his hour of need, the King rebuked him, saying, "He spoke
idly, for, as his hope was in God, in whom he trusted for victory, he
would not, if he could, increase his forces even by a single person;
for, if it was the pleasure of the Almighty, few as were his
followers, they were sufficient to chastise the confidence of the
enemy, who relied on their numbers."

[Footnote 129: And yet there were so many priests
present (with the baggage) during the battle, that
the chaplain calls them the clerical army, whose
weapons were prayers and intercessions, "Nos qui
ascripti sumus clericali militiae."]

About sun-set the French took up their quarters in the orchards and
villages of Agincourt and Ruissauville. Henry, anxiously seeking
lodgings for his exhausted soldiers, at length found in the village of
Maisoncelle a better supply for their wants than they had met with
since they left Harfleur; and a small hut afforded the King himself
protection from the weather.[130] Before the English quitted (p. 165)
their position to go to Maisoncelle, Henry permitted all his prisoners
to depart, upon condition that if he gained the approaching battle,
they should return and surrender themselves; but, if he were defeated,
they should be released from their engagements. This night, through
nearly the whole of which rain fell heavily, was passed by the two
hostile armies, about one mile distant from each other, very
differently, but not inconsistently with their relative circumstances.
Both suffered severely from the weather as well as from fatigue; but
whilst the French, anticipating an easy and sure victory, played at
dice for their prisoners as their stake; the English, having prepared
their weapons for the conflict, betook themselves to prayer, and the
observance of the other ordinances of their religion.

[Footnote 130: In the "History of Agincourt," the
translator of the Chaplain's Memoir (Sloane 1776)
has given a far more faint representation than the
original will warrant of the sufferings to which
the English troops were exposed through this night
of present fatigue and discomfort, and of anxious
preparation for so tremendous a struggle as awaited
them on the morrow. The ecclesiastic,