OF SAMUEL HARTLIB. 29 



" I hope also I shall be able to give you a further 

 account of the secret Society (so much desired after), 

 a prime Member that hath been with his Maj[esty] 

 being yesterday safely arrived. For I am upon all 

 occasions assuredly, 



Much honoured Sir, 



Yours truly respect[ful]. 



And most faithful Servant, 



Axe-Yard, June 23, 1660." 



/ J^^^^yttiX. 



Keen necessity obliged him in his uttermost ex- 

 tremity, afflicted by severe sickness, oppressed by many 

 debts, and advanced in age, to petition Parliament the 

 first year of the Eestoration. It would appear as though 

 he had written to the nobility and others to seek their 

 patronage in the effort he was making, and among 

 others to Henry, Lord Herbert, son of the great Marquis 

 of Worcester, author of that curious production "The 

 Century of Inventions." His letter is dated 22nd of 

 November, 1660* and runs thus : — 



* Dr. White Kennet's Register and Chronicle Ecclesiastical and 

 Civil : containing matters of fact, delivered in the words of the most 

 authentick books, papers, and records ; digested in exact order of 

 time. Faithfully taken from the MS. collections of the Lord 

 Bishop of Chester. 2 vols, folio. 1728. Vol. I. p. 871. 



