verned her home in the fear of God. When
she chastised her children, she did not forget their spiritual
welfare, as it was her custom after punishment, to take them alone to
a private room, and there to pray with the culprit, and seldom were
these seasons unproductive of serious resolves of amendment. Her
letters to her husband bear the impress of a saint, in their spirit
of patience, sympathy with the erring, and quest after a better life.
During a period of severe sickness in the family, when three of the
children were laid low, and faint hopes were entertained for the
recovery of Celia, the eldest, the faith of the parents was severely
tried. While they were convalescing, the mother was attacked with a
raging fever, and in her weakened condition, she was strongly tempted
to doubt her acceptance with God. In her distress she mourned: "I have
lived too much at ease. How could I rest without daily and lively
communion with God." But the clouds burst, and she was enabled to
rejoice, and praise God for all his mercies to herself and family. She
was a saintly woman, active in her efforts for ameliorating the
condition of the poor in the city of Halifax, during her long
residence there. With her own hands she made garments for the needy,
stimulated others in connection with the Female Benevolent Society, of
which she was treasurer for several years, and by the sweetness and
beauty of her life, helped many in the paths of righteousness and
peace. During the last year and a half of her life she gradually
declined in health yet she murmured not, and when the end came on
August 11th, 1827, as she was surrounded by husband, children,
grandchildren and friends, she bade them an affectionate farewell. The
last to receive her blessing was her faithful and pious black servant,
but her power of speech having gone, she raised her hands to heaven as
an evidence of her faith and joy, and passed home at the age of
seventy-three years. Thus lived and died one of the most beautiful
spirits to be found on the pages of religious biography, gentle in
manners, firm in action, with a chaste reserve, a noble type of
heroic womanhood.

With the passing of his beloved companion, William Black felt keenly
the vacancy in his home where ill-health kept him confined, and to
ensure comfort and relieve the tedium, he was induced to marry Martha,
the widow of Elisha Calkin of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, in the year
1828. This marriage was highly congenial,