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diff --git a/24693.txt b/24693.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b10169d --- /dev/null +++ b/24693.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2032 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of William Black, by John Maclean + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: William Black + The Apostle of Methodism in the Maritime Provinces of Canada + +Author: John Maclean + +Release Date: February 26, 2008 [EBook #24693] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM BLACK *** + + + + +Produced by Diane Monico and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: WILLIAM BLACK] + + + + +WILLIAM BLACK + +THE APOSTLE OF METHODISM IN THE +MARITIME PROVINCES OF CANADA. + +BY +JOHN MACLEAN, PH. D., + +Author of "Canadian Savage Folk," +"The Indians of Canada," +"The Making of a Christian," &c., &c. + +HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA: +THE METHODIST BOOK ROOM, +1907. + + + + +Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, +in the year one thousand nine hundred and seven, +by John Maclean, at the Department of Agriculture. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +While there are several sketches of the life and work of the subject +of this book, they are all based upon the "Memoirs of William Black" +by the Rev. Matthew Richey, D. D., which was published in Halifax, +Nova Scotia, in 1839. Some additional information is to be found in +Dr. T. Watson Smith's History of the Methodist Church of Eastern +British America. The former volume contains the interesting Journal of +the famous missionary, and is therefore of great value. As it has long +been out of print, and it is well-nigh impossible to secure an old +copy, and as there is no likelihood of it being republished, we have +deemed it commendable to publish the following pages. We have sought +to condense as far as possible, giving the chief facts in his life, +and to produce in popular form a volume which might be read with +profit, and within the reach of all. As a study of spiritual forces +and an appreciation, it might have been enlarged to considerable size, +and it has been difficult indeed to keep within the limits which we +had set for the volume, but that would have been to defeat our object, +of writing a small book, in which the salient features of his life and +work were seen, and at such a price that the poorest in the land might +secure a copy. + +We dare not forget the work of our fathers, and we must not permit the +memory of William Black to be lost in oblivion, for he builded better +than he knew, and we are heirs of his work and influence, and his +example is a stimulus to us all. In that spirit have these pages been +written, and we hope that they will help keep alive the memory of a +great and noble man, a pioneer and patriot, who gave his life for +Christ and his fellow man. + + JOHN MACLEAN. + +WESLEYAN OFFICE, + Halifax, Nova Scotia. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +_Chap._ _Page._ + + I. The Birth of a Movement 9 + + II. Making the Man 17 + +III. The Maritime Itinerant 24 + + IV. The Intrepid Pioneer 33 + + V. Black and Wesley 40 + + VI. Personal Characteristics 49 + +VII. Last Days and After 57 + + + + +_WILLIAM BLACK._ + +I. + +THE BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT. + + +Had Longfellow the poet extended his studies a few years later than +the time of the event which formed the subject of Evangeline, he would +have come in contact with another race of men, of different breed, +language and faith, than that of the Acadians, who were as brave as +any of those who sailed away from the valley of the Gaspereaux. For +almost coincident with the expulsion of these hardy folk from the +fertile fields of the Annapolis Valley, there came visitors from the +New England colonies, induced by offers of land, but these were +deterred from settlement on account of a fear lest freedom of +religious worship should not be accorded them. + +Brought up under the influence of the descendants of the Pilgrim +Fathers, they prized too highly their religious liberty to barter it +for lands or gold, and not until a second proclamation was issued, +granting liberty of conscience and worship to all Protestants, did +settlers come in large numbers. Five years after the Acadians were +expelled emigrants began to arrive in considerable numbers from New +England and from Great Britain and Ireland. This was the beginning of +a new era, in which the principles of the Protestant Reformation were +to be tested, upon soil consecrated by the faith and piety of the +Roman Catholic exiles, and an opportunity was found for the expression +of the new faith in the moulding of individual character. + +While the province was issuing invitations for new settlers and +wishing to grant concessions to sturdy and loyal folks, a great +awakening was taking place in England, the influence of which was +destined to become a strong factor in making a new race on the Western +Continent, and to mould in a great measure the social and religious +life of the people of Nova Scotia. A revival of spiritual life was in +progress under the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield, which was +quickening the consciences of the people, imparting high ideals and +renovating the social and political life of the nation. + +Methodism was doing greater things for the English speaking race than +Luther among the Germans, as it infused a spirit of joy and freedom +from ritual, with greater liberty of thought and action. It was an era +of great names beyond the pale of the national church. The passion for +souls became so intense in the hearts of many of the clergy that they +gladly espoused the hated name of "Methodist," while others no less +zealous stood aloof from the special movement because of its Arminian +doctrines. + +Whitefield, the prince of orators, stalked through the land +proclaiming salvation for sinners, and not content with conquests won +in the sea-girt isles, he needs must cross the ocean to tell the story +of the ages to wondering thousands. John Berridge, the witty yet +zealous vicar of Everton, itinerated through the country and in one +year saw not less that four thousand awakened. William Grimshaw, the +eccentric curate of Haworth, superintended two Methodist circuits +while attending to his own parish, and Vincent Perronet, vicar of +Shoreham, who was so trusted a counsellor that Charles Wesley called +him the Archbishop of Methodism, gave two sons to the Methodist +ministry, and besides being the author of the hymn, "All Hail the +power of Jesus Name," Wesley dedicated to him the "Plain Account of +the People called Methodists." + +The great revival brought into greater prominence Rowland Hill, the +eccentric preacher; Augustus Toplady, the author of the Hymn "Rock of +Ages;" Howell Harris, the famous Welsh orator, and the Countess of +Huntingdon. These and many others were brought into closer touch with +the great spiritual movement, at the period when Nova Scotia was +bidding for settlers, by the famous controversy on Calvinism, which +was full of spleen, and has shown us how good men may retain their +piety, and still say bitter and nasty things, and use gross epithets +in their zeal for religious doctrines. + +But Methodism, though treated as a sect composed of ignorant and +illiterate folks, was not lacking in men of culture and force. It had +discovered the secret of picking men from the streets and transforming +them into saints and scholars, and it was successful in its efforts. +It found Thomas Olivers, a drunken Welsh shoemaker, and led him on, +till he became known as a great force in the pulpit, and the author of +that majestic lyric, "The God of Abraham praise" and of the tune +"Helmsley," sung to the hymn, "Lo, He comes with clouds descending." +It laid hands upon Samuel Bradburn, the shoemaker, and developed his +gifts by the grace of God, until his discourses, rich in sublimity, +and pulsating with great thoughts, charmed multitudes, and his +eloquence was so irresistible that Adam Clarke, the famous scholar, +declared that he had never heard his equal, and could give no idea of +his powers as an orator. In its ranks at this period were to be found +able scholars as Joseph Benson, the commentator, Fletcher, the saintly +and acute theologian of the new movement, and Thomas Walsh, whom +Wesley called, "that blessed man," and of whom he said, that, he was +so thoroughly acquainted with the Bible that "if he were questioned +concerning any Hebrew word in the Old, or any Greek in the New +Testament, he would tell after a brief pause, not only how often the +one or the other occurred in the Bible, but what it meant in every +place. Such a master of Biblical knowledge he says he never saw +before, and never expected to see again." + +There were many others possessed of great gifts and culture, whose +hearts were set on fire with a passion for souls, and the revival +started spiritual forces which were felt far beyond the shores of +Great Britain. + +Wesley was drawing near to seventy years of age, and while travelling +incessantly, and preaching every day, he was engaged in the +publication of a collected edition of his works, in thirty-two +duodecimo volumes. The Calvinistic controversy was at its height, the +first anniversary of Trevecca College, the pet scheme of the Countess +of Huntingdon, had just been held, and Fletcher was writing his famous +"Checks to Antinomianism," yet, the founder of the Methodist movement +was looking for other worlds to conquer, by the preaching of the +Cross. + +Wesley's early associations with America as a missionary to Georgia, +naturally gave him an interest in the affairs of the western +continent, and Whitefield's frequent visits helped to deepen Wesley's +love for the people among whom he had spent the early years of his +ministry. Whitefield had crossed the ocean and visited America seven +times, and his visits were seasons of great power, when thousands were +converted, and when he suddenly died at Newburyport, there passed from +earth one of the greatest pulpit orators and evangelists in the +history of the Christian Church. His death was an invitation to +renewed efforts for the evangelization of America. The Countess of +Huntingdon and her ministers organized a missionary band, which +labored with much success in Savannah and the surrounding country, +especially among the African population. + +Methodism was neither silent nor powerless in sharing in the progress +of the Gospel, and striving to evangelize the new world. While the +great revival was stirring the heart of England, a small band of +German "Palatines" which Methodism had redeemed from demoralization in +Ireland, emigrated to New York, among whom was Philip Embury, and +these were followed by Barbara Heck and her friends, through whose +efforts Methodism found a secure place in America. The new movement +received an impetus from the preaching of Captain Webb, and a call for +preachers was sent to Wesley, with the result that Richard Boardman +and Joseph Pilmoor were sent. Later Francis Asbury, the faithful +preacher and administrator, followed, and Methodism became a church. +Meanwhile Lawrence Coughlan had found his way to Newfoundland, and +laid foundations upon which others built. + +Bermuda had been visited by Whitefield, and in the general awakening +it could not be expected that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and Prince +Edward Island would be forgotten. It was a period of emigration and +revival, and in the great commotion, the present Maritime Provinces of +Canada shared in the blessings of the new movement. + +During the period of emigration to Nova Scotia, four different parties +came from Yorkshire, England, the first arriving in 1772. It was +natural to expect, that coming from a district, memorable as the scene +of many visits from the Wesleys, a bit of land consecrated with the +tears and labors of John Nelson, the stalwart hero, and kept fresh +with the hallowed memories of the saintly Hester Ann Rogers, there +should be among the emigrants many who were loyal and devoted +Methodists. Yorkshire Methodism was of that strenuous type which must +give expression to its faith in hearty song, and lively preaching, and +these sturdy settlers were an acquisition to the province, which the +politicians were sufficiently alert to see, could not fail to supply +the elements of stability and growth. + +The majority of these people settled in the county of Cumberland, and +began life anew, with intense loyalty to the institutions, and high +ideals. The province had not fully recovered from the effect of the +spirit of disloyalty which culminated in the expulsion of the +Acadians, although there followed a period of peace, but despite the +efforts of the Government in making roads, and instituting public +works, the settlements were sparse, and the Indian was still in the +land. There was only one minister in the county, the Rev. John +Eagleson, who had been sent out in 1769 by the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel, while in the province there were a few +Anglican, Congregational, Presbyterian and one Baptist church, but +places for holding religious worship were few and far between, and the +first Methodists consequently began prayer meetings in their homes, +and through them souls were led to Christ. Whatever religious services +were held they attended, and thus kept alive the glowing embers of +their faith and zeal. + +An incipient rebellion, induced by the Revolutionary war, and +maintained by the sympathy of the colonists who had revolted in New +England, unsettled the minds of the people, and made it dangerous for +them to attend religious worship, and consequently the cause of +religion suffered, and many forsook the faith of their fathers. A few +still remained true, and amid many discouragements prayed for the dawn +of a new day. + +Without any propagandist effort, Methodism was spreading. +Spontaneously it had gone out over Great Britain and Ireland, and into +what is now the United States, to the West Indies, and Nova Scotia, +but the time was ripe for complete organization as a missionary +church. The time had come and with it the man in the person of Thomas +Coke. While Nova Scotia and the American colonies were suffering from +the Revolution, Wesley and Coke had met for the first time, and thus +began a union which made Methodism a great missionary organization. +The man for America had not yet come to the fullness of his power, +but Francis Asbury was reaching out and getting ready to become +essentially the founder of Methodism in the United States. The man for +Nova Scotia had not yet arrived, as he was only a stripling at his +father's home in Amherst, and was still a stranger to the grace of +God. + +The introduction of Methodism into Nova Scotia was not the +establishment of a sect or a party in dogmatic theology, but it was +the revival of spiritual Christianity, exempt from the trammels of +ecclesiasticism and the exclusiveness of dogmatism. As such it became +a strong and elevating factor in the social life of the people, +imparting lofty ideals, which were wrought out in moral strength, +making loyal citizens and men and women of power and gentleness. + +There was something lacking to secure unity and strength in the +scattered forces of the new movement. Prayer meetings and preaching +services were held, and souls were won to the faith, still there was +no organization and there could not be until a leader should come +forth, who would command by his genius and concentrated effort unity +of administration. + +Though not the original founder of Methodism in Eastern British +America, the man who in the providence of God was destined to unite +the scattered forces and to give birth to the new movement, and who, +by his intrepid spirit and enthusiastic and incessant labours as a +great evangelist, was to spread the doctrines which were so full of +power in the revival in England, throughout that portion of territory +now known as the Maritime Provinces, was William Black, a man of faith +and power, whose memory is revered by thousands, and whose descendants +still abide with us. + + + + +II. + +MAKING THE MAN. + + +William Black was well born. The time was auspicious. The date of his +birth is 1760, and with that date as a centre, despite the fact that +the tone of public morality was low, there are names belonging to the +period which suggest genius and influence. Edward Young had just +published his "Night Thoughts," Thomson, the poet and author of "The +Seasons," and Isaac Watts had just passed away, Lord Littleton had +written "The Conversion of St. Paul," Gray's "Elegy in a Country +Churchyard" was being eagerly read by the people, Blackstone's famous +"Commentaries on the Laws of England," had made a profound impression, +Johnson had completed his "Dictionary" and Oliver Goldsmith was +writing his immortal works. There were others who were in the heat of +the literary battle. This period saw the beginning of the modern novel +in the writings of Richardson, Fielding and Smollett, then too was +published Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations," Hume's "History of +England," and Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." The two +great literary frauds in our language were then given to the world in +Chatterton's "Poems," and Macpherson's "Ossian." It was the age of +Pitt and Burke, and Fox, of Horace Walpole and Chesterfield in English +politics, Benjamin Franklin was then a potent force in America, Butler +and Paley and Warburton, and Jonathan Edwards and Doddridge with many +other equally powerful names were moulding the theology of the age. + +Greater than any of these, however, were the Wesleys and Whitefield, +as they raised both sides of the Atlantic to new ideals, and stirred +the nation to a larger and deeper life. + +William Black came into the world at a time when great events were +being done, and though he was still young when he left the land of his +birth, the silent and unseen forces which work upon men's minds and +souls could not be without their influence upon him. + +He was born at Huddersfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, +an important market town, beautifully situated on a slope of a hill in +the valley of the Colne, fifteen miles distant from Bradford, and a +little over sixteen from Leeds. It was a place of considerable +antiquity, being mentioned in Domesday, but its chief importance dates +from the establishment of the woolen industry, being now the principal +seat of the fancy woolen trade in England. Kirlees Park, three miles +from the town, is popularly supposed to be the burial place of the +famous Robin Hood. + +When William Black was only five years old John Wesley preached to a +large congregation in the Rev. Henry Venn's Church in the town. This +man of God was a zealous Methodist Churchman, who made Huddersfield +the headquarters of extensive labors in all the neighboring region, +sympathizing with the great Methodist revival, accompanying Whitefield +on evangelistic tours, and for more than thirty years, he co-operated +with the Wesleys and other workers in many parts of England and Wales. +Though still retaining his connection with the Church of England, he +continued in labors abundant, preaching in private houses, barns and +in the open air, until old age. His son, the Rev. John Venn, became +the projector of the Church Missionary Society. Methodism was firmly +established in Huddersfield, and its influences were not unknown to +the Black family. In 1767, one fourth of the members of the Methodist +Church in the United Kingdom were in Yorkshire, and among the first +settlers who came to Nova Scotia were some who were identified with +that church, and had listened to Wesley and his preachers. + +William Black, the father of the future pioneer and evangelist, was +born in 1727, in Paisley, Scotland, a large manufacturing town noted +for its shawls, great preachers, and the birthplace of Tannahill, the +poet. He came of an independent family, as learned from the fact that +his father kept a pack of hounds, and spent his leisure in the chase. +When he attained his majority he became a traveller for a large +industry, which necessitated some journeys to England, and there he +met his future wife, and made his home in Huddersfield. The spell of +Scottish literature must have fallen upon the young man, for Robert +Burns, the poet, was then at the height of his fame, Alexander Wilson, +a native of Paisley, had not yet won his place as a poet, though he +too, emigrated to America, and became the pioneer and founder of +American Ornithology, but there were other writers whose impress must +have been felt by the Scotch youth. + +In Elizabeth Stocks he found a lady of refinement and wealth, and the +future missionary a good Christian mother. She had been converted at +sixteen years of age, and her influence upon the home, and especially +upon the lad was elevating, and destined to leave its mark upon the +future. The father, with Scotch shrewdness, made a visit to Nova +Scotia to spy out the land before removing his family from their +English home. The mother watched tenderly over all the members of the +family, but William, the second oldest, seemed to call for special +care, and her tears and prayers found full fruition in after years, +when she had passed to her reward. Frequently did she relate to her +son William the story of her conversion, and with tears besought him +to serve God. Alone she prayed with him, and pressed home upon his +conscience the necessity of being born again. Surely this child was +born well, and his future was not all of his own making. + +He must have been a precocious child, or else his religious +sensitiveness must have been induced by his mother's teaching, +influenced by the great doctrines of the Methodist revival. We are not +now accustomed to hear a child of six years of age, bewailing his lost +state in language suggestive of Bunyan's condition, when he was under +deep conviction of sin. He tells us that when he was five years old he +had some serious impressions, and God's Spirit began to operate upon +his mind, and when he was six, he often wished that he was a toad or a +serpent, because they had no soul, and were not in danger of being +lost forever. Again he says, that many times before he was ten years +old, he "would have overturned God's government and dethroned the +gracious Author of my being." He enumerates his early vices and lashes +his soul in despair. Such religious sentiments in one so young seem to +mark him as one who had in his soul the elements of a monk, and we +should not have been surprised had he become a zealous disciple of +Saint Francis of Assisi. + +Like John Wesley, whose escape from perishing in the burning of the +Epworth parsonage is noted as a remarkable providence, William Black +had a narrow escape from drowning in a large trough when a child, and +this circumstance made a lasting and favorable impression on his mind. +In his mature years he recalled the event with gratitude to God. + +Several years of his childhood were spent with his maternal uncle, Mr. +Thomas Stocks, at Otley, where he was placed at school. There he +remained until he was about thirteen years of age, when the +disciplinary rules of the school, and very likely a severe +castigation, so annoyed him, that he left his uncle's care and +returned to his father's home. His father was at that time making +preparations for his voyage to Nova Scotia, and deemed it prudent to +allow the lad to remain with his mother, though he had decided +objections to his apparent ingratitude and stubbornness, in leaving +the home of his uncle. Under the influence of his mother's teaching +and prayers, his religious impressions were deepened, but the jests of +his companions at school made him stifle his convictions, and continue +his career of youthful carelessness and sin. + +In April 1775, the whole family, consisting of the father and mother, +with four sons and one daughter, sailed from Hull, and after a +prosperous voyage arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they remained +a fortnight, proceeding afterward to Cumberland, which they reached in +June. A serious blow fell upon the family in their new home, by the +death of Mrs. Black, about a year after they had settled in the +province, she having been seriously injured when boarding the vessel +at Hull. Unfortunately for the lad of sixteen, so sadly bereft of his +good mother's care and influence, he was thrown among gay companions, +who in a new country gave free rein to their passions, in wild orgies +by day and night. His evenings were spent in dancing and playing +cards, yet amidst the frivolity he was unhappy, and he betook himself +to prayer, that he might be able to break the chain of evil habits. + +For three years this condition of affairs existed, and the spirit of +unrest increased, with discord in the family, but the dawn of a better +day was close at hand. There were several in the neighborhood who +enjoy the honor of being the first Methodists in Canada, among whom +were the families of Dixon, Wells, Trueman, Fawcett, Newton, Scurr, +Chapman, Oxley, Donkin, Dobson and Weldon, whose descendants, with +those of the Black family, remain with us till the present day. + +Through the zealous labors of these families in class meetings and +prayer meetings, there was a great revival in the spring of 1779, +which stirred the whole neighborhood. Among those who were awakened +and soundly converted, were all the members of the Black family. +William was then nineteen years of age, and shortly afterward he wrote +an account of his conversion to John Wesley, who introduced it in his +journal, under date of April 15th, 1782. + +The story of his spiritual struggles, his prayers for release from the +burden of sin, and the great joy he experienced when light came to his +soul, form a charming bit of biography. The change in his own life was +thorough, the home was transformed by the conversion of every member +of the family, and though he subsequently experienced doubts and +temptations, he gradually grew in grace, being confirmed in the faith, +until the Sabbath became a market-day in his soul. + +Like every new convert he became anxious for the spiritual welfare of +his fellow men, and first of all he became solicitous for the +salvation of those in his own home. His father having married again, +and all the members of the family being strangers to the joy of the +forgiveness of sins, his first care was for their salvation. On the +Sunday that he found peace, he spoke to his brothers one by one, +waking them from sleep, and they too, were led into the light. Then he +roused his father and stepmother, and they besought him to pray for +them, and peace came to their souls. And the climax was reached, when +next day his sister found the Lord. Thus the whole family through his +exhortations and prayers, became earnest followers of Christ. Along +with the joy of seeing all at home possessors of the joy of +forgiveness, he set up the family altar, and then became anxious for +the souls of his neighbors. As he passed them on the road he lifted +his heart in prayer for their conversion, in company, he seized the +opportunity of denouncing sin, much to the annoyance of some, but +ultimately with spiritual profit. His early efforts at winning souls +were so richly blessed, that he seized every opportunity of speaking +of the good things of Christ. + +In the summer of 1780, at a Quarterly Meeting held at Mr. Trueman's, +he received so great a blessing that he wept, and the same evening at +Fort Lawrence he made his first attempt at exhortation. From that hour +he exhorted or prayed at every meeting, and though his knees trembled +with fear, his tongue was loosened, and he spoke with much liberty. +During the following winter he was invited to Tantramar to hold +meetings, and had great joy in seeing many led to Christ. Assisted by +some of the old class leaders and local preachers, he travelled over +the country, exhorting as often as his duties on the farm would +permit. + +His first attempt at preaching from a text was in the spring of 1781, +when he visited a settlement on the Petitcodiac River, and the word +was with power. With so many tokens of the divine favor, it was +evident that he was a marked man, and though not quite twenty-one +years of age, and without any special training, he was being literally +thrust out, and seemed destined to be the man who should lead the +forces, and lay the foundations of Methodism, far beyond the limits of +his own neighborhood. The man possessed of gifts and grace, in whom +the people had confidence, and who was singularly blessed in winning +souls had come, and the stripling on the farm was called to leave the +plough and go forth, to proclaim the great truths of the Gospel of +Christ. He was truly a chosen vessel, and fitted for a great work. + + + + +III. + +THE MARITIME ITINERANT. + + +The population of Nova Scotia in 1781 numbered twelve thousand, of +whom there were about one hundred Acadian families, and exclusive of +Cape Breton, three hundred warriors of the Micmac, and one hundred and +forty of the Malicete tribes of Indians. Places of worship were few +and widely scattered over a large extent of country, and so destitute +were the people of religious privileges that many of them seldom heard +a sermon, and as some of these people had been brought up in the +bonds of the faith, they naturally felt very keenly their condition. + +These facts could not fail to impress very deeply such a sensitive +soul, rejoicing in his first love, and possessed of a burning passion +for the salvation of men, whose lips had been touched with holy fire. +When his labors had been so richly blessed in the conversion of many +souls, while preaching in the time spared from his labor on the farm, +his mind was led toward a complete consecration to the work of a +Christian minister, and when he had arrived at the age of twenty-one +years, he dedicated himself wholly to the cause of Christ, as the +first Methodist missionary in the Maritime Provinces. Without any +college training, or the help of any minister or church institution, +he left his father's home on November 10th, 1781, and commenced a +career of undaunted energy, and boundless influence, laying +foundations for others, and becoming essentially the founder of +Methodism in Eastern British America. + +During the eight years of his life from 1781 to 1789, he passed from +the position of a raw youth, entering alone amid great difficulties +upon the work of a pioneer evangelist, to that of Superintendent of +the Methodist Church in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward +Island, and Newfoundland. With the zeal of an apostle he entered upon +a career of usefulness, which for courage and incessant travelling and +preaching, place him side by side with John Wesley and Francis Asbury. +Here and there, all over the province he went proclaiming the message +of salvation, preaching every day, and sometimes more frequently, as +we learn of him preaching eighteen times in eight days, and upon +another journey which occupied eighteen days, he preached twenty-four +times. + +He travelled on snow-shoes in the winter, and by boat or on horseback +in the summer, and when these failed, he journeyed by log canoe, or +walked over the bad roads. Once he walked forty five miles that he +might spend the Sabbath with the people in Windsor. Sometimes he was +in dangers by the sea, and glad after a hard day's work in the winter +to have a little straw to lie upon, and a thin cover to shelter him +from the cold. Like the early preachers he was often compelled to +suffer opposition, rough fellows disturbing the services by shouting +and seeking to break up the meeting, and some who were possessed of +education demanding his authority for preaching the gospel, but to +them all, he was patient, and some of his revilers were soundly +converted, and learned to revere him as a man of God. + +As a preacher he was eminently successful in awakening the people from +a state of spiritual torpor, and winning many souls for Christ. In +nearly every service there were conversions, and deep manifestations +of the presence and power of God. When he preached at Memramcook, +"some were deeply affected;" at French village, he left the people in +tears, and the truth had a softening power upon the hearts of the +people; and when he was leaving them, "weeping was upon every hand," +and they pressed him so hard, that he remained another day, when many +were deeply affected, and he left them in tears. On the same day and +the one following, he was at Hillsborough, when "it was a moving time, +many were in great distress, as appeared from their heaving breasts +and weeping eyes;" at Tantramar, "many were remarkably happy," and one +little girl of seven or eight years of age, "got up on a form, and +told in a wonderful manner, what Jesus had done for her soul," and in +this journey of eight days he preached eighteen times, and excepting +two meetings, he says, "I know not a single occasion in which it was +not evident that many who heard the Word were melted into tears, if +they did not cry aloud for mercy." + +All through his journal, there are evidences that he was a preacher of +great power, eminent in the conversion of the people, for the pages +abound with references to the services as "a time of power," where +"many were in sore distress" as they hung around him, "eager to catch +every word," and "weeping was on every hand," as they besought him to +remain longer with them. When preaching one evening a young man +trembled exceedingly, and cried out in agony of soul, and about +bed-time, the preacher heard him praying and crying in the barn. On +one of his missionary tours there were so great manifestations of +power, that at Horton many cried for mercy, and others rejoiced and +shouted aloud; at Cornwallis the arrows of conviction were felt by +some "as they had never felt them before, and wept aloud most of the +time;" and at Falmouth, "many felt the power of the word," and +rejoiced exceedingly. + +There were many notable conversions under his preaching. At +Petitcodiac a lady whose sons had been converted looked upon him as a +deceiver and opposed his work. "She wrung her hands in great distress, +and cried 'O that Black! that Black! he has ruined my sons! He has +ruined my sons!'" But she too found peace to her soul, after some days +of deep conviction. At Horton a lady who had opposed the work of +grace, was laid upon a bed of affliction, and she became so greatly +agitated that for three weeks she could hardly sleep, but when William +Black was praying with her, she burst forth into transports of joy in +finding Christ precious to her soul, shouting, "the Lord has delivered +me! O I am happy! I am happy!" All through the pages of his journal +there abound remarkable accounts of striking conversions, and of +people being stricken down by the power of God. + +Churches were organized at the places he visited, nearly eighty +persons being enrolled during one visit to Hillsborough and +Petitcodiac. There wore notable revivals at Windsor, Cornwallis, +Granville, Horton, Liverpool and other places. The most difficult part +of his extensive field was at Halifax, where wickedness abounded, and +the opposition was so great that at one time, when he was on his way +to the city, his friends tried to persuade him to delay his visit, as +they feared the press gang, but he went boldly forward, and preached +with power. + +During his labours he was not forgetful of the needs of the coloured +people, who flocked to hear him preach, and many of them were soundly +converted. In 1784, he preached to about two hundred of them at +Birchtown, and during the year upwards of sixty of them found peace +with God. Of two hundred members at Shelburne and Birchtown, there +were only twenty white people, and at Birchtown alone, there were +fourteen classes in a prosperous condition. At Digby in the following +year, there were sixty-six coloured people members of our church. + +A study of the topics and texts of his sermons shows that he preached +the old doctrines, from familiar texts, easy to be grasped by the +people, and he laid special emphasis always upon sin, the need of +regeneration, and repentance and faith, and as he pressed home these +great truths upon the souls of his hearers, there was seldom a service +at which conversions did not take place. Like many other faithful +ministers, he was often compelled to mourn on account of the +backsliding of the people. These were seasons of depression, when he +became subject to severe temptation, and mourned the leanness of his +own soul. The beginning of every year however, was a time of +refreshing, as he regularly and solemnly made the renewal of his +covenant with God. + +Despite the fact that the whole province of Nova Scotia and part of +New Brunswick lay before him as a wide field of enterprise, he yearned +after larger conquests, and therefore in 1784, at the earnest and +repeated request of Benjamin Chappel, he paid a visit to Prince Edward +Island. + +He spent about a fortnight there, preaching in Charlottetown and St. +Peters, with small tokens of success, and returned mourning the +spiritual condition of the people. + +After much thought and prayer, he was married on Feb. 17, 1784, to +Miss Mary Gay, of Cumberland, an estimable woman, who had been led to +Christ about two years previously under his preaching. She was +possessed of gifts and grace as her letters testify, and was eminently +qualified for the high duties of a minister's wife. + +So extensive was the territory and so great the spiritual needs of the +people that the young missionary of twenty three years of age, with a +burning passion for souls, wrote to John Wesley in 1783, earnestly +requesting him to send missionaries to Nova Scotia, who replied that +he had hopes of sending assistance a few months later when Conference +met. There being no missionaries, however, sent from Great Britain, he +naturally looked towards the United States for help, and a few months +after his marriage, he started for Baltimore where the Conference was +to be held under the superintendence of Dr. Coke. He travelled by way +of Boston and preached twice in the city, when under the first sermon +one person was converted, and at the second service several were +deeply convinced of sin. As he passed through New York he preached in +the Methodist Church, and after the services visited a dying woman, +whom he found in great distress about her spiritual condition, and he +had the great joy of leading her to Christ, as she died next day, +shouting, "Glory! Glory be to thy blessed name!" On his journey he +preached at every opportunity and always with blessed results, and +before the Conference assembled in Baltimore on December 24, 1784, he +gave Dr. Coke a detailed account of the state of the work in Nova +Scotia, and the Conference appointed Freeborn Garretson, and James O. +Cromwell to labor in that field. Both of these ministers hastened at +once to that province, but William Black spent some time in the United +States preaching here and there, and called for his wife who was +visiting her friends in Massachusetts, she having been born in Boston, +and with the tedious travel he did not reach Halifax till the end of +May. As he was returning homeward, he and his wife spent over three +months in Boston, where he had the honor of laying the foundations of +Methodism in that city, "the first Methodist preacher who appeared in +New England after the visit of Charles Wesley," says Dr. Abel Stevens. +He preached in several of the churches, removing from one to another, +as the edifice became too small to accommodate the crowds who flocked +to hear the young minister from Canada, until the largest church was +filled to overflowing with three thousand people. A gracious revival +followed this visit, and as there was no Methodist organization, the +converts united with other denominations. After a period of thirty +years, he preached again in the city in 1822, and many hung around the +pulpit, glad to listen to the man who had led them to Christ in 1785. +Six years before Jesse Lee preached under the old elm on Boston +Common, William Black declared the old doctrines of Methodism, and +witnessed many conversions. + +With the arrival of Freeborn Garretson the work of organization was +begun, as he was a leader, a man of zeal and piety, "of cordial spirit +and amiable simplicity of manners, but a hero at heart," says Abel +Stevens, the Methodist historian. He was a gentleman of wealth and +character, who as a preacher in the United States, had been stoned, +imprisoned, and his life imperilled by angry mobs with firearms, but +he was dauntless in his labors for Christ. Under his preaching there +were extensive revivals in the province, societies were formed and +churches built. There were now five missionaries at work, Freeborn +Garretson who acted as Superintendent, and made his home at Shelburne, +James Oliver Cromwell at Windsor, William Black at Halifax, William +Grandine, a young man who had formerly been a Methodist in the Jersey +Islands, and who had just begun to preach was at Cumberland, and John +Mann who came from the United States, was stationed at Barrington. + +At the first District Meeting of Nova Scotia, which was held in +Halifax, commencing October 10th, 1786, and lasted four days, William +Black and Freeborn Garretson were appointed to the Halifax circuit, +which embraced Halifax, Annapolis, Granville, Digby, Horton and +Windsor, a field sufficient to tax the powers of a dozen strong men, +but these were heroes in the brave days of old. Before the next +District Meeting Garretson and Cromwell had returned to the United +States, and their places were filled by William Jessop and Hickson. +With the departure of Garretson there was lost to the province a man +who was eminently fitted to lead the forces and unite them, and +William Black mourned greatly that he was bereft of a friend, and a +gentleman of ability and grace. + + + + +IV. + +THE INTREPID PIONEER. + + +The mantle of Garretson fell upon Black and he was again compelled to +lead the forces, and take the initiative in opening up new places and +preaching at every opportunity. Aroused by the sad spiritual condition +of the people, he spared not himself in excessive labors, and so +successful were his efforts for the conversion of souls, that John +Wesley became more concerned than ever, in the affairs in the Maritime +Provinces and Newfoundland. Dr. Coke who constituted in his own person +the Methodist Missionary Society, was commissioned by Wesley to visit +Nova Scotia, and he embarked on September 24th, 1786, with three +missionaries for Nova Scotia, but a dangerous storm which cast the +vessel on the ocean for nearly two and a half months, compelled them +to land at Antigua, in the West Indies, and Black was left without the +promised help, as the missionaries remained there, and a new era of +successful missions was begun. His field was large enough surely, for +Wesley had said in a letter to him dated London, Oct. 15, 1784, "Your +present parish is wide enough, namely Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. I +do not advise you to go any further." During the year 1786, there was +a great revival in Liverpool under John Mann, a church had been +erected in Halifax in which William Black preached for the first time +on Easter Sunday, and at Barrington and Horton, there were several +notable conversions, still through lack of missionaries, there could +not be given any assistance to Cumberland, Annapolis, Digby, and the +whole Province of New Brunswick. He was however greatly encouraged by +a visit to Liverpool where the revival was in progress, and by good +news from River Philip, where his eldest brother John had settled as a +farmer, and who had begun to exercise his gifts as a local preacher, +and with so great success, that at one meeting, ten persons rejoiced +in having found Christ. + +At the second District meeting held on October 15th, 1787, in Halifax, +there were present, William Black, William Grandine, William Jessop, +and the two brothers, John and James Mann, who had come from the +United States to labor as missionaries in Nova Scotia. After the third +District Meeting which was held in the May following, William Black +spent about a month visiting Shelburne, Barrington, Cape Negro, Port +La Tour and Port Medway, and when he returned to Halifax, he was +greatly encouraged by the good work which had gone on under James +Mann's labors during his absence. Meanwhile, the Rev. James Wray had +been sent out from England with a general charge to superintend the +work, as William Black and the other missionaries had not been +ordained, and could not therefore dispense the sacraments, but the +relations between Wray and Black became somewhat strained, and +threatened seriously to interfere with the advance of the Kingdom of +God. With good judgment and much patience William Black laid the whole +matter before John Wesley, but without his counsel the breach was +healed, and they labored again in harmony. James Wray felt that the +duties of superintending the work in the Province were too onerous +for him, and he requested to be relieved of the position, and Dr. Coke +appointed William Black, Superintendent of the Methodist Church in the +Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland, James Wray removing to the West +Indies, where he died in 1790. + +The growth of Methodism was somewhat retarded by the fact that William +Black had not been ordained, and consequently could not dispense the +sacraments, and it was felt that his influence would greatly extend +were he to assume all the responsibilities of a Christian minister. An +opportunity was afforded him of being ordained, by the presence of Dr. +Coke at the Conference held in Philadelphia in 1789, and accompanied +by John and James Mann, who went for the same purpose, he attended the +Conference, and on May 19th he was ordained a Deacon, and on the +following day, an Elder. During a month spent in that city, he lost no +opportunity of seeking to do good, and was cheered by learning of some +being blest, among whom was a lady who had been converted under a +sermon preached there by him, during his previous visit in 1784. + +In a report sent to John Wesley during the year, there are shown +gratifying results of the labors of the missionaries in Nova Scotia, +as the church in Halifax had grown in numbers and spirituality, and +throughout the Province there were about five hundred members, and +with pardonable pride and joy, William Black remarks, how greatly he +was comforted, as the church had grown in two years, "eight times +larger, and eight times more serious and spiritual." The care of the +churches pressed so heavily upon his soul, and there was so great +need of additional missionaries to meet the growing demands of the +wide field, that William Black hastened to Philadelphia to consult Dr. +Coke, and had the pleasure of attending the Conference held in that +city commencing on May 17th, 1791, at which the venerable Bishop +Asbury presided. The following week, he attended the New York +Conference, when six missionaries were appointed to labor in Nova +Scotia. About three weeks after his return home, he went on a visit to +Newfoundland, which was marked by a gracious revival, and the cause of +Methodism in the ancient colony was saved. + +The story of Methodism in Newfoundland, reads like a bit of romance. +The first missionary Lawrence Coughlan went there in 1765, and +remained seven years, amid great persecutions, being prosecuted in the +highest court, an attempt made to poison him, yet not only was he able +to rejoice in many conversions, but his enemies were silenced, as the +Governor acquitted him, and made him a justice of the peace. His +health failed, and he was compelled to return to England. His +ministrations in Newfoundland however led to the founding of Methodism +in the Channel Islands, as Pierre Le Sueur, a native of Jersey, during +a visit to Newfoundland was deeply convinced of sin under a sermon +which Coughlan preached, and when he returned to his home, spoke of +the knowledge which he had received, but his friends thought him mad. +When John Fentin, a recent convert, returned from Newfoundland to +Jersey, Le Sueur and his wife found peace to their souls through +Fentin's instructions and prayers, and a great revival commenced, +which swept through the islands, and laid the foundations of religion, +which have continued till the present time. After Coughlan's +departure, John McGeary was sent to fill the vacancy but all that was +left of the good work were a few women, and he suffered so many +hardships and witnessed so little fruit of his labors that he became +so despondent, as to entertain serious thoughts of abandoning the +field. William Black arrived in St. John's on August 10th 1791, and +spent one day in the city, during which he waited upon the +Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Mr. Jones, who was a man of catholic +spirit, and whose spiritual life was deep and genuine. The next day he +went to Carbonear, where John McGeary was stationed, whom he found +"weeping before the Lord over my lonely situation and the darkness of +the people," and when he began to preach, a great revival followed, +and Methodism in the colony was saved from disaster. + +The power of God fell upon the people at the very first service, and +many were deeply convinced of sin at every meeting. At Carbonear the +people cried aloud for mercy, so that he had to stop preaching, and +betook himself to prayer, when the sound of his voice was nearly +drowned by the people weeping, and he came down from the pulpit and +passed up and down through the church, exhorting and directing them, +as many as three and four persons being in an agony of spirit in every +pew. Even after the service closed, the cries and groans of anxious +persons could be heard at a considerable distance up and down the +harbour. At Harbor Grace, Port a Grave, Bay Roberts and other places, +similar scenes were witnessed, of deep conviction for sin, and many +rejoicing in the knowledge of sins forgiven. At Conception Bay during +a short time spent there, two hundred souls were converted, but that +was not all, for throughout the colony, William Black marched in +triumph, and saw very many souls won for Christ. It is no wonder that +he considered this visit to Newfoundland, as "the most useful and +interesting portion of his missionary life." The Rev. Richard Knight, +who spent seventeen years in the colony says, that he "organized +Methodism, settled the mission property, and secured it to the +Connexion, increased and inspirited the society, and obtained for them +the help they needed." Such a messenger could not fail to leave a deep +and abiding impression upon the hearts of the people, and his +departure was pathetic, as he stood for nearly an hour shaking hands +with them, and at last as he tore himself away, he says, that he "left +them weeping as for an only son." He secured fresh laborers from +Wesley to carry on the work, and Methodism in Newfoundland was +established upon a firm basis, and has continued vigorous till the +present day. + +Upon his arrival in Halifax he found that the gentleman who owned the +church property in the city, had severed his connection with the +society, and become a bitter opponent, but William Black though sorely +tried, was in no wise daunted, and immediately he started a +subscription list, and secured prompt and efficient help, so as to +proceed with the building of a new church. One hundred pounds were +raised in one day, and the society took fresh courage, and grew in +numbers and strength. Having set matters in order in the city he +visited Horton, Granville, Annapolis and Digby on his way to St. +John, New Brunswick, where Abraham John Bishop was stationed, who +arrived there in September 1791, and a week later organized the first +class meeting in the city. Previous to that time several Methodist +ministers had visited the then growing town, through the earnest +solicitations of Stephen Humbert, a United Empire Loyalist, who landed +there on May 18th, 1783. He was a New Jersey Methodist and desirous of +having a society formed there. William Black arrived in November, +1791, and at once began to preach, but having seen some shipbuilders +at work on the Sabbath, he denounced their action in a sermon on the +same evening. A provincial statute existed forbidding anyone from +exercising the functions of the ministry without a license from the +Governor, and this was used to silence the courageous preacher. +Undeterred by this opposition, and hindered from preaching, he spent +his time visiting from house to house with blessed results. Three +months later he visited St. John with permission to preach, and found +a gracious revival in progress, then going to Fredericton he met a +class of twenty-two, most of whom were soldiers, and during the few +days spent there several conversions took place. On his return journey +he visited St. Stephens, where Duncan McColl was the missionary, and +he rejoiced in the evidences of growth, under the faithful labours of +that devoted man of God, and this notable tour, closed with a farewell +service in May to Abraham John Bishop. It was a touching scene, the +people being much distressed at losing the young missionary, and well +might they grieve, for after one year spent in Sheffield, he went to +the West Indies to labor among the colored people and died at Grenada +the following year. And thus passed away one who was esteemed as an +eminently holy man, and William Black was bathed in tears. + + + + +V. + +BLACK AND WESLEY. + + +A memorable year for Methodism and William Black was 1791, as on the +second day of March of that year John Wesley passed away at City Road, +London, surrounded by preachers and friends. Eight years before the +young minister in Nova Scotia wrote to the aged man of God entreating +him to send out Missionaries, and also expressing his desire to spend +a year or two at Kingswood School, and the correspondence then begun +was continued until death. With the familiarity of an old man toward a +youth, William Black poured out his heart in his letters to his +venerable leader, who in turn gave him counsel in his difficulties, +sent him books, and treated him as a son, closing his letters with "My +Dear Billy." There would be a place for him in Kingswood School, but +he was not urged to attend, as Wesley laid greater stress on piety +than learning, and Nova Scotia could not well spare, not even for a +year or two, such a brave and intrepid soul as William Black. + +It was natural that the intercourse should exert a strong and abiding +influence upon the mind and heart of the missionary, who sent reports +of his work, sought advice amid the difficulties which confronted +him, and spoke of his spiritual yearnings with the familiarity of a +little child with its parent. John Wesley became the model upon which +William Black formed his habits and character, and he succeeded well, +in a country with greater privations and more difficulties in +travelling than in old England. Like the great itinerant, he rose +early in all seasons, preached every day, as often as time and +distance allowed, kept a journal in which were recorded the notable +events that happened in his work, or person, and as he rode over the +rough roads, the broad sky became his study where he read many volumes +every year. These were not done through any servile imitation, but +because of an admiration and unconscious hero worship which compelled +him to follow where he admired. Wesley was to William Black a saint, +an ecclesiastical statesman, an acute and learned theologian, a great +winner of souls, and above all a personal friend, and when he died his +loss was greater than he cared to express. + +With the passing of the Founder of Methodism, there were grave fears +of disagreement among the preachers throughout the Connexion, and +William Black shared in the general feeling, but Dr. Coke gave him +peace, in his account of the harmony of the Conference following +Wesley's death. + +At the Conference held in Baltimore in November of the following year, +several preachers were secured for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and +William Black who had gone to the Conference, for the purpose of +meeting Dr. Coke, was induced at the doctor's request to take charge +of the missions in the West India Islands, in succession to Mr. +Harper, who was elected Presiding Elder of Nova Scotia, New +Brunswick, and Newfoundland. Leaving his family behind, William Black +accompanied Dr. Coke to the West Indies, visiting the islands, where +they found wickedness and bigotry so rampant that one of the Methodist +missionaries was in prison for preaching before he had resided there +twelve months, and in some other places the society had dwindled on +account of terrible persecution. + +The climate of the West Indies was so severe upon his nervous system +that William Black had serious doubts as to his duty in remaining in +the tropical clime, however he was induced by Dr. Coke to become +Presiding Elder of the Leeward Islands and to reside at St. Kitts. +After visiting the sphere of his labors and meeting the ministers at +the Conference at Antigua, of whom there were thirteen present, he +returned to Nova Scotia for his family. During this visit to the +Province he found that the cause at Liverpool was in such a prosperous +state, that there was great need of a place of worship, and with his +accustomed zeal and determination, he started a subscription list and +in a few days secured three hundred pounds. His return to the West +Indies with his family was signalized by strenuous efforts for the +salvation of the people, but his stay was destined to be short, as Dr. +Coke became convinced that owing to changes in the Islands, and the +importance of the work in Nova Scotia, it was necessary for William +Black to take charge of his old field. Accordingly he was recalled +after spending one year as Presiding Elder in the West Indies, and +singular to relate, upon the day that Dr. Coke wrote his instructions +for removal, the ministers were assembled in District Meeting at +Windsor, and they passed a resolution asking that William Black be +allowed to assume his position as General Superintendent of the +Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland. + +No sooner did he arrive and was reinstated among his brethren, than he +threw himself with increased vigor into the work of consolidating and +extending the congregations. Prince Edward Island was visited, where a +cordial reception was granted him at Charlottetown, large +congregations being present when he preached. At Tryon there had been +a gracious revival two years previous under the ministry of William +Grandine, the results of which were still apparent, the nucleus of a +congregation had been formed at Charlottetown by a class led by Joshua +Newton, Collector on the Island, which met at the house of Benjamin +Chappel, and when William Black waited upon the Governor, Colonel +Fanning, to thank him for the use of the Church, he spent an agreeable +hour, conversing freely on the advantages of religion to individuals, +and society in general, and the Governor closed the interview by +expressing his friendship, with a promise of assistance in building a +Methodist Church. Methodism had grown in the provinces during the +years since it was established, so that in 1794, there were eleven +hundred accredited members, not including the number of adherents who +had not united with the church. + +The journal in which William Black recorded his personal experiences, +and gave a faithful account, though brief, of the extraordinary events +which happened in his travels, the notable conversions, revival +services and progress of the kingdom of God closes with the year 1794. +Limited as it is in the range of its subjects, it was characteristic +of the man whose sole aim was the conversion of sinners and the +upbuilding of the saints. He was too busy to continue the record, and +though there were many things coming under the range of his +observation worthy of preservation, he was too modest to think of +writing his reflections with any view to publication. + +The year 1800 was spent in England, where he attended the British +Wesleyan Conference which met in London, and during his visit he made +a deep and lasting impression upon the hearts of many, by his zeal and +modesty. He was welcomed as the founder of Methodism in British North +America, and had the opportunity of meeting some of the leaders of +British Methodism, especially Jabez Bunting, with whom he had several +interesting and profitable conversations, and who remained till death +one of his most devoted friends. In one of his letters to him while he +was attending the Conference, Bunting wrote, "My letter will, at +least, be accepted as an expression of that warmth of Christian +affection and esteem which I shall ever feel toward you. Unworthy as I +am of your friendship, I trust that a blessed eternity will confirm +and perfect the attachment which my present short acquaintance with +you has inspired and that, however separated on earth, we shall +together spend an everlasting existence." Two years later in another +letter he says, "I often recollect with pleasure the agreeable and +profitable moments we spent together at Oldham and Manchester, during +your last visit to England, and am thankful to God that ever I knew +you on earth, because I am persuaded that through his abundant mercy +in Christ Jesus, I shall hereafter know you in heaven, and there be +permitted to resume and perfect that intercourse and acquaintance, +which here were so transient, and so speedily suspended by separation. +In the General Assembly, and Church of the First-born, I hope to meet +my honoured friend again, and to mingle with his, and with those of +ten thousand times ten thousand others, my everlasting Hosannas to the +Lamb that was slain. Even so, Lord Jesus! I was pleased and thankful +sometime ago in a Love-feast at Saddleworth, to hear the testimony of +one, who was awakened under a sermon you preached at Delph, from +'Behold I stand at the door, &c.,' on the Sunday you spent there with +me in April 1800. I mention this to show you, that you have some seals +of your ministry in these parts of the world, and that your labours of +love among us were not in vain in the Lord." + +The kindness shown toward William Black during his visit to England, +and the fact that he was born there, naturally induced him to +entertain the idea of taking a circuit and spending his remaining +years in the old land, but Dr. Coke was strongly averse to him leaving +Nova Scotia where so great success had attended his labours, and his +influence was unbounded. Feeling that he could not very well leave the +care of the churches to others, without some provision being made for +superintending them in the event of his going to live in England, he +drew up a scheme of handing them over to the Methodist Episcopal +Church in the United States, and wrote to Bishop Asbury on the matter. +There were however political difficulties in the way, and being unable +to make satisfactory provision for supplying the churches with +ministers, and the danger of disaffection in the event of a war +between Great Britain and the United States, he decided to remain in +Nova Scotia and continue his active duties. Possessed of +administrative abilities of a high order, added to the skill and zeal +of an evangelist, he was a man of mark, who could not be left in +charge of a single circuit, but must have a wider field. Consequently +at the Conference held in Philadelphia in 1804, Dr. Coke requested him +to take a station in Bermuda for three or four years, and in order to +conciliate the members of the church in Halifax by the temporary +removal of their pastor, the Doctor wrote them a letter, in which he +said, "Mr. Black has been your apostle for above twenty years, and it +is now high time that he should be an apostle elsewhere. I have no +doubt that he will have a society of six hundred, or perhaps one +thousand members in Bermuda in four years. He may then, if he please, +return to superintend the work in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but +it will depend upon his own choice whether he return to you, or to +England, or remain at Bermuda." William Black consented to go, and +went to New York, where he engaged his passage, but was prevented from +reaching his destination by some persons from Bermuda who were opposed +to Methodism, and were going by the same vessel, and used their +influence so that the passage was cancelled. Two years later the +British Wesleyan Missionary Committee requested him to become +Superintendent of Missions in the West Indies, and Dr. Coke renewed +his request that he assume charge in Bermuda, but he declined the +appointment to the West Indies on the account of the severity of the +tropical climate, though he was willing to go to Bermuda. The Nova +Scotia District Meeting however intervened, and petitioned the British +Conference that he might be allowed to remain Superintendent of +Missions in the Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland, and there the +matter ended. + +Meanwhile the arduous duties of visiting the churches and preaching +continued with much success, several new churches being built and +numerous conversions, among whom was Colonel Bayard who commanded one +of the British regiments at Halifax during the war, and afterwards +settled about 30 miles from Annapolis. He had been strongly opposed to +Methodism, but was led by William Black to a personal trust in Christ, +and lived such a holy life that he became known as the John Fletcher +of Nova Scotia. In the midst of a great revival which swept St. John, +and through the District from Barrington to Liverpool, there came +opposition from some preachers from Scotland, who spurned the idea of +conversion, however success followed the faithful preaching of William +Black and his fellow workers and many souls were led to Christ. In +1809 he was stationed in St. John, New Brunswick, where he spent two +years, but his active ministry was drawing to a close. + +The privations and incessant labors began to tell upon a strong +constitution, so that in 1812 he was compelled to become a +supernumerary, though not desisting altogether from rendering whatever +service his health would permit in extending the cause that lay so +near his heart. Along with the Rev. William Bennett he was delegated +by the British Conference to attend the Conference in the United +States, and lay before the members the question of Canadian Methodism +retaining its allegiance with the British Conference, a task which was +faithfully performed, though of a very delicate character. + +Increasing infirmities kept him in retirement, though he managed in +the spring of 1820 to pay a visit to the United States, where he +preached before Congress, and the passion for souls was still burning +in his soul, for the text of the sermon was, "What is a man profited, +if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Brave and ever +resolute, he maintained his interest in the progress of the churches +which he founded, and it was with a pathos born of love to his +brethren, and the consciousness that his active work was done, that he +wrote to the ministers at the District Meeting held in St. John in +1823, that he was unable to attend, and sent them his blessing. + +This man of daring had a definite religious experience and all his +preaching was with the individual in view, his sphere of labours was +not large in extent of territory, but he widened it by incessant +travel, without any show of rhetoric he won his way to men's hearts +and that is eloquence, and he lived to move Eastern British America by +translating his message in words imperishable, and lay foundations +upon which others have built. He was no common man, but an +empire-builder in the brave days of old. + + + + +VI. + +PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. + + +A man above medium height, stout in body and well built, clad in the +fashion of the Methodist preachers of the day, with a benign +countenance, his face smoothly shaven, a kindly eye, a mind ever +alert, a genial temperament, and strong force of character which +fitted him well for his aggressive work in a new and rough country, +and you have a fair likeness of William Black. Without any college +education, and with no pretentions as a scholar, he was far from being +deficient in education. The preacher with his saddlebags quickly +learned the value of time, as he travelled incessantly, and preached +every day, and we are not surprised to learn, that he formed habits of +study similar to those of the circuit riders of old England. With an +intensity which is often bewildering, we read of him moving with +incredible swiftness from place to place, studying at every +opportunity to fit himself as an able preacher of the everlasting +gospel. + +His letters to John Wesley and other correspondents bear the impress +of a cultured mind, in the grasp of the great doctrines which were +under discussion, and the nervous strength, simplicity, purity and +dignity of the language in which they are couched. The saddle, the +open road, and the clear sky were his permanent study, and he read +with the keen instinct of a student, whose hours were limited, as he +had other work to do, and he must furbish his brain, and warm his +heart by contact with the masters of literature who came at his call. + +He was a constant reader of Wesley's Journal and sermons. When he was +travelling to the General Conference at Baltimore, he spent his time +on the vessel in study, as he writes: "Most of my time since I came on +board has been occupied in reading, chiefly Flavel's Treatise on the +Soul, Littleton's Roman History and Knox's Essays. Lord let none of +them prove improfitable!" For spiritual growth he was accustomed to +read religious biography, which is an excellent study, and he found +much comfort and food for serious reflection in the Lives of John +Fletcher and Whitefield. But he was not forgetful of the benefits of +the solid studies which are needful for the Christian minister, and he +applied himself with splendid energy to the Latin and Greek languages +and works on theology. Matthew Richey who was well qualified to speak +on the subject, because of his own training, and his acquaintance with +William Black says: "During the time of our personal acquaintance with +him, he possessed a critical knowledge of the New Testament in the +original, which must have been the result of many years' application. +In studying the Greek Testament, Parkhurst's Lexicon was his favorite +thesaurus, and he knew well to discriminate the sound learning and +theology with which that inestimable work abounds, from the fancies +and eccentricities both etymological and philosophical, with which +they are sometimes associated." It was his custom for many years to +read Thomas a Kempis Imitation of Christ at family prayer in the Latin +tongue, his wife reading the translation while he followed her in the +original, and Matthew Richey adds that while he "carefully studied the +Greek Testament, he was not forgetful of the Latin language, in which +his attainments were very respectable." We have no record of the books +he read or any account of his studies, but his Journal and letters +show, that he was a student all his life, reading theology, history, +biography and essays in literature with an economy of time, and an +alertness, which put many of us to shame. With a yearning after wider +culture he longed to go to Kingswood School in England, and when that +became impossible, he devoted himself with greater enthusiasm to his +studies, and employed John Wesley to send him books. + +Although he was a model itinerant and was preaching every day, he +pursued the method of training his own mind and instructing his +hearers by courses on systematic theology, which is an ideal system +for any minister. He writes: "In my last sixteen discourses I have +taken a view of man in his primitive state, and in his fall, the +consequences of his apostacy, to himself and to his posterity, the +interposition of a Mediator, his offices, incarnation, life, death, +resurrection, ascension into heaven, and session on the right hand of +the Father. O, how wonderful is the process of redeeming love!" Living +in a real world and deeply impressed with the needs of the people, he +had no time to devote to any literary work, though he might have +rendered some service by his pen to the cause of Christ, but modesty +barred the way, and he was above everything else a pioneer evangelist. +Only once did he consent to have one of his sermons published, and +that was a discourse preached at Windsor, Nova Scotia, on Deut. +33:13. "He made him to suck honey out of the rock." When he preached a +sermon on Bishop Asbury at the General Conference in Baltimore, and +was importuned to have it published by that august body, he +respectfully declined the honor. + +William Black was a great Christian without any singularity or +ostentation, ever bemoaning his lack of spirituality and yearning +after holiness of heart and life. As he read the lives of great saints +of other days, he prostrated himself before God, and craved +pre-eminence in the attainment of the higher virtues of religious +experience. Humility was one of the dominant factors in his life, +which became a habit, through contrasting his actual acquirements in +piety, with the saints held in much esteem by the Christian Church. He +was extremely sensitive, and this subjected him to periods of mental +depression, when he was severely tempted and almost given over to +despair. Seasons of melancholy seemed to follow him all through life, +especially at the beginning of the year, when he passed under review +his life and work. But there were times when he renewed his covenant +with God in writing, and when he was privileged to listen to some +eminent preacher and mingle with his brethren, that the sky shone with +a beauty which was divine, and bliss serene abode in his soul. + +In one of his seasons of refreshing, when he dedicated himself anew, +he writes: "O my God, I am Thine by a thousand ties, necessary, +voluntary and sacred. Sanctuaries, woods, fields and other places, +have been witnesses of the solemn vows and engagements I am under to +Thee, and when I presumptuously violate them, they will bring in their +evidence against me. O! by thy powerful grace, preserve me thine, +thine forever!" He longed to be like Christ, and yet he could say: +"Some appear to be alternately in raptures, and ready to sink in +unbelief and despondency: filled with joy, or overwhelmed with sorrow. +In general my walk (at least outwardly) has been pretty even. Through +the severest exercises I have yet met with, the Lord has not suffered +me to be greatly moved. I do not remember that anger ever had a place +in my heart for one minute against any one, since I first knew the +Lord. If I felt it rise, I looked to the Lord, and was delivered. +Blessed be his Name for this! By grace I am saved: and grace shall +have the glory. I am never enraptured with joy, nor overpowered with +sorrow: yet neither am I without joys and sorrow. At times I feel +Jesus inexpressibly precious: and at such seasons I long for holiness, +for a full conformity to the divine will." + +He was a man of prayer, rising early to be alone with God. Never did +hunter pursue game with greater zest than he in his passion for the +souls of men. His sermons had ever in view the conversion of sinners, +and he often employed his pen in writing to individuals about +salvation. Three of these letters addressed respectively, to Lawyer +Hilton of Cornwallis, Major Crane of Horton, and James Noble Shannon +of Horton, who afterwards removed to Parrsboro where he died, breathe +a spirit of intense solicitude, and remind one of the writings of +Richard Baxter the noble Puritan. In the letters he pleads with these +gentlemen to seek salvation, and with such arguments, persuasive +speech and love, that they were effective in leading them to Christ. + +In conversation he was chaste in language and always spiritual. In one +of his letters to his father-in-law, he pleads with him to be +reconciled to God, and after pressing home the truth with fidelity +without rudeness, he concludes; "This is the religion, in the +propagation of which I desire to spend my life. This I recommend to my +father. But I stop, perhaps I offend. I did not think of saying half +so much. But this is my darling topic, and therefore I must beg you to +bear with me." He was charitable towards others, though he differed +with them in religious belief, and with commendable liberality, he +held both ministers and people of the Anglican faith in the highest +esteem, and associated with the Baptists often preaching in their +churches, even going so far, though believing in the validity of +sprinkling as a mode of baptism, as to baptize by immersion, those who +desired that mode of having the ordinance administered. Whilst holding +tenaciously the doctrines and institutions of Methodism, he loved +those who were united to him by a common faith. + +During the first years of William Black's evangelistic labors, when +several hundreds were converted and had joined the church, he was +confronted with Antinomian teaching, through several visits from Henry +Alline, who resided at Falmouth, Nova Scotia. Being called of God to +preach in 1776, Alline itinerated through Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, +and Prince Edward Island, preaching a strange mixture of doctrines, +which unsettled the people in the churches, and many withdrew and +formed the denomination of New Lights or Allinites, a body which had +some influence until his death at Northampton in New Hampshire, United +States, on February 2nd, 1784, when it gradually declined and was +absorbed by other denominations, especially the Baptists. Alline +published his peculiar views in a volume, entitled "Two mites on some +of the most important and most disputed points of divinity cast into +the treasury for the poor and needy, and committed to the perusal of +the unprejudiced and impartial reader, by Henry Alline, servant of the +Lord to His churches." A reply to this book was published in a volume +by the Rev. Jonathan Scott, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, which contains +copious extracts from it. Alline misrepresented all the leading +doctrines of Christianity, assailing predestination and election, +maintaining the freedom of man's will and upholding the final +perseverance of the saints, emphasizing strongly conversion, and that +the soul is at the same moment completely sanctified, while sin +remains in the body; denying the resurrection of the body, and though +sometimes practising water baptism, he denied its utility. He was a +man of good address, eloquent of speech and of a lively disposition, +and there was no doubt of his piety, as he was a good man, and these +qualities made him a successful evangelist. His rank Antinomian +doctrines caused havoc among the Presbyterian, Congregational and +Methodist congregations in the places visited by him, and William +Black mourned the withdrawal of two hundred persons in a little over a +year from connection with the Methodist Church. It was very natural +that the young evangelist should consult John Wesley on the matter, +but the only help he received was a package of books, including two +volumes of the writings of William Law, the great mystic, and +instructions not to mention Alline's name in public, only to go on his +way preaching the gospel. Though much depressed by the loss of so many +members from the church, he had the satisfaction of seeing some return +to the old fold, and toward Henry Alline himself he entertained +respect. There remained no harshness, though the blow was heavy by the +breach made in the congregations, as shown by a letter which he wrote +to Alline when he was sick, in which, after speaking of the souls won +for God, and his joy in Alline's success, he added, "Although we +differ in sentiment, let us manifest our love to each other. I always +admired your gifts and graces, and affectionately loved your person, +although I could never receive your peculiar opinions. But shall we on +this account destroy the work of God? God forbid! May the Lord take +away all bigotry, and fill us with pure, genuine, catholic love!" That +was charity indeed, but Henry Alline went on his way denouncing all +who did not follow him. + +William Black had no fine capacity for anger, for with his soul aflame +with a holy passion he saw men and women as related to eternity, and +he loved them. With an iron will he laughed at danger, without any +austerity he was a great saint, his ideals were lofty, and +cheerfulness sat upon his lips and shone in his face, a practical +mystic was he without losing his head in the clouds, in brief, he was +a man, a brave soul with a woman's tenderness, who held his eyes +toward the Cross. + + + + +VII. + +LAST DAYS AND AFTER. + + +The long years of arduous labor began to tell upon a strong +constitution, so that gradually the physical strength of the pioneer +evangelist and missionary in the Maritime Provinces became so +enfeebled, that during the last fifteen years of his life he was +practically laid aside. For forty years he travelled, unhasting, +unresting, swift of foot, and with an unquenching passion for souls, +and the hardships of those early times left their abiding impress upon +his body, though he still retained his natural vigor of mind. A +journey now and then in quest of health brought cheerful patience, but +his work was done, while still sixty years of age. Like another +Whitefield he had worn himself out in his Master's service, yet he was +content that foundations had been laid, and others might build, while +he shared their joy. + +He lived in stirring times, and belonged to a sect that moved the +world, recreating the national conscience, without disturbing the +religious world with a new heresy. In 1807 the slave trade in the +British Empire was abolished, and the Methodist revival introduced a +new philanthropy, which brought a fresh impulse into the nation for +the reforming of the prisons, greater clemency to the penal laws, with +a noble and steady attempt to better the condition of the profligate +and the poor, and the first impetus toward popular education. Limited +in his range of vision by distance from the great centres of +civilization, and absorbed in his noble task of leading men in their +quest after godliness, he still kept in touch with the larger +questions which affected the nation, so far as the literature of that +day permitted. + +His closing years were spent in the quietness of his own home, with an +occasional service suited to his failing health. With a sublime +simplicity and faith in the goodness of women, he found a continual +benediction in his wife, who was a lady of good judgment, possessing a +cheerful spirit, and as earnest as he in her yearning after holiness +of heart and life, and a burning zeal for the salvation of souls. Born +in Boston, Massachusetts, where she frequently heard Whitefield +preach, she came with her parents to Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia, and +settled there, when the British troops evacuated her native city, and +in the summer of 1781 she was converted under the ministry of William +Black. For the long period of forty-three years of married life, she +was the devoted companion and helper of her husband in every good +work. The training of five children devolved solely upon her, as she +was left alone during the long and frequent absence of her husband on +his missionary tours, yet she complained not, but counted it an honor +to share the joys and sorrows of a Methodist itinerant. With the true +instinct of a mother she governed her home in the fear of God. When +she chastised her children, she did not forget their spiritual +welfare, as it was her custom after punishment, to take them alone to +a private room, and there to pray with the culprit, and seldom were +these seasons unproductive of serious resolves of amendment. Her +letters to her husband bear the impress of a saint, in their spirit +of patience, sympathy with the erring, and quest after a better life. +During a period of severe sickness in the family, when three of the +children were laid low, and faint hopes were entertained for the +recovery of Celia, the eldest, the faith of the parents was severely +tried. While they were convalescing, the mother was attacked with a +raging fever, and in her weakened condition, she was strongly tempted +to doubt her acceptance with God. In her distress she mourned: "I have +lived too much at ease. How could I rest without daily and lively +communion with God." But the clouds burst, and she was enabled to +rejoice, and praise God for all his mercies to herself and family. She +was a saintly woman, active in her efforts for ameliorating the +condition of the poor in the city of Halifax, during her long +residence there. With her own hands she made garments for the needy, +stimulated others in connection with the Female Benevolent Society, of +which she was treasurer for several years, and by the sweetness and +beauty of her life, helped many in the paths of righteousness and +peace. During the last year and a half of her life she gradually +declined in health yet she murmured not, and when the end came on +August 11th, 1827, as she was surrounded by husband, children, +grandchildren and friends, she bade them an affectionate farewell. The +last to receive her blessing was her faithful and pious black servant, +but her power of speech having gone, she raised her hands to heaven as +an evidence of her faith and joy, and passed home at the age of +seventy-three years. Thus lived and died one of the most beautiful +spirits to be found on the pages of religious biography, gentle in +manners, firm in action, with a chaste reserve, a noble type of +heroic womanhood. + +With the passing of his beloved companion, William Black felt keenly +the vacancy in his home where ill-health kept him confined, and to +ensure comfort and relieve the tedium, he was induced to marry Martha, +the widow of Elisha Calkin of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, in the year +1828. This marriage was highly congenial, as the lady was possessed of +an amiable disposition, and she ministered to his needs and together +they enjoyed good fellowship, to his death, after which event, she +returned to Liverpool, where she resided till she died. + +The father of William Black walked through all the years of a long +life in the ways of peace, and the son rejoiced that he had been +honored in leading him to Christ. For the greater part of his life he +lived on his farm at Dorchester, New Brunswick, dying there in 1820, +at the age of ninety-three years. He was held in much esteem in the +community being appointed in 1779, Judge of the Common Pleas, and in +his old age he retained so much of his vigor, that when he was +eighty-eight years old, he rode on horseback a distance of thirty +miles to visit some members of his family residing at Amherst. + +"The world may not like our Methodists, but the world cannot deny that +they die well," wrote John Wesley, and this sentence has been +transformed into the well-known maxim, "Our people die well." William +Black knew the art of dying well, as he always stood on the threshold +of eternity, and there was no need in his closing days to make special +preparation, for with heroic gladness he had fronted the foe, all +through the strenuous years, and was ever ready to cross the bar. In +the autumn of 1834, the cholera was prevalent in Halifax, and he was +deeply concerned for the people, though he was suffering from dropsy, +and his end was near. The Rev. Richard Knight who was stationed in +Halifax, and had Matthew Richey as his colleague, was with him in his +last hours, and he gives an account of the closing scene. "'I trust +sir,' said I, 'You now feel that Saviour to be precious whom you have +so long held forth to others.' He said, 'All is well. All is peace, no +fear, no doubt, let Him do as He will, He knows what is best.' I +referred to his long and useful life. He said very impressively, +'Leave all that, say no more. All is well.' We joined in prayer, and +his spirit was evidently very much engaged in the solemn exercise. On +leaving the room I said, 'You will soon be in the glory of which you +have so often spoken in the course of your long ministry.' 'I shall +soon be there,' he said, 'where Christ is gone before me.' After which +he sank very fast, and spoke little, and that with considerable +difficulty. His last words were, 'Give my farewell blessing to your +family, and to the society,' and 'God bless you. All is well.'" + +Patient in life, he was triumphant in death, and though there was no +exultant notes in his last testimony, his faith stood the supreme +test, as he drew near the borderland. He died on September 8th, 1834, +aged 74 years. The remains of Mary and William Black rest in the old +graveyard at Grafton Street Methodist Church, Halifax, and near the +vestry door are their tombstones and those of their children. Within +the church there are marble tablets to the memory of these pioneers +of the faith, who laid the foundations of Methodism in the maritime +provinces, and in the Methodist Church at Amherst, Nova Scotia, there +is a memorial window to the founder of Methodism in these parts. + +There is a larger and more abiding memorial of the heroic figure who +trudged over the country in quest of souls, and that lies in the +silent influence of his life, and the permanence of his work. He was a +great revivalist of the enduring kind, whose exhortations were not +platitudes which spent themselves with the passing hour, but, being +based on the leading doctrines of the Bible, remained as a spiritual +impulse for the individual, and the church. In his History of the +Methodist Church in Eastern British America, T. Watson Smith quotes a +characteristic sketch of William Black and his wife. + +"The personal appearance of 'Bishop' Black in his late years, says the +Hon. S. L. Shannon, who remembers him well, was very prepossessing. He +was of medium height, inclining to corpulency. In the street he always +wore the well-known clerical hat; a black dress coat buttoned over a +double-breasted vest, a white neckerchief, black small clothes and +well polished Hessian boots completed his attire. When he and his good +lady, who was always dressed in the neatest Quaker costume, used to +take their airing in the summer with black Thomas, the bishop's well +known servant, for their charioteer, they were absolutely pictures +worth looking at. In the pulpit the bishop's appearance was truly +apostolical. A round, rosy face, encircled with thin, white hair, a +benevolent smile, and a sweet voice were most attractive. Whenever my +mind carries me back to those scenes, the vision of the apostle John +in his old age addressing the church at Ephesus as his little +children, comes up before me as I think of the good old man, the real +father of Methodism in Halifax." + +When William Black was converted and began his career as the pioneer +Methodist preacher in the maritime provinces, in 1779, there was only +a small company in Cumberland, Nova Scotia, who reckoned themselves +followers of John Wesley, but when he died in 1834, there were in +these Provinces and Newfoundland, 3 Districts, 44 circuits, about 50 +ministers and local preachers, with more than 6000 members of the +church. But the denomination has grown since then, until in the year +1906, there are 3 Conferences, with 332 ministers, 194 local +preachers, nearly 42,000 church members, 686 Sunday Schools with over +45,000 scholars, 716 churches, and 219 parsonages valued at more than +two and a half million dollars, and then add to these statistics, the +value of the schools and colleges belonging to Methodism in the +maritime provinces and Newfoundland, amounting to 567,000 dollars, and +we may well say, "What hath God wrought?" + +Let us remember that when John Wesley died, there were only 287 +Methodist preachers in Great Britain and Ireland, and 511 in the whole +world, and we may well ponder the significance of the growth during +the last hundred years in the new country where William Black was the +leader and pioneer. The movement which began with Black has run +through a whole century without rest or failure, the stream of +conversions has continued to flow, and the spiritual impulse has been +maintained, despite many changes in manners and modes of thought. The +old tradition of Methodism being an aggressive force, embodied in the +apt phrase "Christianity in earnest" is still true, as it emphasizes +the great spiritual forces of religion, as distinguished from +ceremonial and even church organization, as the essentials of our +faith ever abide within. The message of the apostle of Methodism in +the Maritime Provinces was charged with great truths based upon +doctrine and experience, and the power which swayed the people under +his preaching, has remained as an abiding spiritual force. In Black's +Journal we have a charming bit of autobiography, which reveals the +inner life of a man who has become a historic figure, and yet he had +no desire for fame. He was an evangelist first and last, begetting +influences more abiding than the centuries, and if you would estimate +his worth, and measure the value of his work, look around. He lived in +a religious atmosphere of his own making with the help of God, he +learned the triumphant secret of religion, and he gave a noble +challenge to the world, in a heroic life for Christ. The pulse of his +life beats still in the twentieth century in the Maritime Provinces of +the Dominion. + + + + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes + +Spelling inconsistencies, such as labor/labour and harbor/harbour have +been retained from the original book. Minor punctuation irregularities +and the following typos have been corrected: + +Page 18: tim changed to time. + +Page 46: Britian changed to Britain. + +Page 46: Williiam changed to William. + +Page 46: desti- changed to destination. + +Page 49: tempereament changed to temperament. + +Page 49: aggresive changed to aggressive. + +Page 60: yeare changed to years. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of William Black, by John Maclean + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM BLACK *** + +***** This file should be named 24693.txt or 24693.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/9/24693/ + +Produced by Diane Monico and The Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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