1 00:00:01,076 --> 00:00:04,576 (warm anticipatory music) 2 00:00:27,998 --> 00:00:31,748 (anticipatory fanfare music) 3 00:00:36,002 --> 00:00:39,085 (anticipatory music) 4 00:00:55,018 --> 00:00:59,019 (bell ringing) (rumbling) 5 00:00:59,020 --> 00:00:59,853 - Why you! 6 00:01:01,030 --> 00:01:03,948 (frolicking music) 7 00:01:33,823 --> 00:01:35,962 Hey, have you seen a little boy, with height like this 8 00:01:35,962 --> 00:01:36,938 with an apple? 9 00:01:36,938 --> 00:01:38,775 - Yeah, over there lad. 10 00:01:38,775 --> 00:01:40,108 - Wait here, ah! 11 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:48,367 There you are you little blimer! 12 00:01:48,367 --> 00:01:51,450 (anticipatory music) 13 00:01:56,882 --> 00:01:59,677 - Hold on a moment, what is going on here? 14 00:01:59,677 --> 00:02:03,276 - Much obliged Pastor Newton, now if you'll just hold him, 15 00:02:03,275 --> 00:02:05,271 I'll give him the caning he deserves. 16 00:02:05,272 --> 00:02:07,802 - As a point of personal privilege sir, no one shall 17 00:02:07,802 --> 00:02:09,531 be whipped in my presence. 18 00:02:09,531 --> 00:02:11,052 - Then you deal with him. 19 00:02:11,052 --> 00:02:11,977 - What has he done wrong? 20 00:02:11,977 --> 00:02:15,527 - Sir, fighting with the other boys, disobedience, 21 00:02:15,526 --> 00:02:18,807 swearing, he tipped over me stall. 22 00:02:18,807 --> 00:02:20,807 Oh sir, he's a bad seed. 23 00:02:22,605 --> 00:02:24,942 - These are serious charges. 24 00:02:24,942 --> 00:02:28,814 - I'm serious sir, please stand back and let me give 25 00:02:28,814 --> 00:02:30,955 him the caning he deserves. 26 00:02:30,955 --> 00:02:33,857 - Not in my presence Mr. Chapman. 27 00:02:33,858 --> 00:02:37,608 - Fine, he's your problem, you deal with him! 28 00:02:39,472 --> 00:02:42,139 (mumbling), ha. 29 00:02:45,611 --> 00:02:46,944 - Thank you sir. 30 00:02:48,193 --> 00:02:52,360 - Fighting eh, swearing, these are serious charges. 31 00:02:54,856 --> 00:02:56,980 You're Ms. Watson's oldest aren't you? 32 00:02:56,980 --> 00:02:58,935 - Aye, she's me stepmom. 33 00:02:58,935 --> 00:03:03,102 - Hmm, well I was about to go inside for a spot of tea, 34 00:03:03,991 --> 00:03:05,495 would you like to join me. 35 00:03:05,496 --> 00:03:06,978 - Might there be any biscuits? 36 00:03:06,978 --> 00:03:09,540 - Well there might be, let's go see. 37 00:03:09,539 --> 00:03:12,206 (calming music) 38 00:03:40,301 --> 00:03:42,468 So, fighting and swearing. 39 00:03:43,915 --> 00:03:45,394 - You wouldn't understand. 40 00:03:45,394 --> 00:03:46,227 - [Newton] No? 41 00:03:46,227 --> 00:03:50,122 - How could you, you're the parson and all. 42 00:03:50,122 --> 00:03:53,421 - I think I might understand much better than you think. 43 00:03:53,421 --> 00:03:55,747 I was once a little boy myself. 44 00:03:55,747 --> 00:03:58,679 And I think by the time I was your age I had been expelled 45 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,893 from two different schools for fighting and swearing. 46 00:04:01,893 --> 00:04:02,975 - You, never! 47 00:04:03,966 --> 00:04:08,133 - Hmm, yes I wasn't always a church parson you know. 48 00:04:09,265 --> 00:04:12,852 In fact I've been a great many different things in life. 49 00:04:12,853 --> 00:04:15,131 I've probably done things far worse than fighting 50 00:04:15,131 --> 00:04:16,519 and swearing. 51 00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:18,317 - Like what? 52 00:04:18,317 --> 00:04:21,742 - Well I was a cabin boy on a ship, I was a ship's captain 53 00:04:21,742 --> 00:04:24,872 later on, I was even a slave for a while. 54 00:04:24,872 --> 00:04:26,812 - Nah sir, you're leading me on! 55 00:04:26,812 --> 00:04:29,930 - No I'm not, would you like to hear a little of my story? 56 00:04:29,930 --> 00:04:32,597 - Well, are there more biscuits? 57 00:04:33,802 --> 00:04:38,153 - Hah, there might be, yes, and more tea as well. 58 00:04:38,153 --> 00:04:40,519 Of course it was all a very long time ago you understand, 59 00:04:40,519 --> 00:04:44,052 but, I don't think that little boys have really changed 60 00:04:44,052 --> 00:04:45,469 that much do you? 61 00:04:47,569 --> 00:04:49,734 I remember my dear mother as if it were only 62 00:04:49,733 --> 00:04:51,067 a few weeks ago. 63 00:04:52,141 --> 00:04:55,793 She taught me to pray, she taught me to read 64 00:04:55,793 --> 00:04:58,836 by reading me the Scriptures. 65 00:04:58,836 --> 00:05:01,253 She died when I was only six. 66 00:05:02,423 --> 00:05:06,204 My father was a merchant seaman, a captain. 67 00:05:06,204 --> 00:05:09,721 While I'm sure that he loved me in his own way, 68 00:05:09,721 --> 00:05:13,867 I don't recall ever feeling loved by him. 69 00:05:13,867 --> 00:05:16,980 He soon remarried a beautiful young woman 70 00:05:16,980 --> 00:05:19,314 who bore him other children. 71 00:05:20,569 --> 00:05:23,856 She wasn't terribly interested in me and so 72 00:05:23,857 --> 00:05:27,612 he was away at sea and I ended up in boarding school, 73 00:05:27,612 --> 00:05:30,609 it wasn't long before I was expelled from that school 74 00:05:30,608 --> 00:05:32,681 for the same sort of trouble you've been in. 75 00:05:32,682 --> 00:05:33,822 - Do you mean fighting? 76 00:05:33,822 --> 00:05:36,812 - Aye and general disobedience. 77 00:05:36,812 --> 00:05:40,104 When I was young I had this hot core of anger inside of me 78 00:05:40,105 --> 00:05:42,802 that burned all the time, and it was out of control, 79 00:05:42,802 --> 00:05:45,372 I couldn't control my actions always. 80 00:05:45,372 --> 00:05:46,205 - Aye? 81 00:05:46,204 --> 00:05:47,824 - You do understand, don't you? 82 00:05:47,824 --> 00:05:50,399 It wasn't long before I was expelled from the next school 83 00:05:50,399 --> 00:05:53,477 for the same thing and my father decided that the only 84 00:05:53,478 --> 00:05:57,557 thing to be done was to take me to sea and so I went 85 00:05:57,557 --> 00:05:59,824 on a ship with him when I was 11. 86 00:05:59,824 --> 00:06:02,908 (anticipatory music) 87 00:06:08,473 --> 00:06:11,182 We served as cabin boys, carrying and cleaning 88 00:06:11,182 --> 00:06:15,348 and doing whatever any grownup sailor wanted done. 89 00:06:17,338 --> 00:06:21,742 But that burning core of anger was still inside me, 90 00:06:21,742 --> 00:06:25,482 and when it would burn, I would always end up in trouble. 91 00:06:25,482 --> 00:06:27,572 - There, suck on that young master Newton, 92 00:06:27,572 --> 00:06:29,747 maybe you'll think twice about slinging blasphemies 93 00:06:29,747 --> 00:06:31,907 around in me galley. 94 00:06:31,906 --> 00:06:34,202 - [Newton] I took my anger out on the other boys, the ones 95 00:06:34,202 --> 00:06:38,369 who were smaller than I, and ended up in trouble again. 96 00:06:41,187 --> 00:06:42,927 But in spite of the trouble I got into, 97 00:06:42,927 --> 00:06:46,622 I grew into a man aboard merchant ships, and I became 98 00:06:46,622 --> 00:06:48,455 an able-bodied seaman. 99 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:54,971 - Ship leaves next Wednesday for Jamaica, we can use you 100 00:06:54,971 --> 00:06:56,403 if you'll sign on. 101 00:06:56,403 --> 00:06:59,414 - Aye sir, I will, I'll be visiting in Kent for a few days 102 00:06:59,413 --> 00:07:02,080 but I can be back for Wednesday. 103 00:07:03,235 --> 00:07:05,605 Little did I know how those few days in Kent 104 00:07:05,605 --> 00:07:09,419 would affect the rest of my life, for it was there, 105 00:07:09,418 --> 00:07:11,969 staying with friends of my mother, that I met 106 00:07:11,970 --> 00:07:14,470 the love of my life, my Polly. 107 00:07:16,411 --> 00:07:21,182 Her name was Mary, Mary Catlett, and almost from 108 00:07:21,182 --> 00:07:25,226 the first time I saw her, my heart was a captive. 109 00:07:25,226 --> 00:07:28,563 My secret nickname for her was Polly. 110 00:07:28,564 --> 00:07:30,730 My dear Polly, my beloved. 111 00:07:32,660 --> 00:07:36,203 She was a little younger than I, and her beautiful smile 112 00:07:36,202 --> 00:07:40,369 melted my heart and made a permanent mark upon my soul. 113 00:07:49,425 --> 00:07:53,569 - Mr. Newton, I shall speak plainly, we loved your 114 00:07:53,569 --> 00:07:57,157 dear mother and held her in the highest regard, 115 00:07:57,156 --> 00:08:01,088 Mary is too young yet for any decision, but her father 116 00:08:01,088 --> 00:08:04,673 and I do not object to an understanding provided-- 117 00:08:04,673 --> 00:08:05,748 - Yes? 118 00:08:05,749 --> 00:08:08,653 - Provided that when you return from your voyages 119 00:08:08,653 --> 00:08:12,290 we will see some signs of stability and of prospect. 120 00:08:12,290 --> 00:08:13,605 - Prospect? 121 00:08:13,605 --> 00:08:17,317 - Prospect for a living Mr. Newton is of great importance. 122 00:08:17,317 --> 00:08:20,898 - Yes, I shall keep that in mind Mrs. Catlett, 123 00:08:20,898 --> 00:08:22,138 and I shall return. 124 00:08:22,137 --> 00:08:24,585 (frolicking music) 125 00:08:24,586 --> 00:08:27,746 Now I went back to sea with a goal in mind, 126 00:08:27,745 --> 00:08:32,006 to make my way, to find advancement, to make my fortune, 127 00:08:32,006 --> 00:08:35,923 so that I could return and marry my dear Polly. 128 00:08:38,542 --> 00:08:41,125 (bell ringing) 129 00:08:46,565 --> 00:08:50,416 The beautiful memory of her smile, of her sweet face, 130 00:08:50,416 --> 00:08:55,145 got me through many long watches and lonely nights at sea. 131 00:08:55,144 --> 00:08:57,347 But even the memory of her smile could not 132 00:08:57,347 --> 00:09:02,225 keep me from trouble, that hot anger burned inside me still 133 00:09:02,225 --> 00:09:04,392 and would boil over at times. 134 00:09:04,392 --> 00:09:08,855 (anticipatory music) (groaning) 135 00:09:08,855 --> 00:09:10,688 - Send him to the surgery. 136 00:09:10,688 --> 00:09:14,855 And you, you're on report, reduced rations for a week. 137 00:09:16,859 --> 00:09:20,280 - [Newton] And of course I was a seaman at sea, no different 138 00:09:20,279 --> 00:09:24,110 from any other, when it poured I joined heartily 139 00:09:24,110 --> 00:09:27,027 in the sins that waited any sailor. 140 00:09:30,099 --> 00:09:32,932 - Oh! (chattering) 141 00:09:35,033 --> 00:09:38,201 - [Newton] But not all temptations were in port. 142 00:09:38,201 --> 00:09:41,332 - Ah you're a fool if you believe all that blatter. 143 00:09:41,332 --> 00:09:46,097 All of this can be explained by reason and science. 144 00:09:46,097 --> 00:09:50,617 Ah there's no God up there, the rationalists have it right. 145 00:09:50,618 --> 00:09:52,866 - Is that what you do when you're off duty, 146 00:09:52,865 --> 00:09:54,351 read philosophers? 147 00:09:54,351 --> 00:09:57,348 - Aye, there's lots of hours at sea, John. 148 00:09:57,349 --> 00:10:01,429 Lots of time to think, Hobbes, Voltaire. 149 00:10:01,428 --> 00:10:05,278 They make more sense than a pack of priests mumbling Latin. 150 00:10:05,278 --> 00:10:09,959 Ah, nothing but superstition to control the rest of us. 151 00:10:09,958 --> 00:10:14,125 You should read Hobbes, I'll loan you his book, Leviathan. 152 00:10:20,711 --> 00:10:24,817 - [John] And so I too became a sailor-philosopher of sorts. 153 00:10:24,817 --> 00:10:28,874 Spinoza and Hobbes, often made quite a deal of sense. 154 00:10:28,874 --> 00:10:32,639 And just as often made me doubt the simple faith 155 00:10:32,639 --> 00:10:33,972 of my childhood. 156 00:10:35,804 --> 00:10:39,598 One night, at sea, I fell asleep over a book, 157 00:10:39,599 --> 00:10:42,883 and I had the strangest dream, one that would come back 158 00:10:42,883 --> 00:10:46,110 to me again and again throughout my life. 159 00:10:46,110 --> 00:10:49,693 (mysterious calming music) 160 00:11:03,211 --> 00:11:07,216 - As long as you preserve this ring, you will be successful 161 00:11:07,216 --> 00:11:11,216 and happy, but should you lose it or part of it, 162 00:11:12,899 --> 00:11:16,316 you must only expect sorrow and distress. 163 00:11:58,357 --> 00:12:01,107 - You believe that ring is magic? 164 00:12:03,094 --> 00:12:06,525 - As long as I preserve and keep it, 165 00:12:06,524 --> 00:12:09,831 I should be happy and successful. 166 00:12:09,831 --> 00:12:12,024 - Are you knocky boy? 167 00:12:12,024 --> 00:12:16,722 What a simpleton, you believe anything you're told don't ya? 168 00:12:16,722 --> 00:12:18,048 - It seemed right. 169 00:12:18,048 --> 00:12:21,738 - What's right about it, some stranger hands you a ring, 170 00:12:21,738 --> 00:12:26,623 tells you it's magic, it's a talisman, and you believe him? 171 00:12:26,623 --> 00:12:29,238 What a (mumbling)! 172 00:12:29,238 --> 00:12:33,071 Seriously John, how can you buy such claptrap? 173 00:12:33,971 --> 00:12:36,312 You ascribe magical powers to a wee piece of metal, 174 00:12:36,312 --> 00:12:38,668 shaped in a circle. 175 00:12:38,668 --> 00:12:42,836 I'd be ashamed to admit such superstitions to another man. 176 00:12:43,735 --> 00:12:47,290 Don't you understand that by subscribing to 177 00:12:47,291 --> 00:12:51,458 such superstitions it saps your own human powers of reason? 178 00:12:53,109 --> 00:12:54,978 Throw it away. 179 00:12:54,977 --> 00:12:58,644 Go on, throw it away, create your own faith, 180 00:12:59,504 --> 00:13:03,995 take control of your own destiny, go on, throw it away, 181 00:13:03,995 --> 00:13:06,663 go on, go on, show you're a man! 182 00:13:11,408 --> 00:13:12,241 Aye. 183 00:13:30,399 --> 00:13:32,129 (anticipatory music) 184 00:13:32,129 --> 00:13:34,086 (water splashing) 185 00:13:34,086 --> 00:13:36,746 (laughs) 186 00:13:36,746 --> 00:13:40,351 Oh you are a fool, what a (mumbling), believe anything 187 00:13:40,351 --> 00:13:44,269 you're told, but now you're lost, for that ring 188 00:13:46,085 --> 00:13:51,065 contained in it all the mercy (mumbling). 189 00:13:51,065 --> 00:13:54,518 And now it's gone, at your own hand. 190 00:13:54,518 --> 00:13:57,268 (fire crackling) 191 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,370 (moves into sad music) 192 00:14:37,399 --> 00:14:40,649 - [Hooded Man] What did you do with it? 193 00:14:41,849 --> 00:14:43,349 - I threw it away. 194 00:14:44,287 --> 00:14:46,454 (weeping) 195 00:14:47,681 --> 00:14:49,014 I threw it away! 196 00:14:50,313 --> 00:14:52,396 - Where did you throw it? 197 00:14:58,628 --> 00:15:01,461 (water splashing) 198 00:15:14,894 --> 00:15:17,061 I brought it back for you. 199 00:15:18,764 --> 00:15:19,596 No. 200 00:15:22,182 --> 00:15:25,144 If you're to be entrusted with this ring again, 201 00:15:25,144 --> 00:15:28,571 you will soon bring yourself to the same distress, 202 00:15:28,571 --> 00:15:32,735 you're not able to keep it, but, I will preserve it for 203 00:15:32,735 --> 00:15:36,903 you, and whenever it is needful, I will produce it 204 00:15:38,508 --> 00:15:39,758 on your behalf. 205 00:16:03,547 --> 00:16:06,180 - [John] It wasn't long before that voyage was nearing 206 00:16:06,179 --> 00:16:09,116 its end and I would be able to return to Kent 207 00:16:09,116 --> 00:16:13,562 to visit my Polly, as the ship turned home, all my thoughts 208 00:16:13,562 --> 00:16:16,629 had turned to her and the prospect of again seeing 209 00:16:16,629 --> 00:16:17,879 her sweet face. 210 00:16:21,457 --> 00:16:23,207 But it was not to be. 211 00:16:24,504 --> 00:16:29,013 Less than five miles from her house, I encountered 212 00:16:29,013 --> 00:16:33,144 a press gang, these were the days of an impeding war 213 00:16:33,144 --> 00:16:37,162 with France, and the Navy needed fresh men all the time. 214 00:16:37,162 --> 00:16:39,723 Press gangs roamed the country authorized to virtually 215 00:16:39,722 --> 00:16:42,576 kidnap a likely young lad, and press him into 216 00:16:42,576 --> 00:16:44,634 the service of His Majesty's Navy. 217 00:16:44,634 --> 00:16:46,658 - Run, it's a press gang! 218 00:16:46,658 --> 00:16:49,740 (anticipatory music) 219 00:16:59,788 --> 00:17:02,961 (loud thudding) 220 00:17:02,961 --> 00:17:05,627 (ship creaking) 221 00:17:10,018 --> 00:17:11,518 - Aye, he's awake. 222 00:17:12,804 --> 00:17:16,971 Welcome to His Majesty's Navy, what's your name son? 223 00:17:18,614 --> 00:17:20,114 - Ah, John Newton. 224 00:17:25,567 --> 00:17:26,951 We're at sea? 225 00:17:26,951 --> 00:17:29,517 - Aye, a day out of Liverpool, you was the last 226 00:17:29,517 --> 00:17:33,795 conscript brought on board, here drink something, 227 00:17:33,795 --> 00:17:36,045 it'll help you feel better. 228 00:17:47,463 --> 00:17:49,024 - What's the ship? 229 00:17:49,025 --> 00:17:53,197 - HMS Eridge, newly commissioned man-of-war. 230 00:17:53,196 --> 00:17:55,729 Under the command of Captain Carteret. 231 00:17:55,730 --> 00:17:59,189 We're on our way to France to defend King and Country. 232 00:17:59,189 --> 00:18:01,313 We're always fighting with France or Spain, 233 00:18:01,313 --> 00:18:03,813 ever since Eve bit that apple. 234 00:18:04,991 --> 00:18:08,346 - I was on my ways to propose to my beloved. 235 00:18:08,346 --> 00:18:11,490 - Ah that's a shame, four years we'll be out I expect. 236 00:18:11,490 --> 00:18:13,621 - Four years? - Aye. 237 00:18:13,621 --> 00:18:15,003 - Oh... 238 00:18:15,002 --> 00:18:17,919 (foreboding music) 239 00:18:54,203 --> 00:18:58,342 Captured, carried away from my love against my will. 240 00:18:58,343 --> 00:18:59,843 Imprisoned at sea. 241 00:19:03,269 --> 00:19:06,652 Each day on the ocean took me further from Polly, 242 00:19:06,652 --> 00:19:08,985 and increased my resentment. 243 00:19:19,699 --> 00:19:23,257 - Hey Johnny, Johnny, you got to get along with 244 00:19:23,257 --> 00:19:26,312 the other sailors, we've all got our crosses to bear. 245 00:19:26,311 --> 00:19:27,728 - Leave me alone! 246 00:19:32,309 --> 00:19:35,938 The smoldering anger that had always burned in me 247 00:19:35,939 --> 00:19:38,355 was now a fire of resentment. 248 00:19:39,694 --> 00:19:44,671 I obeyed orders, I did my job, but I did so with a solemn 249 00:19:44,671 --> 00:19:48,671 attitude, in my mind God himself had cheated me. 250 00:19:51,201 --> 00:19:53,368 Why did you do this to me? 251 00:19:55,334 --> 00:19:57,510 Am I such a sinner that you just singled me out 252 00:19:57,510 --> 00:19:59,427 for special punishment? 253 00:20:06,222 --> 00:20:08,556 I've nothing to do with you. 254 00:20:12,102 --> 00:20:15,185 (anticipatory music) 255 00:20:21,392 --> 00:20:25,265 But I was no fool, I soon perceived that I had a greater 256 00:20:25,265 --> 00:20:29,574 chance of liberty if I was promoted and so I began to focus 257 00:20:29,574 --> 00:20:32,567 all my rage into hard work and efforts to please 258 00:20:32,567 --> 00:20:37,126 the officers, not because I had any true respect for them, 259 00:20:37,126 --> 00:20:41,293 but because I saw it as my opportunity for a change. 260 00:20:43,836 --> 00:20:46,002 So I started to work hard. 261 00:20:46,864 --> 00:20:47,697 Aye sir! 262 00:20:48,650 --> 00:20:50,576 And I showed officers great respect. 263 00:20:50,576 --> 00:20:51,409 - Newton. 264 00:20:53,064 --> 00:20:54,196 - [John] Aye sir? 265 00:20:54,195 --> 00:20:55,605 - Good job seaman. 266 00:20:55,605 --> 00:20:56,813 - Thank you sir. 267 00:20:56,813 --> 00:20:58,813 At least to their faces. 268 00:20:59,750 --> 00:21:00,584 Fool. 269 00:21:15,125 --> 00:21:16,225 You wish to see me sir? 270 00:21:16,226 --> 00:21:18,331 - Aye, Mr. Newton. 271 00:21:18,330 --> 00:21:20,266 Your father's a merchant captain. 272 00:21:20,267 --> 00:21:21,748 - Aye sir. 273 00:21:21,748 --> 00:21:24,452 - I've heard good things of him, he's written me 274 00:21:24,452 --> 00:21:27,571 asking that I consider you for advancement. 275 00:21:27,571 --> 00:21:30,064 I've spoken to the mate and he says that you have 276 00:21:30,065 --> 00:21:32,527 been an exemplary seaman. 277 00:21:32,527 --> 00:21:33,870 - I try my best sir. 278 00:21:33,869 --> 00:21:37,565 - That's the attitude, what would you say to being promoted 279 00:21:37,566 --> 00:21:38,732 to midshipman? 280 00:21:39,798 --> 00:21:41,945 - Aye sir, I would like that very much. 281 00:21:41,945 --> 00:21:46,241 - Didn't think you'd refuse, so be it, you are promoted 282 00:21:46,241 --> 00:21:48,076 to midshipman. 283 00:21:48,076 --> 00:21:51,160 (warm calming music) 284 00:21:59,571 --> 00:22:02,061 - Being a midshipman meant that I was a sort of apprentice 285 00:22:02,061 --> 00:22:06,246 officer and I was set over my former mates. 286 00:22:06,247 --> 00:22:09,163 Come on you sluggards, get to work! 287 00:22:10,296 --> 00:22:12,963 Do that mopping, I want that cleaned up, (mumbling). 288 00:22:12,963 --> 00:22:16,630 Aye sir, set the topsail, belay the shrouds! 289 00:22:22,595 --> 00:22:24,345 Sails mended, seamen. 290 00:22:29,780 --> 00:22:33,486 While I behaved with perfect form to my superiors, 291 00:22:33,487 --> 00:22:36,437 the rage inside me often was taken out on the sailors 292 00:22:36,436 --> 00:22:40,003 who were now under me, much as I had once bullied smaller 293 00:22:40,003 --> 00:22:40,836 children. 294 00:22:40,836 --> 00:22:42,339 You call that a knot, seaman? 295 00:22:42,339 --> 00:22:43,824 - Aye sir, figure-of-eight. 296 00:22:43,825 --> 00:22:45,848 - It's a throbbing mess! 297 00:22:45,848 --> 00:22:47,670 Take it apart and start again. 298 00:22:47,671 --> 00:22:49,268 - Aye sir... 299 00:22:49,268 --> 00:22:52,683 - Talk back and there'll be no rations for you tonight. 300 00:22:52,683 --> 00:22:53,600 - Aye, sir. 301 00:22:57,470 --> 00:23:00,430 - [John] After some months at sea patrolling the Channel, 302 00:23:00,430 --> 00:23:03,979 and even fighting skirmishes with French ships, 303 00:23:03,979 --> 00:23:06,729 (cannons firing) 304 00:23:10,121 --> 00:23:12,064 (cannonball exploding) 305 00:23:12,064 --> 00:23:14,890 we had to put back into Plymouth for repairs, 306 00:23:14,890 --> 00:23:17,456 and then it was that I had my chance. 307 00:23:17,455 --> 00:23:21,134 - Mr. Newton, while we have repairs I'm going to permit 308 00:23:21,134 --> 00:23:23,991 a rotational shore leave for the seamen. 309 00:23:23,991 --> 00:23:26,735 I'm assigning you to go ashore with them and supervise 310 00:23:26,736 --> 00:23:29,074 to make sure none of desert. 311 00:23:29,074 --> 00:23:29,907 - Aye sir. 312 00:23:31,301 --> 00:23:35,468 It was as if the master had left the cat to guard the cream. 313 00:23:38,917 --> 00:23:41,606 I'll be back at sunset, anyone not here and ready to 314 00:23:41,606 --> 00:23:44,945 return to the ship shall be counted as deserting, 315 00:23:44,945 --> 00:23:46,404 and you'll feel the lash. 316 00:23:46,404 --> 00:23:47,976 - [Seamen] Aye sir! 317 00:23:47,977 --> 00:23:49,901 - All right off with you! 318 00:23:49,901 --> 00:23:53,326 (laughing) (chattering) 319 00:23:53,326 --> 00:23:57,884 Here at last was my chance to go see my Polly. 320 00:23:57,884 --> 00:24:00,973 I wasn't much on thinking things through in those days 321 00:24:00,973 --> 00:24:03,083 and it didn't really occur to me 322 00:24:03,084 --> 00:24:06,250 that desertion would catch up with me. 323 00:24:17,471 --> 00:24:20,555 (anticipatory music) 324 00:24:27,605 --> 00:24:29,749 - John Henry Newton! 325 00:24:29,749 --> 00:24:33,486 I have a warrant for your arrest for the desertion 326 00:24:33,486 --> 00:24:35,486 from His Majesty's Navy! 327 00:24:39,308 --> 00:24:42,262 - Mr. John Newton, charged with desertion from 328 00:24:42,262 --> 00:24:45,215 His Majesty's Royal Navy, a charge punishable 329 00:24:45,215 --> 00:24:48,376 by death when found guilty by court-martial. 330 00:24:48,376 --> 00:24:50,629 Or lesser punishment by a ship's captain 331 00:24:50,630 --> 00:24:55,312 as defined by Article 16 of the Article of War. 332 00:24:55,311 --> 00:24:59,189 Captain, what shall be the punishment? 333 00:24:59,190 --> 00:25:03,362 - He shall be demoted from his present position 334 00:25:03,362 --> 00:25:05,561 and stripped of all rank. 335 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,814 He shall be tied to the main mast and administered 336 00:25:08,815 --> 00:25:10,731 12 lashes with the cat. 337 00:25:12,917 --> 00:25:16,386 Let each of you witness what happen to those who desert 338 00:25:16,386 --> 00:25:18,636 from His Majesty's service. 339 00:25:23,564 --> 00:25:27,730 (drum banging) (whip cracking) 340 00:25:50,567 --> 00:25:52,817 (groaning) 341 00:25:56,122 --> 00:26:00,825 No one shall speak a word to Mr. Newton for seven days. 342 00:26:00,825 --> 00:26:04,670 No one shall show him favor, no one shall share 343 00:26:04,670 --> 00:26:08,595 any ration with him, other than the bread and water 344 00:26:08,595 --> 00:26:11,916 assigned by the galley master. 345 00:26:11,916 --> 00:26:14,112 Are these instructions clear? 346 00:26:14,113 --> 00:26:15,696 - [Seamen] Aye sir! 347 00:26:21,816 --> 00:26:25,730 - You got your own now don't you Mr. High and Mighty? 348 00:26:25,730 --> 00:26:29,314 You got nothing more than what you deserve. 349 00:26:31,380 --> 00:26:33,130 Enjoy your meal, sir. 350 00:26:38,218 --> 00:26:41,134 (foreboding music) 351 00:27:19,702 --> 00:27:23,869 - It's healing up, you can sleep in the hammock from now on. 352 00:27:24,778 --> 00:27:28,695 We'll have you up swabbing the deck in no time. 353 00:27:34,316 --> 00:27:36,649 (sad music) 354 00:27:41,436 --> 00:27:43,088 - Mr. Jensen. 355 00:27:43,088 --> 00:27:44,485 - Master word to Mr. Jensen. 356 00:27:44,486 --> 00:27:45,569 - Mr. Smythe. 357 00:27:46,423 --> 00:27:48,933 - Master word to Mr. Smythe. 358 00:27:48,933 --> 00:27:50,350 - And Mr. Newton. 359 00:27:53,627 --> 00:27:54,736 - But captain, sir? 360 00:27:54,737 --> 00:27:56,820 - I said Mr. Newton, sir. 361 00:27:58,036 --> 00:28:00,006 - Master word to Mr. Newton. 362 00:28:00,006 --> 00:28:02,432 - [John] The captain had conscripted two gunners from 363 00:28:02,432 --> 00:28:05,925 a passing ship, maritime law required that he replaced them 364 00:28:05,925 --> 00:28:08,906 with able-bodied seamen, so that the civilian ship 365 00:28:08,906 --> 00:28:11,400 would not be shorthanded. 366 00:28:11,401 --> 00:28:14,558 This gave Captain Carteret the perfect opportunity 367 00:28:14,558 --> 00:28:16,732 to get rid of some troublemakers. 368 00:28:16,732 --> 00:28:20,536 - Able-Bodied seamen my arse, two here with scurvy 369 00:28:20,536 --> 00:28:23,698 and one barely recovered from the scourge. 370 00:28:23,698 --> 00:28:25,605 Well I can tell ya, you'll feel the cat again 371 00:28:25,605 --> 00:28:27,151 you disobey on this ship. 372 00:28:27,151 --> 00:28:28,718 - [Seamen] Aye sir. 373 00:28:28,718 --> 00:28:33,192 - This is a slave ship, we'll be 18 months on the Triangle. 374 00:28:33,192 --> 00:28:37,836 Serve well and you'll be rewarded, serve poorly 375 00:28:37,836 --> 00:28:40,574 and you'll be punished, understood? 376 00:28:40,574 --> 00:28:42,610 - [Seamen] Aye sir. 377 00:28:42,609 --> 00:28:43,442 - Dismissed! 378 00:28:43,442 --> 00:28:46,526 (anticipatory music) 379 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,261 - [John] I came to like many of the sailors of the Levant. 380 00:29:13,261 --> 00:29:17,015 But the old rage still burned inside me. 381 00:29:17,016 --> 00:29:19,452 But now it was directed all at the captain. 382 00:29:19,452 --> 00:29:22,744 - That's a sloppy bit of work there Mr. Newton. 383 00:29:22,744 --> 00:29:24,735 If that's the way you worked on the Eridge, 384 00:29:24,736 --> 00:29:26,903 no wonder you got flogged. 385 00:29:34,502 --> 00:29:37,156 - Aye listen up mates, I've come up with a little song 386 00:29:37,156 --> 00:29:39,896 about old Mr. Phelps up here. 387 00:29:39,896 --> 00:29:43,020 ♫ Did you ever see the lines since you been to sea 388 00:29:43,020 --> 00:29:45,776 ♫ Let the good ship rock 389 00:29:45,776 --> 00:29:48,509 ♫ A benty-leggy captain with a bent back knee 390 00:29:48,509 --> 00:29:51,344 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 391 00:29:51,344 --> 00:29:53,962 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 392 00:29:53,962 --> 00:29:56,872 ♫ Let the good ship roll and rock 393 00:29:56,872 --> 00:29:59,878 ♫ Better call a coward, or cower up the wall 394 00:29:59,877 --> 00:30:02,917 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 395 00:30:02,917 --> 00:30:05,617 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 396 00:30:05,617 --> 00:30:08,446 ♫ Let the good ship roll and rock 397 00:30:08,446 --> 00:30:11,059 ♫ Better call a coward, or cower up the wall 398 00:30:11,059 --> 00:30:15,117 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 399 00:30:15,117 --> 00:30:18,201 (anticipatory music) 400 00:30:23,186 --> 00:30:25,810 - We'll anchor at the Banana Islands in Sierra Leone 401 00:30:25,810 --> 00:30:28,644 tomorrow, I'll need a crew of three to row me in 402 00:30:28,644 --> 00:30:30,644 to meet with the trader. 403 00:30:31,564 --> 00:30:33,897 Harkness, Smythe and Newton. 404 00:30:37,686 --> 00:30:40,344 The following day we'll sail to (mumbling) Bay 405 00:30:40,345 --> 00:30:42,595 where we'll load the cargo. 406 00:30:52,349 --> 00:30:53,516 - I like that. 407 00:30:56,604 --> 00:30:59,701 (mumbling) staying here (mumbling). 408 00:30:59,701 --> 00:31:01,841 - You like what you see then? 409 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,894 - Do I, I bet the young trader there lives like a king. 410 00:31:05,894 --> 00:31:07,966 What's not to like. 411 00:31:07,967 --> 00:31:09,495 What do you think Newton? 412 00:31:09,494 --> 00:31:11,613 - Ah you both are daft. 413 00:31:11,614 --> 00:31:13,689 It might be nice for a while. 414 00:31:13,689 --> 00:31:16,267 I wanna get back to England, 415 00:31:16,267 --> 00:31:18,350 and I wanna see my Polly. 416 00:31:24,971 --> 00:31:28,641 - Smythe, Harkness, make ready the boat. 417 00:31:28,641 --> 00:31:31,141 Newton, you stay here with me. 418 00:31:32,101 --> 00:31:35,623 Mr. Campbell, this is Mr. Newton, the young man 419 00:31:35,623 --> 00:31:37,845 I was telling you about. 420 00:31:37,845 --> 00:31:38,952 - It's a pleasure to meet you Mr-- 421 00:31:38,952 --> 00:31:41,572 (groaning) (anticipatory music) 422 00:31:41,573 --> 00:31:45,403 - You won't be so pleased once you understand the deal. 423 00:31:45,403 --> 00:31:48,591 I've traded you Mr. Newton, you're gonna stay here 424 00:31:48,590 --> 00:31:52,757 as a servant, how do you like them apples Mr. Funnyman? 425 00:32:10,252 --> 00:32:12,336 - So you've met the lash? 426 00:32:13,423 --> 00:32:17,590 You'll meet again soon enough if you don't serve well. 427 00:32:19,756 --> 00:32:22,504 You're my property now Newton, and there's no way 428 00:32:22,503 --> 00:32:25,913 off this island without me knowledge or me permission. 429 00:32:25,913 --> 00:32:29,220 So don't you go be getting any bright ideas. 430 00:32:29,220 --> 00:32:33,163 You have to be a servant for me wife, serve her well, 431 00:32:33,163 --> 00:32:37,006 do as your told, and your life will be much easier. 432 00:32:37,006 --> 00:32:40,019 But you buck against, and you'll find out just how 433 00:32:40,019 --> 00:32:41,602 hard a life can be. 434 00:32:43,443 --> 00:32:46,499 You guards, take him to Peyai. 435 00:32:46,499 --> 00:32:49,875 She's always wanted to have a white man as a slave. 436 00:32:49,875 --> 00:32:51,709 And now she's got one. 437 00:32:54,515 --> 00:32:57,432 (foreboding music) 438 00:33:05,140 --> 00:33:08,637 - He is not much to look at, is he? 439 00:33:08,636 --> 00:33:12,873 Give him a mat, and chain him behind the house. 440 00:33:12,873 --> 00:33:14,873 First we must break him. 441 00:33:27,258 --> 00:33:32,175 - [John] My defiance, my sins, had all caught up with me. 442 00:33:32,175 --> 00:33:33,425 I was a slave. 443 00:33:40,086 --> 00:33:43,410 They gave me only a little to eat for days, 444 00:33:43,410 --> 00:33:46,526 just enough to drink to keep me alive. 445 00:33:46,526 --> 00:33:49,442 (foreboding music) 446 00:34:17,563 --> 00:34:21,521 - We take the chains off today, you are Peyai's slave. 447 00:34:21,521 --> 00:34:23,021 Do you understand? 448 00:34:24,849 --> 00:34:27,516 You must do exactly as she bids. 449 00:34:29,396 --> 00:34:32,729 If you try to run away, we will hunt you 450 00:34:33,827 --> 00:34:37,994 and chain you, if you disobey you will be whipped. 451 00:34:41,125 --> 00:34:45,215 If you try to run away twice, we will kill you, 452 00:34:45,215 --> 00:34:49,382 slowly, in a way that will make you wish for death to come. 453 00:34:50,844 --> 00:34:52,517 Do you understand? 454 00:34:52,518 --> 00:34:53,998 - Yes. 455 00:34:53,998 --> 00:34:57,831 - [Head Guard] Now go and serve your mistress. 456 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:08,563 - Ah my little white man. 457 00:35:09,855 --> 00:35:13,148 Oh you must be so terribly hungry, how could you 458 00:35:13,148 --> 00:35:16,532 have treated my little white man so badly? 459 00:35:16,532 --> 00:35:19,199 Here, let me give you some food. 460 00:35:21,364 --> 00:35:24,822 You would like something to eat, wouldn't you? 461 00:35:24,822 --> 00:35:29,226 I'm sure you would, I'm sure you are starving. 462 00:35:29,226 --> 00:35:31,559 The food will taste so good. 463 00:35:35,693 --> 00:35:37,943 (laughing) 464 00:36:03,427 --> 00:36:06,344 - [John] She worked me like a mule. 465 00:36:10,509 --> 00:36:14,634 She seemed to take particular delight in watching me suffer. 466 00:36:14,634 --> 00:36:18,800 Often making me do chores that were simply pointless. 467 00:36:20,175 --> 00:36:24,342 - Ah, very good, now that you have placed the logs here, 468 00:36:27,007 --> 00:36:30,911 put them back and place them exactly where you found them. 469 00:36:30,911 --> 00:36:35,078 (laughing) (ominous music) 470 00:37:05,298 --> 00:37:09,215 Newton, Newton, I want some fresh coconut milk. 471 00:37:12,050 --> 00:37:13,467 Go bring me some. 472 00:37:35,432 --> 00:37:38,432 (monkey screeching) 473 00:38:02,534 --> 00:38:03,784 Newton, Newton! 474 00:38:10,452 --> 00:38:11,286 Newton! 475 00:38:15,585 --> 00:38:17,166 (anticipatory music) 476 00:38:17,166 --> 00:38:19,916 Where is my coconut milk, Newton? 477 00:38:22,427 --> 00:38:24,677 I want my coconut milk now. 478 00:38:25,514 --> 00:38:26,514 Where is he? 479 00:38:31,757 --> 00:38:34,674 - You are useless, even as a slave. 480 00:38:44,195 --> 00:38:47,530 - [John] For a long time I felt nothing but hunger 481 00:38:47,530 --> 00:38:51,448 and despair, I could never forget that I was the lowest 482 00:38:51,447 --> 00:38:55,641 form of life on the island, even the native slaves 483 00:38:55,641 --> 00:38:58,463 had thatched huts to live in. 484 00:38:58,463 --> 00:39:02,438 While I had to sleep on the ground under the stars. 485 00:39:02,438 --> 00:39:05,547 On the other hand, Campbell and Peyai lived in 486 00:39:05,547 --> 00:39:10,175 a great brick house at the center of the island, 487 00:39:10,175 --> 00:39:13,260 I was seldom allowed in the big house. 488 00:39:13,260 --> 00:39:16,010 And then only to do menial labor. 489 00:39:17,329 --> 00:39:21,527 But as long as I obeyed Peyai's abusive commands, 490 00:39:21,527 --> 00:39:25,445 they fed me a little, and I regained some strength 491 00:39:25,445 --> 00:39:27,445 in mind as well as body. 492 00:39:29,411 --> 00:39:32,327 (foreboding music) 493 00:39:34,038 --> 00:39:37,367 One night I lay looking at the expanse of the heavens. 494 00:39:37,367 --> 00:39:39,501 I began to try and see how many constellations I could 495 00:39:39,501 --> 00:39:44,141 identify, how many stars I could name, this became 496 00:39:44,141 --> 00:39:47,593 a nightly game, that became a private area of freedom 497 00:39:47,592 --> 00:39:51,759 for me, and I began to dream again of my dear Polly, 498 00:39:53,472 --> 00:39:55,055 my beautiful Polly. 499 00:39:56,981 --> 00:40:00,148 I wonder if I will ever see her again. 500 00:40:01,704 --> 00:40:04,074 Then one night it seemed to me that a group of stars 501 00:40:04,074 --> 00:40:08,108 formed a circle, a ring, a constellation I had never seen 502 00:40:08,108 --> 00:40:10,025 before and never since. 503 00:40:11,108 --> 00:40:13,109 It may have been my eyes playing a trick 504 00:40:13,108 --> 00:40:16,371 or perhaps a planet had wandered into an unusual position 505 00:40:16,371 --> 00:40:20,960 visible from this latitude but that night I could indeed 506 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:24,626 see a ring, a ring like the one in my dream. 507 00:40:27,005 --> 00:40:29,715 - You're not able to keep it. 508 00:40:29,715 --> 00:40:33,882 But I will preserve it for you and whenever it is needful 509 00:40:35,518 --> 00:40:38,268 I will produce it on your behalf. 510 00:40:48,820 --> 00:40:51,825 During the days when Peyai was in a mood, 511 00:40:51,824 --> 00:40:55,742 I would work very hard but then there would be hours 512 00:40:55,742 --> 00:40:59,076 of boredom when there was nothing to do. 513 00:41:03,382 --> 00:41:07,423 One day I found a small lime tree growing near the village, 514 00:41:07,422 --> 00:41:09,675 that seemed much like me. 515 00:41:09,675 --> 00:41:13,407 Beating and starving, despairing of life. 516 00:41:13,407 --> 00:41:15,985 I adopted that little tree as my own 517 00:41:15,985 --> 00:41:20,688 and began to take care of it to water and to fertilize it. 518 00:41:20,688 --> 00:41:23,539 I found other seedlings and planted them in what became 519 00:41:23,539 --> 00:41:25,231 my own little garden. 520 00:41:25,231 --> 00:41:27,898 (calming music) 521 00:41:35,827 --> 00:41:38,789 One day, Campbell had me move heavy crates 522 00:41:38,789 --> 00:41:42,956 into the big house, I was alone for a few moments, 523 00:41:43,869 --> 00:41:47,869 and there I came upon a dusty old geometry book. 524 00:41:50,130 --> 00:41:52,963 I took it and hit it under my mat. 525 00:41:55,726 --> 00:41:58,971 I began in my spare time to work geometry problems. 526 00:41:58,971 --> 00:42:02,396 Scratching diagrams in the sand. 527 00:42:02,396 --> 00:42:06,065 Using the sun and the shadow of my little lime tree, 528 00:42:06,065 --> 00:42:08,479 I calculated the latitude and longitude of the islands 529 00:42:08,478 --> 00:42:09,395 we were on. 530 00:42:10,353 --> 00:42:14,025 Which were commonly called the Banana Islands. 531 00:42:14,025 --> 00:42:16,908 Just like the stars, like the little lime tree, it gave 532 00:42:16,909 --> 00:42:20,124 me something to focus on, a space that was mine 533 00:42:20,123 --> 00:42:21,373 and mine alone. 534 00:42:22,844 --> 00:42:24,994 There was little that I could do with the knowledge, 535 00:42:24,994 --> 00:42:27,913 but the exercise did much to keep my mind occupied 536 00:42:27,913 --> 00:42:28,746 and sharp. 537 00:42:34,130 --> 00:42:36,474 One day when I was tending to my little garden 538 00:42:36,474 --> 00:42:39,745 and passing the time with equations written in the sand, 539 00:42:39,744 --> 00:42:42,304 Mr. Campbell and Peyai walked down the path 540 00:42:42,304 --> 00:42:45,387 and caught sight of what I was doing. 541 00:42:46,815 --> 00:42:50,103 - Newton, what are you doing man? 542 00:42:50,103 --> 00:42:52,567 Are you growing your own limes? 543 00:42:52,567 --> 00:42:56,152 - [John] I was terrified that Peyai, as cruel as she was 544 00:42:56,152 --> 00:42:59,695 would make me destroy my little place of sanity. 545 00:42:59,695 --> 00:43:02,162 - Well who knows, maybe one day before those 546 00:43:02,161 --> 00:43:04,014 trees are full grown you can sail back 547 00:43:04,014 --> 00:43:07,879 to England and you can be the captain of your own boat. 548 00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:09,548 Then you can come back here and enjoy the fruits 549 00:43:09,547 --> 00:43:10,689 of your labor. 550 00:43:10,690 --> 00:43:13,590 - Then again perhaps he will become the King of Poland. 551 00:43:13,590 --> 00:43:15,840 (laughing) 552 00:43:21,532 --> 00:43:22,782 - What is this? 553 00:43:24,773 --> 00:43:27,018 Do you understand the mathematics? 554 00:43:27,018 --> 00:43:29,268 - Yes sir, I taught myself. 555 00:43:30,478 --> 00:43:34,644 - Oh, you might not be a complete waste after all. 556 00:43:39,574 --> 00:43:42,491 (foreboding music) 557 00:43:53,083 --> 00:43:56,530 Here are a set of equations, I'd like for you to solve them. 558 00:43:56,530 --> 00:43:58,690 - What is it, a test? 559 00:43:58,690 --> 00:44:01,608 - Aye if you will, I want to see just how good you are 560 00:44:01,608 --> 00:44:05,192 with these mathematics, sit down, sit down. 561 00:44:15,358 --> 00:44:18,441 (anticipatory music) 562 00:44:35,170 --> 00:44:38,922 I'm in need of a clerk to manage me factory at Kittam. 563 00:44:38,922 --> 00:44:41,501 They don't very many people in Sierra Leone who understand 564 00:44:41,501 --> 00:44:43,018 numbers. 565 00:44:43,018 --> 00:44:44,117 - Factory? 566 00:44:44,117 --> 00:44:47,284 - Aye, it's me slave trading post, it's where 567 00:44:47,284 --> 00:44:49,787 the Bombo bring the slaves from the interior 568 00:44:49,786 --> 00:44:52,736 and make them ready for transport to the West Indies. 569 00:44:52,737 --> 00:44:55,108 My brother runs the factory, but he's in need of someone 570 00:44:55,108 --> 00:44:58,655 who can keep the accounts, you will go there, 571 00:44:58,655 --> 00:45:01,154 you will serve him now. 572 00:45:01,155 --> 00:45:03,155 The guard will take you. 573 00:45:04,278 --> 00:45:07,195 (foreboding music) 574 00:45:43,501 --> 00:45:46,618 - At Kittam my life changed dramatically, 575 00:45:46,617 --> 00:45:50,085 I had new clean clothes to wear, Angus Campbell 576 00:45:50,085 --> 00:45:53,085 treated me well, almost as an equal. 577 00:45:55,791 --> 00:45:58,458 (calming music) 578 00:46:17,657 --> 00:46:19,967 The Bombo treated me with respect, 579 00:46:19,967 --> 00:46:22,510 inviting me to their feasts. 580 00:46:22,510 --> 00:46:26,677 (cheerful drumming) (cheering) 581 00:46:37,628 --> 00:46:41,376 I thought of Polly often, before long I had given up 582 00:46:41,376 --> 00:46:45,011 any hope of ever returning to England. 583 00:46:45,010 --> 00:46:46,637 My circumstance had changed from one 584 00:46:46,637 --> 00:46:50,260 of daily despair to one of comfort, 585 00:46:50,260 --> 00:46:54,427 I had all I needed, food, shelter, clothing, respect. 586 00:46:55,516 --> 00:46:56,766 And even women. 587 00:46:57,902 --> 00:47:01,728 Thoughts of England faded, and my life in Kittam 588 00:47:01,728 --> 00:47:05,529 began to envelop every part of my being. 589 00:47:05,530 --> 00:47:08,200 The other settlers even had an expression for it, 590 00:47:08,199 --> 00:47:10,532 they called it going native. 591 00:47:11,367 --> 00:47:13,784 (applauding) 592 00:47:14,871 --> 00:47:19,038 (anticipatory drumming) (singing foreign language) 593 00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:27,976 What are they saying? 594 00:47:27,976 --> 00:47:29,559 - It means freedom. 595 00:47:46,030 --> 00:47:48,947 (foreboding music) 596 00:47:58,913 --> 00:48:01,210 - [John] But then came the day when my entire world 597 00:48:01,210 --> 00:48:04,757 would suddenly change again as if a lightning bolt 598 00:48:04,757 --> 00:48:05,922 had struck. 599 00:48:05,922 --> 00:48:08,617 - Mr. Newton, a man here to see you. 600 00:48:08,617 --> 00:48:11,478 - Mr. Newton, Mr. John Newton. 601 00:48:11,478 --> 00:48:12,470 - Yes. 602 00:48:12,469 --> 00:48:15,263 - I'm Archibald Gother, Captain of the HMS Greyhound, 603 00:48:15,264 --> 00:48:16,181 out of Liverpool. 604 00:48:16,181 --> 00:48:18,009 - Ah, welcome Captain Gother, are you here to pick up 605 00:48:18,009 --> 00:48:18,842 a shipment? 606 00:48:18,842 --> 00:48:22,698 - Not exactly, you see I'm here to take you home. 607 00:48:22,697 --> 00:48:24,692 - Me, what are you talking about? 608 00:48:24,692 --> 00:48:27,273 - Your father commissioned me to find you 609 00:48:27,273 --> 00:48:29,987 and bring you back to England whatever the cost. 610 00:48:29,987 --> 00:48:31,613 I've been stopping at every trading post south of 611 00:48:31,612 --> 00:48:35,779 the Canaries searching for you, and finally here you are! 612 00:48:38,369 --> 00:48:39,369 - My father! 613 00:48:42,248 --> 00:48:43,331 - Mr. Newton! 614 00:48:45,179 --> 00:48:48,096 (foreboding music) 615 00:49:04,574 --> 00:49:07,402 - There she is, the Greyhound. 616 00:49:07,402 --> 00:49:09,699 After this, we got two more ports of call. 617 00:49:09,699 --> 00:49:11,898 To pick up ivory and beeswax. 618 00:49:11,898 --> 00:49:14,782 And then we should set sail for Liverpool, 619 00:49:14,782 --> 00:49:16,282 and for you, home. 620 00:49:17,998 --> 00:49:20,327 - Captain Gother, a month ago I would've told you 621 00:49:20,327 --> 00:49:24,411 I had no hope or even dreams of seeing England again. 622 00:49:24,411 --> 00:49:26,920 I was prepared to live out my days here. 623 00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:29,648 Perhaps marry a native, even have my grave right here 624 00:49:29,648 --> 00:49:33,648 in West Africa, if I believed in God I would say 625 00:49:34,523 --> 00:49:36,596 his hand had brought you here. 626 00:49:36,597 --> 00:49:39,680 - Believe it, for who else can it be? 627 00:49:40,682 --> 00:49:44,182 (warm anticipatory music) 628 00:50:10,519 --> 00:50:13,177 - [John] And so I began my journey home. 629 00:50:13,177 --> 00:50:17,770 Not as a crewman but as a passenger on the Greyhound. 630 00:50:17,771 --> 00:50:20,773 Freed of the duties I was used to, I had many hours 631 00:50:20,773 --> 00:50:24,526 at sea to think, to think about my life, 632 00:50:24,525 --> 00:50:26,692 to think about life itself. 633 00:50:26,693 --> 00:50:29,360 (calming music) 634 00:50:57,882 --> 00:50:59,925 It was during these long hours of leisure 635 00:50:59,925 --> 00:51:03,431 that I discovered a book, The Imitation of Christ 636 00:51:03,431 --> 00:51:06,681 by Thomas a Kempis, I began reading it, 637 00:51:07,559 --> 00:51:11,148 not as a meditational work but as a work of fiction 638 00:51:11,148 --> 00:51:14,240 and entertainment to pass the time. 639 00:51:14,240 --> 00:51:18,775 But as I read the involuntary suggestion came to me. 640 00:51:18,775 --> 00:51:22,117 What if these words were true, what if the faith 641 00:51:22,117 --> 00:51:25,451 of this long dead writer was in fact a reality 642 00:51:25,451 --> 00:51:28,985 that I simply did not understand. 643 00:51:28,985 --> 00:51:33,152 I could not bear the inference as it related to myself. 644 00:51:34,213 --> 00:51:36,844 Dimly remembered Scripture verses came unbidden 645 00:51:36,844 --> 00:51:40,141 to my mind, especially fearful passages that speak 646 00:51:40,141 --> 00:51:43,146 of the judgment of those who know the way of truth 647 00:51:43,146 --> 00:51:45,188 but then depart from it. 648 00:51:45,188 --> 00:51:47,853 What if I were one of them? 649 00:51:47,853 --> 00:51:51,205 What if the faith I had abandoned was in fact 650 00:51:51,206 --> 00:51:54,533 the driving reality of the universe? 651 00:51:54,532 --> 00:51:57,493 What if God's hand had in fact been the moving force 652 00:51:57,494 --> 00:52:00,780 that brought me to this point, brought Gother 653 00:52:00,780 --> 00:52:03,784 to Sierra Leone to rescue me. 654 00:52:03,784 --> 00:52:06,704 What if I had turned my back on the very God 655 00:52:06,704 --> 00:52:08,537 who sought to save me? 656 00:52:11,291 --> 00:52:15,130 I was so caught up in my own thoughts and meditation 657 00:52:15,130 --> 00:52:17,753 that I had not even been aware of the storm that 658 00:52:17,753 --> 00:52:18,928 had engulfed us. 659 00:52:18,927 --> 00:52:21,844 (thunder rumbling) 660 00:52:25,766 --> 00:52:27,961 - All hands on deck John! 661 00:52:27,960 --> 00:52:31,043 (anticipatory music) 662 00:52:41,505 --> 00:52:44,505 - Mister, hey, get that canvas down! 663 00:52:50,172 --> 00:52:52,422 (shouting) 664 00:53:06,684 --> 00:53:09,327 - [Sailor] Pilot down, pilot down! 665 00:53:09,327 --> 00:53:12,945 - Get Newton, get Newton! - I know where he is! 666 00:53:12,945 --> 00:53:17,112 (anticipatory music) (storm brooding) 667 00:53:57,355 --> 00:53:58,521 - God save us! 668 00:54:15,335 --> 00:54:18,001 (calming music) 669 00:54:36,670 --> 00:54:37,503 Thank you. 670 00:54:38,643 --> 00:54:42,318 I thought back then on that powerful recurring dream 671 00:54:42,318 --> 00:54:44,402 that had haunted my life. 672 00:54:45,532 --> 00:54:50,492 - I will preserve it for you, and whenever it is needful, 673 00:54:50,492 --> 00:54:53,205 I will produce it on your behalf. 674 00:54:53,204 --> 00:54:55,871 (calming music) 675 00:55:05,824 --> 00:55:08,197 - [John] We had survived the most terrifying storm 676 00:55:08,197 --> 00:55:09,697 of my life at sea. 677 00:55:10,695 --> 00:55:13,810 But more than that I had a glimmer of new hope, 678 00:55:13,811 --> 00:55:18,441 a spark of faith in my heart, in my darkest moment, 679 00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:21,652 I discovered a chance of reconciliation, 680 00:55:21,652 --> 00:55:25,819 with a God that I had long dismissed as mere fiction. 681 00:55:26,777 --> 00:55:28,944 That was March 10th, 1748. 682 00:55:30,110 --> 00:55:32,708 A day that I would mark for the rest of my life 683 00:55:32,708 --> 00:55:35,041 as the day of my conversion. 684 00:55:39,503 --> 00:55:42,170 (calming music) 685 00:55:45,844 --> 00:55:50,760 There is little doubt that our very cargo had saved us. 686 00:55:50,760 --> 00:55:52,954 The beeswax and the (mumbling) we carried 687 00:55:52,954 --> 00:55:56,027 being both lighter than water. 688 00:55:56,027 --> 00:55:58,418 The Greyhound was so swamped with water that we surely 689 00:55:58,418 --> 00:56:01,074 would've sunk if it were not for the flotation 690 00:56:01,074 --> 00:56:02,741 of the cargo itself. 691 00:56:04,032 --> 00:56:08,529 But was God's hand not present even in this detail? 692 00:56:08,530 --> 00:56:11,656 As we limped back toward England, tripled with only a few 693 00:56:11,655 --> 00:56:15,822 sails, I spent most of my time reading the Scriptures. 694 00:56:16,827 --> 00:56:20,111 Meditating and praying to the Lord for mercy 695 00:56:20,110 --> 00:56:21,443 and instruction. 696 00:56:30,010 --> 00:56:34,259 I began to see my life in a different perspective. 697 00:56:34,259 --> 00:56:36,719 The burning anger that had driven me as a younger man 698 00:56:36,719 --> 00:56:37,886 was now faded. 699 00:56:39,271 --> 00:56:41,853 I began to see that my entire life was that as 700 00:56:41,853 --> 00:56:44,794 the Parable of the Prodigal Son. 701 00:56:44,795 --> 00:56:48,784 Not in a figurative way, as most people understand it, 702 00:56:48,784 --> 00:56:51,916 but in the most literal reality. 703 00:56:51,916 --> 00:56:53,583 - [Watcher] Land ho! 704 00:56:55,536 --> 00:56:58,459 - [John] We sighted land on April 7th, the Irish island 705 00:56:58,460 --> 00:57:01,960 of Tory, the next day we landed at Swilly. 706 00:57:03,960 --> 00:57:08,182 Finally I was safely home, after misadventures 707 00:57:08,182 --> 00:57:10,599 that seemed like a storybook. 708 00:57:13,302 --> 00:57:15,719 - So did you see your father? 709 00:57:16,885 --> 00:57:17,719 - No. 710 00:57:19,648 --> 00:57:22,315 See God's ways are very strange. 711 00:57:23,184 --> 00:57:25,844 You see the day I arrived in Liverpool 712 00:57:25,844 --> 00:57:29,291 I discovered that my father had shipped out only the day 713 00:57:29,291 --> 00:57:32,703 before for Canada, he'd been appointed 714 00:57:32,704 --> 00:57:37,077 Governor of York's Fort in Hudson Bay Colony. 715 00:57:37,077 --> 00:57:39,533 I never saw him again. 716 00:57:39,532 --> 00:57:40,793 - How sad. 717 00:57:40,793 --> 00:57:42,706 Did he know that you were safe? 718 00:57:42,706 --> 00:57:45,373 - Oh yes we were able to write one another 719 00:57:45,373 --> 00:57:48,791 so he knew the whole story, but he died there 720 00:57:48,791 --> 00:57:52,958 in Canada and was buried there and I never saw him again. 721 00:57:53,880 --> 00:57:58,137 However, God gave me a new father as it were, 722 00:57:58,137 --> 00:58:00,692 Joseph Manastee who owned the ship that 723 00:58:00,693 --> 00:58:03,182 I had returned on, took me under his wing 724 00:58:03,181 --> 00:58:07,143 and treated me as if I were his own son. 725 00:58:07,143 --> 00:58:08,633 He got me a commission as first mate 726 00:58:08,634 --> 00:58:11,918 on a trade ship and I did very well. 727 00:58:11,918 --> 00:58:15,367 Much of the rebellion in my spirit, the burning anger, 728 00:58:15,367 --> 00:58:17,987 had been washed away in Africa and I no longer found 729 00:58:17,987 --> 00:58:20,904 myself always attracted to trouble. 730 00:58:22,498 --> 00:58:26,452 My new station in life secure, I could at long last 731 00:58:26,452 --> 00:58:29,202 go back to Kent, and to my Polly. 732 00:58:30,509 --> 00:58:31,925 My beloved Polly. 733 00:58:35,835 --> 00:58:39,778 After years of remember her face as in a dream, 734 00:58:39,778 --> 00:58:43,146 I was finally able to marry my dear Polly, 735 00:58:43,146 --> 00:58:44,813 the love of my life. 736 00:58:46,268 --> 00:58:49,933 - According to God's holy ordinance, and thereto, 737 00:58:49,934 --> 00:58:51,601 I give you my truth. 738 00:58:52,983 --> 00:58:55,442 - With this ring I give you my heart. 739 00:58:55,443 --> 00:58:57,735 With my body I give you worship. 740 00:58:57,735 --> 00:59:01,782 And with all of my worldly goods, I thee endow. 741 00:59:01,782 --> 00:59:06,526 In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 742 00:59:06,525 --> 00:59:07,358 Amen. 743 00:59:15,800 --> 00:59:19,554 Before long my benefactor Joseph Manastee promoted me 744 00:59:19,554 --> 00:59:23,269 to captain, captain of my own ship. 745 00:59:23,269 --> 00:59:24,853 The Duke of Argyll. 746 00:59:28,146 --> 00:59:31,686 The Duke of Argyll was a slaving ship. 747 00:59:31,686 --> 00:59:35,501 So my job as captain was to take the ship 748 00:59:35,501 --> 00:59:37,943 to the West coast of Africa, very close to 749 00:59:37,943 --> 00:59:41,404 where I had been held captive myself, pick up slaves 750 00:59:41,405 --> 00:59:44,661 there, transport them to the West Indies, there to 751 00:59:44,661 --> 00:59:48,420 exchange them for molasses and rum, and return those 752 00:59:48,420 --> 00:59:52,750 to England, that's why we called it the Triangular Trade. 753 00:59:52,750 --> 00:59:56,333 - Wait, you were a captain of a slave ship? 754 00:59:58,291 --> 01:00:01,677 After you were a slave yourself? 755 01:00:01,677 --> 01:00:04,011 How could you do that? 756 01:00:04,012 --> 01:00:06,762 - You're a very astute young man. 757 01:00:07,976 --> 01:00:11,461 No I was infant in the faith, and I really did not 758 01:00:11,460 --> 01:00:15,950 see the evils of the slave trade at the time. 759 01:00:15,951 --> 01:00:20,197 None of us did, it was considered an honorable way 760 01:00:20,197 --> 01:00:21,907 to make a living. 761 01:00:21,907 --> 01:00:25,117 - But you were held captive, how could you do that 762 01:00:25,117 --> 01:00:26,451 to someone else? 763 01:00:27,710 --> 01:00:29,460 - It was all too easy. 764 01:00:31,168 --> 01:00:33,585 You see attitudes are starting to change now, 765 01:00:33,585 --> 01:00:37,545 but 20 years ago, no one questioned the slave trade, 766 01:00:37,545 --> 01:00:40,672 well save the Quakers and a few Moravian missionaries 767 01:00:40,672 --> 01:00:41,838 in St. Thomas. 768 01:00:43,010 --> 01:00:46,011 Everyone in England that had any money at all, 769 01:00:46,010 --> 01:00:50,686 had it invested in the slave trade it was very profitable. 770 01:00:50,686 --> 01:00:54,853 And where profit is concerned we turn a blind eye, don't we? 771 01:00:57,070 --> 01:00:59,489 All I could see at the time was that as a Christian 772 01:00:59,489 --> 01:01:03,613 ship captain, my job was to safely transport the slaves 773 01:01:03,614 --> 01:01:06,320 from one port to the other and treat them as well 774 01:01:06,320 --> 01:01:10,919 as possible, the same as I might do with a load of cattle. 775 01:01:10,918 --> 01:01:14,036 It wasn't an uncommon on slave ships for almost 776 01:01:14,036 --> 01:01:18,338 a third of them to die on that middle passage. 777 01:01:18,338 --> 01:01:23,174 They were kept chained below decks, fed little food. 778 01:01:23,175 --> 01:01:27,340 I prided myself on the fact that only a few had ever died 779 01:01:27,340 --> 01:01:28,350 on my ships. 780 01:01:28,349 --> 01:01:31,432 (anticipatory music) 781 01:01:32,983 --> 01:01:36,845 I devised a routine of regular exercise for the slaves, 782 01:01:36,844 --> 01:01:39,673 so that each day they would see the sunlight and keep 783 01:01:39,673 --> 01:01:43,494 themselves as fit and healthy as possible. 784 01:01:43,494 --> 01:01:46,286 I insisted with Mr. Manastee that we have sufficient 785 01:01:46,286 --> 01:01:48,742 provisions so that the slaves could maintain 786 01:01:48,742 --> 01:01:52,288 proper nourishment, and not arrive starved. 787 01:01:52,288 --> 01:01:55,710 I did the same with the crew, I was proud that my ship 788 01:01:55,710 --> 01:01:57,874 had one of the best records for delivering slaves 789 01:01:57,873 --> 01:01:59,742 in good health. 790 01:01:59,742 --> 01:02:04,058 We only had a few deaths at see, I felt each one personally 791 01:02:04,059 --> 01:02:06,890 and worked harder on each voyage to make sure 792 01:02:06,889 --> 01:02:10,692 that both crew and cargo stayed healthy and fit. 793 01:02:10,692 --> 01:02:13,735 It may not seem like much, but it was far more 794 01:02:13,735 --> 01:02:17,481 than most captains did in those days. 795 01:02:17,481 --> 01:02:20,777 I engaged the crew in regular times of worship. 796 01:02:20,777 --> 01:02:22,838 Ye shall have a song, as in the night 797 01:02:22,838 --> 01:02:25,657 when a holy solemnity is kept, 798 01:02:25,657 --> 01:02:28,450 and gladness of heart, as when one go with a pipe 799 01:02:28,449 --> 01:02:30,955 to come into the mountain of the Lord, 800 01:02:30,956 --> 01:02:33,289 to the mighty one of Israel. 801 01:02:34,257 --> 01:02:35,257 Let us pray. 802 01:02:36,168 --> 01:02:39,668 (warm anticipatory music) 803 01:02:51,768 --> 01:02:53,687 It was on this journey that I had the chance 804 01:02:53,688 --> 01:02:56,228 to return to the Banana Islands, 805 01:02:56,228 --> 01:02:59,559 to my own place of enslavement. 806 01:02:59,559 --> 01:03:02,210 I was even able to find one of the lime trees 807 01:03:02,210 --> 01:03:06,377 that I had planted with my own hands so many years before. 808 01:03:22,509 --> 01:03:26,342 Then came my third voyage, in 1753, as captain 809 01:03:27,224 --> 01:03:28,474 of The African. 810 01:03:29,847 --> 01:03:32,930 We landed in Ghana to pick up a load of 600 slaves 811 01:03:32,929 --> 01:03:35,012 for transport to Jamaica. 812 01:03:36,385 --> 01:03:38,719 (sad music) 813 01:04:25,666 --> 01:04:29,833 (chains clanging) (chanting) 814 01:04:43,746 --> 01:04:46,826 It was on that voyage that I began to first wonder 815 01:04:46,826 --> 01:04:48,659 about the slave trade. 816 01:05:06,710 --> 01:05:09,043 (sad music) 817 01:05:18,123 --> 01:05:20,540 That would be my last voyage. 818 01:05:26,431 --> 01:05:28,213 The weather looks good. 819 01:05:28,213 --> 01:05:30,757 I'm gonna sail the day after tomorrow. 820 01:05:30,757 --> 01:05:33,672 - I shall miss you terribly, I so wish you did not 821 01:05:33,672 --> 01:05:35,396 have to be gone so long. 822 01:05:35,396 --> 01:05:36,885 - Yes I know. 823 01:05:36,885 --> 01:05:39,922 But it is the nature of the trade. 824 01:05:39,922 --> 01:05:41,610 (groaning) 825 01:05:41,610 --> 01:05:42,443 - John? 826 01:05:44,226 --> 01:05:45,143 John, John! 827 01:05:45,976 --> 01:05:49,059 (ceramic shattering) 828 01:05:50,815 --> 01:05:53,148 (sad music) 829 01:05:54,427 --> 01:05:57,427 - I'm afraid he's suffered a stroke. 830 01:06:01,786 --> 01:06:05,082 - [John] I could no longer command a ship. 831 01:06:05,083 --> 01:06:06,666 - [Samuel] How sad. 832 01:06:08,797 --> 01:06:11,718 - It seemed very hard at the time, but we were 833 01:06:11,719 --> 01:06:14,858 later to understand that it was a blessing from God. 834 01:06:14,858 --> 01:06:16,213 - A blessing? 835 01:06:16,213 --> 01:06:19,681 - Yes a blessing, you see when God closes one way 836 01:06:19,681 --> 01:06:22,141 it is often for a reason that we do not know 837 01:06:22,141 --> 01:06:25,811 or understand, Captain Potter, the man who 838 01:06:25,811 --> 01:06:28,940 took over the ship for me, and his entire crew 839 01:06:28,940 --> 01:06:30,527 were killed on that voyage. 840 01:06:30,527 --> 01:06:31,905 - God preserve us! 841 01:06:31,905 --> 01:06:33,943 - Yes he did preserve us. 842 01:06:33,943 --> 01:06:36,363 And it was a deep lesson because what we thought 843 01:06:36,362 --> 01:06:39,828 was a curse at the time, actually was filled 844 01:06:39,829 --> 01:06:41,162 with much grace. 845 01:06:42,532 --> 01:06:46,051 We moved back to Polly's family home in Kent, 846 01:06:46,052 --> 01:06:47,688 for my recuperation. 847 01:06:47,688 --> 01:06:50,355 (calming music) 848 01:07:01,483 --> 01:07:04,893 During this time living in Kent I had many hours 849 01:07:04,893 --> 01:07:08,794 of leisure, which I often spent outdoors, I had hours 850 01:07:08,795 --> 01:07:12,898 and hours for Bible study and for meditation. 851 01:07:12,898 --> 01:07:16,001 I spent many hours discovering the layers of grace 852 01:07:16,001 --> 01:07:19,085 present in our Lord's redeeming work. 853 01:07:29,588 --> 01:07:33,210 Slowly I regained some of my strength. 854 01:07:33,210 --> 01:07:36,967 But I knew I would never again captain a ship. 855 01:07:36,967 --> 01:07:39,509 However, my knowledge of the business enabled me 856 01:07:39,510 --> 01:07:44,064 to obtain a position as tide-surveyor of Liverpool. 857 01:07:44,063 --> 01:07:46,940 A position of great responsibility. 858 01:07:46,940 --> 01:07:51,440 - Ahoy, (mumbling) surveyor, state your cargo. 859 01:07:51,440 --> 01:07:54,984 - 100 barrels of rum and a hundred barrels of molasses 860 01:07:54,985 --> 01:07:57,664 from the island, 75 barrels... 861 01:07:57,664 --> 01:07:59,875 - [John] I worked for the Custom's Office 862 01:07:59,875 --> 01:08:02,405 and was responsible to inspect incoming ships 863 01:08:02,405 --> 01:08:05,035 to make sure the proper import customs were paid 864 01:08:05,034 --> 01:08:07,702 to the government, even with the remaining weakness 865 01:08:07,702 --> 01:08:10,592 from my stroke, I could still discharge the work 866 01:08:10,592 --> 01:08:14,278 with responsibility, and yet have the free time 867 01:08:14,277 --> 01:08:17,360 to study the scriptures as I desired. 868 01:08:18,685 --> 01:08:21,301 Now that we were settled in a house in Liverpool, 869 01:08:21,301 --> 01:08:24,134 I made the most of my free time. 870 01:08:24,135 --> 01:08:26,637 I determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ 871 01:08:26,636 --> 01:08:31,226 and him crucified as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. 872 01:08:31,226 --> 01:08:33,452 And I resolved to do nothing that would not serve 873 01:08:33,452 --> 01:08:34,952 that main purpose. 874 01:08:36,036 --> 01:08:38,905 I began to learn Greek, enough to allow me to understand 875 01:08:38,905 --> 01:08:42,073 The New Testament and The Septuagint, and then I began 876 01:08:42,073 --> 01:08:45,743 studying Hebrew the following year. 877 01:08:45,743 --> 01:08:48,276 I never attained a critical skill in any of these 878 01:08:48,275 --> 01:08:51,557 languages, but I had no goal but to truly 879 01:08:51,557 --> 01:08:54,087 and faithfully understand the scriptural words 880 01:08:54,087 --> 01:08:57,764 and phrases so that I could judge for myself 881 01:08:57,764 --> 01:09:00,717 the meaning of any particular passage. 882 01:09:00,716 --> 01:09:02,552 Together with this I kept up a course 883 01:09:02,552 --> 01:09:05,023 of reading the best writers of Christian theology 884 01:09:05,023 --> 01:09:06,105 I could find. 885 01:09:08,020 --> 01:09:11,889 Out of this gradually arose a new desire. 886 01:09:11,889 --> 01:09:14,606 My mother's hope when I was a child was that I should 887 01:09:14,606 --> 01:09:16,734 enter the Ministry. 888 01:09:16,734 --> 01:09:20,702 Now for the first time I began to feel a strong calling 889 01:09:20,703 --> 01:09:24,365 in that direction myself, it was not a calling of 890 01:09:24,365 --> 01:09:27,953 which I felt worthy, but I felt in some ways 891 01:09:27,953 --> 01:09:30,367 I was the perfect person to proclaim 892 01:09:30,367 --> 01:09:33,248 the faithful saying from 1 Timothy. 893 01:09:33,247 --> 01:09:35,913 That Jesus Christ came into the world to save the 894 01:09:35,913 --> 01:09:37,331 chief of sinners. 895 01:09:38,421 --> 01:09:41,383 My life had been full of such remarkable turns, 896 01:09:41,382 --> 01:09:45,465 I seemed selected to show what the Lord could do. 897 01:09:47,536 --> 01:09:50,730 My initial enthusiasm was damped by refusal 898 01:09:50,729 --> 01:09:54,396 after refusal to consider me for ordination. 899 01:09:55,600 --> 01:09:58,814 I did not give up easily, but in rapid order 900 01:09:58,814 --> 01:10:01,319 I was turned down by the established church, 901 01:10:01,319 --> 01:10:04,224 by the Dissenters, by the Methodists, 902 01:10:04,224 --> 01:10:06,306 and by the Presbyterians. 903 01:10:09,202 --> 01:10:11,908 Though not yet ordained I began to preach at churches 904 01:10:11,908 --> 01:10:15,408 around Liverpool, and to be well received. 905 01:10:16,416 --> 01:10:20,759 The Lord bestows many blessings upon his people, but unless 906 01:10:20,759 --> 01:10:24,130 he likewise gives 'em a thankful heart, 907 01:10:24,130 --> 01:10:25,449 they lose much of the comfort 908 01:10:25,449 --> 01:10:28,693 they might have in them, and this is not only a blessing 909 01:10:28,693 --> 01:10:31,525 in itself, but in earnest of more. 910 01:10:32,810 --> 01:10:35,688 King David, when he was peacefully settled in 911 01:10:35,689 --> 01:10:40,024 his kingdom, purposed to express his gratitude 912 01:10:40,024 --> 01:10:42,774 by building a place for the arch. 913 01:10:43,704 --> 01:10:46,628 I began to receive more and more invitations to preach 914 01:10:46,628 --> 01:10:49,796 or to speak about my life experiences. 915 01:10:52,658 --> 01:10:54,576 Polly, Polly read this. 916 01:10:57,123 --> 01:10:58,871 - You're to be the pastor of 917 01:10:58,871 --> 01:11:03,336 the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Olney? 918 01:11:03,336 --> 01:11:07,217 Oh John, it is an answer to our prayers! 919 01:11:07,216 --> 01:11:10,466 (church bells ringing) 920 01:11:11,680 --> 01:11:14,348 - I had to wait over seven long years, 921 01:11:14,349 --> 01:11:17,476 but finally my dream to server as a parish pastor 922 01:11:17,475 --> 01:11:18,975 would become true. 923 01:11:21,731 --> 01:11:24,528 And that Samuel is how I came to be the pastor 924 01:11:24,529 --> 01:11:27,124 of this parish, of course that was a number of years 925 01:11:27,123 --> 01:11:29,036 ago before you were born. 926 01:11:29,037 --> 01:11:30,742 - It is quite a story. 927 01:11:30,742 --> 01:11:33,204 - Yes and let it be a lesson to you. 928 01:11:33,204 --> 01:11:35,405 For the story that God has in mind for you may 929 01:11:35,405 --> 01:11:39,015 be very different from what you have planned. 930 01:11:39,015 --> 01:11:42,681 The great adventure is finding God's will for your life. 931 01:11:42,681 --> 01:11:45,005 - Oh I did not know you had company. 932 01:11:45,006 --> 01:11:47,971 - Yes this is Samuel, we met in the village. 933 01:11:47,970 --> 01:11:50,718 - Ah, aren't you Ms. Watson's oldest? 934 01:11:50,719 --> 01:11:52,641 - Aye she's me stepmom. 935 01:11:52,641 --> 01:11:56,394 - Oh why don't you join us on Tuesday, 936 01:11:56,395 --> 01:11:59,975 John and I have begun a Bible School for the area children. 937 01:11:59,975 --> 01:12:02,644 - Yes, you'll improve your reading skills and at the same 938 01:12:02,644 --> 01:12:04,858 time learn more about the Bible. 939 01:12:04,858 --> 01:12:07,195 - If you're leading it, then I'll come. 940 01:12:07,194 --> 01:12:08,858 - Oh very good. (laughing) 941 01:12:08,859 --> 01:12:11,289 - John please remember that William Cowper is coming 942 01:12:11,288 --> 01:12:13,034 later to work on the poem. 943 01:12:13,034 --> 01:12:14,244 - Yes I do. - Hmm-mm. 944 01:12:14,244 --> 01:12:17,926 - Mr. Cowper and I are working on some spiritual poems 945 01:12:17,926 --> 01:12:21,703 which can be sung to popular tunes like Black-Eyed Susan 946 01:12:21,703 --> 01:12:23,021 or Mad Robin. 947 01:12:23,021 --> 01:12:24,015 - I know them! 948 01:12:24,015 --> 01:12:25,310 - Of course you do. (laughing) 949 01:12:25,310 --> 01:12:27,758 - You must be off now, Mr. Newton and Mr. Cowper 950 01:12:27,757 --> 01:12:31,045 have some very important work to do. 951 01:12:31,046 --> 01:12:32,081 - Mr. Newton? 952 01:12:32,081 --> 01:12:32,913 - [John] Yes? 953 01:12:32,913 --> 01:12:34,475 - Thanks for telling me your story. 954 01:12:34,475 --> 01:12:36,262 - [John] Well thank you for listening Samuel, 955 01:12:36,262 --> 01:12:37,846 and you'll be here on Tuesday. 956 01:12:37,846 --> 01:12:39,599 - Aye, I'll be here on Tuesday. 957 01:12:39,600 --> 01:12:43,767 - Very good, very good. (laughing) 958 01:12:52,582 --> 01:12:55,665 (warm calming music) 959 01:13:43,850 --> 01:13:47,100 (calming violin music) 960 01:13:55,358 --> 01:13:56,440 - Here it is. 961 01:13:58,270 --> 01:13:59,233 - John Newton? 962 01:13:59,233 --> 01:14:00,900 - Yes here, read it. 963 01:14:03,225 --> 01:14:05,016 - John Newton, Clerk. 964 01:14:05,016 --> 01:14:09,106 Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa 965 01:14:09,106 --> 01:14:12,994 was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 966 01:14:12,994 --> 01:14:16,072 preserved, restored and pardoned, and appointed to preach 967 01:14:16,072 --> 01:14:19,954 the faith he had long labored to destroy. 968 01:14:19,954 --> 01:14:22,381 - He changed my life. 969 01:14:22,381 --> 01:14:25,762 A few years later he was called to St. Mary Roman Church 970 01:14:25,762 --> 01:14:26,595 in London. 971 01:14:27,432 --> 01:14:30,298 When I was old enough I joined him there. 972 01:14:30,298 --> 01:14:32,625 And through him I met William Wilberforce. 973 01:14:32,625 --> 01:14:36,639 And joined the movement to abolish the slave trade. 974 01:14:36,639 --> 01:14:41,253 It took years, the bill passed Parliament in 1807, 975 01:14:41,253 --> 01:14:44,362 the same year that Mr. Newton died. 976 01:14:44,362 --> 01:14:48,362 And the same year that you were born Alexandria. 977 01:14:50,110 --> 01:14:54,323 But he lived to see the abolition of the slave trade. 978 01:14:54,323 --> 01:14:56,445 - Oh so he did it? 979 01:14:56,445 --> 01:15:00,911 - Well not he alone, but many working together. 980 01:15:00,911 --> 01:15:02,911 He did change the world. 981 01:15:05,546 --> 01:15:07,546 And he changed my life. 982 01:15:08,792 --> 01:15:13,343 The life of a little boy who was hurt and angry 983 01:15:13,342 --> 01:15:14,425 at the world. 984 01:15:15,967 --> 01:15:19,417 He taught me something of gentleness. 985 01:15:19,417 --> 01:15:21,000 And of God's grace. 986 01:15:23,280 --> 01:15:27,448 And I hope you have a chance to learn of that grace as well. 987 01:15:31,493 --> 01:15:34,576 (warm calming music) 988 01:18:13,529 --> 01:18:16,529 (warm violin music) 989 01:19:01,985 --> 01:19:05,068 (warm calming music) 990 01:20:02,913 --> 01:20:05,913 (warm violin music)