BROWN. 



BROWN, a Julky kind of colour, inclining fomewliat to- 

 wards red ids. Dyers diftiaguifh divers (haJcs and grada- 

 tiuiii of hruvvn, a laj bro'.vii, London brown, clove brown, 

 purple bniwn, walnut-tice brown, &c. 



The brown colours arc blilrc, brown oclirc, Cologne 

 cardi, ombre and brown pink ; which fee. 



Sp3ni:h brow:i is a dull red colour, ufcd by houfc-paintcrs 

 chiefly for priming, and by colourmcn in preparing cloths 

 for pictures and other coarfc work, as being cheap and eafy 

 to woik. It is obtained from a native eartii, wliich is found 

 in the ll.ite and of the colour in which it is ufcd. The name 

 feeras to import that it was formerly brought from abroad ; 

 but that which is uow ufed is dug up in feveral parts of 

 Ennl.ind. 



Tor t'lC method of dying browns, fee Dveino. 



Bkown, RoDTRr, m Biography, the founder of the feci 

 denominated Brown ists, was the fon of A:ithony Brown, 

 efq. of ToUhorp, in Rutl.uidfhire, and the grandfon of 

 Francis Brown, whom king Henry VIII., in the iSthycar 

 of his reign, privileged by charter to wear his cap in the 

 prefencc of himlelf, his heirs, or any of his nobles ; and not 

 to iincowr but at his own plcafure ; which charter was con- 

 firmed by aft of parliameiil. Thus defcended of an ancient 

 and j-efiK-Adblc family, nearly allied to the lord treafurer 

 Builcijli, he was borji at Northampton, towards the middle 

 of the i(jth century, ftudicd divii.ity in the univerfuy of 

 Cambridge, and afterivards became a iehool-mafter in South- 

 wark. Adopting the opinions of Cartwright (fee Car.t- 

 wricht), he determined to form from them what he con- 

 ceived to be a more perfeft fyllem of doftrine and prattice ; 

 and, about the year i5So,he began to inveigh with intempe- 

 rate veliemence and ardouragainilthedifciplineand ceremonies 

 of the church of England, reprcfenting her government as 

 Antichriftian, her facraments as fuperllitious, her liturgy as 

 a mixture of popery and paganifm, and the miflion of her 

 clergy as no better than that of Baal's pricfts in the Old 

 Teftament. In the following year he preached at Norwich 

 lo a Dutch congregation, in which were feveral perfons in- 

 clined to Aoabaptifm ; and having in this filuation gained 

 fome profelytes to his opinions, and cftablinied a charader 

 for fanftity and ztal, he formed a conneftion with a fchool- 

 maftcr, whofe naxe was Richard Harrifon ; and, with his 

 allillance, he collefled a number of difciples, partly Dutch 

 and partly pnglifh, who, difapproving the forms and fervice 

 of the ellablifhtd church, were formed into a feparate fociety 

 under the denomination of Brgwnists. Upon this. Brown 

 was convened before Dr. Freake, bilhop of Norwich, and 

 • ilher cccltfiailical comniinioncrs ; but as he ptrfilled in main- 

 taining his opinions, and behaved in an unbecoming manner 

 before the court, he was committed to the cullody of 

 the flierilT, from which, however, he was releafed liy the 

 jiiterpofition of his relation, the lord-treafurcr Burleigh, 

 who candidly imputed his error and obllinacy to zeal rather 

 than malice, and recommended reafoning rather than harlh 

 treatment, as the moll likely means of reclaiming him. The 

 loid-lreafurcr's letter to the bilhop produced the delired ef- 

 left. His lordlTiip afterwards requelled archbifhop Whitgift 

 to give his kinfman neoelTary inllruftion and counfel ; but 

 Brown left the kingdom, and fettled at Middltburg in 

 Zealand, where he and his followers obtained leave of the 

 vSiates to worlhip God in their own way, and to form a 

 church according to their own model ; a llcetch of which 

 was dr . " 



Dbjctt ot which is to excite the peopfe to with- 

 draw from the cliurch, and unite with him, and to exclude 



6 



the civil magidratc from any authority over ecclefiaftical 

 pcrfons and concerns: the /irun^/ is, " A Trcatife upon the 

 2 ;d chapter of tJt. Matthew, &c.'' in which the author cx« 

 claims agaiiift the abufe of tongues in preaching, that is, 

 again ll the ule of Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, infermons ; alfo, 

 againll the ule of logic and rhetoric, &c.; againR diforderly 

 preaching at St. Paul's crofs, &c. ; and' againll parilh- 

 preachers and hired Icfturcrs : and the third is entitled, " A 

 Book which (lieweth the Life and Manners of all true 

 Chriilians, and how unlike they are urto Turks and Papiils, 

 and Heathen lolk, &;c." 8omc time before the year i ^85, 

 Brown left Middltburg, and came over to En^jland ; for in 

 this year he was cited to .ippear before archbifhop Whitgift, 

 to anfwer to certain nuUltrs contained in a book p\ibl'flK-d 

 by him ; and when he liad been brought, by the prelate's 

 reafoinng, to a tolerable compliance vvitli the church of 

 Englanil, he was feiit to his father in the country, and re- 

 con-.mended by the lord-trcafurer to his favour and affeition. 

 Brown's opinions, liowevcr, were too deeply fixed to be 

 ealily eradicated ; and therefore his father, with a [everity 

 very different from the conduft of the lord-treafurer, dif- 

 owncd him for his fon, and expelled him from his houfe. 

 Brown had now no fettled habitation, and encountered va- 

 rious hardlhips; but at length he fettled in Northampton- 

 Ihire, and perfilled in zealoufly propagating his tenets. Be- 

 ing cited to appear before the bifhop of Peterborough, he 

 refiifed to obey, and was excommunicated for contempt. 

 This cenfure alarmed and humbled him ; and having made 

 his fubmifiion, he obtained abfolution. Accordingly, about 

 the year 1590, he renounced his principles of feparation, 

 from that time continued in the communion of the church, 

 and was foon after preferied to the reftory of a church in 

 Northamptonlhire. Fuller, however, is of opinion, that 

 Brown never formally recanted his opinions with regard to 

 the main points of his doftrine ; but that his projnife of a 

 general compliance with the church of England, improved 

 by the countenance of his patron and kinfman, the earl of 

 Exeter, prevailed upon the archbiiTiop, and procured this 

 extraordinary favour for him. He adds, that Brown allowed 

 a lalary for one to difchargc his cure ; and though he op- 

 pofed his panOi^oners in j'ldgment, vet agreed "in taking 

 thar tythes. PIis feCt, however, long furvivcd his revolt ; 

 and of Its peculiar tenets an account is given under the arti- 

 cle Brgwnists. Brown is reprefented as a man of good 

 parts and fome learning ; but his temper was i nperious and 

 uncontronlable; nor was his^cordift agreeable to the Sab", 

 batarian llriftnefs which was afterwards profeffed by his foU 

 ou-ers. Fuller fays of him, that he had a wife with whom 

 he never lived, and a church in which he never preached, 

 though he received the profits of it : and as al] the other 

 kenes of his life were ftormy and turbulent, fo was hi= end • 

 tor the conllable of his parift requiring fomewhat roughly 

 the payment of certain rates, his paffion moved hinf to 

 blows ; of which the conftable complained tojuftice St. Tohn. 

 who inclined to pity rather than to punilh him ; but Brown 

 behaved with fuch infolence, that he was fent to Northamp. 

 ton gaol, on a feather-bed in a cart, being very infirm, and 

 aged above 80 years, where he foon after fickened and died, 



«',W r'y^'A^V ''^'" ^°^^'"^ °^ ^'' pcrfecutions, and 



that he had been committed to 32 prifons, in fome of 



which he could not fee his hand at noon-day. Biog. 



Brown, Thomas, an ingenious writer, who lived to- 



in Shroplhire, and educated at Newport fchool in that 



theL'a'tin" Cre W %^''"'t ^-"fi'^--ble acquaintance with 

 the Latin, Greek, French, Italian, and Spanilh languages ; 



which 



