My very good lord, I hope yt ys not out of yowre remembrance, how longe sythence I haue bene a suter to her maiestie, yat she wowld giue me leaue to try my tytell to the forest at the lawe. But I found that so displesinge unto her, that in place of receyvinge, that ordinarie fauoure, which is of course graunted to the meanest subiect, I was browbeaten, and hade many bitter speches giuen me. Neuertheles at lenghe by meanes of sume of the lords of the councel, amonge whiche yowre lordship especiallye, her maiestie was persuaded to giue me eare. At that tyme which was at Summerset house, yf yowre lordship please to call to mynde, her maiestie wowlde nedes haue yt committed vnto arbitrers, pretendinge therin, to doo me espetiall fauoure, in cuttinge
of the longe circumstances of the lawe, and charges perteyninge therto. But after I hadd consented thervnto, for me, cowld be no other arbiter permitted, then the lord Chanceler, whome she had chosen for her self. this I am assured yowre lordshipe hathe good cause to remember, by her maiesties exceptione agaynst yow, in that she thowght yow partiall, to yowre sune in lawe. But thes thinges I call only to myned for yowre lordships better remembrance, which throwghe so many affayres otherwise, in so longe a tyme, yt ys no merveile, yf perhapes yow have easly forgotten. therfore I will to purpose only further call to remembrance the succes of this arbitrement. which was thus. After muche a doo, and a goode yere spent, by delayes frome her maiestie, my lord Chanceler then Sir Christopher Hattone beinge ernestly called vpone, appointed a tyme of heringe bothe for her maiesties lerned, councell at the lawe, and myne. Whervpone what he conceyved therby of my tytell, he was redie to have made his report vnto her maiestie. But suche was my misfortune, (I doo not thinke her minde to do me any wronge,) that she flattly refused, therin my lord Chanceler, and for a finall answer commanded me no more to followe the sute, for whether yt was hers or myne, she was resolued to dispose therof at her plesure. A strange sentance my thowght: which beinge iustly considered, I may say, she had done me more fauoure, yf she hadd sufferd me to trye my tytell at lawe, then this arbitrement vnder pretence of expeditione, and grace. the extremite had bene fare more safe, then the remedie, whiche I was persuaded to accepte. But after I hade made sume complainte of this harde determinatione, yet in so desperat a state, she promised this relyefe to my cause, that in sume other matter, that showlde be as commodious as that vnto me, she wowlde recompence me in the meane whyle. Hence rysethe the cause, my lord, wherfore I have preferred many sutes to her maiestie, but have found in them all, the same delayes, and difficulties, that I dyd in the other before. But now the ground wherone I lay my sut beinge so iust and resonable, that ether I showlde expect sume satisfactione, […] by way of recompence, or restoratione of myne owne, as I ame yet persuaded, tyll lawe hathe convinced me: thes are most ernestly to desire a continuance of yowre lordships fauoure and furtherance in my sute, which I made at Grenwiche, to her maiestie at her last beinge there,
about thre commodites, to witt the oyles, wolles, and frutes, in giuinge
therfore, as then my profer was. I doo the rather now renewe the same for yat I
doo not here as yet they are disposed otherwise, and that the tyme, is fittest,
aswell for her maiesties commodite, as his that shall take yt. and
consideringe, yf her maiestie will have a iust consideratione of the premisses,
I ame to chalenge and expect sumwhat. yowre lordship knowes the whole proces of
the matter, and can better iuge then any other, as to whome my estate is best
knowne, how hardly I may forbeare so great an interrest, without any
recompence. And therfore as to the metest, (for that my state and cause, bothe
in right, and conscience is best vnderstood,) to conceyve of the iust desyre I
make of this sute, I doo adres my selfe to yowre lordshipe, most ernestly to
crave bothe yowre opinione, and councell, yowre fauoure, and furtherance,
whether I were best to followe this sute, which I have commenced, or yt
standinge soo, that ther is no good ore hope to be done, or conceyved therin,
to seeke agayne her maiesties fauoure, that I myght procede, in lawe, to trye
my titell to the forest. And thus desiringe yowre lordshipe to howlde me
excused, for yat I am so longe, in a matter that concernethe me so muche, I
will make an ende, this 25 of October, 1593 and alwayes rest
Yowre lordships to Commande
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (by Earl of Oxford): To
the ryght honorable and his verye good lord, the Lord Thresorer of Englande.
[fragment of seal]
Endorsed (mixture of hands): 25
October 1593. the Erle of Oxforde to the Lord Treasurer his petition.
Second endorsement: The case of
ye right to the Forrest of Waltham, between ye Queen & him.
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?”
- Edward de Vere, Shakespeare and Tycho Brahe. June 9, 2020. “When Brahe was encouraged by his friends and associates to publish a book on the November 1572 supernova for which he is now famous, his answer belonged to his times.”
- Malvolio’s Crow's Feet and “the new Mappe”. October 14, 2019. “Percy Allen’s candidate is not mentioned by any of these parties. The traditionalists, of course, could not consider it possible because it would suggest far too early a date for the play.”
- 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.
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