Wonderful Counsellor

Author: James Montgomery

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 >

Bright and joyful is the morn. J. Montgomery. [Christmas.] This popular hymn was contributed to the 8th edition of Cotterill's Selection, 1819, No. 213, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and repeated in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 489, and his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 17. Its use is somewhat extensive, both in Great Britain and America. The original text is usually given; but sometimes stanza iii., line 2, reads, “Christ, th’Incarnate Deity," for "The Incarnate Deity." It is sometimes dated 1825, in error.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)