Althoughe my badd succes, in former sutes to her Magestye, haue giuene me cause to burye my hoopes, in the diepe Abis and bottome of dispayre, rather then nowe to attempt, after so many tryales made in vayne, & so many oportunites escaped, the effects of fayre woordes, or frutes of gowlden promises. yet for that, I cannot beleue, but that there hathe bene alwayes a trwe correspondencie of woord and intentione in her Magestye. I doo coniecture, that wythe a lyttell helpe, that which of yt selfe hathe brought forthe so fayre blossumes will also yeld frute. Wherfore hauinge moved her Magestye latlye about the office of the Ile whiche by the deathe of Sir Antonie Paulet stands now in her maiesties dispositione to bestowe where yt shall best pleas her, I
doo at this present most hartely desyre yowre
friendship and furtherance fyrst for yat I know her Magestye doothe giue yow
good eare, then for yat owre howses are knyt in alliance, last of all, the matter
yt self ys suche, as nothinge chargethe her Magestye sythe yt ys a thynge she
must bestowe vpon sume one or other. I know her Magestye hathe swters alredie
for yt, yet suche as for many respects her Magestye may call to remembrance
ought in equall ballence, to way lyghter then my selfe. And I know not by whatt
better meanes, or when her maiestie may have an easier oportunite to discharge
the dept of so many hopes, as her promises have giuene me cause to imbrace,
then by thys, whiche giue she muste & so giue as nothinge extraordinarelye
doothe part frome her. yf she shall not dayne me this in an oportunitie of tyme
so fyttinge, what tyme shall I attend which is vncerteyne to all men, vnles in
the graues of men ther were a tyme to receyve benifites, and good turnes frome
princes. well I will not vse more woordes, for they may rather argue mistrust
then confidence. I will assure my self and not dowt of yowre good office boothe
in this but in any honorable friendshipe I shall have cause to vse yow. Hakney.
Yowre louinge and assured friend
and Brother.
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- King’s Place: home of the Earl and Countess of Oxford, 1596-1604. November 10, 2020. “In 1596, Elizabeth Trentham received King’s Place, in Hackney, from the estate of one Sir Rowland Hayward. She and her husband, Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, moved in shortly afterward.”
- 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?”
- What Color Were Shakespeare’s Potatoes? July 27, 2019. “By the year 1599-1600, when Shakespeare’s play would seem to have been written, the potato was available in London. It was considered a delectable treat and an aphrodisiac.”
- 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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