Brownlow North – From a Life of Sin to a Life of Service.
With his love for shooting, riding and walking Brownlow North was no stranger to the Scottish Highlands. On one of his many visits to Scotland in 1839 he was staying in Huntly in the North-East and was invited to dinner with the Duchess of Gordon who was a fine Christian lady. During the meal Brownlow turned to his hostess and asked her ‘Duchess, what should a man do who has often prayed to God and never been answered?’ After some careful thought the Duchess replied ‘Ye ask, and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts’ (James 4 v 3). She had seen through to the very heart of Brownlow North’s sinful life and given him the answer he knew to be true.
Born on 6th January 1810, Brownlow North was not the first ministers son to lead a riotous life. His father was the rector of Alverstoke, Hants while his grandfather had been the Bishop of the Sees of Lichfield, Worcester and Winchester. From an early age Brownlow North believed in living life to its sinful excesses. By the age of 12 he was a constant smoker. Soon he was drinking heavily and had a love for gambling. He was known for his skill at dancing, shooting and riding.
Corfu and Paris
After a short spell at Eton, Brownlow was removed from the school when his father died in 1825. He went to Corfu for a spell where his family hoped he might turn his interests towards theological studies. This was not to be for the high spirited young lad and his family sought to pair him up with a tutor in Paris in the hope that he might further his education. Their hopes were quickly dashed when Brownlow managed to win all the tutors money through gambling!
Romance
Returning to Cheltnham where his mother was, he took up his two great loves of dancing and riding. During one winter alone he proposed marriage to nineteen young women. His long-suffering mother had to dis-entangle him from each young lady who was earnest to pursue the proposal from such an eligible young man.
Marriage and Family
After a short spell as a volunteer in Don Pedro’s army in Portugal, Brownlow settled in Scotland where he was popular as a heavy drinker and gambler. Having married an Irish minister’s daughter in 1828 they went on to have three sons although the youngest Fredric died in infancy. This meant that Brownlow had to find a way to support his family. He worked for a time as a Registrar but had to supplement the family income by gambling. It was to escape some of these gambling debts that he and his family went up to Aberdeenshire to his brother in law. From 1835 Scotland was to become Brownlow Norths adopted home.
Training for the Ministry
After the wise remark from the Duchess of Gordon and no doubt as a result of his mothers constant prayers for him, North decided to apply for the Church of England ministry and went to Magdalen, Oxford. While there was an outward reformation, as Brownlow said himself many years later ‘The house was swept and clean - but empty’. He completed his degree and lived an outwardly moral life while in Oxford. It was only as it came to his ordination that an anonymous letter was sent to the Bishop of Lincoln about the excesses of North’s previous life. While Brownlow could have argued that he had changed, he seemed to concur with the Bishop that he was in no fit state to be entrusted with souls of those who needed the gospel as much as he did.
Back to His Old Ways
Returning to Scotland it was not long before he was back into his old ways. He spent the next few years shooting and riding in the moors of Glen Spean, Dalmally, and Dallas. Such was his eagerness for the ways of the world that the late congregational minister of Forres, the Rev W Bathgate, was amazed when he saw people flocking to hear North preach many years later. The minister recalled Brownlow’s complete disregard for the Lords Day and how he used to drive his dog cart through the town on the Sabbath on his way to fish in the river Findhorn.
A Constant Witness
Prior to his conversion it is clear that the Duchess of Gordon was a constant witness to him of his need of Christ. During a conversation with her around November 1854 he resolved to seek the Christian advice of the Rev Edward Blackwell of Amberley, England. Returning from this visit under some conviction of sin, he was soon at his sinful pleasures.
Conversion
During a game of cards in the billiards room, he was overwhelmed by an illness that convinced him he was about to die. He was carried upstairs by his son and laid on his bed for what he and others thought would be his last moments on this earth. As he related much later he thought to himself at the time ‘what will my 44 years of following the devices of my own heart profit me? In a few minutes I shall be in hell, and what good will all these things do to me, for which I have sold my soul?’ (p. 18 –19, Brownlow North, His Life and Work, Moody Stuart, Banner of Truth, 1961). Constrained to cry out to God for mercy, the devil made him think twice because of a maid that was cleaning out the fire in his room. Unable to resist any longer, the broken sinner dropped to his knees and poured his heart out the God who had called him by his grace.
A Radical Change
Mrs North took the unusual step of writing a note to Miss Gordon that she should visit their home in Dallas as quickly as she could. The following day when Miss Gordon arrived, Brownlow North was a changed man. He was in the process of writing to his former associates to tell them of his conversion. Later that night, the household were summoned and he took family worship as if he had done it all his life. Many years latter he re-visited the billiard room where he had been so suddenly awakened. The addiction to smoking that had been with him since he was 12 was cured at his conversion. He could point to the spot where he laid down his cigar on that wonderful night never to touch one again. His great love for billiards was also a thing of the past.
The Search for Assurance
As with many Christians Brownlow North had many struggles in the first few months after his conversion. The devil would drag up his sins and seek to rob him of any assurance. It was during these months of temptation that Brownlow resolved many of the theological issues that he would one day preach with such passion. After spending many hours wrestling with the issue of Christ’s divine and human nature, he came to a very important conclusion. Placing his hands on the open Bible Brownlow North said ‘God helping me, I will stand or fall by the Lord Jesus Christ. I will put my trust in His truth, and in his teaching as I find it in the written word of God; and doing that, so sure as the Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, I must be forgiven and saved’ (Brownlow North, His Life and Work, p 26). Having come to this conclusion he no longer tried to reconcile doctrines that were beyond human comprehension.
First Contact with the Free
Church
Seeking to attach himself to a good church, Brownlow left the house and moors of Dallas in March 1855. He moved to Elgin where the Rev Donald Gordon was the minister. The family stayed with Miss Gordon who had prepared a small study for North to study the Scriptures. Spending most of his time here his only break was to eat and worship with the family and to go for long walks. His anguish of Spirit finally came to an end while reading the third chapter of Romans. The great truth that righteousness is ‘without the law’ finally dawned on his troubled soul. Even at this stage during his walks he would give a tract to everyone he met and had no refusals.
A Gift for Evangelism
It was clear from this point on that Brownlow North had a gift for sharing the gospel. He still, however, did not always find evangelism easy. As Moody Stuart once said ‘He always continued the practice of tract-distribution although to the last he often found it a trial to do so. We have heard him say, after he had served the Lord for years it sometimes cost him half an hour’s internal struggle before he could offer a tract to a gentleman travelling with him on a railway carriage’ (Brownlow North, His Life and Work p 34). By July 1856 he was preaching in the Free Churches of Dallas and Forres. By the end of the year he was preaching in Inverness, Aberdeen, Forfar, Montrose, Fort William, Nairn and many other places. Many of these places had been his places of sin before and when people saw his change there was a great awakening of sinners.
He was soon a popular lay-preacher in the central belt. On his first visit to Edinburgh where he preached in New Greyfriars, despite the warning of their minister to turn up early, there was no room for the congregation as hundreds flocked to hear him. He was also a regular preacher at Dr Moody Stuart’s church in Queen Street (Free St Luke’s). He also visited Glasgow, Paisley, Greenock and Rothesey in the West.
As a lay-preacher Brownlow North was unique. A comparison has been drawn with other lay preachers such as the Haldane brothers but Brownlow North’s influence was far beyond any denomination. As the son of an English rector but who had lived most of his life in Scotland he had many friends on both sides of the border. He was asked to speak in churches of many different denominations.
During the Free Church General Assembly of 1859 an overture was received that Brownlow North should be recognised as an evangelist with the Church. A Committee was appointed to meet with North to ascertain his theological views. Having discovered that he was a man of integrity and orthodoxy the Committee had no hesitation in recommending to the Church that North be formally recognised. Principal Cunningham was the moderator that year and welcomed him on behalf of the whole Church. He was asked to address all the ministers on the condition of the Scottish church. With his usual boldness Brownlow North spoke about why the Spirit was being withheld from the Church. He encouraged more prayer and even challenged the ministers if they themselves were truly converted.
Revival in Ireland
On the invitation of William Gibson, moderator of the Irish Presbyterian Church, Brownlow North went to Ireland in 1859. The land was gripped by a glorious revival that would ultimately be the means of adding 100,000 people to the Kingdom of God. During his 2-month stay, North preached in many parts of the island. In Portrush one of the ministers spoke of crowds of 7,000 listening to the Free Church evangelist. Such was the conviction of sin that many were up all night weeping over the sight of a crucified Saviour.
One of the ministers of Portrush, Jonathan Simpson said ‘It were worth living ten thousand ages in obscurity and reproach to be permitted to creep forth at the expiration of that time, and engage in the glorious work of the last six months of 1859’. The scenes at Londonderry and Newtonlimavady were the same as in many other places. Thousands flocked to hear this earnest preacher and many were radically transformed by the power of the Spirit. In the space of 2 months Brownlow North preached 50 times before returning to Scotland on the 26th August.
London
Towards the end of 1859, North preached in London. This was to be the first of many such trips to the Capital City. He was given many opportunities to give his testimony in the theatres of east and south London. This was followed by trips to many English and Welsh cities where he addressed vast crowds as well as seeking out small groups individuals.
What can we learn from the
life of Brownlow North?
Firstly we can see that he had an intensity of purpose and force of will. Just as he had flung himself headlong into sin so he channelled all his energy into the spread of the gospel. As Dr Moody-Stuart said of him ‘he was genuine, transparent, outspoken, sincere in his affections and thoroughly free from all that is artificial in his religion (Brownlow North, His Life and Work p. 209). Secondly we see that the Lords hand was upon him. His preaching was mightily owned and blessed by the Holy Spirit. Lastly he was a preacher who preached the whole counsel of God. The converts from Norths preaching were solid converts. They had been grounded in Divine judgement, sovereignty, law, as well as mercy and love.
Deathbed
After 20 years of tireless work, Brownlow North died on Tuesday 9th November 1875. He died, as he had lived on the verse ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin’. He said to a young soldier by his bed side ‘you are young, in good health and with the prospect of rising in the army; I am dying: but if the Bible is true, and I know it is, I would not change places with you for the whole world.’ It was not long before he was with his Saviour who he had served so well in this world. He was laid to rest in the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. As Augustine once said ‘The more desperate my disease the greater honour the physician that saved me’. Surely this could be said of Brownlow North who probably accomplished more work in the 20 years after his conversion than many other Christians achieve in a lifetime.