“And was she perfect?” you ask. Ah, no! She had her strong likes and dislikes. She had her battles to fight, but each year, as her thoughts dwelt more and more upon the Lord and Master of us all, His power to uplift and to save, she grew in likeness to Him, and now she sits radiant in the Heavenlies, enjoying Him who was her life, and who can doubt but that He whom she loved and lifted up will draw the souls she knew and loved, up and up, even to Himself. [[41]]
MISS RUSSELL’S FUNERAL SERVICE
Mrs. Mary P. Ament, who has been closely associated with Miss Russell during the past year, sends the following account of the last loving services rendered to our beloved missionary:
Many friends had roamed the hills and meadows, bringing a variety of flowers—wild pinks, fine everlastings peculiar to Pei Tai Ho, also a feathery foliage, and had massed them on piano and organ before the pulpit with beautiful effect.
Intimate friends went slowly down from the service to Ivy Lodge, the Stanleys’ pleasant home, where Miss Russell had been spending the vacation days and where she died. As we entered the room and saw our friend of many years, she seemed asleep, yet in repose one felt the power of her personality, her high purpose, her dignity. The casket was covered with heavy pongee and lined with cream-white crêpe. She wore a white embroidered dress, and about her lay sprays of cypress vine. Her beautiful silvery hair made her look so queenly!
The long journey to Peking accomplished, [[42]]a large number of friends, foreign and Chinese, awaited us, and next morning followed the flower-laden bier to the cemetery.
There, as one listened to the discriminating words of Pastor Li in his address, and Pastor Wang in his prayer, it brought keen satisfaction to think that the fragrance, the real essence of such a life, was perceived by those for whose welfare she had laboured. Rev. Mr. Stelle, speaking in Chinese, emphasized our opportunity to show our respect for her by seeking the things which she valued. In English, he told us of the comfort sought by the dear friend in the Twenty-third Psalm, which she asked to have read to her the day before she left us. He read the Psalm and offered a prayer in English.
At early dawn the messenger came and, taking her by the hand, ascended the heavenly heights. “And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
These words are full of comfort, but as yet we feel the need of her ministry so keenly that only the knowledge that the same God who strengthened her is with us still enables us to move forward and conserve what we may of her lifework. [[43]]