Edward Herbert 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury

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Herbert of Cherbury, Edward, Lord (1582–1648), elder brother of G. Herbert, was created knight of the Bath in 1603. His adventures, from birth to 1624, are recounted by Herbert in his Life, a remarkable document, not least for its unabashed presentation of its author's martial valour, success with women, truthfulness, sweetness of breath, and other virtues. Herbert aspired to a career in public service and spent much of the time from 1608 to 1618 in France, getting to know the French aristocracy and court. He also travelled in Italy and the Low Countries, fighting at the siege of Juliers (1610).

He was from 1619 to 1624 ambassador to France, on Buckingham's recommendation. There he completed his most famous philosophical work, De Veritate (1624), which postulates that religion is common to all men and that, stripped of superfluous priestly accretions, it can be reduced to five universal innate ideas: that there is a God; that he should be worshipped; that virtue and piety are essential to worship; that man should repent of his sins; and that there are rewards and punishments after this life. De Veritate gained Herbert the title of father of English Deism. He joined Charles's council of war in 1629, and became Baron Herbert of Cherbury. In 1632 he began a detailed ‘official’ history of Henry VIII's reign, assisted by Thomas Masters, published 1649. From 1644 Herbert dedicated himself to the study of philosophy, supplementing his De Veritate with De Causis Errorum and De Religione Laici, both published in 1645, and writing besides De Religione Gentilium and his autobiography (begun in 1643). In 1647 he visited Gassendi in Paris. When archbishop Ussher offered him the last sacrament Herbert replied, according to Aubrey, ‘If it did no good 'twould doe no hurt’, whereupon Ussher refused it. Herbert also wrote poetry which is obscure and metrically contorted, evidently influenced by his friend Donne. (See also metaphysical poets.)

Herbert, Edward, 1st Baron Herbert (1583–1648). Herbert was of a younger branch of the earls of Pembroke which had settled in Montgomery castle. After attending University College, Oxford, he was knighted at the coronation of James I in 1603. From 1619 to 1624 he served as ambassador in Paris and was given an Irish barony, followed by an English one in 1629. He waited in vain for further employment and during the Civil War kept a low profile at Montgomery. He made no resistance when parliamentary troops occupied the castle in 1644, being anxious to preserve his books. Herbert's many publications include De veritate (1624), an early deist exposition, and an admiring Life of Henry VIII (1649). But he is best known for his Autobiography, first published by Horace Walpole in 1764. Herbert was not inhibited by false modesty and pays warm tribute to his own valour, appearance (‘I could tell how much my person was commended’), irresistible sex appeal, and good breath. George Saintsbury, a strong-minded critic, dismissed him as ‘not a very bad poet, a very great coxcomb, and a hero chiefly by his own report’. He was the elder brother of George Herbert.

J. A. Cannon

Edward Herbert Herbert of Cherbury, 1st Baron 1583–1648, English philosopher, poet, and diplomat; elder brother of George Herbert, the metaphysical poet. He was ambassador to France (1619–24) and was created Baron Herbert of Cherbury in 1629. A precursor of deism, Lord Herbert laid down his principles of natural religion in De veritate (1624), De religione laici (1645), and De religione gentilium (1663). His secular metaphysical poetry also shows the influence of his philosophy, for even his love poems in Poems (1665) reflect the serious, analytic approach of the rationalist. He also wrote a biography of Henry VIII (1649) and an autobiography, first published by Horace Walpole in 1764.