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| John Newton from the Abolition Project http://abolition.e2bn.org |
The hymn Amazing Grace is likely the most beloved hymn in the world. For the
Christian the hymn reveals the profound changes wrought in the human heart
through the supernatural grace of God. The
song has a wide appeal which breaks boundaries of class, race, and language as
translations of the hymn allowed it to spread worldwide. The image of
undeserved rescue appeals to others outside of Christianity.The
hymn offers a glimpse into the life of the author who served as a slave ship
captain only to experience a religious conversion which eventually took him to
the Anglican priesthood. The first stanza exposes the innermost feelings of
John Newton as his religious encounter changes his outlook on life but touches
the struggles all face.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
An examination of John Newton as a slave trader
provides details that parallel with the internal struggles reflected in the
hymn. The goal of this paper is to examine Newton’s years as a captain of a
slave ship and the role it played in his position as a pastor and involvement
in the abolitionist movement.
The
life of John Newton begins in 1725 in the neighborhood of Wapping an area of
East London near the Docks. His father, John Newton Sr., was a ship captain
engaged in Mediterranean trade. During his early childhood, his mother was the highest
influence in his young life. His mother Elizabeth was a Nonconformist who
taught Newton to read and memorize large portions of Scripture, catechisms,
hymns, and poems.[1] His mother especially preferred the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the
hymns of Isaac Watts. While the influence of his mother was profound, her death
of tuberculosis just short of Newton’s seventh birthday left him adrift. His
father remarried, and his stepmother’s attentions
focused on her own children leaving
Newton to feel neglected.
At
the age of eleven, Newton sailed the Mediterranean with his father for the
first of six voyages. The “distance and severity” of Newton Sr. intimidated
Newton causing discouragement and isolation.[2] At
the age of fifteen, Newton’s father found Him a position as an agent in Jamaica
but before the scheduled departure Newton visited some relatives of his mother
in Kent. The time spent with the Catlett family brought relief to the isolation
Newton felt. While there he fell in love with the older Catlett daughter Mary,
a relationship which steered him away from work in Jamaica. He made one voyage
to Venice, but upon his return, Newton faced impressment upon the HMS Harwich. The Harwich’s destination was a five-year
voyage to the East Indies, and the thought of being absent for such a long
journey troubled Newton.
With
his father’s influence, Newton was made a midshipman but deserted after an
assignment with a landing party. Captured the next day he was imprisoned and
placed in irons.
They brought me back to Plymouth, I walked through the
streets guarded like a felon.-My heart
was full of indignation, shame, and fear.-I was confined two days in the
guard-house, then publicly stripped and whipped; after which I was degraded from my office, and all my former
companions forbidden to show me the least favour,
or even to speak to me.[3]
Foremost in Newton’s mind was the separation from
his beloved Mary. The separation drove him to depression.
Yet I think
nothing I felt or feared distressed me so much as to see my self this forcibly
torn away from the object of my affections, under a great improbability of
seeing her again, and a much greater of returning in such a manner as would
give me hopes of seeing her mine. Thus I was as miserable on all hands as could
well be imagined. My breast was filled with
the most excruciating passions, eager desires, bitter rage, and black despair.[4]
Newton’s despair was so great that violent
thoughts came to mind and he contemplated murdering the captain but restrained
himself when he worried what Mary would think of his actions.[5]
After
the Harwich landed on the island of
Madeira off the coast of Africa, Newton took the opportunity to leave. While
lying in his bunk, he learned of an exchange of sailors between the Harwich and
a slave ship heading for Guinea. Seeing an opportunity, Newton convinced the
captain to include him among those exchanged. His new captain acquainted with
Newton’s father treated Newton with respect. Yet
Newton used this as an opportunity to express his vilest impulses.
That I now might be as abandoned as I pleased, without any
control and from this time I was exceedingly vile indeed, little if any thing short of that animated description of
an almost irrecoverable state, which we have in 2 Pet. ii. 14. I have not only
sinned with a high hand myself, but made it my study to tempt and seduce others
upon every occasion.[6]
An examination of 1 Peter 2:14 demonstrates the
full depravity engaged by Newton. “They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable
for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed.
Accursed children!”[7] Since Newton’s only
opportunity for adultery was among slaves one can reasonably deduce that Newton raped and sexually assaulted the
slaves captive on the ship. Newton likely avoided writing a fuller account of
his actions in an attempt to avoid embarrassment to his wife. [8]
While
onboard the ship Newton met a man named Clow
who owned a plantation on an island off the west coast of Africa. Impressed
with Clow’s wealth Newton placed himself in his service. Newton hoped to follow the example of Clow into
a life of wealth and influence. [9] Instead
of employment as a mentor, Newton found himself treated
like a prisoner by Clow and his African mistress. Reduced to starvation
and sickness, Newton’s master shackled him. Hoping for an escape, Newton sent multiple letters to his father with the hope of
escaping his miserable condition. His
ordeal did not end until another slave trader requested Newton as an
apprentice. Newton served as a middleman between African and European traders
while becoming more comfortable in Western Africa. Newton describes himself as,
“wretch enough to think myself happy.” [10]
During this time its likely that Newton had an African mistress as he indicates
the temptations of going native. [11] Newton
admits his growing “licentious,” his temptation
to become “black,” and his closer “engagements with the inhabitants.”[12]
It appears that Newton not only took a mistress the likelihood that he had
multiple relationships is a strong possibility. As a European, the probability
that these relationships were compulsive is highly likely.
While
Newton began to enjoy his African employment, the letters sent to his father
brought results. The slave ship Greyhound
arrived with instructions to provide Newton with passage back to England.
Hesistant to leave Africa, Newton relented when the prospect of a reunion with
his beloved Mary became a possibility, so he joined the ship’s company as a
passenger.
On
the night of March 21, 1748, Newton woke from his sleep by a violent storm
which threatened to sink the Greyhound.
Manning the pumps, Newton began praying in panic. The captain superstitiously believed
Newton was the cause of their peril and believed that throwing him overboard
would save the ship and crew.[13]
Newton though became convinced that their deliverance originated from God.
About this time I began to know, that there
is a God that hears and answers prayer. How many times has he appeared for me
since this great deliverance! Yet, alas! how distrustful and ungrateful is my
heart unto this hour![14]
After
arrival in England, Newton journeyed to the Catlett family to inquire about a
future with Mary. Hoping for a promise of marriage Newton found that his low
financial status was an obstacle for both Mary and her father. [15]
Looking for a chance to earn enough to win Mary’s hand in marriage, Newton
signed with his father’s friend Joseph Manesty a merchant in Liverpool as the
First Mate on the slave ship the Brownlow.
In spite of the new change in his religious outlook, Newton showed no hesitation
in joining a voyage in the slave trade.
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| 'A Liverpool slave ship' by William Jackson from http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk |
During
this period, Liverpool emerged as the leading center of the slave trade in the
Eighteenth century, and Manesty rose as a principal trader in slaves. Between
1745 and 1758, Manesty’s ships operated throughout West Africa. With ownership
of nine ships and minority ownership of numerous others, Manesty reaped massive
profits from the Atlantic slave trade.[16]
Manesty ordered multiple ships from New England shipbuilder, John Bannister
largely because he desired the quality white oaks found in New England. Manesty
was quite specific in his requirements. The vessels were to be,
“Square stern’d, 58 feet in length, 22 feet
in width, and 10 feet deep in the hold, with a height of “5 feet twixt Decks”
for the incarceration of the enslaved. The main mast was to be 60 feet long,
the main yard 44 feet, the main topmast 30 feet; “all the other Masts and Yards
in proportion.”[17]
Mannesty desired sturdy and strong vessels ready
to defend themselves against privateers, so he ordered
his ships equipped with cannon as well as ships built for speed to reduce the
time needed to cross the Atlantic.[18]
Engaged in Manesty’s employ, Newton became involved in a trade that brought ever-increasing
profits to merchants like Manesty and hope for riches for seamen like Newton.
The
Brownlow sailed down the coast of
West Africa collecting slaves until it was full and ready for the voyage to
Charleston, South Carolina. Going ashore, Newton was required to purchase
slaves for sale in the American colonies. Instead of purchasing slaves in one
location the Brownlow traded for slaves in different locations to ensure that
the slaves ethnically diverse and less likely to unite against the crew. After purchase, the slaves received a brand with
initials “JM” indicating that they were the property of Joseph Manesty’s
company destined for a life of hard servitude in the Americas.[19]
After
more than a year of service on the Brownlow,
Newton returned to Liverpool ready for a
captaincy of his own. With his salary from the Brownlow he was ready to approach the Mr. Catlett for Mary’s hand
in marriage after seven years of courtship. Newton and Mary Catlett became
husband and wife in Kent at St. Margaret’s Church. Marriage increased financial pressure upon Newton, so he returned
to Liverpool after three months of marriage where he took command of the Duke of Argylle at the age of twenty-four. From 1750 to 1754 Newton was
captain on three slave voyages. He took
charge of the Duke of Argylle on his
first journey and commanded the African
on his second and third voyages.
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| http://www.slaverysite.com |
Newton saw no conflict between the slave trade and his new found Christian faith. Slavery and the Atlantic slave trade was a legitimate enterprise during the Eighteenth Century. During his expeditions, Newton studied Latin, meditated on his Bible, read religious works, and conducted religious services for the crew.[20] While working a First mate, Newton busily worked on deck keeping order and arranging trade on the coast of Africa but as captain, he found opportunities for reading and study. The practices of captains varied in regards to their daily activities. Most remained aloof and separate with most remaining in their quarters and avoiding close contact with the slaves.[21] Newton began a study of Latin and engaged in a serious study of classical Latin works such as Livy, Caesar, and Sallust. He also engaged in a serious study of the Scriptures, saying, “the Lord was pleased to draw me nearer to himself, and to give me a fuller view of the pearl of great price, the inestimable treasure hid in the field of the Holy Scriptures.”[22] But Newton’s growing Christian faith did not prevent him from carrying out the typical duties of a slave captain. At this stage of his life Newton saw his role as a slave ship captain as a “godly calling.”[23]
In
comparison to the typical slave ship captain, Newton may have been kinder than most. But Newton still carried out the
typical cruel punishments on both slaves and crew. Newton did not hesitate to use irons or whips when administering discipline and punishment to his crew.
Slave
mutinies were a constant concern for all slave ship captains and Newton was no
different. Upon hearing of a possible mutiny among the boy slaves, Newton had
four of the leaders punished with thumbscrews and neck yokes. [24] On
one occasion aboard the African, a slave
committed suicide by jumping overboard[25]
Suicide among the slaves became more difficult as Newton had the slaves chained and nets placed around the edge of the deck to prevent suicide.[26] In
addition to jumping overboard, slaves participated in hunger strikes in an
attempt to stave themselves to death. Sometimes this was done by individuals
but often groups of slaves organized hunger strikes together. In response
funnels forcibly poured the food down the throats of slaves.[27]
After more than two months at sea, Newton took notice of a group of formerly rebellious slaves after receiving their punishment.
One circumstance I cannot but set down here
and which I hope I shall always take pleasure in ascribing to the helping of
the God of peace, I mean the remarkable good disposition of the men slaves… I
was first continually alarmed with their almost desperate attempts to make insurrections
upon us… when most quiet they were always watching for opportunity. However
from about the end of February they have behaved more like children in one
family, than slaves in chains and irons… it is true we were not wanting in such
methods of guarding against them as custom and prudence suggest, but I hope I
shall never be weak and vain enough to think such a guard sufficient: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman
waketh but in vain, the same may be said of a ship in any circumstances and
it is more observably true of a Guineaman.[28]
The long, cramped voyage was especially excruciating for enslaved Africans who could
spend as much as six months on board as the ship traded for more slaves and
then another six to ten weeks aboard as the ship crossed the Atlantic. Captains
and crew all knew that their human cargo would attempt
to escape at the first possible moment so the captain used “brute force”
as his most reliable instrument of
control.[29] Newton was no different
than other captains of his time in the use of force and punishment. Long after
his days as a slave ship captain Newton
recognized the cruelty of the punishments he lashed out.
I have seen them sentenced to unmerciful whippings, continued
till the poor creatures have not had power
to groan under their misery, and hardly a sign of life has remained. I have
seen them agonizing for hours, I believe for days together, under the torture
of the thumbscrews ; a dreadful engine, which,
if the screw be turned by an unrelenting
hand, can give intolerable anguish.[30]
Despite
the punishments, the crew received Newton still recognized their basic humanity but
slaves were a different matter. It is unclear how Newton during his years as
captain regarded the humanity of Africans. He never recognized slaves by their African or allotted names but only by
their numbers. On August 24, 1753, Newton
wrote in his journal, “…Shaved the slaves’ fore heads. Buryed a man boy (No.
192) of a pleurisy…”[31]
While it may be impossible to know if Newton believed if Africans possessed a
soul or if they were made in God’s image, it is evident that he dehumanized his
captives. He referred to his captives as chattel and treating them like
livestock.[32] While
Newton evangelized and led his crew in devotions, there is no sign that he
attempted any missionary efforts among his human cargo. His failure to regard
Africans as fully human not only caused him to disregard their freedom but also
directed his theology.
Conditions
aboard the ship were horrific and
sickening. Slaves arrived on board naked and
shackled in pairs. They slept on
the hard wooden floor or a raised platform without
any protection against the cold. The intolerable
smell originated from human waste, crowded humanity, and decaying human flesh. [33]
Former slave Olaudah Equiano describes his own experience abroad a slave ship,
The closeness of the place and the heat of
the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each
had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced copious
perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for respiration from a variety
of loathsome smells, and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many
died, thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of
their purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling
of the chains, now become insupportable, and the filth of the necessary tubs,
into which the children often fell and were almost suffocated. The shrieks of
the women and the groans of the dying rendered the whole a scene of horror
almost inconceivable.[34]
The
conditions on board the ship were not only cruel and inhumane but caused many
slaves to find themselves shackled next to a dead body. With poor nutrition,
air quality, and dark, damp living quarters then the high rates of sickness and
death are no surprise. Newton describes the cruel living conditions in his Thoughts upon the
African Slave Trade.
The heat and smell of these rooms, when the weather will not
admit of the slaves being brought upon
deck, and of having their rooms cleaned
every day, would be almost insupportable to a person not accustomed to them. If
the slaves and their rooms can be constantly
aired, and they are not detained too long on board, perhaps there are
not many die ; but the contrary is often
their lot. They are kept down, by the weather, to breathe a hot and corrupted
air, sometimes for a week: this, added to the galling of their irons, and the
despondency which seizes their spirits when thus confined, soon becomes fatal.
And every morning, perhaps, more instances than one are found, of the living
and the dead, like the captives of Meaentius,
fastened together.[35]
Diseases were often a problem on
the slave ships and Newton experienced these same maladies. On January 9, 1751
during his first voyage aboard the Duke of Argyle, a female slave Newton
identified as No. 11 died of a “lethargick
disorder.” Dreading that her condition would spread, Newton ordered that the
rooms to be “scraped, then smoked the ship with tar, tobacco and brimstone, afterwards
washed with vinegar.” But the spread of
the sickness was not halted by Newton’s intervention. On January 11 the ship’s
carpenter Andrew Corrigal died followed by slaves No. 6 a boy, No. 27 a man,
and No. 33 another man.[36]
The experience of women onboard a slave ship was a terrifying
experience for captured women and girls. Slave
ship crews regularly sexually assaulted captured women. Women and girls separated
from the men made easy targets for predators among the crew. Newton vividly
explains the predicament African women found themselves. Perhaps no part of the
distress affects a feeling mind more, than the treatment to which the women are
exposed. But the enormities frequently committed in an African ship, though
equally flagrant, are little known here, and are considered there, only as
matters of course. When the women and girls are taken on board a ship, naked,
trembling, terrified, perhaps almost exhausted with cold, fatigue, and hunger,
they are often exposed to the wanton rudeness of white savages. The poor
creatures cannot understand the language they hear, but the looks and manner of
the speakers are sufficiently intelligible. In imagination, the prey is
divided, upon the spot, and only reserved till opportunity offers. Where
resistance or refusal, would be utterly in vain; even the solicitation of
consent is seldom thought of. But I forbear,—This is not a subject for
declamation. Facts like these, so certain and so numerous, speak for
themselves. Surely, if the advocates for the Slave Trade attempt to plead for
it, before the wives and daughters of our happy land, or before those who have
wives or daughters of their own, they must lose their cause.[37]
The
destination for most of Newton’s captives was the Caribbean where slaves
labored on the sugar plantations. The mortality rate for slaves in the
Caribbean was amazingly high with many not living more than nine years after
arrival. Newton reports this sad fact by repeating what a planter in Antigua reported
to him.
Whether, to appoint them moderate work, plenty of provision, and such treatment as might enable
them to old age? Or, By rigorously straining their strength to the utmost, with little
relaxation, hard fare, and hard usage, to wear them out before they became
useless, and unable to do service; and then, to buy new ones, to fill up their
places?[38]
The man from Antigua honestly admitted to Newton
that it was cheaper to work a slave to death than to treat him decently and
allow him to work and live a long life. Purchasing
a new slave from Africa was cheaper after the older one worked to death.
Newton expressed great pride
in his third voyage because unlike his first journey as captain when sixty-two
slaves died, he lost no slaves or crew on his third voyage aboard the African. After his return to Liverpool
and a visit with his wife Mary, Newton planned a
fourth voyage aboard the ship, the Bee.
Two days before his scheduled journey while drinking tea with his wife, Newton
an epileptic fit came upon him rendering him unfit to captain a ship. Newton believed the circumstances were providential.
He expressed no regrets about his involvement in the slave trade but called it
a “genteel” profession with potential for substantial profit. But Newton begins
to betray a possible movement in his
conscience. He admits that the Lord sees that “a large increase of wealth would not
be good for me.” But he directs his prayers toward God asking for a “more
humane calling.”[39] Perhaps Newton’s
conscience is beginning to show fault lines regarding his days as a slave ship
captain which will bear fruit as he participates in the British abolitionist
movements in future years.
For
those who treasure John Newton’s hymn Amazing
Grace a fuller understanding of his role in the slave trade can be
troubling. Stephen Vincent Benet in his poem John Brown’s Body describes a
slave ship captain much like Newton. William E. Phipps in his book, Amazing
Grace in John Newton explains the relevance of Benet’s poem to Newton.
That narrative poem begins with a description of a slave-ship
captain who spent much of his time studying the Bible and avoiding the stench
below deck. His crew composed a shanty containing this line about their
skipper: “He traded in niggers and loved his Savior.” Liking the song the
captain chimed in: “The pays’s good pay,
but it’s the Lord’s work, too.”[40]
The poem reflects the fact Newton’s motive in the
slave trade was financial security and
the opportunity for wealth the slave
trade offered. But Newton’s involvement in slavery and support for its cruelty
was not regulated to only a few but shared
throughout Britain and her colonies. At
this time there was no significant support for
an abolitionist agenda.
The
Bee sailed without Newton with a new captain but met with disaster as the ship
lost its captain, most of the officers,
and a large number of the crew.[41] Unable
to sail again Newton worked as a tide supervisor in Liverpool. As a tide
supervisor, Newton acted as a customs official inspecting ships and imports.
Liverpool transformed during the Eighteenth Century to a major center of the
Triangular Trade. Working in Liverpool, Newton had an opportunity to hear the
renowned evangelist George Whitefield. Inspired by Whitefield, Newton began to
consider the possibility of becoming a minister in the Church of England. Newton’s
lack of a formal education at Oxford or Cambridge proved an obstacle for
ordination, but when Lord Dartmouth a wealthy parishioner
used his influence to help Newton, he was able to the curacy at Olney in
Buckinghamshire. At the age of thirty-nine Newton was ordained to the Anglican
ministry. Newton served the church in Olney for sixteen years. While pastor
there he published his memoirs, An Authentic
Life in 1764 which through many editions in both Britain and America. During
his years at Olney, he became acquainted with the poet William Cowper who
suffered from periodic bouts of depression and mental illness. Together, Cowper
and Newton published a hymnbook in 1779. The Olney Hymns contained Newton’s
hymn, Amazing Grace, and many other
songs that are still in use today. Afterwards, in the same year, Newton left
his pastorate in Olney for a new parish at St. Mary Woolnoth on Lombard St in
London. The strategic location allowed Newton an opportunity for charity among
the poor and needy. His home hosted meals accompanied with prayer for the deprived and unfortunate.[42]
John
Newton’s ministry began during a period of change in English religious life. At
Oxford, John and Charles Wesley along with George Whitefield formed the Holy
Club. Together they vowed to live holy lives,
study Scripture, pray, and aid the poor and prisoner. Members of the club met
daily for prayer and Bible study. This movement spread outwards from Oxford and
began a movement which impacted England and spread to the British colonies in
North America. The members of this new undertaking became known as enthusiasts
or methodists.[43] These methodists
were the precursors of the Methodist denomination which would arise later.
Whitefield and Wesley placed great stress on an evangelical experience, or new
birth that they believed was vital to the Christian experience.[44]
Newton while never a regular member of
the methodists, Newton became friends with the leading members such as
Whitefield and Wesley. Their stress of a need for repentance, forgiveness, and
the new birth would have a profound influence on Newton which would reflect in
his many hymns, letters, and printed sermons.
During
the first fifteen years of his ministry, Newton remained silent about his opinions on slavery. But his friends
in the evangelical world began to write and speak out against slavery. In 1774,
John Wesley wrote Thoughts Upon Slavery
as an attack on the morality of slavery. Countering the economic argument for
slavery, Wesley contended, “Better is honest poverty, than all the riches bought
by the tears, and sweat, and blood, of our fellow creatures.”[45] For those who doubted and struggled over the
humanity of Africans, Wesley forthrightly maintains their humanity and the
attitude of God toward all His people. They are made in the image of God and
are as much the rightful receivers of His grace as any European. Wesley accuses
his fellow English of worshipping at the feet of Mammon.
FROM the free-savages I now come (the last
point I propose to consider) to the savages in bonds. By these I mean the vast
multitudes yearly stolen from the opposite continent, and sacrificed by the
colonists to their great idol, the GOD OF GAIN. But what then, say these
sincere worshippers of Mammon, they are our own property, which we offer up.
Gracious God! to talk (as in herds of cattle) of property in rational
creatures! creatures endowed with all our faculties, possessing all our
qualities but that of colour; our brethren both by nature and grace, shocks all
the feelings of humanity, and the dictates of common sense. But, alas! what is
there in the infinite abuses of society which does not shock them? Yet nothing
is more certain in itself, and apparent to all, than that the infamous traffic
for slaves directly infringes both divine and human law. Nature created man
free; and grace invites him to assert his freedom.[46]
Wesley’s
attacks on slavery began from influence from the
Quakers who were among the first to call for the abolition of slavery. Wesley
was likely aware of Quaker Anthony Benezet’s 1771 publication, Some Historical Account of Guinea which
contained details of slavery operations in British colonies from which Benezet
argued for the basic humanity and rights of African slaves. [47]
But Wesley had no impact upon Parliament or the influential citizens of England
since those who exercised influence in society and government regarded the methodists as a lower class enterprise with no influence in society.[48]
For members of Parliament, Wesley was an inconsequential figure.
Other
friends of Newton joined in the attack on slavery. His good friend poet William
Cowper published numerous poems
condemning slavery including, The Negroe’s Complaint.” But Newton’s entrance
into abolitionism began in December 1788, when he received a letter from William Wilberforce. The two men
had been close for many years, and Newton
was instrumental in the growing Christian commitment of Wilberforce.
Wilberforce shared a long friendship with prime minister
William Pitt and was an influential member of Parliament. For twenty years
Wilberforce would lead the abolitionist forces in Parliament for twenty years.
In
1788 Newton published a very important abolitionist tract, Thoughts upon the
African Slave Trade. This pamphlet laid out the cruelties of both the slave trade and slavery, but it was in part
confessional. Newton stated within the work, “I hope it will always be a
subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I
was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders.” [49]
The use of the pamphlet became central to the debate over the slave trade as it
became part of Parliamentary debates. Prime Minister Pitt ordered an
investigation by the Privy Council and Newton was called upon to testify.[50]
Within
Thoughts
upon the African Slave Trade, Newton accuses the trade of not only
horrific atrocities against Africans but he also bemoans the impact upon
British sailors. Newton understood the ordeal of the typical seaman from his
own experience. As a former slave ship captain and pastor, Newton understood
how the atmosphere of the slave ship pulled
the sailor into a degrading environment where evil deeds became common acts.
The first point I shall mention is surely of political
importance, if the lives of our fellow-subjects be so; and if a rapid loss of
seamen deserves the attention of a maritime people. This loss, in the African
trade, is truly alarming. I admit, that many of them are cut off in their first
voyage, and consequently, before they can properly rank as seamen ; though they
would have been seamen if they had lived. But the neighbourhood of our
sea-ports is continually drained of men and boys to supply the places of those
who die abroad ;, and if they are not all seamen, they are all our brethren and
countrymen, subjects of the British government.
The people who remain on ship-board, upon the open coast, if
not accustomed to the climate, are liable to the attack of an inflammatory
fever, which is not often fatal, unless the occurrence of unfavorable
circumstances makes it so. When this danger is over, 1 think they might probably
be as healthy as in most other voyages, provided they could be kept from
sleeping in the dews, from being much
exposed to the rain, from the intemperate use of spirits, and especially from
women.[51]
But the
change in Newton’s attitude toward Africans is a sharp contrast to his days as
a captain. Newton now regards Africans as
fully human and expresses sorrow for his part in spreading the misery of their
captivity. Newton continued a partnership
with Wilberforce in working with Parliament to end the slave trade. Newton not
only worked for abolitionist causes but he also involved himself in positive
efforts to ease the suffering of Africans. At the end of the American
Revolution he assisted in resettlement efforts for slaves freed due to their
enlistment in the British Army. Along with this Newton helped form the Sierra
Leone Company with the goal of helping any African who wished to return there.
He was also an influential member of the Eclectic Society which was discussion
group among Anglican clergy and laypeople. Members of this group became
instrumental in 1799 in the formation of the Church Missionary Society in
Africa and the East and sponsored its first African missionary to Sierra Leone
in 1804.[52] Newton likely believed
that the commission of missionaries to Africa was a reproach to those who
regarded Africans as less than human.
Most
contemporary listeners often recoil when they learn the story of John Newton
and his role in the slave trade. Anyone involved in such a ghastly deed should
face a banishment from polite society. The irony is that according to his famed
hymn, Amazing Grace, Newton likely
would agree with this sentiment. Newton says himself as a wretch fully
deserving of punishment. Contemporary singers often retreat from the verse in
which the singer calls himself a wretch. Many wish to substitute wretch with
“saved and set me free” or “saved a soul like me.”[53] This
change distorts the message of the song because when one examines the life of
John Newton you can easily see that he was a wretch. But the song offers one
the chance to honestly examine ourselves and see that according to Newton if
his life can change through amazing grace then there is hope for all.
John Newton
died in 1807 right before Christmas. He lived to see Wilberforce succeed in the
abolition of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Though blind and almost deaf, Newton
continued to preach. As he was passing his last words were reportedly, “My
memory is nearly gone. But I remember two things: That I am a great sinner…and
that Christ-is a great Savior.”[54]
[2] Ibid., 12
[3] Ibid., 23
[5] Ibid., 26-27
[6] Ibid., 28-29
[7] 2 Peter 2:14 ESV
[9]
Ibid., 10
[10] Newton, The Works of John Newton, 37.
[11] Phipps, 15.
[13] Ibid., 50.
[14] Ibid., 51.
[15] Josiah Bull, editor, John Newton of Olney and St. Mary Woolnoth :
an autobiography and narrative, compiled from his diary and other
unpublished documents by the Rev. Josiah Bull (London: Religious Tract Society,
1868) 30-31. https://books.google.com. Accessed 11 Nov. 2017.
[16] Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship (New York: Penguin Books,
2007), 50.
[18] Ibid., 51.
[20] Johannes Postma, The Atlantic Slave Trade, (Westport:
Greenwood Press, 2003), 96.
[21] Rediker, The Slave Ship, 213.
[22] Newton, The Works of John Newton, lx.
[23] Rediker, The Slave Ship, 185.
[24]John Newton, The Journal of a Slave Trader, (London: The Epworth Press, 1962),
77.
[25] Ibid., 75.
[27] Rediker, The Slave Ship, 287.
[28] Newton, Journal of a Slave Trader, 80.
[29] Rediker, The Slave Ship, 212.
[33] Daniel P. Mannix and Malcolm
Cowley, Black Cargoes: A Histry of the
Atlantic Slave Trade 1518-1865 (New York: The
Viking Press, 1962), 104-105.
[34] Olaudah Equiano, Equiano’s Travels, ed. Paul Edwards (New
York: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers, 1966), 28-2
[41]
James A. Rawley, London Metropolis of the
Slave Trade, (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2003), 116.
[42] Rawley, London Metropolis of the Slave Trade, 118.
[43] During much of the Eighteenth
Century the term methodist often refered to evangelicals in general. When
referring to the denomination the word will be captilized but when referring to
the early non-denominational group it will be spelled in lower case letters.
[44] Frank Lambert, “Pedlar in
Divinity: George Whitefield and the Great Awakening, 1737-1745”, The Journal of American History, Vol.
77, No. 3 (Dec., 1990), pp. 812-837. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2078987
[47] Roger A. Bruns, “Anthony Benezet
and the Natural Rights of the Negro” The
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 96, No. 1 (Jan.,
1972), pp. 105. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20090601
[52]
Phipps, Amazing Grace in John Newton,
221-222.
[53] “Revising Amazing Grace to solve
the Wretch Problem”, Ms. Crankypants and the City, http://www.chicagonow.com/mscrankypants/2015/12/revising-amazing-grace-to-solve-the-wretch-problem/ (December 1, 2015)
[54] Rawley, London Metropolis of the Slave Trade, 121.
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