My good Brother, in that I haue not sent an answer to yowre laste letter, as yow myght expect, I shall desyre yow too hould me for exscused, sythe ever sythence the receyt therof by reason of my syknes I have not been able to wryght. And whearas yow doo conceyve that I haue bene carried to muche by the conceytes of Cauley, I doo asssure yow ther ys no suche thinge. I haue vsed hym and soo doo styll as a follower of my busines, wherin I doo not finde any cause to blame but rather recommend hys diligence. for Councell I haue suche lawers, and the best that I can gett as are to be had in London, whoo have aduised me for my best course, to desyre that her Magestye wowld graunt me her warrant signed, for the drawinge of a booke mentioninge what her plesure ys to graunt me concerninge the Escheete of Sir Charles Davers
(de bene esse, quantum in Regina est) wherby shall ensue no
preiudice vnto any of the pretenders whiche subieste to be interessed in any of
the sayd landes, in regard, that yf the Quiene haue no titell, there passethe
nothinge to mee. It ys a common course notwythstandinge any office founde
agaynste the Quiene, that her Magestye grauntethe concealed landes in this
course, whearof there are many yearly precidentes. So yat her Magestye
grauntinge this to me, grauntethe but her owne interest, whiche in effect had
bene nothinge, consideringe how this cause hathe bene caried, and so lekly to
haue bene obscured for ever, yf yt had not bene my hap to have styrred therin.
for the rest of yowre letter, whatsoever yow have written, although yt be sum discoragment vnto me, yet I cannot alter the opinion whiche I have conceyved of yowre vertu and constancie, neyther can I suffer yt to enter my thought that a vayne fable can brandel the clearnes of yowre guyltles conscience sythe all the world doothe know that
the
crymes of Sir Charles Dauers were so byfolde, that Iustice could not dispence
any farther; wherfore I cannot leue that hoope and trust whiche I have hadd in
yowre promises, but as I have done styll I doo wholy rely my self on yowre only
friendship, and thus desyring yow to beare with the weaknes of my lame hand, I
take my leaue from Hakney this 22th of November 1601.
Yowre louinge and assured Brother
to his powre
Edward Oxenford
Addressed (in Oxford’s hand): To
my very welbeloved Brother Sir Robert Cecil principall Secretarie to her
Magestie [seal]
Endorsed: 22 Nouember 1601; The
Earle of Oxford 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?”
- 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.”
- Shakespeare’s Funeral Meats. May 13, 2020. “Famous as this has been since its discovery, it has been willfully misread more often than not. No mainstream scholar had any use for a reference to Hamlet years before it was supposed to have been written.”
- Shakespeare Scholarship in the Internet Age. August 12, 2018. “I love to be presented with a legitimate challenge to any of my work. This does not change the fact that such challenges are followed by an unpleasant sinking feeling. Had I missed something?”
- 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 Letters Index: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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