P. 57. "This same yere [anno 14th Edw. III. 1340] the kyng faught with the Frensshmen at Scluse, where there were sclayn of Frensshmen xxx m^{l}; and the kyng toke and scomfyted at the sayd bataill of Scluse cccx schippes." Of this passage, the following letter from king Edward the Third to Edward the Black Prince, giving an account of his victory over the French fleet at Sclyse, on Saturday the 24th of June 1340,--which, with the permission of Henry Woodthorpe, Esq., the Town Clerk, has also been extracted from the City Archives, letter F. fol. 39,--is an interesting illustration. This document, which has escaped the attention of Historians, presents an authentic detail of that memorable event; and it is evident from it that Robert de Avesbury, the contemporary writer upon whom the greatest reliance has hitherto been placed, has fallen into some errors in his narrative of the transaction. He informs us that on the day after the battle a rumour of it reached London, but that it was discredited until the ensuing Wednesday, namely the 28th of June, when the Prince of Wales received a letter from the king informing him of his success, of which letter that writer asserts that the annexed was a copy: "Edwardus Dei Gracia Rex Angliæ et Franciæ et Dominus Hiberniæ, &c. Effusam circa nos hiis diebus propiciacionis divinæ clemenciam, ad vestri contemplacionem et læticiam, vobis ducimus intimandam. Scitis autem, immo vos et alios[136] fideles nostri quadam participacione sensitis, quantis fuimus et sumus guerrarum lacessiti turbinibus, et velut in mari magno procellosis fluctibus agitati. Sed licet sint mirabiles elaciones maris, mirabilior tamen in altis Dominus, qui procellam convertens in auram, jam inter tot adversa clementissime nos respexit. Nam cum pridem ordinassemus passagium nostrum necessarium versus partes Flandriæ, Dominus Philippus de Valesio, persecutor noster infestissimus, hoc prævidens, classem maximam navium armatarum quam in expugnacionem nostram nostrorumque fidelium misit, ut vel sic nos caperet, vel nostrum transitum impediret. qui transitus si, quod absit, fuisset impeditus, ardua negocia, quæ prosequimur, fuissent penitus in ruina: quinimmo nos et nostri fuissemus verisimiliter confusionis[137] magnæ subjecti. Sed Deus misericordiarum, videns nos in tantis periculis constitutos, graciosius et cicius, quam humana racio judicare poterat, misit nobis magnum navale subsidium, et insperatum numerum armatorum, ac semper ventum prosperum juxta votum, et sic, sub spe coelestis auxilii, et justiciæ nostræ fiducia, dictum portum navigio venientes, invenimus dictam classem et hostes nostros ibidem paratissimos ad prælium in multitudine copiosa; quibus, in festo Nativitatis Sancti Johannis Baptistæ proximo præterito, ipse spes nostra Christus deus per conflictum fortem et validum nos prævalere concessit, facta strage non modica dictorum hostium, capta eciam quodammodo tota dicta classe, cum læsione gentis nostræ modica