Lord Selborne considers Bromton’s statement as regards Offa’s grant of tithes, as a “mythical story,”[85] because other chroniclers do not mention it. Is Lord Selborne consistent in pushing on this theory of ignoring any statement which is not confirmed by some other independent writer? Let us take for example, the Ordinances made at Habam about A.D. 1012. They are found only in Bromton’s work. They are not confirmed by any other writer, but are copied by writers from this source. Does Lord Selborne state that they are “mythical,” because other chroniclers do not mention them? No. He admits them as genuine.[86] So does Mr. Thorpe.[87] If Lord Selborne were consistent, he would have rejected them, because they are not confirmed by other independent writers. No one knows from what source Bromton had taken his text. Lord Selborne admits the other two statements made by Bromton; viz., (1) King Ethelbert’s murder. (2) The grant of Peter’s Pence. Now, it appears to me that this so-called “mythical story” was not unreasonable, (1) because King Offa enacted the payment of tithes in his own kingdom in 787; and (2) because it was a tenth of his own property which was granted. It certainly was not a general enactment for the payment of tithes throughout his kingdom. Kemble says on this point, “I think that in this case he [Bromton] has probability on his side, if we restrict the grant to Offa’s demesne lands, or to a release of a tenth of the dues payable to the King on folcland.”[88] This is exactly my opinion also. Dean Prideaux is not correct when he states, “This law of Offa was that which first gave the Church a civil right in tithes in this land, by way of property and inheritance, and enabled the clergy to gather and recover them as their legal due by the coercion of the civil power.”[89] This dignitary of the Church, so often quoted, polluted the tithe question with so much fiction and ill-digested conclusions that he has made the true history of tithes very embarrassing. But there is one comfort that the light which the latest researches have thrown upon the whole tithe question has completely dissipated the numerous fictions which surround it.