Memory Lane

“Amazing Grace” is probably the most beloved hymn of the last two centuries.  President Obama  burst into the familiar tune during the memorial service for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a victim of a heinous church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. Ironically, this stirring song, closely associated with the African-American community, was written by a former slave trader, John Newton.  But the real story behind the somewhat sentimental musical, told in Newton’s autobiography reveals a more complex and ambiguous history.   Newton was born in 1725 in London to a Puritan mother who died two weeks before his seventh birthday, and a stern sea-captain father who took him to sea at age 11. After many voyages and a reckless youth of drinking, Newton was impressed into the British navy. After attempting to desert, he received eight dozen lashes and was reduced to the rank of common seaman.  While later serving on the Pegasus, a slave ship, Newton did not get