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to produce the most eloquent of his shorter treatises, The Vanity of Man as Mortal, and On Delighting in God; there too he planned the largest (and also iti some respect the greatest) of his works, The Living Temple. In the begin ning of 1676 he accepted an invitation to become pastor of a nonconformist congregation in Silver Street, London; and in the same year he published the first part of The Living Temple, entitled Concerning God’s Existence and His Conversableness ivith Man: Against Atheism or the Epicurean Deism. In 1677 appeared his tractate On the Reconcileableness of God’s Prescience of the Sins of Men with the Wisdom and Sincerity of His Counsels, Exhortations, and whatsoever means He uses to prevent them, which was attacked from vari ous quarters, and had Andrew Marvel for oneof its defenders. His work On Thoughtfidness for the Morrow followed in 1681; those on Self -Dedication and Union among Protestants in 1682; and that on The Redeemer’s Tears wept over Lost Soids in 1684. During the earlier years that followed his settlement in London Howe had enjoyed comparative free dom from annoyance on the ground of his nonconformity, and had been on intimate terms with many who already were or who afterwards became eminent in the Established Church, such as Stillingfleet, Tillotson, Sharp, and Kidder; but the greater severity which began to be manifested in 1681, and which continued to be shown during the fol lowing years, so interfered with his liberty that in 1685 he gladly accepted the invitation of Philip Lord Wharton to travel abroad with him. The tour extended over the greater part of a year. In 1686, matters still seaming hopeless in England, he determined to settle for a time at Utreclit, where tie officiated along with Mead and others in the English chapel, and also read privately with English students at the university. Among his friends there was Burnet, the future bishop of Salisbury, by whose influence he obtained several confidential interviews with the prince of Orange. In 1687 Howe availed himself of the publica tion by James II. of the declaration for liberty of conscience to return to England, and in the following year he headed the procession of nonconformist ministers who went to congratulate William on his accession to the English throne. The remainder of his life, so far as recorded, was extremely uneventful. In 1693 he published three admirable dis courses On the Carnality of Religions Contention, suggested by the disputes and divisions that had so abundantly occurred among the nonconformists as soon as liberty of doctrine and worship had been granted. In 1694 and 1695 he published various treatises on the subject of the Trinity, the principal being A Calm and Solemn Inquiry concerning the Possibility of a Trinity in the Godhead. The second part of The Living Temple, entitled Animadversions on Spinosa and a French Writer pretending to confute him, with a recapitulation of the former part and an account of the destitution and restitution of God’s Temple among Men, appeared in 1702. About this time he appears to have fallen into shattered health, but he was able in 1705 to give to the world a discourse On Patience in the Expectation of Future Blessedness, which proved to be his last work. He died in London on April 2, 1706.
Though excelled by Baxter as a pulpit orator, and by Owen in exegetical ingenuity and in almost every department of theological learning, Howe compares favourably with either as a sagacious and profound thinker, while he was much more successful in combining religious earnestness and fervour of conviction with large-hearted tolerance and cultured breadth of view. His style, moreover, though not altogether free from the literary faults which may almost be called characteristic of Puritanism, has often a stately yet grace ful flow which the modern reader will look for in vain in most of Howe’s theological contemporaries. The works published in his life-time, including a number of sermons and other occasional pieces besides those specified above, were collected into 2 vols. fol. in 1724, and again reprinted in 3 vols. 8vo. in 1848. A complete edition of the Whole Works, including much posthumous and additional matter, appeared with a Memoir in 8 vols. in J822; this was reprinted in 1 vol. in 1838. The Memoirs of Howe by Calauiy, originally published in 1724, have been more than once reprinted, and form the basis of The Life and Character of Howe, with an Analysis of his Writings, by Henry Rogers (1836; new ed., 1863).
HOWE, Richard Howe, Earl (1725–1799), English admiral, was born in 1725. By his father Euianuel Scrope Howe, second Viscount Howe in the Irish peerage, he was descended from an old family, several members of which attained distinction in war or in politics; and his mother was the daughter of Baron Kielmanseggc, master of the hor.se to Geurge I, when elector of Han over. Leaving Eton at the age of fourteen, Howe entered the navy as midshipman on board the " Severn, which then furmed one of a squadron under Anson destined for an expedition against Spain in the Pacific. Kothitig is recorded as to the manner in which he conducted himself in the actions in which the squadron engaged, but he at any rate succeeded in winning the approval of his com mander, and in his twentieth year was made lieutenant. Shortly after this he was appointed to the command of a sloop-of-war, the " Baltimore," in which with the aid of the "Greyhound" frigate, commanded by Captain Noel, he signalized himself by defeating off the coast of Scotland two French vessels, of greatly superior metal to his own, which were carrying supplies and reinforcements to the Pretender. On his arrival in England he found that pre vious to this action he had been raised to the rank of post-captain, and he served in this capacity on the coast of Guinea and on the Jamaica station. In 1748 he returned to England, and after spending three years chiefly in the study of naval tactics, he was in 1751 appointed to the " Glory," of 44 guns, and employed on the coast of Africa. In May 1752 he was commissioned to the "Dolphin" frigate, in which he was employed for some years in pro tecting the trade in the vicinity of Gibraltar. Shortly after his return to England he was appointed in 1755 to the " Dunkirk," and joined the squadron of Admiral Boscawen, bound for America. In the course of the voyage thither Howe took a prominent part in capturing two French men-of-war, the " Alcide " and the "Lys." This action was virtually the commencement of the seven years war with France, in the course of which Howe in command of a small squadron succeeded in capturing from the French the island of Chausse, and, after obtaining a commission to the " Magnanime," distinguished himself in the attacks made on the Isle of Aix, St Malo, and Cherbourg, mani fested conspicuous courage and readiness of resource at the disaster of St Cas, and in the action with the French fleet under De Coriflans disabled two of the enemy’s ships. Shortly before the close of the war Howe had married, and by the death of his brother Viscount Howe had inherited the family titles and estates. From 1 758 till 1 782 he represented Dartmouth in parliament; in the latter year he was raised to the British peerage as Viscount Howe. In 1763 he re ceived a seat at the board of admiralty, and in June 1765 he was appointed to the important office of treasurer of the navy, which he retained till August 1770. In October of this latter year he was made rear-admiral of the blue, and nominated commander in chief of the fleet intended to be employed in the Mediterranean in view of a probable rupture with Spain, which, however, did not take place. In 1775 he was promoted rear-admiral of the white, and in the following year he received the command of the squadron despatched to America, but owing to the insufficiency of his force he achieved no exploit of importance. After his return to England he was in September 1782 appointed to the command of the Channel fleet, and ordered to proceed to the relief of Gibraltar, then besieged by the combined land and sea forces of France and Spain, when after suc ceeding in supplying the garrison with stores and provisions
