Volume 3 > Half-Volume 5

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the direct contrast of the modern English school�
he was unrivalled. His works, it must be granted,
like all those of the present times, were far from
being perfect; but it was Runciman's peculiar mis-
fortune, that his defects were of such a nature as to
be obvious to the most unskilful eyej whilst his
beauties were of a kind which few have sufficient
taste or knowledge of the art to discern, far less to
appreciate.
JOHN RUNCIMAN, a brother of the above, was also
a painter of some note, and produced, among other
pieces, "Judith with the Head of Holofernes;"
"Christ with his Disciples going to Emmaus;"
"King Lear and Attendants in the Storm;" and
the "Pulling Down of the Netherbow Port, "usually
attributed to Alexander, and which has the honour
to be placed in the gallery of the Duke of Suther-
land. Of most of the pictures of both artists, en-
gravings and etchings have been executed, some of
the latter by themselves.
RUSSELL, ALEXANDER, author of the History
of Aleppo, was born in Edinburgh, and educated for
the medical profession. After finishing his studies
in the university of that city about the year 1734,
he proceeded to London, and soon after went to
Aleppo, where he settled as physician to the English
factory in 1740. The influence of a noble and saga-
cious character was here soon felt, and Mr. Russell
became in time the most influential character in the
place: even the pasha hardly entered upon any pro-
ceeding of importance without consulting him. After
residing there for a considerable time, during which
he wrote his History of Aleppo, he returned to his
native country, and, settling in London, soon acquired
an extensive and lucrative practice. His work was
published there in 1755. He also contributed several
valuable papers to the Royal and Medical Societies.
This excellent individual died in London, November
25, 1768.
Dr. Russell was one of a family of seven sons, all
of whom acquired the respect of the world. His
younger brother, Patrick, succeeded him as physician
to the factory at Aleppo, and was the author of a
Treatise on the Plague, published in I791 and De-
scriptions of Two Hundred Fishes collected on the
Coast of Coromandel, which appeared in 1803, in
two volumes folio. Dr. Patrick Russell died July 2,
1805, in his seventy-ninth year.
RUSSELL, WILLIAM, a historical and miscel-
laneous writer, was the elder son of Alexander
Russell and Christian Ballantyne, residing at Windy-
doors, in the county of Selkirk, where he was born
in the year 1741. At the neighbouring school of
Tnnerleithen he acquired a slender knowledge of
Latin and Greek, and having removed in 1756 to
Edinburgh, he there studied writing and arithmetic
for about ten months. This completed the amount
of his school education. He now commenced an
apprenticeship of five years under Messrs. Martin &
Wotherspoon, booksellers and printers, during which
period he added considerably to his stock of know-
ledge by private study. At the end of his apprentice-
ship he published a selection of modern poetry, which
was thought judicious, and helped to extend the
reputation of Gray and Shenstone in his native coun-
try. In 1763, while working as a journeyman printer,
he became a member of a literary association styled
the Miscellaneous Society, of which Mr. Andrew
Dalzell, afterwards Professor of Greek in the Edin-
burgh university, and Mr. Robert Liston, afterwards
Sir Robert and ambassador at Constantinople, were
also members. To these two gentlemen he sub-
mitted a translation of Crebillon's Rhadamisthe et
Zenobie, which, after their revisal, was presented to
Garrick, but rejected. Not long after he seems to
have formed an intimacy with Patrick Lord Elibank,
who invited him to spend some time at his seat in
East Lothian, and encouraged him in the prosecu-
tion of a literary career. He therefore relinquished
his labours as a printer; and after spending a con-
siderable time in study at his father's house in the
country, set out, in May, 1767, for London. Here
he was disappointed in his best hopes, and found it
necessary to seek subsistence as corrector of the
press to Mr. Strachan, the celebrated printer. While
prosecuting this employment he published several
essays in prose and verse, but without arresting
popular attention. His Sentimental Tales appeared
in 1770; his Fables, Sentimental and Moral, and
translation of Thomas' Essay on the Character of
Women, in 1772; and his Julia, a poetical romance,
in 1774. Other pieces were scattered throughout
the periodical works. His success was nevertheless
such as to enable him to give up his office at the
press, and depend upon his pen for subsistence.
After an unsuccessful History of America, he pro-
duced in 1779  first two volumes of the work
by which alone his name has been rescued from
oblivion�the History of Modern Europe: the three
remaining volumes appeared in 1784.
This has ever since been reckoned a useful and
most convenient work on the subject which it treats,
"It possesses," says Dr. Irving, with whose opinion
we entirely concur, "great merit, as a popular view
of a very extensive period of history. The author
displays no inconsiderable judgment in the selection
of his leading incidents, and in the general arrange-
ment of his materials; and he seems to have studied
the philosophy of history with assiduity and success.
His narrative is always free from languor; and his
liberal reflections are conveyed in a lively and elegant
style." Dr. Irving states that, in the composition of
each volume of this book, the author spent twelve
months. He closed the history with the peace of
Paris in 1763; and it has been continued to the close
of the reign of George IV. by Dr. Coote and other
writers.
Mr. Russell's studies were interrupted for a while
in 1780, by a voyage to Jamaica, which he undertook
for the purpose of recovering some money left there
by a deceased brother. In 1787 he married Miss
Scott, and retired to a farm called Knottyholm, near
Langholm, where he spent the remainder of his days
in an elegant cottage on the banks of the Esk. In
1792 he received the degree of Doctor of Laws from
St. Andrews, and in the ensuing year published the
first two volumes of a History of Ancient Europe,
which is characterized by nearly the same qualities
as the former work. He did not live, however, to
complete this undertaking, being cut off by a sudden
stroke of palsy, December 25, 1793. He was buried
in the churchyard of the parish of Westerkirk. This
accomplished writer left a widow and a daughter.
Dr. Russell was a man of indefatigable industry.
Before he had perfected one scheme another always
presented itself to his mind. Besides two complete
tragedies, entitled Pyrrhus and Zenobia, he left
behind him an analysis of Bryant's Mythology, and
the following unfinished productions : I. The Earl
of Strafford, a tragedy. 2. Modern Life, a comedy.
3. The Love Marriage, an opera. 4. Human Happi-
ness, a poem intended to have been composed in four
books. 5. -A Historical and Philosophical View of
the Progress of Mankind in the Knowledge of the
Terraqueous Globe. 6. The History of Modern
Europe, Part III., from the Peace of Paris in 1763,