John Newton is often called the writer of Amazing Grace. Newton was at all times astounded by the grace he received. Towards the tip of his life he said “Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly; I’m an ideal sinner and Christ is an ideal Savior.”
The dearest love in the center of Newton was the Lord Jesus. But there was one other great love that Newton sometimes feared was a rival to his affection for Christ. That rival was his sweet Polly—also often called Mary Catlett and the would-be wife of John Newton. This is their love story.
Love At First Sight?
It is somewhat doubtful that John Newton and Mary (Polly) Catlett had feelings of affection at first sight. Rather, it’s much more likely that they were fighting over a beloved toy. Elizabeth Newton and Elizabeth Catlett, best friends, had joked that perhaps the then 6-year-old John might Mary the then 3-year-old Polly. Yet even the faintest hopes of their union would appear to have been an impossibility when John’s mother died a yr later, and young John was sent off to boarding school.
It could be almost a decade later that the 2 would “meet.” And on this occasion, a minimum of for John, it was love at first sight. As one biographer wrote: “Almost at first sight of this girl, then under fourteen years of age, he was impressed with such an affection for her as appears to have equaled all that the writers of romance have imagined.”[1]
Just as Gilligan’s “three hour tour” was three seasons of television, so also did the smitten Newton’s quick visit turn right into a three week stay. Though he was so overtaken by Polly that he mentally replanned his entire life, the young girl was unable to return those affections. And Newton was compelled to serve within the British Navy.
It could be 4 years that John was away at sea. Though he kept his love for Polly alive, those 4 years had hardened and shaped Newton right into a rebellious and vulgar sailor. Though he would now reject any notion of God, he still had a heart for this young lady who captivated him years prior. As Newton would tell it:
“I soon lost,” says he, “all sense of faith and have become deaf to the remonstrances of conscience and prudence: but my regard for her was at all times the identical, and I’ll, perhaps, enterprise to say, that not one of the scenes of misery and wickedness I afterward experienced ever banished her a single hour together from my waking thoughts for the seven following years.”[2]
But soon, his affections could be transformed by one other.
Newton’s Fateful Voyage
While on a slave trading voyage, Newton the sailor was caught in a violent storm. And it was here that for the primary time in a few years Newton prayed. He was not entirely modified at this point, but it surely began the primary seeds of a deep heart change Newton would experience.
John, who had been corresponding through Polly’s aunt, met some great disappointment. He believed himself unworthy of Polly and decided to interrupt it off. Finances were also a difficulty. He knew he couldn’t provide the financial stability that the Catlett’s would want to see with the intention to entrust their beloved Mary to him. His sensibilities, having been somewhat reformed by this storm and now meeting this recent discouragement, John decided to finish the romance.
Unbeknownst to him, though, his father and the Catlett family had already arranged an engagement between the 2. There was just one sticking point—Polly. What would she consider this arrangement? Newton was unsure and infrequently found himself tongue-tied round her. He wrote her by letter to see if she felt the identical about him. When she responded, though cautiously, that she shared a minimum of some affection, John was over the moon.
Newton continued his time on a slave ship, hoping to earn a solid living so he could propose marriage. It is difficult to say whether Newton had been actually converted at this point. He doesn’t develop evangelical views until a couple of years later. But by 1753, we all know that his heart was indeed captured by one other—the Lord Jesus. He wrote to his, now wife Polly, “I want to limit my passion inside those bounds which God has appointed.”
A Happy Marriage
On February 1, 1750, John Newton and Mary (Polly) Catlett were united in marriage. They would remain together until 1790, when Polly died of breast cancer. Their affections for each other were deep. In 1793, to honor her, John published two volumes of letters that he had sent to Mary throughout their marriage.
They understood that their marriage was a present from God. Newton once wrote to his wife:
For, after I take up my pen, and start to contemplate what I shall say, I’m led to consider the goodness of God, who has made you mine, and given me a heart to value you. Thus my like to you, and my gratitude to him, can’t be separated. And, as you’re so good to prize my affection, by finding it thus accompanied, you could be assured of its being unalterable. All other love that will not be thus connected with a dependence upon God should be precarious. To this want I attribute many unhappy marriages. I feel many individuals fall from their hopes of satisfaction in that state, by degrees insensible to themselves; and a secret change, or alienation of mind from one another takes place before they’re well aware of it; till, in time, they proceed to such lengths as they might once have judged inconceivable.[3]
Newton believed that their blissful marriage was a direct results of their love for Christ. It became the immovable foundation for his or her love for each other. This love continued through all of their years. Newton wrote in 1770: “I can remember when the sun appeared to shine in vain, and the entire creation appeared as a blank for those who were from me. Not that I like you less. The intercourse of many successive years has endeared you increasingly more to my heart.”[4]
This love endured through a few years of ministry. In 1764, John Newton became rector of the Church at Olney. It was during this time that he developed a friendship with William Cowper. Cowper was often depressed and suicidal and would require almost constant supervision by the Newtons. During this time as pastor of Olney, Newton’s fame grew as his Authentic Narrative was published.
He kept this post in Olney until 1779, when the couple moved to London. This provided much more luxury and luxury but even perhaps more busyness. From Olney and throughout his ministry in London, John was very busy, and this could have likely added some strain to their message—but their dedication to at least one one other and the explanation for Christ sustained them. Newton didn’t take the trail of many fellow ministers throughout the time, who appeared to have all but abandoned their families. Newton remained dedicated to Polly.
They also endured much familial heartbreak. Mary was often gone caring for her ailing parents and siblings. Also, though the couple never had their very own children, they did adopt two of their nieces, Betsy Catlett and Eliza Cunningham. In 1774, they took in Betsy, who would outlive each the Newtons. Eliza got here to the Newton’s when she was gravely in poor health on the age of 12. They took her in as her own until she sadly died in 1785.
It could be five years later that Polly would succumb to breast cancer. Upon her death, Newton wrote:
When I used to be sure she was gone, I took off her ring, in accordance with her repeated injunction, and put it upon my very own finger. I then kneeled down, with the servants who were within the room, and returned the Lord my unfeigned thanks for her deliverance and her peaceful dismission.
How wonderful should be the moment after death! What a transition did she then experience! She was immediately free of sin, and all its attendant sorrows, and, I trust, immediately admitted to hitch the heavenly choir. That moment was remarkable to me, likewise. It faraway from me the chief object which made one other day or hour of life, as to my very own personal concern, desirable. At the identical time, it set me free from a weight of painful feelings and anxieties, under which nothing wanting a divine power could have so long supported me.[5]
Newton was definitely grief-stricken, but it surely didn’t impact his ministry. He continued on in all of his ministry the subsequent day. He even preached at Polly’s funeral. Many critiqued him for this, but his resolve here was connected to the whole pattern of their marriage. He loved Polly deeply. But he also understood that she was a present to him from God. He held her in proper place and so he was capable of hold her well.
Their love story is a phenomenal reminder of the depth of Christian love. But it’s also an image of Christ’s love for the church. It motivates us to like others deeply but to maintain our affections proper so we will love people well. This sort of love flows from Christ.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/carton_king
[1] John Newton, Richard Cecil, The Works of the John Newton, vol. 1 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 6.
[2] John Newton, Richard Cecil, The Works of the John Newton, vol. 1 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 6.
[3] John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 5 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 394–395.
[4] John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 5 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 564.
[5] John Newton and Richard Cecil, The Works of John Newton, vol. 5 (London: Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1824), 621.
Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He can also be the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the writer of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing house is http://mikeleake.net and you’ll be able to connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a recent writing project at Proverbs4Today.
