FOR DECEMBER, 1841. BIOGRAPHY. MEMOIR OF MR. WILLIAM JOHNSON BROWN, BY THE REV. PETER M'OWAN. WILLIAM JOHNSON BROWN was born at Wylam, in the county of Northumberland. It was his affliction to lose his father when he was only seven years of age; and his mother, more concerned that he should become a prosperous tradesman, than a meek and lowly Christian, apprenticed him to a man who denied the essential verities of our holy religion. The result was what might have been expected. The unprincipled master abused the supineness of the widowed parent, by corrupting her confiding, but ill-instructed, son: and he, having drunk of the poisoned cup of infidelity himself, zealously. recommended it to his juvenile associates. "The way of transgressors. is hard;" for, by natural consequence, as well as by divine appointment, they are taken in their own naughtiness, and are filled with their own ways." William having been instructed to cast off the fear, and to trample on the law, of the Lord, repaid his master by disobedience, and general negligence; so that a rupture took place, which issued in the dissolution of the apprenticeship. Having formed an acquaintance with a young female, which, on account of the youthfulness of the parties, and other circumstances, was displeasing to his relations, they objected to admit him into their houses, unless he would consent to break it off. This he refused to do; and, to revenge himself on them, he enlisted in a regiment of Dragoons, then stationed in Newcastle. Here he had full scope for propagating his infidel opinions, and for indulging in the practices to which they led. But others had been before him; and the seed they had sowed produced such a crop of corrupt fruit, that he was alarmed, and soon became dissatisfied with himself and his new circumstances. Encouraged by these symptoms, his maternal grandfather bought him off, after having obtained his pledge that he would serve in the establishment of his uncle, Mr. Wilton, of Doncaster. The day when he exchanged the gorgeous uniform of the Dragoon for the plain dress of the shopman, and the dissipating scenes of the barracks for the orderly and edifying discipline of his uncle's family, was a bright day in his existence, and VOL. XX. Third Series. DECEMBER, 1841. 3 X a turning-point in his probationary career. He had been standing on the rock of presumption, and was strongly impelled by circumstances, as well as by his own corrupt inclinations, to plunge into the gulf of profligacy; when, as by angelic ministry, he was rescued, and placed in a household where he saw religion exemplified in the impressive forms of ardent devotion, unbending integrity, disinterested benevolence, and veneration for the word and ordinances of God. With such evidence before his eyes he was forced to concede, that "the righteous is more excellent than his neighbour." His conscience became uneasy; and a fear lest Christianity, after all, should prove true, frequently darted through his mind, and fell with withering effect on his infidel prepossessions. He painfully proved the truth of these awful words: "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." The following is his own account of his early unbelief, and of the state of mind in which he entered on the duties of his new station : "When I went to B, my religious knowledge was both scanty and superficial. My master was a confirmed atheist. This I soon found out; and though, for some time, I had doubts and fears on the subject, and felt many qualms of conscience before I could reckon revealed religion a lie, yet my scruples gave way, and I began to imbibe his principles. I read several infidel works with great avidity, and drank in their poison as the ox drinketh water, till I became not only an infidel, but an atheist. Nor was I lukewarm in the profession of these horrible principles. I fearlessly proclaimed them in the face of day; and boldly denounced the Scriptures as a mass of absurdities, and as the inventions of deluded and superstitious men. I courted discussion in every company into which I entered, and became notorious in the place as an enemy to truth and godliness. My infidelity led me to adopt a train of radical and disloyal notions regarding politics, and the constitution of our country. And here, may I not ask, where is the infidel in religious matters, who is not a radical (aliàs a destructionist) in political affairs? From experience I pronounce infidelity and radicalism bosom friends; or rather, the one is the natural consequence of the other. I was led to believe that our rulers were a set of unprincipled villains and despots; and that a republican form of government was much more rational and liberal than a monarchy, however balanced. Of course, I looked upon the Ministers of the Gospel, especially those of, the Establishment, as designing knaves and canting hypocrites. These, my dear sister, were the principles which darkened and corrupted my mind when I went to Doncaster. Had Mr. Wilton known my whole character, I am very sure he would have had nothing to do with me. I have, however, great reason to bless God, by whose kind providence I was led to such a family. I soon found that my second master was the very reverse of my first. He worshipped that God whose existence I denied; he read and revered that holy book which I despised; he lived as one who was responsible to God for his actions; and he spoke respectfully of those rulers and governors whom I regarded as a scourge and a curse to the land. These points of difference I can now admire; but, at first, they were peculiarly distasteful. If, however, there was one thing which annoyed me more than another, it was my being compelled to attend the Wesleyan ministry. I loathed the Methodists from my heart, and felt it almost insupportable to be obliged to sit and listen to what I impiously considered a mass of hypocritical nonsense: but it having been a part of my agreement, I reluctantly submitted; and happy, thrice happy, have been the results." In the work of conversion there is often a perceptible harmony between the arrangements of Providence, and the operations of the Holy Spirit on the heart. The connecting links of that chain of events which brings the sinner to the Saviour's feet, are sometimes minute; and they are, on that account, frequently overlooked; but to the intelligent and observant eye they are not only visible, but radiant with wisdom and love. While the subject of this memoir was halting between two opinions;-while he was contending with truth, as though she were an adversary, and was, at the same time, afraid to rest in his alliance with error, being secretly persuaded of her hollowness and treachery;-Mr. Wilton was on the point of dismissing him from his employ, having no hope of his conversion, and being afraid lest he should corrupt the minds of the other shopmen. The following is William's own account of the providential interference by which his dismissal was prevented, and his conversion accomplished : "For the space of six months I attended the chapel, and enjoyed all the advantages of living with this truly religious family, without having any very great impression made on my mind; except that the lightning's flash, and the first announcement of a sudden death, filled me with greater terror than I had felt on former occasions. I could not but admit that religion was a more amiable and, on the whole, a better thing than I had imagined; and, further, that it was recommended by stronger arguments than I had conceived; but I was still an infidel. I dared not profess my principles openly; but I seized opportunities for broaching them covertly to the young men in the shop. Mr. Wilton became alarmed; and, deeming me invulnerable to all good impressions, thought seriously of sending me home. At Mrs. Wilton's solicitation, however, he consented to try me a little longer, that I might have an opportunity of hearing a celebrated Local Preacher, of the name of Dawson; who, it was said, had been instrumental in awakening some of the most desperate sinners in the land. He was going to open a new chapel at Thorne; and, though I knew it not, the religious members of the family agreed to make it matter of earnest prayer, that God would bless the opening-services to my conversion. The day arrived, and I was easily persuaded to make one of a large party who went from Doncaster. Mr. Dawson's text in the |