Letters: Earl of Oxford to Sir Robert Cecil; June 12, 1603. [Spelling modernized.]

Cecil Papers 100/93, Earl of Oxford to Sir Robert Cecil; 12 June 1603. [Click here for original spelling.]

My very good L[ord] I know that you are so charged with public affairs, that you can have little leisure or none at all, to undertake a private cause, especially concerning another. This therefore which you do for me I do conceive it in your particular favour, and so I take it and you shall find me therefore ever thankful. This shall be therefore to desire your L[ordship] that with my very good L[ord] and friend my L[ord] Admiral, that you will procure me a full end, of this suit wherein I have spent so long a time, and passed the greatest part of my age.  The cause is right, the king Just, and I do not doubt but your L[ordship]s both my honorable friends, according to your words I shall find you in deeds therefore in a full confidence of your L[ordship]s’ most friendly favours, I will leave to hinder your more serious businesses. This 12 of June.

Your L[ordship]s’ most assured friend and Brother-in-Law

 

(signed) Edward Oxenforde. (knot)

 

Addressed (in Oxford’s hand): To the ryght honorable my very good Lord the Lord of Essendon. [seal torn away]

 

Endorsed: 12 June 1603. Earl of Oxenford to my Lord.

 

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

• On Shakespeare and Drinking Smoke. January 4, 2021. “The debate raged for some time: Had Shakespeare smoked pot? Tobacco? Both?”
• On the Question “Who knew Edward de Vere was Shakespeare?” December 14, 2020. “But was the word going around that his wife, the Countess of Oxford, conceived two children in his absence?”
• 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?”
• 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.”
• 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.