William Black - The Apostle Of Methodism In The Maritime Provinces Of Canada

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 Hrrlifsx, Nova Scotia, in 1839. Somo additional information is to be found in Dr. T. Watson Smiths History of t, he Methodist Church of Ea tern British America. The former volumo contains the interesting Journal of the famous miseionary, find is thereforo of great value. As it has long beon out of print, and it is well-nigh impossible to secure an old copy, arid as there is co likeliho do f it being republished, we have deemed it commendable to pub ish the following pagea. We have sought to conden e as far as possible, giving the ctief 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 sn apprecistion, it might have been enlarged to considerab e size, and it has been difficult indeed to keep within the limits which we had sat for the volume, but that would have been to defeat our objeot, of writinq s erns11 book, in which the salient featursa of his life and work were seen, and at suoh a price that the poorest in the land might ascure s wpy. Willkm Black. We dare not forget the work of our fathers, and we must not permit the memory of William Black to be lost i, n 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 grebt and noble man, a pioneer and patriot, who gave his life for Christ and his fellowman. JOHN MACLEAN. WESLEYAN O FFICE, Halifax, Nova Scotia. CONTENTS. Chap. I. 11. 111. IV. V. VI. VII. Page. The Birth of a Movement - - - 9 Making the BIan - - - - - 17 The Maritime Itinerant - - - - 24 The Intrepid Pioneer - - - - 33 Black and TVesley - - - - - - 40 Personal Characteristics - - - 49 Last Days and After - - - - - 57 W L L I A M BLACK. . D 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 ahould not be accorded thern. Brought up under the influenceof the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, they prized too highly t, heir re, ligious 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 yeara after the Acadians were expelled emigrants began to arrive in considerable numbers from Sew England and from Great Britain and Ireland. This was tbe beginning of a new era, in which the principles of the Protestant Reformation were to bo tested, upon soil conaecrated by the faith and piety of the Roman Catholic exiles, and an opportunity waa found for the expression of the new faith in thomoulding of individual character...