Howe, Richard

EARL, a British admiral, B. 1725, was the second son of Lord Viscount Howe; entered the navy at 14, and distinguished himself for courage and seamanship as he rose through the various ranks of the service to that of post-captain. In 1758 he succeeded (by his elder brother's death) to the family estates and honors; but he was true to the sea, and was in constant active employment to the end of the Seven Years' War. When France took part against England in the American war, H. was admiral of the English fleet off the American coast, and gained great credit by succe fully keeping the French admiral D'Estaing in check throughout 1778. At the end of that year H. returned to Europe, and performed the important service of relieving Gibraltar. In 1788 he was made an earl. At the commencement of the war against France in 1793, H. took the command of the western channel fleet at the king's earnest and personal request. In the next year he succeeded in bringing the main French republican fleet to action, and gained a decisive and important victory. called by the English the Battle of the First of June. In 1797, Lord H. exerted himself with great succe to quell the mutiny among the seamen at Portsmouth, and D. 1799.- SIR WILLIAM, brother of the preceding, called by Lee "the most indolent of mortals," succeeded known to have acquired the free use of words. Equal succe crowned his efforts to teach other blind deaf mutes. Dr. H. so modified and improved the existing mode of printing for the blind as to make it really available and useful. His method was pronounced the best by the elaborate report of the jury of the British Great Exhibition in 1851, and he received a medal, as also another at the Art Exhibition of Paris in 1867. Partly as an acknowledgment of services to humanity, and partly, perhaps, as an atonement for wrong done him, the king of Pru ia sent him a costly gold medal. When the Cretan revolt broke out, Dr. H. appealed to the sympathies of his countrymen in behalf of those islanders. A system of contributions was organized, and Dr. H. revisited Greece after an interval of 40 years, as the almoner of America, and, as before, he carefully superintended in person the distribution of the supplies. Dr. H. was the first person in this country who demonstrated the educability of idiots by systematically training several blind idiotic children. He subsequently organized the first public institution for the training of this cla of unfortunates. He labored during 20 years to introduce articulate speech into the education of deaf-mutes. The recent adoption of this measure under the sanction of the commonwealth is principally due to his exertions in its behalf. D. 1876.