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Whether from some peculiar mental bias, or as the result of deliberate conviction, Dr. Russell seldom preached what is commonly called a sermon. His delight lay in the expounding of Scripture; and hence, it was usually from some extended portion of the word of God that he addressed his hearers. Here he had ample scope for the full exercise of his peculiar powers. With some men the exposition of Scripture is little more than the offering of a few unconnected remarks, and a few pious reflections upon each verse as it occurs. But it was not thus that he conceived of the duty of an expositor. true meaning of the passage; to catch its spirit and essence; to trace its connection with the context, so as to bring out the writer's train of thought; to reproduce in just order, in distinct form, and with appropriate illustrations, the truths it contains; to show the harmony of these with other parts of scripture; and their proper place in the scheme of revealed truth, to press them in their worth and grandeur upon the minds of the hearers, and to apply them to the great purposes of the gospel ministry :-these were the high aims at which he reached in discharging the functions of an expositor of the Bible. And in these he succeeded beyond most other men. The breadth and scope of his intellect, the vast capacity of his memory, the experimental depth of his piety, the extent of his information, the vividness of his conceptions and feelings, the soundness of his theological views, and his enlarged familiarity with the human heart and the prevailing peculiarities of individual and social life,-combined to fit him, in an eminent degree, for such a kind of teaching as that just described. He possessed also the rare felicity of so imbuing his own mind with the spirit of what he was studying, that he could assimilate his discourse, both in form and substance, to the character of the passage he had to expound. Some preachers display only one prevailing phase of mind; they are either always argumentative, or always reflective, or always hortatory, or always descriptive, whatever be the nature of the passage from which they speak. It was otherwise with Dr. Russell. His mind was many-sided, and was adept to catch its tone and hue from the ground on which it was for the time placed. If the passage to be discoursed from was argumentative, his discourse was chiefly characterised by reasoning; if the passage was experimental, his remarks would be principally of a reflective and hortatory character; if the passage was practical, the train of his thoughts would take a corresponding turn, and his discourse would be marked by plainness, wisdom, and business

like sagacity; if the passage was descriptive, he would give the reins to his imagination, and range over the expanse of historical or apocalyptic survey presented to his view; and if the passage was figurative, he was not satisfied with a mere passing illustration of the figure, or with compressing from it the naked truth which it symbolised; he delighted to follow out the figure to its utmost extent, and to dwell upon it in all its legitimate bearings,-like some enamoured florist, who, not content with summoning you to admire the aggregate charm of some favourite plant, spreads it out before you leaf by leaf, and discovers to you the beauty and richness of each separate streak and filament, and unfolds to you all its hidden loveliness, and teaches you to admire the wisdom and the power to which the whole gives concurrent testimony. By this happy versatility, he was enabled to secure that freshness and variety in his pulpit addresses, without which no preacher can long retain his hold upon the minds of an intelligent audience.

As in his writing so in his preaching, Dr. Russell was remarkable for the prominence he assigned to the evangelical element of that system of doctrines which he proclaimed. No discourse seemed to him complete, which did not lead the hearers to the Lamb of God atoning upon the cross for the sins of man. Accustomed himself to contemplate all the parts of revealed truth in their relation to the sacrificial work of Christ, he felt no difficulty in interweaving with all his expositions of Scripture the doctrine of the cross. On this he delighted to dwell; as in this alone he sought to glory. The completeness and universal sufficiency of the Saviour's atonement,-the suitableness and the freeness of that redemption which is through Him-the duty and the ability of man instantly to obey the gospel, and avail himself of the mercy freely offered to him by God through Christ:-these were themes on which he never was weary of expatiating, and which he never failed in some form or other to place before his audience in every discourse. As every street in the capital leads more or less directly to the palace of the sovereign, so he held that every section of Scripture leads more or less directly to Christ; and if on any occasion the passage which came in course did not suggest at first and immediately the crowning theme, his ingenuity found, ere long, some winding or crossing, by which he could strike easily and naturally into the great thoroughfare of evangelical truth; like the church in the Song,* "He

* Chap. iii. 2.

rose and went about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways he sought Him whom his soul loved."

Dr. Russell's style, both as a speaker and a writer, was characteristically appropriate to his peculiar modes of thought and feeling. It was a plain, unornamented, vigorous style, with much in it of the bone and sinew of the Saxon element of our language. As he was no lover of fine words, and as he never needed to hide poverty of conception under the mantle of a gaudy phraseology, he expended none of his energies upon searching after unusual forms of speech, or in decorating his periods with the lighter graces of expression. Ever aiming at the directest and most forcible mode of communicating his ideas, he fell, naturally and without effort, into that robust and vigorous style which is the fitting vehicle for manly thought and strong emotion. Perhaps for written composition, somewhat more of condensation and repose might have been an improvement; but whether in speaking or in writing, his style had the great merit of being altogether his own, and was, to use the language of Howe,* "as appropriate to him upon the matter, as his visage or voice." If any should complain of it as not sufficiently polished, we might reply to them, in the words which Bates uses regarding Baxter, + "There was a noble negligence in his style; for his great mind could not stoop to the affected eloquence of words."

The amount of service which Dr. Russell was enabled to yield in the pulpit greatly surpassed that which most ministers, even though longer on the field than he, are permitted to reach. He usually preached, in his own place of worship, three times every Sabbath, besides a regular service during the week, and such extra engagements as he was from time to time called to fulfil. The sum total of such a rate of service, continued for nearly half-a-century, is immense. Of him by whom it was rendered, it might indeed be said, that he "made full proof of his ministry."

In this his chosen field of labour, he was privileged to continue to the last. He may almost be said to have ended his career in the pulpit; for it was not many hours after he had left it, (only fourteen days ago,) that he received the fatal stroke which terminated his earthly On that day he displayed no perceptible indications of

course.

* Funeral Sermon for Bates, p. 91.

+ Funeral Sermon for Baxter, p. 90, quoted by Howe.

approaching dissolution. Though, in the earlier services of the day, he seemed somewhat less animated than usual, he gradually recovered as the day advanced, and occasionally appeared to put forth even more than his wonted fervour. So much had he caught the spirit of the exercise, that, though really unwell, and labouring under what appeared to him to be the oppression caused by a cold, he gradually became unconscious of any infirmity, and on his return home in the evening, said, in his usual hearty tone, to his watchful partner, "I have preached myself well again." Ah! the language was prophetic. His words were true in a sublimer sense than he intended. He had preached himself to the confines of that blessed land where weariness and weakness are unknown, and where "the inhabitant shall no more I am sick."

say,

And now that he is gone, how can we but bewail his loss? or who shall forbid us 66 to speak out of the abundance of our complaint and our grief?" The removal by death of one so extensively known, honoured, and esteemed, touches many circles, and from each there issues the response of a heartfelt sorrow, and a deep-toned lament.

The domestic circle mourns his loss. Its head, its pillar, its ornament, is gone. The affectionate and tender husband,-the loving, watchful, and prudent father, the kind and benignant master is no more. A fire is quenched upon the hearth which no hand can ever rekindle. A place is vacant at the board which no other can ever fill. Bereaved and desolated affection demands freedom for its tears.

The circle of friendship mourns his loss. It misses one of its most cherished members. That genial spirit,-that sympathetic heart,that honest tongue,-that large and well-stored intellect,-shall gladden and refresh, and benefit us no more. Never again shall that well-known face, which, in its open, simple, and benevolent expression, so truly mirrored the large and true heart within, be seen at our festive meetings. Never again shall that fountain of sympathy which so readily flowed forth at the call of sorrow, diffuse its consolatory waters around the homes of the afflicted or the bereaved. Never again shall that enlarged experience and sound judgment bring sagacious counsels to the aid of the ignorant or the perplexed. The pleasant companion, the wise adviser, the enlightened instructor, the true friend, is gone. It would be unnatural, were it possible, for those who were privileged with such a friend, to refrain from lamenting the bereavement they have sustained by his death.

The church over which he presided mourns his loss. Raised, under the Divine blessing, by his persevering and efficient labours, from a small society, to one large in numbers, weighty in influence, and respectable in effort,-privileged for a long period of years to enjoy his invaluable instructions, and to be guided by his wise and scriptural rule, receiving, to an extent not usually exemplified, the undivided and uninterrupted services of one whose wide-spread reputation must have exposed him to solicitations which, had he been so disposed, might have furnished him with abundant reason for frequently giving other churches the benefit of his labours,—and taught by every possible evidence to regard itself as the object of his rooted affection, anxiety, and interest,--with what feelings but those of deepest sorrow can its members contemplate a bereavement, the magnitude of which it is not easy to appreciate, and the loss occasioned by which to them even the most promising successor can never adequately repair?

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The denomination to which he belonged mourns his loss. Of it he was one of the brightest ornaments, and the strongest pillars; and at a time when, humanly speaking, we could ill spare him, he has been taken from us. Our hands are weakened this day. We are as when a standard-bearer fainteth." "A burning and a shining light" in which, for many years, we have rejoiced, has been suddenly quenched. Another of our foremost men is gone. The Lord has of late seen meet to afflict us in this way with stroke upon stroke. His hand has been heavy upon our churches in both parts of the island. Within the last twelve months, an Ely, a Payne, a Hamilton, a Hill,* a Russell, have, in quick succession, been taken from us. Our loss is all but irreparable. "Help, Lord, for the godly men ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel; thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up thy strength, and come and save us.”

The church of Christ at large bewails his loss. She acknowledges that "a prince and a great man hath fallen in Israel this day." An able expounder of her faith,-a fearless assertor of her rights,—a valiant defender of her testimony, a successful preacher of her doc

The Rev. J. Hill, Pastor of the Congregational Church at Huntly, a devoted, able, and valued minister of Christ, died a few days before Dr. Russell.

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