John Newton

JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807) went to sea with his father at age 11 and later served with the Royal Navy. He captained a slave ship and, by his own admission, lived a life of dissipation and wretchedness. He was converted through reading Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ and the experience of a stormy night at sea. He was ordained an Anglican minister when almost 40 years of age and went to Olney as curate. With William Cowper he produced the historic Olney Hymns (1779), to which he contributed some 280 poems and Cowper, 68. Later, Newton was rector at St. Mary's, Woolnoth, London. He wrote this epitaph which appears on his gravestone in the churchyard at Olney:

"John Newton, Clerk,
Once an infidel and libertine,
A servant of slaves in Africa,
was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed
to preach the faith he once labored to destroy."

His most famous hymn is "Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound."

Amazing Grace

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Words By Brian Wren; John Newton

Amazing grace (how sweet the sound) that saved and set me free! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see! *Twas grace that taught my hear to fear, and grace my dears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first...

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John Newton

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