Cecil Papers 31/93, Oxford to Burghley; 17 April 1595. [Click here for modernized spelling.]
My very good Lord, I have asked
Mr Alderman Cacher whyther he deliuered any suche speache or no, to my Lord of
Buchurst, as yat I showld show him a letter frome yowre Lordship wherin I was
promised this swte of ye Tyne before him. he protestes the contrarie & I
doo beleue him, for yat I assure yowre Lordship I neyther showed him or any
other, any letter of yowres. Never the lesse the Lord of Buchurst he dothe
feare, to become his hevie Lord, for yat he hathe charged him, how he showld be
the man that gave me informatione fyrst of thys swte, wherby as he takes yt,
yat he hathe ben greatly hyndered.
But as for Carmarden I do fynde
yat he hathe not a lyttell dobled with me, by dyvers actiones of his, &
manyfest dealinges. for wheras I sent him too yowre Lordship, to confirme yat which
I hadd vndertaken, which was trwe, yett as I perceyve he performed not what he
promised. Also wheras he towld yowre Lordship as I perceyved by yowre letter,
yat he had talked wythe me, and the Alderman concerninge the quantite, bothe
the Alderman and my self can assure yowre Lordship he spake not one woorde to
vs therof. But excusinge himself yat he had not delt so lyberally wythe yowre
Lordship as he was determined, after his departure from me he persuaded the
Alderman to moue me to ioyne with my Lord of Buchurst, and diuers other
speaches, which tended to his misleke that the Custommers & officers of her
Maiestie showld be loked into, and for his part yf yt showlde goo forward yt
was owt of his way a hundred poundes a yeare. Wherfore he wowld wishe yt rather
to stand as yt dyd, then to procede. by thes dealinges and many other, I doo
finde, that he hathe bene no smale hinderer.
Thus muche I thowght necessarie
to informe yowre Lordship bothe in the Aldermans behalf and myne owne, for
yowre satisfactione. As concerninge the swte that which I dyd was not my swte,
but to further her Magesties seruice. wherin yf I fayled was not my fault of
diligence, but the merchants who fyrst gave there promise, and then brake yt.
And wheras I desyred that the swt showld pas in my name, was not therby to have
gayned, but to have raysed the rent, the more to her maiestie. all whiche
thinges sythe they have not succeded, hathe not ben any want of goodwill in me,
but want of credite from her Magestie.
Wherfore as in the beginninge I
had yowre Lordships promise to further me in my swte concerninge the
transportatione of Tyne & Leade, imposinge there one a crowne or noble the
hundred or foder, so styll doo I desyre yowre Lordship to perseuer yf yt may stand
with yowre lekinge , & yat my Lord of Buchurst dealethe no farther, as he
giuethe owt himself. this 17 of Aprill Anno 1595.
Yowre Lordships to Commande.
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (O): To the ryght
honorable and his very good Lord the Lord Thresorer of Englande. [seal]
Endorsed (B): 17 Aprill 1595;
Erl oxford; Tyn
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment