Amazing Grace The embarrassing story of John Newton

John Newton (/ˈnjuːtən/; 4 August [O.S. 24 July] 1725[1] – 21 December 1807) was an English Anglican clergyman and abolitionist who was forced to serve as a sailor in the Royal Navy for a period. He was first a slave of Princess Peye, a black princess of the Sherbro people and then, years after, He became the captain of slave ships. He became ordained as an evangelical Anglican cleric, served Olney, Buckinghamshire, for two decades, and also wrote hymns, known for "Amazing Grace" and "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken".

Newton started his career at sea at a young age, and worked on slave ships in the slave trade for several years. After experiencing a period of Christian conversion Newton eventually renounced his trade and became a prominent supporter of abolitionism, living to see the UK's abolition of the African slave trade in 1807, just before his death.

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Nova Scotia back country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost on the way and, being a typical man, didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and found the funeral director had gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the grave diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play. The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around.

I played out my heart and soul for this poor man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before. And as I played "Amazing Grace," the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together.

When I finished, I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head was hung low, my heart was full. As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen anything like that before, and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."