the age of fourteen lie was entered on the foundation at Winchester school, the head-master at the time being Dr Joseph Warton. In 1781 he left as captain of the school, and proceeded to Trinity College, Oxford, to a scholarship to which he had been elected. Two years later he gained the chancellor s prize for Latin verse, and soon after left the university, not taking his degree as master till 1792. In 1789 ho published, in a small quarto volume, Fourteen &jimets, which met with considerable favour at the time, were hailed with delight by Coleridge and his young con temporaries, and have since been recognized as the first notes of the modern revolt against the artificial school of poetry, the traditions of which had descended from Pope. The Sonnets even in form were a revival, a return to the older and purer poetic style, and by their grace of expres sion, melodious versification, tender tone of feeling, and vivid appreciation of the life and beauty of nature, stood out in strong contrast to the affected common-places which at that time formed the bulk of English poetry. A second edition of the little volume was called for in the same year in which it had appeared, and there have been many subsequent editions. A few short pieces were published in 1790 and 1792, which were also received with favour. After taking his degree at Oxford he entered the church, and was soon appointed to the vicarage of Chicklade in Wiltshire. In 1797 he received the vicarage of Dumbleton in Gloucester shire, and in "1804 was presented to the vicarage of Brem- hill in Wiltshire. In the same year he was collated by Bishop Douglas to a prebendal stall in the cathedral of Salisbury. In 1818 he was made chaplain to the Prince Regent, and in 1828 he was elected residentiary canon of Salisbury. He died at Salisbury in April 1850, aged 88. Of the longer poems published by Bowles none attain a very high standard of excellence, though all are distin guished by purity of imagination, cultured and graceful diction, and great tenderness of feeling. The most extensive were The Spirit of Discovery, 1804, which was mercilessly ridiculed by Byron; The Missionary of the Andes, 1815 ; The Grave of the Last Saxon, 1822 ; and St John in Patmos,l833. Bowles is perhaps more celebrated as a critic of poetry than as a poet. In 1807 he published an edition of Pope s works with notes and an essay on the poetical character of Pope. In this essay he laid down certain canons as to poetic imagery which, with slight modification, have been since recognized as true and valuable, but which were received at the time with strong opposition by all admirers of Pope and his style. The "Pope and Bowles" controversy brought into sharp contrast the opposing views of poetry, which may be roughly described as the natural and the artificial. Bowles maintained that images drawn from nature are poetically finer than those drawn from art; and that in the highest kinds of poetry the themes or pas sions handled should be of the general or elemental kind, and not the transient manners of any society. These posi tions were vigorously assailed by Byron, Campbell, Roscoe, and others of less note, while for a time Bowles was almost solitary. Hazlitt and the Blackwood critics, how ever, came to his assistance, and on the whole Bowles had reason to congratulate himself on having once for all established certain principles which might servo as the basis of a true method of poetical criticism, and of having inaugurated, both by precept and by example, A new era in English poetry. Among other prose works from his prolific
pen was a Life of Bishop Ken, 2 vols., 1830-31.BOWLS, one of the oldest and most popular of English pastimes, the origin of which can be traced back to the 12th century. William Fitzstepkens, in his Survey of London, written during the last quarter of that century, states that in the summer holidays youths took exercise amongst other pastimes in jactu lapidum, " in throwing of stones." This might be taken as referring to throwing stones by slings or other artificial means, were it not that the next pastime mentioned is " slinging of missiles to be delivered beyond a certain mark (amentatis missilibus ultra metam expediendis)." Fitzstephens was both an accurate ob server and a careful writer, and he clearly alludes to two distinct exercises. In early days stone spheres are known to have been used for bowling, and the like thing and name were in vogue for the next two centuries, in fact till 11 Henry IV. (1409). There is little doubt, therefore, that Fitzstephcns here refers to bowls. It has been a matter of speculation whether bowling was first practised in the open air on turf or under cover in alleys, and Fitz stephens may help to decide the question. He states that the citizens went outside the city walls into the suburbs to witness these games, but the alleys were within the walls and in the midst of the population. Again, these alleys were always held up as scenes of vice and debauchery, and it is certain that had they existed at this date they would have been included in the resorts forbidden to the clergy by the constitutions of Walter de Cantilupe, bishop of Worcester, 24 Henry III. (1240). In the Close Roll, 39 Ed. III. (1366) mem. 23, jactus lapidiim, "throwing of stones," is mentioned as one of the ludos inhonestos et minus utiles aut valentes, " games alike dishonourable, useless, and unprofitable." But then there was a reason for this depreciation. The king was concerned lest the practice of archery, so much more important to the military spirit of the kingdom, should suffer, and the same reason prompted the action of Parliament. By 12 Rich. II. cap. 6 (1388), servants, artificers, and labourers were forbidden amongst other games to play at gettre de peer, or " casting of the stone," as the practice of archery was becoming lax. This statute was confirmed by 11 Henry IV. cap. 4. (1409-10), wherein "gettre de peer" is again forbidden. From 17 Ed. IV. cap. 3 (1477-8) it appears that bowling still remained in disrepute; for " half-bowl" is included among the " many new imagined plays" which were followed by all classes " to their own impoverishment, and by their ungracious procurement and encouraging do inducen other into such plays till they be utterly undone and impoverished of their goods." Even murders, robberies, and felonies were the consequence. Accordingly, it was enacted that any one playing at half-bowl after the follow ing Easter, or the occupier or governor of any "house, tenement, garden, or other place," where such games are permitted, should be punished by fines and imprisonment. Here it is probable that both the outdoor and indoor games are referred to, as " house" and " garden" are men tioned, and it may be concluded that by this time alleys had sprung into existence in towns. This then may be considered the first mention of the game as practised under cover, though it is equally clear that alleys had not entirely superseded greens.
statutes against unlawful games were confirmed; the word " bowls " for the first time occurs, and the game is deemed an illegal pursuit. Owing, however, to the impos sibility of following the outdoor game except during the summer, and the absorption of playing fields for building purposes, public alleys continued to flourish, as they were again the cause of legislation in 27 Henry VIII. cap. 25 (1535-6), whilst 33 Henry VIII. cap. 9 (1541-2) was very severe indeed on them. They were distinctly mentioned by name, and it was enacted that no one "by himself, factor, deputy, servant, or other person, shall, for his or their gain, lucre, or living, keep, have, hold, occupy, exercise, or maintain any common house, alley, or place of bowling;" and magistrates might search suspected tene
ments and make arrests. Oddly enough, however, no