A wretch like me

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of the great John Newton (1725–1807), the English Anglican clergyman who once served as a sailor in the Royal Navy and later as the captain of slave ships.

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Eventually he was “saved” and he became ordained as an evangelical Anglican cleric, serving Olney, Buckinghamshire for two decades. He opposed the slave trade, allying with William Wilberforce, leader of the Parliamentary campaign to abolish it. He lived to see the British passage of the Slave Trade Act in 1807.

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He is perhaps most famous for writing hymns, including the ever-popular Amazing Grace and Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken. Let’s all take a moment.

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I must note that Newton is not honored with a feast or fast on the Episcopal Church calendar. All I can say is, quelle typical.