Letters: Earl of Oxford to Baron Burghley, May 18, 1591.

BL Lansdowne 68[/6], ff. 12-13 (bifolium, 272mm x 195mm), Oxford to Burghley; 18 May 1591 (W305-6;F393-5,411-12). [Click here for modernized spelling.]

My Lord I doo thanke yowre Lordship for the punishment of Hamptone whose evill delinges towards me, beinge put in trust with my causes in Lawe, I hope yowre Lordship will thinke them sufficient to deserue yowre disgrace, especially knowinge his corruptiones, which for the more assured knowlege of yowre lordship, I have sent vnto the parties them selues, from whome he hathe drawne monye to his owne behofe. whose confirmationes so sone as they canbe brought out of the contrie, they shalbe deliuerd to yowre lordship. In the meane seasone I shall most hartely pray yowre lordship to perseuer yowre good fauour towards me, wherby I may procure redres agaynst this which Amis hathe passed vnder the greate seale, by the practise of Hamptones fraudilent deuise, as shall appere, yf I may have lesure to manifest the same every day more and more. The changinge of the name of my seruant without my priuoyte, and putting in an other in trust for himself, as badd as I vnderstand as himself. yf yowre Lordship will, [I] may giue yowre Lordship certeyne knowlege of the deceyt. The coseninge of so many tenantes of there monye, and the forfetinge of my lease of Skinners land, do wittnes inoughe his corruptione. I know yf yowre lordship will stand myne honorable good lord and friend herin, by handlinge this Hamptone ruflye, and this Amise so that he be but put in feare, that yow may bringe them to that order which is reasone, that I may enioy myne owne lands, as from the beginninge was ment by her magestie. And as for this letter of Amises which I have returned to yowre lordshipe, bothe concerninge my messages to him and the dealinge of my seruant, as he reportes is most fals. wherfore I will refer all to yowre lordship whoo knowes the intent of her Magesties first meninge to me, was far otherwise in the beginninge, when with this sut of myne, she thought to recompence me in sume sort, for forberinge my sute for the forest. and cane iuge how vnfaythfully I am delt wythall by thes parties. Whiche fauoure yf yowre lordship shall doo for mee, then wowld I gladly breake vnto yowre Lordship an other matter which I wowld have done ere this, had I not bene intercepted by thes vnlokedfore trobles. And this yt ys.

Wheras I have hard, her magestie ment to sell vnto one Mideltone a marchent, and one Carmarden the demaines of Denbyghe, which as I ame informed is 230l by yerly rent, now as yt ys, I wowld be an humble suter to her magestie, that I myght have had this bargen payinge the 8000l, as they showld have done acceptinge for 5000l therofe the pencione which she hathe giuen me in the exchechore and the other 3000l the next terme, or vpon suche resonable dayes as her magestie wowld graunt me by her fauoure. and further yf her magestie wowld not except the pencione for 5000l that then she wowld yet take vnto yt, to make yt vp that value, the tytell of the forest which by all counsell of lawe, and conscience is as good ryght vnto me as any other land in England. And I thinke her magestie makes no evil bargen, and I wowld be glad to be sure of sumthinge that were myne owne and that I myght poses. Yf her magestie thinkethe it showld offend the tenantes, and for that she hathe graunted them a lease, yf they complayne or be agaynst yt, I will cease my sute. but yf I can get there goodwils, and that they shall lett there lease fall which her magestie hathe graunted, whervpon I dare presume to yowre lordship, then that her magestie will lett me have yt on those former conditiones. This is a thinge that I have bene desirous to impart vnto yowre lordship, but that I have ether found yow trobled with other busines, or I myself have ben incombred with thes trecheries of Hamptone.

The effect herof is I wowld be glad to have an equall care with yowre Lordship ouer my children, and yf I may obteyne this resonable sut of her magestie, grantinge me nothinge, but what she hathe done to others and mean persones, and nothinge but that I shall pay for yt, then, those lands which are in Essexe as Hedingeham, Brets and the rest what soever, which will come to sume 5 or 600l by yeare, vpon yowre Lordsh frendly help towards my purchases, in Denbighe, shalbe presently deliverd in posessione to yow, for there vse. And so muche I am sure to make of thes demaynes for my self.

So shall my children be prouided for, my self atlenghe setled in quiet, and I hope yowre lordship contented, remayninge no cause for yow to thinke me an evil father, nor any dout in me, but that I may enioy that friendship from yowre Lordship, that so nere a mache, and not frutles, may laufully expect. good my Lord, thinke of this, and let me have bothe yowre furtherance, and councel, in this cause. for to tell trothe I am wery, of an vnsetled lyfe, which is the very pestilence that happens vnto courtiers, that propound to them selues no end of there tyme, therin bestowed. Thus committinge yowre Lordship to Almyghtie god, with my most hartye thankes, and commendationes I take my leaue. this 18th of May. Yowre Lordships ever to Command.

(signed) Edward Oxenford

Addressed (by the Earl of Oxford): To the right honorable & his very good Lord the Lord Thresorer of England giue thes.

Endorsed (by Baron Burghley): 18 of May 1591 The Earle of oxford

Second endorsement: Hampton; Amyas; Denbighe

 

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

• A 1572 Oxford Letter and the Player’s Speech in Hamlet. August 11, 2020. “The player’s speech has been a source of consternation among Shakespeare scholars for above 200 years.  Why was Aeneas’ tale chosen as the subject?”
• The Fascinating Itinerary of the Gelosi Troupe, 1576.  June 10, 2019.  “The Spanish soldiers had not been paid and unpaid soldiers tend to rob and loot.  The citizens were prepared to give them a fight.  Violent flare ups were occurring everywhere.”
• A Thousand Years of English Terms.  June 2, 2019.  ‘One person did not say to another, “Meet you at three o’clock”.    There was no clock to be o’.  But the church bell rang the hour of Nones and you arranged to meet “upon the Nones bell”.’
• The Battle Over Shakespeare's Early and Late Plays. September 24, 2018. “The answers to the post-Oxford dilemma, of course, are three.”
• 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.