Sanskrit but also on comparative philology ; but of that subject he was soon relieved. As a philological lecturer he became one of the founders of the Cambridge Philological Society, with which he was connected as auditor until the close of his life, and he contributed to the early numbers of the Journal of Philology' ( 1868 seq.). In 1884 a lecturer was appointed to take charge of the more elementary Sanskrit teacliing. Nevertheless, the pupils who read with Cowell were of all grades of proficiency, ranging from undergraduates grappling with their first Sanskrit play to eminent scholars (both English and foreign) eager to elucidate the various Indian philosophies, the Vedic hymns, the 'Zendavesta,' or the Pali 'Jataka.' Alone or with his pupils Cowell issued an imposing series of Sanskrit texts and translations, of which the most important are 'The Sarva-Darsana-Samgraha' (translated with A. E. Gough in Trübner's 'Oriental ' series, 1882) ; 'Divyavadana' (edited with R. A. Neil, Cambridge, 1886) ; 'The Buddha Karita of Asvaghosha' ('Anecdota Oxoniensia,' Aryan ser. vii. 1893), with translation in 'Sacred Books of the East,' xlix. 1894; 'The Jataka,' translated under Cowell's editorship (6 vols., Cambridge, 1895) ; 'The Harsacarita of Bana ' (translated with F. W. Thomas, Oriental Translation Fund, n.s., ii. 1897).
Outside Sanskrit, Cowell still prosecuted other interests. Persian he resumed as opportunity offered. Spanish he always kept up, reading 'Don Quixote,' at first with FitzGerald, and after his death with other friends in Cambridge. His Hebrew notes were utilised by Dr. Kay in 1869 for the second edition of a translation of the Psalter, and later he studied the 'Talmud.' About 1877 he took up archaeology and architecture, a new study which led him to render into English Michael Angelo's sonnets, two of which were published in the 'Life.' Welsh poetry and the science of botany had been passing fancies of Cowell's youth. During 1870-80 they were cultivated simultaneously in vacations spent in Wales, sometimes in company with the Cambridge professor of botany, C. C. Babington. The Welsh studies, which were inspired by Borrow's 'Wild Wales,' culminated in a masterly paper on the poet Dafydd ap Gwilym, read before the Cymmrodorion Society in 1878, and published in 'Y Cymmrodor' (July 1878). Cowell's MS. translation of this poet's work is in the University Library at Cambridge. Botany remained one of the chief delights of his later life, and his scientific interests extended to geology. He collected a complete flora of Cambridgeshire, and gave expression to his botanical enthusiasm in some charming sonnets.
In 1892 Cowell was prevailed upon to accept the presidency of the Arian section of the International Congress of Orientalists held in London. His inaugural address (comparing Rabbinical and Brahmanical learning) and his charming Sanskrit 'Sloka' made a very favourable impression. In 1895 he was made an honorary member of the German Oriental Society. In 1898 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Asiatic Society, then bestowed for the first time. Among Cowell's other distinctions were the hon. LL.D. of Edinburgh University in 1875 and the hon. D.C.L. of Oxford in 1896. In 1902 he was chosen as one of the original members of the British Academy.
Cowell's last publication was a verse translation, revised after thirty years, of some episodes from an old Bengali poem 'Candi,' which he had read at Calcutta and subsequently with Bengali students at Cambridge (Journal As. Soc. Bengal, 1903). Although he continued to lecture, he had long been conscious of failing powers when he died at his residence, 10 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge, on 9 Feb. 1903. He was buried at Bramford beside his wife, who was fourteen years his senior and predeceased him on 29 Sept. 1899, after fifty-five years of married life. There was no issue of the marriage. His wife's sister, Maria Louisa Charlesworth, is already noticed in this Dictionary.
During his lifetime Cowell founded a scholarship in Sanskrit at the Sanskrit College in Calcutta (1878), and endowed a prize for classics at his old school in Ipswich ; by his will he devised to Corpus Christi College the sum of 1500Z. for a scholarship in classics or mathematics, besides leaving his library for distribution between that college, the University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum, and Girton College.
Cowell's portrait by C. E. Brock, presented to him by his friends and pupils in 1896, is in the hall of Corpus Christi College. Another painting made by a native artist from a photograph is in the library of the Sanskrit College at Calcutta.
Cowell was remarkable for the versatility of his knowledge of language and literature and for the breadth of his scholarly interests. Primarily a modest, patient, and serious savant, he was at the same time an accomplished man of letters, who excelled
