INFORMATION
Bowdler, John, 1783-1815
Bowdler, John, born in London, Feb. 4, 1783, and educated at the Sevenoaks Grammar School, and Winchester. In 1807 he was called to the Bar, but ill-health necessitated his residence abroad for a short time. On his return he resumed the duties of his profession. His weakness, however, increased, and gradually sinking, he died Feb. 1, 1815. He was a person of more than usual parts, and gained the friendship of Macauluy, Wilberforce, and other men of eminence. In 1816 his Select Pieces in Verse and Prose, were published by his father with a brief Memoir, Lond., G. Davidson. The two vols. contain essays, reviews, poetical pieces, versions of 4 Psalms, and 6 hymns. Of his hymns and Psalm versions nearly all are in common use. The best of these are, “As panting in the sultry beam”; “Children of God, who pacing slow;” and “Lord, before Thy throne we bend.”