thus committed to the care and tenderness of a mother eminent for wisdom and piety. A worthy chaplain aided her in the education of George till he had attained his twelfth year, when he was sent to Westminster school, where, in the words of Walton, "the beauties of his pretty behaviour and wit shined and became so eminent and lovely in that his innocent age, that he seemed to be marked out for piety." Obtaining a king's scholarship, he passed in his fifteenth year to Trinity college, Cambridge. In 1611 he took his degree of bachelor, and in 1615 that of master of arts, being also made major fellow of his college; and so great was his reputation for learning, that in 1619 he was elected to the distinguished position of public orator of the university. James I. had presented his Basilikon Doron to the university, and the official acknowledgment of the orator in Latin was so scholarly and elegant, that the king asked leave of the earl of Pembroke, his relative, "that he might love him too, for he took him to be the jewel of that university." He grew in favour with the king, associated with Bacon and other distinguished men, applied himself to the study of French, Italian, and Spanish, in which he became a great proficient, with the hope of attaining the post of secretary of state; and received from the king a sinecure worth £120 a year. With the death of James, in 1625, died his hopes of court advancement, and the mind of Herbert reverted to the happier and holier instincts which were native to it. Returning to the solitude of a friend's dwelling in Kent, he gave himself up to study and serious meditation, and "had many conflicts with himself whether he should return to the painted pleasures of a court life or betake himself to a study of divinity and enter into sacred orders." The conflict was neither short nor light; but his mind once resolved, the resolution was not to be shaken. Notwithstanding the remonstrance of a friend, and entirely in accordance with the wish of his mother, he was ordained, and shortly after made prebend of Layton Ecclesia in Huntingdonshire. His first care was to re-edify the ruined church, which, at a large cost to himself and his friends, he made beautiful and commodious; but his health becoming impaired, he went for a time first to Woodford in Essex, and afterwards to Wiltshire, and after some time married Jane, the eldest daughter of his friend Mr. Charles Danvers. The young people had never met till three days before the marriage, but they were deeply impressed each with the other's worth by reputation, and loved at first sight. Never was a union so quickly accomplished more happy in its results. Three months after, Herbert was promoted to the parish of Bremerton. "When at his induction," says Izaak Walton, "he was shut into Bremerton church, being left there alone to toll the bell, he staid so much longer than an ordinary time, that his friend Mr. Woodnot looked in at the church window and saw him he prostrate on the ground before the altar; at which time and place, as he after told Mr. Woodnot, he set some rules to himself for the future management of his life, and then and there made a vow to labour to keep them." What these rules were, and how well he kept that vow, the residue of his life beautifully illustrates. Holy, humble, and unwearied in all the ministrations of his office, he was a perfect model of a pastor—such, indeed, as he has described in that exquisite work "The Country Parson." And so he continued, with feeble health and an unrelaxing spirit, to do his master's work till he was called away, in his thirty-ninth year (1632), But it is as a christian poet that the name of George Herbert will ever be venerated. "The Temple, and other poems," establish his reputation and secure him an enduring fame. They are redolent with the spirit of holiness, replete with beautiful thoughts, and expressed in language which, though quaint and prim, is simple, manly, and dignified. True, his verse is often overladen with conceits of imagery, a fault not uncommon in his day; but this and other minor defects will never prevent his being a favourite with a large class of readers. Many editions of his works have been published.—J. F. W.
* HERBERT, John Rogers, R.A., was born at Maldon, Essex, in 1810; studied in the Royal Academy; and for a while practised portrait-painting. He first attracted public notice by his pictures from the social life and history of Venice, some of which became, through the medium of the engraver, exceedingly popular. But about 1840 he went over to the Romish church, and his views as to the true scope and purpose of art underwent a marked change. Mr. Herbert has since, with the exception of the completion of some earlier commissions, confined himself in the main to scriptural subjects, or such religious themes as admit of being treated in accordance with the conventions of his church. In character and intent, therefore, though not exactly in technical modes of expression, Mr. Herbert may be regarded as the principal English representative of the great German school of religious painters, at the head of which are Cornelius and Overbeck. For some years past Mr. Herbert has almost wholly devoted his energies to the important task assigned to him of painting in fresco, on the walls of the peers' robing rooms in the house of lords, nine large pictures of subjects from the scriptures. Mr. Herbert was elected A.R.A. in 1841, and R.A. in 1846.—J. T—e.
HERBERT, Mary. See Sidney.
HERBERT, Sidney, Lord Herbert of Lea, Right Honourable, secretary of state for the war department, son of the eleventh earl of Pembroke by his second wife, daughter of the Count Woronzow, was born at Richmond in 1810. Educated at Harrow and at Oriel college, Oxford (where in 1831 he took a fourth in classics), Mr. Herbert entered the house of commons in 1832, and in the conservative interest, as member for South Wilts, which he continued to represent until his elevation to the peerage. His official career began in 1835 as under-secretary to the board of control in Sir Robert Peel's first ministry. Active in his opposition to the Melbourne ministry in its last years, he was appointed secretary of the admiralty in Sir Robert Peel's ministry of 1841. In February, 1845, he became secretary-at-war, and throwing in his political fortunes with his chief, disappeared from official life after the repeal of the corn laws. In the interval he distinguished himself by various philanthropic efforts for the amelioration of the condition of the poor, notably of the distressed needlewomen, in which latter instance he was powerfully aided by his wife (daughter of Major-general Ashe á Court, Amington Hall, Warwickshire, and niece of the first Lord Heytesbury), whom he married in 1846. On the formation of Lord Aberdeen's coalition ministry, he returned with his leading Peelite friends to power, and resumed his post of secretary-at-war. On the resignation of Lord Aberdeen, he accepted the office of secretary of state for the colonies under Lord Palmerston, but resigned it soon afterwards, when the new premier accepted the select committee of inquiry into the state of the army before Sebastopol, moved for by Mr. Roebuck—a motion the success of which had induced Lord Aberdeen to resign. On the formation of Lord Palmerston's second ministry, he became secretary for the war department. To him are due the reorganization of the army medical department and of the militia, the organization of the volunteer corps, the more rapid and efficient fortification of our dockyards, the extension of the Armstrong gun factory, and the reorganization of Sandhurst. An excellent article on the sanitary organization of the army which he contributed to the Westminster Review in January, 1859, and which has since been republished in a separate form, bespeaks his considerate care for the health and comfort of the common soldier. His labours both in the house of commons and in his office had so impaired his health, that he was forced to resign his seat; and early in 1861 he was raised to the peerage. The state of his health compelled Lord Herbert to resign office early in the following July, and he proceeded to Spa. Returning to England, he died at Wilton on the 24th of July, 1861, very deeply and generally regretted.—F. E.
HERBERT, Sir Thomas, biographer of the last years of Charles I., was the grandson of an alderman of York, and born in that city early in the seventeenth century. Educated at Jesus college, Oxford, and Trinity college, Cambridge, he secured the patronage of his high and munificent kinsman, William, earl of Pembroke. Aided by the purse and influence of this nobleman, he was enabled to accompany to the East Sir Dodmore Cotton, sent by Charles I. as ambassador to the shah of Persia. He was absent four years, and in 1634 he published an account of his experiences, a work which attained considerable popularity and went through several editions. On the breaking out of the civil war he sided with the parliament, which on various occasions he represented as a commissioner. In this capacity he was with Charles at Holmby house, when the king at the bidding of parliament dismissed most of the servants in attendance upon his person. Charles singled out Herbert, with Harrington of the Oceana, to be among the grooms of his bedchamber, and a strong attachment grew up between the monarch and his new attendant. Herbert remained with the king till his execution; and it was he who, with Juxon, took charge of Charles' corpse
