Page:Cousins's Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature.djvu/199

Rh the Garmond of Gude Ladeis. H., who was versed in the learning and general culture of his day, had a true poetic gift. His verse is strong and swift, full of descriptive power, and sparkling with wit. He is the first Scottish lyrist and the introducer of the pastoral to English literature.

 Author:George Alfred Henty (1832-1902).—Boys' novelist, wrote over 80 books for boys, which had great popularity. Among them are By England's Aid, Dash for Khartoum, Facing Death, In Freedom's Cause, Out on the Pampas, etc., all full of adventure and interest, and conveying information as well as amusement.

 Author:John Abraham Heraud (1799-1887).—Poet, b. in London, of Huguenot descent, he contributed to various periodicals, and pub. two poems, which attracted some attention, The Descent into Hell (1830), and The Judgment of the Flood (1834). He also produced a few plays, miscellaneous poems, books of travel, etc.

 Author:Edward Herbert (1583-1648) (1583-1648).—Philosopher and historian, was the eldest s. of Richard H., of Montgomery Castle, and was b. there or at Eyton, Shropshire. He was at Oxf., and while there, at the age of 16, he m. a kinswoman four years his senior, the dau. of Sir William H. Thereafter he returned to the Univ. and devoted himself to study, and to the practice of manly sports and accomplishments. At his coronation in 1603 James I. made him a Knight of the Bath, and in 1608 he went to the Continent, where for some years he was engaged in military and diplomatic affairs, not without his share of troubles. In 1624 he was cr. an Irish, and a few years later, an English, peer, as Baron H., of Cherbury. On the outbreak of the Civil War he sided, though somewhat half-heartedly, with the Royalists, but in 1644 he surrendered to the Parliament, received a pension, held various offices, and d. in 1648. It was in 1624 that he wrote his treatise, De Veritate, "An empirical theory of knowledge," in which truth is distinguished from (i) revelation, (2) the probable, (3) the possible, (4) the false. It is the first purely metaphysical work written by an Englishman, and gave rise to much controversy. It was reprinted in 1645, when the author added two treatises, De Causis Errorum (concerning the Causes of Errors), and De Religione Laici]] (concerning the Religion of a Layman). His other chief philosophical work was De Religione Gentilium (1663), of which an English translation appeared in 1705, under the title of The Ancient Religion of the Gentiles and Cause of their Errors considered. It has been called "the charter of the Deists," and was intended to prove that "all religions recognise five main articles (i) a Supreme God, (2) who ought to be worshipped, (3) that virtue and purity are the essence of that worship, (4) that sin should be repented of, and (5) rewards and punishments in a future state. Among his historical works are Expeditio Buckinghamii Ducis (1656), a vindication of the Rochelle expedition, a Life of Henry VIII. (1649), extremely partial to the King, his Autobiography, which gives a brilliant picture of his contemporaries, and of the manners and events of his time, and a somewhat vainglorious account of himself and his doings. He was also the author of some poems of a metaphysical cast. On 