that which was allowed and sealed by John, being the identical copy now in the British Museum. If, however, Bering's donation was the Great Charter itself, then, according to Dr. Smith's description, that also, on its original execution, must have been attested by the seals of both parties.
   Under such tutelage as Cotton's, and with the vast accumulation of muniments in Dover Castle daily courting his inspection, Dering's previous taste soon expanded itself into a passion for collecting; nor is it surprising that, while indulging it, where no public value¹ was placed upon the .treasures about him, he fully availed himself of the facilities which his office afforded him. Among the stores at Surrenden is a transcript of Stephen de Penchester's Laws for governing the Castle, in Norman French (the only copy I have yet been able to discover, and which I purpose to print in a future volume), a Castle. Hubert de Burgh Lad been King John's principal Commissioner in settling the disputes with the Barons at Runnymede. The Great Charter was sealed on June 15th, 17 John. Just fifteen days after that event, John appointed him, by Letters Patent (Rot. Pat. 14 Jo. m. 21), Constable of Dover Castle. His fidelity and courage in defending it are matter of history.
   On the actual day of the execution of the Charter, the King had created De Burgh Chief Justiciar of England. What more likely than that he should have consigned the "Articles," with the seals of the Barons attached, to the custody of his faithful Justiciar, who, on his appointment, fifteen days afterwards, to the wardenship of Dover Castle, carried it with him there, and deposited it among the archives of that fortress for security
   ¹ Very small store seems to have been placed, at any time, on the muniments in Dover Castle. I well remember, many years ago, being informed by the then Deputy-Constable of Dover Castle, that in his early days, a room in the Castle gateway was crammed full of ancient charters, and that tailors, cobblers, and other consumers of parchment, used to resort thither, and supply their needs by a small bribe to the porter. Lyon, in his history of Dover, tells the same tale of neglect, and dates it as far back as the beginning of the last century. In modern times Mr. Rodd has recorded wholesale burnings of Dover Castle muniments. This indifference to the value of these documents must have been equally great in the time of Charles I., or Sir Edward Dering could not have so readily enriched Sir Robert Cotton's collection with this important national record.