My very good Lord I have receyved
yowre letters towchinge Middeltones returne, and also of the Lord of Buckhurst
renewinge of his sute.
for Middeltones report, he
hathe not differd muche from that I have allredie informed her Magesty: only
this I consider that this yeare ys more plentifull for the Tyne then hathe bene
this fortye yeares before, & yat yt semes, contrarie to former obiectiones
that the Mynes rather increas then diminishe there portione, & Myddelton
hathe not yett informed nor shalbe able tyll the next coignage, the full
quantite.
for my Lord of Buchurst, he
dothe nott yett arryve to the profer which I have made to her Magesty: whiche
she shall better perceyve by pervsinge my notes of informatione, sythe by the
Agentie, dealinge for the halfe, my vndertakers are to pay fyve thowsand pound
yearly & certeyne. And yf the Lord of Buchurst wythe his Agentes will ioyne
for the other halfe, he nor they by my offer are excluded, so yat the whoole to
her Magesty oʒt to
be made tene thowsand pounds by yeare, wherfore his offer is nott so profitable
for her Magesty as myne.
Besydes the Lord of Buchurst
persistethe styll in a course wherby her Magesty is muche hyndred. that ys he
practisethe styll myne Agentes, by deuises, and by open benifites, to cause
them to giue me ove
yt ys but synce tusday at […]
nyght last at [...]e of the cloke, he sent to speake wythe Allderman Cacher,
whoo came vnto him the next morninge, wheare ye Lord of Buchurst towld him that
in his sute of ye Tyne he hadd muche crossed him wishinge he had giuen him a
1000l he had not dealt with mee, and further yf ye wowld drawe away his
freendes, he was assured I cowld not but fayle in vndertakers, which thinge yf
he wowld vndertake for recompence he offred him a 1000l worthe of Tyne,
for 20l the thowsand.
By thys dealinge I find that I
have alle thys whyle mistaken ye Lord of Buchurst whome I thowght yat he had
delt only for her Magesty profit, as before he sent me worde by one Bullman,
incoraginge me to proceede, in this seruice & he wowld the leke for his
part indeuour the same.
But this dealinge conferred
with the leke, when he practised Carmarthen from me and by one Haales, the rest
of ye vndertakers, whose names I sent yowre Lordship the contrarie doothe
appeare.
Also so longe as yt shalbe
howlden a firme opinione, that the Lord of Buchurst shall have the sute vpon
easier conditiones then my self yt ys hard for me to make yt soo commodious as
indede otherwayes I may. for whoo in reasone, will giue ten, when they knowe
her Magesty wilbe satisfisde with a muche inferior sume.
Theare is great difference
betwyne myne offer & ye Lord of Buchurst bothe in certeynte and vncerteynte
for in the certeynte myne is ten thowsand pound a yeare, and in vncerteynte as
the quantite of Tyne rysethe as yt dothe this yeare, and as the marchantes
shall finde yt prosperous to them selues, so her Magesty partinge half wythe
them of there gaynes to increas her proportione, which as my nootes playnle
sett downe may happen to be 20ty thowsand pound sume yeare, from which good
hap, by sydes the surplus in the 10 thowsand pound by yeare her Magesty dothe
barre her self, by grauntinge yt absolutly to ye Lord of Buchurst for seven
thowsand syx hundred pound a yeare.
myne absence frome the Cytte
takes away the commodite which els I mygh have in more spedie answeringe of
yowre Lordship but I doo not dowt, yf I may have her Magesty indifferent
countenance in the matter but to make all good that I have informed her,
Althowghe by suche dealinges as I have afore sett downe, and others which I
reserue to a fitter tyme, I say not I, but her Magesty hathe bene greatly
hyndred.
I beseche yowre Lordship that
in this her Magesty seruice, wherin I have labored so longe, that yow will
stand indifferent betwiene the Lord of Buchurst and me, and so muche the rather
to yeld me yowre fauour, by how muche yow shall see yt ys more for her
Magestyes profitt.
I most hartely thanke yowre
Lordship for yowre desyre to knowe of my helthe which is not so good, yet as I
wishe yt, I find comfort in thys ayre, but no fortune at the Cowrt.
I hope yowre Lordship hathe
yowre helthe and I shalbe glade to heare therofe, and thys one thinge I have to
informe yowre Lordship before I make an ende, and that ys at my comminge hether
frome Charinge Roo, the Earle of Darbye, was ver<.y.> ernest that he
myght assure a thowsand pound a yeare for my daughte<.rs.> [...]^findinge
^ addinge farther that he merveled that Sir Robert Cecill her
vncl<.e.> & I her father weare so slake to call vpon yt. wherfore I
shall desyre y<.o.>wre Lordship as yow shall chuse best tyme, that
sumthinge may be done therin, my daughter, hathe put her trust in me, bothe to
remember yowre Lordship and her husband wherfore I wowld be gladd, that sume
certeynte were effected to her mynde. Byfleet. this 7 of August, 1595.
Yowre Lordships ever to
Commande
(signed) Edward Oxenford
Addressed (in Oxford's hand): To the ryght
honorable my verye good Lord the Lord Thresorer of Englande. [seal]
Endorsed (in Burghley's hand): 7 August 1595;
The Erle of oxford. answer to Mideltons certificat for ye tyn workes
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- More on Thomas North as Shakespeare and author of Arden of Feversham. June 14, 2021. “This is also the reason why the title pages included the address of the shop that was selling the book.”
- 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.”
- 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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