_Matthew Henry_ was the son of Philip Henry, an eminent Nonconformist, and he was born at Broad Oak, in Flintshire, in the year 1663. He was early instructed by his father in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, in which he made great proficiency, and being originally intended for the bar, he was entered at Gray’s Inn; but his great predilection for divinity induced him to leave that profession, and for twenty-five years he was the zealous pastor of a Dissenting congregation in Chester. In 1702, he removed to Hackney, where he paid the most sedulous attention to the duties of his ministry; he remained there until his death, which took place in 1714, of a stroke of apoplexy. His numerous works are a proof of his deep learning, and he enjoyed great popularity both as an author and a preacher; his chief work is an Exposition of the Bible, in five volumes, folio, which has gone through numerous editions. _Edward Herbert_, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, eminent for his character and writings, was the son of Richard Herbert, Esq., of a very ancient family, and was born at Montgomery Castle, in North Wales, in 1581. His proficiency was so great in his early education that he was entered at University College, Oxford, at the age of twelve. In 1600, he came to London, and being introduced at court, he became a Knight of the Bath soon after the accession of James the First. After spending his time in visiting various courts of Europe, and serving for some time under the Prince of Orange in the Low Countries, in 1614, he was sent on an embassy to the court of France; and having been recalled, he was sent ambassador a second time, and while there he printed at Paris his famous book “De veritate prout distinguitur a Revelatione.” In 1625, he returned home, and was created an Irish Peer, and afterwards an English Baron. He afterwards retired from public life, and upon the breaking out of the civil war, he joined the parliamentary party, but he soon quitted it, and joined the royal cause, and consequently he was a great sufferer in his estate. He died in London, in 1648, and was buried in St. Giles’s-in-the-fields. He wrote the Memoirs of his own Life, which were not published until the year 1764, by Lord Oxford. The character of this distinguished nobleman was brave, generous, and disinterested.