fter 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
Ne