Indies, visiting the islands, where
they found wickedness and bigotry so rampant that one of the Methodist
missionaries was in prison for preaching before he had resided there
twelve months, and in some other places the society had dwindled on
account of terrible persecution.

The climate of the West Indies was so severe upon his nervous system
that William Black had serious doubts as to his duty in remaining in
the tropical clime, however he was induced by Dr. Coke to become
Presiding Elder of the Leeward Islands and to reside at St. Kitts.
After visiting the sphere of his labors and meeting the ministers at
the Conference at Antigua, of whom there were thirteen present, he
returned to Nova Scotia for his family. During this visit to the
Province he found that the cause at Liverpool was in such a prosperous
state, that there was great need of a place of worship, and with his
accustomed zeal and determination, he started a subscription list and
in a few days secured three hundred pounds. His return to the West
Indies with his family was signalized by strenuous efforts for the
salvation of the people, but his stay was destined to be short, as Dr.
Coke became convinced that owing to changes in the Islands, and the
importance of the work in Nova Scotia, it was necessary for William
Black to take charge of his old field. Accordingly he was recalled
after spending one year as Presiding Elder in the West Indies, and
singular to relate, upon the day that Dr. Coke wrote his instructions
for removal, the ministers were assembled in District Meeting at
Windsor, and they passed a resolution asking that William Black be
allowed to assume his position as General Superintendent of the
Maritime Provinces and Newfoundland.

No sooner did he arrive and was reinstated among his brethren, than he
threw himself with increased vigor into the work of consolidating and
extending the congregations. Prince Edward Island was visited, where a
cordial reception was granted him at Charlottetown, large
congregations being present when he preached. At Tryon there had been
a gracious revival two years previous under the ministry of William
Grandine, the results of which were still apparent, the nucleus of a
congregation had been formed at Charlottetown by a class led by Joshua
Newton, Collector on the Island, which met at the house of Benjamin
Chappel, and when William Black waited upon the Governor, Colonel
Fanning, to thank him for the use of the