Edward de Vere, 16th Earl of Oxford

“ SECRET HISTORY OF EDWARD VERE, EARL OF OXFORD.
It is an odd circumstance in literary research, that I am enabled to correct a story which was written about 1680. The Aubrey Papers, recently published with singular faithfulness, retaining all their peculiarities, even to the grossest errors, were memoranda for the use of Anthony Wood's great work. But beside these, the Oxford antiquary had a very extensive literary correspondence ”

“ So the folio MS.
[574] The battle of Evesham was fought on August 4, 1265.
[575] [This stanza is not in the ordinary versions.]
[576] [Bessie of Bednall, Percy folio MS., ed. Hales and Furnivall, vol. ii. p. 279.]
[577] He was one of Q. Elizabeth's gent. pensioners, at a time when the whole band consisted of men of distinguished birth and fortune. Vid. Ath. Ox.
[578] Perhaps "blythe."
XI.
FANCY AND DESIRE. By the Earl of Oxford.
Edward Vere, Earl of Oxford, was in high fame for his poetical talents in the reign of Elizabeth ”

“ Who taught thy tongue the woeful words of plaint?
Who filled your eyes with tears of bitter smart?
Who gave thee grief and made thy joys to faint?
Who first did paint with colours pale thy face?
Who first did break thy sleeps of quiet rest?
Above the rest in court who gave thee grace?
Who made thee strive in honour to be best?
In constant truth to bide so firm and sure,
To scorn the world regarding but thy friends?
With patient mind each passion to endure,
In one desire to settle to the end? ”

“ Who worketh most to their share least doth fall,
With due desert reward will never be.
The swiftest hare unto the mastiff slow
Oft-times doth fall, to him as for a prey;
The greyhound thereby doth miss his game we know
For which he made such speedy haste away.
So he that takes the pain to pen the book,
Reaps not the gifts of goodly golden muse;
But those gain that, who on the work shall look,
And from the sour the sweet by skill doth choose,
For he that beats the bush the bird not gets,
But who sits still and holdeth fast the nets. ”

“ OXFORD, EDWARD DE VERE, EARL of (1550-1604) . —Was a courtier of Queen Elizabeth, who lost his friends by his insolence and pride, and his fortune by his extravagance. He m. a dau. of Lord Burghley, who had to support his family after his death. He had some reputation as a writer of short pieces, many of which are in the Paradise of Dainty Devices.
PAINE, THOMAS (1737-1809) . —Political and anti-Christian writer, s. of a stay-maker and small farmer of Quaker principles at Thetford, became with large classes perhaps the most unpopular man in England. ”

“ Lutheranism at, 262, 263; forced to approve Henry VIII.'s divorce, 292; opposes the royal supremacy, iv. 162; religious changes in, 304; Catholic refugees from, at Douay, 317; protests against the Millenary Petition, v. 152; declares for passive obedience, 170; vii. 1; James II.'s dealings with, 25, 26; Jacobitism in, 184; Methodists at, 205; supports the younger Pitt, viii. 69 Oxford, Robert de Vere, third Earl of. See Vere Oxford, Robert de Vere, ninth Earl of. See Vere Oxford, John de Vere, twelfth Earl of, iii. 142, 177 Oxford, Edward de Vere, seventeenth Earl of, iv. ”

“ I muse that men forget themselves so far.
To mark the choice they make, and how they change,
How oft from Phoebus do they flee to Pan,
Unsettled still like haggards wild they range,
These gentle birds that fly from man to man;
Who would not scorn and shake them from the fist
And let them fly fair fools which way they list.
Yet for disport we fawn and flatter both,
To pass the time when nothing else can please,
And train them to our lure with subtle oath,
Till, weary of their wiles, ourselves we ease ”

“ My sighing seas shall flow with streams of tears;
Amidst disdains drive forth thy doleful chance,
A valiant mind no deadly danger fears;
Who loves aloft and sets his heart on high
Deserves no pain, though he do pine and die. ”

“ The present pains perforce that Love aye seeks,
Bid me renew my cares without relief;
In woeful song, in dole display,
My pensive heart for to betray.
Betray thy grief, thy woeful heart with speed ”

“ A thousand Cupids fly
About her gentle eye.
From which each throws a dart,
That kindleth soft sweet fire:
Within my sighing heart,
Possessed by Desire.
No sweeter life I try,
Than in her love to die. ”

“ Since empire none thy mind could yet suffice,
Wert thou obscure still cares would thee torment;
But wert thou dead, all care and sorrow dies;
An easy choice of these things which to crave,
No kingdom nor a cottage but a grave. ”

“ Making light show where I esteem most dear.
A malcontent, yet seem I pleased still,
Bragging of heaven, yet feeling pains of hell;
But time shall frame a time unto my will,
Whenas in sport this earnest will I tell ”

“ Whenas the heart at tennis plays, and men to gaming fall,
Love is the court, hope is the house, and favour serves the ball.
The ball itself is true desert; the line, which measure shows,
Is reason, whereon judgment looks how players win or lose. ”

“ I laugh not at another's loss;
I grudge not at another's gain:
No worldly waves my mind can toss;
My state at one doth still remain.
I fear no foe, nor fawning friend;
I loathe not life, nor dread my end. ”

“ What makes him not reward good will with some reward or ruth?
Youth.
What makes him show besides his birth, such pride and such untruth?
Youth.
May I his favour match with love, if he my love will try? ”

“ The which betokeneth, forsaken is of me,
That with the careful culver climbs the worn and withered tree,
To entertain my thoughts, and there my hap to moan,
That never am less idle, lo! than when I am alone. ”

“ He was originally an executive officer of the King's household, appointed to look after the royal residence. In 1133 the office was granted by Henry I. to Aubrey de Vere, father of the first Earl of Oxford, and to his heirs. Henry VIII. gave the post on several occasions for life to different favourites, not necessarily of the De Vere family, but since the time of Elizabeth the Lord Great Chamberlainship has been held without exception by descendants of the Earl of Oxford. ”

“ Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege,
Whom thou obeyed’st thirty and six years,
And not bewray thy treason with a blush?
WARWICK.
Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,
Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?
For shame! Leave Henry, and call Edward king.
OXFORD.
Call him my king by whose injurious doom
My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere,
Was done to death? And more than so, my father,
Even in the downfall of his mellowed years,
When nature brought him to the door of death?
No, Warwick, no; while life upholds this arm,
This arm upholds the house of Lancaster. ”

“ When, therefore, Oxford or his men descended into the villages adjacent to the Mount, they were received with enthusiasm, and, in the words of the chronicler, "had good cheer of the inhabitants."
Oxford's enterprise seemed to have prospered; but the period was the reverse of favorable for a Lancastrian lord being left in undisturbed possession of a strong-hold. No sooner did Edward hear of the exploit, than he issued a proclamation branding De Vere and his adherents as traitors; and, at the same time, he ordered Sir John Arundel, Sheriff of Cornwall, to retake St. ”

“ He was at once succeeded in his influence and in his party leadership by a far more dangerous man, another uncle of the King, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester. Meanwhile the politics of England had changed, and had fallen back into their normal condition. We have seen that the King had been allowed the free selection of his own household. He had surrounded himself by men not drawn from the higher [247] baronage. [64] His chief favourite was De Vere, whom he had made Earl of Oxford, and subsequently Duke of Ireland, and to whom he had intrusted the government of that disturbed country ”

“ Although a man of some ability and attainments, he appears to have led a somewhat profligate life, and in July 1611 the Countess of Oxford caused articles to be drawn up against him on account of the evil influence that he exercised over her son, Henry de Vere, eighteenth earl, a youth of eighteen, the companion of Prince Henry. ”

“ Within their center, singularly enough, a pure white flower reared its beautiful head, the which served admirably to enhance the royal splendor of its compeers.
Round about the plush-carpeted floor were seated John de Vere, Earl of Oxford, Henry's chief of archery; Sir James Blunt, sometime captain of the Castle of Hammes, in Picardy (the same who had connived at Oxford's escape from that fortress) ; Sir Walter Herbert, and Sir Richard Rohan, Richmond's boyhood companion, squire, and chief of horse. All were armed at proof and full accoutered for the coming battle. ”

“ His uncle Aubrey de Vere was his heir; and in the parliament held at Winchester, in January following, he was, for the good service done to the king and his father, restored to the estates of his family, and to the dignity of Earl of Oxford, with remainder to his heirs male for ever. ”

“ By these arbitrary exactions he destroyed the last trace of adhesion to his Government. On all sides he felt coldness—on all sides he saw defection. The brave old Earl of Oxford, John De Vere, who had been a prisoner twelve years in the prison of Ham, in Picardy, was set at liberty by Sir James Blount, the governor of the castle, and they fled together to Henry. ”

“ The same individual who has been for many years the nearest heir male to Aubery de Vere, twentieth and last earl of Oxford of that family, who died in 1702, has become, by the recent death of Alfred, sixth Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, the nearest heir male to that race also, which title is likewise extinct. ”

“ Vaux, Caister, Norfolk, i. 298; iv. 109, 289, 292; v. 77, 94; vi. 74, 190.
Vaux, John, Parson of Eddingthorpe, ii. 10, 31.
Vaux, Sir Nicholas, vi. 187.
Ve, France, ii. 6.
Venetian Ambassador’s comments on English life in time of Henry VII., i. 326-327.
Venice, Gold of, vi. 173.
Venor, Eliz., iv. 245.
Vere, Aubrey de, son of John, twelfth Earl of Oxford, iii. 218.
Vere, John de, etc. See Oxford.
Vere, Dame Margaret, v. 176.
Vere (Veer) , Sir Rich., ii. 144.
Vere (Veer) , Sir Robt., iii. 269.
Vere, Thos., v. 94. ”

“ Edward, Earl of Oxford, had stood at one period of his life, in the rank of the wealthiest of Englishmen. He was the owner of estates worth some four or five hundred thousand pounds. He was, too, a man of highly intellectual and studious tastes; but, in his case, a magnificent style of living, great generosity, and excessive trust in dependants, did what is more usually the work of huge folly or of gross sins; they brought him into circumstances which, for his position in life, might almost be called those of poverty. ”

“ Probably few politicians have owed quite so large a debt of gratitude to their enemies as that incurred by the Earl of Oxford. His ministry at home had been marked by weaknesses which went perilously near the edge of public calamity. The Peace which was its characteristic achievement abroad had brought with it many real blessings, but they were won at the cost of a large sacrifice of national pride, if not also by some sacrifice of national honour. ”

“ Oxborough, Norfolk, v. 229; vi. 100.
Oxford (Oxynford) , i. 152, 241, 279, 305, 306, 319-320; iv. 293; v. 170, 174, 320; vi. 12, 13, 14, 17.
Oxford, Magdalene College, i. 258, 284; v. 77, 81, 82, 216.
Oxford, John de Vere, twelfth Earl of (1417-61) , i. 85, 90, 139, 140, 141; 297 ii. 144, 145, 150, 151, 163, 164 (bis) , 165-166, 168, 173, 176, 179, 183, 184-185, 186, 193, 196, 200, 201 (bis) , 202, 203, 204, 207, 208, 210, 211, 212, 213, 223, 225, 226, 231, 249, 253, 275, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 334; iii. 2, 30, 258, 259, 275; iv. 39.
Oxford, Elizabeth, Countess of, wife of the preceding, i. ”

“ Nor is it only the men like Lord Salisbury, Lord Rosebery and Mr Gladstone, who guide the country at home, or like Lord Milner and Lord Curzon, who give their best work to Greater Britain, that are the true sons of the University; it is the plain, hard-working clergymen and civilians, also, who, by their lives of honest and unselfish toil, hand on the torch of good conduct and high ideals which has been entrusted to them.
Oxford had some share in the events which led to the deposition of Edward II. The King wrote to the Chancellor, masters and scholars calling upon them to resist his enemies. ”

“ There he profited so much, that in a few years he was sent to Oxford, to study at their charge; where he soon grew such a proficient, that his fame soon spread, not only in the University, but also over all England and came to the ears of King Edward the third, who then reigned: And he taking a progress with his queen and nobles, was desirous to see him, and have an experiment of his art; so that being at a nobleman’s house, within four miles of the city of Oxford he sent a gentleman of his bed-chamber to desire him to come to him. ”

“ Oxford was present, as a Privy Councillor, at the proclamation of King George the First. |Oxford’s reception by George I.| It was noted by some of the bystanders that his demeanour was buoyant and joyous. When the King reached Greenwich, the Earl went thither with more than usual pomp and retinue. ”

“ His talent of speaking in publick, for which he was so very much celebrated, I know nothing of, except from the informations of others; but understanding men of both parties have assured me, that, in this point, in their memory and judgment, he was never equalled.
The earl of Oxford, is a person of as much virtue, as can possibly consist with the love of power: and his love of power, is no greater, than what is common to men of his superiour capacities; neither did any man ever appear to value it less after he had obtained it, or exert it with more moderation. ”