ABSTRACT
The letters in a series written by Lady Brilliana Harley are mostly from her home at Brompton Castle about twelve miles west of Ludlow. Brilliana Harley was born about 1600 while her father, Sir Edward Conway, was Lieutenant-Governor of the Brill. In 1623 she became the third wife of Sir Robert Harley, who had received a legal education, before entering a career in politics. The series of letters written in a tragic setting, for the growing tensions of the Civil War pervade the later ones. By the time of the second letter printed here, Brilliana is facing, in her husband's absence, the prospect of the siege of Brompton by Royalist forces. Although doing much damage, siege lifted after six weeks. Brilliana did not live to see it resumed next spring. The letters are written in plain style, which often imitates familiar spoken language but maintains forceful control of discourse structures, achieving effects of balance and verbal parallelism.
