A BEAUTIFUL HYMN WRITTEN BY JOHN NEWTON BORN IN LONDON IN 1725, SON OF A COMMANDER OF A MERCHANT SHIP. LATER IN LIFE HE WAS THE
CAPTAIN OF A SLAVE SHIP AND BECAME A SLAVE TRADER. HE WAS NOT A RELIGIOUS MAN ALTHOUGH HIS MOTHER HAD OFTEN TRIED TO INSTILL HER BELIEFS OF HER FAITH IN HIM.
ONE DAY WHILE AT SEA WITH A CARGO OF SLAVES, A MIGHTY STORM CAME TOSSING HIS SHIP TO AND FRO, OUT OF DESPERATION AND FEAR, HE CRIED OUT "LORD HAVE MERCY ON US." GOD DELIVERED THEM THROUGH THE STORM AND HE DEDICATED THE REST OF HIS LIFE OBSERVING THAT DATE, MAY 10, 1748, AS THE DAY OF HIS CONVERSION.
HE MARRIED MARY CATLETT WITH WHOM HE HAD BEEN IN LOVE WITH FOR MANY YEARS AND STUDIED THEOLOGY AND BECAME WELL KNOWN AS A MAN OF GOD. BETWEEN 1760 AND 1770 HE PENNED THE WORDS TO "AMAZING GRACE." I HAVE HEARD IT SAID THAT THE TUNE FOR THIS BELOVED HYMN MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY THE SLAVES UPON HIS SHIP DURING THAT STORM, THOSE MANY YEARS BEFORE. IT IS ALSO SAID THAT OTHER WRITERS HAVE COMPOSED MORE VERSES IN LATER YEARS. THE FIRST OFFICIAL EDITION WAS PUBLISHED IN 1779, AND THE SECOND IN 1808, NEAR THE DATE OF JOHN NEWTON'S DEATH.
I HAVE ALSO HEARD ALL NEGRO SPIRITUALS CAN BE
PLAYED ON ALL BLACK NOTES ON A PIANO.
ALSO, THAT AMAZING GRACE TUNE WAS THE FIRST
WHITE SPIRITUAL EVER SUNG AND ALSO CAN BE
PLAYED ALL ON BLACK NOTES. |
