Friends of the poor, the young, the weak

Representative Text

Friends of the poor, the young, the weak,
Regard our humble train;
Compassion at your hands we seek;
Shall children plead in vain?

Were you not children once?--Renew
The time when young as we;
Think of the friends that nourish'd you,
And hearken to our plea.

Are there not feelings from above,
In every heart that reign?
The pulse, the voice, the look of love:--
Shall Nature plead in vain?

Have you no dear ones round your hearth,
As weak and young as we?
Think, if like ours had been their birth,
Could you resist the plea?

Have you not known a Saviour's grace,
For man's redemption slain?
Behold that Saviour in our place;--
Shall Jesus plead in vain?

No;--by His early griefs and tears,
When poor and young as we;
By all His woes in after years,
Accept your Saviour's plea.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

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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 >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Friends of the poor, the young, the weak
Author:	James Montgomery
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Friends of the poor, the young, the weak. J. Montgomery. Poor Children's Plea.] This hymn is intended to be sung by children in Orphan Homes and Institutions of a like kind, at their yearly and other gatherings. It is a plea for sympathy and material help. It appeared in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 424, and in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 312, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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