Barlow, Joel

Barlow, Joel (1754–1812), one of the Connecticut Wits, graduated from Yale (1778), taught school, managed a business, preached, entered military service, was admitted to the bar (1786), contributed to The Anarchiad, and wrote a new version of the Psalms, all of which occupations were incidental to his lifelong ambition to write the great American epic. This work, The Vision of Columbus (1787), was finally revised as The Columbiad (1807), which he considered his masterpiece. He went to Europe (1788) and during 17 years of residence abroad changed from a conservative Connecticut Puritan to a cosmopolitan Democrat. As a reward for A Letter to the National Convention of France (1792) he was made a French citizen. Inspired by his friend Paine, he next wrote his Advice to the Privileged Orders (1792), in which he sets forth the thesis that the state is the responsible agent of all society rather than of any one class, and that its duty is to safeguard the social heritage as a common asset held in trust for future generations. It was during this residence in France that Barlow wrote his charming little poem Hasty Pudding (1796), for which he is best remembered. In 1795 he was appointed consul to Algiers, where he effected important treaties. Upon his return to the U.S. (1805) he published a Prospectus of a National Institution to be Established in the United States for research and instruction in the arts and sciences. He lived the quiet life of a scholar for six years, and in 1811 was appointed minister to France. He died near Cracow, Poland, on his way to meet Napoleon, with whom he hoped to consummate a treaty.