CHAPTER III.

MR. BLACK'S AFFECTING VIEWS OF THE STATE OF THE UNREGENERATE-HIS LOVE TO SOULS AND FIRST LABOURS TO BRING SINNERS TO GOD-IS ARRESTED WITH SEVERAL OTHERS BY A PARTY OF SOLDIERS WHILE ENGAGED IN DIVINE WORSHIP-THE WORK OF GOD ADVANCES-MR. ALLINE'S FIRST VISIT TO CUMBERLAND HIS CHARACTER AND CREED-MR. ALLINE'S DOCTRINES OCCASION A SCHISM-MR. BLACK AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE GIVES HIMSELF WHOLLY TO THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY-EXTRACTS FROM HIS

JOURNAL.

WHATEVER there may have been peculiar in the call, and preeminent in the character of the Apostles of our Lord, it is not more certain that they, in nature, were men of like passions with us, than that we, in grace, must be men of like sentiments and feelings with them. Amid a thousand diversities of a secondary nature, there may always be traced, between those who are born of God, what has not inaptly been called a family likeness. The grand test of the genealogy of the spirit, is the love of God. "He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love." From this affection, brotherly kindness and universal benevolence are inseparable. Such was the spirit that animated those whom the Redeemer first invited and appointed to labour in his cause. To those who contemplated their character under the influence of earth

ly views and maxims they appeared beside themselves; and in the same light will their successors in spirit ever be regarded by men of corrupt minds, who have neither grace to sympathise with their emotions, nor understanding to appreciate their principles.

We have seen the divine love which Mr. Black breathed, in the first raptures of spiritual joy, forthwith developing itself in his own family, and then receiving the utmost gratification that successful effort could afford. But the tender and diffusive solicitude for the salvation of souls that now warmed his breast was not to be circumscribed by the walls of his dwelling, nor satisfied with the amount of good he was made instrumental in achieving there. He thus judged, that if one died for all then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again. Hear himself:-"I felt a peculiar love for souls. I seldom passed any man, woman, or child, without lifting up my heart to God in their behalf, or passed a house without praying for all in it—that God would open their eyes and give them to see the miseries of their natural state, and make them to taste his love. It grieved me from day to day to see men live so ignorant of God and happiness; and I was many times constrained to speak to them, though I sometimes experienced rough treatment in return." An instance of this kind occurred soon after he had renounced the works of darkness, and felt it his duty to reprove them: He was spending an evening at the house of a friend. He had been there but a short time, when Mr. F. D., accompanied by Mrs. U., a lady of high respectability, entered. Mr. D., with equal impiety and discourtesy, immediately began to ridicule religion; and

expressed a wish that there were some young ladies present, that they might have what he termed, "a good dance." Mr. Black took the liberty of animadverting upon the practice as a waste of precious time, and inaccordant with correct views of Christian duty. But his admonitions were instantly repulsed with "Not at all, Sir; I can dance this hour, and be as devout as any man the next." Mrs. U., who it would seem was unaware of the change that had taken place in Mr. Black's principles and practice, thinking to involve him in a charge of inconsistency, reminded him that she had seen him dance. "True, Madam,” he replied, "you have ; but I was at that time ignorant of God, and in the broad way to destruction." Supper came upon the table, and Mr. Morse asked the divine blessing. During supper Mr. D. talked very foolishly; and then leaping from his seat said aloud, "The Lord help us to eat and be fat." Shocked by his irreverence Mr. Black rebuked him sharply, and warned him of the consequences of persisting in his present course. He flew into a rage and menaced his benefactor with personal injury. In vain did Mr. Black endeavour to appease him, by assuring him of the benevolence of his intentions, and that he was really his friend. "I want no such friends," said he, and left the house in a storm of passion. Such a close of the interview predicted no happy result. But the words of the wise are as goads; and the effort to resist them often has the effect of causing them to pierce the deeper. A considerable time after this Mr. Black recognised in his congregation at Tantramar the same individual listening with deep attention to the word; and was not more gratified than surprised to observe, that during his visit in that part of the coun→

try, Mr. D. was unfailing in his attendance on preaching. He accompanied Mr. Black on his return to Amherst; disclosed to him the deep distress of his

soul; and on their stopping at the house of a mutual friend, requested that Mr. Black would pray with him. While they were engaged in prayer, his distress became more aggravated and insupportable; he vehemently cried for mercy; and after rising from his knees, begged Mr. Black to forgive him the insults he had offered him two years previously. We are happy in being able to add, that he not long after proved the faithfulness of Him who hath said, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Impelled by the love of Christ, and animated by the success that was graciously afforded to his first endeavours to do good, Mr. Black now seized with eagerness every opportunity of speaking what he knew, and testifying what he had seen of the grace of God. At a Quarterly Meeting held at Mr. Trueman's, in the summer of 1780, he experienced an abundant blessing; and, as a natural consequence, felt a more overwhelming sense than ever, of the value of souls for whom Christ died. "It was a time," he says, "long to be remembered by me and by many. I longed vehemently that all should know the preciousness of Christ. I had a deep sense of their unhappy condition while strangers to the grace of God; and could not refrain from weeping, and scarcely from speaking. I thought I could willingly sacrifice my life upon a gibbet for them, if I could only have thereby convinced them of their folly, and brought them to Jesus. The same evening we met again at Fort Lawrence. I then gave vent to the fulness of my heart, and beseeched all present by the mercies of

God and the worth of their souls, not to quench the Spirit of God, and destroy themselves eternally. Our next meeting was at Amherst. I could not refrain from beseeching them with tears, to be reconciled to God. Many were deeply affected, particularly my father; and many were very happy. In a special manner, William Morrel, with floods of tears testified the sweetness of Christ. I now began to exhort or pray at almost every meeting. God was with us, of a truth, both to convince and to comfort. Seldom did we meet together, but the presence of God was felt in the midst of us! The Lord stood by my weakness, and his Spirit helped my infirmities. So that though my knees at the first have smote one against the other, yet God loosed my tongue, and I was enabled to speak with confidence, liberty, and tender affection."

God

"The following winter I was invited to Tantramar, to give a word of exhortation there. I went. sent the word with power to the hearts of the people; an awakening took place immediately; many, both young and old, began to inquire the way to Zion, and many believed in Jesus." His hands were strengthened more in the good work in which he felt a growing interest, by the zealous co-operation of his brethren in Christ-Messrs. Scurr, Wells, and Fawkender, who with him, deeply commiserated the condition of the scattered population around them, and endeavoured, as they could, to supply their destitution of the means of grace, by dividing their labour on the Lord's day, among the rising settlements within their reach. They accomplished much, at a time when few of those settlements were favoured with even the occasional visits of regular ministers. Nor was their word permitted to fall to the ground; in every place the hand of the