The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume VII. Cavalier and Puritan.
§ 15. George Herbert
The mysticism of these people was mixed with metaphysics: their letters are often almost as much philosophical as religious; and Traherne, their compeer, revels in speculations on the borderland of philosophy. It is different with the other influence which profoundly affected them—that of George Herbert.
Herbert, courtier, public orator at Cambridge, country parson, was one of the happiest embodiments of the title “a scholar and a gentleman,” but, before all things, he was a “priest to the temple.” His theory and practice are alike embalmed in an immortal book.