Howe John

Howe, John (1630-1706), a Puritan divine, was born at Loughborough, in Leicestershire, in which parish his father was curate for some years till his suspension for alleged irregularity by the Court of High Commission in 1634.' The son was a graduate of both Cambridge and Oxford, and was elected fellow of Magdalen College in the latter university, and, having taken orders, he was appointed perpetual curate first of Great Torrington and then of St. Saviour's, Dartmouth. Having pleased Cromwell by his preaching at Whitehall, he was appointed chaplain to the Protector, a post in which he won the respect of all. Upon the deposition of Richard Cromwell (1659), Howe, who had a high opinion of the unappreciated Protector, returned to Torrington, where he officiated, but not without persecution, till 1662, when he was ejected in accordance with the terms of the Uniformity Act. In 1670 he went to Ireland as domestic chaplain to Viscount Massereene, and five years later he became pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in London. In 1685 he went abroad and settled at Utrecht, but returned ill 1687, and after the accession of William III. was a great advocate of mutual toleration and forbearance, and also of a union between Presbyterians and Congregationalists. His later years were quiet and uneventful. The Living Temple and his many other works were published in eight volumes in 1822, and there are memoirs of his life.