The life of the departed

by I. E. Bill

These labours were abundant. Having completed his visit in Liverpool he returned to Chester. Some of his old associates were surprised to hear that he had commenced preaching, but as the Minister of the Church was absent the deacons invited him to preach. He complied with the request, gainsayers were confounded, and the christian people bade him God speed. From Chester he travelled 30 miles through a dense wilderness to Windsor, and held meetings in Windsor, Newport, Falmouth, Horton and Cornwallis. In all these places he had seals to his ministry. In the summer following he visited Onslow and Amherst, and in these places God made him instrumental in the conversion of souls. He spent the following winter in Sackville, and in the district of the Petitcodiac, preaching the word with power. Saints rejoiced, and sinners were converted to God. In the spring he revisited Cornwallis, spent a few months labouring successfully with Elder Manning, and then returned to Salisbury. Here he became united in marriage to the eldest daughter of Mr. Young Sherman. As there was no Church to provide for his temporal support, and having married a wife, he naturally felt that it was his duty to provide for her. The result was that he procured a tract of land in the wilderness, and engaged in manual labour. This subjected him to severe mental conflicts. In speaking of his trials at that time in the letter referred to, he says, “I thought there was a probability I had deceived myself, and if so, I had deceived others. Under these overwhelming I came to the conclusion that I would preach no more. I went out to work on a new farm, and determined I would be like other people. I used to meet with the people on the Lord’s day, and when urged to open the meeting I could not deny. I continued in this way about eighteen months; but one Sabbath morning as I entered the meeting in a place called Pollet River, about three miles from my house, the cloud of darkness that had so long rested in my mind disappeared, and the Lord so blessed my speaking that a number of people cried aloud for mercy, and the meeting continued a number of days. O it was wonderful to see groups of people at the hour of midnight returning home from the meeting with torch lights, making the wilderness echo with the praises of God. Surely these were happy days. This work spread in all the regions round. The doctrines preached were man’s total depravity by the fall of Adam, salvation wholly and alone through the Lord Jesus Christ, regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and sanctification progressive, producing obedience to the Lord’s commands. Many believers followed Christ in baptism.”

The Lord so blessed the ministry of Mr. Crandal at this time, that the friends called him to ordination, and a Council was convened, composed of Elders Edward Manning, Theodore H. Harding, Joseph Dimock, and others. A Church was formed, and Mr. Crandal was ordained its Pastor. Mr. Harding continued after the ordination for some time, aiding his youthful brother in the work of the Lord.

He travelled extensively in this revival, visiting Salisbury, Moncton, Coverdale, Hillsborough and Sackville, and proceeded on to Parsborough and Cornwallis, preaching the gospel frequently in log houses—thus verifying the Saviour’s utterance, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Multitudes gladly received the word, and were baptized.

About this time he was filled with an anxious desire to visit the people on the River Saint John. It was the dead of winter, and how to go he could not tell; but he could find no rest. Finally, in company with a young man going in that direction, he girded on his snow-shoes, and hastened forward with God’s message. This was in the last of January, 1800. Not being accustomed to this mode of journeying, he endured much fatigue; but he travelled on, preaching on all the village the Lord Jesus. He visited Norton and Bellisle, and in the latter place many were brought to know the truth. Among the number was Mr. Drake, afterwards Deacon Drake of this church—a man of precious memory. From Bellisle he passed on to Canning, where he made the acquaintance of the late Elijah Estabrooks, a devoted man of God, and a successful preacher of the gospel. In this district he saw the work of God revive. Thence he passed up the river, preaching in different places. On his way he met a Mr. Cole from Kingsclear, who was in pursuit of him to engage him to preach a funeral sermon. He preached—the word was attended with the Spirit’s power, and many were converted to God.

Mr. Crandal in his letters makes special reference to this visit, and says—“A pious sister asked for baptism, and I answered that she would be immersed at 10 o’clock, A.M. the next day. Accordingly, before the hour arrived, people came from all directions for many miles around, and the ice having been opened, the candidate related a clear Christian experience, and I baptized her. When we came out of the water, two more told what God had done for their souls, and we could not leave the water until fourteen happy converts had been immersed in conformity to the Saviour’s example. Surely this was the Lord’s work. Four or five hundred people were present, and it was a great day of God’s power. The work of the Lord spread in every direction.”

He remained on the river for some time above Fredericton, preaching the gospel and immersing believers as far up as Woodstock.

On his return he called again at Canning, and was immediately met by crowds of people, many of whom had been searching the Bible on the subject of baptism during his absence, and had come to the conclusion that it was their duty to be baptized. In the room where they were assembled, the Lord made himself manifest in great power. Many of these people had been united in a Congregational Church, but they now saw it to be their duty to be baptized. Their leader, Mr. Estabrooks, led the way, and the aged, middle aged, and young, declared what the Lord had done for their souls, and were immersed by Mr. Crandal in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. There was a mighty outpouring of the Spirit upon the people. Mr. Crandal notes it in the following style—“At the second conference many related their experience. An aged man arose from his seat; it was Esquire Esty, and old New England Congregationalist, rooted and grounded in the old Puritan practice of infant sprinkling. He was a man much beloved. He said to me, ‘I see you are going to break up our church.’ I said to him, ‘Sir, if your church is built on Christ, the gates of hell cannot prevail against.’ He replied, ‘Do you not call us a Church of Christ?’ I said, ‘I consider you a company of pious Christians, but not walking in the order of the gospel as Christ has commanded.’ He took up his hat and walked out, saying, his parents had given him up to the Lord in infancy, and from that he would not depart. As he was going out, I said, ‘Esquire, I have one word to say to you—the Scribes and Pharisees rejected the counsel of God against themselves, not being baptized.’ The next morning being Lord’s day, we met at the water at nine o’clock, A.M. A great host assembled to see the effects of the new religion, and to my great surprise, the old gentleman who had said he would never depart from his infant sprinkling, was the first to yield obedience to the commands of Christ. Such a day of the Lord’s saving power was rarely witnessed on earth. Nearly thirty candidates were baptized, and the meeting did not break up until the going down of the sun. It was truly solemn and delightful to hear the praises of the Lord sun by great numbers of happy converts in boats returning home from the delightful scene. The work of that day I can never forget. The clear setting sun, the large expanse of unruffled water, the serenity of the atmosphere, the delightful notes of the feathered songsters, and the solemn sound of hymns sung by many happy voices, presented to me an emblem of the paradise of God. It seemed as though heaven had come down to earth, and that I was on the brink of the eternal world.”

The next day he crossed the river and baptized a number more, and then proceeded on his way, preaching the gospel and baptizing believers, as the Saviour had commanded. At Long Island his preaching was much blessed, and many were baptized. On his return he visited this city, and was joyfully received by the Christians of that day.

Time would fail us to detail further the labours and successes of our departed friend. Suffice it to say, that during these early years of his ministry, notwithstanding the newness of the country, and the badness of the roads, and many other inconveniencies, he was impelled forward in his evangelical labours by the holy impulses of love Divine. Frequently he went forth weeping, bearing precious seed, but he returned again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. In all these lower Provinces the fruits of his evangelical ministry are abundant. Hundreds, we doubt not, were at heaven’s gates to greet him, on his entrance into that bright world, as the honoured instrument in God’s hand of leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and many more will follow after. His name and his memory is embalmed in the best affections of thousands now living, who have listened with joy and delight to the message of mercy from his lips. In this city his labours have been much blessed, and by many highly prized. Some of you now think of him as your spiritual guide in the path to heaven.

Does he not still live in the success of his ministry? That success testifies to his devotedness to his Master’s work, and to his reliance, not upon human wisdom, but upon the prowess of an arm Divine. No man believed more firmly than Joseph Crandal that the salvation of the sinner was not by might or by power but the Spirit of the Almighty. This sentiment inwrought deeply in his own individual experience made him a man of earnest prayer, and brought him into close and intimate converse with the Deity. Like Jacob he wrestled with God, and like him he received the blessing. The enlarged success of such a ministry, imbued with such a spirit, speaks most loudly to all ministers and churches, calling upon them to bestir themselves to the exercise of faith and prayer and labor in the Master’s work.