My ancestor Charles Stearns, a had some rough things to say about John Newton, the writer of Amazing Grace!

Charles would later survive an attack by Quantrill's raiders on Lawrence, KS where over a 100 men were murdered for just residing in a "Free State" town. Charles was a radical, a "liberal" who believed that slavery was a sin....

A "Christian Monitor" (circa 1850) article that Charles wrote spoke of apparently two-faced religious leaders that claimed piety while advancing slavery. (see page 353, ">excerpt follows)

John Newton, (the writer of Amazing Grace whom my relative so scathingly used as an example of false piety) had been an intimate aquaintance of William Wilberforce, the driving force for Britain's Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. Many abolitionists had used Newton as a whipping boy because of his early lack of condemnation of the slave trade!

My ancestor was one of them.... apparently John Newton did not go far enough for him!

Charles Stearns also co-wrote the account an Henry "Box" Brown, the slave who escaped his master in 1849 by shipping himself in a 3 ft. by 2 and 1/2ft. by 2 ft. box.

His original book was called:

"Narrative of Henry Box Brown, Who Escaped from Slavery, Enclosed in a Box 3 Feet Long and 2 Wide. Written from a Statement of Facts Made by Himself. With Remarks Upon the Remedy for Slavery"

No kidding! That was the title!

Find it here in it's entirety:

http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/boxbrown/menu.html


BTW, Charles Stearns history is mentioned in a new (2002) book about "Box" Brown, which deletes Charles' "rhetoric" and simplifies the account.

You can find the first few pages of the new "re-stated" book called "Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown" including part of my great great great grandpaw's history here: Henry Box Brown

I am greatly anticipating the DVD release of Amazing Grace soon!