There is a calm for those who weep. J. Montgomery. [Death and Burial.] This is the opening of Montgomery's poem “The Grave," which first appeared in his Sheffield Newspaper, the Iris, June 20, 1805, in 30 stanzas of 4 lines, and signed a ”Aleaeus:" again in his Wanderer of Switzerland and Other Poems, 1806; and again in various editions of his Poetical Works. In the 1854 ed. of his Poetical Works Montgomery has dated it 1804. Various centos from this poem are in common use as hymns, and all but one begin with stanza i. In Martineau's Hymns, &c, 1840, No. 365 is composed of stanzas i., ii., xvi., xix., xxv., xxvii. slightly altered; and No. 366 of stanzas xxviii.-xxx. It must be noted that stanza xxviii. is a repetition of stanza i. with the third line rewritten. The centos in American hymnbooks differ from these, and from each other.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >
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