Robert Harley

“ HARLEY, Sir ROBERT (1579–1656) , M.P. and master of the Mint, born at Wigmore Castle, Herefordshire, and baptised on 1 March 1579, was son of Thomas Harley, esq., of Brampton Bryan Castle, Herefordshire, by his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir Andrew Corbet, knt., of Morton-Corbet, Shropshire. Thomas Harley (1545?–1631) was sheriff of Herefordshire under Elizabeth and James I, and was employed on the council of William, lord Compton, president of the marches of Wales. Robert Harley, whose mother died when he was young, received instruction from his uncle, Richard Hurley. ”

“ On 23 May 1711 Harley was created a peer of Great Britain by the titles of Baron Harley of Wigmore, Herefordshire, Earl of Oxford, and Earl Mortimer, with remainder in default of male issue to the heirs male of his grandfather, Sir Robert Harley, K.B. (Pat. Soil, 10 Anne, pt i. No. 24) . The preamble to the patent, recounting Harley's services in very glowing terms, is said to have been written in Latin by Freind, and to have been translated into English by Swift (Harl. Miscellany, 1808, i. 1-2) . ”

“ Harley.
Motto.—Virtvte et fide.
Legend.—Robert Harley.
[The Annals of King James and King Charles the First. London, 1681.]
Robert Harley (born 5th December 1661, died 21st May 1724) was the son of Sir Edward Harley of Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire. Robert Harley was Member of Parliament for Tregony, and afterwards for New Radnor, and was distinguished for his knowledge of finance. In 1701 he became Speaker of the House of Commons, and had a considerable share in the passing of the Act for the Protestant succession to the Throne of England. ”

“ He became a sort of business agent for the Harleys, and in 1713, to the great contentment of Robert Harley, he negotiated the marriage between Edward Harley, afterwards second earl of Oxford [q. v.] , and Lady Henrietta Holles, only daughter and heiress of the fourth Duke of Newcastle. ”

“ And speaking of Harley, the writer, I fancy I looked on him last, Sprawling and staring and writhing in the roar of the battle blast; Then a mad gun-team crashed over, and scattered his brains as it passed. Oh, Harley and Fanning and Barret, they were bloody good mates o' mine; Their bodies are empty bottles; Death has guzzled the wine ”

“ Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, made a great purchase in 1705, and spent the next twenty years in building on that foundation. His son, Earl Edward, threw himself with zeal into the undertaking, and left at his death about 50,000 books, besides a huge body of manuscripts and an incredible number of pamphlets. We shall quote from the sketch by Oldys, who shared with Dr. Johnson the task of compiling the catalogue. ”

“ He made many valuable additions to his father's collection of books and manuscripts [see Harley, Robert, first earl, ad Jfin.] , including the library of Dr. John Covel in 1716 (Addit. MS. 22911) . Thomas Baker (1656-1740) [q. v.] arranged that after his own death twenty-one volumes of his collections in illustration of a history of the University of Cambridge were to be presented to the Harleian Library (Nichols, Lit. Anecd. v. 662-3) .
Harley died in Dover Street, London, on 16 June 1741, and was buried on the 25th in the Duke of Newcastle's vault in Westminster Abbey. He married on 31 Oct. ”

“ That Barret, the painter of pictures, what feeling for color he had!
And Fanning, the maker of music, such melodies mirthful and mad!
And Harley, the writer of stories, so whimsical, tender and glad!
To hark to their talk In the trenches, high heart unfolding to heart,
Of the day when the war would be over, and each would be true to his part,
Upbuilding a Palace of Beauty to the wonder and glory of Art...
Yon’s Barret, the painter of pictures, yon carcass that rots on the wire;
His hand with its sensitive cunning Is crisped to a cinder with fire ”

“ If the devil is at the bottom of that trick, as Jim Harley would have us all believe, I see no reason why he should neglect us to-night. But, seriously, I am convinced that we might play a thousand games and never see those two red crosses on the face of a card again. It was chance, of course, and that the Harleys should have that family tradition all ready was a still more remarkable chance. ”

“ Sacrifice such exuberance of life and spirit to that bloodless heart, to that cold and earthward intellect! By Heavens, it shall not be!"
"But whom can the exile possibly have seen of birth and fortunes to render him a fitting spouse for his daughter? Whom, my lord, except yourself?"
"Me!" exclaimed Harley, angrily, and changing color. "I worthy of such a creature? I—with my habits! I—silken egotist that I am! And you, a poet, to form such an estimate of one who might be the queen of a poet's dream!" ”

“ It glared down at Harley. The abyss of a mouth opened as though again giving vent to silent, infernal laughter. Then, with the noise of a landslide, the giant form settled slowly to the ground. The rock half-moons of curtains dropped over the expressionless, dull eyes. The whole great figure quivered, and grew still. It lay without movement, stretched along the ground like a craggy, opalescent hill.
Dazed, stunned by such fantastic behavior, Harley struggled wearily to his feet. He had been a dead man as surely as though shot with a ray-gun. ”

“ He drew his pipe from between his teeth, and:
"Yes, what do you want with me?" he asked.
"Your attention, Mr. Harley, for a few moments, if you feel sufficiently recovered."
"Pray proceed," said Harley.
Of the presence of a second person beyond the screen he was now assured, for he had detected the sound of whispered instructions; and sinking lower and lower upon the divan, he peered surreptitiously under the border of the curtain, believing it to be more than probable that his movements were watched. ”

“ Frank walked back to join Peschiera, and his brow was thoughtful, and his lips closed firmly. Harley had that gift which belongs to the genius of Action. He inspired others with the light of his own spirit and the force of his own will. Harley then hastened to Lord Spendquick, remained with that young gentleman some minutes, then repaired to his hotel, where Leonard, the Prince, and Giacomo still awaited him. ”

“ She noticed that they seemed to think of Harley as one like Jimmy Grayson—that is, one of themselves—and they never considered him raw or green in any respect.
Her confidence in Harley and the momentary elation returned as they stood there in this cup in the mountain-side and looked out upon the expanse of peak and plain. She ate, too, with an appetite that the mountain air sharpened, and she thrilled with strength and hope. ”

“ And Harley himself stood amazed, and almost abashed, by the rich and marvelous beauty that beamed upon him. “My father's friend,” she said hesitatingly, “and I never to have seen you!”
“Ah, Signorina,” said Harley (and something of his native humor, half arch, half sad, played round his lip) , “you are mistaken there; you have seen me before, and you received me much more kindly then—”
“Signor!” said Violante, more and more surprised, and with a yet richer color on her cheeks. ”

“ Paul Harley was notable because of that intellectual strength which does not strike one immediately, since it is purely temperamental, but which, nevertheless, invests its possessor with an aura of distinction. ”

“ I thought of the silent birds and the hovering hawk, and I began my preparations for dinner mechanically, dressing as an automaton might dress.
Paul Harley’s personality was never more marked than in his evil moods. His power to fascinate was only equalled by his power to repel. Thus, although there was a light in his room and I could hear him moving about, I did not join him when I had finished dressing, but lighting a cigarette walked downstairs. ”

“ Old Wigmore's show of temper soon gave way, in his mind, to the more startling and mysterious events of the evening. The marks on the card were strange enough; but the way in which the sight of those marks had affected Jim Harley was altogether extraordinary. It was not what he would have expected from Harley—or from any one in the settlement, for that matter. The incident smacked of the Wild West of fiction rather than of the real backwoods of New Brunswick. And Harley was such a sensible fellow, too; hard-working, prosperous, with a fine wife, two children, and such a delightful sister. ”

“ Harley.—"Then I am satisfied as to your conduct, but not as to his. For he has too acute an intellect not to know what it is to forfeit independence; and, depend upon it, he has made his calculations, and would throw you into the bargain in any balance that he could strike in his favor. You go by your experience in judging men; I by my instincts. Nature warns us as it does the inferior animals—only we are too conceited, we bipeds, to heed her. ”

“ Close inquiries at the Savoy Hotel had shown that Harley had not been there. Wessex, who was a thorough artist within his limitations, had satisfied himself that none of the callers who had asked for Ormûz Khân, and no one who had loitered about the lobbies, could possibly have been even a disguised Paul Harley. ”

“ I stared into the leering face, and it was the face of one who knew and who might have said: “Yes! this and other things equally strange have I beheld in many lands as well as England. Much I could tell. Many things grim and terrible, and some few joyous; for behold! I smile but am silent.”
For a while Harley stared abstractedly at the bloodstains on the pedestal of the joss and upon the floor beneath from which the matting had been pulled back. ”

“ Basta! youth will be youth."
"He has no youth left in him!" exclaimed Harley, passionately. "I doubt if he ever had any. He is one of those men who come into the world with the pulse of a centenarian. You and I never shall be as old—as he was in long-clothes. Ah, you may laugh; but I am never wrong in my instincts. I disliked him at the first—his eye, his smile, his voice, his very footstep. It is madness in you to countenance such a marriage: it may destroy all chance of your restoration." ”

“ I was standing in the doorway talking to the man when I heard the drone of Harley’s motor in the avenue, and a moment later he and Wessex stepped out in front of the porch and joined me. I thought that Wessex looked stern and rather confused, but Harley was quite his old self, his keen eyes gleaming humorously, and an expression of geniality upon his tanned features. ”

“ There are certain trifles by which a shrewd observer may judge of a man's disposition. Thus, ranged on the table, with some elegance, but with soldier-like precision, were sundry little relics of former days, hallowed by some sentiment of memory, or perhaps endeared solely by custom; which, whether he was in Egypt, Italy, or England, always made part of the furniture of Harley's room. Even the small, old-fashioned, and somewhat inconvenient inkstand into which he dipped the pen as he labelled the letters he put aside, belonged to the writing-desk which had been his pride as a schoolboy. ”

“ Dale broke from Violante and hurried down the corridor; Violante stood on the same spot, stunned and breathless. Harley on the brink of some strange sin! Harley to wake, the victim of remorse! Harley to be saved, as he had saved her father! Her breast heaved, her colour went and came, her eyes were raised, her lips murmured. She advanced with soft footsteps up the corridor; she saw the lights gleaming from Harley's room, and suddenly they were darkened, as the inmate of the room shut to the door, with angry and impatient hand.
An outward act often betrays the inward mind. ”

“ And there were ambassadors and ministers, and wits and brilliant debaters, and first-rate dandies (dandies, when first-rate, are generally very agreeable men) . Amongst all these various persons, Harley, so long a stranger to the London world, seemed to make himself at home with the ease of an Alcibiades. Many of the less juvenile ladies remembered him, and rushed to claim his acquaintance, with nods and becks, and wreathed smiles. He had ready compliment for each. And few indeed were there, men or women, for whom Harley L’Estrange had not appropriate attraction. ”

“ Adieu, Lady Lansmere; no doubt I shall see Harley as soon as he returns.”
Then he hastened from the room, gained his carriage, and ordered the coachman to drive to Downing-street. He drew down the blinds, and leaned back. A certain languor became visible in his face, and once or twice he mechanically put his hand to his heart.
“She is good, amiable, docile—will make an excellent wife, no doubt,” said he murmuringly. “But does she love Harley as he has dreamed of love? No! Has she power and energy to arouse his faculties, and restore to the world the Harley of old? No! ”

“ Harley was admitted a member of the Inner Temple on 18 March 1682, but was never called to the bar. At the revolution he assisted his father in raising a troop of horse and in taking possession of Worcester in the name of William III. In March 1689 he was appointed high sheriff of Herefordshire, and at a by-election in April was returned to parliament, through the influence of the Boscawen family, for the borough of Tregony. At the general election in March 1690 he was returned for New Radnor borough, which he continued to represent thenceforth until his elevation to the House of Lords. ”

“ Harley, meanwhile, had lingered with Riccabocca and Violante, speaking but on indifferent subjects, obtaining short answers from the first, and none from the last, when the sage drew him a little aside, and whispered, “She has consented to sacrifice herself to my sense of honour. But, O Harley! if she be unhappy, it will break my heart. Either you must give me sufficient proof of Randal’s unworthiness, to absolve me from my promise, or I must again entreat, you to try and conciliate the poor child in his favour. All you say has weight with her; she respects you as—a second father.” ”