Greetings:

That legend about the slave ship captain turning back to Africa in the middle of a voyage is pure poppycock. John Newton (1725-1807) had indeed been a slave trader and later the captain of a slave ship, but he did not pen the lyrics of Amazing Grace until much later. Newton quit the sea in to become a Tides Surveyor in Liverpool in 1755. He became an Anglican priest in 1764, and wrote Amazing Grace some time around 1772. It was not until 1785 that he began speaking out publicly against slavery.

--- Steve