Newton's Grace (2017) - full transcript

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- Why you!

Hey, have you seen a little
boy, with height like this

with an apple?

- Yeah, over there lad.

- Wait here, ah!

There you are you little blimer!

- Hold on a moment, what is going on here?

- Much obliged Pastor Newton,
now if you'll just hold him,

I'll give him the caning he deserves.

- As a point of personal
privilege sir, no one shall

be whipped in my presence.



- Then you deal with him.

- What has he done wrong?

- Sir, fighting with the
other boys, disobedience,

swearing, he tipped over me stall.

Oh sir, he's a bad seed.

- These are serious charges.

- I'm serious sir, please
stand back and let me give

him the caning he deserves.

- Not in my presence Mr. Chapman.

- Fine, he's your problem,
you deal with him!

, Ha.

- Thank you sir.

- Fighting eh, swearing,
these are serious charges.

You're Ms. Watson's oldest aren't you?



- Aye, she's me stepmom.

- Hmm, well I was about to
go inside for a spot of tea,

would you like to join me.

- Might there be any biscuits?

- Well there might be, let's go see.

So, fighting and swearing.

- You wouldn't understand.

No?

- How could you, you're
the parson and all.

- I think I might understand
much better than you think.

I was once a little boy myself.

And I think by the time I was
your age I had been expelled

from two different schools
for fighting and swearing.

- You, never!

- Hmm, yes I wasn't always
a church parson you know.

In fact I've been a great
many different things in life.

I've probably done things
far worse than fighting

and swearing.

- Like what?

- Well I was a cabin boy on a
ship, I was a ship's captain

later on, I was even a slave for a while.

- Nah sir, you're leading me on!

- No I'm not, would you like
to hear a little of my story?

- Well, are there more biscuits?

- Hah, there might be,
yes, and more tea as well.

Of course it was all a very
long time ago you understand,

but, I don't think that little
boys have really changed

that much do you?

I remember my dear
mother as if it were only

a few weeks ago.

She taught me to pray,
she taught me to read

by reading me the Scriptures.

She died when I was only six.

My father was a merchant
seaman, a captain.

While I'm sure that he
loved me in his own way,

I don't recall ever feeling loved by him.

He soon remarried a beautiful young woman

who bore him other children.

She wasn't terribly
interested in me and so

he was away at sea and I
ended up in boarding school,

it wasn't long before I was
expelled from that school

for the same sort of
trouble you've been in.

- Do you mean fighting?

- Aye and general disobedience.

When I was young I had this
hot core of anger inside of me

that burned all the time,
and it was out of control,

I couldn't control my actions always.

- Aye?

- You do understand, don't you?

It wasn't long before I was
expelled from the next school

for the same thing and my
father decided that the only

thing to be done was to
take me to sea and so I went

on a ship with him when I was 11.

We served as cabin boys,
carrying and cleaning

and doing whatever any
grownup sailor wanted done.

But that burning core of
anger was still inside me,

and when it would burn, I
would always end up in trouble.

- There, suck on that young master Newton,

maybe you'll think twice
about slinging blasphemies

around in me galley.

I took my anger out
on the other boys, the ones

who were smaller than I, and
ended up in trouble again.

But in spite of the trouble I got into,

I grew into a man aboard
merchant ships, and I became

an able-bodied seaman.

- Ship leaves next Wednesday
for Jamaica, we can use you

if you'll sign on.

- Aye sir, I will, I'll be
visiting in Kent for a few days

but I can be back for Wednesday.

Little did I know how
those few days in Kent

would affect the rest of
my life, for it was there,

staying with friends of
my mother, that I met

the love of my life, my Polly.

Her name was Mary, Mary
Catlett, and almost from

the first time I saw her,
my heart was a captive.

My secret nickname for her was Polly.

My dear Polly, my beloved.

She was a little younger than
I, and her beautiful smile

melted my heart and made a
permanent mark upon my soul.

- Mr. Newton, I shall speak
plainly, we loved your

dear mother and held her
in the highest regard,

Mary is too young yet for
any decision, but her father

and I do not object to an
understanding provided--

- Yes?

- Provided that when you
return from your voyages

we will see some signs of
stability and of prospect.

- Prospect?

- Prospect for a living Mr.
Newton is of great importance.

- Yes, I shall keep that
in mind Mrs. Catlett,

and I shall return.

Now I went back to sea
with a goal in mind,

to make my way, to find
advancement, to make my fortune,

so that I could return
and marry my dear Polly.

The beautiful memory of her
smile, of her sweet face,

got me through many long watches
and lonely nights at sea.

But even the memory of her smile could not

keep me from trouble, that hot
anger burned inside me still

and would boil over at times.

- Send him to the surgery.

And you, you're on report,
reduced rations for a week.

And of course I was
a seaman at sea, no different

from any other, when it
poured I joined heartily

in the sins that waited any sailor.

Oh!

But not all
temptations were in port.

- Ah you're a fool if you
believe all that blatter.

All of this can be explained
by reason and science.

Ah there's no God up there,
the rationalists have it right.

- Is that what you do
when you're off duty,

read philosophers?

- Aye, there's lots of hours at sea, John.

Lots of time to think, Hobbes, Voltaire.

They make more sense than a
pack of priests mumbling Latin.

Ah, nothing but superstition
to control the rest of us.

You should read Hobbes, I'll
loan you his book, Leviathan.

And so I too became
a sailor-philosopher of sorts.

Spinoza and Hobbes, often
made quite a deal of sense.

And just as often made
me doubt the simple faith

of my childhood.

One night, at sea, I
fell asleep over a book,

and I had the strangest dream,
one that would come back

to me again and again throughout my life.

- As long as you preserve this
ring, you will be successful

and happy, but should you
lose it or part of it,

you must only expect sorrow and distress.

- You believe that ring is magic?

- As long as I preserve and keep it,

I should be happy and successful.

- Are you knocky boy?

What a simpleton, you believe
anything you're told don't ya?

- It seemed right.

- What's right about it, some
stranger hands you a ring,

tells you it's magic, it's a
talisman, and you believe him?

What a!

Seriously John, how can
you buy such claptrap?

You ascribe magical powers
to a wee piece of metal,

shaped in a circle.

I'd be ashamed to admit such
superstitions to another man.

Don't you understand
that by subscribing to

such superstitions it saps your
own human powers of reason?

Throw it away.

Go on, throw it away,
create your own faith,

take control of your own
destiny, go on, throw it away,

go on, go on, show you're a man!

Aye.

Oh you are a fool, what a
, believe anything

you're told, but now
you're lost, for that ring

contained in it all the mercy.

And now it's gone, at your own hand.

What did you do with it?

- I threw it away.

I threw it away!

- Where did you throw it?

I brought it back for you.

No.

If you're to be entrusted
with this ring again,

you will soon bring yourself
to the same distress,

you're not able to keep it,
but, I will preserve it for

you, and whenever it is
needful, I will produce it

on your behalf.

It wasn't long
before that voyage was nearing

its end and I would be
able to return to Kent

to visit my Polly, as the ship
turned home, all my thoughts

had turned to her and the
prospect of again seeing

her sweet face.

But it was not to be.

Less than five miles from
her house, I encountered

a press gang, these were
the days of an impeding war

with France, and the Navy
needed fresh men all the time.

Press gangs roamed the country
authorized to virtually

kidnap a likely young
lad, and press him into

the service of His Majesty's Navy.

- Run, it's a press gang!

- Aye, he's awake.

Welcome to His Majesty's
Navy, what's your name son?

- Ah, John Newton.

We're at sea?

- Aye, a day out of
Liverpool, you was the last

conscript brought on board,
here drink something,

it'll help you feel better.

- What's the ship?

- HMS Eridge, newly
commissioned man-of-war.

Under the command of Captain Carteret.

We're on our way to France
to defend King and Country.

We're always fighting
with France or Spain,

ever since Eve bit that apple.

- I was on my ways to
propose to my beloved.

- Ah that's a shame, four
years we'll be out I expect.

- Four years?
- Aye.

- Oh...

Captured, carried away from
my love against my will.

Imprisoned at sea.

Each day on the ocean took
me further from Polly,

and increased my resentment.

- Hey Johnny, Johnny,
you got to get along with

the other sailors, we've
all got our crosses to bear.

- Leave me alone!

The smoldering anger that
had always burned in me

was now a fire of resentment.

I obeyed orders, I did my job,
but I did so with a solemn

attitude, in my mind God
himself had cheated me.

Why did you do this to me?

Am I such a sinner that
you just singled me out

for special punishment?

I've nothing to do with you.

But I was no fool, I soon
perceived that I had a greater

chance of liberty if I was
promoted and so I began to focus

all my rage into hard
work and efforts to please

the officers, not because I
had any true respect for them,

but because I saw it as my
opportunity for a change.

So I started to work hard.

Aye sir!

And I showed officers great respect.

- Newton.

Aye sir?

- Good job seaman.

- Thank you sir.

At least to their faces.

Fool.

You wish to see me sir?

- Aye, Mr. Newton.

Your father's a merchant captain.

- Aye sir.

- I've heard good things
of him, he's written me

asking that I consider
you for advancement.

I've spoken to the mate
and he says that you have

been an exemplary seaman.

- I try my best sir.

- That's the attitude, what
would you say to being promoted

to midshipman?

- Aye sir, I would like that very much.

- Didn't think you'd refuse,
so be it, you are promoted

to midshipman.

- Being a midshipman meant
that I was a sort of apprentice

officer and I was set
over my former mates.

Come on you sluggards, get to work!

Do that mopping, I want
that cleaned up,.

Aye sir, set the topsail,
belay the shrouds!

Sails mended, seamen.

While I behaved with perfect
form to my superiors,

the rage inside me often
was taken out on the sailors

who were now under me, much
as I had once bullied smaller

children.

You call that a knot, seaman?

- Aye sir, figure-of-eight.

- It's a throbbing mess!

Take it apart and start again.

- Aye sir...

- Talk back and there'll be
no rations for you tonight.

- Aye, sir.

After some months at
sea patrolling the Channel,

and even fighting skirmishes
with French ships,

we had to put back into
Plymouth for repairs,

and then it was that I had my chance.

- Mr. Newton, while we have
repairs I'm going to permit

a rotational shore leave for the seamen.

I'm assigning you to go
ashore with them and supervise

to make sure none of desert.

- Aye sir.

It was as if the master had
left the cat to guard the cream.

I'll be back at sunset,
anyone not here and ready to

return to the ship shall
be counted as deserting,

and you'll feel the lash.

Aye sir!

- All right off with you!

Here at last was my
chance to go see my Polly.

I wasn't much on thinking
things through in those days

and it didn't really occur to me

that desertion would catch up with me.

- John Henry Newton!

I have a warrant for your
arrest for the desertion

from His Majesty's Navy!

- Mr. John Newton, charged
with desertion from

His Majesty's Royal
Navy, a charge punishable

by death when found
guilty by court-martial.

Or lesser punishment by a ship's captain

as defined by Article 16
of the Article of War.

Captain, what shall be the punishment?

- He shall be demoted
from his present position

and stripped of all rank.

He shall be tied to the
main mast and administered

12 lashes with the cat.

Let each of you witness what
happen to those who desert

from His Majesty's service.

No one shall speak a word to
Mr. Newton for seven days.

No one shall show him
favor, no one shall share

any ration with him, other
than the bread and water

assigned by the galley master.

Are these instructions clear?

Aye sir!

- You got your own now don't
you Mr. High and Mighty?

You got nothing more
than what you deserve.

Enjoy your meal, sir.

- It's healing up, you can sleep
in the hammock from now on.

We'll have you up swabbing
the deck in no time.

- Mr. Jensen.

- Master word to Mr. Jensen.

- Mr. Smythe.

- Master word to Mr. Smythe.

- And Mr. Newton.

- But captain, sir?

- I said Mr. Newton, sir.

- Master word to Mr. Newton.

The captain had
conscripted two gunners from

a passing ship, maritime law
required that he replaced them

with able-bodied seamen,
so that the civilian ship

would not be shorthanded.

This gave Captain Carteret
the perfect opportunity

to get rid of some troublemakers.

- Able-Bodied seamen my
arse, two here with scurvy

and one barely recovered from the scourge.

Well I can tell ya,
you'll feel the cat again

you disobey on this ship.

Aye sir.

- This is a slave ship, we'll
be 18 months on the Triangle.

Serve well and you'll be
rewarded, serve poorly

and you'll be punished, understood?

Aye sir.

- Dismissed!

I came to like many
of the sailors of the Levant.

But the old rage still burned inside me.

But now it was directed
all at the captain.

- That's a sloppy bit of
work there Mr. Newton.

If that's the way you
worked on the Eridge,

no wonder you got flogged.

- Aye listen up mates, I've
come up with a little song

about old Mr. Phelps up here.

♫ Did you ever see the
lines since you been to sea

♫ Let the good ship rock

♫ A benty-leggy captain
with a bent back knee

♫ Wobbling down the dock

♫ Wobbling down the dock

♫ Let the good ship roll and rock

♫ Better call a coward,
or cower up the wall

♫ Wobbling down the dock

♫ Wobbling down the dock

♫ Let the good ship roll and rock

♫ Better call a coward,
or cower up the wall

♫ Wobbling down the dock

- We'll anchor at the Banana
Islands in Sierra Leone

tomorrow, I'll need a
crew of three to row me in

to meet with the trader.

Harkness, Smythe and Newton.

The following day we'll
sail to Bay

where we'll load the cargo.

- I like that.

Staying here.

- You like what you see then?

- Do I, I bet the young trader
there lives like a king.

What's not to like.

What do you think Newton?

- Ah you both are daft.

It might be nice for a while.

I wanna get back to England,

and I wanna see my Polly.

- Smythe, Harkness, make ready the boat.

Newton, you stay here with me.

Mr. Campbell, this is
Mr. Newton, the young man

I was telling you about.

- It's a pleasure to meet you Mr--

- You won't be so pleased
once you understand the deal.

I've traded you Mr. Newton,
you're gonna stay here

as a servant, how do you like
them apples Mr. Funnyman?

- So you've met the lash?

You'll meet again soon enough
if you don't serve well.

You're my property now
Newton, and there's no way

off this island without me
knowledge or me permission.

So don't you go be
getting any bright ideas.

You have to be a servant
for me wife, serve her well,

do as your told, and your
life will be much easier.

But you buck against, and
you'll find out just how

hard a life can be.

You guards, take him to Peyai.

She's always wanted to have
a white man as a slave.

And now she's got one.

- He is not much to look at, is he?

Give him a mat, and chain
him behind the house.

First we must break him.

My defiance, my sins,
had all caught up with me.

I was a slave.

They gave me only a
little to eat for days,

just enough to drink to keep me alive.

- We take the chains off
today, you are Peyai's slave.

Do you understand?

You must do exactly as she bids.

If you try to run away, we will hunt you

and chain you, if you
disobey you will be whipped.

If you try to run away
twice, we will kill you,

slowly, in a way that will make
you wish for death to come.

Do you understand?

- Yes.

Now go
and serve your mistress.

- Ah my little white man.

Oh you must be so terribly
hungry, how could you

have treated my little white man so badly?

Here, let me give you some food.

You would like something
to eat, wouldn't you?

I'm sure you would, I'm
sure you are starving.

The food will taste so good.

She worked me like a mule.

She seemed to take particular
delight in watching me suffer.

Often making me do chores
that were simply pointless.

- Ah, very good, now that you
have placed the logs here,

put them back and place them
exactly where you found them.

Newton, Newton, I want
some fresh coconut milk.

Go bring me some.

Newton, Newton!

Newton!

Where is my coconut milk, Newton?

I want my coconut milk now.

Where is he?

- You are useless, even as a slave.

For a long time
I felt nothing but hunger

and despair, I could never
forget that I was the lowest

form of life on the island,
even the native slaves

had thatched huts to live in.

While I had to sleep on
the ground under the stars.

On the other hand,
Campbell and Peyai lived in

a great brick house at
the center of the island,

I was seldom allowed in the big house.

And then only to do menial labor.

But as long as I obeyed
Peyai's abusive commands,

they fed me a little, and
I regained some strength

in mind as well as body.

One night I lay looking at
the expanse of the heavens.

I began to try and see how
many constellations I could

identify, how many stars
I could name, this became

a nightly game, that became
a private area of freedom

for me, and I began to dream
again of my dear Polly,

my beautiful Polly.

I wonder if I will ever see her again.

Then one night it seemed
to me that a group of stars

formed a circle, a ring, a
constellation I had never seen

before and never since.

It may have been my eyes playing a trick

or perhaps a planet had wandered
into an unusual position

visible from this latitude
but that night I could indeed

see a ring, a ring like
the one in my dream.

- You're not able to keep it.

But I will preserve it for
you and whenever it is needful

I will produce it on your behalf.

During the days when Peyai was in a mood,

I would work very hard but
then there would be hours

of boredom when there was nothing to do.

One day I found a small lime
tree growing near the village,

that seemed much like me.

Beating and starving, despairing of life.

I adopted that little tree as my own

and began to take care of it
to water and to fertilize it.

I found other seedlings and
planted them in what became

my own little garden.

One day, Campbell had me move heavy crates

into the big house, I was
alone for a few moments,

and there I came upon a
dusty old geometry book.

I took it and hit it under my mat.

I began in my spare time
to work geometry problems.

Scratching diagrams in the sand.

Using the sun and the shadow
of my little lime tree,

I calculated the latitude
and longitude of the islands

we were on.

Which were commonly
called the Banana Islands.

Just like the stars, like
the little lime tree, it gave

me something to focus
on, a space that was mine

and mine alone.

There was little that I
could do with the knowledge,

but the exercise did much
to keep my mind occupied

and sharp.

One day when I was tending
to my little garden

and passing the time with
equations written in the sand,

Mr. Campbell and Peyai
walked down the path

and caught sight of what I was doing.

- Newton, what are you doing man?

Are you growing your own limes?

I was terrified that
Peyai, as cruel as she was

would make me destroy my
little place of sanity.

- Well who knows, maybe
one day before those

trees are full grown you can sail back

to England and you can be
the captain of your own boat.

Then you can come back
here and enjoy the fruits

of your labor.

- Then again perhaps he will
become the King of Poland.

- What is this?

Do you understand the mathematics?

- Yes sir, I taught myself.

- Oh, you might not be a
complete waste after all.

Here are a set of equations,
I'd like for you to solve them.

- What is it, a test?

- Aye if you will, I want
to see just how good you are

with these mathematics,
sit down, sit down.

I'm in need of a clerk to
manage me factory at Kittam.

They don't very many people
in Sierra Leone who understand

numbers.

- Factory?

- Aye, it's me slave
trading post, it's where

the Bombo bring the
slaves from the interior

and make them ready for
transport to the West Indies.

My brother runs the factory,
but he's in need of someone

who can keep the accounts,
you will go there,

you will serve him now.

The guard will take you.

- At Kittam my life changed dramatically,

I had new clean clothes
to wear, Angus Campbell

treated me well, almost as an equal.

The Bombo treated me with respect,

inviting me to their feasts.

I thought of Polly often,
before long I had given up

any hope of ever returning to England.

My circumstance had changed from one

of daily despair to one of comfort,

I had all I needed, food,
shelter, clothing, respect.

And even women.

Thoughts of England faded,
and my life in Kittam

began to envelop every part of my being.

The other settlers even
had an expression for it,

they called it going native.

What are they saying?

- It means freedom.

But then came the
day when my entire world

would suddenly change again
as if a lightning bolt

had struck.

- Mr. Newton, a man here to see you.

- Mr. Newton, Mr. John Newton.

- Yes.

- I'm Archibald Gother,
Captain of the HMS Greyhound,

out of Liverpool.

- Ah, welcome Captain Gother,
are you here to pick up

a shipment?

- Not exactly, you see
I'm here to take you home.

- Me, what are you talking about?

- Your father commissioned me to find you

and bring you back to
England whatever the cost.

I've been stopping at
every trading post south of

the Canaries searching for
you, and finally here you are!

- My father!

- Mr. Newton!

- There she is, the Greyhound.

After this, we got two more ports of call.

To pick up ivory and beeswax.

And then we should set sail for Liverpool,

and for you, home.

- Captain Gother, a month
ago I would've told you

I had no hope or even dreams
of seeing England again.

I was prepared to live out my days here.

Perhaps marry a native, even
have my grave right here

in West Africa, if I
believed in God I would say

his hand had brought you here.

- Believe it, for who else can it be?

And so I began my journey home.

Not as a crewman but as a
passenger on the Greyhound.

Freed of the duties I was
used to, I had many hours

at sea to think, to think about my life,

to think about life itself.

It was during these long hours of leisure

that I discovered a book,
The Imitation of Christ

by Thomas a Kempis, I began reading it,

not as a meditational work
but as a work of fiction

and entertainment to pass the time.

But as I read the involuntary
suggestion came to me.

What if these words were
true, what if the faith

of this long dead writer
was in fact a reality

that I simply did not understand.

I could not bear the inference
as it related to myself.

Dimly remembered Scripture
verses came unbidden

to my mind, especially
fearful passages that speak

of the judgment of those
who know the way of truth

but then depart from it.

What if I were one of them?

What if the faith I had
abandoned was in fact

the driving reality of the universe?

What if God's hand had in
fact been the moving force

that brought me to this
point, brought Gother

to Sierra Leone to rescue me.

What if I had turned
my back on the very God

who sought to save me?

I was so caught up in my
own thoughts and meditation

that I had not even been
aware of the storm that

had engulfed us.

- All hands on deck John!

- Mister, hey, get that canvas down!

Pilot down, pilot down!

- Get Newton, get Newton!
- I know where he is!

- God save us!

Thank you.

I thought back then on that
powerful recurring dream

that had haunted my life.

- I will preserve it for you,
and whenever it is needful,

I will produce it on your behalf.

We had survived
the most terrifying storm

of my life at sea.

But more than that I had
a glimmer of new hope,

a spark of faith in my
heart, in my darkest moment,

I discovered a chance of reconciliation,

with a God that I had long
dismissed as mere fiction.

That was March 10th, 1748.

A day that I would mark
for the rest of my life

as the day of my conversion.

There is little doubt that
our very cargo had saved us.

The beeswax and the we carried

being both lighter than water.

The Greyhound was so swamped
with water that we surely

would've sunk if it were
not for the flotation

of the cargo itself.

But was God's hand not
present even in this detail?

As we limped back toward
England, tripled with only a few

sails, I spent most of my
time reading the Scriptures.

Meditating and praying
to the Lord for mercy

and instruction.

I began to see my life in
a different perspective.

The burning anger that had
driven me as a younger man

was now faded.

I began to see that my
entire life was that as

the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

Not in a figurative way, as
most people understand it,

but in the most literal reality.

Land ho!

We sighted land on
April 7th, the Irish island

of Tory, the next day we landed at Swilly.

Finally I was safely
home, after misadventures

that seemed like a storybook.

- So did you see your father?

- No.

See God's ways are very strange.

You see the day I arrived in Liverpool

I discovered that my father
had shipped out only the day

before for Canada, he'd been appointed

Governor of York's Fort
in Hudson Bay Colony.

I never saw him again.

- How sad.

Did he know that you were safe?

- Oh yes we were able to write one another

so he knew the whole
story, but he died there

in Canada and was buried there
and I never saw him again.

However, God gave me a
new father as it were,

Joseph Manastee who owned the ship that

I had returned on, took me under his wing

and treated me as if I were his own son.

He got me a commission as first mate

on a trade ship and I did very well.

Much of the rebellion in my
spirit, the burning anger,

had been washed away in
Africa and I no longer found

myself always attracted to trouble.

My new station in life
secure, I could at long last

go back to Kent, and to my Polly.

My beloved Polly.

After years of remember
her face as in a dream,

I was finally able to marry my dear Polly,

the love of my life.

- According to God's holy
ordinance, and thereto,

I give you my truth.

- With this ring I give you my heart.

With my body I give you worship.

And with all of my worldly
goods, I thee endow.

In the name of the Father and
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Amen.

Before long my benefactor
Joseph Manastee promoted me

to captain, captain of my own ship.

The Duke of Argyll.

The Duke of Argyll was a slaving ship.

So my job as captain was to take the ship

to the West coast of Africa, very close to

where I had been held captive
myself, pick up slaves

there, transport them to
the West Indies, there to

exchange them for molasses
and rum, and return those

to England, that's why we
called it the Triangular Trade.

- Wait, you were a
captain of a slave ship?

After you were a slave yourself?

How could you do that?

- You're a very astute young man.

No I was infant in the
faith, and I really did not

see the evils of the
slave trade at the time.

None of us did, it was
considered an honorable way

to make a living.

- But you were held captive,
how could you do that

to someone else?

- It was all too easy.

You see attitudes are
starting to change now,

but 20 years ago, no one
questioned the slave trade,

well save the Quakers and
a few Moravian missionaries

in St. Thomas.

Everyone in England that
had any money at all,

had it invested in the slave
trade it was very profitable.

And where profit is concerned
we turn a blind eye, don't we?

All I could see at the time
was that as a Christian

ship captain, my job was to
safely transport the slaves

from one port to the other
and treat them as well

as possible, the same as I
might do with a load of cattle.

It wasn't an uncommon on
slave ships for almost

a third of them to die
on that middle passage.

They were kept chained below
decks, fed little food.

I prided myself on the fact
that only a few had ever died

on my ships.

I devised a routine of regular
exercise for the slaves,

so that each day they would
see the sunlight and keep

themselves as fit and healthy as possible.

I insisted with Mr. Manastee
that we have sufficient

provisions so that the
slaves could maintain

proper nourishment,
and not arrive starved.

I did the same with the crew,
I was proud that my ship

had one of the best records
for delivering slaves

in good health.

We only had a few deaths at
see, I felt each one personally

and worked harder on
each voyage to make sure

that both crew and cargo
stayed healthy and fit.

It may not seem like
much, but it was far more

than most captains did in those days.

I engaged the crew in
regular times of worship.

Ye shall have a song, as in the night

when a holy solemnity is kept,

and gladness of heart, as
when one go with a pipe

to come into the mountain of the Lord,

to the mighty one of Israel.

Let us pray.

It was on this journey
that I had the chance

to return to the Banana Islands,

to my own place of enslavement.

I was even able to find
one of the lime trees

that I had planted with my own
hands so many years before.

Then came my third voyage,
in 1753, as captain

of The African.

We landed in Ghana to pick
up a load of 600 slaves

for transport to Jamaica.

It was on that voyage that
I began to first wonder

about the slave trade.

That would be my last voyage.

The weather looks good.

I'm gonna sail the day after tomorrow.

- I shall miss you terribly,
I so wish you did not

have to be gone so long.

- Yes I know.

But it is the nature of the trade.

- John?

John, John!

- I'm afraid he's suffered a stroke.

I could no longer command a ship.

How sad.

- It seemed very hard
at the time, but we were

later to understand that
it was a blessing from God.

- A blessing?

- Yes a blessing, you see
when God closes one way

it is often for a reason
that we do not know

or understand, Captain Potter, the man who

took over the ship for
me, and his entire crew

were killed on that voyage.

- God preserve us!

- Yes he did preserve us.

And it was a deep lesson
because what we thought

was a curse at the time,
actually was filled

with much grace.

We moved back to Polly's
family home in Kent,

for my recuperation.

During this time living
in Kent I had many hours

of leisure, which I often
spent outdoors, I had hours

and hours for Bible
study and for meditation.

I spent many hours discovering
the layers of grace

present in our Lord's redeeming work.

Slowly I regained some of my strength.

But I knew I would never
again captain a ship.

However, my knowledge of
the business enabled me

to obtain a position as
tide-surveyor of Liverpool.

A position of great responsibility.

Ahoy,
surveyor, state your cargo.

- 100 barrels of rum and a
hundred barrels of molasses

from the island, 75 barrels...

I worked for the Custom's Office

and was responsible to
inspect incoming ships

to make sure the proper
import customs were paid

to the government, even
with the remaining weakness

from my stroke, I could
still discharge the work

with responsibility, and
yet have the free time

to study the scriptures as I desired.

Now that we were settled
in a house in Liverpool,

I made the most of my free time.

I determined to know
nothing but Jesus Christ

and him crucified as Paul
wrote in 1 Corinthians.

And I resolved to do
nothing that would not serve

that main purpose.

I began to learn Greek, enough
to allow me to understand

The New Testament and The
Septuagint, and then I began

studying Hebrew the following year.

I never attained a critical
skill in any of these

languages, but I had no goal but to truly

and faithfully understand
the scriptural words

and phrases so that I
could judge for myself

the meaning of any particular passage.

Together with this I kept up a course

of reading the best writers
of Christian theology

I could find.

Out of this gradually arose a new desire.

My mother's hope when I was
a child was that I should

enter the Ministry.

Now for the first time I
began to feel a strong calling

in that direction myself,
it was not a calling of

which I felt worthy,
but I felt in some ways

I was the perfect person to proclaim

the faithful saying from 1 Timothy.

That Jesus Christ came
into the world to save the

chief of sinners.

My life had been full of
such remarkable turns,

I seemed selected to show
what the Lord could do.

My initial enthusiasm
was damped by refusal

after refusal to consider
me for ordination.

I did not give up easily,
but in rapid order

I was turned down by
the established church,

by the Dissenters, by the Methodists,

and by the Presbyterians.

Though not yet ordained I
began to preach at churches

around Liverpool, and to be well received.

The Lord bestows many blessings
upon his people, but unless

he likewise gives 'em a thankful heart,

they lose much of the comfort

they might have in them, and
this is not only a blessing

in itself, but in earnest of more.

King David, when he was
peacefully settled in

his kingdom, purposed
to express his gratitude

by building a place for the arch.

I began to receive more and
more invitations to preach

or to speak about my life experiences.

Polly, Polly read this.

- You're to be the pastor of

the Parish Church of St.
Peter and St. Paul in Olney?

Oh John, it is an answer to our prayers!

- I had to wait over seven long years,

but finally my dream to
server as a parish pastor

would become true.

And that Samuel is how
I came to be the pastor

of this parish, of course
that was a number of years

ago before you were born.

- It is quite a story.

- Yes and let it be a lesson to you.

For the story that God
has in mind for you may

be very different from
what you have planned.

The great adventure is finding
God's will for your life.

- Oh I did not know you had company.

- Yes this is Samuel,
we met in the village.

- Ah, aren't you Ms. Watson's oldest?

- Aye she's me stepmom.

- Oh why don't you join us on Tuesday,

John and I have begun a Bible
School for the area children.

- Yes, you'll improve your
reading skills and at the same

time learn more about the Bible.

- If you're leading it, then I'll come.

Oh very good.

- John please remember that
William Cowper is coming

later to work on the poem.

- Yes I do.
- Hmm-mm.

- Mr. Cowper and I are working
on some spiritual poems

which can be sung to popular
tunes like Black-Eyed Susan

or Mad Robin.

- I know them!

Of course you do.

- You must be off now,
Mr. Newton and Mr. Cowper

have some very important work to do.

- Mr. Newton?

Yes?

- Thanks for telling me your story.

Well thank you
for listening Samuel,

and you'll be here on Tuesday.

- Aye, I'll be here on Tuesday.

Very good, very good.

- Here it is.

- John Newton?

- Yes here, read it.

- John Newton, Clerk.

Once an infidel and libertine,
a servant of slaves in Africa

was by the rich mercy of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

preserved, restored and
pardoned, and appointed to preach

the faith he had long labored to destroy.

- He changed my life.

A few years later he was
called to St. Mary Roman Church

in London.

When I was old enough I joined him there.

And through him I met William Wilberforce.

And joined the movement to
abolish the slave trade.

It took years, the bill
passed Parliament in 1807,

the same year that Mr. Newton died.

And the same year that
you were born Alexandria.

But he lived to see the
abolition of the slave trade.

- Oh so he did it?

- Well not he alone, but
many working together.

He did change the world.

And he changed my life.

The life of a little boy
who was hurt and angry

at the world.

He taught me something of gentleness.

And of God's grace.

And I hope you have a chance
to learn of that grace as well.