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LETTERS OF THE LADY BRILLIANA IIARLEY, WIFE OF SIR ROBERT HARLEY, OF BRAMPTON BRYAN, KNIGHT OF THE BATH. WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY THOMAS TAYLOR LEWIS, A.M. VICAR OF BRIDSTOW, HEREFORDSHIRE. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE CAMDEN SOCIETY. MDCCCLIIII.
The COUNCIL of the CAMDEN SOCIETY desire it to be under- stood that they are not answerable for any opinions or observa- tions that mayappear in the Society's publications; the Editors of the several works being alone responsible for the same.
INTIIODUCTION. 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. hadbeen 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 fifthEarl 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.
LONDON: I. E. NICHOLSAND SONS, PRINTERS, PARLIAMENT -STREET. [NO. LVIII.]
COUNCIL OF THE CAMDEN SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1853-4. President, THE RIGHT HON. LORD BRAYBROOKE, F.S.A. WILLIAM HENRY BLAAUW, ESQ. M.A. F.S.A. JOHN BRUCE, ESQ. Treas. S.A. Director. JOHN PAYNE COLLIER, ESQ. V.P.S.A. Treasurer. WILLIAM DURRANT COOPER, ESQ. F.S.A. BOLTON CORNEY, ESQ. M.R.S.L. PETER CUNNINGHAM, ESQ. F.S.A. SIR HENRY ELLIS, K.H., F.R.S., Dir.S.A. EDWARD FOSS, ESQ. F.S.A. THE REV. JOSEPH HUNTER, F.S.A. THE REV. LAMBERT B. LARKING, M.A. SIR FREDERICK MADDEN, K.H. F.R.S. FREDERIC OUVRY, ESQ. F.S.A. THE RT. HON. LORD VISCOUNT STRANGFORD, F.R.S. F.S.A. WILLIAM J. THOMS, ESQ. F.S.A., Secretary. SIR CHARLES GEORGE YOUNG, Garter, F.S.A.
vi INTRODUCTION. Referring to Collins' " Historical Collections of the noble families of Cavendish, Holles, 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, 1679.a His father, gister. 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 the grant from the King of the honour of Wigmore Castle. He was b Collins, p. 197. in frequent state employments,b 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 e Brampton Bryan 19th March, 1631.° Bryan Register. 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,d under Notes. the 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 pendix. hall, built about this time, where they still are to be seen. Having taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts, he removed to the Inner g Collins,p.i98.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. Vii King James,) 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- 1603. 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 7th of given in Collins. 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,a he resided for some a Noticeof Rec- time at Stanage Lode in the parish of Brampton; and whilst in- tors of Bramp- dg , ton Bryan in teresting himself in rural pursuits, in the improvement of breeds of Hari. Mss. Brit 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 120 James,b and was b Willis's No- elected one of the knights for Herefordshire in 21° James, and in titia Parliamen- taria. 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,° 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,
Viii INTRODUCTION. on almost all the most important questions of the times. To him, in ° Journals of committees with others, were referred the petitions of Leighton,a House of Corn. 13 Nov. 1640. Prynne,b Bastwick,e and other sufferers under the Star Chamber; also, 3 Dec. 1640. 17 Dec. 1640. the consideration of the jurisdiction of the High Commission Courts ° of Canterbury and York,-of the Star Chamber, andalso of the court d 23 Dee. 1640. of the Council of the Marches of Wales ; d 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 ° 3 Dec. 1641. affairs,e -in carrying out also the scheme of adventures for Ire- 20 Dec. 1641. 24 Feb. 1641, land,f-of the joint committee of the Commons with the Lords, 20 May, 1642. to receive from the Scotch Commissioners what they had to commu- e 3 Feb. 1643 -4. nicate to both or either house of parliament.g Hewas busily engaged in the organizingof 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' others to do the same, . towards the support of the Parliamentary 23Sept. 1643. cause; in which he was of the committeefor the garrison of Glouces- k 27 Oct. 1643. ter and the security of the western counties .k Sir Robert was on 9 Oct. 1643. the committee for the Great Seal;' and also on an ordinance of Par - 10Feb. 1643 -4. liament 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 30Sept.1643. the surplice in cathedral, collegiate, and parish churches,m 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 ° 30 Aug.1641. the Universities and the Imes of Court,n the Book of Sports, and all other matters of innovation, -of the committee for superstitious ° 11Feb.1641-2. pictures,-of a committee,° consisting of Strode, Cromwell, Hamp- den, and himself, to prepare letters to be sent to the Uni-
INTRODUCTION. ix varsities 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.a It would be tedious a Journals et to refer to the very frequent connection of his name in the Journals x, of am Y q 3 Juy,C1 s4.1. ofthe House ofCommons with all these matters, or with the proceedings against the Archbishop, Bishops, and other ecclesiastical persons:-The suppression of the surplice, the removal of innovations, the destruction of altars and crosses, superstitious images and inscriptions, were all highly congenial with his convictions, and not less so the rigid ob- servance of the Sabbath, and private and public fasts. We are not surprised to find him of the committee with Pym, Strode, Nath. Fienes, Hampden and others, " to prepare a declaration of the una- nimous consent and resolution of the House, for the defence of the religion established, of the King's person, and the liberty of the subject, be it by oath or any other way; "b and among the first b 3 May, 1611 of the House of Commons to take the Protestation ; again, with Selden,o Nath. Fienes, Hampden, Sir Benjamin Rudyard e4 April.1613 and others, " to prepare and present unto the House a form of declaration, which may express the intentions of the House, for the vindicating the doctrine of the Church from the aspersions laid upon it, and concerning government, discipline, and public liturgy, and concerning consultation to be had with divines thereon, and to consider of the establishing and maintaining of a preaching ministry throughout the kingdom, and the ways and means how to do it, and renewing the Protestation of the 3 May 1641, in the Sacred Vow and Covenant of 6 June 1643.; andafterwards naturally engaged busily in framing and taking the Solemn League and Covenant .d On the death d 25 Sept.1643. and in place of Pym, Sir Robert was elected into the committee of the assembly of divines,e and zealously devoted himself to its pro- e 15 Dec. 1643. ceedings ; he reported the " amendments to the Ordinance for esta- CAMP. SOC. G
X INTRODUCTION. 12 Dec. 1644. Wishing the Directory for Public Worship,"a and took an active part in almost all other deliberations of that intolerant and unconstitutional body. He had wisdom to discern the tendency and ambitious ends of the army, and boldness to act upon his conviction. Happily he was averse to the extreme measures against the King, and was with his son Edward amongst the members made prisoners, (6 Dec. 1648,) for voting "that the King's answer to the propositions of both Houses was a ground to proceed upon in the settlement of the kingdom's peace." He had been made by Charles I. Master and Warden of b Pat. 2 Car. I. the Mint ;b subsequently displaced by the King; restored, however, quoted by col- line, by an ordinance of Parliament, 6 May, 1643,c and continued to hold C s. Journ. Ho. of the office under the proviso of " the self-denying ordinance," passed Corn. 6 March, 1642 3 Aril 1645. After the death of the King, u on a report of -3. pri , p 3 May, 1643. the Council of State, that the Master of the Mint refused to stamp 5 May, 1643. and coin with any other stamp than formerly, the House ordered a trial of the pix to be made at his expense, and he was put out of the office, and Dr. Gourdon the physician succeeded to it, with Whitelocke's a salary, according to Whitelocke,d of £4000 a-year; which is said Memorials, p. also to have been the salary in Sir Robert's time. 388> ed. 1682. y c MS. Notice of Sir Robert sustained great losses in the civil wars ;e his castles Rectors of destroyed, parks and farms plundered of about 500 deer, of 800 Brampton 11 11 Bryan, inHarl. excellent sheep, 30 goodly cows, and other cattle in proportion, with Coll. B. Mus. a stud of 30 breeding mares and young colts; and suffering much from the detention of his rents, and himself an object of suspicion, he retired into the country, and repaired in some degree the waste of his estate ; but in his later years he was much afflicted with the gout and stone, all which troubles he bore with patience and resig- nation to the Divine will. It is recorded in his funeral sermon, that about three days before his death, when he arose and went to prayer, as he constantly used
INTRODIICTION. xi to do, though not able to enlarge in prayer, because of weakness, he prayed for the ruin of Anti-Christ, and for the churches of God beyond the sea, naming Savoy, Switzerland and Germany. The persecution of the Protestants of Piedmont had recently elicited the sympathy of Cromwell himself; who, receiving the sad news on the day on which the French treaty was to have been sealed,a " 3 June 1655. Cromwell's refused to sign it until the King and Cardinal undertook to Letters, &c. by assist him in getting right done to them. He had nobly sent Carlyle 1s46. g .y Neal's Hist. of 2,0001. from his own purse, and appointed a day of solemn humilia- the Puritans, vol. iv. p. 140; tion and a general collection, on which immense sums were contra- Toulmin's buted, for their relief. On this occasion Milton wrote his sonnet : Edition. " Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold," &c. &c. and Mr. Morland (afterwards Sir Samuel Morland) was sent ambas- sador to remonstrate with the Duke of Savoy, and on his return published " The History of the Evangelical Churches of the Valleys of Piedmont, 1658." Sir Robert had ever been the friend and patron of learning and reli- gion, both of which he sincerely loved; and many able ministers were settled in his neighbourhood through his influence, and found a shelter from trouble and persecution under his roof. To him were many works dedicated; among others there is " a 'Treatise on Simeon's Song; or Instructions advertising how to live holily and dye happily :" (Lond. 1659), composed for his use, when weakness and old age con- fined him to his chamber, by Timothy Woodroffe.' Woodroffe had b Wood's been tutor to Hobbs of MVlalmesbury, and had suffered himself much P this. vol. ill. in the beginning of the civil wars, from both parties; through Sir Robert's kindness he had been preferred to the rectory of Kings- land, in his own gift, and through his influence made one of the parliamentary preachers in the cathedral of Hereford. Sir Robert died at Brampton Bryan 6th Nov. 1656, and was there buried 10th Dec." on which occasion the church at Brampton, c B.Bryan,Reg.
Couins. MS. Rectors of B. Bryan, Hari. Coll. 6 Dugdale's Warwickshire, p.625, ed.1656. Collins. MS. ped. in Lady F. V. Harcourt's Collections. xii INTRODUCTION. which had been destroyed in the siege, after its restoration was first used. The Rev. Thomas Froysell, his own kinsman, minister of Clun in Shropshire, preached the funeral sermon, which was after- wards published (London 1658) under the title of " The Beloved Disciple," together with another sermon, " The Gale of Opportunity," preached on the death of his friend Humphrey Walcot, of Walcot, Esq. From the former the sketch of his character is added to this Introduction, Sir Robert was thrice married, First, to Anne, daughter of Charles Barret, of Belhouse in Essex, Esq. by whom he hadd a son who died early, and was buried at Bucknell in Shropshire. She was buried at Cuxton in Kent, where there is a monument to her memory. Secondly, to Mary, sister of Sir Richard Newport a (afterwards Lord Newport) of High Ercall, in the county of Salop, by whom he had nine children, who died young. She was buried at Brampton 5th Aug. 1622. Thirdly, to Brilliana, second daughter of Sir Edward Conway, (afterwards Baron Conway,b of Ragley, in the county of Warwick, 22nd March, 1624, and Viscount Killutagh in Ireland, 15th March, 1626, and Viscount Conway, of Conway Castle, 6th June, 1627), by Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Tracy, of Todington, in the countyof Gloucester, and widow of Edward bray, of Great Barrington, in that county. Her brothers were Edward, second Viscount Conway, Sir Thomas Conway and Ralph Conway ; and her sisters, Frances,, married to Sir William Pelham, of Brocklesby, in the county of Lincoln, and Helengenwagh, married to Sir William Smyth of Hill Hall, in the county of Essex. Recent generations of the Harleys, since the time of Hen: VII, had married into the families of Hackluyt of Yetton,e Croft of Croft, Warnecombe of Ivington, in Herefordshire, and Vaughan of Tretower, in the county of Brecknock; by which alliances a cousin- ship existed between the Harleys and most of the families of note and
INTRODUCTION. %iii influence in Herefordshire, including the Vaughans, Cornwalls, Scudamores and Rudhalls; and it will explain other relationships alluded to in the letters, if we state that Sir Horace Vere, Lord Vere of Tilbury, had married Mary, sister to Lady Conway, and by Collins, Life of her had issue : Vere, p. 342. 1. Elizabeth, married to John Holles, Earl of Clare : 2. Mary, married to Roger Townshend, of East Raynham in Norfolk; and secondly to Mildmay Fane, Earl of Westmoreland : 3. Catharine, married to Oliver St. John, of Lidiard Tregose ; and secondly to John, Lord Paulet : 4. Anne, married to Thomas, Lord General Fairfax : 5. Dorothy, married to John Wolstenholme, of Nostel, in the county of York : and further, that Sir Thomas Wentworth, the un- fortunate Earl of Strafford, had married Arabella Holles, sister to Collins, Life of Holies, Duke of the Earl of Clare. Newcastle, p. Brilliana Conway was born whilst her father was Lieut.-Governor 94' of the Brill, and it is presumed at that place about 1600, as she was married 22nd July, 1623, then in her twenty-third year. An Act was passed in April, 1606,a for the naturalisation of the children of a Journ. H. Sir Edward Conwaie, Knight, probably soon after their coming 1605564 March, into this country. Nothing is known of her until her marriage, but Jorn. H. Co- the contents of the letters evince that her education had been con-1606, 3 Ap. ducted with care and regard to the duties of a practical and 1606. religious life; but it may, in truth, be said of her, what Lord Claren- don said of her cousin Lady Fairfax, " having been bred in Holland, she had not that reverence for the Church of England, as she ought to have had, and so unhappily concurred in her husband entering into rebellion-never imagining what misery it would bring upon the kingdom." Though there are no quotations in French or Latin, it is evident, she was acquainted with these languages, and her mind well stored with the knowledge of Holy Scripture and divinity, as well as of ancient and modern history, and fully intent upon the
xiv INTRODUCTION. events, both domestic and foreign, of the momentous years in which she lived. The letters are printed in the order of their dates, some few undated are so placed by authority of internal evidence. Upon a more careful examination of the contents, No. 106 appears to be misdated in the year (not an uncommon mistake, when, as in these letters, the old style is used, and the new year commenced 25th March), and misplaced, and the undated letter No. 134, misplaced. All the letters except the first, dated Bagley, the seat ofher father in Warwickshire, are from Bromton or Brompton, now Brampton Bryan Castle. Theyare written in a bold and legible hand, with few contrac- tions, and scarcely an erasure ; but the use of capitals, and the spelling, not only of the names of persons and places, but of everyday words, are varied and irregular. A few of the letters are written by an amanu- ensis, in seasons of sickness, but signed by herself as usual, or with her initials. They were generally sent by an express messenger or the carrier, occasionally by a friend, or the tradesmen, but most rarely by the post of Hereford, Leominster, Shrewsbury, or Ludlow, then recently established, and not much to be depended upon : the insecurity of letters at this time gave rise to a variety of secret cor- respondence, one of which, very simple, is exemplified by Letters 188, 189, &c. The earlier letters (1625-1633) are addressed to her husband ; and the remainder (1638-1643), with the exception of a Letter to Sir Robert and two letters written to her friend Mrs. Wallcote of Wallcote, during her troubles at Brampton, to her son Edward, commencing in Oct. 1638, his residence in Oxford. The letters are written with the greatest fondness of maternal affec- tion, and abound with excellent remarks and advice on his studies, health and conduct in the University, with frequent allusions to affairs homeand foreign. A deeply religious tone pervades thewhole of them; it is scarcely possible to find a single letter without the evidences of
INTRODUCTION. XV practical piety. It is unnecessary to notice any particular passages. It is clear, that her mind was imbued with the doctrines and disci- pline of Calvin, which were at this time working powerfully in manyof the most learned, pious and patriotic people, lay and clerical, of this country. Numerous allusions attest the accuracy of her in- formation, and the interest she took in public affairs, and in the pro- ceedings of the Parliament. She deeply sympathized in the feelings of her husband in his varied employments, and entered fully into his interests and pursuits. They agreed in regarding Episcopacy as Anti-Christ, and nothing short of " down with it, down with it, even to the ground," would satisfy their zeal. Theministrations of Brampton Bryan under two successive rectors, accorded with their views, and afforded them ample opportunities of religiousexercises, in the observance of public and private fasts ; how strictly they were there observed, appears by the memorandum now in the register of that parish,a copy of which will be found in the Notes. The rectors here alluded to, were Thomas Pierson and Stanley Gower. The Rev: Thos. Peacock, Fellow of Brazennose college, had preceded Pierson, but appears from Froysell's sermon, already mentioned, never to have resided at Brampton. Sir Robert had no doubt been acquainted with him in Oxford, and not improbably de- rived benefit from his advice and instruction, as he was " highly esteemed for his great learning, great sanctity of life, and counsel," andwas known as the convertor of Robert Bolton, awell -knownpuritan divine; by whom "an account of the last visitation, conflict, and death of Mr. Peacock was published, 1646." a Pierson had been brought up a Wood's in Emmanuel college,b where he resided for several years, andwas the Alhen P 514. friend of the learned Calvinist William Perkins, whose works he had b MS. Notice of been engaged in editing, and also in the publication of Brightman's sT Pton work on the Apocalypse, and was known as a profound scholar and Bryan, in Brit. Museum. theologian. Instituted in 1612, he continued to reside at Brampton
xvi INTRODUCTION. until his death, 1633. In the early years of Pierson's residence, his ministrations had not been acceptable to Thomas Harley, the father of Sir Robert, who made frequent complaints of him to Bennett, 1662-1617. Bishop of Hereford, who used to declare, with truth, "that he received letters from the father against Mr. Pierson, and from his son in his behalf." John Harley, the grandfather of Sir Robert, never adopted the reformed doctrines, and was a zealous Romanist, and was said to have given some protection at Brampton Castle to Parsons and Champion, the Jesuits. It may be inferred, therefore, that these differences arose out of the religious views now probably first put forth at Brampton ; for it is said, " that a solemn day of prayer was e MS. Notes on observed at Stanage Lodge,awhere Sir Robert andhis most pious and the Rectors of Brampton virtuous lady (sister of Sir Richard Newport), Mr. Pierson and his BB to izuseum. godly family, and some few neighbours, presented supplicationsto the Lord, to turn the heart of Mr. Harley to express kindness to his son, and friendship towards Mr. Pierson ; to which it pleased the Lord to give a most gracious answer of peace; for, within a very short time, Mr. Harley, by a trusty servant, sent to Sir Robert, -' Tell my son, I will take care of the concerns of the estate, and pay his debts ; and tell him, I will be friends with Mr. Pierson, and then you will be a welcome messenger ;' and, accoralingly, he began and continued all expressions of high esteem and real friendship for him, and gave a copyhold estate to him and his wife for their joint lives, and in his enfeebled old age received his continual ministrations," and " to his dying day, no man, except in nearest relation to him, was more in his esteem, more dear unto him, or in whom he put more confidence, than Mr. Pierson." In Brampton, Pierson set up the strict observance of the Ember weeks and public and private fasts, frequently alluded to in these letters, " the resort to which of many godly persons from remote n MS. Notes of places was as the flight of doves to the windows of holy light b and Rectors, &c. P g " , ,
INTRODUCTION. XV11 under authority from the Bishop of Hereford, a monthly lecture, in the adjoining parish of Leintwardine, in the manner of " the pro- phecyings " which had given so great offence to Queen Elizabeth, occasioning her displeasure with Archbishop Grindall, and calling forth his noble letter to her majesty ; a after whichmodel many other a Grindau's Re- lectures were established in the neighbourhood. H e was also one ofSo np' 37fi k. the London feoffees for buying in impropriations,b and to maintain a constant preaching ministry where it was wanting ; a design which was much applauded by the religious party in England, but which soon giving offence to the High Church party, was interrupted by the Star Chamber, when the tithes which had been purchased were seized for the King's use. He received young men into his house, to prepare for the Universities and holy orders ; and in all these ways exercised a very great influence, not only in his own parish, but far and wide in that district, which is represented as having been in great religious darkness. A minister of this time, Mr. Gwalter Stephens, of Bishop's Castle, " who had lighted his candle at famous Mr. Pierson's,b of Brampton Bryan," used to say, that " MS. Rectors of Brampton " when he preached, in his younger days, for a great space, there was Bryan, Brit. never a preacher between him and the sea one way, and none near M°s' him the other, but one in Shrewsbury." Pierson objected not to the Liturgy or the gesture of kneeling in the receiving of the Lord's Supper, but scrupled the use of the surplice, and the cross in bap- tism ; yet is said to have been liberal enough, to allow the use of both to his own curate. A Mr. Brice, of Henley upon Thames, was nominated on Pierson's death, but his old parishioners express- ing their sense of the great loss they should sustain by his removal from them, he was allowed to relinquish it, and returned to his old charge, when Stanley Gower became rector, and a great blessing to the place, following the steps of Mr. Pierson. Gower was a man of piety and learning, and had been brought up CAMD. SOC. C
xviii INTRODUCTION. by Dr. Hoye, probably at Dublin, as he had been chaplain to Arch- bishop Usher for some time. His last ministration recorded in the register of Brampton is dated 1 May, 1642. He had been nominated Journals ofthe and approved as one of the Assembly of Divines,a and removed at House of Com- mons, 23 April, once to London, and became a constant attendant and active member 1642. in that assembly, being employed in the compilation MS. Notes on 9 of the Assem- ' the Rectors of bly's Confession of Faith and the larger and smaller Catechisms. He B. Bryan. was one of the committee appointed by ordinance of Parliament for the examination and approval of such clergymen as petitioned for segues- ' Neal's History tered livings,b and himself in possession of one near Ludgate. He of the Puritans, by Toulmin, was also a select preacher before the House of Commons at St. Mar- vel. iii. p. ss. garet's, and one of the presbyters and members of the Assembly to examine and ordain by imposition of hands all those whom they should Neal, vol. iii. judge qualified to be admitted to the sacred ministry .e No doubt he p. I40. agreed with Sir Robert Harley in all such matters, and disapprov- ing, like his patron, of the wicked designs upon the King, he was one Neal, vol. iii. of the ministers who assembled at Zion College,d and published p. 491. is Jan. 1348-9. " a serious and faithful representation of their judgment, in a letter to the General and his Council ;" and also, " A Vindication of the London Ministers from the unjust aspersions cast upon their former actings for the Parliament, as if they had promoted the bringing the King to capital punishment." But to return to the Lady Brilliana. Moving but little from home, her time was much given to her children and domestic matters-and, in the absence of Sir Robert, to the management of his estate, on which several judicious remarks will be found in these letters. The affairs of the country, in these sad times, afforded too great cause of anxiety to allow her to be a quiet observer of what was passing. It was but to be expected, on the breaking out of the Civil Wars, in a county which was generally devoted to the King's cause, that Brampton Bryan, the seat of one so influential on the other side, would soon
INTRODUCTION. XiX attract a more than agreeable notice. Whilst Sir Robert was engaged in Parliament, she became an object of suspicion to her loyal neigh- bours, and after repeated minor provocations and threatenings, the plundering of his park of deer and game, and the withholding of his rents, the castle was surrounded by the soldiers of the royalists or " malignants," under Sir William Vavasour and Colonel Lingen.a a Letter Celli. Shut up now in Brampton Castle with her children, and neighbours " who resorted thither to keep themselves from the plunder and vil- lanous usage then the practice of the Cavaliers,"b with the advice of b MS. Notice of Rectors. Dr. Nathaniel Wright, a physician of Hereford, frequently in attend- ance upon her, and who now, with his wife, took up his quarters there, and devoted himself and his money to the cause, and that of a veteran, sent to her by Colonel Massey from Gloucester, and her own ser- vants, she defended it with a prudence and valour worthy of her distinguished family. The siege commenced 25 July, 1643, "on a day on which she and her young children were engaged in prayer and humiliation for the mercy of God to avert the dreadful judg- ment then justly feared," and continued for six weeks; when the besiegers, alarmed by the operations in and about the Forest of Dean, were hurried off to the neighbourhood of Gloucester. " The first stroke of the Cavaliers in the siege was upon a poor aged blind man, who was without any provocation killed in the street. "e e MS. Notice During the siege, " the cook was shot by a poisoned bullet, and of Rectors. a running stream that furnished the village was poisoned." The church, parsonage house, and dwelling houses, together with the mill about a quarter of a mile off; with the buildings belonging to the castle, were all destroyed: and early in the following year, Sir dSeetheJournal Michael Woodhouse, governor of Ludlow (having been successful of the Siege of I3opton Castle, in his brutal attack on Hopton Castle,d which in its distress had re- by S. More, Esq. B ceived assistance from Brampton Castle,) came before it again, when, keway's in Hist. la of Sheriffs 2 after a gallant defence made by the servants, under Dr. Wright's 16hr22o p
XX INTRODUCTION. direction, it surrendered at mercy only, and the inmates, including three of Sir Robert's younger children, were taken prisoners, after 17 April, 1644. a siege of three weeks. There were taken 67 men, 100 arms, two NIercurius Belgicus. b Brampton Register. 1605-1643. Baxter's Life by Calamy. barrels of powder, and a whole year's provisions.a Lady Brilliana was of a delicate constitution; and, enfeebled by repeated attacks of illness and continued anxieties during her troubles, and the long absence of her husband and son, whom she fondly loved, she took a cold, alluded to in her last letter, and after a few days' illness died, soon after the raising of the first siege, in Oct. 1643, leaving three sons and four daughters, all baptised at Bramp- ton, as follows :-Edward, 24 Oct. 1624 ; Robert, 16 April, 1626 ; Thomas, 13 Jan. 1627 -8 ; Brilliana, 26 April, 1629 ; Dorothie, 12 Sept. 1630 ; Margaret, 25 Dec. 1631 ; and Elizabeth, 26 Oct. 1634.b Edward Harley, born at Brampton, 21 Oct. 1624, and baptised as above, three days afterwards, was as his mother, in his infancy, of a delicate constitution. Having passed some period at school, first in Shrewsbury and then at Gloucester, he was sent to Magdalen hall, at that time under the principal Dr. Wilkinson, and the tutorage of Edward Perkins, described by Calamy° " as a great man, a very ready and well studyed divine, especially in school divinity, a great tutor, and particularly famous for his giving Mr. John Corbet (the historian of Gloucester, and a good divine) his education and the direction of his studies." Magdalen hall at this time was in Oxford what Emmanuel College was at Cambridge, a famous puritanical school, and several remarkable men had been there edu- cated, on which account, no doubt, it was selected by Sir Robert for his son. Dr. Ingram, in his Memorials of Oxford, states, " as a house of learning, it could have been inferior to none in the university in eminence at that period, since in the year 1624, under the elder Wilkinson, it reckoned 300 students on the books, forty of whom
I INTRODUCTION.. Xxi were Masters of Arts." He resided there for two academical years, until July 1640, but, on account of the unhealthy state of the place, his residence was broken in the following October term, when hejoined his father in London, where he was at the opening of the Long Par- liament, 3 Nov: of that year. He was present too, at the trial of Lord Strafford, in April of the following year, and at that time gave himself much to the proceedings of the Parliament. His mother was eagerly bent upon his entering public employment, and though only eighteen years of age, she exercised her interest among her friends Letters cvi., to secure his return as burgess for the city of Hereford, on the death cx., oxxxiv. of Mr. Weaver; in which, however, she failed. Remaining in London, he had a lodging in Lincoln's Inn, and was probably a member of that society ; but in 1642 he became a captain of a troop of horse in the parliamentary army, which he joined under Letters cxcix., the command of Sir William Waller, and in a few weeks had CC. himself the command of a regiment of foot. In one of Sir William Letter ccii. Waller's skirmishes about this time,a probably at Lansdown, ° 11 July, 1643' his horse was shot, " and on another occasion a musket-ball," o Sir Edward's retrospect of his levelled at his heart, was bent flat against his armour, (not reckoned life in App. of such proof,) without harm." He distinguished himself particularly in the conflict at Red Marley, near Ledbury, where " at the head of his troop, he gallantly and in good order gave the charge, beat 27 July,1644. the enemy from their ambuscadoes, put their horse to flight, and in an instant of time got into the van of their foot, cutting some down, and taking others prisoners, so that few escaped."' He there received ' Corbet's list. Rel. of Mil. Gov. a severe wound in the arm, which obliged him to seek surgical of Gloue. 1045, assistance in London ; but he was again in the field early in the fol- 1' 111. lowing year, and in the conflict between Prince Rupert and Colonel Massie," near Ledbury, inwhich it is said "Massie was in great peril, ' 22 Apri1,1645. Webb's Histo- as the Prince sought a personal encounter with him, and shot his rival Introduc- tion horse." Edward Harley was here again hurt, and he is said to have hecaGlob- cestrensis,p. ciii.
xxii INTRODUCTION. carried a bullet in his body to his death. He was ordered with his 1s. C. H. 643. men to Plymouth in Nov: 1643,a made Governor of Monmouth 1644, Whitelocke. and of Canon Frome, a garrison near Hereford, in 1645, and quar- teredwith the Major- General at Marston, near Oxford, in May 1646. On the disabling of Humphrey Coningsby, member for the county b 11 Sept. 1646. of Hereford, he was chosen member .b He was at this time warmly Cobbett's Par- liamentary His- affected to the Presbyterian cause, which his father had so zealously to ' vol. ,,. p. espoused; but notwithstanding his devotion to that party, and the spirit with which his family was regarded by the Royalists, when the faction in the army began to form the scheme of a military government, he was among the first to perceive the intrigues of Ibid. Cromwell and Fairfax, and afterwards openly to oppose them in the House of Commons, for which, with Denzell Holles and others, he was impeached by the army of high treason, " for that by their power the ordinance for disbanding the army did pass." He was now dis- 29 Jan. abled by an order of the House c which was afterwards revoked,d 1647-8. and joining with his father in December following,e as before noticed, d 8 June, 1648. g g 7 Dec. 1648. in favour of the King, they were by the army made prisoners. Henceforth he was an object of suspicion to Cromwell, and in 1650, on grounds of disaffection to the government, was summoned by letter ` Letter in Ap- from Major Winthrop at Leominster,' to appear at Hereford before pendix, pp. 233-236. the Commissioners of the Militia. This summons was followed by a visit from soldiers, who searched and read his papers, and carriedhim and Mr. Clogie, the minister of Wigmore, to Hereford; both his brother Robert then M.P. for Radnor, and his brother Thomas, being at this time prisoners at Bristol. Refusing a bond urged upon him at Hereford for his appearance in London, he gave a promise to be there at his father's house from 18 Aug: to 1st of Sept: following, which, g Appendix, under authority of a pass from Wroth Rogers,g of the city of Here- p. 235. ford, he was enabled to keep. What proceedings were then taken do not appear, but he was not permitted a residence in Herefordshire for ten years.
INTRODUCTION, Xxiii In a memorandum which will be found in the Appendix,a he re- ' P. 247. cords, " that he was preserved from the cruelty of that power which put to death holy Mr. Love." Love was a Presbyterian minis- ter ; b the martyr of the cause; he was charged with treason, tried, b Marsden's History of the and condemned, as implicated in the plot with the Scots, for Later Puritans, bringing in Charles II., and was executed on Tower Hill, When Neai e History on the scaffold, attended by Manton, Calamy and other Presby- of the Puritans. P terian ministers, he exulted in the cause for which he was about to Athena;, vol. iii. 278. suffer ; declaring in a calm and manly manner his dislike of the Com- P 22Aug. 1661. monwealth, and his detestation of the Engagement, saying, " I am for a regulated mixed monarchy, which I judge to be one of the best governments in the world. I opposed the late King and his forces, because I am against screwing up monarchy into tyranny, as much as against those who would pull it down into anarchy. I was never for putting the King to death, whose person I did promise in my covenant to preserve, and I judge it an ill way to cure the body politic, by cutting off the political head." In the Parliament of 1656 he was again chosen for the county of Hereford, and being again secluded with other members, he was one who signed and published the Remonstrance,d " that they would not " Memorials, Whitelocke p. s be frightened or flattered to betray their country, and give up their 643, ed. Lond. religion, lives, and estates, to be at the will, to serve the Protectdr's I682. lawless intentions ;" setting forth his depredations, and the power he had assumed; protesting "that the assembly at Westminster was not the representative body of England, and that all such members as shall take on them to approve the forcible exclusion of other chosen mem- bers, or shall sit and vote, or act by the name of the Parliament of England, while to their knowledge many of the chosen members are so by force shut out, ought to be reputed betrayers of the liberties of England and adherents to the capital enemy of the Commonwealth." It was the lot of himself and family still to lie under suspicion in the
XXiv INTRODUCTION. time of Richard Cromwell, when his brother Robert was arrested at Kynsham Court, in Herefordshire, not without grounds of disaffec- tion to the Government. At the Restoration, Edward Harley was a zealous asserter of the royal cause, and met the King at Dover, and was shortly afterwards made Governor of Dunkirke, of which garrison he took immediate possession. During the short time he held that charge, he much improved and strengthened it ; and it is a fact which Marshal Schomberg owned to Sir Edward, when he came over with the Prince of Orange in 1688, " that the French had often during The Auditor's his time attempted to take it by surprise." a Lord Lansdown, in notes. n Quoted by his Vindication of General Monk, gives this account of Harley: b.-- Collins. " General Monk foresaw early what might happen to be the fate of Dunkirk, and took his precaution in the very beginning to preserve it, by placing Sir Edward Harley in the command, a man of public spirit, firm to the interests of his country, and not to be biassed, tempted, or deluded to be assistant in any thing contrary to it; which appeared clearly afterwards, for the first step taken, as soon as the treaty was projected, was to remove that gallant man, and place another General there." Nor was he deceived in the esti- mate of Sir Edward, for he strenuously opposed the sale of it to the French, and persevered so far with the House of Commons, to pass a resolution to prepare an Act, that it should never be alienated, but be part of the King's hereditary dominions. Neither threats or pro- mises could prevail with him to be a party to its surrender. It being known that he would refuse to deliver it up to the French, he was removed, but received a most honourable discharge of the trust from the King.* " When he took leave of the King before the Collins gives the commission for his appointment (14 July, 1660), and the'order for his giving up the town to Lord Retorfort or Rutherford (22 May, 1661), Lord R's dis- charge (28 May, 1661), and also King Charles's release (3 Dec. 1663).
INTRODUCTION. XXV Lord General,a the Duke of Albemarle, he told him that the guns, a Collins,p.204. stores, and ammunition he left them were worth more than the French were to give for the place (500,0001.), and that he had left him one thing more, that his Majesty might not think of, and that was 10,0001. in an iron chest, which he had saved, against a siege or any other exigency that might happen." By a fragment of a letter given in the Appendix,b it will be seen that the Earl of Montague was " Appendix, p. told by the King " that he would not have parted withDunkirk if he 245. could have been permitted to retain Colonel Harley in that post, which he would have preserved for his Majesty; but, said the King, I am continually disturbed, because he is represented to be a notorious Presbyterian." The King was clearly not insensible to the worth of the man whohad declined a viscountcy, lest his zeal and his services for the restoration of the ancient Government should be reproached as proceeding from ambition and not conscience ; and his being made a Knight of the Bath was done without his know- ledge : when employed at Dunkirk, the King inserted his name in the list, with his own hand. Sir Edward Harley was a member in all the Parliaments of Charles the Second, after the Restoration, either for the town of Radnor or the county of Hereford; and, as he complied not with the corrupt measures of the Court, so he never entered into the plans of others, who, under pretence of serving the public, pursued their own interest or revenge. He vigorously opposed all the acts for persecuting the Dissenters, and the actwhich made the holy sacrament of the Lord's Supper a civil test; and, when King James II. came to the throne, and set up a dispensing power, under cloak of which, he intended to bring in Popery, he endea- voured, without success, to prevail with Croft, bishop of Hereford, and with the Dissenters of that county, with whom he had justly a great influence,not to read the King's declaration, nor make any address upon it: and neither he nor any of his family ever took any oath to that King CAMD. SOC. d
Auditor Har- ley's Notes. xxvi ^ P. 240-241. INTRODUCTION. Though he was a favourer of such as dissented from the Church of England for conscience sake, and sometimes went to hear Mr. Baxter and others in London,a which brought him under suspicion of being still a favourer of the Presbyterian cause, yet he constantly attended church ; and having, as his son Edward says, " by the grace of God, and a constant reading of the scriptures, attained a very Christian temper, he never engaged in the narrow principles with which several parties in the Church had embroiled themselves and the country :" a confirmation of which will be seen in his letter to Lord Clarendon, in the Appendix .b Sir Edward was a good and religious man, untainted by the evils of that most licentious age, and during the reign of King James "he weekly spent the greater part of one day, either alone or with some of his family, in imploring the mercy of God, that the stormwhich seemed then to be falling on the nation might be averted." At the commencement of the Revolution he exerted himself with his sons on behalf of the Prince of Orange, and was at once made Governor of Worcester by the gentry there assembled; which city, by his great prudence, was kept in absolute quiet, whilst most others felt the shock of that great change. He was unanimously elected in the first Parliament of King William for the county of Hereford, and, consistently with the high principles which had ever actuated him, avoided all place and recompence, but devoted himself to the obtain- ing of such laws as might be of, real service to his country; and by his means the act for abolishing the arbitrary court of the Marches of Wales was passed. To the second Parliament his return was factiously opposed, under the cry of his being an enemy to the Church ; but, the successful candidate dying within a few months, he was again unanimously elected, and continued, in that and the succeeding Parliaments, constantly to oppose the extravagant ways that were taken for running the nation in debt, by raising funds
INTRODUCTION. xxvii under great discounts, whereby a dependence was created on the minister, and vast estates obtained . . He was much regarded in the House of Commons for his sound reasoning, and frequently closed the debates. He was well acquainted with the character of men, yet in public avoided saying anything that might the least prejudice the reputation of any person. His conversation was very entertain- ing; having read much of history and retained what he read, and having himself been engaged in many of the most stirring events of his own times. The Auditor records :-"Our father, Sir Edward Harley, may be truly said to have had all the accomplishments of a gentleman. His features were very exact, and (he) had great quick- ness in his eyes, which commanded respect. His temper was natu- rally very passionate, though mixed with the greatest tenderness and humanity. His passion he kept under a strict restraint, and had a manner totally subdued ; but his generosity and tender compassion to all objects of charity continued to his last." He was not less generous than brave. Sir Henry Lingen having been engaged in the Auditor Har_ siege of Brampton castle, his estate was laid under sequestration, and ley's Notes - the profits thereof ordered to be applied to make satisfaction to Sir Edward. After an inventory of all his goods and personal estate was taken, Sir Edward waited upon the Lady Lingen, and having asked whether that was a perfect inventory, he presented it to her, with all his right to the same. His cousin Smyth having cut off the entail of his estate, left it to Sir Edward ; but this he gave up at once to the next of kin. As a testimony of his unfeigned love for religion, and its public maintenance, he not only rebuilt the church at Brampton Bryan in his father's life-time, but augmented the livings of Brampton Bryan, Leintwardine, Wigmore, Lyngen, Kington and Stow : " and on the death of his mother-in-law, becoming interested in the lease of the impropriate tithes of Folden in Norfolk, the property of Caius College, he proposed surrendering the same, on condition of its perpetual annexation to the vicarage ;
xXViii INTRODUCTION. which was effected, thereby augmenting the value of it to 1001. a- year : and when the College offered him the nomination to the living, then void, he only so far availed himself of it, as to request theperson to be nominated should be first approved by his father's friend, Dr. Tuckney, the Master of St. John's College, and at that time Professor of Divinity in Cambridge. His letters to the Master and Appendix, page Fellows, and also to Dr. Tuckney, will be found in the Appendix, 237. together with a memorandum of the Master and Fellows relative to the business. The Appendix contains a letter of Sir William Gregory, which, bidding Sir Edward to the funeral of John, Lord Scudamore, records the friendship which existed between these two worthies of Hereford- shire, who had taken opposite parts in the Civil Wars. Truly, they were among the excellent of the earth. They loved and feared, God, and left substantial proof of their devotion to His cause, in the restoration to the Church of tithes, of which she had been despoiled. For the two or three last years of his life he wisely retired from public, and, as his father and grandfather before him, died in peace at Brampton Bryan, 8 Dec. 1700. So exemplary was his virtue, and love to his country, that he was called by discerning persons, "ulti- mus Anglorum." Collins. Sir Edward was twice married : firstly, 26 June, 1654, to Mary, daughter of Sir William Button, of Parkgate, in co. Devon, bywhom he had issue :- Appendix XI. p. 245. Auditor's notes. Letter in Appendix, p. 218. Brilliana, wife of William Popham, of Tewkesbury : Martha, wife of Samuel Hutchins, of London, merchant : And two Maries, who died young. Secondly, to Abigail, daughter of Nathaniel Stephens, of Essing- ton, in co. of Gloucester, (by whom his children were allied to Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Philip Sydney, and the Earl of Essex,) and by her had four sons and one daughter: viz.-
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