If the trade is at present carried on to the same extent and nearly in the same manner, while we are delaying from year to year to put a stop to our part in it, the blood of many thousands of our helpless, much injured fellow creatures is crying against us. The pitiable state of the survivors who are torn from their relatives, connections, and their native land must be taken into account. I fear the African trade is a national sin, for the enormities which accompany it are now generally known; and though, perhaps, the greater part of the nation would be pleased if it were suppressed, yet, as it does not immediately affect their own interest, they are passive. {...] Can we wonder that the calamities of the present war begin to be felt at home, when we ourselves wilfully and deliberately inflict much greater calamities upon the native Africans, who never offended us?. \"Woe unto thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled\"
Anglican clergyman, slave trader and abolitionist (1725–1807)
John Newton (24 July 1725 – 21 December 1807) was a British slave trader who later became an abolitionist and a convert to Christianity. He came to be a clergyman and songwriter. He is known for writing the lyrics to the historical hymn, Amazing Grace.
From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)
It is the complete system of divine truth to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be taken with impunity. Every attempt to disguise or soften any branch of this truth in order to accommodate it to the prevailing taste around us either to avoid the displeasure or court the favor of our fellow mortals must be an affront to the majesty of God and an act of treachery to men.
We shall see that what we once mistakenly called afflictions and misfortune were in reality blessings without which we would not have grown in faith. Nothing happened to us without a reason. No problem came upon us sooner, pressed on us more heavily, or continued longer than our situation required. God, in divine grace and wisdom, used our many afflictions, each as needed, that we might ultimately possess an exceeding and eternal weight of glory, prepared by the Lord for His people.
"The psalmist reminds us that caution in these things is proper: "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul" (Ps. 66:16) and our Lord cautions us not to "cast pearls before swine" (Matt. 7:6). The pearls of a Christian are, perhaps, his choice experiences of the Lord's power and love in regards to his soul. These should not casually be made public, lest we provide an occasion for disreputable persons to make fun of what they cannot understand."
Francis once said, “I have been in all things unholy. If God can use me, God can use absolutely anyone.” 3 It is easy to assume that Francis had tons of faith, much more than you and me. Francis never saw himself this way, and there were many moments when he felt weak, uncertain, inadequate, and scared. His life teaches me that people who feel spiritually invulnerable and confident cannot repair God’s church. Grace flows to the world only through people who are weak and often uncertain and who cling to Jesus in their experience of decreasing and becoming less.
I am persuaded that every believer will see enough in his or her own life to confirm this, but not all in the same degree. The outward circumstances of many Christians appear the same. They have not been through extreme circumstances of one kind or another. Inwardly, a spiritual change has been effected without notice by others and almost unperceived by themselves. The Lord has spoken to them, not in thunder and tempest, but with a still small voice He has drawn them gradually to Himself. Although they have a confident assurance that they know and love Him and have passed from death unto life, they cannot relate any great details of a drastic change.
Others He seems to select in order to show the exceeding riches of His grace and the greatness of His mighty power. He allows the natural rebellion and wickedness of their hearts to completely express itself. Even though they sin willfully against God, they are spared from death while other sinners are cut off with little warning. Just when all who know them are expecting to hear that God has brought down divine vengeance upon them, the Lord, (whose thoughts are high above ours, as the heavens are
higher than the earth) is pleased to pluck them like brands out of the fire. He makes them monuments of His mercy for the encouragement of others. They are-contrary to expectation-convinced, pardoned, and changed.
You want nothing to make you happy, but to have the eyes of your understanding more fixed upon the Redeemer, and more enlightened by the Holy Spirit to behold His glory. O! He is a suitable Saviour! He has power, authority, and compassion, to save to the uttermost. He has given His word of promise, to engage our confidence, and He is able and faithful to make good the expectations and desires He has raised in us. Put your trust in Him; believe (as we say) through thick and thin, in defiance of all objections from within and without.
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"For the sake of method, I could wish to consider the African trade, — first, with regard to the effect it has upon our own people ; and secondly, as it concerns the blacks, or, as they are more contemptuously styled, the negro slaves, whom we purchase upon the coast. But these two topics are so interwoven together, that it will not be easy to keep them exactly separate.
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When I have charged a black with unfairness and dishonesty, he has answered, if able to clear himself, with an air of disdain, " What! do you think I am a white man ?"
Such is the nature, such are the concomitants, of the slave trade... Will not sound policy suggest the necessity of some expedient here?"