|
Short Name: |
Joel Barlow |
|
Full Name: |
Barlow, Joel, 1754-1812 |
|
Birth Year: |
1754 |
|
Death Year: |
1812 |
Barlow, Joel, born at Reading, Connecticut, 1755 [sic], graduated at Yale 1778, and died near Cracow, Poland, 1812, He was well known as an author and politician during and after the American Revolution. His publications include Hasty Pudding; Columbia, &c. In 1785, at the request of the (Congregational) General Association of Connecticut, he corrected and enlarged Dr. Watts's Psalms, supplying those omitted by Watts, and adapting the whole to American thought and circumstances. This work, published in 1786, went through various editions, and, although officially superseded by Dwight in 1800, it continued to be issued for many years after. Its title is somewhat curious as setting forth its design. It reads:— Psalms carefully suited to the Christian Worship in the United States of America, being Dr. Watts’ Imitation of the Psalms of David, as improved by Mr. Barlow. Of his renderings of the Psalms, there are still in common use:—
1. Awake, my soul, to sound His praise. Ps. cviii. This is No. 233 in Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, 1872, and other collections.
2. Lord,Thou hast scourged our guilty land. Ps. lx. Altered from Watts. Also in Hatfield's Church Hymn Book, No. 1312.
3. Our land, O Lord, with songs of praise. Ps. xxxi . In the Philadelphia Presbyterian Hymnal, 1874.
4. In Thee, great God, with songs of praise. National Hymn. This is No. 3 in a slightly different form. It is No. 962 in N. Adams's Church Pastorals, Boston, 1804. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.]
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Joel Barlow (March 24, 1754 – December 26, 1812) was an American poet, and diplomat, and politician. In politics, he supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. He worked as an agent for American speculator William Duer to set up the Scioto Company in Paris in 1788, and to sell worthless deeds to land in the Northwest Territory which it did not own. Scholars believe that he did not know the transactions were fraudulent. He stayed in Paris, becoming involved in the French Revolution. He was elected to the Assembly and given French citizenship in 1792.
Wikipedia Biography
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
