About 1686 he is said to have gone abroad with a relative who had been appointed ambassador by James II, but declined to accept the office permanently.
After his wife's death in 1696, Howe lived in seclusion in the country, chiefly devoting himself to religious meditation.
Devout Meditations, or, A Collection of Thoughts upon Religious and Philosophical Subjects was published in 1751, nine years after Howe's death.
[1] This work was written for his own use, and was first published, posthumously, as "by a Person of Honour", in 1751, together with Edward Young's commendations.
He had three sons and three daughters, all of whom predeceased their mother, with the exception of Leonora Maria, who became the wife of Peter Bathurst of Clarendon Park, Wiltshire.