youth, William Black poured out his heart in his letters to his
venerable leader, who in turn gave him counsel in his difficulties,
sent him books, and treated him as a son, closing his letters with "My
Dear Billy." There would be a place for him in Kingswood School, but
he was not urged to attend, as Wesley laid greater stress on piety
than learning, and Nova Scotia could not well spare, not even for a
year or two, such a brave and intrepid soul as William Black.

It was natural that the intercourse should exert a strong and abiding
influence upon the mind and heart of the missionary, who sent reports
of his work, sought advice amid the difficulties which confronted
him, and spoke of his spiritual yearnings with the familiarity of a
little child with its parent. John Wesley became the model upon which
William Black formed his habits and character, and he succeeded well,
in a country with greater privations and more difficulties in
travelling than in old England. Like the great itinerant, he rose
early in all seasons, preached every day, as often as time and
distance allowed, kept a journal in which were recorded the notable
events that happened in his work, or person, and as he rode over the
rough roads, the broad sky became his study where he read many volumes
every year. These were not done through any servile imitation, but
because of an admiration and unconscious hero worship which compelled
him to follow where he admired. Wesley was to William Black a saint,
an ecclesiastical statesman, an acute and learned theologian, a great
winner of souls, and above all a personal friend, and when he died his
loss was greater than he cared to express.

With the passing of the Founder of Methodism, there were grave fears
of disagreement among the preachers throughout the Connexion, and
William Black shared in the general feeling, but Dr. Coke gave him
peace, in his account of the harmony of the Conference following
Wesley's death.

At the Conference held in Baltimore in November of the following year,
several preachers were secured for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and
William Black who had gone to the Conference, for the purpose of
meeting Dr. Coke, was induced at the doctor's request to take charge
of the missions in the West India Islands, in succession to Mr.
Harper, who was elected Presiding Elder of Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and Newfoundland. Leaving his family behind, William Black
accompanied Dr. Coke to the West