Hervey, JAMES, author of Meditations among the Tombs, was born at Hardingstone, near Northampton, on 26th February 1714. The facts of his life are few. He was educated at Northampton and Lincoln College, Oxford, and was first curate and afterwards incumbent of Weston-Favel and Collingtree, both near Northampton. He died on Christmas-day 1758. Hervey adopted a Calvinistic creed, and in the 18th century his works, though not distinguished by any extraordinary qualities, enjoyed great favour with the people. The best of them are Meditations and Contemplations (1746), including his most famous production, 'Meditations among the Tombs,' and also 'Reflections on a Flower Garden' and 'A Descant on Creation';
Contemplations on the Night and Starry Heavens (1747); and Theron and Aspasio, or a Series of Dialogues and Letters on the Most Important Subjects (3 vols. 1755). This last gave rise to the Sandemanian controversy as to the nature of saving faith. A complete edition of his works, with a memoir, appeared in 1797. See also his Life and Letters (2 vols. 1760).