Rev. Aikman

As an old man, Rev. Aikman, congregational minister in Edinburgh, explained the circumstances of his conversion to Christianity. He said:

"I was returning to Jamaica, where I was engaged upon one of the plantations, and wishing to take out some books for the use of the people there, amongst others I selected was Newton's Cardiphonia. Its title struck me, and I supposed it was a novel . . . Looking over the books on the voyage I took up this, and soon found it something very different from what I had thought; and that book was, in God's providence, the means of my conversion." Perhaps John Newton's greatest effect for the kingdom was his writings, that is, his books, letters, and hymns.