Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 06.djvu/89

 Popular Poetry;' in 1830 'Poetry of the Magyars;' and in 1832 'Cheskian Anthology.' He published Bentham's 'Deontology' (1834) in two volumes, and nine years subsequently he edited a collection of the works of Bentham, accompanied by a biography, the whole consisting of eleven volumes. The university of Groningen conferred upon him, in 1829, the degree of LL.D. In 1828 Bowring was appointed a commissioner for reforming the system of keeping the public accounts, by Mr. Herries, then chancellor of the exchequer ; but his appointment was cancelled at the instance of the Duke of Wellington, who objected to Bowring's radical opinions. He was, however, authorised to proceed to Holland, for the purpose of examining the method pursued by the financial department of that country. He prepared a report, the first of a long series on the public accounts of various European states. It was during this visit to the continent that he translated 'Peter Schlemihl' from the German at the suggestion of Adelung. During a stay in Madrid Bowring had published in Spanish his 'Contestacion á las Observaciones de Don Juan B. Ogavan sobre la esclavitud de los Negros,' being an exposition of the arguments in favour of African slavery in Cuba. At a later period he translated into French the 'Opinions of the Early Christians on War,' by Thomas Clarkson. His 'Matins and Vespers' (1823) went into many editions, both in England and the United States, and his 'Minor Morals' (1834-9), recollections of travel for the use of young people, were likewise very popular. For his 'Russian Anthology' he received a diamond ring from Alexander I, and for his works on Holland, some of which were translated into Dutch, a gold medal from the king of the Netherlands. In 1831 Bowring who had sought official employment in consequence of commercial disasters was associated with Sir H. Parnell in the duty of examining and reporting on the public accounts of France, 'a task which was so satisfactorily performed that he was appointed secretary to the commission for inspecting the accounts of the United Kingdom.' Bowring visited Paris, the Hague, and Brussels, and examined the finance departments of their various governments. The first report made by the commission led to a complete change in the English exchequer, and was the foundation of all the improvements which have since been made. The second report, dealing with the military accounts, was carried into immediate effect. Bowring and Mr. Villiers (afterwards Earl of Clarendon) were appointed, in 1831, commissioners to investigate the commercial relations between England and France, and presented two elaborate reports to parliament. On the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832 Bowring appeared as a candidate for the representation of Blackburn, but, though popular with the mass of the people, he lost the election by twelve votes. He now went over to France, where he made close investigation into the silk trade ; and in 1833 he visited Belgium on a commercial mission for the government. His exertions in the south of France in the succeeding year led to a free-trade agitation in the wine districts. In 1835 he went through the manufacturing districts of Switzerland, and reporting to parliament on the trade of that country, he showed the great advantages that had been reaped from the system of free trade. He was in Italy in the autumn of 1836, when he reported to Parliament on the state of our commercial relations with Tuscany, Lucca, the Lombardian and Pontifical states. Bowring had been returned to parliament for the Clyde burghs in 1835, but losing his seat at the general election of 1837, he now travelled in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey on another commercial mission for the government. During this tour Bowring visited every part of Egypt as far as Nubia in the south, traversed Syria from Aleppo to Acre, and returned by way of Constantinople and the Danube. Shortly after his arrival in England he accepted an invitation to a public dinner at Blackburn. This was in September 1838 ; and, halting at Manchester on his way to Blackburn, Bowring met Cobden and others at the York Hotel, the result of this meeting being the formation of the Anti-Corn Law League. In 1839 Bowring was deputed to proceed to Prussia with the object of inducing that country to modify her tariff on English manufactures. He was met by the objection that, 'so long as the English corn laws imposed a prohibitive tariff on foreign grain, it was useless to ask Germany to relax her heavy duties on English goods.' Bowring was the chief author of the important report to parliament on the import duties, which led to the proposed but unsuccessful measure for the relaxation of the English tariff by the whigs, and to Sir Robert Peel's great revised tariff scheme of 1842. Convinced of the necessity for the abolition of the corn laws, Bowring again sought a seat in parliament for the purpose of advocating this measure. Defeated at Kirkcaldy, he was elected for Bolton in 1841. He was a frequent speaker on commercial and fiscal questions, on education, the factory acts, and similar subjects. He took an active