On January 1, 1773, in Olney, England, The Rev. John Newton, a slave trader-turned-abolitionist, gave a sermon about personal redemption. His words would become one of the best-known hymns in the world.
Sung an estimated 10 million times each year, « Amazing Grace » marks its 250th anniversary this New Year’s Day. It was born not of American Black spirituals as some believe, but across the Atlantic, in the tiny English market town of Olney, some 60 miles north of London, with lyrics older than the Declaration of Independence.
Those words are life reflections of John Newton, a slave trader who nearly died in a shipwreck, and who eventually became a minister. He penned the famous words of « Amazing Grace » for a sermon for his 1773 New Year’s service at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. But the tune wouldn’t be written for another half-century.
There were several melodies paired to his words. But for decades no one tune was consistently linked to « Amazing Grace, » until 1835, when an American Baptist, William Walker, published « The Southern Harmony » hymn book with a song, at the time, titled « New Britain.
