m 



s; vi .'-. : \ 



MONTGOMERY, ROBERT. 



31C 



new weekly par**, on "peace and reform" pilr.rii l.a. Tho flnt 

 nubrr of TneSheraeld Iris,' appeared on Jolt 4, IT'.'I, which he 

 COBttnoed to edit till Beptembir 27. 1S25, and It maintained iU 



>ce. with frw tbanges, till January 18i7. Tho 'Iris' ws* at 

 8rt r7 meeieeful, l.ut it was slnguUr portion for M.-i.tjomrry to 

 fill, with hi. rorlue habits, kit mil.) and almost timid feeling*, bit 

 dfelike to tbe practical detail* of lmsrnst,*nd bit poetical nod refined 

 tartr. M* evidently frit It to be so. "I lute pottfe** be mid, 

 M end would li toco tnrtt a l-ear u a ledger." Almost immedlat ly 

 after t*artinr the newp*| er. poor man employed him to print a few 

 qoim of a lallsd. for which he waa charged eighteen pence. It wiu 



On the Fall of the Batil ,' as mere dofrgrvl u can be well conceived : 

 bat the attorney g u. ml, Sir Jnhn Scott, aft. rwarda Lord Kldon, dis- 

 covered it to be seditious, indicted the | rinU-r, and in January 1 7 .'.' 

 a* was tri.d at Doncaater, found milt j, fined twenty pound*, and 

 till i nl to throe moQtht' imprisonment H.- gave an account 

 in 1m newspaper of a riot in >bcll:cld, to quell which the military 

 had been called in and bad flrad on the people ; for this, in 1798, he wal 

 again tried, again found guilty of (edition, fined thirty pounds, and 

 leiiteiinil to tiz months imprisonment During hit confinement, 

 which wat in York Cast!--, be wrote a small volume of poems, entitled 



1 Pri-on AmuM-menta,' which was publiahed in 1797. After hisrd a , 

 from prison bit life flowed smoothly to its end. Hi* honest sincerity, 

 hit gentle mann< ra, and perhaps hi* increasing literary celebrity, won 

 him the regard of even hit political opponent', and tecured him the 

 esteem and love of the rett of his townsmen. He continued to write 

 abort poems, several of which rro very pleasing; and in 1300 he 

 published 'The Wmdcrer in Switzerland' a work of which he 

 thought to little himaelf, that lie occupied three years in printing it 

 at hia own prtu, but winch obtained to great a popularity, that n 

 itr noil and third edition were quickly demando I. His own e-timate 

 waa probably juster than that of tho public, and the ' Edinburgh 

 Retiew,' in noticing the tl ird edition, characterised it at "very 

 weakly, very finical, and very affected" This censure it overcharged ; 

 the poem hat not niuch power, l.nt it cannot justly be styled affected, 

 and it it very tueloiimis. In 1M)9 'The West Indies' was published 

 a great advance ou the former containing some exquisite dosciip- 

 tive passages, and others of considerable power and pathos. In 1812 

 appeared The World before the Flood,' a work which enjoyed a 

 great and deterred popularity ; and in 1S1C, having by this tir..r 

 rejoined the Moravian comiunnity, ho wrote ' Greenland,' commemo- 

 rating their exertions in th.it desolate establishment, which contained 

 much of beaoty and of pathos. In 1827 ' The Pelican Island and 

 other Poems ' was published, which fully maintained his poetic 

 character. In 1 S SS a collected edition of bi put-ma wat istin -d in 

 three vnlumet ; another iu four volume* in 1849; and another in one 

 volume in 1851. In 1853 'Original Hymns, for Public, Private, and 

 Social Devotion,' concluded the aeries of hit poetical works. Of the 

 tnuJler jot ms contained in the collected work", many are of great 

 xoll- 1 <e His restricted education, and his early habit of writing 

 had given him a dangerous fluency ; and the ideas, though frequently 

 original, an- generally too much expanded: his imagination seldom 

 soars, nor does his fancy sparkle ; but hit sympathies with all that it 

 good and holy are ever ard- nt and sincere ; bis pathos it touching, 

 and his style melodious, though in hit louder poemt occasionally too 

 ambitions and magniloquent Such faults as they have are least l.k- ly 

 to occur in hit shorter poems ; and In some of them, at ' The Com- 

 mon Lot,' and ' The Prayer,' they entirely disappear. 



W have pur-urd Mr. Montgomery's poetical career to the cud iu 

 order to give a collected view of it. We now return to the few 

 remaining event* of hit life. Hit publication of 'The Wanderer in 

 Switzerland' tod to an engagement on the ' Kelt-die U. view.' He had 

 few qualities for an ablu critic indeed none but a poetical taste and 

 food principle*. His praise or blame depended mom upon his : 

 lLan hie judgment of the character of the work or iu literary attri 

 bate* ; eonteqaeotljr one of his earliest reviews was an onslaught on 

 Moore'* arfy poems, whom be termed in a private letter " a d. liberate 

 seducer." This fueling led him later m life to decline being introduced 

 to Moore, who sought hi. acquaintance. In 1825, at we have said, he 

 resigned the editonbip of the ' Iris,' on which occasion a public .linucr 

 was |iven to him by the inhabitants of Sheffield, and funds were sub- 

 scribed to establish a i:,is.ion ttion in To > ago, where hi* peitiiU 

 bail died, which has been named Montgomi-ry. When released from 

 hia constantly-required attention to the newspaper, he took a lively 

 Interest in municipal affairs, and was a frequent tp< aker ut n-ligiout 

 meeting*. In tbe spring of 1030 be delivered a courte of lectures at 

 UM H..V.I In.titution on the History of English Literature,' a subject 

 a* which he was not well qualified to speak, and which therefore fell 

 somewhat dull and flat. Later In the year be published 'A History 

 of Misaionary Enterprise In tbe South Sea*,' for which he wat better 

 suited. >ad which is u intere-tln; and valuable work. In 1885 he 

 etereetiy declined tbe office of IWottor of Uhetoric in tbe University 

 of Kdmbnrgh ; and in the nine year a pension of 160f. was bestowed 

 em him by toe Queen, through Sir Robert Peel. In 186, after having 

 hved fort, year, in UM house occupied by hit old employer. Gales, 

 with three of Oaks', daughter., who kept the bookseller's shop, on 

 ttM death of one of them be removed, with the remaining two, to a 

 loonvetiontresidenoo; and in the ..me yor be delivered a course 



of lecture* ' On the British Poets ' at Neweastle-on-Tyne, and for some 

 year* added to hi* Income by delivering similar course* at other places. 

 In 1841 be visited Scotland on a missionary tour. He was received 

 everywhere with great distinction, particularly in his native town of 

 Irvine, where he had a public reception, and was made a burgess. la 

 184S be visited Ireland on a similar errand, aaw hi* old abode at 

 Grace Hill, and while occupied in these religion* labours often lamented 

 hi* not having become a Moravian minister. In 1852 be delivered a 

 lecture ' On some Passage* of Knglish Poetry but little known,' but 

 wat ID feeble at greatly to excite the compassion of hi* audience. On 

 April So, 1854, he died ; and on tbe day of hi* burial the shops and 

 manufactories of Sheffield were all closed, many members of the 

 municipality attending tbe funeral, as did also tbe vicar of Sheffield 

 and twenty-four clergymen. By his will he left BOO/, to be distributed 

 to various charities. His memoirs have been published in seven octavo 

 volumes by John Holland and James Kverett, to which we have been 

 indebted for most of the facts in this notice. 



HioMKUY, HoIiKKT, was born at Bath in 1807. Of his 

 boyih year* we know nothing, but he appeared before the world a* 

 an author at an early age, conducting in bis native city a weekly 

 publication called ' The Innpector,' which had but a short existence. 

 His next publication was ' The Stage-Coach,' dated 1 "-7 in hi* e 

 works; and in the same year he issued 'The Age Iteviewei : a Satire,' 

 an octavo volume, the poem being very fully illustrated with notes. 

 Tho work was very decidedly directed against irreligion and scepticism, 

 ninl this has formed the key-note of all his subsequent poemt. In 

 1828, though stated to have been written two years earlier, be pub- 

 lished ' The Omnipresence of the Deity;' it became astonishingly 

 popular, and cigbt edition* are said to have been sold in aa many 

 month.". In tbe same year appeared another volume, ' A. Universal 

 Prayer; Death ; a Vision of Heaven ; and a Vision of Hell;' a second 

 edition of which appeared in 1829, dedicated to Sharon Tunn-r. 

 ' Satan ' quickly followed. All were successful ; mid encouraged by 

 this success, ami tbe advice and assistance of Mr. S. Turner and thu 

 Rov. W. L. Bowles, he entered himxtlf in 1830 at Lincoln College, 

 Oxford, with the intention of devoting himself to the Church. Ho 

 graduate*! li.A. in 1S38, passing in the fourth cluts, and MA. iu 1838. 

 His residence at the university provided him with a new subject for 

 his prolilic muse, and in 1831 he produced a pocui, with historical 

 notes and engraved embellishments, under the title of ' Oxford,' which, 

 though extremely laudatory, created more ridicule than applause 

 among the members of tho university. In 1832 he published ' The 

 Messiah, a Poem, in Six Books,' which was dedicated 1 1 Queen 

 Adelaide; and in 1833 'Woman, tbe Angel of Life.' In 1835 Mr. 

 Montgomery wat ordained, and for a time his ministerial labour* seem 

 to have nearly superseded his poetio efforts, a small volume on tbe 

 local associations and scenery around hi* fiivt curacy, Whif.ingUm in 

 Shropshire, being the only exception until 1S42. He quitted Whit- 

 tiugtou in May 1,^36, and became minister of Percy-' i 

 London ; whence be removed, about the begiuuin,- of 1 

 Jude's episcopal chapel inUlasgow. Here he continued until December 

 1842, drawing large audiences; but his preaching excited so much 

 controversy and bitterness of spirit that he resigned the iucuui 

 and returned to London, where he immediately published ' Luttier, 

 or the Spirit of the Reformation.' In October 1843 he reaum 

 ministry at I'ercy-street Chapel, where he continued till his death. 

 He now bfgan the publication of a number of prose theological works, 

 the issue of which was continued till 1854. Neither was ; 

 altogether neglected. Besides some smaller things, he wrote i: 

 a series of 'Meditations' upon engraved Scripture subjects, published 

 by Ki>hcr; 'Sacred Meditations and Moral Themes,' 8vo, 147; ' Hie 

 Christian Life, a Manual of Sacred Vi-rse,' 12mo, 1849; ' 

 Cbriatinna Poems on Christianity and the Church,' 32mo, 1851; 

 'Lines ou Wellington,' and 'The Hero's Funeral,' 8vo, lsi'2; and 

 ' The Sanctuary, a Companion in Verse for the llook,' 



1856. On December 3 of this year he died at Brighton iu his forty- 

 ninth year, all his exertions in the cauao of religion having b.-cn 

 uurecoguiie.l by any preferment in the Church. 



That Montgomery'* poetical work* should have been so succnslul a* 

 they undoubtedly have been, has excited much surprise. As early a* 

 1880 Mr. Macaulay, in noticing a thirl edition of ' The Omuipi- 

 of the Deity' in the 'ICdiuburgh Review,' ascrib-'d it to unblushing 

 pull. r> . '1 hut bis works have been most inordinately puffed is certainly 

 true ; but no amount of puffery would have carried a poem through 

 twenty-six editions (which the ' Omnipres- ncu ' has reached), without 

 lonio other qualities. These we think n ay bo found in the gravely- 

 important nature of the Rubjevla he has generally chosen, aud tho 

 class, a numerous one, which ho peculiarly addressed. This class, 

 rj. ctinj; poetry usually in secular or profane, were pleased with his 

 mediocrity ; they welcomed him on account of hi* theme" ; ho w;>s 

 earnest aud sincere; and, prejudiced in his favour, to them his tin 

 appeared eloquence, his obscurity assimilated to tho uiy 



kept him clear from points of doctrinal difference, hia 

 poetical adornments, though often (elected without tante and c,it!ered 

 without fitne**, kept attention alive; and a* iu so voluminous a writes 

 it would bo scarcely possible not to find some passages containing 

 good thoughts happily expressed, these were produced as answer* to 

 objecting critic*. A* a preacher he drew large audiences, and his 



