Memoir of JAMES MONTGOMERY, ESQ. (With a Portrait.) "There is a living spirit in the lyre, A breath of music and a soul of fire; JAMES MONTGOMERY, the gentleman whose [1828. taken, the author has recalled some of the tenderest recollections of his early life, and in the above lines his filial affection has inscribed a tribute to the memory of his parents more imperishable than a monument of sculptured marble, or a tablet of graven brass. He was next removed to the school connected with the Moravian establishment at Fulneck, near Leeds, in Yorkshire. At this seminary he remained ten years, during which period he commenced, and, to some considerable extent, pursued the study of the English, Latin, Greek, German, and French languages,-later in life, he studied, and made himself master of the Italian tongue,-from which, his works exhibit a few exquisite specimens of translations: he received likewise instruction in music and drawing. At this time, we believe, he manifested much of that gracious towardness of reli When about four years of age, Montgomery removed with his parents from the place of his nativity, to the Moravian settle-gious disposition, which encouraged in the ment at Grace-hill, in Ireland, the voyage to which place, and several of the incidents connected with it, he has been heard to say, he distinctly remembers. His father and mother were both members of the church of the United Brethren, or Moravians, and being mutually inspired with an ardent desire to carry the gospel to the heathen, according to the usages of this eminently missionary people, they were together consecrated to the work of the ministry, to which they had thus nobly devoted themselves. Committing, therefore, their three sons, of which the subject of this memoir was the eldest, to the care of the Brethren, the pious couple embarked for the West Indies, where they long, and not unsuccessfully, applied themselves to instruct the negroes in those glorious truths, the saving effects of which they had themselves experienced. They never returned to their native country; but expired in their mission work, and were interred respectively in the islands of Barbadoes and Tobago; there superiors of the establishment the fond but delusive hope, that they might, one day, see him exercising among them the functions of a Christian minister, with a strict reference to which his studies were conducted. Mortals, however, are extremely short-sighted; and whether we judge from the designs or the disappointments of good men, it is not always easy to say, whether the departure of a boy from the line of duty drawn by his guardian must needs be contrary to, any more than it is necessarily accordant with, the will of Providence. Whatever variety of opinions might be given on this delicate question, certain it is, that in this school those seeds of genius were either first sown or first sprung up, and those peculiar dispositions began to manifest themselves, which, while they were mediately the cause of inexpressible misery, have ultimately issued in all that constitutes the present exalted character of Montgomery. Of the very first accesses of his poetical feeling, it might be difficult to speak with accuracy in this place, even if we could challenge at once the memory of the bard, and the testimony of his preceptors. It will readily be conceived, that placed as he was, among a people almost proverbial for the sweetness and the frequency of their 2 U 683 Memoir of James Montgomery, Esq. devotional singing, that the hymns with which he was daily familiar, would furnish the earliest models for the efforts of his juvenile muse; and this is known to have been the fact. The poetical disposition, however originated, or first exercised, was presently excited to higher aims, by becoming acquainted with a well-known poem, of a very striking and original character, as will appear from the following passage, which, although afterwards (1794) published by the author in a fanciful paper, refers, we believe, to a real incident in his school-boy life: "At school," says the Enthusiast' for it is from a paper so entitled that this extract is taken" at school, even when I was driven like a coal-ass through the Latin and Greek grammars, I was distinguished for nothing but indolence and melancholy, brought upon me by a raging rhyming fever, with which, I was suddenly seized one fine summer's day, as I lay under an hedge listening to our master, whilst he read us some animated passages from Blair's poem on the Grave. My happier schoolfellows, born under milder planets, all fell asleep during the rehearsal; but I, who am always asleep when I ought to be waking, never dreamed of closing an eye, but eagerly caught the contagious malady, and from that ecstatic moment to the present, Heaven knows, I have never enjoyed one cheerful, one peaceful night." | He likewise at this period obtained a sight of several extracts from the standard British poets, especially a portion of the tragedy of "Hamlet," the striking peculiarities of which probably tended not a little to deepen and confirm the symptoms of that mental disorder, which, originating in the last mentioned incident, had turned his imagination entirely to poetry. Be this as it might, his whole manner became changed; he gave himself up to thoughtfulness and musing, and to an indulgence in those day-dreams which soon and certainly shewed to his worthy preceptors, how probably, and to what an extent, all their cherished anticipations of seeing him one day ascend their pulpit as a regularly ordained pastor, had been indulged in vain. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that although the good men of this institution lamented the sentimental turn of their interesting ward, the making of verses was not only not prohibited, but was actually countenanced, in the school; for it was the custom of the boys generally, on the birth-day of one of their schoolfellows, to present him with rhyming addresses, generally composed, of course, in a strain of juvenile 684 simplicity and piety. Montgomery was a zealous congratulator in this way; indeed before he was fourteen years of age, he had filled a manuscript volume with compositions on various subjects. Finding, therefore, that the mind of Montgomery had received an unconquerable bias towards a pursuit, which was at least incompatible with studies for the Christian ministry, and anxious to counteract it with some profitable occupation, the elders of the Moravian establishment, with a laudable solicitude for the welfare of the wayward boy, whom they could no longer manage, now placed him with a respectable member of their fraternity, in a small retail shop at Mirfield, a short distance from Fulneck. As his engagement with this mild master left much of the youth's time in his own hands, he had abundant opportunities of indulging in his favourite contemplations, with which there had now begun to mingle an anxious desire to see "The world, which yet by fame alone he knew;" and to seek therein that poetical distinction which his ardent and inexperienced mind represented as within his reach. As these vague visions of ambition could not be divulged to his master, he cherished them in secret, until they actually preyed upon his constitution. As he observed in a letter to a friend, I was like the "Spartan boy," who, having stolen a fox, hid him under his cloak, and rather than acknowledge the theft after having once denied it, actually suffered the animal to gnaw into his vitals; so the bard, unwilling to communicate the secret of his misery, suffered it to prey upon his spirits, and consume his health, until he could relieve himself in his own way. Without giving the least intimation of his designs to any one, and probably with very indistinct views of his own object, beyond what led him to take the great north road to London, he left his master's service and dwelling on the 19th of July, 1789, and with a little bundle under his arm, and three shillings and sixpence in his pocket, set out to seek his fortune in the world, of which, to use a remark once made by himself, he was nearly as ignorant as those gold fishes swimming about in that glass globe on the pedestal before us, are of what we are doing around them; and when I took the rash step of rushing into it (the world) I was nearly as little prepared for the business of general life, as they would be to take a part in our proceedings, if, in a fit of ambition, they were to leap out of their element upon this table." Missing his way at the outset of his jour. ney, the inexperienced lad travelled onwards, not knowing whither he went until nightfall, when, finding it expedient to seek lodgings somewhere, he turned into a small public-house at Wentworth, a village adjoing the princely seat of Earl Fitzwilliam. In these humble quarters he was noticed next day by a youth from the neighbouring village of Wath, who being about the same age as the runaway, soon obtained so much of his confidence as to learn, according to his own account, that he wanted a situation. The stranger proposed that Montgomery should accompany him to his father, who kept a small general shop at Wath, and who wanted a person to help him. The adventurer, whose finances already began to exhibit symptoms of exhaustion, being willing at least to halt at this stage of his journey until he could look about him, and take a surer aim at the metropolis, went with the young man to Wath, was received into the promised situation, and treated with every degree of kindness, and even affection, in the family of his employer. Knowing the anxiety which his sudden disappearance from Mirfield must needs occasion both to his good old master and the brethren generally, he immediately wrote to inform them of his present situation and safety. The venerable Moravian presently arrived at Wath, and had a most affecting interview with the stray disciple; to all his entreaties to return, however, the youth remained inexorably opposed, and the result of the meeting was a formal settlement of him in his new situation. During his residence at Wath, Montgomery still cherished and expanded the idea of poetical immortality, which had taken so thorough a possession of his mind. His situation affording him leisure, he kept adding to his stock of verses, the whole of which he shewed to the bookseller of a neighbouring village, whose shop he visited, and who having some dealings with Harrison, of Paternoster Row, was induced by the youthful bard to give him a letter of introduction to that gentleman, in the hope that he might be induced to print his poetry; or at least to take him under his protection, and assist him in any way most favourable to the interests of both. Thus furnished with credentials, he bade farewell to his friends, and again set out for the metropolis, accompanied with the regrets and good-wishes of all who had known him in Wath. In the month of August 1790, he reached London, and presently, with all the trepidation usually accompanying a young author from the country, presented himself to the publisher abovementioned, who, although he wisely dissuaded the poet from publication at that time, kindly encouraged him to go on, and generously taking him into his house, afforded him such employment as he could. In this situation Montgomery was first gratified with a sight of the literary character, in propria persona, by being present in his master's counting-house, with Mrs. Lennox, Mr. D'Israeli, and Dr. Mavor; the first, author of the "Female Quixote,' a work then well known; the second, at that time vainly seeking that reputation as a poet, which he has since so honourably attained in a very different line of literature; and the last, at present universally known by his various publications, and as the venerable rector of Woodstock. Finding, however, the blossoms of his hope, if not entirely blasted, at least not likely soon to produce fruit in London, he returned to Wath, and was again received with parental kindness into the family of his former master. Montgomery had not been in his old situation more than twelve months, when he accidentally learned that Mr. Gales, who then edited and published the "Sheffield Register," a newspaper of considerable reputation, was in want of a young man to assist him, in a way that appeared most congenial with the views of a young literary aspirant. Montgomery accordingly sought an interview, and effected an agreement with this individual, and once more, and for ever, bade adieu to the secluded village of Wath. He was received into the family of Mr. Gales, as he had been in every other, not only with respect, but even with affection; for his simple manners, ingenuous disposition, and poetical talents, always made him friends. Mr. Gales, who had been very respectably educated, was a man not only of a strong mind, but of a most sterling character, being at once inflexible in his sentiments, and uncompromising in his integrity: his wife was a woman possessing both accomplishments and literature. This was in 1792, a period, it will be recollected, when names the most elevated in rank, as well as in intellect, and when men, one another's equals in honour and honesty, held the most opposite political opinions. The spirit of the French Revolution, newly liberated from the mangled body of an ancient despotism, and deeply baptized with blood, stalked over Europe, justly producing consternation and dismay whereever it appeared. England was one of its favourite haunts. Sheffield, in common |