Dalmatia, and whom he more than once liberally supplied with money for the prosecution of his studies. Hervey afterwards claimed to have been the first to draw attention to the geological formation of the Giant's Causeway, on the coast of Antrim.
During the brief period of his brother's viceroyalty in Ireland [see Hervey, George William] he was nominated for the first bishopric that fell vacant there, and on 2 Feb. 1767 he was created bishop of Cloyne. Anxious to ingratiate himself with the Irish clergy, and to prove himself superior to the prejudice which restricted almost every gift in the church to Englishmen, he offered his chaplainship to Philip Skelton as a mark of his admiration for his ‘Deism Revealed.’ The offer was accepted, but came to nothing, owing to Skelton's eccentric behaviour. On 18 Feb. 1768 Hervey was translated to the very rich bishopric of Derry; but during his short tenure of the see of Cloyne he did much to improve its property by reclaiming the bog of Cloyne, which had hitherto been a source of constant dispute and a harbour for loose persons. His action was fiercely resented by the Irish, particularly the Casey family, who claimed a proprietary right in the bog, and tore down his fences and gates as fast as he erected them, involving him in much expensive litigation. In the end, however, he triumphed, and in 1768 the right of the see of Cloyne to the bog was finally established. His tenure of the bishopric of Derry was marked by the like assiduous attention to the welfare of his diocese. Having personally visited every parish, he instituted a fund for the support of superannuated clergymen. He was generous and even lavish in his expenditure of the revenues of his see for public purposes. He opened out wild and uncivilised districts by roads constructed at his own expense; he contributed largely to the building of a new bridge on the Foyle; he was actively engaged in fostering agriculture and in introducing new and improved methods of farming, and it was chiefly at his instigation that extensive operations in search of coal were undertaken. In addition to the princely residences he erected at Downhill and Ballyscullion, and adorned with the rarest works of art, the city and county of Londonderry owe to him many of their chief architectural beauties. In 1770 the corporation of Londonderry presented him with the freedom of their city, a compliment never before paid to his predecessors, and the city of Dublin conferred a similar honour on him.
At a time when sectarian jealousies ran high, Hervey did much by his example to soften their asperities and to cultivate a spirit of toleration. In parliament he warmly advocated a relaxation of the penal laws, and it was largely due to his exertions that the act relieving the catholics from the oath of supremacy was passed. He was strongly opposed to the tithe system, and suggested that in lieu of it a portion of land should be assigned to each clergyman for his subsistence. His suggestion was favourably received by his fellow-bishops, and an experiment made of it in his diocese; but ill-health and other circumstances compelled him to drop it before it had a fair trial. From his letters to Strange it would appear that from 1777 to 1779 he resided chiefly in Italy. He had gone to Rome partly on account of his son, who had a taste for architecture, and partly for the sake of some Irish records to be found there; but he himself was much more interested in investigating the subterraneous rivers of Istria. In the summer of 1778 he was attacked by a severe illness, which compelled him to pass the winter at Naples. On the death of his elder brother (Augustus John [q. v.]) in December 1779, he succeeded to the earldom of Bristol and an annual rental of about 20,000l.; but his brother, with the characteristic eccentricity of the family, took care by a codicil to deprive him of all that he possibly could, including the private papers of the family and the deer in Ickworth Park. On his return to Ireland Hervey seems for a time to have abstained from any active part in politics, and it was not until after the great volunteer convention at Dungannon in February 1782 that he publicly announced his intention of joining the corps of Londonderry volunteers. Thenceforth he threw himself enthusiastically into the movement, contributing largely to the purchase of camp equipage, and even entering into negotiations with Strange for the purchase of several ships of the line from the Venetian state. His popularity with every class of the community, especially with the presbyterians, his enormous wealth and undoubted ability soon raised him to a prominent position among the volunteers of the north. Like most of the intelligent politicians of the time, he was strongly convinced of the necessity of supplementing the legislative enactments of 1782 by a radical reform of the representation of the Irish House of Commons; but, unlike the majority of them, he would gladly have seen the elective franchise extended to the Roman catholics. His opinions in this respect naturally drew him closer to the democratic party; but it would be a mistake to attribute to him any sympathy with republicanism. His views, although extreme, showed a keener perception
