Good Sir Robert Cecil. I have often receyved from yow manye wordes of curtesies, & fauours, when I showld have occasione to vse ye, all which I have beleued, & doo styll, imagininge those promises to procede of a free & lyberall dispositione. wherfore havinge at thys tyme an espetiall opportunite to trye my friendes In a cause which I doo not dowt but iust, I make thus far bowlde wythe yow, that wheareas a fewe yeares sythence I was a suter to her Magesty, for her fauour thus farr, that my ryght which I dyd not dowt, to the forest of Waltham & parke of Haveringe concerninge the kepinge therof, myght have tryall at lawe, which is a common course to every subiect, & that then vnder pretense to doo me a fauour her Magesty to avoyd
charge, and delay of the lawe, greatly to myne ease and for better expeditione, her plesure was that the matter showld be referred to arbitriment, which was so done as her Magesty takinge exception to my arbitror, had her owne Sir Christopher Hatton then Lord Chanceler, appoynted as indifferent for vs bothe, as she dyd measure yt. He havinge hard the matter and her Magesty councell with myne, was resolued, and hervpon wished me to vrge her Magestie to call for his report, which accordinglie I dyd and the lord chancelor present. In short she refusd to heare him. she flattly sayd whether yt weare myne or hears she wowld bestowe yt at her plesure, and so vnder pretence of kepinge the same from spoyle tyll the matter weare decyded betwiene her Magesty and my self, she put yt into the handes of Sir Thomas Henige, and thys after a yeares travell, I had for my short expeditione. Now my lord yowre father is a full wittnes of all thes thinges, beinge present when the matter was committed, and the intentiones and all are sufficiently knowne to him with all the course obserued. I have written also to him and also to her Maiestie. I only desyre my friendes that may speake theare myndes to her Magesty & have oportunite that they will be meanes, yat eyther she will lett me inyoy that which my ryght dothe cast vpon me and the lawe with her fauoure, or that she will protect me with her lawe as her subiect, and that yf ^yt^ be none of myne she will rather take yt away by order, then oppressione.
this 20tie of October 1595
Youre assured friende,
(signed) Edward Oxenford
As I was fooldinge vp this letter
I receyved a very honorable answer from my Lord Thresorer. my whole truste in
this cause ys in yow twoo, my lord for yat he ys pryvie to the whole cause and
handlinge therof from tyme to tyme, and in yow for yat I assure myself in so
iust a matter yow will not abandone me.
He semethe to dowt yet of his
dethe, & wishethe me to make meanes to the Earle of Essex yat he wowld
forbeare to deale for yt. A thinge I cannot do in honor, sythe I have alredie
receyved diuerse iniuries and wronges from him, which bare me of all suche
basse courses. Yf her maiesties affectiones be forfets of mens estates we must
indure yt.
Addressed: To the ryght honorable
& hys very good friend & brother, Sir Robert Cecil one of her Magestyes
pryvoy Concell. [seal]
Endorsed: 20 October 1595; Earl
of Oxforde to my Master.
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.
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