1631, 1643. And in English, with this title, A Treatise on Conscience, with the Power and Cases thereof, quarto, London, 1643. XI. Antisynodalia, &c. duodecimo, Franeker, 1692. Amsterdam, 1633: against the Remonstrants. XII. Demonstratio logica vera, duodecimo, Lugd. Bat. 1632. XIII. Disputatio Theologica, ibid. Against metaphysics. XIV. Technometria, &c. octavo, Amsterdam, 1632; or, The Purpose and Bounds of Arts. XV. A Reply to Bishop Morton. XVI. A Fresh Suit against Human Ceremonies in God's Worship; or, A Triplication upon Dr. Burgess's Rejoinder for Dr. Morton, quarto, 1633. XVII. A first and second Manuduction. XVIII. Rescriptio ad responsum Grevinchovii de redemptione generali, octavo, Lugd. Bat. 1634. XIX. Christiana catecheseos sciographia, octavo, Franeker, 1635. XX. Lectiones in omnes Psalmos Davidis, &c. octavo, sterdam, 1635; and London, 1647. He wrote also some Prefaces, &c. to the writings of others, and a few scattered Pieces, not mentioned in any catalogue of his books. His Latin works were reprinted at Amsterdam, in 1658, in five volumes, with a Preface by Matthias Nethenus. Am GEORGE HERBERT. GEORGE HERBERT was born the third day of April, in the year of our Lord 1593, near the town of Montgomery, and in the castle that then bore the name of that town and county. The castle was at that time a place of state and strength, which, with a plentiful estate, had been long in the possession of the Herberts. The father of this George was Richard Herbert, the son of Edward Herbert, knight, the son of Richard Herbert, knight, the son of the famous Sir Richard Herbert of Colebrook, in the county of Monmouth, Bart. who was the youngest brother of that memorable William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, that lived in the reign of our King Edward the Fourth. His mother was Magdalen Newport,* the youngest *While Mr. Herbert's widow, she resided four years in Oxford, for the convenience of her eldest son's education in that University; where, on account of her more than feminine understanding and extraordinary piety, she became acquainted with the most eminent for worth youngest daughter of Sir Richard, and sister to Sir Francis Newport of High-Arkall in the county of Salop, Knight, and grandfather of Francis Lord Newport, Comptroller of His Majesty's household. His brother was the famous Lord Herbert of Cherbury, who cer tainly was a very learned and polished man, but not so much a Christian (to say the least of him) as our excellent Author. Her son, George Herbert, spent much of his childhood under the eye and care of his prudent mother, with the tuition of a chaplain or tutor, till about the age of twelve years; and being at that time well instructed in the rules of grammar, he was not long after commended to the care of Dr. Neale, who was then Dean of Westminster, and by him to the care of Mr. Ireland, who was then chief master of that school; where the amiable and lovely behaviour of his childhood endeared him to all that knew him, and where appeared evident marks of great genius and piety. It appears from the following letter to his dear mother for a New Year's gift, written in the first year after his going to Cambridge, that he consecrated the first fruits of his early age to virtue and a serious study of learning. but I "fear the heat of my late ague hath dried up those "springs, by which, scholars say, the muses used to take up their habitations. However, I need not their help, 66 66 "" to worth and learning, both in and near the University; and particularly with the great Mr. Donne, afterwards Doctor in Divinity and Dean of St. Paul's, [see his life, Vol. II. p. 492.] who enclosed to her in a most polite and elegant letter, with some sacred hymus, the following sonnet. To the Lady Magdalen Herbert, of St. Mary Magdalen. 'Her of your name, whose fair inheritance Bethina was, and jointure Magdalo: An active faith so highly did advance, That she once knew more than the Church did know, 'Delivered of her, that some fathers be Loth to believe one woman could do this; But think those Magdalens were two or three, E 'J. D.' 66 "to reprove the vanity of those many love-poems that are daily writ and consecrated to Venus, nor to be"wail that so few are writ that look towards GoD and "heaven. For my own part, my meaning, dear mo"ther, is in these sonnets to declare my resolution to "be, that my poor abilities in poetry shall be all and ever consecrated to God's glory. 66 This happy resolution, formed in the seventeenth year of his age, continued; and, as he grew older, so he grew in learning and more in favour both with God and man; and God gave him perseverance, and kept him so growing in grace, that he may very properly be held forth as a pattern of grace to posterity, and especially to his brethren of the clergy. In the year 1609 he was made minor fellow; in 1611, bachelor of arts; on March 15, 1615, major fellow of the college; and in the same year, being the twenty-second year of his age, he was made master of arts: And in the year 1619 he was chosen orator for the university. The first opportunity of shewing his qualifications for this employment of orator, was in a letter to King James, who had sent the university his book, entitled Basilicon Doron, and their orator was to acknowledge this great honour, and return their gratitude to his majesty for such a condescension; at the close of which letter, he wrote, Quid Vaticanam Bodleianamque objicis, hospes! This letter was written in such excellent Latin, was so richly fraught with fancy, and all the expressions so suited to the genius of the king, that he required the orator's name, and then asked the Earl of Pembroke if he knew him? Whose answer was, 'That he knew him very well, and that he was his kinsman; but he loved him more for his learning and virtue, than for that he was of his name and family. At which the king smiled, and asked the Earl leave, that he might love him too; for he took The dedication itself, in his own words, is in the following verse: "LORD, my first fruits present themselves to thee;" "And must return. Accept of them and me, took him to be the jewel of that university. And, after a discourse with him, his majesty declared to his kinsman, the Earl of Pembroke, that he found the orator's learning and wisdom much above his age or wit. About this time a very happy friendship took place between Mr. Herbert and Dr. Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Henry Wotton, and Dr. Donne, which continued till death. At the time of his being orator, he had learned the Italian, Spanish, and French tongues perfectly, hoping with his predecessors to become Secretary of State, being at that time high in the King's favour, and much beloved by the most eminent of the court nobility. This often drew him from Cambridge to attend on the king, who gave him the same sinecure which Queen Elizabeth gave to her favourite, Sir Philip Sidney, worth at that time a hundred and twenty pounds a-year. He often designed to leave the university and to travel, supposing that his studies hurt his health, being consumptive, and subject to frequent fevers and other infirmities; but on this as on other occasions he readily submitted to the will of his mother, who was averse to his either leaving the university, or going abroad.* And while he thus waited * As Mr. Herbert's duteous affection to his mother appears in a letter written to her when she was in a fit of sickness; and, as it shews how well qualified he was for what he afterwards came to be, a father as well as pastor to his parish, we shall, without any farther apology, lay it before our readers. " MADAM, "Ar my last parting from you I was the better content, because I "was in hope I should myself carry all sickness out of your family; "but since I know I did not, and that your share continues, or rather "increaseth, I wish earnestly that I were again with you; and would "quickly make good my wish, but that my employment does fix me "here, being now but a month to our commencement: Wherein, my "absence by how much it naturally augmenteth suspicion, by so much "shall it make my prayers the more constant and the more earnest for you to the GOD of all consolation. In the mean time I beseech "you to be cheerful, and comfort yourself in the God of all comfort, "who is not willing to behold any sorrow but for sin. What hath af"fliction grievous in it more than for a moment? Or why should our "afflictions here have so much power or boldness as to oppose the hope "of our joys hereafter? Madam, as the earth is but a point in respect "of the heavens, so are earthly troubles compared to heavenly joys; "therefore, if either age or sickness lead you to those joys, consider "what advantage you have over youth and health, who are now so near "those true comforts. "Your last letter gave me an earthly preferment, and kept heavenly "for yourself: But would you divide and choose too? Our college "customs waited with expectation of a call from Cambridge to court, he lost two of his principal friends, namely, Lodowick, Duke of Richmond, and James, Marquis of Hamilton; and, not long after them, died King James also; customs allow not that, and I should account myself most happy, if "I might change with you; for I have always observed the thread of "life to be like other threads or skenes of silk, full of snarls and incum"brances. Happy is he, whose bottom is wound up, and laid ready "for work in the New Jerusalem. "For myself, dear mother, I always feared sickness more than death, "because sickness hath made me unable to perform those offices for which I came into the world, and must yet be kept in it; but you "are freed from that fear, who have already abundantly discharged "that part, having both ordered your family, and so brought up your "children, that they have attained to the years of discretion, and com"petent maintenance: So that now if they do not well, the fault can"not be charged on you, whose example and care of them will justify << you both to the world and your own conscience; insomuch, that whe"ther you turn your thoughts on the life past, or on the joys that are to come, you have strong preservatives against all disquiet.-And for "temporal afflictions! I beseech you to consider all that can happen "to you are either afflictions of estate, or body, or mind. "For those of estute, of what poor regard ought they to be, since if "we had riches, we are commanded to give them away? So that the "best use of them is, having, not to have them. But perhaps being "above the cominon people, our credit and estimation calls on us to "live in a more splendid fashion: But, O God! how easily is that an"swered, when we consider, that the blessings in the holy Scripture are "never given to the rich, but to the poor. I never find blessed be the "rich, or blessed be the noble; but blessed be the meek, and blessed be "the poor, and blessed be the mourners, for they shall be comforted. And 66 yet, O GOD! most carry themselves so, as if they not only not de"sired, but even feared to be blessed. "And for afflictions of the body, dear Madam, remember the holy martyrs of Gon, how they have been burnt by thousands, and have "endured such other tortures, as the very mention of them might beget "amazement; but their fiery trials have had an end: And your's "(which, praised be GoD, are less) are not like to continue long. I "beseech you let such thoughts as these moderate your present fear " and sorrow; and know, that if any of your's should prove a Goliah"like trouble, yet you may say with David, That GOD who hath de "livered me out of the paws of the lion and bear, will also deliver me out of "the hands of this uncircumcised Philistine. "Lastly, for those afflictions of the soul, consider that God intends "that to be as a sacred temple for himself to dwell in, and will not "allow any room there for such an inmate as grief; or allow that any "sadness shall be his competitor. And above all, if any care of future "things molest you, remember those admirable words of the Psalmist, "Psalm Iv. Cast thy care on the Lord, and he shall nourish thee. To which "join that of St. Peter, 1 Peter, v. 7. Casting all your care on the Lord, "for he careth for you. What an admirable thing is this, that God puts "his shoulder to our burthen, and entertains our care for us, that we 66 may the more quietly intend his service? To conclude, let me "commend only one place more to you: (Phil. v. 4.) St. Paul saith "there, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. He doubles "it to take away the scruple of those that might say, What, shall we "rejoice in afflictions? Yes, I say again rejoice; so that it is not left |