Birthdays on April 3

George Herbert was born at Montgomery, Wales. At 15 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated five years later with a B.A., and three years after that with a M.A. degree. He was ordained in 1629, at age 36, and the following year became rector at Bernerton, near Salisbury. His ministry in this small parish was most notable, and he was loved by all, and known as "holy Mr. Herbert." About forty of his poems became a part of John Wesley's Charlestown Collection. His biographer and friend, Izaak Walton, wrote of him, "Thus he lived, and thus he died, like a saint, unspotted from the world, full of alms-deeds, full of humility and all the examples of a virtuous life." Very fond of music, he was known as the "poet of Anglican theology," writing many hymns for lute and viol accompaniment, including the still-popular, "The King of Love My Shepherd Is."