The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson

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  • Letter 16, to the Earl of Newcastle (1631)

Letter 16, to the Earl of Newcastle (1631)

 Letter 16, to William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle

Another letter


My noblest Lord, and best patron,

I send no borrowing epistle to provoke Your Lordship, for I have neither fortune

to repay, or security to engage, that will be taken; but I make a most humble

petition to Your Lordship’s bounty to succour my present necessities this good 5

time of Easter, and it shall conclude all begging requests hereafter, on the behalf

Of your truest  beadsman

and

most thankful servant,

B. J. 10

Letter 16 This letter (Harley MS.4955, fol. 203) was apparently sent to Newcastle at Easter 1631. Though Jonson’s pension had been increased in March 1630 from 100 marks to 100 pounds (plus an annual tierce of sack), he continued to complain of acute financial hardship during this period of his life. ‘To Master John Burgess’ (Und. 57), written before Christmas 1630, speaks of tardy payment of the royal pension. Letter 17, written to Newcastle a year later (20 December 1631), following the suspension of his pension as City Chronologer, pictures the poet in a state of extreme poverty. Teague (1979a) and Donaldson (2011), ch. 19, try to assess the accuracy of these repeated claims. [Editor: Ian Donaldson]
7 beadsman See Letter 15, line 4n.