Lord Selborne gives the following extract from a printed letter of Bishop Stubbs to a rural dean of the diocese of Chester, 12th December, 1885: “The claim of the poor on the tithe was a part of the claim of the Church; and, although this claim _was never made the subject of an apportionment, tripartite or_ quadripartite, except in unauthoritative or tentative recommendations, it has never been ignored or disregarded by the Church or Clergy.”[180] How can Dr. Stubbs reconcile these statements with an actual quotation which he had taken from Ethelred’s law, where the threefold division is stated? It cannot be. Bishop Stubbs and Professor Freeman must be kept strictly to what they have published in their well-known histories until they publicly repudiate what they have written. Private letters which contradict historical statements must be ignored. SIR ROBERT COTTON’S LIBRARY. It is essentially necessary, before going further into the discussion of the manuscript of the Church Grith law, to give a sketch of the origin of the Cottonian Library. Sir Robert Cotton, about A.D. 1588, commenced and continued for about 40 years to collect old charters, laws, seals, coins, etc., etc., which after the dissolution of the monasteries were dispersed through the country from their invaluable libraries. Many of them were secured by the nobility and gentry, but a considerable number fell into the hands of peasants, mechanics, and other persons who were ignorant of their important value and totally careless of their preservation. Valuable books of parchments were sold to grocers, soap-sellers, etc., who used them as they do old newspapers now. Others were sent out of the country in shiploads to foreign booksellers; the servants used them for scouring candlesticks and rubbing boots. Two noble libraries were sold for forty shillings. Sir Robert found no difficulty in purchasing these valuable documents wherever he could find them. Many of them were loose skins, small tracts or thin volumes. Sir Robert had several of them bound up in one cover. He also obtained by legacy and purchase some of the most valuable manuscripts collected out of the scattered remains of monastic libraries by Josseline, Noel, Allen, Lambarde, Bowyer, Camden and others.