CHAPTER XII._John Black, the Apostle of the Red River Or, How the Blue Banner Was Unfurled on Manitoba Prairies

Memorials.

In the thirtieth year of Mr. Black's ministry a considerable religious

movement took place in Winnipeg and the neighboring country. Mr. Black's

interest in vital religion was ever one of his outstanding features. His

conception of the Christian minister was that he was in reality a

shepherd of the flock. It was his high mission to study the times and

the seasons and to avail himself of any wise and timely circumstances

which might arise in connection with the religious life of the parish.

The influx of a large number of new settlers can hardly be said to have

had a favorable influence on the Highland parish. The life of the

colonist or settler, even when he is well disposed, is likely to lead to

carelessness in religious things, to laxity in the observance of the

Sabbath, and to exposure to many temptations. Kildonan parish, being

near Winnipeg, and much in touch with the new settlers, was thus exposed

to hurtful influences. As a wise watchman, the pastor of Kildonan saw

this, and gladly welcomed tokens of spiritual revival, and took part

very heartily in the movement to have special services in his beloved

parish. We are fortunate in having a sermon of the pastor on the

subject of revivals, published some years before the time of which we

are speaking.

Referring to

REVIVALS,

Mr. Black says: "Happy the ministers thus privileged to be instruments

in God's hand. Happy the souls who plentifully partake of this

extraordinary grace! And it is well worth remembering how beautifully

this mode of dealing with men is adapted to the wants and weaknesses of

the race.

"Not only do spiritual affections become languid and require to be

freshened with new life, but even the very ideas and impressions of a

spiritual and eternal world wax dim upon the soul through the lapse of

time, and the influence of the world and something extraordinary is

required to renew these--some fresh testimony that there is a God and an

eternity.

"It must be familiar to all, how events and appearances, however

stupendous in themselves, lose their impressions by such regular

recurrence as renders them familiar to our minds. What, for instance,

can present a more magnificent spectacle than the passage of the sun

through the heavens on a clear summer day? Yet so familiar are we with

the spectacle that we scarcely think of it. It is a part of the regular

operations of nature and passes unobserved.

"But suppose some day that the sun should appear of double size, or that

another sun of equal brilliancy were to traverse the heavens from north

to south, then all would be struck and filled with amazement--it may be

with alarm--for then it would appear that there is some power superior

to nature that can interfere with its regular course when he will. God

would thus be brought near.

"So it is in spiritual things; however mightily the work of God might be

carried on, men would soon begin to forget God in it, and to attribute

the deep and earnest religious feelings prevailing to natural causes,

and so something higher still would be needed to prove that the work was

of God. Much more is this needed in a time of comparative indifference

to bring palpably before men's minds that there is a God and a spiritual

world. Men require something uncommon to stir them up from to time. Our

private devotions would be more ready to sink into coldness and apathy

were they not quickened by the public services of the sanctuary, and the

Sabbath services would also degenerate, were we not stirred up by the

occasional occurrence of Sacramental services. So God's ordinary

dealings require the aid of these seasons of revival."

SOME DROPS DESCEND.

The meetings, as conducted by the evangelist in Kildonan church, were

attended with good. There was much in the manner of the professional

evangelist that did not commend itself to the more staid religious

customs of Kildonan, but Dr. Black and his session, being in earnest in

the cure of souls, overlooked the defects and sought to make the most of

the efforts of the messenger of God sent amongst them. A considerable

quickening took place among the young people, and the older people were

helped as well. This was a great joy to the pastor. The strain upon the

faithful minister in his person was, however, very great. The frequency

of the services and the feeling of responsibility told upon his deeply

moved nature, and by the time the meetings were ended the godly man was

prostrated in body. Rest was tried, and a visit to the Province of

Ontario was undertaken, but without very much permanent benefit.

The good old apostle took advantage of his eastern visit to attend the

meeting of the General Assembly in Kingston in 1881. He was expected to

be present at it, and it seemed to be the desire of the leading

ministers of the Church that the honor of the Moderatorship should be

conferred on Dr. Black, as no less than ten presbyteries had nominated

him. On the opening of Assembly a letter was read from Dr. Black,

declining, on account of his poor health, to be put in nomination for

this exalted position.

A HIGH ESTIMATE.

The grounds for the proposed honor were not only the fact that John

Black was the first missionary to the Red River, but that he had so well

fulfilled the functions of pastor, preacher, and leader. Few had,

indeed, heard the apostle of Red River, but it was well-known that he

was a preacher of no mean order. His reputation as a theologian was well

established, an evangelical tone was highly characteristic of his

sermons, and his fervid appeals and denunciation of wrong-doing were

telling, while a poetic and eloquent power of expression was certainly

possessed by him in his nobler efforts. As an example of his successful

preaching, we may refer to a very effective and touching sermon

delivered by him in the earlier part of his ministry.

Among the youths who had gone from Red River to study, we have already

mentioned Donald Fraser. He was a young man of singularly attractive

disposition, who as a boy had suffered from a disease in the hip joint.

Recovering somewhat, he had gone on with his education, and had in 1854

entered Knox College, Toronto, where he continued a student for three

years. It is said of him that in addition to his more than ordinary

ability and diligence, he was distinguished for "his deep and steady,

yet gentle, cheerful, unobtrusive piety." On his return to Red River,

the disease increased, and attended by the kindly and continuous

spiritual care of his minister, in the late winter he passed away,

joyfully exclaiming, "I am going to glory." Ardently attached to his

young friend, the Kildonan pastor preached a beautiful sermon on Rev.

vii. 1, 3, 14, entitled,

"FROM TRIBULATION TO GLORY."

We may well give an extract or two:

"How many have been thus removed who seemed the very men to labor for

God here! This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes." It is

mysterious, yet we can see reason in it--the Lord will show that He is

not dependent on men. And there is mercy in it--He spares the green and

takes the ripe. To our departed brother the change is unspeakable

gain--he is gone forth out of all his tribulations. Faith is changed

into sight, hope into enjoyment. He is gone to see the Saviour, whom

long he had trusted and long loved. Faith, we may be well sure (a

favorite form of speech of John Black), had many a struggle to realize a

present Redeemer; but now there is no struggle; he sees Him as He is,

and is like Him. We are left. His form is no longer before our eyes. But

in his meekness and gentleness of disposition, in his Christian

consistency and cheerfulness, in his patience under suffering, in his

prayerfulness and faithfulness, and in his kindness of heart and

spirituality of mind, he has left us an example which woe unto us if we

forget. And in his happy, joyful deathbed, unvisited by doubt or fear,

we have another blessed evidence of the reality of religion and the

faithfulness of God. To the family the loss is great, but their sorrow

is mingled with joy, for not the shadow of doubt is left upon their

minds. To myself the loss is also great. There I found sympathy,

counsel, encouragement, prayer. But that heart and those lips are now

still.

"IN ROBES OF WHITE."

"See these glorious, these shining ones, walking in brightness the

golden streets of the New Jerusalem. They are clothed in white

robes--angels' garments. Such was the clothing of our Lord on the day of

His transfiguration, and such was the clothing of the angel that rolled

the stone away from the door of His tomb."

THE WHITE ROBE IS THE EMBLEM OF PURITY.

The white robe without signifies the pure and holy heart within. These

are purified, holy souls. In them has been fulfilled to the utmost,

David's prayer: "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and

I shall be whiter than snow." No stain of guilt now remains upon their

consciences, no stain of corruption now defiles their hearts; no sinful

desire, no vile or tumultuous passion now agitates their minds. Their

thoughts are all pure; their affections are all heavenly; they are

conformed to the image and the will of God. Not the smallest thing in

them is out of keeping with the holy heaven in which they now dwell.

THE WHITE ROBE IS ALSO AN EMBLEM OF JOY.

It is the wedding garment--the dress of the bride, the Lamb's wife--the

garment of the guests that sit at the heavenly banquet. The white robe

without signifies the joyful heart within. And, oh, a happy company are

all these white-robed ones in their Heavenly Father's home! The sorrows

of earth are all left behind, and not even the shadow of evil now

obscures the sunshine of their holy joys. No sin, no sorrow, no care, no

toil, no fear, no conflict; but purity, peace, delight--their Father's

smile, their Saviour's presence, the society of the redeemed and of holy

angels, the sight of heavenly beauty, the sounds of heavenly music, the

fragrance of celestial flowers, the sweetness of the water of life, the

exercises of heavenly devotion, all conspiring to fill their minds with

gladness ineffable. The marriage robe without is the emblem of the

joyful heart within.

THE WHITE ROBE IS THE EMBLEM OF VICTORY.

It was worn by those who after victory returned to the Imperial city and

passed in triumphal procession through the crowded streets, and the

admiring and shouting multitudes. Those who have entered the New

Jerusalem have gained the victory; they now enjoy the triumph. They have

fought the good fight; they have finished their course, they have kept

the faith; henceforth they are to enjoy their crowns of righteousness,

their white robes, and their evergreen palms. Long and hard was the

conflict; many and fierce were their enemies; but now the victory is

won--sin, Satan and the world are subdued; and the sword and the

breastplate, the buckler and the shield have been exchanged for the

white robes of victory and of peace. "They hang their trumpet in the

hall and study war no more."

OUT OF AFFLICTION.

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him

out of them all." They were in pain, in sickness, in poverty, in hunger,

thirst, and nakedness; they were exposed to shame, they were oppressed

by tyranny; they have been captives, slaves, victims of cruelty and

injustice; they have seen their dearest snatched from their embraces,

they have passed through the trials which are common to man, and many

peculiar to themselves; but they have come out of all their

tribulations--sickness and pain, captivity and bereavement, oppression

and suffering are now forever ended, and God has wiped away all tears

from their eyes.

A BELOVED ELDER.

We have before us another address of Mr. Black worthy of being quoted.

This was delivered on the death of one of his best beloved elders, John

Pritchard. This elder was the son of an English fur trader of the same

name, who had been in the service of the Northwest Fur Company, and

afterward acted as Lord Selkirk's agent. The tender heart of John Black

comes out in his words for his departed friend: "John Pritchard was a

man of God. In him we have lost a man of much prayer--of deep humility,

and one who knew well how to speak the truth in love, and who in his

deportment beautifully mingled the gravity and the cheerfulness of true

religion--a gravity without gloom or austerity--a cheerfulness without

levity--a mingling or union of qualities which gave him at once the

respect of the aged and the confidence of the young.

"In him his family have lost a wise, faithful, loving head--a large

connexion has lost one of its most beloved members--society has lost a

man of much usefulness and Christian worth--for myself, I have lost a

good counsellor and a faithful and confiding friend; and you, as a

congregation, have lost an office-bearer whose place it will not be easy

to supply.

"How often in private have many of you heard his earnest counsels; at

how many sickbeds and deathbeds have you been comforted by his

consolations; how often, here and elsewhere, have we heard his earnest

pleading voice in prayer; and how often has that voice been lifted up in

wrestling intercession for us all, when there was no ear to hear but

that of our Father in Heaven."

LIFE DECLINING.

It was in April, 1881, that Mr. Black so felt the need of rest that he

obtained leave of absence from the Presbytery of Manitoba and went to

Ontario and to his old home in New York State, seeking health. After

spending some months in the east and being present at the meeting of the

General Assembly, he returned to Manitoba, feeling much improved.

Unfortunately he caught a severe cold on his return journey and was

again reduced in strength. Reaching Kildonan he sought to minister to

his devoted people, but after a few Sabbaths was again compelled to make

application to the presbytery for relief. This was granted most

willingly, but at the same time with a feeling of great anxiety on the

part of his brethren. It seemed the presage of the approaching end. The

affectionate attention of friends and relations was given him, but he

remained very weak. Reclining on his sofa, he received his ministerial

and other friends, and still with clear mind discoursed on the topics

of the day and on the blessedness of the service of Christ with the

great future rewards of the people of God. Even in the time of declining

strength his was no weak or halting faith, but a strong and unwavering

confidence.

The old year passed away and the opening days of January saw no marked

change. His interest in the affairs of the parish did not flag, but he

was patiently resigned in his weakening strength. At last as the opening

hours of the second Sabbath, 12th, of February, 1882, were approaching,

the spirit of the devoted minister passed away to its eternal rest. The

event, though somewhat expected, yet produced a shock in the parish, and

on the word reaching Winnipeg references were made in the city pulpits

on that day to the departure of the good man.

TRIBUTES.

The tributes of kind friends came from all directions. The leading

newspaper of the province referred to the great service he had rendered

the whole Northwest, and said: "In the midst of his many duties he was

able in a wonderful degree to keep abreast of the literature of the day.

Although occupying so remote a field, he was remarkable for the

superiority of his scholarship, so that he enjoyed an eminent reputation

as a man of learning and particularly as a theologian."

LAST SAD RITES.

On the following Wednesday the funeral took place, the service being

held in Kildonan church. The day was one of the most bitterly cold days

of the season. Yet the people of all denominations were there, and

representatives from the river parishes and Winnipeg, so that the church

was pretty well filled with men and women. Several of the oldest

members of the presbytery were absent from the province at the time, and

were prevented from paying their last tokens of respect to the departed

leader. Rev. Professor Hart, who had been for ten years intimately

acquainted with Mr. Black, took the service and made the address. In the

course of his remarks he said: "In reference to Dr. Black's public life,

I have only a word or two to say. As a preacher he was well known to us

all as being clear, forcible, simple, impressive and eloquent in his

exposition of divine truths; as a pastor he was indefatigable, visiting

regularly in succession all the families in his parish, especially in

times of sickness, distress or in death. He was active in forwarding the

interest of the Sabbath-school and also of the Bible Society, of which

for years he was president.

"Every good cause found in him a faithful and zealous advocate. As a

friend, the departed was judicious, faithful, steadfast and true. His

whole course among us was, I may add, such as became a true and faithful

man of God. When work was to be done he did it up to the measure of his

strength and even beyond it. Hence, though naturally of a strong and

healthy constitution, he succumbed--not to old age, but to excess of

work. He was worn out by his exertions, and his death took place at a

time when in his prime, intellectually, years of activity and usefulness

might be looked forward to.

"The All Wise Disposer of events seemed to say that our friend's work on

earth was done, and called for him from labour and trial here to the

rest that remains for the just. The last illness of our brother (and

father), though protracted to nearly a year, was not during the latter

portion of it accompanied with much pain. To the end his faith remained

unshaken, his hope undimmed, his peace of mind undisturbed. That end

came quietly. He sweetly fell asleep in the arms of Jesus. Just as that

day he loved the best was being ushered in, just as that earthly Sabbath

dawned, he passed away to the enjoyment of an eternal Sabbath in the

courts above."

[Illustration: PUBLIC MONUMENT ERECTED TO REV. JOHN BLACK, D.D.

In Kildonan churchyard.]

The Rev. Alexander Matheson, a native of Kildonan, then led in prayer;

the Rev. C. B. Pitblado, the minister of the new St. Andrew's

congregation of Winnipeg, pronounced the benediction; the Rev. Alexander

Campbell was also present, and the Rev. R. Y. Thompson took the service

at the grave.

RETROSPECT.

We have now completed our long journey from Garwaldshields farm in

Eskdale Muir, where John Black was born, to Kildonan kirkyard, where his

honoured bones now lie. Sixty-four years was his alloted span, and no

one who has followed our story can fail to admit that the character and

life described are those of a true man.

Born among the shepherd people of the region that has been made historic

by the names of Thomas Boston, James Hogg, Edward Irving and Thomas

Carlyle, the worthy lad of Eskdale very early showed the features of a

religious and deep-laid character. What he would have been had he

remained in the land of his birth we can only conjecture, but it is

certain that wherever he was to dwell his earnest, manly, studious

boyhood was the promise of a useful life.

Perhaps nothing shows the chivalry of his nature more than his

surrendering all the bright hopes of a student life, and the career of a

successful teacher, in order that he might with his family, which had

suffered losses, seek a New World home to better their condition. His

unselfish devotion led to his becoming the mainstay in the counsels of

the family as they settled in the State of New York. Years afterwards we

find his love of his aged parents in the Catskills a matter for

consideration in choosing where his lot should be cast.

The return of John Black to the Canadian branch of the Church of his

fathers illustrates two or three points in his character. There was in

him a strong attachment to old associations. The Scottish type of

Presbyterianism was to him the best, and he sought his defence in the

shelter of the "burning bush." His characteristic discrimination and

determination to follow his convictions were shown in his choice of the

newly formed Free Church, while his love of the past and strong personal

attachment would have led him to cling to the Church of Scotland. His

love of country was also strong, and there can be no doubt that he

greatly preferred the shadow of the Union Jack to that of any other

flag.

His student and missionary life were characterized by great thoroughness

and enthusiasm. While strongly evangelical, and counting all things

other than the Gospel as "wood and hay and stubble," yet he valued

knowledge, and laid the foundation of subsequent excellence in Latin,

Greek, History, and English Literature. His missionary life in Brock, in

Upper Canada, in the district of Montreal, and on behalf of the French

Canadian Society, all indicates the spirit of thorough consecration,

which is the beauty and strength of the aspirant to the Christian

ministry. The most critical time in the life of John Black was his

reception of the command, for it was nothing else, of Dr. Burns to go to

Red River Settlement. Those who knew Dr. Burns can easily imagine the

ardency and enthusiasm with which he would argue the case. He was a man

of strong personality, and to him his opinions had all the strength of

principles. Mr. Black could not resist what was put to him as the call

of duty. It is somewhat remarkable to see, however, that year after year

he was not convinced that the Red River was to be his permanent sphere

of labor. This no doubt arose from a certain sensitiveness of

disposition, and an unwillingness to stand in the way of what he thought

was the highest spiritual good of his people. And yet it was as all his

friends said it would be: God's finger pointed out the Red River

unmistakably as his lifelong sphere.

The founding of a new cause among a people who, for thirty or forty

years had been without their own form of faith, was a great work. The

church building, the alarming flood which hindered his work, the severe

task of supplying, while still alone, the small groups of Presbyterians

outside of Kildonan, the anxiety about the spiritual condition and

insobriety of so many of the native people about him, cases of

discipline which required at the same time firmness and tact--all these

filled up the measure of his busy life.

The effect of the arrival of an additional laborer in the person of Rev.

James Nisbet, in 1862, can hardly be estimated by us now. The fact that

another clergyman may arrive now in the field of Manitoba missions is an

everyday occurrence, and gives rise to little comment; but when the

arrival of a laborer doubled the available missionary force it made it

an event of first importance. When, four years later, James Nisbet began

the Indian missions of the Church it was something, too, of immense

moment. John Black's dream of fifteen years was then realized, and he

saw in the future the vista of a reclaimed and civilized race in place

of the helpless and sin-afflicted savages by whom he was surrounded.

When the stirring days of the Riel Rebellion were over, there came the

rush of immigration, which startled the quiet solitudes of the Red River

prairies. It was to Mr. Black, as to the older people of the country, a

time of change, but the religious needs of the new settlements were well

looked after, and the movement begun of the mission advance, which has

been so notable a feature of the Presbyterian cause in the Northwest,

and has led to the Church, which John Black came to the west to found,

becoming much the largest and most influential body of the prairies.

Not only in Winnipeg, with its thoroughly organized body of

communicants, and in Portage la Prairie, Brandon, Regina and Calgary

have the Presbyterian views of church doctrine and life become

potential; but, in more than a score of towns, such as Morden, Pilot

Mound, Deloraine, Carman, Glenboro, Treherne, Holland, Miami, Minnedosa,

Russell, Rapid City, Gladstone, Moosomin, Prince Albert, Edmonton,

Souris, Virden, Boissevain, Emerson, Keewatin, Rat Portage, Fort

William, and Port Arthur have strong self-sustaining churches been

established. Notably is the Church strongly ensconced in the affections

of the agricultural communities spread over the prairies. It would

gladden the heart of John Black to-day could he see the presbytery of

which he was the first moderator now developed into two synods with

fourteen presbyteries, and could he realize how "the little one has

become a thousand."

As an educationist, we have shown the really fundamental work of Mr.

Black in the cause of education. It is very rare to see the men who lay

foundations equally strong on the missionary and on the educational

sides. It shows the even balance of his mind, that Mr. Black was as

much interested in one direction as in the other. Manitoba College is

the outcome to-day of the hopes and pleadings and plans of this scion,

transplanted from the parish schools of Scotland, and of the early love

of knowledge of the Presbyterianism of Canada, which took root in the

favorable soil of the Red River, Assiniboine, and Saskatchewan valleys.

These are the memorials of the Apostle of Red River. We are not carried

away by any absurd sentiment which would lead us to make John Black a

hero. As a rule the surroundings of his life were not of an exciting

kind. The Red River community was isolated, its opportunities of

communication with the outer world were small; for two-thirds of the

life of John Black upon the Red River there was little increase in the

population, but during his thirty years of Northwest life we see in him

the white lily of a blameless life, we see the spirit of an ardent

social reformer, we see the public sentiment leading him to labor for

the educational good of his people, we see the exercise of a diligent

pastorate, and the attainment of honorable distinction as a preacher--in

short, we see in him the embodiment of high domestic, social, public and

Christian virtues. We shall cherish the memory of "the Apostle of the

Red River."

[Illustration:

In Memoriam

OF THE

Rev. John Black, D.D.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN

MISSIONARY TO RUPERT'S LAND

SEPT. 18TH, 1851, AND

FIRST PASTOR OF THIS PARISH

TO WHOSE SPIRITUAL WANTS

HE MINISTERED FOR MORE

THAN THIRTY YEARS.

DIED FEB. 11TH, 1882

AT THE AGE OF 84 YEARS

"_He being dead yet speaketh._"

TABLET IN KILDONAN CHURCH.]