Letters: Earl of Oxford to Baron Burghley, October 31, 1572.

BL Lansdowne 14-85, ff. 186-7, Oxford to Burghley, October 31, 1572.
[Click here for modernized spelling.]

My lord, yowre last letters, whiche be the first I haue receiued, of yowre lordshipes good opinion conceiued towardes me, (whiche god graunt so longe to continue) as I wowld be bothe desirowes and diligent to seke the same, haue not a littell, after so many stormes passed of yowre heui [=heavy] grace towardes me, lyghtned and disburdned my carfull minde. And sithe I haue bene so littell behouldinge to senister reportes, I hope now, withe yowre Lordships indiferent iugment, to be more plausable vnto yow then her to for, throught my carfull dedes, to please yow, whiche hardly, eyther throwght my yowthe, or rather misfortune hether to I haue donne. But yet, least those, (I can not tell how to terme them,) but as bakfriendes vnto me, shall take place againe to vndo yowr lordshipes beginninges of welconceiuinge of me, I shall most ernestlye desire yowre Lordshipe to forbere to beleiue to fast, least I growinge so slowlie into yowre good opinion may be vndeseruedly of my parte, roted ought of yowre fauoure. The whiche thinge, to allwayes obtayne, (if yowre lordshipe doo but equally consider of me) may se by all the meanes possible in me, I doo aspire. thought perhapes by reasone of my yowthe, yowre grauer and seuerer yeres will not iuge the same, Thus therfore hopinge the best in yowre lordshipe, and feringe the worst in my selfe, I take my leaue, least my letters may become lothsume and tedious vnto yow to whome I wishe to be most gratfull, written this 31th of October by yowr Louinge sune in Lawe from wiwehole

(signed) Edward Oxenford

This bearer hathe sum ned of yowre Lordships fauoure, whiche when he shall speake withe yowre Lordship I pray yow, for my sak he may finde yow the more his furtherer and helper in his cause.

Addressed: To the right honorable my singuler good Lord the Lord Treasorer geue these. At Court. [seal]

Endorsed: 31 October 1572

Second endorsement (B): Erl of oxford

Third endorsement: Vpon a reconciliation of his father in Law towards him.

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

• Lady Southwell on the Final Days of Queen Elizabeth I.  March 24, 2019.  “her majesty told [Lady Scrope] (commanding her to conceal the same ) that she saw, one night, in her bed, her body exceeding lean, and fearful in a light of fire.”
• Hedingham Castle 1485-1562 with Virtual Tour Link.  January 29, 2019. “Mr. Sheffeld told me that afore the old Erle of Oxford tyme, that cam yn with King Henry the vii., the Castelle of Hengham was yn much ruine,…”
• Why Shakespeare Appears on Title Pages from 1598.  November 20, 2018.  ‘These he finds unconvincing.  The author’s name having appeared in a number of title pages after 1598, he continues, “it would seem foolish for publishers not to attach the Shakespeare brand to his previously unattributed plays—unless they had other reasons not to do so.”’ 
• The Battle Over Shakespeare's Early and Late Plays. September 24, 2018. “The answers to the post-Oxford dilemma, of course, are three.”
• Shakespeare on Gravity. August 26, 2018. “So carelessly does Shakespeare throw out such an extraordinary divination. His achievement in thus, as it were, rivalling Newton may seem in a certain sense even more extraordinary than Goethe's botanical and osteological discoveries;…”
• Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
• Check out the English Renaissance Letter Index for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.