Robert, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, was the eldest son of Sir Edward Harley, and born in 1661. At the Revolution, Sir Edward and his son raised a troop of horse at their own expense; and after the accession of William and Mary he obtained a seat in parliament. His promotion was rapid. In 1702 he was chosen Speaker of the House of Commons; in 1704, he was sworn of Queen Anne's privy council, and the same year made secretary of state; in 1706 he acted as one of the commissioners for the treaty of union with Scotland; and in 1710 he was appointed a commissioner of the treasury, and chancellor and under-treasurer of the exchequer. A daring attempt was made on his life on the 8th of March 1711, by the Marquis of Guiscard, a Frenchman, who, when under an examination before a committee of the privy council, stabbed him with a penknife. Of this wound, however, he soon recovered; and he was the same year created Earl of Oxford and lord high treasurer, which office he resigned immediately before the queen's death. In 1715 he was impeached of high treason, and committed to the Tower; but he was cleared of the charge by trial, and died in 1724. He was not only an encourager of literature, but the greatest collector in his time of curious books and manuscripts. See Harleian Collection.