TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE JULY NUMBER.

ART.

I. Joel Barlow.

Rev. A. C. Baldwin, Hartford, Conn. 413

II. Iowa College.. President Magoun, Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa. 438

III. Colleges and State Universities.

President Sturtevant, Illinois College, Jacksonville, Ill. 453

IV. Herbert Spencer's Principles of Psychology.

Borden P. Bowne, Jersey City, N. J. 468

V. Popular Songs among the Dravidian Nations.

Professor John Avery, Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa. 507

Responsive Worship; a Discourse, with Notes, by William Ives Budington,
D.D.

594

Les Adieux d'Adolphe Monod.

594

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Character and Career of Francis Asbury, Bishop of the Methodist Epis.

THE

NEW ENGLANDER.

No. CXXIV.

JULY, 1873.

ARTICLE I.—JOEL BARLOW.

JOEL BARLOW was one of the celebrities of the latter part of the last century. The present generation know but little about him. The reason is two-fold; first, there is a tendency in mankind to forget those who have gone before them, however great and honorable they may have been, and to suffer their names to pass into obscurity; and secondly, there has been an unwarrantable neglect, on the part of his countrymen, to write his biography. Barlow was not a genius in the highest sense of that term, but his talents, his writings, his patriotism, and his public services, were of a sufficiently high order to deserve of his country a more extended record than a mere sketch in a cyclopedia, biographical dictionary, or collection of poems. And yet it is upon these chiefly that future generations and historians are to depend for their knowledge of a scholar, poet, philanthropist, and diplomate, of whom America may justly be proud. There are sufficient materials extant, even at the present day, to make an interesting and instructive volume; and it is to be regretted that no competent person has as yet seen fit to use them for this purpose. There are documents in existence

which are not only creditable to Barlow, as a man of most generous impulses, and as a patriot of enlarged and sagacious views, but if published, would throw much light upon our national history, especially during the last decade of the eighteenth century, and the first of the present. It is not yet too late to write a worthy memoir of Barlow; but it is not probable it will ever be done. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, at this late period to awaken in the public mind sufficient interest in a literary or public character who flourished so long ago, to warrant the undertaking.

The design of this Article is to give a brief sketch of the life and prominent characteristics of the poet and patriot, and, especially, to present a curious and most interesting letter from his pen, which it is believed has never before been made public. This letter will be given in the sequel.

Joel Barlow was born in the year 1755, in Reading, Conn., a small agricultural town in Fairfield County. His father was a respectable farmer, in moderate pecuniary circumstances, with a family of ten children to support and educate. Of these, Joel was the youngest. In his early boyhood he gave such unmistakable evidences of more than ordinary talent, that his father determined to give him a liberal education. At a suitable age he commenced fitting for college, but before he had completed his preparatory course he had the misfortune to lose his father by death. He was left with a patrimony barely sufficient to defray the expenses of his education.

In 1774, at the age of 18, he entered Dartmouth College, then in its infancy. After remaining there a short time, he removed his relation to Yale College, where he soon distinguished himself for scholarship, especially in the department of belleslettres. It was during his academic course that he developed a genius for poetry to such an extent as to attract the special notice of his teachers. The late President Dwight was then a tutor in college, and took a deep interest in his pupil, and a friendship was formed between them which continued till death.

It was while Barlow was in college that the Revolutionary war broke out, and his patriotism was such that during the remainder of his collegiate course he often left the groves of

Academus for the battle-field. His vacations he spent in the army as a volunteer, with his musket to his shoulder, ready to suffer any hardship, perform any service, or brave any danger for his country. He distinguished himself for his heroism, it is said, at the memorable battle of White Plains.

In 1778, he graduated at Yale College with distinguished honor, delivering at commencement a poem, entitled "The Prospect of Peace." This poem was exceedingly popular. It was demanded for the press, and soon published at New Haven. This, and one or two other poetical pieces of his which appeared about the same time, established his reputation as a young man of genius and unusual promise.

On leaving college, Barlow commenced the study of law; but his love for his distressed, bleeding country was so intense as to absorb nearly every other feeling. The army, especially that portion of it which was from New England, had in it largely a religious element. It was composed to a great extent of church-going men, who, like their noble commander-in-chief -Washington-felt their entire dependence for success upon an overruling Providence. Hence there was, in some sections, a great demand for chaplains; and Barlow was earnestly solicited to qualify himself for the office, and enter the army in that capacity. Although he had no special predilection for the ministry as a profession, yet the flame of patriotism burned so intensely in his bosom, he was willing to serve his struggling country in any way that promised to help forward her best interests. His friend Dwight had already set him an example, and gone to the field, and was exerting a most happy influence upon the soldiers. Barlow did not hesitate. He threw aside his law-books, and took up theology, and in six weeks presented himself before an association of Congregational ministers for licensure. He was examined and approved, and with his credentials went immediately to the camp, where as a preacher, adviser, and friend, he endeared himself to both officers and soldiers.

While in the army his poetic talent was turned to good account, for, like Dwight, he often fired the hearts of his companions in arms by composing for them a thrilling patriotic ode, or song, which, when set to music, excited the soldiers to such a pitch of enthusiasm as to cause them to be eager for the

battle. During the period of his chaplaincy he continued to cultivate an intimacy with the muses, and besides writing fugitive pieces, he planned, and partly executed, an epic poem of considerable dimensions and reach of thought, entitled "The Vision of Columbus."

In 1781 he took the degree of A.M. at Yale, about which time he married a Miss Baldwin of New Haven, to whom we shall again refer.

At the close of the war, Barlow retired both from the army and the ministry. To spend his life as a parish clergyman had never entered into his plans. The clerical profession, as such, was not in accordance with his tastes, and he doubted (probably with good reason) his qualifications for its peculiar labors and responsibilities. Accordingly he resumed the study of law at Hartford, and was admitted to the bar in 1785. Very soon after this, he, in connection with Elisha Babcock, Esq., founded a weekly newspaper, entitled "The Hartford Mercury." A large proportion of the editorials were written by Barlow; and his muse contributed not unfrequently to the "poet's corner." The ability with which this paper was conducted gave it a rapid and extensive circulation,-eclipsing, in its literary character especially, nearly all of its contemporaries.

Dr.

The poetical reputation of Barlow had by this time become so well established, that the General Association of Congregational Ministers of Connecticut applied to him to prepare a book of Psalmody for the use of the churches under their care. Watts' version of the Psalms had long been in use in this country, and it was so highly and so justly esteemed, that it was to constitute the basis of the new work; but some of Watts' Psalms were inappropriate to our republican institutions, and needed revision to adapt them to the new order of things. Some were deficient in lyrical and poetic merit, and needed to be discarded; some were redundant; and several of the Psalms Watts had omitted entirely. Barlow acceded to the wishes of the General Association, and in 1785 undertook and accomplished the responsible work committed to him, to their satisfaction, and in some particulars far exceeded their expectations. The alterations he made in Watts were, in the main, judicious and happy,—far more so than most of the amendments (falsely so called) made by modern poetasters. Some of Barlow's orig