SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE REV. JOHN NEWTON.

eternity, while he himself was mercifully spared. Having deserted his ship, he was overtaken, kept in irons, publicly whipped, and degraded from his office. He now became a prey to the most gloomy thoughts, and seemed to be given up to judicial hardness, and even to doubt the existence of a future state of being.

THE Rev. John Newton has formed too | ions, who in a violent storm was swept into prominent a feature in the life and correspondence of Cowper, and is too intimately associated with his endeared name, not to require a brief notice of the leading events of his life, on introducing those beautiful Olney Hymns which were written by Cowper. Any detailed statement is rendered unnecessary by his own memoir of himself,* and a subsequent one by the Rev. Mr. Cecil. The life of Newton We contemplate this period of his life with abounds with the most extraordinary inci- awe and terror. He subsequently engaged in dents, resembling the fictions of romance, the slave-trade on the coast of Africa, where rather than the realities of common life. But his conduct awakened, even among the slaves, the hand of God is so visible, and the ulti-emotions of alarm and astonishment. In mate triumph of divine grace is so signally displayed amidst the most daring provocations, as to render it one of the most remarkable biographical memoirs ever submitted to the public eye.

The Rev. John Newton was born in London the 24th of July, 1725. His father was master of a ship in the Mediterranean trade. His mother was a pious character; and it is to her that he was indebted, in his early years, for those religious impressions which, however subsequently weakened, were probably never wholly effaced. Her premature death deprived him of this excellent parent, at an age when he most needed her superintending care. When he was eleven years old he joined his father, and made five voyages with him to the Mediterranean. His early life seems to present a mingled detail of religious duties and declensionsrelapses into sin, accompanied by strong convictions of his guilt and danger-providential warnings, which roused his conscience for a time, and were subsequently forgotten; till at length, by successive instances of grieving God's Holy Spirit, he sank into the very depths of wickedness. In the year 1712 he formed an attachment, equalling in degree all that the writers of romance have imagined; but in its duration unalterable. In 1743 he was impressed, put on board a tender, from which he was released by the exertions of his father, and soon after entered the navy as a midshipman. Here he was seduced into infidel principles by one of his compan

* See The Life of the Rev. John Newton, written by

himself, in a series of letters addressed to the Rev. Mr. Haweis.

the midst of this daring impiety, Newton passed through every successive stage of providential dealings, from the first whisper of conscience, till the awful catalogue of judg ments seemed to be utterly expended. Everything was exhausted save the long-suffering and mercy of God. His guilt was equalled only by his misery. The slave-trade on the coast of Africa was to him the fit memorial of a captivity more galling in its character, more terrible in its consequences. At home, abroad, on the mighty deep, or on foreign shores, he carried with him the marks of his servitude, the taint of his corruption, and the visible wrath of an offended God.

The divine dealings towards the children of pious parents are strongly illustrated in the foregoing narrative. We have often observed that they are generally the subjects of a special dispensation whenever they become wanderers from God. In mercy to the praying parent, as well as to the erring child, he never leaves them without repeated tokens of his displeasure and intimations of his will. He disappoints their hopes, blights their prospeets, and brings upon them the day of his wrathful visitation. If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." Psalm. Ixxxix. 30-33.

We by no means interpret this clause as generally conveying the assurance that the children of pious parents will ultimately be saved. The conclusion would be too ab

solute, and seem opposed to the testimony of facts. But we nevertheless believe that the prayers and instructions of a godly parent rise up, like the alms of Cornelius, as a memorial before God; and that early impressions are seldom utterly effaced. They pursue the memory amid the tumult of business, the seductions of pleasure, and the broad path of sin. They are a powerful stimulant to conscience in moments of pain, depression, and sorrow; till at lengh the cry of penitence often bursts from the overwhelmed heart, and the last accents have been known to be those of prayer and praise.

We now proceed to detail the particulars of Newton's conversion. This event occurs on his return homewards from the coast of Africa, when the ship is overtaken by a dreadful storm, and death seems to be inevitable. We extract the account from his own narrative.

ciled God, and call him Father. My prayer was like the cry of the ravens, which yet the Lord does not disdain to hear. I now be gan to think of that Jesus whom I had so often derided. I recollected the particulars of his life, and of his death: and death for sins not his own, but, as I remembered, for the sake of those who in their distress should put their trust in Him. And now I chiedy wanted evidence. The comfortless principles of infidelity were deeply riveted, and I rather wished than believed these things were real facts. The great question now was, how to obtain faith? I speak not of an appropria ting faith, (of which I then knew neither the nature nor necessity.) but how I should gain an assurance that the Scriptures were of divine inspiration, and a sufficient warrant for the exercise of trust and hope in God. One of the first helps I received (in consequence of a determination to examine the New Tes "The 21st of March is a day much to be re- tament more carefully) was from Luke xi. 13. membered by me, and I have never suffered I had been sensible that to profess faith in it to pass wholly unnoticed since the year Jesus Christ, when in reality I did not be. 1748. On that day the Lord sent from on lieve his history, was no better than a mockhigh, and delivered me out of deep waters. Iery of a heart-searching God: but here I began to think of my former religious professions; the extraordinary turns in my life; the calls, warnings, and deliverances I had met with; the licentious course of my conversation, particularly my unparalleled effrontery in making the gospel-history the constant subject of profane ridicule. I thought, allowing the Scripture premises, there never was nor could be such a sinner as myself; and then, comparing the advantages I had broken through, I concluded at first, that my sins were to great to be forgiven. The Scripture | likewise seemed to say the same; for I had formerly been well acquainted with the Bible, and many passages upon this occasion returned upon my memory, particularly those awful passages, Prov. i. 24-31; Heb. vi. 4-6; and 2 Pet. ii. 20, which seemed so exactly to suit my case and character as to bring with them a presumptive proof of a divine original. Thus, as I have said, I waited with fear and impatience to receive my inevitable doom. Yet, though I had thoughts of this kind, they were exceedingly faint and disproportionate; it was not till long after, (perhaps several years,) till I had gained some clear views of the infinite righteousness and grace of Jesus Christ my Lord, that I had a deep and strong apprehension of my state by nature and practice: and, perhaps, till then I could not have borne the sight. When I saw, beyond all probability, there was still hope of respite, and heard about six in the evening that the ship was freed from water, there arose a gleam of hope; I thought I saw the hand of God displayed in our favor. I began to pray; I could not utter the prayer of faith; I could not draw near to a recon

found a Spirit spoken of, which was to be communicated to those who ask it. Upon this I reasoned thus. If this book is true. the promise in this passage is true likewise, I have need of that very Spirit by which the whole was written, in order to understand it aright. He has engaged here to give that Spirit to those who ask. I must, therefore, pray for it; and if it is of God, he will make good his own word. My purposes were strengthened by John vii. 17. I concluded from thence, that though I could not say from my heart that I believed the gospel, yet I would for the present take it for granted. and that by studying it in this light I shou'd be more and more confirmed in it. If what I am writing could be perused by our modern infidels, they would say (for I too well know their manner) that I was very desirous to persuade myself into this opinion. I confess I was; and so would they be, if the Lord should show them, as he was pleased to show me at that time, the absolute necessity of some expedient to interpose between a righteous God and a sinful soul. Upon the gospel scheme I saw at least a peradventure of hope, but on every other side I was serrounded with black unfathomable despair."

Alluding to the means which he enjoyed at this eventful period, for acquiring spiritual light and knowledge, he observes, As to books, I had a New Testament, Stanhope, and a volume of Bishop Beveridge's Sermons, one of which, upon our Lord's passion, affected me much. In perusing the New Testament, I was struck with several passages, particularly that of the fig-tree, Luke xiii.; the case of * See "Life of Newton," prefixed to his works.

Those things the Lord was pleased to discover to me gradually. I learned them here a little and there a little, by my own painful experience, at a distance from the common means and ordinances, and in the midst of the same course of evil company, and bad examples, as

From this period I could no more make a mock at sin, or jest with holy things: I no more questioned the truth of Scripture, or lost a sense of the rebukes of conscience. Therefore I consider this as the beginning of my return to God, or rather of his return to me; but I cannot consider myself to have been a believer (in the full sense of the word) till a considerable time afterwards."*

Progressive conversions seem to be most agreeable to the analogy of nature; and though we by no means question the reality of instantaneous conversions, or consider that the grace of God is limited either to time, manner or degree; yet we have generally observed that they partake too much of a spirit of excitement to form a sure and safe test. The excitement of the senses is a dangerous ingredient in holy things, because they are equally susceptible of opposite impressions. Those conversions ultimately prove most solid and abiding, where the understanding is enlightened, the conscience roused, and the will subdued by the simultaneous energy and power that moves and purifies the feelings and affections of the heart.

St. Paul, 1 Tim. i.; but particularly the prodigal, Luke xv.-a case I thought had never been so clearly exemplified as by myself. And then the goodness of the father in receiving, nay, in running to meet such a son, and this intended only to illustrate the Lord's goodness to returning sinners; this gained upon me. II had been conversant with for some time. continued much in prayer; I saw that the Lord had interposed so far to save me; and I hoped he would do more. The outward circumstances helped in this place to make me still more serious and earnest in crying to Him who alone could relieve me; and sometimes I thought I could be content to die even for want of food, if I might but die a believer. Thus far I was answered, that before we arrived in Ireland I had a satisfactory evidence in my own mind of the truth of the gospel, as considered in itself, and its exact suitableness to answer all my needs. I saw that, by the way there pointed out, God might declare, not his mercy only, but his justice also, in the pardon of sin, on account of the obedience and sufferings of Jesus Christ. I stood in need of an Almighty Saviour, and such a one I found described in the New Testament. Thus far the Lord had wrought a marvellous thing. I was no longer an infidel. I heartily renounced my former profaneness; I had taken up some right notions; was seriously disposed, and sincerely touched with a sense of the undeserved mercy I had received, in being brought safe through so many dangers. I was sorry for my past misspent life, and purposed an immediate reformation; I was quite freed from the habit of swearing, which seemed to have been deeply rooted in me as a second nature. Thus, to all appearance, I was a new man. But though I cannot doubt that this change, so far as it prevailed, was wrought by the Spirit and power of God; yet still I was greatly deficient in many respects. I was, in some degree, affected with a sense of my more enormous sins, but I was little aware of the innate evils of my heart. I had no apprehension of the spirituality and extent of the law of God. The hidden life of a Christian, as it consists in communion with God by Jesus Christ, and a continual dependence on him for hourly supplies of wisdom, strength, and comfort, was a mystery, of which I had as yet no knowledge. I acknowledged the Lord's mercy in pardoning what was past, but depended chiefly upon my own resolution to do better for the time to come. I had no Christian friend or faithful minister to advise me that my strength was no more than my righteousness: and though I soon began to inquire for serious books, yet, not having spiritual discernment, I frequently made a wrong choice; and I was not brought in the way of evangelical preaching or conversation, (except a few times, when I heard but understood not,) for six years after this period.

But in whatever manner it was accomplished, the conversion of Newton claims to rank among those memorable acts of divine grace which have invested the names of a Rochester, a Gardiner, and a Bunyan, with so much interest and celebrity. May we not also mark its affinity to the still more distinguished examples recorded in the sacred writings, such as a Manasses, or a Saul, prototypes not less in guilt than in mercy? If any man could justly appropriate the words of the apostle, surely that individual was Newton. "Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 1 Tim. i. 16. Instances like these abound in edifying truths. They exhibit the divine sovereignty in legible and unerring characters. They serve also to confound the pride and self-glory of man by proving that " base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in is presence." 1 Cor. i. 28, 29.

But above all they proclaim that no man is beyond the reach of mercy, however guilty depraved, or lost; and that the door is never closed to the broken and contrite spirit. Let

*Life of Newton.

His views on the subject of the slave-trads are thus recorded by himself.

not then the penitent despair, nor yet the impenitent presume; but rightly interpreting these wonderful and gracious dispensations, "During the time I was engaged in the may many a returning prodigal, like Newton, slave-trade, I never had the least scruple as to exclaim in the accents of adoring faith and its lawfulness. I was upon the whole satis love, "Who is God like unto thee, that par- fied with it, as the appointment Providence doneth iniquity, and passeth by the trans- had marked out for me; yet it was, in many gression of the remnant of his heritage? He respects, far from eligible. It was indeed, acretaineth not his anger forever, because he counted a genteel employment, and usually delighteth in mercy. Micah vii. 18. ! very profitable, though to me it did not prove so, the Lord seeing that a large increase of wealth would not be good for me. However, I considered myself as a sort of a gaoler or turnkey, and I was sometimes shocked with an employment that was perpetually convers ant with chains, bolts and shackles. In thes view I had often petitioned in my prayers that the Lord, in his own time, would be pleased to fix me in a more humane calling, and, if it might be, place me where I might have more frequent converse with his people and ordinances, and be freed from those long separations from home which very often were nerd to bear. My prayers were now answered, though in a way which I little expected."*

That we may proceed to the more important events of Newton's subsequent history, we shall here briefly mention, that at this time he wrote to his father, who was then going out as Governor of York Fort, in Hudson's Bay, where he died in 1750. He previously gave his consent to his son's marriage with Miss Catlett, the lady who had been the object of so long and romantic an attachment. They were united on the 1st of February, 1750. After this event he made three voyages to Africa, devoting much of his time to classical and devotional studies, and performing public worship in his vessel according to the Liturgy of the Church of England, twice every day. The moral change which his mind had experienced is expressed in the following beautiful and edifying manner, strongly exemplifying the power of divine grace to raise and elevate the soul.

"To be at sea in these circumstances, withdrawn out of the reach of innumerable temptations, with opportunity and turn of mind disposed to observe the wonders of God in the great deep, with the two noblest objects of sight, the expanded heavens and the expanded ocean, continually in view; and where evident interpositions of Divine Providence, in answer to prayer, occur almost every day; these are helps to quicken and confirm the life of faith, which, in a good measure, supply to a religious sailor the want of those advantages which can be enjoyed only upon the shore. And, indeed, though my knowledge of spiritual things, as knowledge is usually estimated, was at this time very small; yet I sometimes look back with regret on these scenes. I never knew sweeter or more frequent hours of divine communion, than in my two last voyages to Guinea, when I was either almost secluded from society on shipboard, or when on shore amongst the natives. I have wandered through the woods, reflecting on the singular goodness of the Lord to me, in a place where, perhaps, there was not a person that knew Him for some thousands of miles round about me.

"In desert woods, with thee, my God, Where human footsteps never trod,

How happy could I be;

Thou my repose from care, my light,
Amidst the darkness of the night,

In solitude my company."

These lines are a translation from the following well

The circumstance to which he alludes may be briefly stated. When he was within two days of sailing on a new voyage, and to all appearance in good health, he was suddenly seized with a fit, which deprived him of sense and motion. It lasted about an hour, but left behind such symptoms as induced the phys cians to judge that it would not be safe or prudent to proceed on the voyage. The event was remarkable. The person who was ap pointed to take his place, most of the officers, and many of the crew died, and the vessel was brought back to Liverpool with great difficulty.f

Thus ended Newton's connexion with Africa and the slave-trade and with a sea-faring mode of life. He was destined for higher ends, and the providence and grace of God soon pointed out a sphere more suited to lus newly acquired views, and presenting ample means for extended usefulness.

"And now," he observes, having reason to close with the Apostle's determination. 'to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified,' I devoted my life to the prosecu tion of spiritual knowledge, and resolved to pursue nothing but in subservience to this main design." With this view he acquired a sufficient proficiency in the Greek language, so as to read with facility the New Testament and Septuagint; he then entered upon the study of the Hebrew, and two

years afterwards engaged in the Syriac, be- was restrained by the influence of his wife. sides reading the best writers in divinity, In reference to this trial, he makes the foland attending on the ministry of men dis-lowing reflection. "The exercises of my tinguished for their piety and their scriptural | mind upon this point, I believe, have not views. In reference to his own entrance on the sacred oflice, he thus states his senti

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