Barlow, Joel

an American poet, B. at Reading, Conn., in 1755. In 1787, his reputation was established by the publication of his greatest poem, The Vision of Colum bus, which he dedicated to Louis XVI. of France. In the following year he visited England, whence he cro ed to Paris, attracted by the news of the revolution; there he remained for two years, attached to the Giron dist party. In 1795, he was appointed American consul at Algiers, where he negotiated a treaty with the government, as well as with those of Tunis and Tripoli. On his return to the U. States, in 1808, he published an enlarged edition of his first work, and re-named it the Columbiad. In 1811, he was appointed minister-plenipotentiary to the French government. D. near Cracow, in Poland, 12th Dec., 1812.