Sloane
MS., which, though not copied with equal correctness in point of (p. 426)
orthography and grammar, is still far superior to the King's in the
clearness of the writing.

[Footnote 311: See Sloane, p. 27. King's, p. 11, b.
The same gap between "nominati" and "fratris," &c.]

[Footnote 312: The volume in the King's Library is
made up of a great variety of documents independent
of that history and of each other.]

The Sloane MS. 1776,[313] appears to consist of four portions, though
the same hand copied the whole.

[Footnote 313: The Sloane MS. is assigned in the
Catalogue to Higden. By Sir H. Ellis, it is
attributed, though not correctly, to a Chaplain of
Henry V; a small portion only having been the work
of that eye-witness of the field of Agincourt. By
Mr. Sharon Turner, it is attributed, without a
shadow of reason, to Walsingham. Mr. Turner,
however, has, though in a very inadequate manner,
attempted in one part of his new edition to rectify
the error, leaving it altogether unacknowledged
where the correction is most needed, in the passage
where he grounds upon its testimony his severe
charge against Henry's character. See Turner, third
ed. vol. ii. p. 373 and p. 398.]

The first portion extends from the commencement to page 40.

The second from page 40 to the end of the account of Henry IV. at page
49.

The third from the commencement of the reign of Henry V. page 50, to
his second expedition to France, mentioned in page 72.

The fourth from that point to the end, at page 94, b.

1. The first portion embraces that part of the reigns of Richard II.
and Henry IV. which falls within the range of the chronicle of the
Monk of Evesham; ending with an account of the marriage of Edmund
Mortimer with a daughter of Owyn Glyndowr, and two cases of sacrilege.

2. The second carries on the history of Henry IV. to the beginning of
his thirteenth year, and contains the passage which charges Henry V.
with the unfilial attempt to supplant his father on the throne. These
first two parts must be examined together, and in detail; the last (p. 427)
two will require