interval he appears to have lived in Westminster, probably supported,
more or less, by the gifts of wealthy Royalists. His _Noble Numbers or
Pious Pieces_ was _pub._ in 1647, his _Hesperides or Works both Human and
Divine_ in 1648, and the two together in one vol. in the latter year.
Over 60, however, of the lighter poems included in _Hesperides_ had
previously appeared anonymously in a collection entitled _Wit's
Recreations_. H.'s early life in London had been a free one, and his
secular poems, in which he appears much more at ease than in his sacred,
show him to have been a thorough Epicurean, though he claims that his
life was not to be judged by his muse. As a lyric poet H. stands in the
front rank for sweetness, grace, and true poetic fire, and some of his
love songs, _e.g._ _Anthea_, and _Gather ye Rose-buds_, are unsurpassed in
their kind; while in such exquisite little poems as _Blossoms,
Daffodils_, and others he finds a classic expression for his love of
nature and country life. In his epigrams, however, he falls much below
himself. He has been described as "the most frankly pagan of English
poets."

Poems ed. by Nutt (1810), Grosart (1876), Pollard (preface by Swinburne,
1891).

HERSCHEL, SIR JOHN FREDERICK WILLIAM (1792-1871).--_S._ of Sir William
H., the eminent astronomer and discoverer of the planet Uranus, was _b._
at Slough, and _ed._ at Camb., where he was Senior Wrangler and first
Smith's prizeman. He became one of the greatest of English astronomers.
Among his writings are treatises on Sound and Light, and his _Astronomy_
(1831) was for long the leading manual on the subject. He also _pub._
_Popular Lectures_ and _Collected Addresses_, and made translations from
Schiller, and from the _Iliad_.

HERVEY, JAMES (1714-1758).--Religious writer, Rector of Weston Favell,
Northants, was the author of _Meditations among the Tombs_ (1745-47),
_Theron and Aspasio_, and other works, which had a great vogue in their
day. They are characterised by over-wrought sentiment, and overloaded
with florid ornament. H. was a devout and unselfish man, who by his
labours broke down a delicate constitution.

HERVEY, JOHN, LORD (1696-1743).--Writer of memoirs, was a younger _s._ of
the 1st Earl of Bristol. Entering Parliament he proved an able debater,
and held various offices, including that of Lord Privy Seal. He was a
favourite with Queen Caroline, and a dexterous and supple courtier. He
wrote _Memoirs of the Re