collected edition of his works, in thirty-two\nduodecimo volumes. The Calvinistic controversy was at its height, the\nfirst anniversary of Trevecca College, the pet scheme of the Countess\nof Huntingdon, had just been held, and Fletcher was writing his famous\n\"Checks to Antinomianism,\" yet, the founder of the Methodist movement\nwas looking for other worlds to conquer, by the preaching of the\nCross.\n\nWesley's early associations with America as a missionary to Georgia,\nnaturally gave him an interest in the affairs of the western\ncontinent, and Whitefield's frequent visits helped to deepen Wesley's\nlove for the people among whom he had spent the early years of his\nministry. Whitefield had crossed the ocean and visited America seven\ntimes, and his visits were seasons of great power, when thousands were\nconverted, and when he suddenly died at Newburyport, there passed from\nearth one of the greatest pulpit orators and evangelists in the\nhistory of the Christian Church. His death was an invitation to\nrenewed efforts for the evangelization of America. The Countess of\nHuntingdon and her ministers organized a missionary band, which\nlabored with much success in Savannah and the surrounding country,\nespecially among the African population.\n\nMethodism was neither silent nor powerless in sharing in the progress\nof the Gospel, and striving to evangelize the new world. While the\ngreat revival was stirring the heart of England, a small band of\nGerman \"Palatines\" which Methodism had redeemed from demoralization in\nIreland, emigrated to New York, among whom was Philip Embury, and\nthese were followed by Barbara Heck and her friends, through whose\nefforts Methodism found a secure place in America. The new movement\nreceived an impetus from the preaching of Captain Webb, and a call for\npreachers was sent to Wesley, with the result that Richard Boardman\nand Joseph Pilmoor were sent. Later Francis Asbury, the faithful\npreacher and administrator, followed, and Methodism became a church.\nMeanwhile Lawrence Coughlan had found his way to Newfoundland, and\nlaid foundations upon which others built.\n\nBermuda had been visited by Whitefield, and in the general awakening\nit could not be expected that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and Prince\nEdward Island would be forgotten. It was a period of emigration and\nrevival, and in the great commotion, the present Maritime Provinces of\nCanada shared in the blessings of the new movement.\n\nDuring the period of emigration to Nova Scotia, four different parties\ncame from Yorkshire, England, the first arriving in 1772. It was\nnatural to expect, that coming from a district, memorable as the scene\nof many visits from the Wesleys, a bit of land consecrated with the\ntears and labors of John Nelson, the stalwart hero, and kept fresh\nwith the hallowed memories of the saintly Hester Ann Rogers, there\nshould be among the emigrants many who were loyal and devoted\nMethodists. Yorkshire Methodism was of that strenuous type which must\ngive expression to its faith in hearty song, and lively preaching, and\nthese sturdy settlers were an acquisition to the province, which the\npoliticians were sufficiently alert to see, could not fail to supply\nthe elements of stability and growth.\n\nThe majority of these people settled in the county of Cumberland, and\nbegan life anew, with intense loyalty to the institutions, and high\nideals. The province had not fully recovered from the effect of the\nspirit of disloyalty which culminated in the expulsion of the\nAcadians, although there followed a period of peace, but despite the\nefforts of the Government in making roads, and instituting public\nworks, the settlements were sparse, and the Indian was still in the\nland. There was only one minister in the county, the Rev. John\nEagleson, who had been sent out in 1769 by the Society for the\nPropagation of the Gospel, while in the province there were a few\nAnglican, Congregational, Presbyterian and one Baptist church, but\nplaces for holding religious worship were few and far between, and the\nfirst Methodists consequently began prayer meetings in their homes,\nand through them souls were led to Christ. Whatever religious services\nwere held they attended, and thus kept alive the glowing embers of\ntheir faith and zeal.\n\nAn incipient rebellion, induced by the Revolutionary war, and\nmaintained by the sympathy of the colonists who had revolted in New\nEngland, unsettled the minds of the people, and made it dangerous for\nthem to attend religious worship, and consequently the cause of\nreligion suffered, and many forsook the faith of their fathers. A few\nstill remained true, and amid many discouragements prayed for the dawn\nof a new day.\n\nWithout any propagandist effort, Methodism was spreading.\nSpontaneously it had gone out over Great Britain and Ireland, and into\nwhat is now the United States, to the West Indies, and Nova Scotia,\nbut the time was ripe for complete organization as a missionary\nchurch. The time had come and with it the man in the person of Thomas\nCoke. While Nova Scotia and the American colonies were suffering from\nthe Revolution, Wesley and Coke had met for the first time, and thus\nbegan a union which made Methodism a great missionary organization.\nThe man for America had not yet come to the fullness of his power,\nbut Francis Asbury was reaching out and getting ready to become\nessentially the founder of Methodism in the United States. The man for\nNova Scotia had not yet arrived, as he was only a stripling at his\nfather's home in Amherst, and was still a stranger to the grace of\nGod.\n\nThe introduction of Methodism into Nova Scotia was not the\nestablishment of a sect or a party in dogmatic theology, but it was\nthe revival of spiritual Christianity, exempt from the trammels of\necclesiasticism and the exclusiveness of dogmatism. As such it became\na strong and elevating factor in the social life of the people,\nimparting lofty ideals, which were wrought out in moral strength,\nmaking loyal citizens and men and women of power and gentleness.\n\nThere was something lacking to secure unity and strength in the\nscattered forces of the new movement. Prayer meetings and preaching\nservices were held, and souls were won to the faith, still there was\nno organization and there could not be until a leader should come\nforth, who would command by his genius and concentrated effort unity\nof administration.\n\nThough not the original founder of Methodism in Eastern British\nAmerica, the man who in the providence of God was destined to unite\nthe scattered forces and to give birth to the new movement, and who,\nby his intrepid spirit and enthusiastic and incessant labours as a\ngreat evangelist, was to spread the doctrines which were so full of\npower in the revival in England, throughout that portion of territory\nnow known as the Maritime Provinces, was William Black, a man of faith\nand power, whose memory is revered by thousands, and whose descendants\nstill abide with us.\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nMAKING THE MAN.\n\n\nWilliam Black was well born. The time was auspicious. The date of his\nbirth is 1760, and with that date as a centre, despite the fact that\nthe tone of public morality was low, there are names belonging to the\nperiod which suggest genius and influence. Edward Young had just\npublished his \"Night Thoughts,\" Thomson, the poet and author of \"The\nSeasons,\" and Isaac Watts had just passed away, Lord Littleton had\nwritten \"The Conversion of St. Paul,\" Gray's \"Elegy in a Country\nChurchyard\" was being eagerly read by the people, Blackstone's famous\n\"Commentaries on the Laws of England,\" had made a profound impression,\nJohnson had completed his \"Dictionary\" and Oliver Goldsmith was\nwriting his immortal works. There were others who were in the heat of\nthe literary battle. This period saw the beginning of the modern novel\nin the writings of Richardson, Fielding and Smollett, then too was\npublished Adam Smith's \"Wealth of Nations,\" Hume's \"History of\nEngland,\" and Gibbon's \"Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.\" The two\ngreat literary frauds in our language were then given to the world in\nChatterton's \"Poems,\" and Macpherson's \"Ossian.\" It was the age of\nPitt and Burke, and Fox, of Horace Walpole and Chesterfield in English\npolitics, Benjamin Franklin was then a potent force in America, Butler\nand Paley and Warburton, and Jonathan Edwards and Doddridge with many\nother equally powerful names were moulding the theology of the age.\n\nGreater than any of these, however, were the Wesleys and Whitefield,\nas they raised both sides of the Atlantic to new ideals, and stirred\nthe nation to a larger and deeper life.\n\nWilliam Black came into the world at a time when great events were\nbeing done, and though he was still young when he left the land of his\nbirth, the silent and unseen forces which work upon men's minds and\nsouls could not be without their influence upon him.\n\nHe was born at Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England,\nan important market town, beautifully situated on a slope of a hill in\nthe valley of the Colne, fifteen miles distant from Bradford, and a\nlittle over sixteen from Leeds. It was a place of considerable\nantiquity, being mentioned in Domesday, but its chief importance dates\nfrom the establishment of the woolen industry, being now the principal\nseat of the fancy woolen trade in England. Kirlees Park, three miles\nfrom the town, is popularly supposed to be the burial place of the\nfamous Robin Hood.\n\nWhen William Black was only five years old John Wesley preached to a\nlarge congregation in the Rev. Henry Venn's Church in the town. This\nman of God was a zealous Methodist Churchman, who made Huddersfield\nthe headquarters of extensive labors in all the neighboring region,\nsympathizing with the great Methodist revival, accompanying Whitefield\non evangelistic tours, and for more than thirty years, he co-operated\nwith the Wesleys and other workers in many parts of England and Wales.\nThough still retaining his connection with the Church of England, he\ncontinued in labors abundant, preaching in private houses, barns and\nin the open air, until old age. His son, the Rev. John Venn, became\nthe projector of the Church Missionary Society. Methodism was firmly\nestablished in Huddersfield, and its influences were not unknown to\nthe Black family. In 1767, one fourth of the members of the Methodist\nChurch in the United Kingdom were in Yorkshire, and among the first\nsettlers who came to Nova Scotia were some who were identified with\nthat church, and had listened to Wesley and his preachers.\n\nWilliam Black, the father of the future pioneer and evangelist, was\nborn in 1727, in Paisley, Scotland, a large manufacturing town noted\nfor its shawls, great preachers, and the birthplace of Tannahill, the\npoet. He came of an independent family, as learned from the fact that\nhis father kept a pack of hounds, and spent his leisure in the chase.\nWhen he attained his majority he became a traveller for a large\nindustry, which necessitated some journeys to England, and there he\nmet his future wife, and made his home in Huddersfield. The spell of\nScottish literature must have fallen upon the young man, for Robert\nBurns, the poet, was then at the height of his fame, Alexander Wilson,\na native of Paisley, had not yet won his place as a poet, though he\ntoo, emigrated to America, and became the pioneer and founder of\nAmerican Ornithology, but there were other writers whose impress must\nhave been felt by the Scotch youth.\n\nIn Elizabeth Stocks he found a lady of refinement and wealth, and the\nfuture missionary a good Christian mother. She had been converted at\nsixteen years of age, and her influence upon the home, and especially\nupon the lad was elevating, and destined to leave its mark upon the\nfuture. The father, with Scotch shrewdness, made a visit to Nova\nScotia to spy out the land before removing his family from their\nEnglish home. The mother watched tenderly over all the members of the\nfamily, but William, the second oldest, seemed to call for special\ncare, and her tears and prayers found full fruition in after years,\nwhen she had passed to her reward. Frequently did she relate to her\nson William the story of her conversion, and with tears besought him\nto serve God. Alone she prayed with him, and pressed home upon his\nconscience the necessity of being born again. Surely this child was\nborn well, and his future was not all of his own making.\n\nHe must have been a precocious child, or else his religious\nsensitiveness must have been induced by his mother's teaching,\ninfluenced by the great doctrines of the Methodist revival. We are not\nnow accustomed to hear a child of six years of age, bewailing his lost\nstate in language suggestive of Bunyan's condition, when he was under\ndeep conviction of sin. He tells us that when he was five years old he\nhad some serious impressions, and God's Spirit began to operate upon\nhis mind, and when he was six, he often wished that he was a toad or a\nserpent, because they had no soul, and were not in danger of being\nlost forever. Again he says, that many times before he was ten years\nold, he \"would have overturned God's government and dethroned the\ngracious Author of my being.\" He enumerates his early vices and lashes\nhis soul in despair. Such religious sentiments in one so young seem to\nmark him as one who had in his soul the elements of a monk, and we\nshould not have been surprised had he become a zealous disciple of\nSaint Francis of Assisi.\n\nLike John Wesley, whose escape from perishing in the burning of the\nEpworth parsonage is noted as a remarkable providence, William Black\nhad a narrow escape from drowning in a large trough when a child, and\nthis circumstance made a lasting and favorable impression on his mind.\nIn his mature years he recalled the event with gratitude to God.\n\nSeveral years of his childhood were spent with his maternal uncle, Mr.\nThomas Stocks, at Otley, where he was placed at school. There he\nremained until he was about thirteen years of age, when the\ndisciplinary rules of the school, and very likely a severe\ncastigation, so annoyed him, that he left his uncle's care and\nreturned to his father's home. His father was at that time making\npreparations for his voyage to Nova Scotia, and deemed it prudent to\nallow the lad to remain with his mother, though he had decided\nobjections to his apparent ingratitude and stubbornness, in leaving\nthe home of his uncle. Under the influence of his mother's teaching\nand prayers, his religious impressions were deepened, but the jests of\nhis companions at school made him stifle his convictions, and continue\nhis career of youthful carelessness and sin.\n\nIn April 1775, the whole family, consisting of the father and mother,\nwith four sons and one daughter, sailed from Hull, and after a\nprosperous voyage arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they remained\na fortnight, proceeding afterward to Cumberland, which they reached in\nJune. A serious blow fell upon the family in their new home, by the\ndeath of Mrs. Black, about a year after they had settled in the\nprovince, she having been seriously injured when boarding the vessel\nat Hull. Unfortunately for the lad of sixteen, so sadly bereft of his\ngood mother's care and influence, he was thrown among gay companions,\nwho in a new country gave free rein to their passions, in wild orgies\nby day and night. His evenings were spent in dancing and playing\ncards, yet amidst the frivolity he was unhappy, and he betook himself\nto prayer, that he might be able to break the chain of evil habits.\n\nFor three years this condition of affairs existed, and the spirit of\nunrest increased, with discord in the family, but the dawn of a better\nday was close at hand. There were several in the neighborhood who\nenjoy the honor of being the first Methodists in Canada, among whom\nwere the families of Dixon, Wells, Trueman, Fawcett, Newton, Scurr,\nChapman, Oxley, Donkin, Dobson and Weldon, whose descendants, with\nthose of the Black family, remain with us till the present day.\n\nThrough the zealous labors of these families in class meetings and\nprayer meetings, there was a great revival in the spring of 1779,\nwhich stirred the whole neighborhood. Among those who were awakened\nand soundly converted, were all the members of the Black family.\nWilliam was then nineteen years of age, and shortly afterward he wrote\nan account of his conversion to John Wesley, who introduced it in his\njournal, under date of April 15th, 1782.\n\nThe story of his spiritual struggles, his prayers for release from the\nburden of sin, and the great joy he experienced when light came to his\nsoul, form a charming bit of biography. The change in his own life was\nthorough, the home was transformed by the conversion of every member\nof the family, and though he subsequently experienced doubts and\ntemptations, he gradually grew in grace, being confirmed in the faith,\nuntil the Sabbath became a market-day in his soul.\n\nLike every new convert he became anxious for the spiritual welfare of\nhis fellow men, and first of all he became solicitous for the\nsalvation of those in his own home. His father having married again,\nand all the members of the family being strangers to the joy of the\nforgiveness of sins, his first care was for their salvation. On the\nSunday that he found peace, he spoke to his brothers one by one,\nwaking them from sleep, and they too, were led into the light. Then he\nroused his father and stepmother, and they besought him to pray for\nthem, and peace came to their souls. And the climax was reached, when\nnext day his sister found the Lord. Thus the whole family through his\nexhortations and prayers, became earnest followers of Christ. Along\nwith the joy of seeing all at home possessors of the joy of\nforgiveness, he set up the family altar, and then became anxious for\nthe souls of his neighbors. As he passed them on the road he lifted\nhis heart in prayer for their conversion, in company, he seized the\nopportunity of denouncing sin, much to the annoyance of some, but\nultimately with spiritual profit. His early efforts at winning souls\nwere so richly blessed, that he seized every opportunity of speaking\nof the good things of Christ.\n\nIn the summer of 1780, at a Quarterly Meeting held at Mr. Trueman's,\nhe received so great a blessing that he wept, and the same evening at\nFort Lawrence he made his first attempt at exhortation. From that hour\nhe exhorted or prayed at every meeting, and though his knees trembled\nwith fear, his tongue was loosened, and he spoke with much liberty.\nDuring the following winter he was invited to Tantramar to hold\nmeetings, and had great joy in seeing many led to Christ. Assisted by\nsome of the old class leaders and local preachers, he travelled over\nthe country, exhorting as often as his duties on the farm would\npermit.\n\nHis first attempt at preaching from a text was in the spring of 1781,\nwhen he visited a settlement on the Petitcodiac River, and the word\nwas with power. With so many tokens of the divine favor, it was\nevident that he was a marked man, and though not quite twenty-one\nyears of age, and without any special training, he was being literally\nthrust out, and seemed destined to be the man who should lead the\nforces, and lay the foundations of Methodism, far beyond the limits of\nhis own neighborhood. The man possessed of gifts and grace, in whom\nthe people had confidence, and who was singularly blessed in winning\nsouls had come, and the stripling on the farm was called to leave the\nplough and go forth, to proclaim the great truths of the Gospel of\nChrist. He was truly a chosen vessel, and fitted for a great work.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nTHE MARITIME ITINERANT.\n\n\nThe population of Nova Scotia in 1781 numbered twelve thousand, of\nwhom there were about one hundred Acadian families, and exclusive of\nCape Breton, three hundred warriors of the Micmac, and one hundred and\nforty of the Malicete tribes of Indians. Places of worship were few\nand widely scattered over a large extent of country, and so destitute\nwere the people of religious privileges that many of them seldom heard\na sermon, and as some of these people had been brought up in the\nbonds of the faith, they naturally felt very keenly their condition.\n\nThese facts could not fail to impress very deeply such a sensitive\nsoul, rejoicing in his first love, and possessed of a burning passion\nfor the salvation of men, whose lips had been touched with holy fire.\nWhen his labors had been so richly blessed in the conversion of many\nsouls, while preaching in the time spared from his labor on the farm,\nhis mind was led toward a complete consecration to the work of a\nChristian minister, and when he had arrived at the age of twenty-one\nyears, he dedicated himself wholly to the cause of Christ, as the\nfirst Methodist missionary in the Maritime Provinces. Without any\ncollege training, or the help of any minister or church institution,\nhe left his father's home on November 10th, 1781, and commenced a\ncareer of undaunted energy, and boundless influence, laying\nfoundations for others, and becoming essentially the founder of\nMethodism in Eastern British America.\n\nDuring the eight years of his life from 1781 to 1789, he passed from\nthe position of a raw youth, entering alone amid great difficulties\nupon the work of a pioneer evangelist, to that of Superintendent of\nthe Methodist Church in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward\nIsland, and Newfoundland. With the zeal of an apostle he entered upon\na career of usefulness, which for courage and incessant travelling and\npreaching, place him side by side with John Wesley and Francis Asbury.\nHere and there, all over the province he went proclaiming the message\nof salvation, preaching every day, and sometimes more frequently, as\nwe learn of him preaching eighteen times in eight days, and upon\nanother journey which occupied eighteen days, he preached twenty-four\ntimes.\n\nHe travelled on snow-shoes in the winter, and by boat or on horseback\nin the summer, and when these failed, he journeyed by log canoe, or\nwalked over the bad roads. Once he walked forty five miles that he\nmight spend the Sabbath with the people in Windsor. Sometimes he was\nin dangers by the sea, and glad after a hard day's work in the winter\nto have a little straw to lie upon, and a thin cover to shelter him\nfrom the cold. Like the early preachers he was often compelled to\nsuffer opposition, rough fellows disturbing the services by shouting\nand seeking to break up the meeting, and some who were possessed of\neducation demanding his authority for preaching the gospel, but to\nthem all, he was patient, and some of his revilers were soundly\nconverted, and learned to revere him as a man of God.\n\nAs a preacher he was eminently successful in awakening the people from\na state of spiritual torpor, and winning many souls for Christ. In\nnearly every service there were conversions, and deep manifestations\nof the presence and power of God. When he preached at Memramcook,\n\"some were deeply affected;\" at French village, he left the people in\ntears, and the truth had a softening power upon the hearts of the\npeople; and when he was leaving them, \"weeping was upon every hand,\"\nand they pressed him so hard, that he remained another day, when many\nwere deeply affected, and he left them in tears. On the same day and\nthe one following, he was at Hillsborough, when \"it was a moving time,\nmany were in great distress, as appeared from their heaving breasts\nand weeping eyes;\" at Tantramar, \"many were remarkably happy,\" and one\nlittle girl of seven or eight years of age, \"got up on a form, and\ntold in a wonderful manner, what Jesus had done for her soul,\" and in\nthis journey of eight days he preached eighteen times, and excepting\ntwo meetings, he says, \"I know not a single occasion in which it was\nnot evident that many who heard the Word were melted into tears, if\nthey did not cry aloud for mercy.\"\n\nAll through his journal, there are evidences that he was a preacher of\ngreat power, eminent in the conversion of the people, for the pages\nabound with references to the services as \"a time of power,\" where\n\"many were in sore distress\" as they hung around him, \"eager to catch\nevery word,\" and \"weeping was on every hand,\" as they besought him to\nremain longer with them. When preaching one evening a young man\ntrembled exceedingly, and cried out in agony of soul, and about\nbed-time, the preacher heard him praying and crying in the barn. On\none of his missionary tours there were so great manifestations of\npower, that at Horton many cried for mercy, and others rejoiced and\nshouted aloud; at Cornwallis the arrows of conviction were felt by\nsome \"as they had never felt them before, and wept aloud most of the\ntime;\" and at Falmouth, \"many felt the power of the word,\" and\nrejoiced exceedingly.\n\nThere were many notable conversions under his preaching. At\nPetitcodiac a lady whose sons had been converted looked upon him as a\ndeceiver and opposed his work. \"She wrung her hands in great distress,\nand cried 'O that Black! that Black! he has ruined my sons! He has\nruined my sons!'\" But she too found peace to her soul, after some days\nof deep conviction. At Horton a lady who had opposed the work of\ngrace, was laid upon a bed of affliction, and she became so greatly\nagitated that for three weeks she could hardly sleep, but when William\nBlack was praying with her, she burst forth into transports of joy in\nfinding Christ precious to her soul, shouting, \"the Lord has delivered\nme! O I am happy! I am happy!\" All through the pages of his journal\nthere abound remarkable accounts of striking conversions, and of\npeople being stricken down by the power of God.\n\nChurches were organized at the places he visited, nearly eighty\npersons being enrolled during one visit to Hillsborough and\nPetitcodiac. There wore notable revivals at Windsor, Cornwallis,\nGranville, Horton, Liverpool and other places. The most difficult part\nof his extensive field was at Halifax, where wickedness abounded, and\nthe opposition was so great that at one time, when he was on his way\nto the city, his friends tried to persuade him to delay his visit, as\nthey feared the press gang, but he went boldly forward, and preached\nwith power.\n\nDuring his labours he was not forgetful of the needs of the coloured\npeople, who flocked to hear him preach, and many of them were soundly\nconverted. In 1784, he preached to about two hundred of them at\nBirchtown, and during the year upwards of sixty of them found peace\nwith God. Of two hundred members at Shelburne and Birchtown, there\nwere only twenty white people, and at Birchtown alone, there were\nfourteen classes in a prosperous condition. At Digby in the following\nyear, there were sixty-six coloured people members of our church.\n\nA study of the topics and texts of his sermons shows that he preached\nthe old doctrines, from familiar texts, easy to be grasped by the\npeople, and he laid special emphasis always upon sin, the need of\nregeneration, and repentance and faith, and as he pressed home these\ngreat truths upon the souls of his hearers, there was seldom a service\nat which conversions did not take place. Like many other faithful\nministers, he was often compelled to mourn on account of the\nbacksliding of the people. These were seasons of depression, when he\nbecame subject to severe temptation, and mourned the leanness of his\nown soul. The beginning of every year however, was a time of\nrefreshing, as he regularly and solemnly made the renewal of his\ncovenant with God.\n\nDespite the fact that the whole province of Nova Scotia and part of\nNew Brunswick lay before him as a wide field of enterprise, he yearned\nafter larger conquests, and therefore in 1784, at the earnest and\nrepeated request of Benjamin Chappel, he paid a visit to Prince Edward\nIsland.\n\nHe spent about a fortnight there, preaching in Charlottetown and St.\nPeters, with small tokens of success, and returned mourning the\nspiritual condition of the people.\n\nAfter much thought and prayer, he was married on Feb. 17, 1784, to\nMiss Mary Gay, of Cumberland, an estimable woman, who had been led to\nChrist about two years previously under his preaching. She was\npossessed of gifts and grace as her letters testify, and was eminently\nqualified for the high duties of a minister's wife.\n\nSo extensive was the territory and so great the spiritual needs of the\npeople that the young missionary of twenty three years of age, with a\nburning passion for souls, wrote to John Wesley in 1783, earnestly\nrequesting him to send missionaries to Nova Scotia, who replied that\nhe had hopes of sending assistance a few months later when Conference\nmet. There being no missionaries, however, sent from Great Britain, he\nnaturally looked towards the United States for help, and a few months\nafter his marriage, he started for Baltimore where the Conference was\nto be held under the superintendence of Dr. Coke. He travelled by way\nof Boston and preached twice in the city, when under the first sermon\none person was converted, and at the second service several were\ndeeply convinced of sin. As he passed through New York he preached in\nthe Methodist Church, and after the services visited a dying woman,\nwhom he found in great distress about her spiritual condition, and he\nhad the great joy of leading her to Christ, as she died next day,\nshouting, \"Glory! Glory be to thy blessed name!\" On his journey he\npreached at every opportunity and always with blessed results, and\nbefore the Conference assembled in Baltimore on December 24, 1784, he\ngave Dr. Coke a detailed account of the state of the work in Nova\nScotia, and the Conference appointed Freeborn Garretson, and James O.\nCromwell to labor in that field. Both of these ministers hastened at\nonce to that province, but William Black spent some time in the United\nStates preaching here and there, and called for his wife who was\nvisiting her friends in Massachusetts, she having been born in Boston,\nand with the tedious travel he did not reach Halifax till the end of\nMay. As he was returning homeward, he and his wife spent over three\nmonths in Boston, where he had the honor of laying the foundations of\nMethodism in that city, \"the first Methodist preacher who appeared in\nNew England after the visit of Charles Wesley,\" says Dr. Abel Stevens.\nHe preached in several of the churches, removing from one to another,\nas the edifice became too small to accommodate the crowds who flocked\nto hear the young minister from Canada, until the largest church was\nfilled to overflowing with three thousand people. A gracious revival\nfollowed this visit, and as there was no Methodist organization, the\nconverts united with other denominations. After a period of thirty\nyears, he preached again in the city in 1822, and many hung around the\npulpit, glad to listen to the man who had led them to Christ in 1785.\nSix years before Jesse Lee preached under the old elm on Boston\nCommon, William Black declared the old doctrines of Methodism, and\nwitnessed many conversions.\n\nWith the arrival of Freeborn Garretson the work of organization was\nbegun, as he was a leader, a man of zeal and piety, \"of cordial spirit\nand amiable simplicity of manners, but a hero at heart,\" says Abel\nStevens, the Methodist historian. He was a gentleman of wealth and\ncharacter, who as a preacher in the United States, had been stoned,\nimprisoned, and his life imperilled by angry mobs with firearms, but\nhe was dauntless in his labors for Christ. Under his preaching there\nwere extensive revivals in the province, societies were formed and\nchurches built. There were now five missionaries at work, Freeborn\nGarretson who acted as Superintendent, and made his home at Shelburne,\nJames Oliver Cromwell at Windsor, William Black at Halifax, William\nGrandine, a young man who had formerly been a Methodist in the Jersey\nIslands, and who had just begun to preach was at Cumberland, and John\nMann who came from the United States, was stationed at Barrington.\n\nAt the first District Meeting of Nova Scotia, which was held in\nHalifax, commencing October 10th, 1786, and lasted four days, William\nBlack and Freeborn Garretson were appointed to the Halifax circuit,\nwhich embraced Halifax, Annapolis, Granville, Digby, Horton and\nWindsor, a field sufficient to tax the powers of a dozen strong men,\nbut these were heroes in the brave days of old. Before the next\nDistrict Meeting Garretson and Cromwell had returned to the United\nStates, and their places were filled by William Jessop and Hickson.\nWith the departure of Garretson there was lost to the province a man\nwho was eminently fitted to lead the forces and unite them, and\nWilliam Black mourned greatly that he was bereft of a friend, and a\ngentleman of ability and grace.\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\nTHE INTREPID PIONEER.\n\n\nThe mantle of Garretson fell upon Black and he was again compelled to\nlead the forces, and take the initiative in opening up new places and\npreaching at every opportunity. Aroused by the sad spiritual condition\nof the people, he spared not himself in excessive labors, and so\nsuccessful were his efforts for the conversion of souls, that John\nWesley became more concerned than ever, in the affairs in the Maritime\nProvinces and Newfoundland. Dr. Coke who constituted in his own person\nthe Methodist Missionary Society, was commissioned by Wesley to visit\nNova Scotia, and he embarked on September 24th, 1786, with three\nmissionaries for Nova Scotia, but a dangerous storm which cast the\nvessel on the ocean for nearly two and a half months, compelled them\nto land at Antigua, in the West Indies, and Black was left without the\npromised help, as the missionaries remained there, and a new era of\nsuccessful missions was begun. His field was large enough surely, for\nWesley had said in a letter to him dated London, Oct. 15, 1784, \"Your\npresent parish is wide enough, namely Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. I\ndo not advise you to go any further.\" During the year 1786, there was\na great revival in Liverpool under John Mann, a church had been\nerected in Halifax in which William Black preached for the first time\non Easter Sunday, and at Barrington and Horton, there were several\nnotable conversions, still through lack of missionaries, there could\nnot be given any assistance to Cumberland, Annapolis, Digby, and the\nwhole Province of New Brunswick. He was however greatly encouraged by\na visit to Liverpool where the revival was in progress, and by good\nnews from River Philip, where his eldest brother John had settled as a\nfarmer, and who had begun to exercise his gifts as a local preacher,\nand with so great success, that at one meeting, ten persons rejoiced\nin having found Christ.\n\nAt the second District meeting held on October 15th, 1787, in Halifax,\nthere were present, William Black, William Grandine, William Jessop,\nand the two brothers, John and James Mann, who had come from the\nUnited States to labor as missionaries in Nova Scotia. After the third\nDistrict Meeting which was held in the May following, William Black\nspent about a month visiting Shelburne, Barrington, Cape Negro, Port\nLa Tour and Port Medway, and when he returned to Halifax, he was\ngreatly encouraged by the good work which had gone on under James\nMann's labors during his absence. Meanwhile, the Rev. James Wray had\nbeen sent out from England with a general charge to superintend the\nwork, as William Black and the other missionaries had not been\nordained, and could not therefore dispense the sacraments, but the\nrelations between Wray and Black became somewhat strained, and\nthreatened seriously to interfere with the advance of the Kingdom of\nGod. With good judgment and much patience William Black laid the whole\nmatter before John Wesley, but without his counsel the breach was\nhealed, and they labored again in harmony. James Wray felt that the\nduties of superintending the work in the Province were too onerous\nfor him, and he requested to be relieved of the position, and Dr. Coke\nappointed William Black, Superintendent of the Methodist Church in the\nMaritime Provinces and Newfoundland, James Wray removing to the West\nIndies, where he died in 1790.\n\nThe growth of Methodism was somewhat retarded by the fact that William\nBlack had not been ordained, and consequently could not dispense the\nsacraments, and it was felt that his influence would greatly extend\nwere he to assume all the responsibilities of a Christian minister. An\nopportunity was afforded him of being ordained, by the presence of Dr.\nCoke at the Conference held in Philadelphia in 1789, and accompanied\nby John and James Mann, who went for the same purpose, he attended the\nConference, and on May 19th he was ordained a Deacon, and on the\nfollowing day, an Elder. During a month spent in that city, he lost no\nopportunity of seeking to do good, and was cheered by learning of some\nbeing blest, among whom was a lady who had been converted under a\nsermon preached there by him, during his previous visit in 1784.\n\nIn a report sent to John Wesley during the year, there are shown\ngratifying results of the labors of the missionaries in Nova Scotia,\nas the church in Halifax had grown in numbers and spirituality, and\nthroughout the Province there were about five hundred members, and\nwith pardonable pride and joy, William Black remarks, how greatly he\nwas comforted, as the church had grown in two years, \"eight times\nlarger, and eight times more serious and spiritual.\" The care of the\nchurches pressed so heavily upon his soul, and there was so great\nneed of additional missionaries to meet the growing demands of the\nwide field, that William Black hastened to Philadelphia to consult Dr.\nCoke, and had the pleasure of attending the Conference held in that\ncity commencing on May 17th, 1791, at which the venerable Bishop\nAsbury presided. The following week, he attended the New York\nConference, when six missionaries were appointed to labor in Nova\nScotia. About three weeks after his return home, he went on a visit to\nNewfoundland, which was marked by a gracious revival, and the cause of\nMethodism in the ancient colony was saved.\n\nThe story of Methodism in Newfoundland, reads like a bit of romance.\nThe first missionary Lawrence Coughlan went there in 1765, and\nremained seven years, amid great persecutions, being prosecuted in the\nhighest court, an attempt made to poison him, yet not only was he able\nto rejoice in many conversions, but his enemies were silenced, as the\nGovernor acquitted him, and made him a justice of the peace. His\nhealth failed, and he was compelled to return to England. His\nministrations in Newfoundland however led to the founding of Methodism\nin the Channel Islands, as Pierre Le Sueur, a native of Jersey, during\na visit to Newfoundland was deeply convinced of sin under a sermon\nwhich Coughlan preached, and when he returned to his home, spoke of\nthe knowledge which he had received, but his friends thought him mad.\nWhen John Fentin, a recent convert, returned from Newfoundland to\nJersey, Le Sueur and his wife found peace to their souls through\nFentin's instructions and prayers, and a great revival commenced,\nwhich swept through the islands, and laid the foundations of religion,\nwhich have continued till the present time. After Coughlan's\ndeparture, John McGeary was sent to fill the vacancy but all that was\nleft of the good work were a few women, and he suffered so many\nhardships and witnessed so little fruit of his labors that he became\nso despondent, as to entertain serious thoughts of abandoning the\nfield. William Black arrived in St. John's on August 10th 1791, and\nspent one day in the city, during which he waited upon the\nPresbyterian minister, the Rev. Mr. Jones, who was a man of catholic\nspirit, and whose spiritual life was deep and genuine. The next day he\nwent to Carbonear, where John McGeary was stationed, whom he found\n\"weeping before the Lord over my lonely situation and the darkness of\nthe people,\" and when he began to preach, a great revival followed,\nand Methodism in the colony was saved from disaster.\n\nThe power of God fell upon the people at the very first service, and\nmany were deeply convinced of sin at every meeting. At Carbonear the\npeople cried aloud for mercy, so that he had to stop preaching, and\nbetook himself to prayer, when the sound of his voice was nearly\ndrowned by the people weeping, and he came down from the pulpit and\npassed up and down through the church, exhorting and directing them,\nas many as three and four persons being in an agony of spirit in every\npew. Even after the service closed, the cries and groans of anxious\npersons could be heard at a considerable distance up and down the\nharbour. At Harbor Grace, Port a Grave, Bay Roberts and other places,\nsimilar scenes were witnessed, of deep conviction for sin, and many\nrejoicing in the knowledge of sins forgiven. At Conception Bay during\na short time spent there, two hundred souls were converted, but that\nwas not all, for throughout the colony, William Black marched in\ntriumph, and saw very many souls won for Christ. It is no wonder that\nhe considered this visit to Newfoundland, as \"the most useful and\ninteresting portion of his missionary life.\" The Rev. Richard Knight,\nwho spent seventeen years in the colony says, that he \"organized\nMethodism, settled the mission property, and secured it to the\nConnexion, increased and inspirited the society, and obtained for them\nthe help they needed.\" Such a messenger could not fail to leave a deep\nand abiding impression upon the hearts of the people, and his\ndeparture was pathetic, as he stood for nearly an hour shaking hands\nwith them, and at last as he tore himself away, he says, that he \"left\nthem weeping as for an only son.\" He secured fresh laborers from\nWesley to carry on the work, and Methodism in Newfoundland was\nestablished upon a firm basis, and has continued vigorous till the\npresent day.\n\nUpon his arrival in Halifax he found that the gentleman who owned the\nchurch property in the city, had severed his connection with the\nsociety, and become a bitter opponent, but William Black though sorely\ntried, was in no wise daunted, and immediately he started a\nsubscription list, and secured prompt and efficient help, so as to\nproceed with the building of a new church. One hundred pounds were\nraised in one day, and the society took fresh courage, and grew in\nnumbers and strength. Having set matters in order in the city he\nvisited Horton, Granville, Annapolis and Digby on his way to St.\nJohn, New Brunswick, where Abraham John Bishop was stationed, who\narrived there in September 1791, and a week later organized the first\nclass meeting in the city. Previous to that time several Methodist\nministers had visited the then growing town, through the earnest\nsolicitations of Stephen Humbert, a United Empire Loyalist, who landed\nthere on May 18th, 1783. He was a New Jersey Methodist and desirous of\nhaving a society formed there. William Black arrived in November,\n1791, and at once began to preach, but having seen some shipbuilders\nat work on the Sabbath, he denounced their action in a sermon on the\nsame evening. A provincial statute existed forbidding anyone from\nexercising the functions of the ministry without a license from the\nGovernor, and this was used to silence the courageous preacher.\nUndeterred by this opposition, and hindered from preaching, he spent\nhis time visiting from house to house with blessed results. Three\nmonths later he visited St. John with permission to preach, and found\na gracious revival in progress, then going to Fredericton he met a\nclass of twenty-two, most of whom were soldiers, and during the few\ndays spent there several conversions took place. On his return journey\nhe visited St. Stephens, where Duncan McColl was the missionary, and\nhe rejoiced in the evidences of growth, under the faithful labours of\nthat devoted man of God, and this notable tour, closed with a farewell\nservice in May to Abraham John Bishop. It was a touching scene, the\npeople being much distressed at losing the young missionary, and well\nmight they grieve, for after one year spent in Sheffield, he went to\nthe West Indies to labor among the colored people and died at Grenada\nthe following year. And thus passed away one who was esteemed as an\neminently holy man, and William Black was bathed in tears.\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\nBLACK AND WESLEY.\n\n\nA memorable year for Methodism and William Black was 1791, as on the\nsecond day of March of that year John Wesley passed away at City Road,\nLondon, surrounded by preachers and friends. Eight years before the\nyoung minister in Nova Scotia wrote to the aged man of God entreating\nhim to send out Missionaries, and also expressing his desire to spend\na year or two at Kingswood School, and the correspondence then begun\nwas continued until death. With the familiarity of an old man toward a\nyouth, William Black poured out his heart in his letters to his\nvenerable leader, who in turn gave him counsel in his difficulties,\nsent him books, and treated him as a son, closing his letters with \"My\nDear Billy.\" There would be a place for him in Kingswood School, but\nhe was not urged to attend, as Wesley laid greater stress on piety\nthan learning, and Nova Scotia could not well spare, not even for a\nyear or two, such a brave and intrepid soul as William Black.\n\nIt was natural that the intercourse should exert a strong and abiding\ninfluence upon the mind and heart of the missionary, who sent reports\nof his work, sought advice amid the difficulties which confronted\nhim, and spoke of his spiritual yearnings with the familiarity of a\nlittle child with its parent. John Wesley became the model upon which\nWilliam Black formed his habits and character, and he succeeded well,\nin a country with greater privations and more difficulties in\ntravelling than in old England. Like the great itinerant, he rose\nearly in all seasons, preached every day, as often as time and\ndistance allowed, kept a journal in which were recorded the notable\nevents that happened in his work, or person, and as he rode over the\nrough roads, the broad sky became his study where he read many volumes\nevery year. These were not done through any servile imitation, but\nbecause of an admiration and unconscious hero worship which compelled\nhim to follow where he admired. Wesley was to William Black a saint,\nan ecclesiastical statesman, an acute and learned theologian, a great\nwinner of souls, and above all a personal friend, and when he died his\nloss was greater than he cared to express.\n\nWith the passing of the Founder of Methodism, there were grave fears\nof disagreement among the preachers throughout the Connexion, and\nWilliam Black shared in the general feeling, but Dr. Coke gave him\npeace, in his account of the harmony of the Conference following\nWesley's death.\n\nAt the Conference held in Baltimore in November of the following year,\nseveral preachers were secured for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and\nWilliam Black who had gone to the Conference, for the purpose of\nmeeting Dr. Coke, was induced at the doctor's request to take charge\nof the missions in the West India Islands, in succession to Mr.\nHarper, who was elected Presiding Elder of Nova Scotia, New\nBrunswick, and Newfoundland. Leaving his family behind, William Black\naccompanied Dr. Coke to the West Indies, visiting the islands, where\nthey found wickedness and bigotry so rampant that one of the Methodist\nmissionaries was in prison for preaching before he had resided there\ntwelve months, and in some other places the society had dwindled on\naccount of terrible persecution.\n\nThe climate of the West Indies was so severe upon his nervous system\nthat William Black had serious doubts as to his duty in remaining in\nthe tropical clime, however he was induced by Dr. Coke to become\nPresiding Elder of the Leeward Islands and to reside at St. Kitts.\nAfter visiting the sphere of his labors and meeting the ministers at\nthe Conference at Antigua, of whom there were thirteen present, he\nreturned to Nova Scotia for his family. During this visit to the\nProvince he found that the cause at Liverpool was in such a prosperous\nstate, that there was great need of a place of worship, and with his\naccustomed zeal and determination, he started a subscription list and\nin a few days secured three hundred pounds. His return to the West\nIndies with his family was signalized by strenuous efforts for the\nsalvation of the people, but his stay was destined to be short, as Dr.\nCoke became convinced that owing to changes in the Islands, and the\nimportance of the work in Nova Scotia, it was necessary for William\nBlack to take charge of his old field. Accordingly he was recalled\nafter spending one year as Presiding Elder in the West Indies, and\nsingular to relate, upon the day that Dr. Coke wrote his instructions\nfor removal, the ministers were assembled in District Meeting at\nWindsor, and they passed a resolution asking that William Black be\nallowed to assume his position as General Superintendent of the\nMaritime Provinces and Newfoundland.\n\nNo sooner did he arrive and was reinstated among his brethren, than he\nthrew himself with increased vigor into the work of consolidating and\nextending the congregations. Prince Edward Island was visited, where a\ncordial reception was granted him at Charlottetown, large\ncongregations being present when he preached. At Tryon there had been\na gracious revival two years previous under the ministry of William\nGrandine, the results of which were still apparent, the nucleus of a\ncongregation had been formed at Charlottetown by a class led by Joshua\nNewton, Collector on the Island, which met at the house of Benjamin\nChappel, and when William Black waited upon the Governor, Colonel\nFanning, to thank him for the use of the Church, he spent an agreeable\nhour, conversing freely on the advantages of religion to individuals,\nand society in general, and the Governor closed the interview by\nexpressing his friendship, with a promise of assistance in building a\nMethodist Church. Methodism had grown in the provinces during the\nyears since it was established, so that in 1794, there were eleven\nhundred accredited members, not including the number of adherents who\nhad not united with the church.\n\nThe journal in which William Black recorded his personal experiences,\nand gave a faithful account, though brief, of the extraordinary events\nwhich happened in his travels, the notable conversions, revival\nservices and progress of the kingdom of God closes with the year 1794.\nLimited as it is in the range of its subjects, it was characteristic\nof the man whose sole aim was the conversion of sinners and the\nupbuilding of the saints. He was too busy to continue the record, and\nthough there were many things coming under the range of his\nobservation worthy of preservation, he was too modest to think of\nwriting his reflections with any view to publication.\n\nThe year 1800 was spent in England, where he attended the British\nWesleyan Conference which met in London, and during his visit he made\na deep and lasting impression upon the hearts of many, by his zeal and\nmodesty. He was welcomed as the founder of Methodism in British North\nAmerica, and had the opportunity of meeting some of the leaders of\nBritish Methodism, especially Jabez Bunting, with whom he had several\ninteresting and profitable conversations, and who remained till death\none of his most devoted friends. In one of his letters to him while he\nwas attending the Conference, Bunting wrote, \"My letter will, at\nleast, be accepted as an expression of that warmth of Christian\naffection and esteem which I shall ever feel toward you. Unworthy as I\nam of your friendship, I trust that a blessed eternity will confirm\nand perfect the attachment which my present short acquaintance with\nyou has inspired and that, however separated on earth, we shall\ntogether spend an everlasting existence.\" Two years later in another\nletter he says, \"I often recollect with pleasure the agreeable and\nprofitable moments we spent together at Oldham and Manchester, during\nyour last visit to England, and am thankful to God that ever I knew\nyou on earth, because I am persuaded that through his abundant mercy\nin Christ Jesus, I shall hereafter know you in heaven, and there be\npermitted to resume and perfect that intercourse and acquaintance,\nwhich here were so transient, and so speedily suspended by separation.\nIn the General Assembly, and Church of the First-born, I hope to meet\nmy honoured friend again, and to mingle with his, and with those of\nten thousand times ten thousand others, my everlasting Hosannas to the\nLamb that was slain. Even so, Lord Jesus! I was pleased and thankful\nsometime ago in a Love-feast at Saddleworth, to hear the testimony of\none, who was awakened under a sermon you preached at Delph, from\n'Behold I stand at the door, &c.,' on the Sunday you spent there with\nme in April 1800. I mention this to show you, that you have some seals\nof your ministry in these parts of the world, and that your labours of\nlove among us were not in vain in the Lord.\"\n\nThe kindness shown toward William Black during his visit to England,\nand the fact that he was born there, naturally induced him to\nentertain the idea of taking a circuit and spending his remaining\nyears in the old land, but Dr. Coke was strongly averse to him leaving\nNova Scotia where so great success had attended his labours, and his\ninfluence was unbounded. Feeling that he could not very well leave the\ncare of the churches to others, without some provision being made for\nsuperintending them in the event of his going to live in England, he\ndrew up a scheme of handing them over to the Methodist Episcopal\nChurch in the United States, and wrote to Bishop Asbury on the matter.\nThere were however political difficulties in the way, and being unable\nto make satisfactory provision for supplying the churches with\nministers, and the danger of disaffection in the event of a war\nbetween Great Britain and the United States, he decided to remain in\nNova Scotia and continue his active duties. Possessed of\nadministrative abilities of a high order, added to the skill and zeal\nof an evangelist, he was a man of mark, who could not be left in\ncharge of a single circuit, but must have a wider field. Consequently\nat the Conference held in Philadelphia in 1804, Dr. Coke requested him\nto take a station in Bermuda for three or four years, and in order to\nconciliate the members of the church in Halifax by the temporary\nremoval of their pastor, the Doctor wrote them a letter, in which he\nsaid, \"Mr. Black has been your apostle for above twenty years, and it\nis now high time that he should be an apostle elsewhere. I have no\ndoubt that he will have a society of six hundred, or perhaps one\nthousand members in Bermuda in four years. He may then, if he please,\nreturn to superintend the work in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but\nit will depend upon his own choice whether he return to you, or to\nEngland, or remain at Bermuda.\" William Black consented to go, and\nwent to New York, where he engaged his passage, but was prevented from\nreaching his destination by some persons from Bermuda who were opposed\nto Methodism, and were going by the same vessel, and used their\ninfluence so that the passage was cancelled. Two years later the\nBritish Wesleyan Missionary Committee requested him to become\nSuperintendent of Missions in the West Indies, and Dr. Coke renewed\nhis request that he assume charge in Bermuda, but he declined the\nappointment to the West Indies on the account of the severity of the\ntropical climate, though he was willing to go to Bermuda. The Nova\nScotia District Meeting however intervened, and petitioned the British\nConference that he might be allowed to remain Superintendent of\nMissions in the Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland, and there the\nmatter ended.\n\nMeanwhile the arduous duties of visiting the churches and preaching\ncontinued with much success, several new churches being built and\nnumerous conversions, among whom was Colonel Bayard who commanded one\nof the British regiments at Halifax during the war, and afterwards\nsettled about 30 miles from Annapolis. He had been strongly opposed to\nMethodism, but was led by William Black to a personal trust in Christ,\nand lived such a holy life that he became known as the John Fletcher\nof Nova Scotia. In the midst of a great revival which swept St. John,\nand through the District from Barrington to Liverpool, there came\nopposition from some preachers from Scotland, who spurned the idea of\nconversion, however success followed the faithful preaching of William\nBlack and his fellow workers and many souls were led to Christ. In\n1809 he was stationed in St. John, New Brunswick, where he spent two\nyears, but his active ministry was drawing to a close.\n\nThe privations and incessant labors began to tell upon a strong\nconstitution, so that in 1812 he was compelled to become a\nsupernumerary, though not desisting altogether from rendering whatever\nservice his health would permit in extending the cause that lay so\nnear his heart. Along with the Rev. William Bennett he was delegated\nby the British Conference to attend the Conference in the United\nStates, and lay before the members the question of Canadian Methodism\nretaining its allegiance with the British Conference, a task which was\nfaithfully performed, though of a very delicate character.\n\nIncreasing infirmities kept him in retirement, though he managed in\nthe spring of 1820 to pay a visit to the United States, where he\npreached before Congress, and the passion for souls was still burning\nin his soul, for the text of the sermon was, \"What is a man profited,\nif he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?\" Brave and ever\nresolute, he maintained his interest in the progress of the churches\nwhich he founded, and it was with a pathos born of love to his\nbrethren, and the consciousness that his active work was done, that he\nwrote to the ministers at the District Meeting held in St. John in\n1823, that he was unable to attend, and sent them his blessing.\n\nThis man of daring had a definite religious experience and all his\npreaching was with the individual in view, his sphere of labours was\nnot large in extent of territory, but he widened it by incessant\ntravel, without any show of rhetoric he won his way to men's hearts\nand that is eloquence, and he lived to move Eastern British America by\ntranslating his message in words imperishable, and lay foundations\nupon which others have built. He was no common man, but an\nempire-builder in the brave days of old.\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\nPERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.\n\n\nA man above medium height, stout in body and well built, clad in the\nfashion of the Methodist preachers of the day, with a benign\ncountenance, his face smoothly shaven, a kindly eye, a mind ever\nalert, a genial temperament, and strong force of character which\nfitted him well for his aggressive work in a new and rough country,\nand you have a fair likeness of William Black. Without any college\neducation, and with no pretentions as a scholar, he was far from being\ndeficient in education. The preacher with his saddlebags quickly\nlearned the value of time, as he travelled incessantly, and preached\nevery day, and we are not surprised to learn, that he formed habits of\nstudy similar to those of the circuit riders of old England. With an\nintensity which is often bewildering, we read of him moving with\nincredible swiftness from place to place, studying at every\nopportunity to fit himself as an able preacher of the everlasting\ngospel.\n\nHis letters to John Wesley and other correspondents bear the impress\nof a cultured mind, in the grasp of the great doctrines which were\nunder discussion, and the nervous strength, simplicity, purity and\ndignity of the language in which they are couched. The saddle, the\nopen road, and the clear sky were his permanent study, and he read\nwith the keen instinct of a student, whose hours were limited, as he\nhad other work to do, and he must furbish his brain, and warm his\nheart by contact with the masters of literature who came at his call.\n\nHe was a constant reader of Wesley's Journal and sermons. When he was\ntravelling to the General Conference at Baltimore, he spent his time\non the vessel in study, as he writes: \"Most of my time since I came on\nboard has been occupied in reading, chiefly Flavel's Treatise on the\nSoul, Littleton's Roman History and Knox's Essays. Lord let none of\nthem prove improfitable!\" For spiritual growth he was accustomed to\nread religious biography, which is an excellent study, and he found\nmuch comfort and food for serious reflection in the Lives of John\nFletcher and Whitefield. But he was not forgetful of the benefits of\nthe solid studies which are needful for the Christian minister, and he\napplied himself with splendid energy to the Latin and Greek languages\nand works on theology. Matthew Richey who was well qualified to speak\non the subject, because of his own training, and his acquaintance with\nWilliam Black says: \"During the time of our personal acquaintance with\nhim, he possessed a critical knowledge of the New Testament in the\noriginal, which must have been the result of many years' application.\nIn studying the Greek Testament, Parkhurst's Lexicon was his favorite\nthesaurus, and he knew well to discriminate the sound learning and\ntheology with which that inestimable work abounds, from the fancies\nand eccentricities both etymological and philosophical, with which\nthey are sometimes associated.\" It was his custom for many years to\nread Thomas a Kempis Imitation of Christ at family prayer in the Latin\ntongue, his wife reading the translation while he followed her in the\noriginal, and Matthew Richey adds that while he \"carefully studied the\nGreek Testament, he was not forgetful of the Latin language, in which\nhis attainments were very respectable.\" We have no record of the books\nhe read or any account of his studies, but his Journal and letters\nshow, that he was a student all his life, reading theology, history,\nbiography and essays in literature with an economy of time, and an\nalertness, which put many of us to shame. With a yearning after wider\nculture he longed to go to Kingswood School in England, and when that\nbecame impossible, he devoted himself with greater enthusiasm to his\nstudies, and employed John Wesley to send him books.\n\nAlthough he was a model itinerant and was preaching every day, he\npursued the method of training his own mind and instructing his\nhearers by courses on systematic theology, which is an ideal system\nfor any minister. He writes: \"In my last sixteen discourses I have\ntaken a view of man in his primitive state, and in his fall, the\nconsequences of his apostacy, to himself and to his posterity, the\ninterposition of a Mediator, his offices, incarnation, life, death,\nresurrection, ascension into heaven, and session on the right hand of\nthe Father. O, how wonderful is the process of redeeming love!\" Living\nin a real world and deeply impressed with the needs of the people, he\nhad no time to devote to any literary work, though he might have\nrendered some service by his pen to the cause of Christ, but modesty\nbarred the way, and he was above everything else a pioneer evangelist.\nOnly once did he consent to have one of his sermons published, and\nthat was a discourse preached at Windsor, Nova Scotia, on Deut.\n33:13. \"He made him to suck honey out of the rock.\" When he preached a\nsermon on Bishop Asbury at the General Conference in Baltimore, and\nwas importuned to have it published by that august body, he\nrespectfully declined the honor.\n\nWilliam Black was a great Christian without any singularity or\nostentation, ever bemoaning his lack of spirituality and yearning\nafter holiness of heart and life. As he read the lives of great saints\nof other days, he prostrated himself before God, and craved\npre-eminence in the attainment of the higher virtues of religious\nexperience. Humility was one of the dominant factors in his life,\nwhich became a habit, through contrasting his actual acquirements in\npiety, with the saints held in much esteem by the Christian Church. He\nwas extremely sensitive, and this subjected him to periods of mental\ndepression, when he was severely tempted and almost given over to\ndespair. Seasons of melancholy seemed to follow him all through life,\nespecially at the beginning of the year, when he passed under review\nhis life and work. But there were times when he renewed his covenant\nwith God in writing, and when he was privileged to listen to some\neminent preacher and mingle with his brethren, that the sky shone with\na beauty which was divine, and bliss serene abode in his soul.\n\nIn one of his seasons of refreshing, when he dedicated himself anew,\nhe writes: \"O my God, I am Thine by a thousand ties, necessary,\nvoluntary and sacred. Sanctuaries, woods, fields and other places,\nhave been witnesses of the solemn vows and engagements I am under to\nThee, and when I presumptuously violate them, they will bring in their\nevidence against me. O! by thy powerful grace, preserve me thine,\nthine forever!\" He longed to be like Christ, and yet he could say:\n\"Some appear to be alternately in raptures, and ready to sink in\nunbelief and despondency: filled with joy, or overwhelmed with sorrow.\nIn general my walk (at least outwardly) has been pretty even. Through\nthe severest exercises I have yet met with, the Lord has not suffered\nme to be greatly moved. I do not remember that anger ever had a place\nin my heart for one minute against any one, since I first knew the\nLord. If I felt it rise, I looked to the Lord, and was delivered.\nBlessed be his Name for this! By grace I am saved: and grace shall\nhave the glory. I am never enraptured with joy, nor overpowered with\nsorrow: yet neither am I without joys and sorrow. At times I feel\nJesus inexpressibly precious: and at such seasons I long for holiness,\nfor a full conformity to the divine will.\"\n\nHe was a man of prayer, rising early to be alone with God. Never did\nhunter pursue game with greater zest than he in his passion for the\nsouls of men. His sermons had ever in view the conversion of sinners,\nand he often employed his pen in writing to individuals about\nsalvation. Three of these letters addressed respectively, to Lawyer\nHilton of Cornwallis, Major Crane of Horton, and James Noble Shannon\nof Horton, who afterwards removed to Parrsboro where he died, breathe\na spirit of intense solicitude, and remind one of the writings of\nRichard Baxter the noble Puritan. In the letters he pleads with these\ngentlemen to seek salvation, and with such arguments, persuasive\nspeech and love, that they were effective in leading them to Christ.\n\nIn conversation he was chaste in language and always spiritual. In one\nof his letters to his father-in-law, he pleads with him to be\nreconciled to God, and after pressing home the truth with fidelity\nwithout rudeness, he concludes; \"This is the religion, in the\npropagation of which I desire to spend my life. This I recommend to my\nfather. But I stop, perhaps I offend. I did not think of saying half\nso much. But this is my darling topic, and therefore I must beg you to\nbear with me.\" He was charitable towards others, though he differed\nwith them in religious belief, and with commendable liberality, he\nheld both ministers and people of the Anglican faith in the highest\nesteem, and associated with the Baptists often preaching in their\nchurches, even going so far, though believing in the validity of\nsprinkling as a mode of baptism, as to baptize by immersion, those who\ndesired that mode of having the ordinance administered. Whilst holding\ntenaciously the doctrines and institutions of Methodism, he loved\nthose who were united to him by a common faith.\n\nDuring the first years of William Black's evangelistic labors, when\nseveral hundreds were converted and had joined the church, he was\nconfronted with Antinomian teaching, through several visits from Henry\nAlline, who resided at Falmouth, Nova Scotia. Being called of God to\npreach in 1776, Alline itinerated through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick,\nand Prince Edward Island, preaching a strange mixture of doctrines,\nwhich unsettled the people in the churches, and many withdrew and\nformed the denomination of New Lights or Allinites, a body which had\nsome influence until his death at Northampton in New Hampshire, United\nStates, on February 2nd, 1784, when it gradually declined and was\nabsorbed by other denominations, especially the Baptists. Alline\npublished his peculiar views in a volume, entitled \"Two mites on some\nof the most important and most disputed points of divinity cast into\nthe treasury for the poor and needy, and committed to the perusal of\nthe unprejudiced and impartial reader, by Henry Alline, servant of the\nLord to His churches.\" A reply to this book was published in a volume\nby the Rev. Jonathan Scott, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, which contains\ncopious extracts from it. Alline misrepresented all the leading\ndoctrines of Christianity, assailing predestination and election,\nmaintaining the freedom of man's will and upholding the final\nperseverance of the saints, emphasizing strongly conversion, and that\nthe soul is at the same moment completely sanctified, while sin\nremains in the body; denying the resurrection of the body, and though\nsometimes practising water baptism, he denied its utility. He was a\nman of good address, eloquent of speech and of a lively disposition,\nand there was no doubt of his piety, as he was a good man, and these\nqualities made him a successful evangelist. His rank Antinomian\ndoctrines caused havoc among the Presbyterian, Congregational and\nMethodist congregations in the places visited by him, and William\nBlack mourned the withdrawal of two hundred persons in a little over a\nyear from connection with the Methodist Church. It was very natural\nthat the young evangelist should consult John Wesley on the matter,\nbut the only help he received was a package of books, including two\nvolumes of the writings of William Law, the great mystic, and\ninstructions not to mention Alline's name in public, only to go on his\nway preaching the gospel. Though much depressed by the loss of so many\nmembers from the church, he had the satisfaction of seeing some return\nto the old fold, and toward Henry Alline himself he entertained\nrespect. There remained no harshness, though the blow was heavy by the\nbreach made in the congregations, as shown by a letter which he wrote\nto Alline when he was sick, in which, after speaking of the souls won\nfor God, and his joy in Alline's success, he added, \"Although we\ndiffer in sentiment, let us manifest our love to each other. I always\nadmired your gifts and graces, and affectionately loved your person,\nalthough I could never receive your peculiar opinions. But shall we on\nthis account destroy the work of God? God forbid! May the Lord take\naway all bigotry, and fill us with pure, genuine, catholic love!\" That\nwas charity indeed, but Henry Alline went on his way denouncing all\nwho did not follow him.\n\nWilliam Black had no fine capacity for anger, for with his soul aflame\nwith a holy passion he saw men and women as related to eternity, and\nhe loved them. With an iron will he laughed at danger, without any\nausterity he was a great saint, his ideals were lofty, and\ncheerfulness sat upon his lips and shone in his face, a practical\nmystic was he without losing his head in the clouds, in brief, he was\na man, a brave soul with a woman's tenderness, who held his eyes\ntoward the Cross.\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\nLAST DAYS AND AFTER.\n\n\nThe long years of arduous labor began to tell upon a strong\nconstitution, so that gradually the physical strength of the pioneer\nevangelist and missionary in the Maritime Provinces became so\nenfeebled, that during the last fifteen years of his life he was\npractically laid aside. For forty years he travelled, unhasting,\nunresting, swift of foot, and with an unquenching passion for souls,\nand the hardships of those early times left their abiding impress upon\nhis body, though he still retained his natural vigor of mind. A\njourney now and then in quest of health brought cheerful patience, but\nhis work was done, while still sixty years of age. Like another\nWhitefield he had worn himself out in his Master's service, yet he was\ncontent that foundations had been laid, and others might build, while\nhe shared their joy.\n\nHe lived in stirring times, and belonged to a sect that moved the\nworld, recreating the national conscience, without disturbing the\nreligious world with a new heresy. In 1807 the slave trade in the\nBritish Empire was abolished, and the Methodist revival introduced a\nnew philanthropy, which brought a fresh impulse into the nation for\nthe reforming of the prisons, greater clemency to the penal laws, with\na noble and steady attempt to better the condition of the profligate\nand the poor, and the first impetus toward popular education. Limited\nin his range of vision by distance from the great centres of\ncivilization, and absorbed in his noble task of leading men in their\nquest after godliness, he still kept in touch with the larger\nquestions which affected the nation, so far as the literature of that\nday permitted.\n\nHis closing years were spent in the quietness of his own home, with an\noccasional service suited to his failing health. With a sublime\nsimplicity and faith in the goodness of women, he found a continual\nbenediction in his wife, who was a lady of good judgment, possessing a\ncheerful spirit, and as earnest as he in her yearning after holiness\nof heart and life, and a burning zeal for the salvation of souls. Born\nin Boston, Massachusetts, where she frequently heard Whitefield\npreach, she came with her parents to Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, and\nsettled there, when the British troops evacuated her native city, and\nin the summer of 1781 she was converted under the ministry of William\nBlack. For the long period of forty-three years of married life, she\nwas the devoted companion and helper of her husband in every good\nwork. The training of five children devolved solely upon her, as she\nwas left alone during the long and frequent absence of her husband on\nhis missionary tours, yet she complained not, but counted it an honor\nto share the joys and sorrows of a Methodist itinerant. With the true\ninstinct of a mother she governed her home in the fear of God. When\nshe chastised her children, she did not forget their spiritual\nwelfare, as it was her custom after punishment, to take them alone to\na private room, and there to pray with the culprit, and seldom were\nthese seasons unproductive of serious resolves of amendment. Her\nletters to her husband bear the impress of a saint, in their spirit\nof patience, sympathy with the erring, and quest after a better life.\nDuring a period of severe sickness in the family, when three of the\nchildren were laid low, and faint hopes were entertained for the\nrecovery of Celia, the eldest, the faith of the parents was severely\ntried. While they were convalescing, the mother was attacked with a\nraging fever, and in her weakened condition, she was strongly tempted\nto doubt her acceptance with God. In her distress she mourned: \"I have\nlived too much at ease. How could I rest without daily and lively\ncommunion with God.\" But the clouds burst, and she was enabled to\nrejoice, and praise God for all his mercies to herself and family. She\nwas a saintly woman, active in her efforts for ameliorating the\ncondition of the poor in the city of Halifax, during her long\nresidence there. With her own hands she made garments for the needy,\nstimulated others in connection with the Female Benevolent Society, of\nwhich she was treasurer for several years, and by the sweetness and\nbeauty of her life, helped many in the paths of righteousness and\npeace. During the last year and a half of her life she gradually\ndeclined in health yet she murmured not, and when the end came on\nAugust 11th, 1827, as she was surrounded by husband, children,\ngrandchildren and friends, she bade them an affectionate farewell. The\nlast to receive her blessing was her faithful and pious black servant,\nbut her power of speech having gone, she raised her hands to heaven as\nan evidence of her faith and joy, and passed home at the age of\nseventy-three years. Thus lived and died one of the most beautiful\nspirits to be found on the pages of religious biography, gentle in\nmanners, firm in action, with a chaste reserve, a noble type of\nheroic womanhood.\n\nWith the passing of his beloved companion, William Black felt keenly\nthe vacancy in his home where ill-health kept him confined, and to\nensure comfort and relieve the tedium, he was induced to marry Martha,\nthe widow of Elisha Calkin of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, in the year\n1828. This marriage was highly congenial, as the lady was possessed of\nan amiable disposition, and she ministered to his needs and together\nthey enjoyed good fellowship, to his death, after which event, she\nreturned to Liverpool, where she resided till she died.\n\nThe father of William Black walked through all the years of a long\nlife in the ways of peace, and the son rejoiced that he had been\nhonored in leading him to Christ. For the greater part of his life he\nlived on his farm at Dorchester, New Brunswick, dying there in 1820,\nat the age of ninety-three years. He was held in much esteem in the\ncommunity being appointed in 1779, Judge of the Common Pleas, and in\nhis old age he retained so much of his vigor, that when he was\neighty-eight years old, he rode on horseback a distance of thirty\nmiles to visit some members of his family residing at Amherst.\n\n\"The world may not like our Methodists, but the world cannot deny that\nthey die well,\" wrote John Wesley, and this sentence has been\ntransformed into the well-known maxim, \"Our people die well.\" William\nBlack knew the art of dying well, as he always stood on the threshold\nof eternity, and there was no need in his closing days to make special\npreparation, for with heroic gladness he had fronted the foe, all\nthrough the strenuous years, and was ever ready to cross the bar. In\nthe autumn of 1834, the cholera was prevalent in Halifax, and he was\ndeeply concerned for the people, though he was suffering from dropsy,\nand his end was near. The Rev. Richard Knight who was stationed in\nHalifax, and had Matthew Richey as his colleague, was with him in his\nlast hours, and he gives an account of the closing scene. \"'I trust\nsir,' said I, 'You now feel that Saviour to be precious whom you have\nso long held forth to others.' He said, 'All is well. All is peace, no\nfear, no doubt, let Him do as He will, He knows what is best.' I\nreferred to his long and useful life. He said very impressively,\n'Leave all that, say no more. All is well.' We joined in prayer, and\nhis spirit was evidently very much engaged in the solemn exercise. On\nleaving the room I said, 'You will soon be in the glory of which you\nhave so often spoken in the course of your long ministry.' 'I shall\nsoon be there,' he said, 'where Christ is gone before me.' After which\nhe sank very fast, and spoke little, and that with considerable\ndifficulty. His last words were, 'Give my farewell blessing to your\nfamily, and to the society,' and 'God bless you. All is well.'\"\n\nPatient in life, he was triumphant in death, and though there was no\nexultant notes in his last testimony, his faith stood the supreme\ntest, as he drew near the borderland. He died on September 8th, 1834,\naged 74 years. The remains of Mary and William Black rest in the old\ngraveyard at Grafton Street Methodist Church, Halifax, and near the\nvestry door are their tombstones and those of their children. Within\nthe church there are marble tablets to the memory of these pioneers\nof the faith, who laid the foundations of Methodism in the maritime\nprovinces, and in the Methodist Church at Amherst, Nova Scotia, there\nis a memorial window to the founder of Methodism in these parts.\n\nThere is a larger and more abiding memorial of the heroic figure who\ntrudged over the country in quest of souls, and that lies in the\nsilent influence of his life, and the permanence of his work. He was a\ngreat revivalist of the enduring kind, whose exhortations were not\nplatitudes which spent themselves with the passing hour, but, being\nbased on the leading doctrines of the Bible, remained as a spiritual\nimpulse for the individual, and the church. In his History of the\nMethodist Church in Eastern British America, T. Watson Smith quotes a\ncharacteristic sketch of William Black and his wife.\n\n\"The personal appearance of 'Bishop' Black in his late years, says the\nHon. S. L. Shannon, who remembers him well, was very prepossessing. He\nwas of medium height, inclining to corpulency. In the street he always\nwore the well-known clerical hat; a black dress coat buttoned over a\ndouble-breasted vest, a white neckerchief, black small clothes and\nwell polished Hessian boots completed his attire. When he and his good\nlady, who was always dressed in the neatest Quaker costume, used to\ntake their airing in the summer with black Thomas, the bishop's well\nknown servant, for their charioteer, they were absolutely pictures\nworth looking at. In the pulpit the bishop's appearance was truly\napostolical. A round, rosy face, encircled with thin, white hair, a\nbenevolent smile, and a sweet voice were most attractive. Whenever my\nmind carries me back to those scenes, the vision of the apostle John\nin his old age addressing the church at Ephesus as his little\nchildren, comes up before me as I think of the good old man, the real\nfather of Methodism in Halifax.\"\n\nWhen William Black was converted and began his career as the pioneer\nMethodist preacher in the maritime provinces, in 1779, there was only\na small company in Cumberland, Nova Scotia, who reckoned themselves\nfollowers of John Wesley, but when he died in 1834, there were in\nthese Provinces and Newfoundland, 3 Districts, 44 circuits, about 50\nministers and local preachers, with more than 6000 members of the\nchurch. But the denomination has grown since then, until in the year\n1906, there are 3 Conferences, with 332 ministers, 194 local\npreachers, nearly 42,000 church members, 686 Sunday Schools with over\n45,000 scholars, 716 churches, and 219 parsonages valued at more than\ntwo and a half million dollars, and then add to these statistics, the\nvalue of the schools and colleges belonging to Methodism in the\nmaritime provinces and Newfoundland, amounting to 567,000 dollars, and\nwe may well say, \"What hath God wrought?\"\n\nLet us remember that when John Wesley died, there were only 287\nMethodist preachers in Great Britain and Ireland, and 511 in the whole\nworld, and we may well ponder the significance of the growth during\nthe last hundred years in the new country where William Black was the\nleader and pioneer. The movement which began with Black has run\nthrough a whole century without rest or failure, the stream of\nconversions has continued to flow, and the spiritual impulse has been\nmaintained, despite many changes in manners and modes of thought. The\nold tradition of Methodism being an aggressive force, embodied in the\napt phrase \"Christianity in earnest\" is still true, as it emphasizes\nthe great spiritual forces of religion, as distinguished from\nceremonial and even church organization, as the essentials of our\nfaith ever abide within. The message of the apostle of Methodism in\nthe Maritime Provinces was charged with great truths based upon\ndoctrine and experience, and the power which swayed the people under\nhis preaching, has remained as an abiding spiritual force. In Black's\nJournal we have a charming bit of autobiography, which reveals the\ninner life of a man who has become a historic figure, and yet he had\nno desire for fame. He was an evangelist first and last, begetting\ninfluences more abiding than the centuries, and if you would estimate\nhis worth, and measure the value of his work, look around. He lived in\na religious atmosphere of his own making with the help of God, he\nlearned the triumphant secret of religion, and he gave a noble\nchallenge to the world, in a heroic life for Christ. The pulse of his\nlife beats still in the twentieth century in the Maritime Provinces of\nthe Dominion.\n\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\nSpelling inconsistencies, such as labor/labour and harbor/harbour have\nbeen retained from the original book. Minor punctuation irregularities\nand the following typos have been corrected:\n\nPage 18: tim changed to time.\n\nPage 46: Britian changed to Britain.\n\nPage 46: Williiam changed to William.\n\nPage 46: desti- changed to destination.\n\nPage 49: tempereament changed to temperament.\n\nPage 49: aggresive changed to aggressive.\n\nPage 60: yeare changed to years.","title":"William Black: The Apostle of Methodism in the Maritime Provinces of Canada","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":16049}