FOR AUGUST, 1841. BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIR OF MR. JOSEPH RUSSELL, BY THE REV. WILLIAM CLEGG. MR. RUSSELL was born in the parish of Eskdale, Cumberland, April 6th, 1778. His father lived on an estate of his own, and bore a respectable character. He died when Mr. Russell was about five years old, leaving a widow and five children. About seven years after his father's death, his mother married again; and soon after this, he was apprenticed to a ship-carpenter, according to his own choice; intending, on the expiration of his term, to gratify the desire of going to sea, which he had always cherished. His mother and family diligently attended the services of the established Church; and he states, that very early in life he had many serious thoughts on eternity, and the immortality of the soul: indeed, he considered himself a good sort of Christian; for he never dared to retire to rest until he had fairly recited, not only the Lord's Prayer, but the Apostles' Creed. By the mercy of God, however, he soon discovered that his religion was in form only, and not in power; as he knew nothing of that kingdom which consists of "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." When nineteen years of age, he began occasionally to attend the Wesleyan chapel, not from a desire to obtain spiritual good, (for he did not perceive that he needed any,) but that he and his companions might find matter for ridicule. But God, who is found of them that seek him not, had pity upon him, and knocked loudly at the door of his thoughtless heart. In 1798, under a sermon preached by the Rev. James Sykes, then a Local Preacher in the Whitehaven Circuit, the word came with power to his mind, and he was deeply convinced of sin. He says, "I thought the sermon was all for me. The man told me all that ever I did. I saw, that, except a change were wrought in me, I must perish. I hastened out of the chapel after the service, and went from the town to a retired place among the rocks; and there I wept bitterly on account of my sins. How to become religious I knew not; how to leave my old companions I knew not; and to live was I dared not. I attended the house of God the next night, and again the word came home. I was in a miserable state." VOL. XX. Third Series. AUGUST, 1841. 2 X The blessed Redeemer gives light to those who are in darkness; and He will not let the penitent perish, while he diligently uses the means of grace. He now put it into the hearts of his people to notice Mr. Russell. Seeing his constant attendance at public worship, and his serious deportment both there and at other times, they invited him to a class-meeting; and, as might be expected, he readily complied with their invitations, especially when he found that Mr. Sykes would lead the class, hoping that he would be the means of communicating to him greater good. He longed for the meeting-time to come, expecting to obtain glorious liberty to his imprisoned spirit; though he went with fear and trembling, knowing little of the manner in which the service was conducted. "When I entered the room," he writes, "everything appeared very solemn. I was like a speckled bird, and had not a word to say for myself. I looked upon the people around me as angels; and my spirit was so humbled, that I would gladly have become the servant of the least of them." He seemed now to be near the kingdom of God. But O how soon may the finest bloom be destroyed by an unkindly blast! These good impressions were "as a morning cloud, and as early dew, which goeth away." He was suddenly hurried away from his present interesting position by the god of this world. Here he remarks: "The enemy sought occasion to draw me aside." Before he found peace with God, he received a letter from one of his old companions in Liverpool; informing him that a carpenter was wanted for a ship, that the salary was high, and that he was thought a proper person for the situation. To this powerful temptation he replied without duly considering all the circumHow his spiritual interests would be affected he did not inquire; he saw nothing but the temporal advantages of the situation, and at once said that he would go. Thus, as he observes, by the prospect of worldly advancement and gain, he was induced voluntarily to expose himself to the most violent temptations to sin; by which he grieved the Holy Spirit, and brought upon himself a train of the most heart-rending sorrows. These he always looked upon as punishments for his unfaithfulness to the grace of God; and, therefore, some of them may stances. be here detailed. He arrived in Liverpool in the winter of 1798, and entered on board the ship "Dick," Captain Duck, bound for Gibraltar, and thence to the West Indies. They sailed in January, 1799, mounting twenty guns, and carrying forty-two men, purposing to fight their way. The following account of this voyage is abridged from his writings: "In a fortnight we reached the Straits of Gibraltar; and had not proceeded far, when we were beset by seven Spanish gun-boats. All hands were called to quarters, and commanded to prepare for action. Firing immediately commenced; and, the wind being light, for three hours and a half we were exposed to the enemies' cannon; till at last we got under the protection of the rock. O with what trembling did I enter into this bloody and deathful scene! I knew I was not prepared to die, and the guilt of my life was heavy upon my conscience. We lay at Gibraltar for fourteen weeks.” His conviction and fear of sin were so great, that he dared not to enter into the Sunday parties for card-playing, drinking, and profanity, which were so common in the place; but strongly protested against them. About the 23d of May they again set sail, and, after three days, fell in with a Spanish fleet of merchantmen, three of which they captured, and carried safely to Martinico, in the West Indies. Under all these distracting circumstances, Mr. Russell was followed by the remonstrances and drawings of the Holy Spirit; and he still feared to run into that gross wickedness of which too many of his shipmates were guilty he was even called a Methodist, because of the comparative strictness of his morals. "But, alas!" he says, "I was almost a total stranger to the nature of Methodism." In September they left the West Indies; and on the day they sailed, he was seized with the yellow fever. In a few hours he was brought to the verge of eternity, and was given up by the crew as dead. "But the goodness of God," he exclaims, "rebuked the fever, in answer to prayer; for, if I ever prayed, it was then, that the Lord would spare me. O how sensible was I, that I was not fit to die! and repeatedly did I promise the Lord, that, if he would but have mercy on me, I would assuredly give myself up to his service, and walk before him in all holiness and righteousness, the residue of my days. Five of our crew were cut off; but I was raised up. Glory to God in the highest! No sooner had the Lord given me my health, than another heavy trial came upon me: we were again exposed to the dangers of a sea-fight. On Sunday, October 3d, 1799, a French privateer, of twenty-two guns, came alongside of us. Our daring Captain hoisted the bloody flag; and side by side were we engaged with the French ship for three hours. At length she made the best of her way off, leaving us in a most wretched condition. O the horror that again filled my mind at the commencement of this action! I cannot describe it. Sickness of soul seized me; the fears of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold on me. I found,' as the Psalmist says, 'trouble and sorrow;' and more especially when I received a message from the Captain, adjuring me, if he and the Mate should be cut off, (as I was the next in command,) to promise to fight it out, and not give the ship into the enemy's hands. This message increased my guilty fears; and I quaked with horror, on considering the probability of my being killed in the engagement. "The firing commenced, and every hand was at work. But O the goodness of God, in this critical moment! He remembered his mercy which endureth for ever. How easily might he have driven me away quickly to hell! But truly may I, with the Apostle, account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.' He delivered us out of the hands of our enemies; and, though we had four feet of water in the hold, and our rigging and sails were in a most shattered condition, yet we had only two men slightly wounded. After great exertion, and by the blessing of God, we arrived once more in Liverpool." "Work being very brisk," Mr. Russell continues, "I laboured at my trade in the docks. But I did not forget that the vows of the Lord were upon me; and, therefore, at every opportunity, I attended the Methodist chapel. I had a secret love for the truth; but worldlymindedness prevented me from complying with it, according to the promises I had so solemnly made. Soon, soon, alas! I forgot my former resolutions concerning the sea; and, when solicited, I engaged to go to the West Indies again, on board the 'Elizabeth.' Accordingly, May 10th, 1800, we sailed from Liverpool, joined the convoy at Cork, and in about four months completed our voyage. The Spirit of the Lord still continued to strive with me, and often would my conscience check me. Again, my conduct drew down upon me the epithet of 'Methodist,' though I rather feared the term, and knew little of the doctrines and practices of the people so called. Shortly after my return to Liverpool, I was invited to meet in class, with Mr. T. Johnson, who took great pains with me. I now thought, if I could but get to lodge in a Methodist family, I should soon become devoted to God, and be happy in my soul. I obtained such a home, but not the happiness I so earnestly desired." Outward circumstances cannot of themselves give inward peace. Mr. Russell was once more prevailed upon to go to sea. The war. continued, and the crew, as before, had to fight their way to Trinidad, the place of their destination. He was a favourite with the Captain, and was almost the only one on board who escaped his displeasure. On arrival in port, the men all ran away, except the Mate and a boy or two. But the conduct of the Captain so affected Mr. Russell, that he resolved, if God permitted him to reach home once more, never to return to sea. At length, after an anxious voyage, owing to their being so badly manned, they made the land in safety. He was taken again to class by his religious friends; and was deeply conscious of his guilt, and greatly distressed with fears, which were now further increased by doubts of the possibility of knowing his sins forgiven on earth. "But the Lord was gracious to me," he writes; "and by the cords of his love, rather than the terrors of his law, he led me on in the search after divine truth." From various sermons, and advices received in his class, he was, ere long, brought to see, that it was his high privilege to possess a joyous sense of pardon. Like the noble Bereans of old, he "searched the Scriptures whether these things were so." While his mind was in this humble and prepared state, he heard the Rev. W. Jenkins preach on the witness of the Holy Spirit. "I went," he observes, "directly from the chapel to my closet. I fell |