It’s the birthday of slave-trader-turned-abolitionist John Newton (1725-1807). Newton wrote the words to hundreds of hymns, including “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” “May the Grace of Christ Our Savior,” “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds,” and his greatest hit, “Amazing Grace.”
Home sweet home
Bob's sister Hannah
Bob's sister Ada
Bob's brother Otto
Bob's sister Eve
Bob's sister Nan
A baby picture of Bob and his siblings (clockwise from upper left: Otto, Eve, Hannah, Ada, Bob, and Nan)
Bob's childhood home
Bob's mom and dad
Bob in his youth
Bob's cousin Alphonse
Bob's Uncle Ralph and Aunt Edna
Bob's cousin Archibald
Bob's stepbrother Herbie (who really needs to quit smoking)
Bob's cousin Chester
Bob's Great Uncle Norbert and Great Aunt Phyllis
Bob's cousin Saffron (who will do anything for a drink)
Bob's cousin Thorndike
Bob's brother-in-law Vinnie
Bob's cousin Orville, who loves the Green Bay Packers
Bob's nieces Lulu and Bitsy, the biker chicks
Bob's stepsister Eloise, with the twins, Rudy and Trudy
Bob's Uncle Henry and Aunt Rowena
Bob's niece Esmerelda (who likes to live dangerously)
Bob's Great Uncle Arthur up in Saskatchewan
Bob's cousin Louie, the grackle of grumpiness
Miss Screech, Bob's journalism teacher
Bob's nephew Winthrop, who loves sports
Bob's Uncle Seymour and Aunt Bernice
Bob's second cousin Schlomo in Brooklyn
Bob's nephew Baxter
Bob's cousin Darrell
Nigel, Bob's pen pal in New Zealand
Bob's sister-in-law Delphine, who volunteers at the animal shelter
Percy the Pickpocket, Bob's third cousin once removed (the relative no one likes to talk about... every family has one)
The Bluebird of Happiness™ (no relation to Bob)
A pair of boobies (also no relation to Bob, but included for readers who desire titillation)
A pair of tits (in case the boobies were insufficiently titillating)
Bluebird Bitter™, the beer they named for Bob
bluebird of bitterness 
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. —- Suzanne
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Thanks for this.Never heard this famous choir. Unusual in not having soloists. Am intrigued how this became an anthem for abolition. Always felt ‘I wish I knew how it would feel to be free’ more appropriate, think it was written by a former slave.
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John Newton’s experience was unusual in that he got to see slavery from several different perspectives: first he was a slave trader, then he was a slave himself, and later in life he became an abolitionist. This particular hymn is not really about slavery; it’s just Newton’s general reflections on the grace of God.
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He wasn’t a slave. He was not a trader either. He captained slave ships
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You are correct that he captained slave ships; I was using the shorthand “slave trader” to signify one who made his living in the slave trade. But all of the sources I consulted in my research agreed that he was indeed a slave, if slavery is defined as “involuntary servitude.” As a teenager he was captured by a press gang and forced into service in the Royal Navy — a common practice in those days. Later, while a crew member on a slave ship, he apparently made such a nuisance of himself that his fellow crew members left him with a slave dealer in West Africa, who gave him to his wife/mistress (depending upon which source you ask) as her personal slave. He worked alongside the black slaves, was treated as one of them, and was not paid for his labor. By any reasonable definition, that constitutes slavery.
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Didn’t know that. Explains his support for abolition. Thanks
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Wahhh, that always makes me cry. Sniffle.
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Beautiful and haunting. I saw a bottle at the perfume counter—the scent is “Amazing Grace.” So much nicer than “My Sin.”
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