Mrs. Barbauld

Barbauld, Anna Laetitia, née Aikin, daughter of the Rev. John Ailrin, D.D., a dissenting minister, was b. at Kibworth-Harcourt, Leicestershire, June 20, 1743. In 1753 Dr. Aikin became classical tutor at a dissenting academy at Warrington. During her residence there she contributed five hymns to Dr. W. Enfield's Hymns for Public Worship, &c, Warrington, 1772. In the following year these were included in her Poems, Lond., J. Johnson, 1773. In May, 1774, Miss Aikin was married to the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld, a descendant of a French Protestant family, and a dissenting minister. For some years Mr. Barbauld conducted, in addition to his pastoral work, a boarding school at Palgrave, Suffolk. From this he retired in 1785. In 1786 he undertook the charge of a small congregation at Hampstead, and from thence he passed to the dissenting chapel (formerly Dr. Price's) at Newington Green, in 1802. He d. Nov. 11, 1808. Mrs. Barbauld continued to reside in the neighbourhood until her death, March 9, 1825. In the latter part of the same year her niece published The Works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, with Memoir, by Lucy Aikin, 2 vols., Lond., Longman, 1825. As a writer of hymns Mrs. Barbauld was eminently successful. Their use, however, with the exception of five contributed to Dr. W. Enfield's collection, is almost exclusively confined to the Unitarian hymnals of Great Britain and America. Including these hymnals, the whole of her hymns are still in common use. These hymns appeared thus:—

i. In Dr. W. Enfield's Hymns, &c., 1772.
1. Again the Lord of life and light. Easter.
2. Awake, my soul, lift up thine eyes. Conflict.
3. Behold, where breathing love divine. Christian Charity.
4. Jehovah reigns, let every nation hear. God's Dominion. A part of this was given in Collyer's Sel., 1812, No. 586, as:—
5. This earthly globe, the creature of a day.
6. Praise to God, Immortal praise. Harvest.

ii. Poems, 1773 (Preface dated Dec. 1, 1772). The whole of the above, and also:—

7. God of my life and author of my days. To God the Father. This is an “Address to the Deity," in 80 1. It is given in Martineau's Collection, 1840 and 1873. From it the following centos were given in Collyer's Selection> 1812:—
8. God, our kind Master, merciful as just.
9. If friendless in the vale of tears I stray.

iii. Poems revised 1792.

10. Come, said [says] Jesus' sacred voice. Invitation.
11. How blest the sacred tie that binds. Christian Fellowship.
12. Lo where a crowd of pilgrims toil. Pilgrimage of Life. From this is taken:—
13. Our country is Immanuel's ground [land].

iv. Leisure Hour Improved (Ironbridge), 1809.

14. Sweet is the scene when virtue dies. Death.

v. Supplement to the Unitarian Coll. of Kippis, Bees, and others, 1807.

15. When as returns the solemn day. Sunday.
16. Sleep, sleep to day, tormenting cares. Sunday.
17. How may earth and heaven unite. Worship.

vi. Works, with Memoir, 1825.
In vol. i. most of the above are reprinted, and the following are added :—

18. Joy to the followers of the Lord. Joy. (c. 1820.)
19. Pure spirit, O where art thou now. Bereavement. This is dated 1808.
20. Salt of the earth, ye virtuous few. Salt of the Earth.
21. When life as opening buds is sweet. Death. This is dated " November, 1814."

The more important of these hymns are annotated in this Dictionary under their first lines. Mrs. Barbauld's Hymns in Prose for Children, originally published in 1781, were long popular and have been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, and other languages.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Barbauld, Anna L., p. 113, ii. No. 18 on p. 114, i.,should be dated circa 1820. Another hymn in common use from Mrs. Barbauld's Works, &c, 1825, is, "O Father! though the anxious fear" (E. Taylor, p. 1117, in error).

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

See also in:

• Hymn Writers of the Church