It ys now a yeare sythence by yowre only meanes her Magestye graunted her intereste in Danvers escheete. I hade only then her woorde from yowre mouthe I fynde by thys waste of Tyme, that landes will not be carried wythoute deedes. I have twice therfore moved her Magestie that yt wowld please her to graunte me that ordinarie course (de bene esse quantum in nobis est) wherof there are moore then an hundred examples. myne answer ys that I showld receyve her pleasure from yow. But I vnderstand by Cauley that shee hathe never spoken therof. The matter hathe beene hard accordinge to the order with muche a doo twice before ^the^ Iugges, and many also
standers by dyd heare the same, ther in open aparance, her Magesties tytell was questionles, The Lord chyef Iustice vpon thys as in forme I was made beleue, was to have taken the opinion of the rest of the Iugges and conferringe yt wythe his owne to have made vp a report to her Magestie. As for the Iugges report they weere never caald vnto yt, and the principall poyntes to confirme her Magesties tytell never opned or moved, but contrarie kept bake. So that vnder there hands the Lord chiefe Iustice hathe made no report. Yet sumthinge he hathe done owt of his owne brest that ys secret and I cannot lerne, yf he have reported nothinge to Eschete to her Magestie, then ys my sute as yt was the fyrst day, that ys where her Magestie thowght she hadd nothinge, that she wowld graunt me her Interest. thys sut I obteyned by yowre espetiall meanes, and this she promisde me, wherfore […...] Hervpon I chalenge that sumthynge myght be done, wherby I may vpon grovnde seke and trye her Magesties ryght, whiche cannot be done wythout this dede a fore spoken of. The course whyche syldome or never hathe bene vsed before in this cause, to refer yt to the Iugges, how preiuditiall a president I know not to her Magestie, hathe bene obserued, and the effect hathe showed that whearas yt was pretended to be shortest, yt hathe bene the furthest way about. and as the beginninge was but sume opinione the end ys but confusione. Now therfore the matter havinge bene directed by this course for a whoole yeares space, and come to no better termes, my desyre ys to know her Magesties
plesure touchinge ^my desyre of^ her patent, (De bene esse) whyther she will performe yt or noo. If not then have I bene mocked, yf ye, that I myght have answer, wherby I may vpon reason quiet my selfe, and not vpon wearines. How sooever an answer shalbe most welcome vnto me, now beinge the best expectatione of my tedious sute, thinkinge therin, my tyme lost, more pretious then the sute yt selfe. Thus takinge my leave frome Hackney thys 22tie of Marche I remayne
Yowre assured friende &
Brotherinlawe
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (in Oxford’s hand): To
the ryght honorable my verye good Brother Sir Robert Cecill, her Magestyes
principall Secretarie [seal]
Endorsed: 1601 March 22 Erl of
Oxenford 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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