WEBVTT 00:00:01.076 --> 00:00:04.576 (warm anticipatory music) 00:00:27.998 --> 00:00:31.748 (anticipatory fanfare music) 00:00:36.002 --> 00:00:39.085 (anticipatory music) 00:00:55.018 --> 00:00:59.019 (bell ringing) (rumbling) 00:00:59.020 --> 00:00:59.853 - Why you! 00:01:01.030 --> 00:01:03.948 (frolicking music) 00:01:33.823 --> 00:01:35.962 Hey, have you seen a little boy, with height like this 00:01:35.962 --> 00:01:36.938 with an apple? 00:01:36.938 --> 00:01:38.775 - Yeah, over there lad. 00:01:38.775 --> 00:01:40.108 - Wait here, ah! 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:48.367 There you are you little blimer! 00:01:48.367 --> 00:01:51.450 (anticipatory music) 00:01:56.882 --> 00:01:59.677 - Hold on a moment, what is going on here? 00:01:59.677 --> 00:02:03.276 - Much obliged Pastor Newton, now if you'll just hold him, 00:02:03.275 --> 00:02:05.271 I'll give him the caning he deserves. 00:02:05.272 --> 00:02:07.802 - As a point of personal privilege sir, no one shall 00:02:07.802 --> 00:02:09.531 be whipped in my presence. 00:02:09.531 --> 00:02:11.052 - Then you deal with him. 00:02:11.052 --> 00:02:11.977 - What has he done wrong? 00:02:11.977 --> 00:02:15.527 - Sir, fighting with the other boys, disobedience, 00:02:15.526 --> 00:02:18.807 swearing, he tipped over me stall. 00:02:18.807 --> 00:02:20.807 Oh sir, he's a bad seed. 00:02:22.605 --> 00:02:24.942 - These are serious charges. 00:02:24.942 --> 00:02:28.814 - I'm serious sir, please stand back and let me give 00:02:28.814 --> 00:02:30.955 him the caning he deserves. 00:02:30.955 --> 00:02:33.857 - Not in my presence Mr. Chapman. 00:02:33.858 --> 00:02:37.608 - Fine, he's your problem, you deal with him! 00:02:39.472 --> 00:02:42.139 (mumbling), ha. 00:02:45.611 --> 00:02:46.944 - Thank you sir. 00:02:48.193 --> 00:02:52.360 - Fighting eh, swearing, these are serious charges. 00:02:54.856 --> 00:02:56.980 You're Ms. Watson's oldest aren't you? 00:02:56.980 --> 00:02:58.935 - Aye, she's me stepmom. 00:02:58.935 --> 00:03:03.102 - Hmm, well I was about to go inside for a spot of tea, 00:03:03.991 --> 00:03:05.495 would you like to join me. 00:03:05.496 --> 00:03:06.978 - Might there be any biscuits? 00:03:06.978 --> 00:03:09.540 - Well there might be, let's go see. 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:12.206 (calming music) 00:03:40.301 --> 00:03:42.468 So, fighting and swearing. 00:03:43.915 --> 00:03:45.394 - You wouldn't understand. 00:03:45.394 --> 00:03:46.227 - [Newton] No? 00:03:46.227 --> 00:03:50.122 - How could you, you're the parson and all. 00:03:50.122 --> 00:03:53.421 - I think I might understand much better than you think. 00:03:53.421 --> 00:03:55.747 I was once a little boy myself. 00:03:55.747 --> 00:03:58.679 And I think by the time I was your age I had been expelled 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:01.893 from two different schools for fighting and swearing. 00:04:01.893 --> 00:04:02.975 - You, never! 00:04:03.966 --> 00:04:08.133 - Hmm, yes I wasn't always a church parson you know. 00:04:09.265 --> 00:04:12.852 In fact I've been a great many different things in life. 00:04:12.853 --> 00:04:15.131 I've probably done things far worse than fighting 00:04:15.131 --> 00:04:16.519 and swearing. 00:04:16.519 --> 00:04:18.317 - Like what? 00:04:18.317 --> 00:04:21.742 - Well I was a cabin boy on a ship, I was a ship's captain 00:04:21.742 --> 00:04:24.872 later on, I was even a slave for a while. 00:04:24.872 --> 00:04:26.812 - Nah sir, you're leading me on! 00:04:26.812 --> 00:04:29.930 - No I'm not, would you like to hear a little of my story? 00:04:29.930 --> 00:04:32.597 - Well, are there more biscuits? 00:04:33.802 --> 00:04:38.153 - Hah, there might be, yes, and more tea as well. 00:04:38.153 --> 00:04:40.519 Of course it was all a very long time ago you understand, 00:04:40.519 --> 00:04:44.052 but, I don't think that little boys have really changed 00:04:44.052 --> 00:04:45.469 that much do you? 00:04:47.569 --> 00:04:49.734 I remember my dear mother as if it were only 00:04:49.733 --> 00:04:51.067 a few weeks ago. 00:04:52.141 --> 00:04:55.793 She taught me to pray, she taught me to read 00:04:55.793 --> 00:04:58.836 by reading me the Scriptures. 00:04:58.836 --> 00:05:01.253 She died when I was only six. 00:05:02.423 --> 00:05:06.204 My father was a merchant seaman, a captain. 00:05:06.204 --> 00:05:09.721 While I'm sure that he loved me in his own way, 00:05:09.721 --> 00:05:13.867 I don't recall ever feeling loved by him. 00:05:13.867 --> 00:05:16.980 He soon remarried a beautiful young woman 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:19.314 who bore him other children. 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:23.856 She wasn't terribly interested in me and so 00:05:23.857 --> 00:05:27.612 he was away at sea and I ended up in boarding school, 00:05:27.612 --> 00:05:30.609 it wasn't long before I was expelled from that school 00:05:30.608 --> 00:05:32.681 for the same sort of trouble you've been in. 00:05:32.682 --> 00:05:33.822 - Do you mean fighting? 00:05:33.822 --> 00:05:36.812 - Aye and general disobedience. 00:05:36.812 --> 00:05:40.104 When I was young I had this hot core of anger inside of me 00:05:40.105 --> 00:05:42.802 that burned all the time, and it was out of control, 00:05:42.802 --> 00:05:45.372 I couldn't control my actions always. 00:05:45.372 --> 00:05:46.205 - Aye? 00:05:46.204 --> 00:05:47.824 - You do understand, don't you? 00:05:47.824 --> 00:05:50.399 It wasn't long before I was expelled from the next school 00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:53.477 for the same thing and my father decided that the only 00:05:53.478 --> 00:05:57.557 thing to be done was to take me to sea and so I went 00:05:57.557 --> 00:05:59.824 on a ship with him when I was 11. 00:05:59.824 --> 00:06:02.908 (anticipatory music) 00:06:08.473 --> 00:06:11.182 We served as cabin boys, carrying and cleaning 00:06:11.182 --> 00:06:15.348 and doing whatever any grownup sailor wanted done. 00:06:17.338 --> 00:06:21.742 But that burning core of anger was still inside me, 00:06:21.742 --> 00:06:25.482 and when it would burn, I would always end up in trouble. 00:06:25.482 --> 00:06:27.572 - There, suck on that young master Newton, 00:06:27.572 --> 00:06:29.747 maybe you'll think twice about slinging blasphemies 00:06:29.747 --> 00:06:31.907 around in me galley. 00:06:31.906 --> 00:06:34.202 - [Newton] I took my anger out on the other boys, the ones 00:06:34.202 --> 00:06:38.369 who were smaller than I, and ended up in trouble again. 00:06:41.187 --> 00:06:42.927 But in spite of the trouble I got into, 00:06:42.927 --> 00:06:46.622 I grew into a man aboard merchant ships, and I became 00:06:46.622 --> 00:06:48.455 an able-bodied seaman. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:54.971 - Ship leaves next Wednesday for Jamaica, we can use you 00:06:54.971 --> 00:06:56.403 if you'll sign on. 00:06:56.403 --> 00:06:59.414 - Aye sir, I will, I'll be visiting in Kent for a few days 00:06:59.413 --> 00:07:02.080 but I can be back for Wednesday. 00:07:03.235 --> 00:07:05.605 Little did I know how those few days in Kent 00:07:05.605 --> 00:07:09.419 would affect the rest of my life, for it was there, 00:07:09.418 --> 00:07:11.969 staying with friends of my mother, that I met 00:07:11.970 --> 00:07:14.470 the love of my life, my Polly. 00:07:16.411 --> 00:07:21.182 Her name was Mary, Mary Catlett, and almost from 00:07:21.182 --> 00:07:25.226 the first time I saw her, my heart was a captive. 00:07:25.226 --> 00:07:28.563 My secret nickname for her was Polly. 00:07:28.564 --> 00:07:30.730 My dear Polly, my beloved. 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:36.203 She was a little younger than I, and her beautiful smile 00:07:36.202 --> 00:07:40.369 melted my heart and made a permanent mark upon my soul. 00:07:49.425 --> 00:07:53.569 - Mr. Newton, I shall speak plainly, we loved your 00:07:53.569 --> 00:07:57.157 dear mother and held her in the highest regard, 00:07:57.156 --> 00:08:01.088 Mary is too young yet for any decision, but her father 00:08:01.088 --> 00:08:04.673 and I do not object to an understanding provided-- 00:08:04.673 --> 00:08:05.748 - Yes? 00:08:05.749 --> 00:08:08.653 - Provided that when you return from your voyages 00:08:08.653 --> 00:08:12.290 we will see some signs of stability and of prospect. 00:08:12.290 --> 00:08:13.605 - Prospect? 00:08:13.605 --> 00:08:17.317 - Prospect for a living Mr. Newton is of great importance. 00:08:17.317 --> 00:08:20.898 - Yes, I shall keep that in mind Mrs. Catlett, 00:08:20.898 --> 00:08:22.138 and I shall return. 00:08:22.137 --> 00:08:24.585 (frolicking music) 00:08:24.586 --> 00:08:27.746 Now I went back to sea with a goal in mind, 00:08:27.745 --> 00:08:32.006 to make my way, to find advancement, to make my fortune, 00:08:32.006 --> 00:08:35.923 so that I could return and marry my dear Polly. 00:08:38.542 --> 00:08:41.125 (bell ringing) 00:08:46.565 --> 00:08:50.416 The beautiful memory of her smile, of her sweet face, 00:08:50.416 --> 00:08:55.145 got me through many long watches and lonely nights at sea. 00:08:55.144 --> 00:08:57.347 But even the memory of her smile could not 00:08:57.347 --> 00:09:02.225 keep me from trouble, that hot anger burned inside me still 00:09:02.225 --> 00:09:04.392 and would boil over at times. 00:09:04.392 --> 00:09:08.855 (anticipatory music) (groaning) 00:09:08.855 --> 00:09:10.688 - Send him to the surgery. 00:09:10.688 --> 00:09:14.855 And you, you're on report, reduced rations for a week. 00:09:16.859 --> 00:09:20.280 - [Newton] And of course I was a seaman at sea, no different 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:24.110 from any other, when it poured I joined heartily 00:09:24.110 --> 00:09:27.027 in the sins that waited any sailor. 00:09:30.099 --> 00:09:32.932 - Oh! (chattering) 00:09:35.033 --> 00:09:38.201 - [Newton] But not all temptations were in port. 00:09:38.201 --> 00:09:41.332 - Ah you're a fool if you believe all that blatter. 00:09:41.332 --> 00:09:46.097 All of this can be explained by reason and science. 00:09:46.097 --> 00:09:50.617 Ah there's no God up there, the rationalists have it right. 00:09:50.618 --> 00:09:52.866 - Is that what you do when you're off duty, 00:09:52.865 --> 00:09:54.351 read philosophers? 00:09:54.351 --> 00:09:57.348 - Aye, there's lots of hours at sea, John. 00:09:57.349 --> 00:10:01.429 Lots of time to think, Hobbes, Voltaire. 00:10:01.428 --> 00:10:05.278 They make more sense than a pack of priests mumbling Latin. 00:10:05.278 --> 00:10:09.959 Ah, nothing but superstition to control the rest of us. 00:10:09.958 --> 00:10:14.125 You should read Hobbes, I'll loan you his book, Leviathan. 00:10:20.711 --> 00:10:24.817 - [John] And so I too became a sailor-philosopher of sorts. 00:10:24.817 --> 00:10:28.874 Spinoza and Hobbes, often made quite a deal of sense. 00:10:28.874 --> 00:10:32.639 And just as often made me doubt the simple faith 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:33.972 of my childhood. 00:10:35.804 --> 00:10:39.598 One night, at sea, I fell asleep over a book, 00:10:39.599 --> 00:10:42.883 and I had the strangest dream, one that would come back 00:10:42.883 --> 00:10:46.110 to me again and again throughout my life. 00:10:46.110 --> 00:10:49.693 (mysterious calming music) 00:11:03.211 --> 00:11:07.216 - As long as you preserve this ring, you will be successful 00:11:07.216 --> 00:11:11.216 and happy, but should you lose it or part of it, 00:11:12.899 --> 00:11:16.316 you must only expect sorrow and distress. 00:11:58.357 --> 00:12:01.107 - You believe that ring is magic? 00:12:03.094 --> 00:12:06.525 - As long as I preserve and keep it, 00:12:06.524 --> 00:12:09.831 I should be happy and successful. 00:12:09.831 --> 00:12:12.024 - Are you knocky boy? 00:12:12.024 --> 00:12:16.722 What a simpleton, you believe anything you're told don't ya? 00:12:16.722 --> 00:12:18.048 - It seemed right. 00:12:18.048 --> 00:12:21.738 - What's right about it, some stranger hands you a ring, 00:12:21.738 --> 00:12:26.623 tells you it's magic, it's a talisman, and you believe him? 00:12:26.623 --> 00:12:29.238 What a (mumbling)! 00:12:29.238 --> 00:12:33.071 Seriously John, how can you buy such claptrap? 00:12:33.971 --> 00:12:36.312 You ascribe magical powers to a wee piece of metal, 00:12:36.312 --> 00:12:38.668 shaped in a circle. 00:12:38.668 --> 00:12:42.836 I'd be ashamed to admit such superstitions to another man. 00:12:43.735 --> 00:12:47.290 Don't you understand that by subscribing to 00:12:47.291 --> 00:12:51.458 such superstitions it saps your own human powers of reason? 00:12:53.109 --> 00:12:54.978 Throw it away. 00:12:54.977 --> 00:12:58.644 Go on, throw it away, create your own faith, 00:12:59.504 --> 00:13:03.995 take control of your own destiny, go on, throw it away, 00:13:03.995 --> 00:13:06.663 go on, go on, show you're a man! 00:13:11.408 --> 00:13:12.241 Aye. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:32.129 (anticipatory music) 00:13:32.129 --> 00:13:34.086 (water splashing) 00:13:34.086 --> 00:13:36.746 (laughs) 00:13:36.746 --> 00:13:40.351 Oh you are a fool, what a (mumbling), believe anything 00:13:40.351 --> 00:13:44.269 you're told, but now you're lost, for that ring 00:13:46.085 --> 00:13:51.065 contained in it all the mercy (mumbling). 00:13:51.065 --> 00:13:54.518 And now it's gone, at your own hand. 00:13:54.518 --> 00:13:57.268 (fire crackling) 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.370 (moves into sad music) 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:40.649 - [Hooded Man] What did you do with it? 00:14:41.849 --> 00:14:43.349 - I threw it away. 00:14:44.287 --> 00:14:46.454 (weeping) 00:14:47.681 --> 00:14:49.014 I threw it away! 00:14:50.313 --> 00:14:52.396 - Where did you throw it? 00:14:58.628 --> 00:15:01.461 (water splashing) 00:15:14.894 --> 00:15:17.061 I brought it back for you. 00:15:18.764 --> 00:15:19.596 No. 00:15:22.182 --> 00:15:25.144 If you're to be entrusted with this ring again, 00:15:25.144 --> 00:15:28.571 you will soon bring yourself to the same distress, 00:15:28.571 --> 00:15:32.735 you're not able to keep it, but, I will preserve it for 00:15:32.735 --> 00:15:36.903 you, and whenever it is needful, I will produce it 00:15:38.508 --> 00:15:39.758 on your behalf. 00:16:03.547 --> 00:16:06.180 - [John] It wasn't long before that voyage was nearing 00:16:06.179 --> 00:16:09.116 its end and I would be able to return to Kent 00:16:09.116 --> 00:16:13.562 to visit my Polly, as the ship turned home, all my thoughts 00:16:13.562 --> 00:16:16.629 had turned to her and the prospect of again seeing 00:16:16.629 --> 00:16:17.879 her sweet face. 00:16:21.457 --> 00:16:23.207 But it was not to be. 00:16:24.504 --> 00:16:29.013 Less than five miles from her house, I encountered 00:16:29.013 --> 00:16:33.144 a press gang, these were the days of an impeding war 00:16:33.144 --> 00:16:37.162 with France, and the Navy needed fresh men all the time. 00:16:37.162 --> 00:16:39.723 Press gangs roamed the country authorized to virtually 00:16:39.722 --> 00:16:42.576 kidnap a likely young lad, and press him into 00:16:42.576 --> 00:16:44.634 the service of His Majesty's Navy. 00:16:44.634 --> 00:16:46.658 - Run, it's a press gang! 00:16:46.658 --> 00:16:49.740 (anticipatory music) 00:16:59.788 --> 00:17:02.961 (loud thudding) 00:17:02.961 --> 00:17:05.627 (ship creaking) 00:17:10.018 --> 00:17:11.518 - Aye, he's awake. 00:17:12.804 --> 00:17:16.971 Welcome to His Majesty's Navy, what's your name son? 00:17:18.614 --> 00:17:20.114 - Ah, John Newton. 00:17:25.567 --> 00:17:26.951 We're at sea? 00:17:26.951 --> 00:17:29.517 - Aye, a day out of Liverpool, you was the last 00:17:29.517 --> 00:17:33.795 conscript brought on board, here drink something, 00:17:33.795 --> 00:17:36.045 it'll help you feel better. 00:17:47.463 --> 00:17:49.024 - What's the ship? 00:17:49.025 --> 00:17:53.197 - HMS Eridge, newly commissioned man-of-war. 00:17:53.196 --> 00:17:55.729 Under the command of Captain Carteret. 00:17:55.730 --> 00:17:59.189 We're on our way to France to defend King and Country. 00:17:59.189 --> 00:18:01.313 We're always fighting with France or Spain, 00:18:01.313 --> 00:18:03.813 ever since Eve bit that apple. 00:18:04.991 --> 00:18:08.346 - I was on my ways to propose to my beloved. 00:18:08.346 --> 00:18:11.490 - Ah that's a shame, four years we'll be out I expect. 00:18:11.490 --> 00:18:13.621 - Four years? - Aye. 00:18:13.621 --> 00:18:15.003 - Oh... 00:18:15.002 --> 00:18:17.919 (foreboding music) 00:18:54.203 --> 00:18:58.342 Captured, carried away from my love against my will. 00:18:58.343 --> 00:18:59.843 Imprisoned at sea. 00:19:03.269 --> 00:19:06.652 Each day on the ocean took me further from Polly, 00:19:06.652 --> 00:19:08.985 and increased my resentment. 00:19:19.699 --> 00:19:23.257 - Hey Johnny, Johnny, you got to get along with 00:19:23.257 --> 00:19:26.312 the other sailors, we've all got our crosses to bear. 00:19:26.311 --> 00:19:27.728 - Leave me alone! 00:19:32.309 --> 00:19:35.938 The smoldering anger that had always burned in me 00:19:35.939 --> 00:19:38.355 was now a fire of resentment. 00:19:39.694 --> 00:19:44.671 I obeyed orders, I did my job, but I did so with a solemn 00:19:44.671 --> 00:19:48.671 attitude, in my mind God himself had cheated me. 00:19:51.201 --> 00:19:53.368 Why did you do this to me? 00:19:55.334 --> 00:19:57.510 Am I such a sinner that you just singled me out 00:19:57.510 --> 00:19:59.427 for special punishment? 00:20:06.222 --> 00:20:08.556 I've nothing to do with you. 00:20:12.102 --> 00:20:15.185 (anticipatory music) 00:20:21.392 --> 00:20:25.265 But I was no fool, I soon perceived that I had a greater 00:20:25.265 --> 00:20:29.574 chance of liberty if I was promoted and so I began to focus 00:20:29.574 --> 00:20:32.567 all my rage into hard work and efforts to please 00:20:32.567 --> 00:20:37.126 the officers, not because I had any true respect for them, 00:20:37.126 --> 00:20:41.293 but because I saw it as my opportunity for a change. 00:20:43.836 --> 00:20:46.002 So I started to work hard. 00:20:46.864 --> 00:20:47.697 Aye sir! 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:50.576 And I showed officers great respect. 00:20:50.576 --> 00:20:51.409 - Newton. 00:20:53.064 --> 00:20:54.196 - [John] Aye sir? 00:20:54.195 --> 00:20:55.605 - Good job seaman. 00:20:55.605 --> 00:20:56.813 - Thank you sir. 00:20:56.813 --> 00:20:58.813 At least to their faces. 00:20:59.750 --> 00:21:00.584 Fool. 00:21:15.125 --> 00:21:16.225 You wish to see me sir? 00:21:16.226 --> 00:21:18.331 - Aye, Mr. Newton. 00:21:18.330 --> 00:21:20.266 Your father's a merchant captain. 00:21:20.267 --> 00:21:21.748 - Aye sir. 00:21:21.748 --> 00:21:24.452 - I've heard good things of him, he's written me 00:21:24.452 --> 00:21:27.571 asking that I consider you for advancement. 00:21:27.571 --> 00:21:30.064 I've spoken to the mate and he says that you have 00:21:30.065 --> 00:21:32.527 been an exemplary seaman. 00:21:32.527 --> 00:21:33.870 - I try my best sir. 00:21:33.869 --> 00:21:37.565 - That's the attitude, what would you say to being promoted 00:21:37.566 --> 00:21:38.732 to midshipman? 00:21:39.798 --> 00:21:41.945 - Aye sir, I would like that very much. 00:21:41.945 --> 00:21:46.241 - Didn't think you'd refuse, so be it, you are promoted 00:21:46.241 --> 00:21:48.076 to midshipman. 00:21:48.076 --> 00:21:51.160 (warm calming music) 00:21:59.571 --> 00:22:02.061 - Being a midshipman meant that I was a sort of apprentice 00:22:02.061 --> 00:22:06.246 officer and I was set over my former mates. 00:22:06.247 --> 00:22:09.163 Come on you sluggards, get to work! 00:22:10.296 --> 00:22:12.963 Do that mopping, I want that cleaned up, (mumbling). 00:22:12.963 --> 00:22:16.630 Aye sir, set the topsail, belay the shrouds! 00:22:22.595 --> 00:22:24.345 Sails mended, seamen. 00:22:29.780 --> 00:22:33.486 While I behaved with perfect form to my superiors, 00:22:33.487 --> 00:22:36.437 the rage inside me often was taken out on the sailors 00:22:36.436 --> 00:22:40.003 who were now under me, much as I had once bullied smaller 00:22:40.003 --> 00:22:40.836 children. 00:22:40.836 --> 00:22:42.339 You call that a knot, seaman? 00:22:42.339 --> 00:22:43.824 - Aye sir, figure-of-eight. 00:22:43.825 --> 00:22:45.848 - It's a throbbing mess! 00:22:45.848 --> 00:22:47.670 Take it apart and start again. 00:22:47.671 --> 00:22:49.268 - Aye sir... 00:22:49.268 --> 00:22:52.683 - Talk back and there'll be no rations for you tonight. 00:22:52.683 --> 00:22:53.600 - Aye, sir. 00:22:57.470 --> 00:23:00.430 - [John] After some months at sea patrolling the Channel, 00:23:00.430 --> 00:23:03.979 and even fighting skirmishes with French ships, 00:23:03.979 --> 00:23:06.729 (cannons firing) 00:23:10.121 --> 00:23:12.064 (cannonball exploding) 00:23:12.064 --> 00:23:14.890 we had to put back into Plymouth for repairs, 00:23:14.890 --> 00:23:17.456 and then it was that I had my chance. 00:23:17.455 --> 00:23:21.134 - Mr. Newton, while we have repairs I'm going to permit 00:23:21.134 --> 00:23:23.991 a rotational shore leave for the seamen. 00:23:23.991 --> 00:23:26.735 I'm assigning you to go ashore with them and supervise 00:23:26.736 --> 00:23:29.074 to make sure none of desert. 00:23:29.074 --> 00:23:29.907 - Aye sir. 00:23:31.301 --> 00:23:35.468 It was as if the master had left the cat to guard the cream. 00:23:38.917 --> 00:23:41.606 I'll be back at sunset, anyone not here and ready to 00:23:41.606 --> 00:23:44.945 return to the ship shall be counted as deserting, 00:23:44.945 --> 00:23:46.404 and you'll feel the lash. 00:23:46.404 --> 00:23:47.976 - [Seamen] Aye sir! 00:23:47.977 --> 00:23:49.901 - All right off with you! 00:23:49.901 --> 00:23:53.326 (laughing) (chattering) 00:23:53.326 --> 00:23:57.884 Here at last was my chance to go see my Polly. 00:23:57.884 --> 00:24:00.973 I wasn't much on thinking things through in those days 00:24:00.973 --> 00:24:03.083 and it didn't really occur to me 00:24:03.084 --> 00:24:06.250 that desertion would catch up with me. 00:24:17.471 --> 00:24:20.555 (anticipatory music) 00:24:27.605 --> 00:24:29.749 - John Henry Newton! 00:24:29.749 --> 00:24:33.486 I have a warrant for your arrest for the desertion 00:24:33.486 --> 00:24:35.486 from His Majesty's Navy! 00:24:39.308 --> 00:24:42.262 - Mr. John Newton, charged with desertion from 00:24:42.262 --> 00:24:45.215 His Majesty's Royal Navy, a charge punishable 00:24:45.215 --> 00:24:48.376 by death when found guilty by court-martial. 00:24:48.376 --> 00:24:50.629 Or lesser punishment by a ship's captain 00:24:50.630 --> 00:24:55.312 as defined by Article 16 of the Article of War. 00:24:55.311 --> 00:24:59.189 Captain, what shall be the punishment? 00:24:59.190 --> 00:25:03.362 - He shall be demoted from his present position 00:25:03.362 --> 00:25:05.561 and stripped of all rank. 00:25:05.560 --> 00:25:08.814 He shall be tied to the main mast and administered 00:25:08.815 --> 00:25:10.731 12 lashes with the cat. 00:25:12.917 --> 00:25:16.386 Let each of you witness what happen to those who desert 00:25:16.386 --> 00:25:18.636 from His Majesty's service. 00:25:23.564 --> 00:25:27.730 (drum banging) (whip cracking) 00:25:50.567 --> 00:25:52.817 (groaning) 00:25:56.122 --> 00:26:00.825 No one shall speak a word to Mr. Newton for seven days. 00:26:00.825 --> 00:26:04.670 No one shall show him favor, no one shall share 00:26:04.670 --> 00:26:08.595 any ration with him, other than the bread and water 00:26:08.595 --> 00:26:11.916 assigned by the galley master. 00:26:11.916 --> 00:26:14.112 Are these instructions clear? 00:26:14.113 --> 00:26:15.696 - [Seamen] Aye sir! 00:26:21.816 --> 00:26:25.730 - You got your own now don't you Mr. High and Mighty? 00:26:25.730 --> 00:26:29.314 You got nothing more than what you deserve. 00:26:31.380 --> 00:26:33.130 Enjoy your meal, sir. 00:26:38.218 --> 00:26:41.134 (foreboding music) 00:27:19.702 --> 00:27:23.869 - It's healing up, you can sleep in the hammock from now on. 00:27:24.778 --> 00:27:28.695 We'll have you up swabbing the deck in no time. 00:27:34.316 --> 00:27:36.649 (sad music) 00:27:41.436 --> 00:27:43.088 - Mr. Jensen. 00:27:43.088 --> 00:27:44.485 - Master word to Mr. Jensen. 00:27:44.486 --> 00:27:45.569 - Mr. Smythe. 00:27:46.423 --> 00:27:48.933 - Master word to Mr. Smythe. 00:27:48.933 --> 00:27:50.350 - And Mr. Newton. 00:27:53.627 --> 00:27:54.736 - But captain, sir? 00:27:54.737 --> 00:27:56.820 - I said Mr. Newton, sir. 00:27:58.036 --> 00:28:00.006 - Master word to Mr. Newton. 00:28:00.006 --> 00:28:02.432 - [John] The captain had conscripted two gunners from 00:28:02.432 --> 00:28:05.925 a passing ship, maritime law required that he replaced them 00:28:05.925 --> 00:28:08.906 with able-bodied seamen, so that the civilian ship 00:28:08.906 --> 00:28:11.400 would not be shorthanded. 00:28:11.401 --> 00:28:14.558 This gave Captain Carteret the perfect opportunity 00:28:14.558 --> 00:28:16.732 to get rid of some troublemakers. 00:28:16.732 --> 00:28:20.536 - Able-Bodied seamen my arse, two here with scurvy 00:28:20.536 --> 00:28:23.698 and one barely recovered from the scourge. 00:28:23.698 --> 00:28:25.605 Well I can tell ya, you'll feel the cat again 00:28:25.605 --> 00:28:27.151 you disobey on this ship. 00:28:27.151 --> 00:28:28.718 - [Seamen] Aye sir. 00:28:28.718 --> 00:28:33.192 - This is a slave ship, we'll be 18 months on the Triangle. 00:28:33.192 --> 00:28:37.836 Serve well and you'll be rewarded, serve poorly 00:28:37.836 --> 00:28:40.574 and you'll be punished, understood? 00:28:40.574 --> 00:28:42.610 - [Seamen] Aye sir. 00:28:42.609 --> 00:28:43.442 - Dismissed! 00:28:43.442 --> 00:28:46.526 (anticipatory music) 00:29:09.760 --> 00:29:13.261 - [John] I came to like many of the sailors of the Levant. 00:29:13.261 --> 00:29:17.015 But the old rage still burned inside me. 00:29:17.016 --> 00:29:19.452 But now it was directed all at the captain. 00:29:19.452 --> 00:29:22.744 - That's a sloppy bit of work there Mr. Newton. 00:29:22.744 --> 00:29:24.735 If that's the way you worked on the Eridge, 00:29:24.736 --> 00:29:26.903 no wonder you got flogged. 00:29:34.502 --> 00:29:37.156 - Aye listen up mates, I've come up with a little song 00:29:37.156 --> 00:29:39.896 about old Mr. Phelps up here. 00:29:39.896 --> 00:29:43.020 ♫ Did you ever see the lines since you been to sea 00:29:43.020 --> 00:29:45.776 ♫ Let the good ship rock 00:29:45.776 --> 00:29:48.509 ♫ A benty-leggy captain with a bent back knee 00:29:48.509 --> 00:29:51.344 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 00:29:51.344 --> 00:29:53.962 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 00:29:53.962 --> 00:29:56.872 ♫ Let the good ship roll and rock 00:29:56.872 --> 00:29:59.878 ♫ Better call a coward, or cower up the wall 00:29:59.877 --> 00:30:02.917 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 00:30:02.917 --> 00:30:05.617 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 00:30:05.617 --> 00:30:08.446 ♫ Let the good ship roll and rock 00:30:08.446 --> 00:30:11.059 ♫ Better call a coward, or cower up the wall 00:30:11.059 --> 00:30:15.117 ♫ Wobbling down the dock 00:30:15.117 --> 00:30:18.201 (anticipatory music) 00:30:23.186 --> 00:30:25.810 - We'll anchor at the Banana Islands in Sierra Leone 00:30:25.810 --> 00:30:28.644 tomorrow, I'll need a crew of three to row me in 00:30:28.644 --> 00:30:30.644 to meet with the trader. 00:30:31.564 --> 00:30:33.897 Harkness, Smythe and Newton. 00:30:37.686 --> 00:30:40.344 The following day we'll sail to (mumbling) Bay 00:30:40.345 --> 00:30:42.595 where we'll load the cargo. 00:30:52.349 --> 00:30:53.516 - I like that. 00:30:56.604 --> 00:30:59.701 (mumbling) staying here (mumbling). 00:30:59.701 --> 00:31:01.841 - You like what you see then? 00:31:01.840 --> 00:31:05.894 - Do I, I bet the young trader there lives like a king. 00:31:05.894 --> 00:31:07.966 What's not to like. 00:31:07.967 --> 00:31:09.495 What do you think Newton? 00:31:09.494 --> 00:31:11.613 - Ah you both are daft. 00:31:11.614 --> 00:31:13.689 It might be nice for a while. 00:31:13.689 --> 00:31:16.267 I wanna get back to England, 00:31:16.267 --> 00:31:18.350 and I wanna see my Polly. 00:31:24.971 --> 00:31:28.641 - Smythe, Harkness, make ready the boat. 00:31:28.641 --> 00:31:31.141 Newton, you stay here with me. 00:31:32.101 --> 00:31:35.623 Mr. Campbell, this is Mr. Newton, the young man 00:31:35.623 --> 00:31:37.845 I was telling you about. 00:31:37.845 --> 00:31:38.952 - It's a pleasure to meet you Mr-- 00:31:38.952 --> 00:31:41.572 (groaning) (anticipatory music) 00:31:41.573 --> 00:31:45.403 - You won't be so pleased once you understand the deal. 00:31:45.403 --> 00:31:48.591 I've traded you Mr. Newton, you're gonna stay here 00:31:48.590 --> 00:31:52.757 as a servant, how do you like them apples Mr. Funnyman? 00:32:10.252 --> 00:32:12.336 - So you've met the lash? 00:32:13.423 --> 00:32:17.590 You'll meet again soon enough if you don't serve well. 00:32:19.756 --> 00:32:22.504 You're my property now Newton, and there's no way 00:32:22.503 --> 00:32:25.913 off this island without me knowledge or me permission. 00:32:25.913 --> 00:32:29.220 So don't you go be getting any bright ideas. 00:32:29.220 --> 00:32:33.163 You have to be a servant for me wife, serve her well, 00:32:33.163 --> 00:32:37.006 do as your told, and your life will be much easier. 00:32:37.006 --> 00:32:40.019 But you buck against, and you'll find out just how 00:32:40.019 --> 00:32:41.602 hard a life can be. 00:32:43.443 --> 00:32:46.499 You guards, take him to Peyai. 00:32:46.499 --> 00:32:49.875 She's always wanted to have a white man as a slave. 00:32:49.875 --> 00:32:51.709 And now she's got one. 00:32:54.515 --> 00:32:57.432 (foreboding music) 00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:08.637 - He is not much to look at, is he? 00:33:08.636 --> 00:33:12.873 Give him a mat, and chain him behind the house. 00:33:12.873 --> 00:33:14.873 First we must break him. 00:33:27.258 --> 00:33:32.175 - [John] My defiance, my sins, had all caught up with me. 00:33:32.175 --> 00:33:33.425 I was a slave. 00:33:40.086 --> 00:33:43.410 They gave me only a little to eat for days, 00:33:43.410 --> 00:33:46.526 just enough to drink to keep me alive. 00:33:46.526 --> 00:33:49.442 (foreboding music) 00:34:17.563 --> 00:34:21.521 - We take the chains off today, you are Peyai's slave. 00:34:21.521 --> 00:34:23.021 Do you understand? 00:34:24.849 --> 00:34:27.516 You must do exactly as she bids. 00:34:29.396 --> 00:34:32.729 If you try to run away, we will hunt you 00:34:33.827 --> 00:34:37.994 and chain you, if you disobey you will be whipped. 00:34:41.125 --> 00:34:45.215 If you try to run away twice, we will kill you, 00:34:45.215 --> 00:34:49.382 slowly, in a way that will make you wish for death to come. 00:34:50.844 --> 00:34:52.517 Do you understand? 00:34:52.518 --> 00:34:53.998 - Yes. 00:34:53.998 --> 00:34:57.831 - [Head Guard] Now go and serve your mistress. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:08.563 - Ah my little white man. 00:35:09.855 --> 00:35:13.148 Oh you must be so terribly hungry, how could you 00:35:13.148 --> 00:35:16.532 have treated my little white man so badly? 00:35:16.532 --> 00:35:19.199 Here, let me give you some food. 00:35:21.364 --> 00:35:24.822 You would like something to eat, wouldn't you? 00:35:24.822 --> 00:35:29.226 I'm sure you would, I'm sure you are starving. 00:35:29.226 --> 00:35:31.559 The food will taste so good. 00:35:35.693 --> 00:35:37.943 (laughing) 00:36:03.427 --> 00:36:06.344 - [John] She worked me like a mule. 00:36:10.509 --> 00:36:14.634 She seemed to take particular delight in watching me suffer. 00:36:14.634 --> 00:36:18.800 Often making me do chores that were simply pointless. 00:36:20.175 --> 00:36:24.342 - Ah, very good, now that you have placed the logs here, 00:36:27.007 --> 00:36:30.911 put them back and place them exactly where you found them. 00:36:30.911 --> 00:36:35.078 (laughing) (ominous music) 00:37:05.298 --> 00:37:09.215 Newton, Newton, I want some fresh coconut milk. 00:37:12.050 --> 00:37:13.467 Go bring me some. 00:37:35.432 --> 00:37:38.432 (monkey screeching) 00:38:02.534 --> 00:38:03.784 Newton, Newton! 00:38:10.452 --> 00:38:11.286 Newton! 00:38:15.585 --> 00:38:17.166 (anticipatory music) 00:38:17.166 --> 00:38:19.916 Where is my coconut milk, Newton? 00:38:22.427 --> 00:38:24.677 I want my coconut milk now. 00:38:25.514 --> 00:38:26.514 Where is he? 00:38:31.757 --> 00:38:34.674 - You are useless, even as a slave. 00:38:44.195 --> 00:38:47.530 - [John] For a long time I felt nothing but hunger 00:38:47.530 --> 00:38:51.448 and despair, I could never forget that I was the lowest 00:38:51.447 --> 00:38:55.641 form of life on the island, even the native slaves 00:38:55.641 --> 00:38:58.463 had thatched huts to live in. 00:38:58.463 --> 00:39:02.438 While I had to sleep on the ground under the stars. 00:39:02.438 --> 00:39:05.547 On the other hand, Campbell and Peyai lived in 00:39:05.547 --> 00:39:10.175 a great brick house at the center of the island, 00:39:10.175 --> 00:39:13.260 I was seldom allowed in the big house. 00:39:13.260 --> 00:39:16.010 And then only to do menial labor. 00:39:17.329 --> 00:39:21.527 But as long as I obeyed Peyai's abusive commands, 00:39:21.527 --> 00:39:25.445 they fed me a little, and I regained some strength 00:39:25.445 --> 00:39:27.445 in mind as well as body. 00:39:29.411 --> 00:39:32.327 (foreboding music) 00:39:34.038 --> 00:39:37.367 One night I lay looking at the expanse of the heavens. 00:39:37.367 --> 00:39:39.501 I began to try and see how many constellations I could 00:39:39.501 --> 00:39:44.141 identify, how many stars I could name, this became 00:39:44.141 --> 00:39:47.593 a nightly game, that became a private area of freedom 00:39:47.592 --> 00:39:51.759 for me, and I began to dream again of my dear Polly, 00:39:53.472 --> 00:39:55.055 my beautiful Polly. 00:39:56.981 --> 00:40:00.148 I wonder if I will ever see her again. 00:40:01.704 --> 00:40:04.074 Then one night it seemed to me that a group of stars 00:40:04.074 --> 00:40:08.108 formed a circle, a ring, a constellation I had never seen 00:40:08.108 --> 00:40:10.025 before and never since. 00:40:11.108 --> 00:40:13.109 It may have been my eyes playing a trick 00:40:13.108 --> 00:40:16.371 or perhaps a planet had wandered into an unusual position 00:40:16.371 --> 00:40:20.960 visible from this latitude but that night I could indeed 00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:24.626 see a ring, a ring like the one in my dream. 00:40:27.005 --> 00:40:29.715 - You're not able to keep it. 00:40:29.715 --> 00:40:33.882 But I will preserve it for you and whenever it is needful 00:40:35.518 --> 00:40:38.268 I will produce it on your behalf. 00:40:48.820 --> 00:40:51.825 During the days when Peyai was in a mood, 00:40:51.824 --> 00:40:55.742 I would work very hard but then there would be hours 00:40:55.742 --> 00:40:59.076 of boredom when there was nothing to do. 00:41:03.382 --> 00:41:07.423 One day I found a small lime tree growing near the village, 00:41:07.422 --> 00:41:09.675 that seemed much like me. 00:41:09.675 --> 00:41:13.407 Beating and starving, despairing of life. 00:41:13.407 --> 00:41:15.985 I adopted that little tree as my own 00:41:15.985 --> 00:41:20.688 and began to take care of it to water and to fertilize it. 00:41:20.688 --> 00:41:23.539 I found other seedlings and planted them in what became 00:41:23.539 --> 00:41:25.231 my own little garden. 00:41:25.231 --> 00:41:27.898 (calming music) 00:41:35.827 --> 00:41:38.789 One day, Campbell had me move heavy crates 00:41:38.789 --> 00:41:42.956 into the big house, I was alone for a few moments, 00:41:43.869 --> 00:41:47.869 and there I came upon a dusty old geometry book. 00:41:50.130 --> 00:41:52.963 I took it and hit it under my mat. 00:41:55.726 --> 00:41:58.971 I began in my spare time to work geometry problems. 00:41:58.971 --> 00:42:02.396 Scratching diagrams in the sand. 00:42:02.396 --> 00:42:06.065 Using the sun and the shadow of my little lime tree, 00:42:06.065 --> 00:42:08.479 I calculated the latitude and longitude of the islands 00:42:08.478 --> 00:42:09.395 we were on. 00:42:10.353 --> 00:42:14.025 Which were commonly called the Banana Islands. 00:42:14.025 --> 00:42:16.908 Just like the stars, like the little lime tree, it gave 00:42:16.909 --> 00:42:20.124 me something to focus on, a space that was mine 00:42:20.123 --> 00:42:21.373 and mine alone. 00:42:22.844 --> 00:42:24.994 There was little that I could do with the knowledge, 00:42:24.994 --> 00:42:27.913 but the exercise did much to keep my mind occupied 00:42:27.913 --> 00:42:28.746 and sharp. 00:42:34.130 --> 00:42:36.474 One day when I was tending to my little garden 00:42:36.474 --> 00:42:39.745 and passing the time with equations written in the sand, 00:42:39.744 --> 00:42:42.304 Mr. Campbell and Peyai walked down the path 00:42:42.304 --> 00:42:45.387 and caught sight of what I was doing. 00:42:46.815 --> 00:42:50.103 - Newton, what are you doing man? 00:42:50.103 --> 00:42:52.567 Are you growing your own limes? 00:42:52.567 --> 00:42:56.152 - [John] I was terrified that Peyai, as cruel as she was 00:42:56.152 --> 00:42:59.695 would make me destroy my little place of sanity. 00:42:59.695 --> 00:43:02.162 - Well who knows, maybe one day before those 00:43:02.161 --> 00:43:04.014 trees are full grown you can sail back 00:43:04.014 --> 00:43:07.879 to England and you can be the captain of your own boat. 00:43:07.880 --> 00:43:09.548 Then you can come back here and enjoy the fruits 00:43:09.547 --> 00:43:10.689 of your labor. 00:43:10.690 --> 00:43:13.590 - Then again perhaps he will become the King of Poland. 00:43:13.590 --> 00:43:15.840 (laughing) 00:43:21.532 --> 00:43:22.782 - What is this? 00:43:24.773 --> 00:43:27.018 Do you understand the mathematics? 00:43:27.018 --> 00:43:29.268 - Yes sir, I taught myself. 00:43:30.478 --> 00:43:34.644 - Oh, you might not be a complete waste after all. 00:43:39.574 --> 00:43:42.491 (foreboding music) 00:43:53.083 --> 00:43:56.530 Here are a set of equations, I'd like for you to solve them. 00:43:56.530 --> 00:43:58.690 - What is it, a test? 00:43:58.690 --> 00:44:01.608 - Aye if you will, I want to see just how good you are 00:44:01.608 --> 00:44:05.192 with these mathematics, sit down, sit down. 00:44:15.358 --> 00:44:18.441 (anticipatory music) 00:44:35.170 --> 00:44:38.922 I'm in need of a clerk to manage me factory at Kittam. 00:44:38.922 --> 00:44:41.501 They don't very many people in Sierra Leone who understand 00:44:41.501 --> 00:44:43.018 numbers. 00:44:43.018 --> 00:44:44.117 - Factory? 00:44:44.117 --> 00:44:47.284 - Aye, it's me slave trading post, it's where 00:44:47.284 --> 00:44:49.787 the Bombo bring the slaves from the interior 00:44:49.786 --> 00:44:52.736 and make them ready for transport to the West Indies. 00:44:52.737 --> 00:44:55.108 My brother runs the factory, but he's in need of someone 00:44:55.108 --> 00:44:58.655 who can keep the accounts, you will go there, 00:44:58.655 --> 00:45:01.154 you will serve him now. 00:45:01.155 --> 00:45:03.155 The guard will take you. 00:45:04.278 --> 00:45:07.195 (foreboding music) 00:45:43.501 --> 00:45:46.618 - At Kittam my life changed dramatically, 00:45:46.617 --> 00:45:50.085 I had new clean clothes to wear, Angus Campbell 00:45:50.085 --> 00:45:53.085 treated me well, almost as an equal. 00:45:55.791 --> 00:45:58.458 (calming music) 00:46:17.657 --> 00:46:19.967 The Bombo treated me with respect, 00:46:19.967 --> 00:46:22.510 inviting me to their feasts. 00:46:22.510 --> 00:46:26.677 (cheerful drumming) (cheering) 00:46:37.628 --> 00:46:41.376 I thought of Polly often, before long I had given up 00:46:41.376 --> 00:46:45.011 any hope of ever returning to England. 00:46:45.010 --> 00:46:46.637 My circumstance had changed from one 00:46:46.637 --> 00:46:50.260 of daily despair to one of comfort, 00:46:50.260 --> 00:46:54.427 I had all I needed, food, shelter, clothing, respect. 00:46:55.516 --> 00:46:56.766 And even women. 00:46:57.902 --> 00:47:01.728 Thoughts of England faded, and my life in Kittam 00:47:01.728 --> 00:47:05.529 began to envelop every part of my being. 00:47:05.530 --> 00:47:08.200 The other settlers even had an expression for it, 00:47:08.199 --> 00:47:10.532 they called it going native. 00:47:11.367 --> 00:47:13.784 (applauding) 00:47:14.871 --> 00:47:19.038 (anticipatory drumming) (singing foreign language) 00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:27.976 What are they saying? 00:47:27.976 --> 00:47:29.559 - It means freedom. 00:47:46.030 --> 00:47:48.947 (foreboding music) 00:47:58.913 --> 00:48:01.210 - [John] But then came the day when my entire world 00:48:01.210 --> 00:48:04.757 would suddenly change again as if a lightning bolt 00:48:04.757 --> 00:48:05.922 had struck. 00:48:05.922 --> 00:48:08.617 - Mr. Newton, a man here to see you. 00:48:08.617 --> 00:48:11.478 - Mr. Newton, Mr. John Newton. 00:48:11.478 --> 00:48:12.470 - Yes. 00:48:12.469 --> 00:48:15.263 - I'm Archibald Gother, Captain of the HMS Greyhound, 00:48:15.264 --> 00:48:16.181 out of Liverpool. 00:48:16.181 --> 00:48:18.009 - Ah, welcome Captain Gother, are you here to pick up 00:48:18.009 --> 00:48:18.842 a shipment? 00:48:18.842 --> 00:48:22.698 - Not exactly, you see I'm here to take you home. 00:48:22.697 --> 00:48:24.692 - Me, what are you talking about? 00:48:24.692 --> 00:48:27.273 - Your father commissioned me to find you 00:48:27.273 --> 00:48:29.987 and bring you back to England whatever the cost. 00:48:29.987 --> 00:48:31.613 I've been stopping at every trading post south of 00:48:31.612 --> 00:48:35.779 the Canaries searching for you, and finally here you are! 00:48:38.369 --> 00:48:39.369 - My father! 00:48:42.248 --> 00:48:43.331 - Mr. Newton! 00:48:45.179 --> 00:48:48.096 (foreboding music) 00:49:04.574 --> 00:49:07.402 - There she is, the Greyhound. 00:49:07.402 --> 00:49:09.699 After this, we got two more ports of call. 00:49:09.699 --> 00:49:11.898 To pick up ivory and beeswax. 00:49:11.898 --> 00:49:14.782 And then we should set sail for Liverpool, 00:49:14.782 --> 00:49:16.282 and for you, home. 00:49:17.998 --> 00:49:20.327 - Captain Gother, a month ago I would've told you 00:49:20.327 --> 00:49:24.411 I had no hope or even dreams of seeing England again. 00:49:24.411 --> 00:49:26.920 I was prepared to live out my days here. 00:49:26.920 --> 00:49:29.648 Perhaps marry a native, even have my grave right here 00:49:29.648 --> 00:49:33.648 in West Africa, if I believed in God I would say 00:49:34.523 --> 00:49:36.596 his hand had brought you here. 00:49:36.597 --> 00:49:39.680 - Believe it, for who else can it be? 00:49:40.682 --> 00:49:44.182 (warm anticipatory music) 00:50:10.519 --> 00:50:13.177 - [John] And so I began my journey home. 00:50:13.177 --> 00:50:17.770 Not as a crewman but as a passenger on the Greyhound. 00:50:17.771 --> 00:50:20.773 Freed of the duties I was used to, I had many hours 00:50:20.773 --> 00:50:24.526 at sea to think, to think about my life, 00:50:24.525 --> 00:50:26.692 to think about life itself. 00:50:26.693 --> 00:50:29.360 (calming music) 00:50:57.882 --> 00:50:59.925 It was during these long hours of leisure 00:50:59.925 --> 00:51:03.431 that I discovered a book, The Imitation of Christ 00:51:03.431 --> 00:51:06.681 by Thomas a Kempis, I began reading it, 00:51:07.559 --> 00:51:11.148 not as a meditational work but as a work of fiction 00:51:11.148 --> 00:51:14.240 and entertainment to pass the time. 00:51:14.240 --> 00:51:18.775 But as I read the involuntary suggestion came to me. 00:51:18.775 --> 00:51:22.117 What if these words were true, what if the faith 00:51:22.117 --> 00:51:25.451 of this long dead writer was in fact a reality 00:51:25.451 --> 00:51:28.985 that I simply did not understand. 00:51:28.985 --> 00:51:33.152 I could not bear the inference as it related to myself. 00:51:34.213 --> 00:51:36.844 Dimly remembered Scripture verses came unbidden 00:51:36.844 --> 00:51:40.141 to my mind, especially fearful passages that speak 00:51:40.141 --> 00:51:43.146 of the judgment of those who know the way of truth 00:51:43.146 --> 00:51:45.188 but then depart from it. 00:51:45.188 --> 00:51:47.853 What if I were one of them? 00:51:47.853 --> 00:51:51.205 What if the faith I had abandoned was in fact 00:51:51.206 --> 00:51:54.533 the driving reality of the universe? 00:51:54.532 --> 00:51:57.493 What if God's hand had in fact been the moving force 00:51:57.494 --> 00:52:00.780 that brought me to this point, brought Gother 00:52:00.780 --> 00:52:03.784 to Sierra Leone to rescue me. 00:52:03.784 --> 00:52:06.704 What if I had turned my back on the very God 00:52:06.704 --> 00:52:08.537 who sought to save me? 00:52:11.291 --> 00:52:15.130 I was so caught up in my own thoughts and meditation 00:52:15.130 --> 00:52:17.753 that I had not even been aware of the storm that 00:52:17.753 --> 00:52:18.928 had engulfed us. 00:52:18.927 --> 00:52:21.844 (thunder rumbling) 00:52:25.766 --> 00:52:27.961 - All hands on deck John! 00:52:27.960 --> 00:52:31.043 (anticipatory music) 00:52:41.505 --> 00:52:44.505 - Mister, hey, get that canvas down! 00:52:50.172 --> 00:52:52.422 (shouting) 00:53:06.684 --> 00:53:09.327 - [Sailor] Pilot down, pilot down! 00:53:09.327 --> 00:53:12.945 - Get Newton, get Newton! - I know where he is! 00:53:12.945 --> 00:53:17.112 (anticipatory music) (storm brooding) 00:53:57.355 --> 00:53:58.521 - God save us! 00:54:15.335 --> 00:54:18.001 (calming music) 00:54:36.670 --> 00:54:37.503 Thank you. 00:54:38.643 --> 00:54:42.318 I thought back then on that powerful recurring dream 00:54:42.318 --> 00:54:44.402 that had haunted my life. 00:54:45.532 --> 00:54:50.492 - I will preserve it for you, and whenever it is needful, 00:54:50.492 --> 00:54:53.205 I will produce it on your behalf. 00:54:53.204 --> 00:54:55.871 (calming music) 00:55:05.824 --> 00:55:08.197 - [John] We had survived the most terrifying storm 00:55:08.197 --> 00:55:09.697 of my life at sea. 00:55:10.695 --> 00:55:13.810 But more than that I had a glimmer of new hope, 00:55:13.811 --> 00:55:18.441 a spark of faith in my heart, in my darkest moment, 00:55:18.440 --> 00:55:21.652 I discovered a chance of reconciliation, 00:55:21.652 --> 00:55:25.819 with a God that I had long dismissed as mere fiction. 00:55:26.777 --> 00:55:28.944 That was March 10th, 1748. 00:55:30.110 --> 00:55:32.708 A day that I would mark for the rest of my life 00:55:32.708 --> 00:55:35.041 as the day of my conversion. 00:55:39.503 --> 00:55:42.170 (calming music) 00:55:45.844 --> 00:55:50.760 There is little doubt that our very cargo had saved us. 00:55:50.760 --> 00:55:52.954 The beeswax and the (mumbling) we carried 00:55:52.954 --> 00:55:56.027 being both lighter than water. 00:55:56.027 --> 00:55:58.418 The Greyhound was so swamped with water that we surely 00:55:58.418 --> 00:56:01.074 would've sunk if it were not for the flotation 00:56:01.074 --> 00:56:02.741 of the cargo itself. 00:56:04.032 --> 00:56:08.529 But was God's hand not present even in this detail? 00:56:08.530 --> 00:56:11.656 As we limped back toward England, tripled with only a few 00:56:11.655 --> 00:56:15.822 sails, I spent most of my time reading the Scriptures. 00:56:16.827 --> 00:56:20.111 Meditating and praying to the Lord for mercy 00:56:20.110 --> 00:56:21.443 and instruction. 00:56:30.010 --> 00:56:34.259 I began to see my life in a different perspective. 00:56:34.259 --> 00:56:36.719 The burning anger that had driven me as a younger man 00:56:36.719 --> 00:56:37.886 was now faded. 00:56:39.271 --> 00:56:41.853 I began to see that my entire life was that as 00:56:41.853 --> 00:56:44.794 the Parable of the Prodigal Son. 00:56:44.795 --> 00:56:48.784 Not in a figurative way, as most people understand it, 00:56:48.784 --> 00:56:51.916 but in the most literal reality. 00:56:51.916 --> 00:56:53.583 - [Watcher] Land ho! 00:56:55.536 --> 00:56:58.459 - [John] We sighted land on April 7th, the Irish island 00:56:58.460 --> 00:57:01.960 of Tory, the next day we landed at Swilly. 00:57:03.960 --> 00:57:08.182 Finally I was safely home, after misadventures 00:57:08.182 --> 00:57:10.599 that seemed like a storybook. 00:57:13.302 --> 00:57:15.719 - So did you see your father? 00:57:16.885 --> 00:57:17.719 - No. 00:57:19.648 --> 00:57:22.315 See God's ways are very strange. 00:57:23.184 --> 00:57:25.844 You see the day I arrived in Liverpool 00:57:25.844 --> 00:57:29.291 I discovered that my father had shipped out only the day 00:57:29.291 --> 00:57:32.703 before for Canada, he'd been appointed 00:57:32.704 --> 00:57:37.077 Governor of York's Fort in Hudson Bay Colony. 00:57:37.077 --> 00:57:39.533 I never saw him again. 00:57:39.532 --> 00:57:40.793 - How sad. 00:57:40.793 --> 00:57:42.706 Did he know that you were safe? 00:57:42.706 --> 00:57:45.373 - Oh yes we were able to write one another 00:57:45.373 --> 00:57:48.791 so he knew the whole story, but he died there 00:57:48.791 --> 00:57:52.958 in Canada and was buried there and I never saw him again. 00:57:53.880 --> 00:57:58.137 However, God gave me a new father as it were, 00:57:58.137 --> 00:58:00.692 Joseph Manastee who owned the ship that 00:58:00.693 --> 00:58:03.182 I had returned on, took me under his wing 00:58:03.181 --> 00:58:07.143 and treated me as if I were his own son. 00:58:07.143 --> 00:58:08.633 He got me a commission as first mate 00:58:08.634 --> 00:58:11.918 on a trade ship and I did very well. 00:58:11.918 --> 00:58:15.367 Much of the rebellion in my spirit, the burning anger, 00:58:15.367 --> 00:58:17.987 had been washed away in Africa and I no longer found 00:58:17.987 --> 00:58:20.904 myself always attracted to trouble. 00:58:22.498 --> 00:58:26.452 My new station in life secure, I could at long last 00:58:26.452 --> 00:58:29.202 go back to Kent, and to my Polly. 00:58:30.509 --> 00:58:31.925 My beloved Polly. 00:58:35.835 --> 00:58:39.778 After years of remember her face as in a dream, 00:58:39.778 --> 00:58:43.146 I was finally able to marry my dear Polly, 00:58:43.146 --> 00:58:44.813 the love of my life. 00:58:46.268 --> 00:58:49.933 - According to God's holy ordinance, and thereto, 00:58:49.934 --> 00:58:51.601 I give you my truth. 00:58:52.983 --> 00:58:55.442 - With this ring I give you my heart. 00:58:55.443 --> 00:58:57.735 With my body I give you worship. 00:58:57.735 --> 00:59:01.782 And with all of my worldly goods, I thee endow. 00:59:01.782 --> 00:59:06.526 In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 00:59:06.525 --> 00:59:07.358 Amen. 00:59:15.800 --> 00:59:19.554 Before long my benefactor Joseph Manastee promoted me 00:59:19.554 --> 00:59:23.269 to captain, captain of my own ship. 00:59:23.269 --> 00:59:24.853 The Duke of Argyll. 00:59:28.146 --> 00:59:31.686 The Duke of Argyll was a slaving ship. 00:59:31.686 --> 00:59:35.501 So my job as captain was to take the ship 00:59:35.501 --> 00:59:37.943 to the West coast of Africa, very close to 00:59:37.943 --> 00:59:41.404 where I had been held captive myself, pick up slaves 00:59:41.405 --> 00:59:44.661 there, transport them to the West Indies, there to 00:59:44.661 --> 00:59:48.420 exchange them for molasses and rum, and return those 00:59:48.420 --> 00:59:52.750 to England, that's why we called it the Triangular Trade. 00:59:52.750 --> 00:59:56.333 - Wait, you were a captain of a slave ship? 00:59:58.291 --> 01:00:01.677 After you were a slave yourself? 01:00:01.677 --> 01:00:04.011 How could you do that? 01:00:04.012 --> 01:00:06.762 - You're a very astute young man. 01:00:07.976 --> 01:00:11.461 No I was infant in the faith, and I really did not 01:00:11.460 --> 01:00:15.950 see the evils of the slave trade at the time. 01:00:15.951 --> 01:00:20.197 None of us did, it was considered an honorable way 01:00:20.197 --> 01:00:21.907 to make a living. 01:00:21.907 --> 01:00:25.117 - But you were held captive, how could you do that 01:00:25.117 --> 01:00:26.451 to someone else? 01:00:27.710 --> 01:00:29.460 - It was all too easy. 01:00:31.168 --> 01:00:33.585 You see attitudes are starting to change now, 01:00:33.585 --> 01:00:37.545 but 20 years ago, no one questioned the slave trade, 01:00:37.545 --> 01:00:40.672 well save the Quakers and a few Moravian missionaries 01:00:40.672 --> 01:00:41.838 in St. Thomas. 01:00:43.010 --> 01:00:46.011 Everyone in England that had any money at all, 01:00:46.010 --> 01:00:50.686 had it invested in the slave trade it was very profitable. 01:00:50.686 --> 01:00:54.853 And where profit is concerned we turn a blind eye, don't we? 01:00:57.070 --> 01:00:59.489 All I could see at the time was that as a Christian 01:00:59.489 --> 01:01:03.613 ship captain, my job was to safely transport the slaves 01:01:03.614 --> 01:01:06.320 from one port to the other and treat them as well 01:01:06.320 --> 01:01:10.919 as possible, the same as I might do with a load of cattle. 01:01:10.918 --> 01:01:14.036 It wasn't an uncommon on slave ships for almost 01:01:14.036 --> 01:01:18.338 a third of them to die on that middle passage. 01:01:18.338 --> 01:01:23.174 They were kept chained below decks, fed little food. 01:01:23.175 --> 01:01:27.340 I prided myself on the fact that only a few had ever died 01:01:27.340 --> 01:01:28.350 on my ships. 01:01:28.349 --> 01:01:31.432 (anticipatory music) 01:01:32.983 --> 01:01:36.845 I devised a routine of regular exercise for the slaves, 01:01:36.844 --> 01:01:39.673 so that each day they would see the sunlight and keep 01:01:39.673 --> 01:01:43.494 themselves as fit and healthy as possible. 01:01:43.494 --> 01:01:46.286 I insisted with Mr. Manastee that we have sufficient 01:01:46.286 --> 01:01:48.742 provisions so that the slaves could maintain 01:01:48.742 --> 01:01:52.288 proper nourishment, and not arrive starved. 01:01:52.288 --> 01:01:55.710 I did the same with the crew, I was proud that my ship 01:01:55.710 --> 01:01:57.874 had one of the best records for delivering slaves 01:01:57.873 --> 01:01:59.742 in good health. 01:01:59.742 --> 01:02:04.058 We only had a few deaths at see, I felt each one personally 01:02:04.059 --> 01:02:06.890 and worked harder on each voyage to make sure 01:02:06.889 --> 01:02:10.692 that both crew and cargo stayed healthy and fit. 01:02:10.692 --> 01:02:13.735 It may not seem like much, but it was far more 01:02:13.735 --> 01:02:17.481 than most captains did in those days. 01:02:17.481 --> 01:02:20.777 I engaged the crew in regular times of worship. 01:02:20.777 --> 01:02:22.838 Ye shall have a song, as in the night 01:02:22.838 --> 01:02:25.657 when a holy solemnity is kept, 01:02:25.657 --> 01:02:28.450 and gladness of heart, as when one go with a pipe 01:02:28.449 --> 01:02:30.955 to come into the mountain of the Lord, 01:02:30.956 --> 01:02:33.289 to the mighty one of Israel. 01:02:34.257 --> 01:02:35.257 Let us pray. 01:02:36.168 --> 01:02:39.668 (warm anticipatory music) 01:02:51.768 --> 01:02:53.687 It was on this journey that I had the chance 01:02:53.688 --> 01:02:56.228 to return to the Banana Islands, 01:02:56.228 --> 01:02:59.559 to my own place of enslavement. 01:02:59.559 --> 01:03:02.210 I was even able to find one of the lime trees 01:03:02.210 --> 01:03:06.377 that I had planted with my own hands so many years before. 01:03:22.509 --> 01:03:26.342 Then came my third voyage, in 1753, as captain 01:03:27.224 --> 01:03:28.474 of The African. 01:03:29.847 --> 01:03:32.930 We landed in Ghana to pick up a load of 600 slaves 01:03:32.929 --> 01:03:35.012 for transport to Jamaica. 01:03:36.385 --> 01:03:38.719 (sad music) 01:04:25.666 --> 01:04:29.833 (chains clanging) (chanting) 01:04:43.746 --> 01:04:46.826 It was on that voyage that I began to first wonder 01:04:46.826 --> 01:04:48.659 about the slave trade. 01:05:06.710 --> 01:05:09.043 (sad music) 01:05:18.123 --> 01:05:20.540 That would be my last voyage. 01:05:26.431 --> 01:05:28.213 The weather looks good. 01:05:28.213 --> 01:05:30.757 I'm gonna sail the day after tomorrow. 01:05:30.757 --> 01:05:33.672 - I shall miss you terribly, I so wish you did not 01:05:33.672 --> 01:05:35.396 have to be gone so long. 01:05:35.396 --> 01:05:36.885 - Yes I know. 01:05:36.885 --> 01:05:39.922 But it is the nature of the trade. 01:05:39.922 --> 01:05:41.610 (groaning) 01:05:41.610 --> 01:05:42.443 - John? 01:05:44.226 --> 01:05:45.143 John, John! 01:05:45.976 --> 01:05:49.059 (ceramic shattering) 01:05:50.815 --> 01:05:53.148 (sad music) 01:05:54.427 --> 01:05:57.427 - I'm afraid he's suffered a stroke. 01:06:01.786 --> 01:06:05.082 - [John] I could no longer command a ship. 01:06:05.083 --> 01:06:06.666 - [Samuel] How sad. 01:06:08.797 --> 01:06:11.718 - It seemed very hard at the time, but we were 01:06:11.719 --> 01:06:14.858 later to understand that it was a blessing from God. 01:06:14.858 --> 01:06:16.213 - A blessing? 01:06:16.213 --> 01:06:19.681 - Yes a blessing, you see when God closes one way 01:06:19.681 --> 01:06:22.141 it is often for a reason that we do not know 01:06:22.141 --> 01:06:25.811 or understand, Captain Potter, the man who 01:06:25.811 --> 01:06:28.940 took over the ship for me, and his entire crew 01:06:28.940 --> 01:06:30.527 were killed on that voyage. 01:06:30.527 --> 01:06:31.905 - God preserve us! 01:06:31.905 --> 01:06:33.943 - Yes he did preserve us. 01:06:33.943 --> 01:06:36.363 And it was a deep lesson because what we thought 01:06:36.362 --> 01:06:39.828 was a curse at the time, actually was filled 01:06:39.829 --> 01:06:41.162 with much grace. 01:06:42.532 --> 01:06:46.051 We moved back to Polly's family home in Kent, 01:06:46.052 --> 01:06:47.688 for my recuperation. 01:06:47.688 --> 01:06:50.355 (calming music) 01:07:01.483 --> 01:07:04.893 During this time living in Kent I had many hours 01:07:04.893 --> 01:07:08.794 of leisure, which I often spent outdoors, I had hours 01:07:08.795 --> 01:07:12.898 and hours for Bible study and for meditation. 01:07:12.898 --> 01:07:16.001 I spent many hours discovering the layers of grace 01:07:16.001 --> 01:07:19.085 present in our Lord's redeeming work. 01:07:29.588 --> 01:07:33.210 Slowly I regained some of my strength. 01:07:33.210 --> 01:07:36.967 But I knew I would never again captain a ship. 01:07:36.967 --> 01:07:39.509 However, my knowledge of the business enabled me 01:07:39.510 --> 01:07:44.064 to obtain a position as tide-surveyor of Liverpool. 01:07:44.063 --> 01:07:46.940 A position of great responsibility. 01:07:46.940 --> 01:07:51.440 - Ahoy, (mumbling) surveyor, state your cargo. 01:07:51.440 --> 01:07:54.984 - 100 barrels of rum and a hundred barrels of molasses 01:07:54.985 --> 01:07:57.664 from the island, 75 barrels... 01:07:57.664 --> 01:07:59.875 - [John] I worked for the Custom's Office 01:07:59.875 --> 01:08:02.405 and was responsible to inspect incoming ships 01:08:02.405 --> 01:08:05.035 to make sure the proper import customs were paid 01:08:05.034 --> 01:08:07.702 to the government, even with the remaining weakness 01:08:07.702 --> 01:08:10.592 from my stroke, I could still discharge the work 01:08:10.592 --> 01:08:14.278 with responsibility, and yet have the free time 01:08:14.277 --> 01:08:17.360 to study the scriptures as I desired. 01:08:18.685 --> 01:08:21.301 Now that we were settled in a house in Liverpool, 01:08:21.301 --> 01:08:24.134 I made the most of my free time. 01:08:24.135 --> 01:08:26.637 I determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ 01:08:26.636 --> 01:08:31.226 and him crucified as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians. 01:08:31.226 --> 01:08:33.452 And I resolved to do nothing that would not serve 01:08:33.452 --> 01:08:34.952 that main purpose. 01:08:36.036 --> 01:08:38.905 I began to learn Greek, enough to allow me to understand 01:08:38.905 --> 01:08:42.073 The New Testament and The Septuagint, and then I began 01:08:42.073 --> 01:08:45.743 studying Hebrew the following year. 01:08:45.743 --> 01:08:48.276 I never attained a critical skill in any of these 01:08:48.275 --> 01:08:51.557 languages, but I had no goal but to truly 01:08:51.557 --> 01:08:54.087 and faithfully understand the scriptural words 01:08:54.087 --> 01:08:57.764 and phrases so that I could judge for myself 01:08:57.764 --> 01:09:00.717 the meaning of any particular passage. 01:09:00.716 --> 01:09:02.552 Together with this I kept up a course 01:09:02.552 --> 01:09:05.023 of reading the best writers of Christian theology 01:09:05.023 --> 01:09:06.105 I could find. 01:09:08.020 --> 01:09:11.889 Out of this gradually arose a new desire. 01:09:11.889 --> 01:09:14.606 My mother's hope when I was a child was that I should 01:09:14.606 --> 01:09:16.734 enter the Ministry. 01:09:16.734 --> 01:09:20.702 Now for the first time I began to feel a strong calling 01:09:20.703 --> 01:09:24.365 in that direction myself, it was not a calling of 01:09:24.365 --> 01:09:27.953 which I felt worthy, but I felt in some ways 01:09:27.953 --> 01:09:30.367 I was the perfect person to proclaim 01:09:30.367 --> 01:09:33.248 the faithful saying from 1 Timothy. 01:09:33.247 --> 01:09:35.913 That Jesus Christ came into the world to save the 01:09:35.913 --> 01:09:37.331 chief of sinners. 01:09:38.421 --> 01:09:41.383 My life had been full of such remarkable turns, 01:09:41.382 --> 01:09:45.465 I seemed selected to show what the Lord could do. 01:09:47.536 --> 01:09:50.730 My initial enthusiasm was damped by refusal 01:09:50.729 --> 01:09:54.396 after refusal to consider me for ordination. 01:09:55.600 --> 01:09:58.814 I did not give up easily, but in rapid order 01:09:58.814 --> 01:10:01.319 I was turned down by the established church, 01:10:01.319 --> 01:10:04.224 by the Dissenters, by the Methodists, 01:10:04.224 --> 01:10:06.306 and by the Presbyterians. 01:10:09.202 --> 01:10:11.908 Though not yet ordained I began to preach at churches 01:10:11.908 --> 01:10:15.408 around Liverpool, and to be well received. 01:10:16.416 --> 01:10:20.759 The Lord bestows many blessings upon his people, but unless 01:10:20.759 --> 01:10:24.130 he likewise gives 'em a thankful heart, 01:10:24.130 --> 01:10:25.449 they lose much of the comfort 01:10:25.449 --> 01:10:28.693 they might have in them, and this is not only a blessing 01:10:28.693 --> 01:10:31.525 in itself, but in earnest of more. 01:10:32.810 --> 01:10:35.688 King David, when he was peacefully settled in 01:10:35.689 --> 01:10:40.024 his kingdom, purposed to express his gratitude 01:10:40.024 --> 01:10:42.774 by building a place for the arch. 01:10:43.704 --> 01:10:46.628 I began to receive more and more invitations to preach 01:10:46.628 --> 01:10:49.796 or to speak about my life experiences. 01:10:52.658 --> 01:10:54.576 Polly, Polly read this. 01:10:57.123 --> 01:10:58.871 - You're to be the pastor of 01:10:58.871 --> 01:11:03.336 the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Olney? 01:11:03.336 --> 01:11:07.217 Oh John, it is an answer to our prayers! 01:11:07.216 --> 01:11:10.466 (church bells ringing) 01:11:11.680 --> 01:11:14.348 - I had to wait over seven long years, 01:11:14.349 --> 01:11:17.476 but finally my dream to server as a parish pastor 01:11:17.475 --> 01:11:18.975 would become true. 01:11:21.731 --> 01:11:24.528 And that Samuel is how I came to be the pastor 01:11:24.529 --> 01:11:27.124 of this parish, of course that was a number of years 01:11:27.123 --> 01:11:29.036 ago before you were born. 01:11:29.037 --> 01:11:30.742 - It is quite a story. 01:11:30.742 --> 01:11:33.204 - Yes and let it be a lesson to you. 01:11:33.204 --> 01:11:35.405 For the story that God has in mind for you may 01:11:35.405 --> 01:11:39.015 be very different from what you have planned. 01:11:39.015 --> 01:11:42.681 The great adventure is finding God's will for your life. 01:11:42.681 --> 01:11:45.005 - Oh I did not know you had company. 01:11:45.006 --> 01:11:47.971 - Yes this is Samuel, we met in the village. 01:11:47.970 --> 01:11:50.718 - Ah, aren't you Ms. Watson's oldest? 01:11:50.719 --> 01:11:52.641 - Aye she's me stepmom. 01:11:52.641 --> 01:11:56.394 - Oh why don't you join us on Tuesday, 01:11:56.395 --> 01:11:59.975 John and I have begun a Bible School for the area children. 01:11:59.975 --> 01:12:02.644 - Yes, you'll improve your reading skills and at the same 01:12:02.644 --> 01:12:04.858 time learn more about the Bible. 01:12:04.858 --> 01:12:07.195 - If you're leading it, then I'll come. 01:12:07.194 --> 01:12:08.858 - Oh very good. (laughing) 01:12:08.859 --> 01:12:11.289 - John please remember that William Cowper is coming 01:12:11.288 --> 01:12:13.034 later to work on the poem. 01:12:13.034 --> 01:12:14.244 - Yes I do. - Hmm-mm. 01:12:14.244 --> 01:12:17.926 - Mr. Cowper and I are working on some spiritual poems 01:12:17.926 --> 01:12:21.703 which can be sung to popular tunes like Black-Eyed Susan 01:12:21.703 --> 01:12:23.021 or Mad Robin. 01:12:23.021 --> 01:12:24.015 - I know them! 01:12:24.015 --> 01:12:25.310 - Of course you do. (laughing) 01:12:25.310 --> 01:12:27.758 - You must be off now, Mr. Newton and Mr. Cowper 01:12:27.757 --> 01:12:31.045 have some very important work to do. 01:12:31.046 --> 01:12:32.081 - Mr. Newton? 01:12:32.081 --> 01:12:32.913 - [John] Yes? 01:12:32.913 --> 01:12:34.475 - Thanks for telling me your story. 01:12:34.475 --> 01:12:36.262 - [John] Well thank you for listening Samuel, 01:12:36.262 --> 01:12:37.846 and you'll be here on Tuesday. 01:12:37.846 --> 01:12:39.599 - Aye, I'll be here on Tuesday. 01:12:39.600 --> 01:12:43.767 - Very good, very good. (laughing) 01:12:52.582 --> 01:12:55.665 (warm calming music) 01:13:43.850 --> 01:13:47.100 (calming violin music) 01:13:55.358 --> 01:13:56.440 - Here it is. 01:13:58.270 --> 01:13:59.233 - John Newton? 01:13:59.233 --> 01:14:00.900 - Yes here, read it. 01:14:03.225 --> 01:14:05.016 - John Newton, Clerk. 01:14:05.016 --> 01:14:09.106 Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa 01:14:09.106 --> 01:14:12.994 was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 01:14:12.994 --> 01:14:16.072 preserved, restored and pardoned, and appointed to preach 01:14:16.072 --> 01:14:19.954 the faith he had long labored to destroy. 01:14:19.954 --> 01:14:22.381 - He changed my life. 01:14:22.381 --> 01:14:25.762 A few years later he was called to St. Mary Roman Church 01:14:25.762 --> 01:14:26.595 in London. 01:14:27.432 --> 01:14:30.298 When I was old enough I joined him there. 01:14:30.298 --> 01:14:32.625 And through him I met William Wilberforce. 01:14:32.625 --> 01:14:36.639 And joined the movement to abolish the slave trade. 01:14:36.639 --> 01:14:41.253 It took years, the bill passed Parliament in 1807, 01:14:41.253 --> 01:14:44.362 the same year that Mr. Newton died. 01:14:44.362 --> 01:14:48.362 And the same year that you were born Alexandria. 01:14:50.110 --> 01:14:54.323 But he lived to see the abolition of the slave trade. 01:14:54.323 --> 01:14:56.445 - Oh so he did it? 01:14:56.445 --> 01:15:00.911 - Well not he alone, but many working together. 01:15:00.911 --> 01:15:02.911 He did change the world. 01:15:05.546 --> 01:15:07.546 And he changed my life. 01:15:08.792 --> 01:15:13.343 The life of a little boy who was hurt and angry 01:15:13.342 --> 01:15:14.425 at the world. 01:15:15.967 --> 01:15:19.417 He taught me something of gentleness. 01:15:19.417 --> 01:15:21.000 And of God's grace. 01:15:23.280 --> 01:15:27.448 And I hope you have a chance to learn of that grace as well. 01:15:31.493 --> 01:15:34.576 (warm calming music) 01:18:13.529 --> 01:18:16.529 (warm violin music) 01:19:01.985 --> 01:19:05.068 (warm calming music) 01:20:02.913 --> 01:20:05.913 (warm violin music)