24 July

Born in 1860 – Alphonse Mucha, Czech artist.

Above: The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia, 1914

Also, born in 1725 – John Newton, English slave trader turned abolitionist and priest.

I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, "By the grace of God I am what I am."

Previously on July 24, Ermanno Olmi and Robert Graves.