B R O 



B 



B R U 



Brownijti. sketched* cannot fail to excite the ridicule of those 

 - "v~*- who, from having attended to the nature of medical 

 inquiries, have been convinced that doubt and ob- 

 scurity must overshadow every step of the physiolo- 

 gist and physician, until certain fundamental facts be 

 ascertained, which the present faculties of mankind 

 are not likely to develope. See Brown's /('/. 

 and Life, by Dr Beddoes ; and The Works of D/ 

 John Brown, irith a Biographical Account of the 

 Author, by William Cullen Brown, M. D. (c. M.) 

 BROWNISTS, a religious sect, which owed its 

 origin to Robert Brown, an English divine of the 

 sixteenth century. He was first a schoolmaster, and 

 next a lecturer at Islington ; and soon distinguished 

 himself by travelling through various parts of Eng- 

 land, and inveighing against the discipline and ordi- 

 nances of the established church. Being brought 

 before the bishop of Norwich, he was, in the year 

 1580, committed to the custody of the sheriff of the 

 county ; but, upon an acknowledgment of his of- 

 fence, he was released. This salutary chastisement, 

 however, soon lost its effect upon Brown's ardent 

 and captious spirit ; he returned to his former ambu- 

 latory life ; preached and wrote against the church 

 of England ; and suffered frequent imprisonments, as 

 a punishment for his offences. At length his fol- 

 lowers assumed the name of Brownists ; separated 

 from the church ; and formed themselves into a 

 society, which refused to join with any other 

 Christian society in the public offices of religion. 

 Brown's restless and turbulent spirit soon made it 

 necessary for him to quit the kingdom ; and having 

 settled at Middleburgh, in Zealand, in 1582, he and 

 his followers obtained leave of the States to worship 

 God in their own way, and to form a church accord- 

 ing to their own model. There he might have lived 

 and died unmolested ; but opposition seems to have 

 been more congenial to his spirit. In a few years he 

 returned to England, and brought with him all his 

 former hostility to the church. Having been cited 

 to appear before the bishop of Peterborough, he re- 

 fused to comply ; and the sentence of excommunica- 

 tion was pronounced upon him, as a punishment for 

 his contempt. It is said, that he was deeply affect- 

 ed with the solemnity of that censure ; and having 

 some years afterwards renounced his principles of se- 

 paration, and returned to the communion of the 

 church, he was preferred to a rectory in Northamp- 

 tonshire. There, according to Fuller, he lived an 

 idle and dissolute life, neither beloved nor respected ; 

 and having quarrelled with the constable of his pa- 

 rish about the payment of certain rates, he was, by 

 order of a justice of the peace, thrown into gaol, 

 where he died in the year 1630, in the 81st year of 

 his age, after having boasted that he had been com- 

 mitted to no fewer than thirty-two prisons, in some 

 of which he could not see his hand at noon-day. 



The followers of this extraordinary man differed, 

 not in doctrine, but in discipline, from the church of 

 England ; yet they carried their hostility to her so 

 far as to maintain, that her ministers were unlawfully 

 ordained, that her discipline was Popish, and that her 

 sacraments and institutions were invalid. Nay, they 

 not only renounced communion with her, but also 

 with all other religious societies, whose constitution 



was different from their own. In the formation of 

 their churches, it was required that the member* 

 should subscribe a confession of faith, and an obliga- 

 tion to conduct themselves according to certain spe- 

 cified rules. When they became too numerous to 

 meet in one place, they divided into separate societies 

 or congregations, each of which was accounted a 

 complete church, and enjoyed all the rights and privi- 

 leges competent to an ecclesiastical community. The 

 whole power of governing each congregation, of ad- 

 mitting and excluding members, and of deciding all 

 controversies, resided in the people ; and each mem- 

 ber was allowed an equal share in the government, 

 and an equal right to order all matters for the good 

 of the whole society. No one church was entitled 

 to exercise jurisdiction over another ; but each might 

 give the other counsel or admonition, when at any 

 time their conduct was deemed disorderly, or when 

 they departed from the fundamental truths of reli- 

 gion ; and if the offending church did not receive the 

 admonition, the others were commanded to withdraw 

 from communion with them, and publicly disown 

 them as a church of Christ. It was the congrega- 

 tion, also, that elected the pastors, and other office- 

 bearers of the church, for the ministry of the word, 

 and for taking care of the poor ; to which they were 

 appointed by fasting, and prayer, and imposition of 

 hands ; but reserving always the power of dismissing 

 them from those offices, whenever they should think 

 such a change conducive to the spiritual benefit of 

 the community. For these pastors assumed no au- 

 thority over the congregation, nor differed in any re- 

 spect from their Christian brethren, except in the 

 privilege of discharging the duties of the ministerial 

 office. Neither was that office peculiar to them 

 alone ; for any member of the congregation might 

 publicly teach and exhort ; and many availed them- 

 selves of that privilege, when the discourse of the 

 ordinary pastor or teacher was finished. On the other 

 hand, the powers of the church-officers were confi- 

 ned within the narrow bounds of their respective con- 

 gregations. No pastor was permitted to preach, nor 

 to administer the sacraments, except in his own 

 church ; and all set forms of prayer in public wor- 

 ship were strictly prohibited. In a word, every 

 church, or society of Christians, meeting in one place, 

 was, according to the Brownists, a body corporate, 

 having full power within itself to regulate all matters 

 for the good of the community. It would seem that 

 Brown had wished to form his church upon the mo- 

 del of the infant church, in the days of the apostles, 

 without considering the important changes, both ci- 

 vil and religious, which have taken place in the state 

 of the world since that time, and the influence which 

 these must necessarily have on all ecclesiastical esta- 

 blishments. 



After continuing for a period of nearly one hun- 

 dred years, the Brownists gave birth to the Inde- 

 pendents, who adopted the greater part of their disci- 

 pline. See Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, vol. i. p. 328 ; 

 Mosheim, vol. iv. p. 400 ; and Biog. Brit. vol. ii. ( A.V. ) 



BROWNEA, a genus of plants of the class Mo- 

 nadelphia, and order Endecandria. See BOTANY, p. 

 26'7. 



BRUCE, ROBERT, King of Scotland, was born 



