COWLES, WILLIAM SHEFFIELD

(1846), Admiral U.S. Navy. Graduated from U.S. Naval Academy 1867. Promoted Rear Admiral April 23, 1908. Served on Isthmus of Panama, 1884; naval attache U.S. Emba y, London 1893-7. Commanded the Fern, 1897-8; Topeka, 1898-9. Naval representative to Tercentenary Celebration, Quebec, July, 1908. Retired August 1, 1908. Chairman Naval and Military Committee Connecticut Council of Defense in World War.: Eng. poet and e ayist; he is chiefly remembered by his Pindarite Odes and some fine elegies; and his prose e ays, distinguished by directne and simplicity, continue to hold a high place in English literature. Eng. poet; educated for the bar; early developed symptoms of brain weakne , which rendered a settled occupation impo ible. He subsequently retired to the village of Olney (Bucks), where the good genius of his life was Mary Unwin, widow ofa friend. He collaborated with the Rev. John Newton in writing the Olney Hymns. In this environment he amused himself with his tame hares and other pets; left Olney for London in 1779; wrote The Task, 1785; the ballad of John Gilpin, and other poems. His verse fills the transition period between the cla icism of Pope and the nature poetry of Words worth, and therefore Cowper stands as a in Eng. literature. In addition, he was a great letter-writer. genus of marine gasteropod a; shells of C. moneta and C. annulus used as currency in Pacific and Eastern seas; other species are used as ornaments.