Note 3 — PART II HISTORICAL STUDIES (continued 2)

It is curious that my critic cannot perceive what must be obvious to all those who are familiar with 'the history of our early kings and their institutions', namely that the onus probandi rests, not, as he alleges, on those who question, but on those who maintain the startling proposition that Edward the Confessor issued such a charter of incorporation. Nothing short of proof positive could induce us to accept so unheard-of an anticipation of later times. That proof Professor Burrows claims to find in the great charter of Edward I to the Ports. He contends that, according to this document, Edward 'saw' the Confessor's charter,3 and blames me for omitting its statement to that effect (p. 443). Unfortunately he quotes the words, as indeed he had done in his book, from an English translation only, and that a misleading one. The actual words (as given by Jeake), confirm to the Ports their liberties as held: