Cecil Papers 31/52, Oxford to Burghley; 28 March 1595. [Click here for modernized spelling.]
My very good Lord. I doo fully perceyve how muche I am bound vnto yowre Lordship wherfore I am sorye that the shortnes of the tyme this day which I hadd with yowre Lordship and the presence of ye Alderman made me to forbeare sumthinges of importance in this matter of ye Tynnes. It ys trwe that I have found the Lord of Buchurst to have delt with me very stranglye, and otherwise, then tyll this experience, hadd of his dispositione, I wowld have beleved, or otherwise suspected. But In effect I showlde have assured yowre Lordship that I have nott ignorantly or rashly entered into this sute, for a licence of transportatione, but vpon the solititatione of Mr Carmarden, and ye conference of suche as have hadd longe experience in Tyne matters. He I say is the only man yat sett me in hand with this swte, & by whome I hadd the fyrst lyght of the great quantite of Tynnes wherof
It ys trwe that my gaynes shalbe
very lyttell or nothinge yet sythe my Lord of Buchurst hathe so hardly dealt
with me as I will enforme yowre Lordship whensoever I shall have oportunite
therfore I rather will content my self with nothinge and make vp the sume I
have promised then he showld effect his crosse, and overthwart towards me.
But I dyd alwayes take, that he
wowld have given 7 thowsand l more then her maiestie yett hadd, and yat made me
offer the more which by gods grace I meane to performe. But considering he is
fallen 3000l of yat account yf I may be therfore spared, my gayne wilbe
sumthinge, and wheras he bringes yt to 7000l, yf I may have yt for 8000l,
which is a thowsand l more then I shall not be so muche aferd of the decay of
ye Mynes, nor of ye selfwill of ye People and suche feares as are not forcast
in vayne.
Yet yf her Maiestie will have the
vttermost rather then be thus put owt I doo not dowt but to answer in all
respects my promes. So yat I may be assured none shall have yt frome me. and
that I have sume smalle tyme gyvene me to make ane end of those agrementes
wherof sume I have allredie fynished. thus to informe yowre Lordship that which
I forgott to day. I feare I am to longe.
Yowre Lordships to Commande.
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (in Oxford’s hand): To
the ryght honorable & my very good Lord my Lord Thresorer of England.
Endorsed (in Burghley’s hand): 28 March 1595; Erle of oxford
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- Oxburgh Hall, Rats’ Nests and Hamlet’s Book. January 31, 2021. “Among the little things that could be done was to scavenge for the centuries of dreck that had found its way between the floorboards.”
- 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.
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