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cJi:ri»vm,in of acknowloJged piety aiut learninjT ; and was 

 ailiiiitti'd, ill 1 7 1''', as a llzar at St. fuhti's collff;c, in the iiiii- 

 vcrlity of Cambrijjjc, wliere lie coiitiiiut-d for (Ix years, and 

 probably tuolw liis ilCjijrce of bactitlor ofarts. Allhougli liis 

 dilpolitian was natiindly ixferved, yet ho ciillivatui, during 

 his rclidcncc at college, an intimate accjnaiiitance with ftveral 

 rclpeftable members of tlie iiniveilitv, and parlii-iilarly with 

 Mr. M.irkland and Mr. Clarke, witli whom he maiiitained 

 thruutjli life a regular corrcfpondence, which fiiniiflies a 

 valuable treafiirc of polite literature and foiivd criticifm. 

 When he Icit Cambridge, he offieiattd as a rchool-malltr 

 for the benefit of the family of Mr. Bonwieke, who ditd 

 in I7ii ; and tl-.iii tellified his gratiliide for tlie afTiilnnce 

 he had received from him in his education, at a time whuu 

 the whole property of his father was delhovtd by a fire. 

 Having performed this adl of kindiicfs and of gratitiKlf, he 

 Jjined his father in the printing biifincfs ; and began with a 

 correft and complete edition of Selden's works bv Dr. 

 David Wilkins, in .^ vols. fol. As he read the proof lliects, 

 he drew up an epitome of the trcatife •' De SviieJri:s." Tlils 

 work was followed by an admirable (Icetch of William 

 Baxter's Glollary of the Roman Antiquities ; in which 

 Bowycr fulKciently evinced his litcra:y talents. In 1729, 

 he was appointed printer of the votes to the houfe of Com- 

 mons, which office he held for nearly 50 years. It is hardly 

 neceffary to mention the part taken by him, in 173T, in a 

 controverfy which is now funk into oblivion. It produced, 

 however, on his part, a pamphlet entitled " The traditions of 

 the clergy not dellrudtive of religion ; being remarks on Mr. 

 Bamian's fcrmon, cxpofing that gentleman's deficiency in 

 Latin and Greek, in ccclefiaiUcal hillorv and true reafun- 

 ing." In the fame year he printed, and is fuppofed to have 

 tranflated, Voltaire's Life of Charles XII. of Sweden. In 

 1736, he was admitted a fellow of the Society of Antiqua- 

 ries, ofwiiich he was an afiiJuous and ufeful member. His 

 traiiflation of " Trapp's Latin Icfturcs on poetry," with 

 additional notes, was publiditdin 1742 ; and about tlie fame 

 time he correfted and formed anew an uftful fchool- 

 book, entitled " Selcdtx ex profanis icriptoribiishi!lori^." 

 Wc ihould far exceed the bounds of this article, if we were 

 to msntion the prefaces, notes, and various additions, which 

 he contributed to the works that ilRied from his prefs. AVe 

 Ihall content ourfelvcs with noticing fome of the principal 

 of this kind. In 1744, he wrote, as it is fuppofed, a fmall 

 pamphlet on the prefent (late of Europe, chieflv taken from 

 Puflcndorf; and, in 1746, he publifhed the '-Life of the 

 emperor Julian," tranllated from the French of M. Bleterie, 

 with curious notes, and a genealogical table. In i-jo' 

 he annexed a prefatory critic'al ddfcrtation, and fome valua- 

 ble notes, to Kullcr's treatife, " De vero ufii verborum 

 mediorum," which was publilhed, with further improve- 

 ments, in 177 J. About the fame time he vrrote a Latin 

 preface to Lcedes's " Veteres poetx citati, &c." and foon 

 after improved an edition of col. Bladen's tranflation of 

 Csfar's commentaries. In 1751, he wrote a long preface 

 to Montelquieu's « Refleaions on the rife and fall of the 

 Roman empire ;" tranflated the dialogue between Sylla and 

 Socrate?, and improved the edition by feveral coneetions 

 from the baron's " Spirit of Laws," as well as by his own 

 notes. Of this work a new edition, with additional no»es 

 was printed in 1759 In the fame year (1 75 , ) he publidied 

 the firlt tranllation that was made of RouOeau's paradoxical 

 oiation, which gained the prize of the academy at Diion 

 in 1750; and thus he firft announced that fmgular genius 

 to the attention and admiration of Europe. To Mr 

 Rowyer we are indebted for the notes figned (E) in the nth 

 4to. volume of Swift's works, extrafted from letters, which 



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were printed but never publiflicd. His " Remark.s on the 

 fpeecli made in common council, on the bill for permitting 

 perfons profeffing the Jewi(h religion to be naturalized, fo 

 iar as prophecies arc fuppofed to be atfefted by it," was 

 intended for the purpofe of allaying the ferment oceafioned 

 by the Jew-bill in 17/;?, and of fhewing, that whatever 

 political reafons might be alleged againll the bill, Chrillianity 

 would in no degree be prejudiced by the inuulgence pro- 

 pofed to be granted to the Jews. In this year alio ap- 

 peared his notes, annexed to billiop Clayton's tranilation 

 of " A journal from Grand Cairo to mount Sinai, and back 

 again." In 1761, Mr. Dowyer was appointed p! inter to 

 the Koyal Society; and he had the honour of retaining that 

 oIHce till his death. Without mentioning other publications, 

 in which he was concerned either as a writer or as an tditor, 

 we lliall proceed to notice an excellent edition of the Greek 

 'I'clhiment, in 2 vols. i2mo., which appeared in 1763, 

 under the following title ; " Novum Tcllamentum Grarcum', 

 ad lidem Gra;corum fohim codicum MSS. nunc primum im- 

 prdluni, adllipulante J. J. Wetllcnio, juxta fediones Jo. 

 Alberti Bengelii diviiwm ; et nova interpretatione fapius 

 illullr.iRun. Accedcre in altcro volumine emendationes 

 conjefturales viiovum doiftorum undicun>|ue colki\_z." This 

 edition was fold with great rapidity ; and the conjeaural 

 emendations were well received by the learned. Thefe 

 were feparately publifhed, with very confidcrable' enlarge 

 nients, in one v<dumc, 8vo., iu 1772. A new and coneft 

 edition of this Greek Teftament, with the conjeftures in 

 4to much enlarged from the margin of Mr. Markland's 

 i eltament, and by new communications from biiliop Bar 

 nngton, profeflbr Michaclis, M. Stephen Wellon, Dr 

 OoOet, &c. was printed by Mr. Nichols, in 1782 and ivRj 

 under the infpeiiiun of the learned Dr. Owen, with h s 

 remarks. At the requefl of Thomas Hollis, efq Mr 

 Jjowyer wrote, in 1765, a fliort Latin preface to Dr. Wall 

 lis s Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae :" a larger Endifh 

 preface, written by him, and intended for that work i~ 

 commnnicated to tlie public in his " Mifcellaneous Trads '' 

 publ.nied by Mr. Nichols in ,785, 410. I„ 1766 he 

 formed a partnerHup witii Mr. Nichols, who had been 

 trained by bun to the profeffion, and had affifted him feve 

 ral years in the management of bufinefs. This conneaion 

 -th a perfon, wiiole difpofition was amiable and c«,. 

 mcative, and w-ho refembled himfelf in his folicitudrby 

 1. erary lefearches and publications, to promote the caufe 

 of literature, enfured the profecution of views ad plans 

 hmiarto Ins own; and warranted a conlidence vvhkh en" 

 bled h.m to withdraw, in the declining ilate of his heal h' 

 from the fatigues of aftive employmait. It I o affo S 



bm greater leiiure formduigingfiislvn ihidiou^iKl St 

 Accordingly, 11, this year (1766) M,, Bowyer wro^e an 

 excellent Latin preface to '■ Joannis Harduin , JefiitL ad 

 cenluram fcriptorum veterum prolegomena," n"^ w l^h he 

 gives an account of the nature of the work ai d oF^k! 

 manner in which it had been preferved Abou thfr 

 tune were publiOted Mr. De Mi'Jly's remarkf on h "ext"' 



;-«ommendation^^^';he^';^.i^{S,:StrtiS[;J: 

 journals of the houfe of Lords, and the rolls ;f pa'^- ament 

 In this year he printed Mr. Clarke's learned woilc idtl"d 

 '■ ih connedion of the Roman, Sa.xon, and EnS 



t.on, and an excellent^nd:x orhis'^w J ctipZioT'Tn- 



RoVa'l t 'f ^'''''''''' ^'^P'^--' ^^^' --~ d to t£ 

 Rojal Society a very ingenious <' Inquiry into the valu^ 



of 



