Cloth binding. Black lettering with gilt title on front cover.

The Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury is largely taken from Lee. Lee wrote over 800 articles in the Dictionary, mainly on Elizabethan authors or statesmen. His sister Elizabeth Lee also contributed. While still at Balliol, Lee had written two articles on Shakespearean questions, which were printed in The Gentleman’s Magazine. In 1884, he published a book about Stratford-on-Avon, with illustrations by Edward Hull. Lee’s article on Shakespeare in the 51st volume (1897) of the Dictionary of National Biography formed the basis of his Life of William Shakespeare (1898), which reached its fifth edition in 1905.

In 1902, Lee edited the Oxford facsimile edition of the first folio of Shakespeare’s comedies, histories and tragedies, followed in 1902 and 1904 by supplementary volumes giving details of extant copies, and in 1906 by a complete edition of Shakespeare’s works.

Lee received a knighthood in 1911. Between 1913 and 1924, he served as Professor of English Literature and Language at East London College. In 1915 he delivered the British Academy’s Shakespeare Lecture.

Joseph Waligore, in his article “The Piety of the English Deists” has shown that Herbert was one of the most pious of the deists, as he fervently prayed to God and believed God gave signs in answer to our prayers. He was so sure God answered our prayers that he said prayer was an idea God put into every human. He said that:

every religion believes that the Deity can hear and answer prayers; and we are bound to assume a special Providence—to omit other sources of proof—from the universal testimony of the sense of divine assistance in times of distress.

For Herbert, this universal testimony of God answering our prayers meant that it was a common notion, or something engraved into our heart by God.

Herbert was speaking from experience. In his autobiography, Herbert said he once prayed for and received a divine sign. He had written De Veritate and was wondering whether he should publish it. So, he got down on his knees and prayed fervently to God for a sign instructing him what to do. Even though it was a clear, sunny day with no wind, Herbert said he heard a gentle noise in the clear sky that so comforted him that he decided it was a sign from God that he should publish his book. Herbert wrote:

Being thus doubtful in my Chamber, one fair day in the Summer, my Casement being opened towards the South, the Sun shining clear and no Wind stirring, I took my book, De Veritate, in my hand, and, kneeling on my Knees, devoutly said these words: “O Thou Eternal God, Author of the Light which now shines upon me, and Giver of all inward Illuminations, I do beseech Thee, of Thy infinite Goodness, to pardon a greater Request than a Sinner ought to make; I am not satisfied enough whether I shall publish this Book, De Veritate; if it be for Thy glory, I beseech Thee give me some Sign from Heaven, if not, I shall suppress it.” I had no sooner spoken these words, but a loud ‘tho yet gentle Noise came from the Heavens (for it was like nothing on Earth) which did so comfort and cheer me, that I took my Petition as granted, and that I had the Sign I demanded, whereupon also I resolved to print my Book.

Herbert was attacked by orthodox Protestant ministers of the eighteenth century as a religious enthusiast. One minister, John Brown, said his claim to have received a sign from God was “enthusiastic”. Another minister, John Leland, said even asking for such a sign was improper, as God does not become involved like that in people’s lives. Leland said that Herbert’s claim “passed for a high fit of enthusiasm. I think it maybe justly doubted, whether an address of such a particular kind, as that made by his Lordship, was proper or regular. It does not seem to me, that we are well-founded to apply for or to expect an extraordinary sign from heaven.” Clearly these two eighteenth-century Christian commentators did not see Herbert’s understanding of God as distant and uninvolved. Rather, Herbert was attacked for believing in an overly-involved deity who had an overly-intimate relationship with people.

Modern scholars of deism often have difficulty fitting Herbert’s religious views into their scheme of what deists believed. For example, Peter Gay said that Herbert—who lived in the early seventeenth century—was atypical of the later deists because Herbert thought he had received a divine sign but Waligore argues that instead of saying Herbert was not a deist, we should change our notions about the deists and their relationship to God through prayer.

Besides believing in prayers and divine signs, Herbert also believed in miracles, revelation, and direct divine inspiration. Herbert was so sure God performed miracles that he thought this doctrine, and the related notion that God answered our prayers, was an idea God put into every human. Herbert said his emphasis on natural religion did not mean revelation was superfluous. He said he thought the Bible was a “surer source of consolation and support” than any other book and reading it stirred “the whole inner man” to life. Herbert thought that divine inspiration generally happened through “the medium of spirits … variously called angels, demons, intelligences and geniuses”. He said that we could be sure we had divine inspiration if we prepared ourselves for it and it met certain conditions. To begin with, said Herbert, “we must employ prayers, vows, faith and every faculty which can be used to invoke” the divine. Then “the breath of the Divine Spirit must be immediately felt” and the recommended course of action must be good. When these conditions were met, “and we feel the Divine guidance in our activities, we must recognize with reverence the good will of God”.

Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury (or Chirbury) KB (3 March 1583– 5 August 1648) was an Anglo-Welsh soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher of the Kingdom of England.

Sir Sidney Lee FSA FBA (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic.