Thomas the first viscount Fauconberg, and, dying in 1653, left iffue fix fons and feven daughters.

Conyers, the eldest fon, who fucceeded his father, was member of parliament for Boroughbridge, in 1660, and for the county of York in 1661. He was afterwards created earl of Holderness, Dec. 5, 1682, in the thirty-fourth year of the reign of Charles II. He married Grace, daughter and heiress to Thomas Rokeby, of Skyres in Yorkshire, Efq; by whom he had Conyers, his heir, and five daughters.

Conyers, the fecond earl of Holdernefs, married, first, Catharine, daughter to Mildmay Fane, the fecond earl of Weftmoreland, by whom he had no iffue; nor by his third wife Frances, daughter to William Seymour, the fecond duke of Somerfet. His fourth wife was Elizabeth, eldeft daughter and coheirefs of John lord Frefcheville, by whom he likewife had no iffue; but by his fecond wife Frances, daughter to Thomas Howard, the firft earl of Berkshire, he had three fons, John, Philip, and Charles.

John, who was knight of the fhire for the county of York, died in his father's life-time, June 7, 1688. He married Bridget, only furviving daughter of Robert Sutton, lord Lexington, by whom he left two fons, Robert, and Conyers, and two daughters.

Robert, the eldeft, fucceeded his grandfather. He was gentleman of the bedchamber to his late majefty, and one of his privy-council; first commiflioner of trade and plantaions, chief justice in eyre north of Trent, and lord lieutenant of the north riding of Yorkshire; but died on Jan. 20, 1721--22. He married

and coheiress to Meinhardt Sconbergh, duke Sconbergh in England, duke of Leinster in Ireland, count of the Roman empire, and knight of the garter (by the lady Charlotte, his wife, eldest daughter to Charles Lewis, elector palatine) and by her left iffue, befides the present earl, a daughter Louisa-Carolina, married to William earl of Ancram, who had iffue by her one fon and a daughter.

Robert, the prefent earl, on the 21ft of November 1740, was made lord lieutenant of the north riding of Yorkshire. In April 1741, he was made lord of the bedchamber to his majefty; and in June 1744, ambaffador to the Republic of Venice, and afterwards minifter plenipotentiary to the Hague, and one of his majefty's principal fecretaries of state in June 1751, and fworn of the privy-council. On March 30, 1752, he was appointed one of the lords juftices during his majefty's abfence at Hanover, and on the 23d of March 1754, again made one of his majesty's fecretaries of ftate. He married at the Hague in November 1743, Mary, daughter of the fieur Doublet, one of the nobles of Holland, and niece to the secretary Fagel, by whom he had ifsue, i. George, born in Sept. 1745, died at two years of age; 2. Thomas, born May 7, 1750, died in July following; 3. lady Amelia, born O&. 12, 1754.

His lordship's titles are, earl of Holderness, lord D'Arcy, one of his majefty's most honourable privycouncil, lord-lieutenant of the north riding of Yorkshire, and vice-admirał of the fame, keeper of the liberty and foreft of Richmond, conftable of Middleham-caftle in Yorkshire, and governor of the charter-houfe.

HISTORY

GENTLEMEN,

THE good advice you have always given our fex, and the tenderness you have always expreffed for our well doing in the world, has emboldened me to become one of your, correfpondents, though very ill qualified to write to perfons of polite talte, much lefs to appear in print.

The matter however will, I hope, excufe the manner in which I exprefs myself both to you and to the world; and as I have no other view in publishing my unfortunate ftory, but to prevent others from being fubjected to the fame fate, and giving you an opportunity to expatiate on a cruelty too much practifed, and too little condemned by the generality of people, I can not, I think, be blamed, with any fhew of justice, for fo doing.

Without any farther apology then, gentlemen,permit me to acquaint you, I am the only daughter of a perfon, who, by his own industry and great fuccefs in trade, has accumulated a very large fortune; my mother dying when I was very young, he made up that lefs to me by an extraordi

nary care both of my perfon and education; the latter of which was indeed beyond what is ordinarily allowed by perfons of his ftation to their children, especially daughters; but as I was his all, and he declared against a second marriage, therefore was to inherit whatever he should die poffeffed of, he told every body that he would bring me up fo aş not to let me be a difgrace to my fortune.

In this refolution he perfevered, till I arrived at the age of fifteen, or thereabouts, when I first began to perceive an alteration: though wealth continued to flow in upon him, and no difappointments happened in any of his undertakings, he grew extremely parfi nonious, and at last quite covetous :-he retrenched the number of his fervants, the difhes on his table, and even denied himself a bottle of wine in an evening, a thing he was wont to say he could not live without.

Amidft this new ceconomy it is not to be doubted but that I had my fhare:-my ufual ftipend for pocket money was leffened, had new

cloaths

cloaths but feldom, and of a cheaper fort than formerly, and was now never fuffered to go to a play, opera, or any other public diverfion; not that he difliked them on any other account than the expence, but every thing that exceeded the common neceffaries of life he now looked upon as so many extravagancies.

This, gentlemen, you may perhaps imagine was a very great mortification to me; and it would indeed have been fo, had I not been taken up at that time, as it happened, with thoughts which left me no room to confider on any thing befide.

The fon of a Leicestershire gentleman, who, whenever he came to town, lodged at our house, found fomething in me that he thought worthy of the most ferious attachment, and I, for my part, had never feen any man before him whofe idea was capable of giving me either pain or pleasure in the leaft degree.

In fine, having a mutual affection for each other, it was eafy for him to prevail on me to permit him to acquaint both our parents with it —the supposition of my being a great fortune made his liften with a very favourable ear to the propofe; and mine had no objection to make, as the young gentleman was heir to a very good eftate, and had withal a fair character from all that knew him.

That love which before we had kept a fecret from all the world, was now avowed to all our friends and acquaintance; and none among them but thought the union between us, which was foon expected, would be extremely agreeable on all accounts.

For us, we thought of nothing but indulging the gayeft hopes of

future felicity, and had not the leaft notion of any difappointment in an affair which was fo well approved of by those who had the difpofd of us.

But, alas! we foon found we had but deceived ourselves, and that the inchanting prospect before cur eyes was no more than an illufion, which only ferved to make the coming misfortune lefs cafy to be borne ;the material point to make us happy was yet wanting, though we had never once confidered it :—our owa wishes, our ambit on centered only in the poffefsion of each other, and we looked no farther...

As we had converfed together fome time, the father of my lover thought it proper to afk mine what portion he intended to beftow oa me, that he might order his lawyer to draw up articles, and make a fuitable fettlement on me. To this my father answered, that there was no need of being at that trouble; that as I was to have all he had after his deceafe, he did not think of parting with any fum of money by way of portion before, which be might have occafion for in trade, and the other could not want, having fo good an eftate.

How much the gentleman was furprized at fo unexpected a reply, I leave you to guess :-they had it feems a long debate upon it, however; but the one thinking it unreafonable his fon fhould marry on fuch terms, and the other being determined not to below any money with me, they broke off the whole affair, both mutually exclaiming again the injuftice of the other.

My lover was now forbid by his father, ever to fee or write to me any more, and I was told I ought to defpife him, for all the paffion he pretended

pretended to have for me, was only for the portion he expected to receive with me.

I own to you, gentlemen, that at firft this gave fome alarm to my pride; but the dear injured youth foon convinced me of his fidelity, and difinterefied tenderness he felt for me, by making ufe of all the arguments in his power to prevail on me to be married in private; and when be found I would by no means confent to that, cffered to lead me publickly to the altar, tho' he fhould, by fo doing, incur, the eternal displeasure of his father, and be deprived of all he was born to poffefs.

This propofal feemed more extravagant than the other; and young as 1, was, and as much as I loved, and fill do love, I could not think of gratifying that love at, the expence of rendering myself, and the perfon fo dear to me, unhappy: in every circumftance of life, perhaps for ever.- obliged him therefore to be content with feeing me at a friend's house, where we fometimes met by ftealth, till heaven fhould be pleafed to make fome alteration in our fate, by turning one or both our parents hearts.

A folemn promife pafs'd, how ever, between us, never to liften with an affenting ear to any offers of marriage that might be made to either; but preferve, through all temptations whatever, both heart and hand for one another.

This is now near three years fince, in which time feveral very advantageous matches have been propofed to him, all which he has rejected, with a firmness which well teftifies both his honour and his love..

But now, gentlemen, comes the feverest and most fhocking part of my misfortune:—it was not enough for my cruel father to tear me from the only man I ever did, or ever can love: it was not enough that he reproached me in the most bitter terms for not joining with him in railing against a perfon, who, my foul knew, merited the moft exalted 'praises: it was not enough to withdraw all that fatherly affection he was accustomed to treat me with, and for these three long years treat me rather as an alien than a child: all this, I fay, was not fufficient, without intailing a mifery upon me, which but, with my life I never can be eafed of.

In a word, gentlemen, he has provided a hufband for me, to whom, if I confent not to be a wife, am to be turned out of doors, with out the deaft prefent fupport, of hopes of any even at his death:→ that instead of the bleffings of a father, I muft receive only curfes both living and dying. My heart hudders while I am writing this, at the dreadful remembrance of what he has faid to me on this occafion; and at the impoffibility there feems of my any way avoiding to do what will render me not only wretched to a degree beyond what any words can reprefent, but equally wicked, by becoming perfidious and ungrateful to the dear and worthy object of my firft vows.

Several of our relations perceiving my averfion to this hateful match, have ufed their utmost intereft with my father not to force my inclinations; but he continues inflexible, and their follicitations rather ferve to, make him haften my misfortune, than to ward it off;

because,

becaufe, as he fays, he will not be teized on a subject he is determined to perfift in.

The grand motive is, that the perfon to whom my ill ftars have rendered me amiable, defires no money with me, and has it befides greatly in his power to be serviceable to my father in his way of business. These are the merits for which he is preferred: these make him in the eyes of an avaritious parent appear a suitable match; though to give his character impartially, and without any of the reafons I have for an averfion, the most indifferent and difinterested person must allow, that his form is very ungraceful, that he has the misfortune of being lame in one arm, that his countenance is four, and that he is almost three times my age: -I fay nothing of his humour, because I am not fufficiently acquainted with it to be a judge; but the world does not feem to think very favourable of it.

I do not mention this, gentlemen, as having any fway over my mind, for were he, inftead of the moft difagreeable, the most lovely man heaven ever formed, I should deteft him equally, if attempting to

invade that conftancy I have promised to my first love.

Yet, wretch that I am, I am upon the point of doing what the most falfe and perfidious of my fex could but do; and in that light shall I appear to all who know the profeffions of eternal love I have made to him, whom I am now about to render miferable for ever. My wedding cloaths are making (would to God it were my winding-theet) and I must in a few days, be forced into a bridal bed, by far more dreadful to me than the grave.

The only eafe under this heavy affliction I can enjoy is, in the hope my ftory will influence you to fay fomething in your perfuafive manner that may have its due weight with other parents, (for 1 despair of mine being moved, even with an angel's eloquence:) unhappy as I am, I wish not to have any fharer in the fame fate, though I am afraid too many have and will: that the number may decreafe, however, is the fincere prayer of,

Gentlemen,

Your moft unfortunate fervant, MONIMIA.