and sixpence in his pocket, and seemingly without
any scheme except that of relieving himself from an irksome employment.
But an accidental circumstance speedily enabled him to obtain an
engagement with a shopkeeper in Wath, now a station on the railway
between London and Leeds; and in procuring this employment, he was
indebted to the recommendation of his former master, whose service he
had unceremoniously quitted. But this new situation had few advantages
over the old, and he relinquished it in about a year to try his fortune
in the metropolis. He had previously sent a manuscript volume of poetry
to Harrison, the bookseller of Paternoster Row, who, while declining to
publish it, commended the author's talents, and so far promoted his
views as now to receive him into his establishment. But Montgomery's
aspirations had no reference to serving behind a counter; he only
accepted a place in the bookseller's establishment that he might have an
opportunity of leisurely feeling his way as an author. His literary
efforts, however, still proved fruitless. He composed essays and tales,
and wrote a romance in the manner of Fielding, but none of his
productions could find a publisher. Mortified by his failures, he
quitted London in eight months, and returned to the shop of his former
employer at Wath. After the interval of another year, he proceeded to
Sheffield, to occupy a situation under Mr Joseph Gales, a bookseller,
and the proprietor of the _Register_ newspaper.

Montgomery was now in his twenty-first year, and fortune at length
began, though with many lowering intervals, to smile upon his youthful
aspirations. Though he occupied a subordinate post in Mr Gales'
establishment, his literary services were accepted for the _Register_,
in which he published many of his earlier compositions, both in prose
and verse. This journal had advocated sentiments of an ultra-liberal
order, and commanding a wide circulation and a powerful influence among
the operatives in Sheffield, had been narrowly inspected by the
authorities. At length the proprietor fell into the snare of
sympathising in the transactions of the French revolutionists; he was
prosecuted for sedition, and deemed himself only safe from compulsory
exile by a voluntary exit to America. This event took place about two
years after Montgomery's first connexion with Sheffield, and he had now
reverted to his former condition of abject dependence unless for a
fortunate occurrence.