Bruce,
This
is an excellent find. There were two articles in the PDF from Google. Here is
the text from them.
Jeff
DEATH.
On Wednesday, January 20th, at his house, Bouverie-street, Fleet-street,
London, Mr. John Aquila Brown, for some time past the active and zealous
secretary of the Philo Judean Society, in the 56th year of his age. He was for
several years connected with the church and Sunday school at Jewin-street; also
secretary to the North London Auxiliary Sunday School Union, and a very useful
member of the committee of the Sunday School Union.
Mr. Brown having been much exposed to the inclemency of the weather during the
fire which happened near his house, took a severe cold. No alarming symptoms
were at first manifested, but when, at length, he appeared in some danger, a
physician was sent for; before he arrived, however, the hand of the fell
destroyer, death, had snatched Mr. B. from this earthly scene, and his spirit
had Winged its way to a heavenly abode. From the resting-place of his ashes
will be heard the admonition – “ Be not slothful, but followers of them who
through faith and patience inherit the promises.” –The Sunday School
Teachers’ Magazine and Journal of Education, March 1830, Page 192.
MEMOIR OF JOHN AQUILA BROWN.
BENEVOLENCE is that disposition of mind, which, when genuine, is always
attended with sufficient decision of character to excite the person who
possesses it, to form greater projects, to devise more extensive plans, and to
engage in more arduous labors, for the benefit of his fellow-creatures, than
can ever be accomplished by a single individual.
“His heart contrives for their relief, More work than his own hands can do.”
Such a person contemplating, with the deepest feelings of sympathy, the misery
which exists in the world as resulting from ignorance and sin, cannot suffer
himself to rest in a state of inactivity; but fixing his mind on the
amelioration of the condition of mankind, as an object worthy of his noblest
efforts, he employs all suitable means to afford relief, to the illiterate, the
wretched, and the abandoned part of the community.
An individual of this description was our lamented friend and fellow-laborer,
JOHN AQUILA BROWN. His prevailing disposition was benevolence; his general
plans of Operation were the result of intense thought; and his active exertions
for the attainment of his philanthropic objects, were not to be impeded by any
difficulties, however formidable.
Our acquaintance with Mr. Brown commenced at a time when the North London
Auxiliary Sunday School Union was in a languishing state, for want of proper
officers to attend to the concerns of that institution. A special meeting was
held in the year 1817, in the vestry room of St.--------church, in
Silver-street, for the purpose of considering how the Auxiliary Union could be
revived. Mr. B. attended that meeting, and such a man “could not be hid.” The
interest he took in the proceedings of that evening, and his connexion with a
flourishing Sunday school in the district, pointed him out to the meeting as a
proper person to be elected SECRETARY to the Auxiliary Union; which was
accordingly done unanimously. He with some diffidence and hesitation, at length
consented to accept the office. His active mind speedily set him to work, and
in connexion with the Committee, he revived and re-organized the Auxiliary, and
brought it to a state of efficiency to which it had never previously attained.
Mr. B. took great interest in the establishment of the QUARTERLY CONFERENCE of
Sunday School Teachers belonging to the North Auxiliary, and at its various
meetings he manifested deep interest on every subject that was calculated to
improve the minds of Sunday school teachers, to render the plans adopted in the
various schools more effective, and to promote the prosperity of these useful
institutions.
Mr. Brown held the office of secretary to the Jewin-street chapel Sunday
school, from the year 1817 to 1827, during which period he had the principal
superintendence, and general management of its affairs. His indefatigable
exertions conferred great benefit on that institution, and the rules which he
arranged for its general regulation were admirably adapted to answer the
important purposes for which they were designed. He proposed, and established a
Relief fund, for the assistance of the most necessitous scholars, which still
continues in useful Operation.
In the year 1821, the EDUCATION BILL, as proposed to parliament by H. Brougham,
Esq. M. P. claimed the strict examination of Mr. B. and after mature
deliberation, so thoroughly convinced was he, that, if passed into a law, its
tendency would prove injurious to the cause of Sunday schools, that he exerted
his utmost influence to promote opposition to this measure. He accordingly drew
up the resolutions which were passed by the North Union, and published in in
the Teachers’ Magazine, vol. v. page 100; reference to which will show what
were the opinions of himself and his co-adjutors on the proposed plan, which its
advocates considered as likely to promote general education, but from which Mr.
B. differed exceedingly.
At that time, he spared no trouble to collect an accurate account of the number
of children who attended Sunday schools in the north district of the
metropolis, and who also received education at day schools. On turning to the
Teachers’ Magazine, vol. v. page 168, it will there be observed that nis
communication to the Editor States, “I have now before me the returns from 19
Sunday schools, which contain 3,840 children, of whom are educated in day
schools 1,594, being as near as possible, in the proportion of 41 to 10. It
should also be observed, that by far the largest portion of the day school
children are in the lowest classes, so that those who stand most in need of the
instruction imparted in Sunday schools, would, in general, be deprived of the
advantages which their age requires, were it not for the existence of such
institutions.”
ln the same year, Mr. B. transmitted also to the Teachers’ Magazine a very
forcible appeal which he had written “On the Education of Jewish Children.”
vol. v. page 239.
“The attention of Sunday school teachers has lately been directed to the gipsy
babes, and shall the children of Abraham be neglected? Forbid it honesty,
charity, and Christianity; all our comforts and religious advantages have
descended to us from the Jews; consequently they have the first claim to our
benevolence, O, let it be extended to their young and rising generation; let
the different auxiliaries open schools exclusively for their instruction; let
the Old Testament be the school book, and I am satisfied they will attend. I
speak not at random, for I have four Jews in the school under my own care, who
attend on these conditions,—that they read the Old Testament exclusively, and
return home instead of going to chapel.”
This extract will serve to show the extreme ardor of his mind towards “the lost
sheep of the house of Israel” and will in a great measure account for his sub
sequent secession from several societies to pursue more vigorously the plans
which he had formed and unfolded for benefiting the Hebrew nation in its
present scattered condition.
Mr. Brown, as a representative of the North London Auxiliary, was a member of
the Committee of the Sunday School Union, and during his connexion with this
institution, he was remarkable for his constant attendance at the meetings, and
his close application to the business of the society. While secretary to the
book Department, his exertions and habits of business contributed greatly to
the firm establishment and subsequent good management of the Depository in
Paternoster Row, which has proved so extensively useful in supplying Sunday
schools with suitable books at low prices. To his diligent revision, many of the
publications of the Sunday School Union owe much of their correctness and
excellence. To the cash accounts his attention was peculiarly directed, which
tended greatly to enable the Committee to present clear and well-arranged
Statements to the public in their annual reports. His spirited and
argumentative addresses delivered at the quarterly meetings of the Union, will
long be remembered by many of his co-adjutors. The natural warmth of his temper
might on some few occasions have carried him rather farther, in his expressions
of difference in opinion, than was quite agreeable, but no doubt could be
entertained of the sincerity and uprightness of his intentions.
Whenever Mr. B. was completely convinced that important benefits were likely to
result from energetic proceedings, he was never to be satisfied with half
measures. To prove this fact, he, in the year 1824, was the chief promoter of a
very spirited Statement which was published by the North Auxiliary, and
circulated among the committee and members OF “THE SOCIETY FOR THE SUPPORT AND
ENCOURAGEMENT OF SUNDAY SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE BRITISH DOMINIONS.” This address
respectfully recommended to the Society a revision of its rules, and a decisive
change in its measures. Many of his friends at that time considered that
he was too intemperate in this measure, and though they were desirous of seeing
that Society extend its usefulness, they could not agree with Mr. B. as to the
mode which he had adopted to force the members to compliance with his wishes.
Still they respected his ardent zeal, and the result was, that the Society's
donations of books were subsequently considerably extended, from which
necessitous Sunday schools reaped a decided advantage.
The devoted attention of Mr. B. to the concerns of the North London Auxiliary
Sunday School Union, during the eight years in which he was secretary, will be
evident from the Statement, that at the time of his appointment in 1817, that
Auxiliary reported 5,520 scholars, and 550 teachers, in connexion with the Union,
and in the year 1825, THE NUMBERS HAD INCREASED TO 14,012 SCHOLARSs, and 1,371
teachers.
From the early age of 15 years, we have been informed, that the mind of Mr. B.
had been very sensibly impressed with the deplorable state of the Hebrew
Nation, and his sympathies never suffered him to tum his attention from the
prophecies that he considered had a favorable aspect towards the Jews. He had
on several occasions shown a strong disposition to render any assistance that
he could towards benefiting that ancient people. He accordingly wrote and
published in the year 1823 the “Even Tide,” in two octavo volumes; also an
abstract of it, called the “Mount of Vision,” designing thereby to show that
the period for the re-gathering of the Jews was not far distant, and
explaining, according to his views, the prophecies relating to that event. By
the year 1827, his mind had become so completely absorbed in the subject, and
his time so fully occupied in attending meetings, and carrying into effect
plans which he had devised for bringing to the knowledge of the Jews the cause
of their present condition as a people, and their future delightful prospects;
that having his attention thus engrossed, and his time thus constantly
employed, he was obliged, in a great degree, to cease from his other benevolent
labors, in connexion with Sunday schools, and the Sunday School Union. By this
secession, the cause of religious instruction in Sunday schools, lost one of
its most efficient and arduous supporters; and from that time the Jews, almost
exclusively, reaped the advantages of his disinterested labors.
This was particularly the case since the establishment of the PHILO-JUDEAN
SOCIETY, in the year 1826, of which he was the chief originator and principal
agent. His interest in the concerns of the Jewish nation, and in the prophecies
relating to them, was, however, of much earlier date, and in fact it was this
subject which first called him to the scene of public life. Shortly after the
formation of the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, Mr.
Brown, formed with a few friends of the cause, at the west end of the town, in
the year 1810, the “Westminster Auxiliary Committee” of which he was secretary,
until its dissolution in 1817, when a “Westminster Auxiliary Society” was
formed instead. In connexion with that committee, he proposed and carried into
effect the establishment of a library of books relative to the prophecies, to
be circulated among its members, which, while it served to spread more widely a
knowledge of, and interest in those portions of the sacred volume, which refer
to the expectations of the church, and of the chosen seed, afforded him ample
opportunities for pursuing his own assiduous studies on these subjects. Still
farther to awaken the attention of the public, separate courses of lectures to
Jews and to Gentiles, were at the request of the committee delivered in various
places of worship, both by clergymen of the establishment and dissenting
ministers.
Mr. Brown’s intimate acquaintance, not only with the scriptural prospects of
the Jews, but also with their habits and modes of thinking, led him to the
conviction, that to produce a general and permanent effect upon the minds of
that interesting people, a more enlarged plan of proceeding must be adopted,
than that permitted by the rules of the London Society; which, together with
the change of his residence to the city, induced him to relinquish the part
which he had taken in the proceedings of the Westminster Auxiliary committee,
when it was merged into a distinct auxiliary society. But although, during a
period of nearly eight years from that time, he was not in any public capacity
engaged in the Service of the Jewish cause, his writings, published in the
interval, show that his attention was not in the slightest degree diverted from
it, nor his zeal relaxed. In 1825, at last, a circular, issued by Mr. William
Brooks, of Salvador-house, entitled Domestic Mission to the Hebrews, renewed
his hopes of enlisting the public energies in support of an object to him so
interesting. The result of the first deliberations at Salvador-house, was the
formation of a new society, under the name Abrahamic Association, which,
however, was soon dissolved, in consequence of a clashing of views between the
parties concerned in it. A secession took place, and the remaining members
formed the PHILO-JUDEAN SOCIETY, which has ever since been actively engaged in
promoting the temporal as well as spiritual welfare of the Jewish people; the
former chiefly by its exertions to procure the removal of the civil
disabilities under which they labor, and by charitable assistance to poor Jews,
irrespectively of their creed; the latter by the circulation of the Scriptures,
the establishment of schools, and argumentative discussions on the Old
Testament, and especially prophetic subjects. Mr. Brown*s views were, however,
not confined to the benefiting of the Jews; they extended to the enlightening
of the Gentiles, and he had the satisfaction of seeing the cause for which he
had suffered much obloquy and ill favor, powerfully vindicated in the
celebrated lectures delivered in 1827, by the Rev. Hugh McNeile, at the church
of St. Clement Danes.
A further object soon presented itself to his active mind; and at the end of
the year 1828, he put forth the plan of an institution for the reception of
enquiring Jews, who should find in it an asylum against the persecution of
their brethren, and an opportunity of supporting themselves by some regular
employment. This plan gained ground so rapidly, that a society was almost
instantaneously formed, of whose committee Mr. B. became an active member. Two
houses having been taken in Randolf-street, Camden Town, the Hebrew Institution
was commenced in spring 1829, and at the time of Mr. B’s. death contained seventeen
inmates.
During a fire which happened nigh to his house, he was so much exposed to the
severity of the weather, that he took a severe cold. No immediate danger was
apprehended, his disorder however increased, but such was the activity of his
mind, that with in four days of his death, he made daily efforts to rise, at
least for a few hours, notwithstanding the exhausted state of his Constitution.
At length the ties of nature were broken, and his spirit winged its way to the
abodes of bliss, on Wednesday afternoon, the 20th January, in the fifty-sixth
year of his age. His mortal remains were carried to the grave by Jews belonging
to the Hebrew Institution, at their own particular request, and deposited in
Bunhill-fields, on Wednesday, January 27th; the family procession being joined
by his fellow laborers of the Philo-Judaean committee. The impression produced
upon the minds of the Jews by the intelligence of his death, was very great;
and the officiating clergyman remarked, that during the long period of his
appointment at Bunhill-fields, he had never seen such an assemblage of Hebrews
on the ground. The same interest was manifested by their numerous attendance at
the sermon preached in memory of the deceased, by the Rev. T. S. Miller,
minister of Salem Chapel, on the appropriate text: “Help, Lord, for the godly
man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.”
We conclude with an extract from a letter written by the Rev. Thomas Wood, of
Jewin-street chapel, which, while it bears additional testimony to the
excellences of our departed friend, calls to notice several more particulars of
his useful and truly Christian career.
“I have personally known Mr. Brown about 13 or 14 years, and on October 3rd,
1817, I had the pleasure of giving him the right hand of Christian fellowship,
on his admission to the church over which I am pastor, in Jewin-street. Of his
zeal, his activity, his tact for business, his liberality, &c. &c. in
promoting the cause of Christ amongst us for a number of years, I cannot speak
too highly, nor recollect without the highest admiration and esteem. We took
sweet counsel together, and went to the house of God in Company, with mutual
delight. It is well known, how-ever, that within the past two or three years,
our excellent friend was completely abstracted from almost every object of a
public nature, excepting the Philo-Judaean Society. On that point I had the
unhappiness to differ from him in opinion, and our intercourse of late has been
much less frequent; but at the same time, I believe our reciprocal friendship
had not suffered the least declension. When we could not accord in opinion, we
could exercise Christian candor, and it affords me great satisfaction in
saying, that I always experienced the utmost kindness from him. When he had in
a considerable measure withdrawn himself from worshipping with us, I was not
astonished; indeed, my surprise was, under all circumstances, that he had
continued so long, because our ideas on that very point on which his whole soul
was set, were in complete Opposition. But, I repeat, he acted in that affair,
not in the spirit of dictatorial insolence, not with censoriousness, not as one
determined to make divisions in the church of God; but with the meekness of
wisdom, as a friend, a gentleman, and a Christian. He ever took an active part
in the annual meetings of our sabbath school; and it is with more than ordinary
satisfaction that I have to state, that on the very last monthly association of
the congregational churches in London, which was held at our chapel, on the 7th
January, our deceased friend was with us, both at the public Service and at
dinner. He took a part in the interesting conversations and discussions of the
afternoon; and subsequently expressed himself as much gratified with the
proceedings of the day. But, alas! ere one short fortnight had passed away, he
was numbered with the dead, and separated from all transitory scenes, to hold
an immediate intercourse with the realities of eternity. Of Mr. Brown’s birth,
parentage, and early life, I know nothing, excepting I have sometimes heard him
say, he was a pupil under the late excellent Cornelius Winter, of Painswick.
Under that-reverend gentleman, I trust our deceased friend received those
important instructions, and imbibed those evangelical principles, which were so
closely connected with HIS USEFULNESS ON EARTH, and HIS HAPP1NESS IN HEAVEN.” -The Sunday School Teachers’ Magazine and Journal of Education, April
1830, Pages 227-235.
