The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-05-27
nea.h O. Montgomery the Poet.

Dea:h o. Montgomery the Poet.
Jams Non'eomrry, the poet. died at his
!.u.c. the Mount. Sheffield on the after
neon o, the Goth ult He presided at the
weekly hoard o. the inirmarv only two days
r-r,iou-'v. aul walked home. Nor" than
p.', afterwards. He was born Nov. lth.
III. at Irvine. Ayrshire. We cory the fol-
lovia- brief summary Of his biography from
tie London Iimc>:
WI e. ONLY twelve wears old, the bent OF
tlc bows mind was shown by III" production
ofyari,u, -mall locm>. These Indications
roq,I not save him at first from the fate OF
the poor and he was sent to earn his bread
A. ASSISTANT in General shop. lie thr>'"d
f,ro,her occupations. and one day set Of with
= 81 in his pocket to walk to London. to >cc|:
fame and fortune In hi, first effort he broke
down. and for while @avr up his plan to
take service in another situation. Only for
a time. however. was he content. and Sec
onl effort to reach The metropolis was success
ful. 50 far as bringing him To the spot he had
loncrl for. !ut unsuccessful in his main hope
that of finding publisher for a volume of
his verses. But the bookseller who refused
Mont-omcry'> poems accepted his labor and
made him his shopman. Fortune. however
a< Il generally does smiled at last on the zeal
Oh, Youth. and in ,92 he Gained post in
the establishment Of Mr. Gales. bookseller
Of Sheffield who had set up newspaper call
90! The Sheffield Hc.i>tcr.'' On this paper
Montgomery worked con 0more, and when
h> master had to iIv from England to avoid
inrri>ol mcnt 'or printing articles too liberal
.or the then dc>;otic Government Of England
the vouur poet became the editor and pub
l>hrr Of the paper. the name of which he
changed To "Shcllicll Iris
In the columns Of this print he advocated
political and religious freedom and such con-
duet secured iur hm the attentions ofthc At
torncv-Crnrrll. ly whom he was prosecuted,
fined and imprisoned in the first instance
for rcjrin,inw a song COMMUNICATING "Thc
Fall Of he Ha>'ilc: in the second case for
an account he gave of a riot at Shciicll- -
Confinement could not crush his love Of po-
ltical Justice, and on his second release ht
as before. in his paper and in his books |,
the lengthy periods between those times am
the present the belief, which James Mont
gomcry early pioneered in England have oh
taincl General recognition. and as men be
came more and more liberal, our poet rainc'
more and more esteem lie contributed t
ma -azin"s aad despite adverse criticism. il
The Elinlur.h Review, established his RICH
to rank as a poet In 1896 lie pub.i,he'
Hri>on tmu>cmcn:s:" in lS0J thc'Ocean:
N l>of, the Wanicrcr in Switzerland" i
,12. The West Indies = and in 1872. "Th
World before the Flood" Bv these work
lie obtained The clict reputation which he ha
>.ncc cniovcl. In ISL? appeared "Grccn
larl." a poem in five cantoS: and in lS2>
.1L. p..i;.or o,ho p." !,
IS5I. H.. vLo,. oth;. r~orl.. wow, ;.a1 :;
one ,o'rn,. svo ,rl of wb;,h two oE.:o,
are in circulation: and in 1874 .Or;.;ra
HvmS, for Public and Social Devo.ion Thi
venerable poet enioyca a wcll-dcscrved lite
rary pension OF tljD a year.
r,,
ber o; buii..lo,~ anuuauv >l,uyh,.r.a on y.