Good Sir Robert Cecill, whearas my wyfe hathe showed me, a supplicatione exhibited to the lordes of the Councell, agaynst her, I have longed bothe to yelde yow thankes for yowre curtesie, to her and my self in makinge her aquainted therwythe, and also to aduertise yow, how [l]ewdly thearin he behaves himself. For as for my wyfe he chargethe, wythe a matter wherto she was never acknowleginge, as yf yow consider the datte of his supplicatione, which signefieth a fyve yeares agone, at whatt tyme I thinke she never knew the man, and muche lesse had any dealinges wyth him, as he cannot denye,
and If I then weere maried vnto her yt was
all. Whearas he pretendethe I made over to her my pensione [to her] with a
conditione to pay all former warrantes graunted by me, yt is mearly fals,
neyther hathe he any ground to say yt. wherfore how presumptuously he dothe
abuse her, yow may easly iuge, as yat dares to make so impodently his
complaynte of her, beinge as she ys: and to suche personages of qualite and
statte, as are the pryvie Councell. I doo not dowt therfore, but as yow have
begune wythe so honorable a procedinge, but yow will lett him have his desertes
accordinge to his presumptione. And in the meane seasone for that a longe
letter may be troblesume vnto yow, which have matters in hand of more
importance, I thowght yt fytt, thus shortly to show the wronge don to her, and
to refer the very ground and culler of his complaynt vnto an other sedule which
I shall send yow.
Whearin yf he hath hadd any cause to have complayned, it showld then have bene agaynst my self, as the same will explayne. But his
shyftes and knaveries are so grosse and palpable, that
doutinge to bringe his partes and iuglinges to light, he dothe adresse his petitione ^agaynst^ her that ys vtterly ignorant of the cause.
Thus desyringe yow to conceyve how thankfuly I take thys honorable dealinge
with my wyfe and friendly care to me, I will the lesse sett forthe in woordes
whatt I the more desyre in deeds to show, if I weare so happie as to fynd
oportunite. this 11th of Ianuarie 1597.
Yowre assured friende and Brother
in lawe
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (O): To the ryght
honorable and his very good friend Sir Robert Cecill on[e] of her Magesties
pryvoye Councel and principle Secretarye.
Endorsed: 12 January 1596. Earl of Oxeford to my Master. The controuersie betwene him and Gurley.
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- A Model for Lady Macbeth. July 12, 2020. “In Macbeth, the Lady of the castle would also seem to be her Lord’s indomitable will. She will see the deeds done that need be done in order for him to pass the daunting tests and wear the crown.”
- 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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