only a few remarks, and may then be dismissed.

That the history which commences at p. 50 of the Sloane MS. was the
work of an ecclesiastic who attended Henry V. in his first expedition
to France, is made evident at a much earlier point of the narrative
than the translation of it by Sir Harris Nicolas, in the Appendix to
his "Battle of Agincourt," would enable us to infer. The passage
"After having passed the Isle of Wight, swans were seen," should have
been rendered, "After _we_ left the shores of the Isle of Wight
behind, swans appeared." The writer was at the battle of Agincourt,
stationed with the baggage, and with his clerical associates praying
for God's mercy to spare themselves and their countrymen.

That he was not the same person who wrote the history of Richard II.
and Henry IV, now found in the same fasciculus, seems to be placed
beyond doubt; his style is very different, and his tone of sentiment
directly at variance with what is found in the preceding portion. He
is a devoted admirer of Henry V, a characteristic which no one will
ascribe to the writer of the preceding page.[314]

[Footnote 314: In p. 48, b, the writer speaks of
"Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham," being sent as a
military commander to aid the Duke of Burgundy. In
p. 50 the same person is spoken of as Johannes _de
Veteri Castro_. In the former parts the word used
for the _enemy_ is "_aemuli_;" the Chaplain employs
"_adversarii_."]

This writer had composed his history before the year 1418; for of Sir
John Oldcastle he says, "that he broke prison after his condemnation,
and lurked in caves and hiding-places, _and is still lurking_."[315]
This portion of the MS. offers evidence in almost every page that its
author was an eye-witness of what he describes. Probably no (p. 428)
doubt will be entertained that it is the genuine production of an
ecclesiastic in attendance on the King. But his work evidently ceases
at page 72, where he offers a prayer that the Almighty "would give
good success to his master, then going on his second expedition, and
grant him victory as he had twice before; and fill him with the spirit
of wisdom, and heavenly strength, and holy fear."

[Footnote 315: Latitavit et latitat.]

After the close of the Chaplain's narrative, the MS. loses almost all
its interest: