Thomas Herbert

“ Finally Herbert stated that the parliament owed him 2,000l., the arrears of his pension, and that he lost 2,000l. in the war, all which debts he remitted on condition that the fine the fine of 2,500l. imposed on his elder son for his delinquency should be cancelled. His grandson Edward and his friends Selden and Evan Thomas of Bishops Castle, Shropshire, were his executors, and were charged to bring his petition in behalf of his elder son before parliament. His Latin and Greek books were left to Jesus College, Oxford, where they still remain. Herbert's wife had died 29 Oct. ”

“ Herbert's sole important work is the 'Life of St. Thomas of Canterbury,' written 1184-6. Its seven books of rambling, long-winded narrative, prosy sermonising, and turgid declamation would be intolerable if their faults were not redeemed by the writer's genuine enthusiasm for his hero, by his intimate knowledge of his subject, and by the fairness with which, notwithstanding his own vehement partisanship, he allows his readers to see both sides of the questions with which he deals. Herbert also compiled a yet more verbose and tedious 'Liber Melorum' in praise of the martyr, a 'Homily' for St. ”

“ His short, thin, and “fayre bodie,” common, as George Herbert would have us imply, to all who bore his name, his elegance, his hospitality, and his devotedness to his elderly wife, carried him off handsomely in the eyes of her jealous circle. His house in Chelsea, commemorated now by Danvers Street, adjoined that which had been Sir Thomas More’s, and was presumably a part of the same estate. All around it, and due to its master’s genuine enthusiasm, lay the first Italian garden planted in England ”

“ HERBERT, Sir THOMAS (1606–1682) , traveller and author, son of Christopher Herbert, by Jane, daughter of Henry Akroyd of Foggathorpe in the East Riding of Yorkshire, was born in 1606 at York, where his family, which descended from Sir Richard Herbert of Colebrook, Monmouthshire [see under Herbert, Sir William, Earl of Pembroke, d. 1469] , had been settled for some generations as substantial merchants (Drake, Eboracum, pp. 298-300; Dugdale, Visitation of Yorkshire, Surtees Soc., xxxvi. 165) . According to Wood he was admitted commoner of Jesus College, Oxford, in 1621 ”

“ Now, Dicky-Bird, leggo!"
With a dexterous movement Bindle wrenched his arm free from Wilton's clutch, and drew his truncheon, which he flourished under the nose of his astonished captors. Thomas, fearing an attack, released the arm he held and retreated precipitately to the door.
"Thomas! Wilton!" shrieked Lady Knob-Kerrick, "hold him, don't let him escape."
"I'll keep the door, m' lady," said Thomas, his hand on the handle, his attitude that of a man solicitous as to his own safety rather than desirous of preventing another's escape. ”

“ These lie like men asleep, and on their faces is the peace of absolute rest and relaxation, but of these alas! there are few compared to the ones upon whose pallid, blood-stained faces one reads the last frantic agony of death. ”

“ Thousands of German, French, Belgian, Austrian, Russian, and British men in the prime of life have been miserably slain and lie in obscure graves of which the enemy now is the guardian, while others writhe in the agony of lingering wounds or sullenly brood over their fate in the dull routine of military prisons. In every part of the warring countries mothers weep over the sons they shall see no more, and wives over the husbands snatched from them forever. ”

“ In this hour of thanksgiving our eternal gratitude goes out to those heroes who loved liberty better than life, who sleep yonder, where they fell; to the maimed, whose honorable scars testify stronger than words to their splendid valor, and to the brave fellows whose strong, relentless blows finally crushed the enemy's power. ”

“ In the chill rain of dark nights our engineers had to build new roads across spongy shell-torn areas, repair broken roads beyond No Man's Land, and build bridges. Our gunners, with no thought of sleep, put their shoulders to wheels and drag-ropes to bring their guns through the mire in support of the infantry, now under the increasing fire of the enemy's artillery. Our attack had taken the enemy by surprise, but quickly recovering himself, he began to fire counterattacks in strong force, supported by heavy bombardments, with large quantities of gas. ”

“ I know of smashing attacks the thought of which takes one's breath away. I have heard narratives of the trenches and of the bridges—these engineers, French and English, have indeed 'played the game'—which no man can hear unmoved; how the columns went down again and again to the blazing death of the valley, and how men worked, building and girding in a very inferno—worked with the furious speed of those whose time of work is short. ”

“ To the soldiers and sailors of the United States and Canada; to the men of the armies and navies of nations allied with us; to the splendid courage and devotion of American, French, British and Belgian women, who have endured in silence the pain of losses worse than death, and never faltered in works of mercy for which no thanks can ever pay; to all the agencies of good that have helped save civilization and the world from the most dreadful menace of all time, this volume is dedicated. ”

“ Nothing has turned up to hint at Sir Herbert's connection, even acquaintance, with any older women or indeed any woman of a different stamp, of his own station in life, or in society at all. No woman who could be mentioned by name has ever had to do with Sir Herbert since he came to New York,—that we know of. ”

“ There are few of our writers so variously endowed and accomplished as Mr. Herbert; of a mind easily warmed and singularly enthusiastic, the natural bent of his talent inclines him to romance. He has accordingly given us several stories abounding in stately scenes, and most impressive portraiture. Well skilled in the use of the mother tongue, as in the broad fields of classical literature, he has written essays of marked eloquence, and criticisms of excellent discrimination and a keen and thorough insight. His contributions to our periodicals have been even more happy than his fictions. ”

“ After the death of Charles I, Herbert repaired to the Hague, and was made attorney-general by the new king. He thereupon proceeded to Brussels, where, with Sir George Ratcliffe, he attached himself to the Duke of York, undertook to form his household for him, excited his military ambition, and intrigued to marry him to a daughter of the Duke of Lorraine. Herbert thus rendered himself very obnoxious to the queen-mother. ”

“ It was a shorter concert than usual, and as they were slowly making for the door with the rest of the crowd, the old man said to his young friend, “Can you come home with me to-night, my dear boy? I have something more to say to you, and I cannot say it here. I do not think it will make you very late.”
“I shall be very glad to,” replied Herbert, “and very glad to hear anything from you. You are the only person in the world to whom I can go for advice about music. It is very good of you to take so much interest in me.” ”

“ On the next morning I happened to drop in at Herbert's office.... And that, in short, is how I was mixed up in the business.
"Look here," said Herbert, "you used to be mathematical; here's something for you."
"Let the dead past bury its dead," I implored. "I am now quite respectable."
"It goes like this," he said, ignoring my appeal.
He then gave me the problem, which I hand on to you.
"A subaltern riding at the rear of a column of soldiers trotted up to the captain in front and challenged him to a game of billiards for half-a-crown a side, the loser to pay for the table. ”

“ Up to forty years of age, Lord Herbert had lived as became a gentleman of ancient nobility, great expectations, and in the enjoyment of the most friendly intercourse with his sovereign. Well educated, travelled, accustomed to courtly life, devoted to learned studies and given to scientific pursuits, he has been hitherto only presented to us, in his domestic relations, as a dutiful son, a husband and father, having few engagements to withdraw him from the management of his estates, or distract him from the enjoyment of country sports and social intercourse. ”

“ He would not allow himself to be imposed upon if he could help it. Being strong for his age, he was always able to maintain his rights, but never abused his strength by making it the instrument of tyrannizing over weaker boys.
Of course Herbert felt somewhat anxious as to his future prospects. He knew that the doctor had written to his Uncle Benjamin about him, and he hoped that he might be sent for to New York, having a great curiosity to see the city, of which he had heard so much.
“Have you heard from my uncle, Dr. Kent?” ”

“ Dear Herbert, he is so good—I can't tell you how good he is to me—but he never will mention them. First of all I was so ill, I couldn't stand talking of them, but now I can, and I do long for it. He doesn't forget them, I know, but I think men live more in the present than we do; and he has his work, which absorbs him very much, and it isn't quite the same for a man. And then they were so delicate, particularly Madeline, that I was wrapped up in them all their lives ”

“ When he felt his case unusually serious, and that he positively must find an opening, he would go on 'Change at a busy time, and walk in and out, in a kind of gloomy country dance figure, among the assembled magnates. "For," says Herbert to me, coming home to dinner on one of those special occasions, "I find the truth to be, Handel, that an opening won't come to one, but one must go to it———so I have been."
If we had been less attached to one another, I think we must have hated one another regularly every morning. ”

“ He's so unique—so utterly unlike anyone else's umbrella. I know you'll love him."
I did as soon as ever I saw him coming out of the cloak-room hanging on her arm. There was a gentle coyness in the turn of Herbert's handle, a nutty daintiness about his little gold tie which made me look involuntarily for his socks.
"Now, you wait and see if someone doesn't try to run off with him before we get home," said Stella-my-niece. "I'll hold him on a long lead so that people will think he's out by himself, and we'll await developments." ”

“ A friend introduced him to the writings of Herbert, that very Herbert whom he had been taught to look upon with so much terror and odium. Their perusal operated a complete revolution of his mind; and, in little more than a year from his flight from Cherbury, he had become an enthusiastic votary of the great master, for his violent abuse of whom he had been banished from those happy bowers. The courage, the boldness, the eloquence, the imagination, the strange and romantic career of Herbert, carried the spirit of Cadurcis captive. ”

“ Herbert was now a finished classical scholar. Throughout his life he was a good musician, not only singing, but playing on the lute and viol. His accomplishments soon secured for him a high position in academic society, and he attracted the notice of Lancelot Andrewes, bishop of Winchester (cf. Herbert's letter to the bishop in Grosart, iii. 466) . Herbert contributed two Latin poems to the Cambridge collection of elegies on Prince Henry (1612) , and one to that on Queen Anne (1619) . ”

“ Herbert shook his hand very warmly. 'I can assure you, Lord Cadurcis, you have not a more sincere admirer of your genius. I am happy in your society. For myself, I now aspire to be nothing better than an idler in life, turning over a page, and sometimes noting down a fancy. ”

“ George Herbert was born at Montgomery Castle in Wales in 1593. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1619 he was made a public orator. Charles I., with whom he was in great favor, gave him the rectory of Bemerton, which has the reputation of being the smallest church in England. It was here that Herbert wrote his religious poems, “The Temple: Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations.” He died at Bemerton in 1633.
Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright;
The bridal of the earth and sky;
The dew shall weep thy fall tonight,
For thou must die. ”

“ Herbert likes to play in the water, and throw stones in it. One day he crawled right in, and got all wet. He does not like to ride in the boat, because he has to sit still. He wants to be in mischief all the time, and he is a little wide-awake, and will not go to sleep when he can help it. ”

“ Herbert was the only surviving child, and his health was so delicate that his parents had. little hope of raising him. As a lad his health was not strong, although he was not ill; his constitution being well balanced but not hardy. His father, fearing that he would give way under strain, did not press him to study. Three years were spent at Nottingham, in which the boy attended, for a short time, a common day-school kept by a mistress.
When Herbert was between six and seven the family returned to Derby, but Mr. Spencer did not resume his school; he took to private teaching. ”

“ But that’s the trouble with Herbert—You ask him for bread and he gives you a stone. I know I can do as best I may, but I want to know what to do with Conkling; I cannot go on and perfect my monopoly according to Herbert’s philosophy without disposing of Roscoe. This planet is not big enough for both. I am in possession of all worth having. It is well demonstrated that two bodies cannot occupy the same space. He is too old to educate. I am, as Herbert’s disciple, opposed to coercion. Everybody, that’s me, is entitled to his own free will, 89 but here I can’t have mine. ”