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 ;
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