Born: No­vem­ber 4, 1771, Ir­vine, Ayr­shire, Scot­land.

Died: Ap­ril 30, 1854, Mount, Shef­field, Eng­land.

Buried: Shef­field, Eng­land. In his mem­o­ry, a sta­tue was erect­ed in the Shef­field cem­e­tery, a stained glass win­dow was in­stalled in the par­ish church, and a pub­lic hall was named af­ter him.

Pseudonym: Alæus.

When Montgomery was five years old, his fam­i­ly moved to the Mo­rav­i­an set­tle­ment at Grace­hill, near Bal­ly­mena, Coun­ty An­trim. Two years lat­er, he was sent to the Ful­neck Sem­in­ary in York­shire. He left Ful­neck in 1787 to work in a shop in Mir­field, near Wake­field. Soon tir­ing of that, he se­cured a sim­i­lar po­si­tion at Wath, near Rother­ham, on­ly to find it as un­suit­a­ble as his pre­vi­ous job. A trip to Lon­don, hop­ing to find a pub­lish­er for his youth­ful po­ems, end­ed in fail­ure. In 1792, he glad­ly left Wath for Shef­field to be as­sist­ant to Mr. Gales, auc­tion­eer, book­sel­ler, and print­er of the Shef­field Reg­is­ter. In 1794, Gales left Eng­land to avoid po­lit­ic­al pro­se­cu­tion. Mont­gom­ery took the Shef­field Reg­is­ter in hand, changed its name to the Shef­field Iris, and con­tin­ued to ed­it it for 32 years. Dur­ing the next two years he was im­pris­oned twice, first for re­print­ing a song in com­mem­or­a­tion of the fall of the Bas­tille, then for giv­ing an ac­count of a ri­ot in Shef­field.

The ed­it­ing of his pa­per, the com­po­si­tion and pub­li­ca­tion of his po­ems and hymns, the de­liv­ery of lec­tures on po­e­try in Shef­field and at the Roy­al In­sti­tu­tion, Lon­don, and the ad­vo­ca­cy of for­eign mis­sions and the Bi­ble So­ci­e­ty, gave great va­ri­e­ty, but very lit­tle of stir­ring in­ci­dent in his life, though he did find time to write 400 hymns. In 1833, Mont­gom­ery re­ceived a roy­al pen­sion of £200 per year. His works in­clude:

Sources

Lyrics

  1. According to Thy Gra­cious Word
  2. Angels from the Realm of Glo­ry
  3. Be Known to Us in Break­ing Bread
  4. Be Joy­ful in God
  5. Behold the Book Whose Leaves Dis­play
  6. Behold Yon Bright Ar­ray
  7. Bright and Joy­ful Is the Morn
  8. Call Je­ho­vah Thy Sal­va­tion
  9. Christian War­ri­or, See Him Stand, The
  10. Come, Let Us Sing the Song of Songs
  11. Come to Cal­va­ry’s Ho­ly Mount­ain
  12. Come Ye That Fear the Lord
  13. Daughter of Zi­on, from the Dust
  14. Days and Years of Time Are Fled, The
  15. Fall Down, Ye Na­tions, and Adore
  16. Food, Rai­ment, Dwell­ing, Health and Friends
  17. Forever with the Lord
  18. Friend Af­ter Friend De­parts
  19. Give Glo­ry to God in the High­est
  20. Glad Was My Heart to Hear
  21. Glorious Un­i­verse Around, The
  22. Glory to the Fa­ther Give
  23. Go to Dark Geth­sem­a­ne
  24. Go Where a Foot Hath Ne­ver Trod
  25. God Be Mer­ci­ful to Me
  26. God in the High and Ho­ly Place
  27. God Is My Strong Sal­va­tion
  28. God Is Our Re­fuge and De­fense
  29. God of Na­ture and of Grace, The
  30. Green Pas­tures and Clear Streams
  31. Hail to the Lord’s Anoint­ed
  32. Hark! The Song of Ju­bi­lee
  33. Hasten, Lord, to My Re­lease
  34. Have Mercy on Me, O My God
  35. Hear Me, O Lord, in My Dis­tress
  36. Hearken, Lord, to My Com­plaints
  37. Heaven Is a Place of Rest from Sin
  38. Heralds of Cre­a­tion Cry
  39. Ho­ly, Ho­ly, Ho­ly Lord God of Hosts
  40. Home, Kin­dred, Friends, and Coun­try, These
  41. Hosanna! Be the Child­ren’s Song
  42. How Beau­ti­ful the Sight
  43. How Pre­cious Are Thy Thoughts of Peace
  44. I Cried un­to the Lord Most Just
  45. I Love the Lord, He Lent an Ear
  46. In the Hour of Tr­ial
  47. In Time of Tri­bu­la­tion
  48. Jehovah Is Great, and Great His Praise
  49. Jesus, Our Best Beloved Friend
  50. Judge Me, O Lord, in Right­eous­ness
  51. Less Than the Least of All
  52. Let Me Go, the Day Is Break­ing
  53. Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass
  54. Lord, For­ev­er at Thy Side
  55. Lord God, the Ho­ly Ghost
  56. Lord Is King; up­on His Throne, The
  57. Lord Is My Shep­herd, The
  58. Lord, Let Me Know Mine End
  59. Lord, Let My Pray­er Like In­cense Rise
  60. Lord, Pour Thy Spir­it from on High
  61. Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright
  62. Not Here, as to the Pro­phet’s Eye
  63. Not in Je­ru­sa­lem Alone
  64. Not to the Mount That Burned with Fire
  65. O Bless the Lord, My Soul
  66. O God, Thou Art My God Alone
  67. O Lord, Our King, How Ex­cel­lent
  68. O My Soul, with All Thy Pow­ers
  69. O Spir­it of the Liv­ing God
  70. O Where Shall Rest Be Found?
  71. Of Old, O God, Thine Own Right Hand
  72. On the First Christ­ian Sab­bath Eve
  73. One Pray­er I Have
  74. One Thing with All My Soul’s De­sire
  75. Our Hea­ven­ly Fa­ther, Hear
  76. Out of the Depths of Woe
  77. Palms of Glo­ry
  78. People of the Liv­ing God
  79. Poor Way­far­ing Man of Grief, A
  80. Pour Out Thy Spir­it from on High
  81. Praise the Lord Through Ev­ery Na­tion
  82. Pray­er Is the Soul’s Sin­cere De­sire
  83. Pure and Peace­ful Mind, The
  84. Return, My Soul, un­to Thy Rest
  85. Searcher of Hearts, to Thee Are Known
  86. Servant of God, Well Done!
  87. Servants of God, in Joy­ful Lays
  88. Sing We the Song
  89. Songs of Praise the An­gels Sang
  90. Sow in the Morn Thy Seed
  91. Spirit of Pow­er and Might, Be­hold
  92. Stand Up and Bless the Lord
  93. Tempter to My Soul Hath Said, The
  94. Thank and Praise Je­ho­vah’s Name
  95. Thee Will I Praise, O Lord in Light
  96. There Is a Calm for Those Who Weep
  97. This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made
  98. This Stone to Thee in Faith We Lay
  99. Thrice Hap­py He Who Shuns the Way
  100. Thy Glo­ry, Lord, the Hea­vens De­clare
  101. Thy Law Is Per­fect, Lord of Light
  102. Thy Word, Al­mighty Lord
  103. To Thy Tem­ple I Re­pair
  104. We Bid Thee Wel­come in the Name
  105. What Are These in Bright Ar­ray?
  106. What Is the Thing of Great­est Price?
  107. What Sec­ret Hand at Morn­ing Light
  108. When Je­sus Left His Fa­ther’s Throne
  109. When on Si­nai’s Top I See
  110. Where Are the Dead?
  111. While Through This Chang­ing World We Roam
  112. Who Make the Lord of Hosts Their Tow­er
  113. Within These Walls Be Peace
  114. World in Con­dem­na­tion Lay, The
  115. Yes, I Will Ex­tol Thee