The God of nature and of grace. J. Montgomery. [Glory of God in Creation.] Published in his Greenland and other Poems, 1819, p. 174, in 10 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "The Visible Creation." It was repeated the same year in Cotterill's Selection, No. 331, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines; again in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 520, also in 8 stanzas of 4 lines (slightly altered); and again, in the same form, in his Original Hymns, 1853. In Kennedy, 1863, No. 338, stanza i., and stanza ii. 11.1-4, are from this hymn—the rest of the cento being by Dr. Kennedy. The cento begins with the same first line as above. In addition there are in common use two centos from the original: (1) "Behold this fair and fertile globe"(stanza ii.), and (2) "How excellent, O Lord, Thy Name."
-- 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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