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 >
DUNFERMLINE is one of the "common" tunes from Andro Hart's psalter The CL Psalms of David, Edinburgh (l615)–a "common" tune was one that was not matched with a specific text in a songbook. Millar Patrick, author of Four Centuries of Scottish Psalmody (London, 1949) and The Story of the Church's So…
Display Title: When Israel, by divine commandFirst Line: When Israel, by divine commandTune Title: ST. NICHOLAS (PROVIDENCE)Author: John Newton (1725-1807)Date: 1920