1803–1868

Introduction

Born: June 29, 1803, New Lon­don, Con­nec­ti­cut.

Died: May 14, 1868, Ger­man­town, Penn­syl­va­nia.

Biography

At age 14, Brown was bap­tized at Hud­son, New York. He at­tend­ed Ma­di­son Col­lege (now Col­gate Uni­ver­si­ty), gra­du­at­ing at the top of his class in 1823.

He was or­dained at Buf­fa­lo, New York, in 1824, and the next year moved to Pro­vi­dence, Rhode Is­land to as­sist Dr. Ga­no, pas­tor of the First Bap­tist Church there. In 1827, he be­came pas­tor of the Bap­tist church in Mal­den, Mas­sa­chu­setts. In 1829, he moved to Exe­ter, New Hamp­shire, where he had ac­cept­ed the pas­tor­ate of the Bap­tist church.

In 1838, he be­came as­so­ci­ate pro­fess­or of theo­lo­gy and pa­stor­al re­la­tions at the New Hamp­ton Li­ter­ary and Theo­lo­gic­al In­sti­tu­tion, New Hamp­ton, New Hamp­shire.

In 1845, he be­came pas­tor of the Bap­tist church in Lex­ing­ton, Vir­gin­ia.

Due to ill health, he left pas­tor­al du­ties in 1849, and be­came con­nect­ed with the Am­eri­can Bap­tist Pub­li­ca­tion So­ci­ety as edi­to­ri­al sec­re­ta­ry. He ed­it­ed The Chris­tian Chro­ni­cle and The Na­tion­al Bap­tist.

While in Exe­ter, Brown ed­it­ed his En­cy­clo­pæ­dia of Re­li­gious Know­ledge. It was pub­lished in Brat­tle­bo­rough, New Hamp­shire, in 1835, then re­pub­lished in Eng­land.

Other Works

Brown helped write the New Hamp­shire Con­fes­sion of Faith in 1833, a more mo­der­ate ex­press­ion of the Cal­vin­is­tic Bap­tist be­liefs that ex­ist­ed at the time, and was wide­ly ac­cept­ed in the nor­thern Unit­ed States.

At the time of his death, Brown was pre­par­ing a his­to­ry of the Ba­ptists.

Poem

Christian Consolation

Say, stranger, hast thou e’er in life been led,
By Pity’s impulse or Affection’s call,
To the sad chamber and the lonely bed,
O’er which Affliction spreads her sable pall;
Say, hast thou ever drank that cup of gall
Which sin has mingled for our wretched race,
What time the hand of stern disease doth fall
On one whom friendship, in its warm embrace,
Hath bound unto thy heart with each endearing grace?

Yes, thou hast gazed upon that well-known form,
Now slowly sinking in the arms of death!
Thou hast hung o’er, with fond affection warm,
That pale, cold brow! hast watched each gasp for breath,
And traced each change of hue that travelleth
O’er that dear cheek; and thrilled at every throe
Of thy beloved, Death’s fearful hand beneath,
And felt that there were depths in human woe
Beyond what others tell, beyond what others know.

But the dread moment came; and the faint breath
Ceased, and the hand thine own hand clasped, grew cold,
And all the fearful certainties of death
In one dread moment o’er thy spirit rolled;
And bitter tears bedewed the lifeless mould,
And earth seemed desolate in thy despair.
O, say what influence sweet thy heart consoled
In that deep agony? Faith’s holy prayer,
Lifting the heart to Hea­ven—and its Re­deem­er there!

This is thy triumph, Christianity!
And I, adoring, bow before the shrine
Of Him whose lovely image thou must be—
Thy nature proves thine origin divine!
O, let thy holy light around me shine,
While traversing earth’s darkling wilderness!
Then, though I suffer, I shall not repine,
But evermore the hand that chastens bless—
It is a Father’s hand of truth and tenderness,

John Newton Brown, 1821

Sources

Lyrics

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