Spirit, leave thine house of clay. J. Montgomery. [Death and Burial.] This, in its original form, is a poem in 14 stanzas of 4 lines. It was printed in Montgomery's Iris newspaper, July 14, 1803, and repeated in his Wanderer of Switzerland, and other Poems, in 1806, and again in his Poetical Works in 1828 and 1841. Its origin is explained in its title, which reads:—
”Verses to the Memory of the late Joseph Browne, of Lothersdale, one of the People called Quakers, Who suffered a long Confinement in the Castle of York, and Loss of all his worldly Property, for Conscience Sake."
To adapt the poem for congregational use stanzas i.-iv., xiii., and xiv., were slightly altered, and given in Collyer's Collection, 1812. This form was repeated in J. Conder's Congregational Hymn Book, 1836; the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853, and others, as "Spirit, leave thy house of clay."
-- 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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