NANI NA MEA I HA'I IA MAI

Author: John Newton, 1725-1807

John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumul­tuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >

Translator: "Hualalai", 1852-1938

"Hualalai" was the pen name of Ellen (or Ella) Hudson Paris, 1852-1938, daughter of John Davis Paris, a missionary in Hawai'i. (more information can be found on John Davis Paris and Hualalai on John Davis Paris's Wikipedia page). Go to person page >