Bryant, William Cullen, eminent American editor and poet, was born in Cummington, Mass., November 3, 1794; spent two years at Williams College, after which he studled law and practiced about ten years. In 1826 he connected himself with the New York Evening Post and continued to be one of its editors and proprietors to the day of his death, June 12, 1878. Bryant is known 396 as one of the ablest and sweetest of American poets. Many editions of his poems have been published. He also made an excellent translation of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Nineteen of his hymns were privately printed and circulated among his friends in 1869. A number of them are in common use.