In a small church cemetery in Olney, England, stands a granite tombstone with the following inscription, penned by the man buried there shortly before he passed away: "John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and Libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Faith he had long labored to destroy."
John Newton, of course, was one of the great evangelical preachers of the 18th Century and a man who composed literally 100's of hymns, perhaps the most famous and dearly loved being "AMAZING GRACE"!