202 



The successful version of Tate and Brady in 1696 was then discussed, 

 and compared with its predecessors. 



While these changes were taking place in England, the congrega- 

 tions at Plymouth and in Salem were adhering, exclusively, to the 

 ancient version of Ainsworth, — the latter until 1667, and the former 

 until the union of the colonies under the Province Charter, — when 

 they, respectively, adopted the Bay Psalm-book, as it is usually called, 

 in conformity with general usage throughout New England. In Salem, 

 however, both versions were used together after 1667. 



TJie Bay Psalm-book was prepared by the Rev. John Eliot, best 

 known as the "Apostle to the Indians," Eev. Thomas Welde, of Rox- 

 bury, and Rev. Richard Mather, of Dorchester. President Dunster, 

 of Harvard College, and Mr. Richard Lyon, revised this version, which 

 continued in general use in New England for more than a century, be- 

 sides being adopted extensively in Great Britain. 



The attempts of English writers to improve upon Tate and Brady 

 were next traced, and the versions of Patrick and Sir Richard Black- 

 more were discussed. 



Sir Richard Blackmore was the last of the leading versifiers in that 

 period, which was fast drawing to its close, when the Psalms were 

 considered the only legitimate subjects of sacred song; and although 

 he had numerous panegyrists in his day, both here and in England, he 

 is only preserved to fame by the accidental circumstance of his having 

 quarrelled with Pope, — who more than once mentions him in the 

 " Dunciad," — and in Dr. Johnson's biography. 



The appearance of Dr. Watts's hymns was then noted as marking a 

 new epoch in Psalmody, and his popularity was described. 



Watts's " Hymns Sacred to Devotion," appeared in 1706, and all his 

 earlier verses were collected and published under the title of " Horse 

 Lyricas " in 1709. These were read and admired on both sides of the 

 Atlantic. 



With the verses of Tate and Brady, Denham, Patrick, Blackmore, 

 and especially Watts, on every lip, and with such books as the Spec- 

 tator, De Foe, and the Essay on Man for sale at the bookstores. New 

 England not only began to swarm with professed admirers of the En- 

 glish hjann-writers and paraphrasts, but some very excellent imita- 

 tors of the English school began to produce original pieces in the 

 same vein, and the subject of improving the psalmody attracted gen- 

 eral attention. 



Opposed to these innovators was that never inconsiderable class of 

 people who venerate tradition and esteem it a merit to bow to author- 

 ity ; and at their head stood forth some of the more conservative of 

 the clergy. Two attempts to improve upon the New England version 

 of the Psalms of David were made by two distinguished clergymen. 

 The first was by Rev. John Barnard, of Marblehead, who, in 1752, put 



