"Tis hard to part when friends are dear; Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose thine own time; Say not-Good-night !—but in some brighter clime JOEL BARLOW. 1754-1812. THE Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Watts were reprinted in America as early as 1741. They were introduced gradually into the churches, and were extensively used at the period of "the Revolution." At the close of the war the altered political relations of the "States" necessitated a corresponding change in those portions of these lyrics which referred to British authority. By "The General Association of Connecticut," at their Annual Meeting in June, 1785, "it was thought expedient that a number of the Psalms in Doctor Watts' version, which are locally appropriated, should be altered and applied to the state of the Christian Church in general, and not to any particular country; and, finding some attempts had been made to alter and apply those Psalms to America, or particular parts of America, tending to destroy that uniformity in the use of Psalmody so desirable in religious assemblies, they appointed the Rev. Messrs. Timothy Pitkin, John Smally, and Theodore Hinsdale, a committee to confer with and apply to Mr. Joel Barlow, of Hartford, to make the proposed alterations." Mr. Barlow complied with the request, and the revised book appeared the next year (1786) with this title: "Doctor Watts's Imitation of the Psalms of David, Corrected and Enlarged, by Joel Barlow. To which is added A Collection of Hymns; The whole applied to the State of the Christian Church in General." In his Preface he says: "The author of these corrections has not only avoided all local applications, but has made some slighter corrections in point of elegance, where the rules of grammar, established since the time of Doctor Watts, have made it neces sary. The Psalms considerably altered are the 21st, 60th, 67th, 75th, 124th, 147th; those omitted by Doctor Watts are the 28th, 43d, 52d, 54th, 59th, 64th, 70th, 79th, 88th, 108th, 137th, 140th. The Hymns are selected chiefly from Doctor Watts; some are entirely new." The hymns are seventy in number; and with those that are not from his own pen, great liberties have been taken. Changes were made that gave great offence, and at length occasioned the later revision (1800) by Dr. Dwight, whose edition of Watts superseded Barlow's. As an illustration of the indignation felt and expressed at the liberties taken by Barlow, it is related, in Miss Caulkins' History of Norwich, Ct., that Oliver Arnold (a cousin of Benedict Arnold), being "in a bookseller's shop in New Haven,” Ct., "was introduced to Joel Barlow," who presently "asked for a specimen of his talent" as an impromptu rhymer; "upon which the wandering poet immediately repeated the following stanza: 'You've proved yourself a sinful cre'tur ; You've murdered Watts, and spoilt the metre ; And for your pains deserve a halter." Barlow was the son of Samuel Barlow and Esther Hull, being the youngest of eight children, and was born at Reading, Ct., March 24, 1754. In 1774 he entered Dartmouth College, his father having died (Dec. 20, 1773, æt. 63), and left him property barely sufficient to defray the expenses of his education. His mother died August 28, 1775, æt. 54. Soon after he removed to New Haven, Ct., and entered Yale College, where he graduated in 1778 at the head of his class. The war of the Revolution was in progress, and his brothers were in camp. More than once, before he left college, he had joined them, and borne the brunt of battle. His poetic bent took form at his gradua tion in a poem entitled "The Prospect of Peace," which was published the same year. He now began the study of law, which, at the urgency of friends, who represented to him the great need of chaplains in the army, he relinquished for a brief course in theology. He was licensed to preach by a Congregational Association at New Haven, Ct., and received a commission as army chaplain in the Third and Fourth Massachusetts Brigades, in which capacity he served (1780-1783) to the end of the war. A part of the time he was associated with his college friends and fellow poets, the Rev. Timothy Dwight and Col. David Humphreys. The trio indulged themselves in poetic recreation, composing patriotic songs and more elaborate poems. In the latter part of 1780, Barlow wrote and published an elegy in verse, in honor of his friend, the Hon. Titus Hosmer, of Middletown, Ct., and the next year another poem, delivered on the occasion of taking his Master's Degree. He married (January 26, 1781) Miss Ruth, a daughter of Michael Baldwin, the sister of the distinguished statesman, Hon. Abraham Baldwin, of New Haven, and having, at the close of the war, resumed the study of the law, he settled at Hartford, Ct., where he started a weekly gazette, called The American Mercury. He was admitted to the bar in 1785. The next year he published his edition of Watts' Psalms, and in 1787 his first elaborate poem, "The Vision of Columbus." The gazette was now relinquished, and a bookstore started for the sale of his recent publications. He united with Dr. Lemuel Hopkins, John Trumbull, and Col. David Humphreys in producing the “Anarchiad,” a satirical poem. As agent of the "Scioto Land Company," he went to Europe, but, discovering the fraudulent character of the scheme, he soon abandoned the agency. He remained abroad seventeen years, residing principally in Paris, and taking an active part, by voice and pen and personal effort, in the stirring events of that most exciting period. In 1791 he published at London his "Advice to the Privileged Orders," and in 1792 his poem called "The Conspiracy of Kings." His humorous poem on "The Hasty Pudding," published at New Haven in 1796, was written in January, 1793, at Chambery, in Savoy. As Consul of the United States at Algiers in Africa he concluded (1795) treaties with the Barbary States and secured the release of more than one hundred captives. Returning in 1797 to Paris, he enriched himself by successful trade, purchased an elegant mansion, and for several years exercised a sumptuous hospitality. On his return to America in 1805 he purchased a residence at Georgetown, D. C., which he named "Kalorama." He found time at length to complete his great work, "The Columbiad," and to publish it in costly style (1807) at Philadelphia. He had made some preparations for composing a History of the United States, when he was appointed by President Madison (1810) to succeed Gen. John Armstrong as Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to France. Again he took up his abode at Paris and entered into negotiations with Napoleon on behalf of the United States Government. While the latter was prosecuting his Russian campaign, he sent for Barlow to meet him in conference at Wilna, in Poland. His exposures and fatigues on the journey induced a violent inflammation of the lungs, resulting, December 24, 1812, in his death at Zarnawicka, a small village twenty miles north of Cracow, Poland. Distinguished honors, both in France and America, were paid to his memory. His version of the 127th Psalm is regarded as one of the very best. It is as follows: Along the banks where Babel's current flows, Her friends, her children, mingled with the dead "The tuneless harp that once with joy we strung, And growing grief prolonged the tedious day. "The barb'rous tyrants, to increase the woe, With taunting smiles a song of Zion claim; "But how, in heathen chains and lands unknown, "If e'er my mem'ry lose thy lovely name, If my cold heart neglect my kindred race, My hand shall perish and my voice shall cease. "Yet shall the Lord, who hears when Zion calls, His arm avenge her desolated walls, HENRY BATEMAN. MR. BATEMAN is a citizen of London. Born about the beginning of the century, he has spent a long life in honorable and successful business. He is a brother of the Rev. Josiah Bateman, a rector in Southend, Essex, who, in 1832, accompanied Bishop Daniel Wilson as his chaplain to India, became his son-in-law, and, in 1860, published his Memoirs in two volumes. The Bishop was, also, their maternal uncle. Their father was an eminent citizen of the metropolis, and for many years a manager of George Whitefield's Tabernacle in Moorfields. Henry Bateman, by inheritance and conviction, is a conscientious and ardent-minded dissenter. The late Rev. Dr. Thomas Binney, Independent, of London, was his brother-in-law, as also is the Rev. Josiah Viney, of the London Independents, Highgate, South Grove. Diligent as Mr. Bateman has ever been in business, he |