posts. He wrote some plays, of which the best was The Committee, and collaborated with Dryden in The Indian Queen. He was at odds with him, however, on the question of rhyme, the use of which he wrote against in very indifferent blank verse.
Howe, John (1630-1705).—Puritan divine, b. at Loughborough, of which his f. was curate, studied at Camb., and became, in 1652, minister of Great Torrington, Devonshire, where he was famous for the unusual length of his sermons and prayers. In 1657 Oliver Cromwell made him his resident chaplain at Whitehall, a position which he retained under Richard C., so long as the latter held the office of Protector. On the Restoration H. returned to Great Torrington, from which, however, he was ejected in 1662. Thereafter he wandered from place to place, preaching in secret until 1671, when he went to Ireland as chaplain to Lord Massareene, and in 1675 he became minister of a dissenting congregation in London. In 1685 he travelled with Lord Wharton on the Continent, but returned in 1687 to London, where he d. in 1705. H. was the author of many excellent works of practical divinity, among which are The Living Temple, Inquiry into the Doctrine of the Trinity, and The Divine Presence. The substance of his writings is better than their style, which is involved and extremely diffuse, and evinces much vigour of mind. H. is described as of a fine presence and dignified manners.
Howell, James (1594?-1666).—Miscellaneous writer, s. of a clergyman at Abernant, Caermarthenshire, was at Oxf. and spent the greater part of his earlier life travelling in various Continental countries, including the Low Countries, France, Spain, and Italy, on various matters of business, during which he became versed in many languages, and amassed stores of information and observations on men and manners. He was a keen Royalist, and was on this account imprisoned in the Fleet, 1643-51. He wrote a large number of books, including Dodona's Grove, a political allegory, Instructions for Foreign Travel (1642), England's Tears for the Present Wars, A Trance, or News from Hell, and above all, Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ, Familiar Letters, chiefly written in the Fleet to imaginary correspondents, but no doubt based upon notes of his own travels. It is one of the most interesting and entertaining books in the language.
Howie, John (1735-1793).—Biographer, a Renfrewshire farmer, who claimed descent from an Albigensian refugee, wrote Lives of the martyrs of Scotland from Patrick Hamilton, the first, to James Renwick, the last, under the title of Scots Worthies. The work of an unlettered man, it has considerable merit as regards both matter and style, and was long a classic among the Scottish peasantry as well as higher orders of the people.
Howitt, William (1792-1879), Howitt, Mary (Botham) (1799-1888).—Miscellaneous writers. William H. was b. at Heanor, Derbyshire, and was apprenticed to a builder; Mary was b. at Coleford, Gloucestershire; they m. in 1821, and settled at Hanley, where they carried on business as chemists. Two years later they re-
