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.