(Mrs.) the celebrated writer of the Atalantis, was the daughter of Sir Roger Manley, the reputed author of the first volume of the Turkish Spy. She lost her parents very early; and after having been deluded into a false marriage by her guardian, who was her cousin, and afterwards deserted her, she was patronized by the duchess of Cleveland, mistress of Charles II. But the duchess, being a woman of a very fickle temper, grew tired of Mrs Manley in six months time; and discharged her upon a pretence, whether groundless or not is uncertain, that she intrigued with her son. After this she wrote her first tragedy, called Royal Mischief, which was acted with great applause in 1696; and her apartment being frequented by men of wit and gaiety, she soon engaged in amours, and was taken into keeping. Her pen now grew as licentious as her conduct: for, in her retired hours, she wrote four volumes, called Memoirs of the New Atlantis; in which she was not only very free in her wanton tales of love-adventures, but satirized the characters of many distinguished personages, especially those who had a principal concern in the Revolution. A prosecution was commenced against her for this work; but whether those in power were ashamed to bring a woman to trial for a few amorous trifles, or whether the laws could not reach her disguised satire, she was discharged; and a total change of the ministry ensuing, Mrs Manley lived in high reputation and gaiety, amusing herself with the conversation of wits, and writing plays, poems, and letters. She died in 1724.