Harley

Harley, ROBERT, EARL OF OXFORD AND MORTIMER, the son of Sir Edward Harley, an active partisan of the Parliament during the civil wars, was born in London, 5th December 1661. The politics of the family were Whig, and as such Robert Harley entered parliament for the Cornish borough of Tregony. But at the end of his first parliament he was elected for New Radnor, and this constituency he continued to represent until 1711. He soon acquired a great reputation for his knowledge of parliamentary law and practice, and in the parliament which met under the chieftainship of Rochester and Godolphin, in February 1701, he was elected speaker. This post he retained until 1705, though in April 1704 he became also Secretary of State. But shortly after this time Harley began to influence the queen's mind against the party of Marlborough and Godolphin; for, apparently from motives of personal ambition, he now began to intrigue with and for the Tories, and he found a most useful ally in his cousin, Abigail Hill (Mrs Masham). Godolphin failed not to detect what was going forward, and in February 1708 the conviction of Harley's secretary for treasonable correspondence with France caused his master to resign office. The discarded minister then set to work, aided by his cousin, to undermine the power of the Whigs, and in August 1710 Godolphin was dismissed, Harley being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer and made head of the government. In 1711 occurred an event which raised Harley to the acme of popularity. A French priest and spy, who assumed the title of Marquis de Guiscard, being brought before the council on the 8th of March on the charge of treasonable correspondence with France, suddenly stabbed Harley in the breast with a penknife. His life was said to have been in danger, but he recovered, and was created Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, made a knight of the Garter, and in May appointed Lord High Treasurer of Great Britain. He was the last to bear this title; henceforth the chief adviser of the sovereign was known as the first minister to the crown, or the prime-minister. The principal act of Harley's administration was the treaty of Utrecht, the opposition of the Whig majority in the Upper House being overcome by the creation of twelve new peers. But Oxford's popularity was already on the wane; the friendship between him and Bolingbroke had degenerated into bitter jealousy, and was fast turning to hatred, and Mrs Masham sided with Bolingbroke. Moreover, Oxford estranged the Jacobites by his irresolution and want of a decided policy. On 27th July 1714 he was dismissed from office, his successor being Bolingbroke. Five days later, however, the queen died, and George I. was proclaimed king. In July of the following year Oxford was impeached and sent to the Tower, but after two years' imprisonment was acquitted by the Peers, and released. He spent the remainder of his life in retirement, the friend of scholars and men of letters, especially of Swift, and the founder of the Harleian collection of books and MSS. in the British Museum (q.v.). The Harleian Society, named from him, was founded in 1869 for the publication of heraldic visitations, &c. He died May 21, 1724. Harley was not a great statesman; the fault that marred his career was indecision of purpose, a desire to stand well with all parties. He followed no decided policy, but intrigued all round, not only with Whigs and with Tories, but also with the enemies of his country. Consequently he was distrusted by all parties and loved by none. See the Harley Papers (1897).