This section is from "The American Cyclopaedia", by George Ripley And Charles A. Dana. Also available from Amazon: The New American Cyclopędia. 16 volumes complete..
Baron Hervey Of Ickworth John Hervey, an English politician, born Oct. 15, 1696, died Aug. 5, 1743. He was the eldest son of John Hervey, first earl of Bristol of that name. He studied at Cambridge, and was appointed in 1716 gentleman of the bedchamber to the prince of Wales. He was looked upon as the most accomplished man of his time, and by his talents, literary tastes, and family connections was an important auxiliary to Sir Robert Walpole. In 1730 he was appointed vice chamberlain and privy councillor, and in 1733 raised to the peerage. He lost much influence on the death of the queen in 1737, but entered the cabinet, and received in 1740 the privy seal, which he lost on the fall of Walpole. He was an epileptic, and his life was protracted only by great watchfulness. Pope, in the prologue to the satires, attacked him under the name of Sporus. His most important work is the "Memoirs of the Court of George II. and Queen Caroline,11 edited by J. W. Croker (2 vols. 8vo, 1848; new ed., 1854).
 
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