INTRODUCTION. THE Letters of the Lady Brilliana Harley are published from a collection of family papers in the possession of her descendant the Lady Frances Vernon Harcourt, of Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire. The MSS. had been neglected at Eywood, the seat of the Harleys in that county, until within the last few years, when they were rescued from ruin, and arranged by the Lady Frances, to whose charge they were committed by her father, Edward, the fifth Earl of Oxford. It is not improbable, that they were left at Eywood by Edward Har- ley, the Auditor of the Imprest, who resided there, being himself the second son of Sir Edward Harley, to whom most of the Letters are addressed, and to whose piety, no doubt, their preservation is due. It will be remembered, that upon failure of issue male of Robert Harley, the first Earl of Oxford, by the death of his son Edward, the founder of the Harleian Library, the title passed to the son of the auditor his brother, and thence descended to the late Earl, at whose death, whilst these pages are in the press ^January 1853) the title became extinct. The present volume comprises all the Letters in the collection written by the Lady Brilliana, which are printed from transcripts made by the Editor, with scrupulous fidelity to the originals. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 27 Sep 2021 at 12:15:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042169900013250 VI INTRODUCTION. Referring to Collins' " Historical Collections of the noble families of Cavendish, Holies, Vere, Harley and Ogle," (Lond. 1752) for the earlier notices of the distinguished family of Harley, it may be well, for the illustration of these letters, to state that Sir Robert Harley, the husband of the Lady Brilliana, was the son of Thomas Harley, of Brampton Bryan Castle, by Margaret daughter of Sir Andrew Corbet, of Morton Corbet in the county of Salop, and born at » Wigmore Re- Wigmore Castle, and baptised there 1st March, 1579.a His father, S' r" born about 1548, was sheriff 36° Elizabeth, and again in the last year of that reign and in the first of James, in which year he had Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, onth 27e Sepgran 2021t atfro 12:15:08m th, esubject Kin tog theof Cambridge the honou Corer of Wigmore Castle. He was terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042169900013250 b Collins, p. 197. in frequent state employments,11 in the council of William Lord Compton, President of the Marches of Wales, and " very consider- able for his affluence both of fortune and ability, and distinguished himself by the sagacity of his counsels to the King, against the measures then in pursuit, as tending to involve his Majesty or his son in a war with his people." Quitting public employment, he retired to his estate, where he lived in the exercise of a noble hos- pitality, and died at an advanced age, and was buried at Brampton * Brampton Bryan 19th March, 1631.° The mother of Sir Robert having died when he was young, his early education was entrusted to his uncle Richard Harley, an d The Auditor's accomplished scholar. He afterwards entered Oriel college,4 under Notes. ^ tutorage of the Rev. Cadwallader Owen,e reputed a great dis- = Wood's Fasti ° . by Bliss, i. 455. putant, and commonly known as " Sic Doceo;" at which place he must have been held in high esteem, for on the motion of the Letter in Ap- Provost, 1641/ his arms were placed in a window of the new pen ix. hull, built about this time, where they still are to be seen. Having taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts, he removed to the Inner s Collins, p.198. Temple,g where he associated with men of the first rank and in- fluence in that society, and remained there until the coronation of INTRODUCTION. Vll King James,'1 at which he was made one of the Knights of the Bath..h 15th July, In 16th July, 1604, he was made Forester of Boringwood or Bring- wood Chase, in the county of Hereford, with the office of the Pokership (the nature of which office is now involved in obscurity), Authorities and custody of the forest or chase of Prestwood, and in the 7 th ofgivenin King James he obtained a grant to himself, his heirs, and assigns for ever, for a weekly market and annual fair at Wigmore. Marrying early, in the life-time of his father," he resided for some a Notice of Ree- time at Stanage Lodge, in the parish of Brampton; and whilst in- t°™ Bryant teresting himself in rural pursuits, in the improvement of breeds of ^a.rl"^l?SS' & r » r jjrlt. Museum. cattle, sheep, and horses, and other branches of agriculture, devoted much of his time to everything connected with the business and welfare, religious and secular, of the county of Hereford, of which he was a magistrate and deputy lieutenant. He represented the borough of Radnor in the parliament 1° and 12° James,b and was u Willis's No- elected one of the knights for Herefordshire in 21° James, and intltia Parliamen" & tana. 15°, 16° of Charles, which last beginning 3rd Nov. 1640, continued sitting until 1653 ; a parliament which, notwithstanding the dissolu- tion of the monarchy and the summoning of no less than four parliaments by the usurping power, was re-assembled in 1659, when a Bill was passed for its dissolution,0 and for calling another«16 March, parliament, which met 25th April, 1660, and restored the monarchy. 1659-60- Sir Robert was a man of wit, learning, and piety, but of an austere and decided character. As a patriot, he was zealous and active for the redress of the many grievances under which the people of England had too just grounds of complaint; and in his religion he was deeply imbued with the views of the Puritans, of which party he was one of the most decided and influential members. The Journals of the House of Commons, especially during the Long Parliament, evince how incessantly and zealously he was occu- pied in committees of that house, and in conferences with the Lords, Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 27 Sep 2021 at 12:15:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042169900013250 Vlll INTRODUCTION. on almost all the most important questions of the times. To him, in Hous™of Com committees with others, were referred the petitions of Leighton," 13 Nov. 1640. Prynne,b Bastwick,0 and other sufferers under the Star Chamber; also, the consideration of the jurisdiction of the High Commission Courts of Canterbury and York,—of the Star Chamber, and also of the court d d 23 Dec. 1640. of the Council of the Marches of Wales ; the acts and abuses of which courts had given such great cause of discontent. He was active in the proceedings against the Lord Strafford,—in the Scotch and Irish e 3 Dec. 1641. affairs,e—in carrying out also the scheme of adventures for Ire- 24 Feb. 1641." land/—of the joint committee of the Commons with the Lords, 20 May, 1642. i0 receive from the Scotch Commissioners what they had to commu- e 3 Feb. 1643-4. nicate to both or either house of parliaments He was busily engaged. in the organizing of the militia,—in providing means for carrying h 19 Sept. 1642. on the civil wars;h lending money and plate himself, and encouraging 6 Dec. 1643. .. p others to do the same, towards the suppert oi the .Parliamentary ' 23 Sept. 1643. cause; in which he was of the committee for the garrison' of Glouces- k 27 Oot. 1643. ter and the security of the western counties.1 Sir Robert was on 1 9 Oct. 1643. the committee for the Great Seal;1 and also on an ordinance of Par- ' Hament for upholding the trade and settling the government of the Company and Fellowship of Merchants trading to the East Indies, &c. and also to the Levant seas. He was chairman of the committees for Elections, for the Universities, for Emmanuel College, also of one of the subdivisions of the Grand Committee for Religion. To Sir Robert was entrusted the preparation of the order to prohibit the wearing of 1 «>30Sept.l643. tne surplice in cathedral, collegiate, and parish churches," and for the better observing of the Lord's Day. He was of the committee to take into consideration the removing of the Communion tables in n an< tne nns 30 Aug. 1641. tne Universities i I °f Court," the Book of Sports, and all other matters of innovation,—of the committee for superstitious °llFeb.l 641-2. pictures,—of a committee,0 consisting of Strode, Cromwell, Hamp- den, and himself, to prepare letters to be sent to the Uni- Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.22, on 27 Sep 2021 at 12:15:08, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2042169900013250 INTRODUCTION. IX versities concerning the complaint of pressing subscriptions upon young graduates, on taking their degrees; and also of the com- mittee on an Act to enable Members of Parliament to discharge their consciences in the proceedings of Parliament.* It would be tedious • Journals of n n o «rti.