I beseche yowre Magestye to
pardone myne importunite, at thys present and once agayne in thys cause to
troble yow with my letters. also for my shorte wrightinge, sythe I rather am
now in so short a tyme to poses yow with the matter, then wythe the
Cyrcumstance.
There were with me a fewe dayes
past sent frome yowre Magestye Sir Ihone Foscue & my Lord cheife Iustice
about the matter of Tyne, whoo declared to me yat yowre Magestye wass resolued
to take into yowre handes the preemptione of Tyne, and that yt was yowre
plesure I showlde prooceede in that whiche I hadd aduertisde yowre Magestye to
gett yow the monye wythe whiche the Tyne myght be bowght of the contrie.
I declared to them that I hadd
in redines marchantes very sufficient whiche were wyllinge and redie to lende
there monye but for yat I hadd nott of longe hard frome yowre Magestye I feared
least yow hadd forgotten ytt or at the least not determined to proceed any
further by sume persuatione. Wherfore I hadd neglected thys tyme to intertayne
the Marchantes in the same humor. I therfore desyred a day or twoo agayne to refreshe
yt agayne wythe them, wherto they agreede.
I dyd so. I found the
marchantes stedfast in there mynde willinge and with great alacrite forward to
do yowre Magestyes seruice in thys. Alderman Bannynge was the messenger
betwiene them and mee, he dyd there message, I receyved we parted, then after
for yat I could not travell vp and downe my selfe, I made Alderman Banninge
once agayne to reiteratte there resolutione as repeatede frome me to knowe
whyther I mistoke any woorde or speache, they all sent me word bake agayne that
I ryghtlye conceyved them and I mistoke them in no one poynt or worde.
Hearevpon I aduertised my lord
chiefe Iustice, in which aduertisment I sent there requestes and conditiones,
concerninge which I referred sume to his opinion and requyred to here frome
hyme.
Thes conditiones and suche
matters at thys tyme for breuite sake I am to refer to a fytter tyme herafter
to informe yowre Magestye onlye thys I am here to lett yow vnderstande, yat the
Marchantes were willinge and in redines with ther mony to have lent yow the
monye which showld be a stoke for the whoole Commodite, yowre Magestye showld
not lay owt one pennye, yow shall pay no interrest, every syx monthes they
[...] wowld have payd yowe fyve thowsand pounde, whiche ys ten thowsand pound
a yeare. they wowld take noo yeares but when they hadd done yowre Magestye thys
seruice, and yat yow hadd proof of the same, and yat they hadd restored the
auncient price in Turchie of this commodite then to accepted suche conditiones
as yowre Magestye showld thynke most profitable for yowre seluf
Thes thynges I advertised, tyme
ran one, the Marchantes were moved I wondred. and to make me more wonder, my
wyfe comminge from the courte, towld me yat yowre Magestye sayd to her yow hard
not that there wass any monye gotten.
One wensday last the Marchantes
were resolued to meat to gether for the collectione offe the monye and to
portione every mans part with great wyllingnes and forwardnes. But then strange
to me to heare yt, a commandment delyvered frome the Lord Mayor that they
showld no further thynke of that matter, for her Magestye hadd no monye and
therfore was determined thys yeare to lett ytt alone and they myght buye as
they hadd done before.
How yowre Magestye ys persuaded
I am not pryvie, but by yowre Magestyes favowre I muse what eloquence showld
move yow, to leave seven thowsand ^l^ gayned so easily that yow are put
to no further coste then tellinge it in yowre exchecker.
Agayne I thinke my selfe very
evill recompenced for my seruice to be imployed and when I have performde yt,
with all the faythe and diligence I can; then, yt, and my selfe vpon no reasone
wythe so great a losse to yowre Magestye to be reiected and neglected.
I dare not say how muche yowre
Magestye ys abusede, but I finde my selfe muche grieved to be sett one to
compas thys monye, and havinge compassed yt to be turnd owte with suche a
mocquerye. I beseche yowre Magestye in whose seruice I have faythefully
imployed my selfe, (I will not intreate that yow suffer it yowre selfe thus to
be abused,) but that yow will nott suffer me thus to be flouted scorned &
mocked.
I feare I am to longe and that
my hand ys too troblesume to reed, further the letter to longe, wherfore I will
end addinge thys onlye. That to informe yowre Magestye yat yow were to lay owt
any one penny ys a fowle abuse, and thys one my credit and dutie I doo affirme
to yowre Magestye in whome soever the fault ys so far to abuse themselues. how
can yt be sayd yow have no monye, when behowld so sufficient Marchantes are
redie without any Interrest to lend yow the monye?
Perhapes they have towlde yow
that they have hard non named, or knowe of anye. How can Sir Ihon Foscue say
so? how can my lord chyefe Iustice say yt when I dyd assure them I hadd gotten
Marchantes and the monye to be redie whensoever they showlde giue me warninge
to bringe forthe thes Marchantes with ther monye?
They may say they had non named
to them, they know that I towld them the Marchantes desyred not to be sene in
yt tyll yowre Magestye hadd taken the preemptione. they misleke yt not they
tould me yat yat order for the preemptione showld be done within twoo or thre
dayes? I never hard sythence frome them I prepared the Marchantes to be redie
tyll now thys new alteratione hathe confounded all.
wherfore yf yowre Magestye will
have yt done I am to aduertis yow yt wilbe done. Monye ys to be hadd yat shall
stand yow in never a pennye. And therfore yf yt stand with yowre plesure, yt
behovethe yowre Magestye to make a stay agayne of thys newe deceyt, and to
suffer the former order of preemptione to goo forwarde, which in a yeare or two
wilbe fyftene thowsand pound a yeare.
thus in hast I crave yowre
Magestyes pardone, for I thowght yt better for me to make a fault in my
writinge, then yat yowre Magestye showld suffer any losse by so great abus and
to informe yowre Magestye how necescassarye yt yt ys yf yowr plesure be not to
lease a commodite, made ^so^ redie to yowre handes, to countermade thys last order, and to giue
commandment that the order of yowre preemptione be nott altred, least the
Marchantes havinge prepared this monye and beinge provyded to furnishe yowre
seruice, disposinge yt otherwise and vpon sum other imploymentes, the leke facilite
and oportunite to effect yt be never hadd agayne.
Yowre Magestyes
most humble
subiect and servant
(signed) Edward Oxenford (sec.
f; 4+7)
Addressed (in Oxford’s hand):
for her moste exellent Maiestie. [seal]
Endorsed: Iune 1599; Erle of
Oxford to her Magesty; concerning Tynne.
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- Shakespeare and Thomas North. April 5, 2021. “It might have been more of a surprise if North had not been advanced after one or another fashion.”
- 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?”
- 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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