My very good lord I have perused
these letters, which according to your Lordship’s desire I have returned. I do
perceive how both my Lord and Lady do persevere, which doth greatly content me,
for Briget’s sake, whom always I have wished a good husband such as your
Lordship and myself may take comfort by. And as for the articles which I perceive
have been moved between your Lordship and them, (referring all to your
Lordship’s wisdom and good liking) I will freely set down my opinion, according
to your lordship’s desire.
My Lord of Pembroke is a man sickly and therefore it is to be gathered he desires in his lifetime to see his son bestowed to his liking. To compass which me thinks his offers very honorable, his desires very reasonable. Again being a thing agreeable to your lordship’s fatherly care and love to my daughter. A thing which for the honor, friendship, and liking I have to the match ^very agreable to me^ so that all parts desire but the same thing. I know no reason to delay it, but according to their desires, to accomplish it with convenient speed. And I do not doubt, but your lordship and myself shall receive great comfort thereby. For the young gentleman, as I understand hath been well brought up, fair conditioned, and hath many good parts in him. Thus to satisfy your Lordship I have as shortly as I can set down my opinion to my Lord’s desires, notwithstanding I refer theirs, and my own which is all one with theirs, to your lordship’s wisdom. I am sorry that I have not an able
body,
which might have served to attend on her Majesty in the place where she is,
being especially there, whither without any other occasion, than to see your
Lordship I would always willingly go. September viijth 1597
Your Lordship’s most assured
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (by Oxford): To the right
honorable my very good lord the lord Treasurer of England. [no seal]
Endorsed: 1597
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?”
- Gutenberg, proto-Hack Writers and Shakespeare. May 26, 2020. “A less well known effect of the Reformation was that many young Catholic men who had taken religious orders in order to receive an education began to lead lives at large from monastic discipline. Like Erasmus and Rabelais they took up the pen.”
- The Battle Over Shakespeare's Early and Late Plays. September 24, 2018. “The answers to the post-Oxford dilemma, of course, are three.”
- Shakespeare's Apricocks. February 21, 2017. "While he may never have been a gardener, he does seem more than superficially knowledgeable about the gardens of his day. One detail of such matters that he got wrong, however, is as much to the point as any."
- 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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