By John Newton.
Additional Letters.
By John Newton.
John Newton’s later life:
In his later years, Newton faced personal loss as his wife, Mary Catlett, passed away in 1790. He published “Letters to a Wife” in 1793, a poignant expression of his grief. Suffering from declining health and failing eyesight,
Newton died on December 21, 1807, in London. He was laid to rest beside his wife at St. Mary Woolnoth in London, and in 1893, both were reinterred at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Olney.
John Newton’s life and work continue to inspire and resonate with people around the world. His personal journey from a slave ship captain to a devoted Christian and abolitionist serves as a powerful example of redemption and the transformative power of grace.
The following letters are taken from Mr. Newton’s sequel to Cardiphonia, published after his death. They are headed “Eighteen Letters addressed to several Ladies” principally however to Miss Medhurst.
These ladies lived in Yorkshire, and were frequently visited by Mr. Newton in the several tours he made in that district, at the time of his residence in Liverpool. It is presumed that these friends lived near together, and sought each other’s society that by pious fellowship they might promote their own spiritual life and devise plans of usefulness for the good of others.
The strain of Mr. Newton’s letters shows them to have been eminently devout women. Miss Medhurst was related to the Countess of Huntingdon.