HERBERT (Mary), countess of Pembroke, was sister of the famous Sir Philip Sidney, and wife of Henry earl of Pembroke. She was not only a lover of the muses, but a great encourager of polite literature; a character not very common among ladies. Her brother dedicated his incomparable romance Arcadia to her, from which circumstance it hath been called The countess of Pembroke's Arcadia. She translated a dramatic piece from the French, intitled Antonius, a tragedy; though it is said she was assisted by her lord's chaplain, Dr. Babington, afterwards bishop of Exeter. She also turned the psalms of David into English metre; but it is doubtful whether these works were ever printed. She died in 1621; and an exalted character of her is to be found in Francis Osborne's memoirs of king James I.