services in behalf of
literature and of philanthropy; a well-merited public boon which for
many years he was spared to enjoy. He died at his residence, The Mount,
Sheffield, on the 30th of April 1854, in the eighty-second year of his
age. He bequeathed handsome legacies to various public charities. His
Poetical Works, in a collected form, were published in 1850 by the
Messrs Longman, in one octavo volume; and in 1853 he gave to the world
his last work, being "Original Hymns, for Public, Private, and Social
Devotion." Copious memoirs of his life are now in the course of
publication.

As a poet, Montgomery is conspicuous for the smoothness of his
versification, and for the fervent piety pervading all his compositions.
As a man, he was gentle and conciliatory, and was remarkable as a
generous promoter of benevolent institutions. The general tendency of
his poems was thus indicated by himself, in the course of an address
which he made at a public dinner, given him at Sheffield, in November
1825, immediately after the toast of his health being proposed by the
chairman, Lord Viscount Milton, now Earl Fitzwilliam:--

"I sang of war--but it was the war of freedom, in which death was
preferred to chains. I sang the abolition of the slave trade, that
most glorious decree of the British Legislature at any period since
the Revolution, by the first Parliament in which you, my Lord, sat
as the representative of Yorkshire. Oh, how should I rejoice to
sing the abolition of slavery itself by some Parliament of which
your Lordship shall yet be a member! This greater act of righteous
legislation is surely not too remote to be expected even in our own
day. Renouncing the slave trade was only 'ceasing to do evil;'
extinguishing slavery will be 'learning to do well.' Again, I sang
of love--the love of country, the love of my own country; for,

'Next to heaven above,
Land of my fathers! thee I love;
And, rail thy slanderers as they will,
With all thy faults I love thee still.'

I sang, likewise, the love of home--its charities, endearments and
relationships--all that makes 'Home sweet Home,' the recollection
of which, when the air of that name was just now played from yonder
gallery, warmed every heart throughout this room into quicker
pulsations. I sang the love which man ought to bear towards his
brother, of every k