EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
741
' in vhat he had received, and in what he had leen denied, he thankfully acknowledged the rill of heaven." The two great objects he had n view in the decline of life, were to repay the lenefactions his father had received, and to be limself a benefactor to the meritorious of his iwn profession. These purposes are fully dis- )layea in his last will. He was buried agreeably his own direction, at IjOw Layton, in Essex, jid a monument erected at the expense of Mr. ^ohn Nichols, to his father's memory and his >wn, with a Latin inscription written by Mr. 'fichols, who was his apprentice, partner, and uccessor; and who has done ample justice to lis eminent predecessor's memory, oy an invalu- .ble series of anecdotes of Mr. Bowyer* and nany celebrated literary characters of the last ind present century, to which the reader is re- erred, as containing an invaluable fund of ia- brmation.
At the east end of the court-room of the sta- ioners' company, is the bust of Mr. Bowyer, inder which is a brass plate, thus inscribed, in lis own words, in conformity to a wish he had nany years before communicated to his partner :
To the nnited Muniflceoce of
THE COMPANY OP STATIONERS,
and other nomeroas Beoefartora j
who,
when a calamitous Fire, Jan. 30, 1713-13,
had in one olght destroyed the Elltects
of WiiLiAii BowTKR, Printer,
repaired the loss with unparalleled Hnmanltjr :
WtLLiAH, bia only surviving Son,
being continued
Prloter of the Votes of the House of Commons,
by his Father's Merits,
and the Indulgence of three Honourable Speakers;
nd appointed to print the Journals of the House of Lord?,
at near LXX years of age,
by the Patronage of a noble Peer ;
struggliDg with a debt of gratitude which could not be
repaid,
left this Tablet to suggest
what worn-out Nature could not express.
Ex Voto Patron! OpUml Amidssinii
Poni Lubentcr CnreTlt Cliens Devinctus
). Nichols, M.DCC.LXXVIll.
The following is a genuine extract from Mr- Jowyer's will :
• • * * And now I hope / may e allowed to leave tnmewhat for the benefit of tinting. To tkit end, I give to the matter and eepeTM, or wardens and commonalty of the myt-
- Literarp Aneedotttof the Eighteenth Century s evm-
riMing Biographtcat Memoin of wiWam Bowyer, printer, '. 5. A., aiui nwnir of his leaned friend; an incideniat ew of theprogrea and adoimeement ofUterahtre <fi thia -ngdom ditring the lait eenlmy ; and biographieal anee- 7te$ of a coneidenMe immber of eminent writera and in- mioue arttttt; with a eoptoue inder, by John Nichols, . S. A. in nine volumes. Mr. Maty, in the first volume ' his New Review thus mentions the Aneedotee of Bowyer : FTobenins scatters fiowera over the grave of Aldus, and Jdng the opportunity at the same time of paying literary >nonrB to Erasmus, and the worthies who made his leain- I press sweat under them ;— in plainer words, an account ' a very distinguished and very worthy printer, who repaid «ratnie what he had received from it, by that clause in s will which makes provision for the maintenance of a amed compositor of the press. Together with the ac- >unts are given anecdotes, some longer, some shorter, ' the writers who printed at Mr. Sawyer's press."
tery or art of a stationer of th* city of London, such a sum of money as wUl purchase £2,000 three percent, reduced bank annuities, upon trust to pay the dividends and yearly produce thereof, to be divided for ever equeUly amongst three print- ers, compositors or pressmen, to be elected from time to time by tlie master, vxirdetu, and assist- ants of the said company, and who at the time of such election shall be sixty-three years old or up- wards, for their respective lives, to be paid half- yearly ; hoping that such as shall be most deserv- ing will be preferred. And whereas I have herein before given to my son the sum of £3,000 four per cent, consolidtUed annuities, in case he mamet with the consent of my executors : Now, I do hereby give and bequeath the dividends and interest of that sum, ttll such marriage takes place, to the said company of stationers, to be divided equally between six other printers, com- positors or pressmen, as aforesaid ; and if my said son shall die unmarried, or married without such consent as aforesaid, then I give and bequeath the said capital sum of £3,000 to the said eomr pony of stationers, the dividends and yearly produce thereof to be divided for ever equally amongst six other such old printers, compo- sitors or pressmen, for their respective lives, to be qualified, chosen, and paid, in manner as aforesaid. It has long been to me matter of concern, that such numbers are put apprentices as compositors without any share oi school- learning, who ought to have the greatest. In hopes of remedying this, I give and bequeath to the said company of stationers such a sum of money as wul purchase one thousand pounds three per cent, reduced bank annuities, for the use of one journeyman compositor, such as shall hereafter ie described ; with this special trust, that the master, wardens, and assistants, shall pay the dividends and produce thereof half-yearly to sttch compositor. The said master, wardens, and assistants, of the said company, shall nominate for this purpose a compositor who is a man of good life and conversation, who shall usually frequent some place of public worship every Suviday, unless prevented by sickiuss, and shall not have worked on a newspaper or magazine for four years at least before such nomination, nor shall ever after- wards whilst he holds this annuity, which may be for life if he conftnttei a journeyman. He sludl be able to read and construe Latin, and at least to read Greek fluently with accents ; of which he shall bring a testimonial from the rector of St. Martin's Ludgate, for the time being. I could wish that he shall have been brought up piously and virtuously, if it be possible, at Merchant Taylors', or some other public school, from seven years of age till he is full seventeen, and then to serve seven years faithfully as a compositor, and work seven years more as a journeyman, as I would not have this annuity bestowed on any one under thirty-one years of age. If after he is chosen he shall behave ill, let him be turned out, and another be chosen in his stead. And WHEREAS «( may be many years before a com- positor may be found that shall exactly ansirer
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