1799] 
quired, in the Channel; and in the fumrner 
of 1762, heremoved to the Princefs Amelia, 
of 80 guns, having accepted the command as 
Captain to his Royal Highnefs the Duke of 
York, now Rear-Admiral of the Blue, fery- 
ing as fecond in command under Sir Edward 
Hawke, inthe Channel. Onthe 23d of Au- 
~-guit 1763, his Lordthip was appointed to the 
Board of Admiralty, where he remained till 
Auguft 1765: He was then made Tredfurer 
of the Navy; and in Oétober 1770, - was 
promoted to be Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 
and Commander in Chief in the Mediterra- 
nean. “In March 1775, he was appointed 
Rear-Admiral of the White; and was foon 
after chofen to reprefent'the borough of 
Dartmouth in Parliament. In the month of ' 
December, in the fame year, he was made 
Vice-Admiral of the Blue. It was on one 
ef thefe promotions that Lord Hawke, then 
Firft Lord of the Admiralty, rofe in the Houfe 
of Peers, and faid, ‘* I advifed his Majefty 
to make the promotion. I have tried my 
Lord Howe on important occafions ; he never 
aiked me how he was to execute any fervice, 
but always went and performed it.” In 
3778, France having become a party in the 
war, the French Admiral D’Eftaing appeared, 
on the r1th of July, in fight of the Britith 
fleet, at Sandy Hook, with a confiderable 
force of line of battle fhips, incomplete equip- 
ment andcondition. Moftof the fhips under 
Lord Howe had been long in fervice, were 
not well mannea, and were: not line of battle 
fhips of the prefent day. The French Ad- 
mural, however, remained feven days without 
making an attack, and by that time Lord 
Howe had difpofed his inferior force in fuch 
a manner as tofet him at defance. On D’Ef- 
taing’s leaving the Hook, Lord Mowe heard 
of the critical fituation of Rhode Ifland, and 
made every poflible exertion to preferve it. 
He afterwards ated chiefly on the defenfive. 
Such 2 conduét appears to have been required, 
from the ftate of his fleet, and the particular 
fituation of the Britifh caufe in America. He, 
however, contrived to baffle all the defigns of 
the French Admiral; and may be faid, con- 
fidering the difadvantages with which he was 
furrounded, to have, conduéted and clofed the 
campaign with honour. Lord Howe now re+ 
figned the command to Admiral Byron; and 
on his return to England in O@ober, imme- 
diately ftruck his flag. In the courfe of this 
year, he had been advanced to be Vice-Ad- 
mizal of the White, and fhortly after, to the 
fame rank in the Red fquadron. On the 
change of Adminiiration in the year 1782, 
Lord Howe was raifed to the dignity of a Vif- 
count of Great Britain, having been previ- 
wully advanced to the rank of Admiral of the 
Blue. He was then appointed to command 
the fleet fitted out for the relief of Gibraltar; 
and he fulfilled the important objeéts of this 
expedition. That fortrefs was effe@ually re- 
lieved, the ho tile fleet baffled, and dared in 
vain fo battle; and different fquadyons de- 
Account of Lord " Hatve; 
657 
tached to their important deRinations; while: 
the ardent hopes of his country’s foes were 
difappointed. Peace was concluded fhortly 
after Lord Howe’s return from performing this 
important fervice: and in January 14783, he 
“was nominafed Firft Lord of the Admiralty. 
That office, in the fucceeding April, he re- 
figned to Lord Keppel; but was re-appointed 
on the 30th of December in the fame year. 
On the 24th of September 1787, he was ad- 
vanced to the rank of Admiral of the White ; 
and in July 1788, he finally quitted his fta~ 
tion at the Admiralty. In the following 
Auguft he was created an Earl of Great Bri~ 
tain. On the commencement of the prefent 
war in 1793, Earl Howe accepted the com- 
mand of the weftern {quadron, at the parti- 
cular and perfonal requeft of his Majefty, and 
juttified the choice which his Sovereign had 
made at fuch a perilous and important mo- 
ment. The glorious victory! of the firft of 
june foon followed; the fect, which was one 
of the moft powerful that France had ever 
equipped for fea, was totally vanquished, and 
feven fhips of the enemy’s line were in pof- 
feflion of the conqueror. -On the 26th of the 
fame month, their Majeities, with three of 
the Princefles, arrived at Portfmouth, and 
proceeded the next morning in barges to vifit 
Lord Howe’s fhip, the Queen Charlotte, at 
Spithead. His Majefty. held a Naval Levee 
on board, and. prefented the vi€torious Admi- 
ral with a fword, enriched with diamonds 
and a gold chain, with the naval medal fuf- 
pended from it. The thanks of both houfes 
of parliament, the freedom of the city of 
London, and the univerfal acclamations of the 
nation followed the acknowledgements of the 
fovereign. In the courfe of the following 
year, he was appointed General of Marines, 
on the death of Admiral Forbes ; and finally 
refigned the command of the weftern {quadron 
in April 1797. On the 2d of June in the 
fame/year, he was invefted with the infignia 
of the garter. The laf public aét of a life 
employed againft the foreign enemies ‘of his 
country,’ was exerted to compofe its internal 
difientions. It was the lot of Earl Howe ta 
/contribute to ‘the reftoration of the fleet, 
which he had conduéted to glory on the fea, 
to loyalty in the harbour, .His experience 
fuggefted the meafures to be purfued by 
government on the alarming mutinies, which 
in 1797 diftrefled and ‘terrified the nation; 
while his perfonal exertions powerfully pro- 
moted the difperfion of -that fpirit, which 
had, for a time, changed the very nature of 
Britifh feamen, and greatly helped to recall 
them to their former career of duty and 
obedience. In the year 1758, his Lordfhip 
married Mary, daughter of Chiverton Har - 
top, efq. of Welby, in the county of Leicef-_ 
ter. His iffue by this Lady, is Lady Sophia, 
Charlotte, married tothe Hon. Pen Afhton 
Curzon, eldef® fon of Lord Curzon, who is 
lately dead; Lady Mary Indiana, and’ Lady 
Louifa Catharine, married to the prefent Earl 
of Altamont, of Ireland. At 
