"I should be inexcusable, considering the share I have formerly had in that unhappy business, if, upon this occasion, I should omit to mention the African slave-trade. I do not rank this amongst our national sins, because I hope, and believe, a very great majority of the nation earnestly long for its suppression. But, hitherto, petty and partial interest prevail against the voice of justice, humanity and truth. This enormity, however, is not sufficiently laid to heart. If you are justly shocked by what you hear of the cruelties practised in France, you would, perhaps, be shocked much more, if you could fully conceive of the evils and miseries inseparable from this traffic, which I apprehend, not from hearsay, but from my own observation, are equal in atrocity, and, perhaps superior in number, in the course of a single year, to any or all the worst actions which have been known in France since the commencement of their revolution. There is a cry of blood against us; a cry accumulated by the accession of fresh victims, of thousands, of scores of thousands, I had almost said of hundreds of thousands, from year to year."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
AbolitionistsHymnwriters from EnglandAnglicans from the United KingdomPeople from LondonClergy from England
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
As quoted in The Works of the Rev. John Newton... to which are Prefixed Memoirs of His Life (1839), Vol. 2, U. Hunt, pages 429-230.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Newton
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
John Newton
15 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by John Newton →
Related Quotes
"If the trade is at present carried on to the same extent and nearly in the same manner, while we are delaying from ye…"
"Whether men are pleased or not, we will, we must, worship the Lamb that was slain."
"By one hour's intimate access to the throne of grace, where the Lord causes his glory to pass before the soul that se…"
"I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and…"
"Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame, The fire of love supplies; While that which often bears the name, Is self in a …"
"Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That sav'd a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but n…"
"'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears reliev'd; How precious did that grace appear, The hour I…"
"Thro' many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; 'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will le…"
"The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who call'd me here below, Will be forever…"
"Show me what I have to do, Every hour my strength renew; Let me live a life of faith, Let me die Thy people's death."