58 



AGIO AGNES. 



the place by storm, and wished to march through 

 IV.mly to Calais, in order to fix his winter-i|uarters 

 ir its neighbourhood. With a powerful force, the 

 dauphin advanced against him. The numerical su- 

 periority of the French was great, and the confidence 

 of the leader and the nobles such, that they refused 

 the |in>ri"cred aid of the duke of Burgundy and the 

 city of Paris. Henry V. retreated to the Somme. 

 The French followed to harass his retreat, and to 

 defend the passage from Abbeville to St Quentin, 

 which he gained only through the inattention of the 

 enemy. The English, however, being destitute of 

 every tiling, anil reduced by sickness, Henry asked 

 for peace on disadvantageous terms. The French 

 refused his proposals, and succeeded in throwing 

 themselves Ix'twcen Calais and the English. These 

 latter consisted of 'MOO men at arms, and 12,000 

 archers, and were ranged in order of battle between 

 two hills, with the archers on the wings. Stakes, of 

 which every man carried one, were fixed in front of 

 them. The French, commanded by the constable 

 d'Albcrt. numbered 100,000 troops, of whom 8000 

 were men at arms. They arranged themselves in 

 two divisions, with the men at arms, of whom 2000 

 were mounted, in front The English first put them- 

 selves in motion. The French horse instantly has- 

 tened to meet them, but were received with such a 

 shower of arrows by the archers, that they fell back 

 on the first division, and threw it into confusion. The 

 light -armed archers seized their clubs and battle- 

 axes, and broke into the ranks of the knights on foot, 

 who could not move on account of their heavy coats 

 of mail, and the closeness of their array. The Eng- 

 lish horse flew to assist the archers ; the first French 

 division retreated ; the second could not sustain the 

 charge of the victors ; and the whole French army 

 was soon entirely scattered. The victory was com- 

 plete. Henry thought that the French would rally 

 and renew the battle ; and, being alarmed also by 

 the report, that a party of peasants, in arms, were 

 plundering his Iraggage, he ordered all the prisoners 

 to be massacred. The command was already exe- 

 cuted, when he discovered the groundlessness of his 

 fear. The victorious army, however, in the pursuit 

 of the flying enemy, took 14,000 prisoners more, 

 10,000 Frenchmen lay dead on the battlefield. 

 Among them was the constable, with six dukes and 

 princes. Five princes, among whom were the dukes 

 of Orleans and Bourbon, were taken prisoners. The 

 English lost 1600 men killed ; among them the 

 duke of York, Henry's uncle, whom the duke d'Alen- 

 con slew at his side, while pressing towards the king. 

 He had already dashed the crown from Henry's head, 

 and lifted his hand for a more effectual blow, when 

 the king's attendants surrounded him, and he fell 

 covered with wpunds. After the battle, the English 

 continued their march to Calais, and thence sailed 

 for England, to assemble an army for a new invasion. 

 AGIO is the difference in value between bank money 

 and com or other currency. The term is in most 

 frequent use in Holland and Venice. It is, how- 

 ever, used at Hamburg and other places in Germany. 

 It is synonymous with premium, when the bank 

 money is worth more than the same nominal amount 

 of the current coin, and with discount, when its value 

 is less. The agio at the bank of Amsterdam was 

 from three to four per cent" before the French inva- 

 sion of Holland in 1795 ; that of Venice was for- 

 mally fixed at 20 per cent. ; the bank money of each 

 of those places being so much more valuable than 

 the current coin. This difference in value arises 

 often from the circumstance, that the current coin 

 is depreciated by wearing and clipping. The agio 

 of the bank-money of Hamburg was formerly four- 

 teen per cent on this account Agio is sometime? 



used to signify the premium or discount on bills of 

 exchange. 



At, is IV., king of L:iccd;cmon, and colleague of 

 Leonidas in the government of Sparta, was the son 

 of Eudamidas, and a lineal descendent of Agcsilaus. 

 Historians amrm that lie was, in youth, of singular 

 promise, and tliat, in maturer age, he prepared, by 

 the introduction of new laws, to correct the abuses 

 which had crept into the Spartan government. This 

 he found a measure of peculiar diilicnlty, but he was 

 supported by his maternal uncle Agcsilaus, though 

 with a selfish design, and likewise y many of the 

 citizens. They obtained a law for the c<|iiali/atioi> 

 of property, and A. himself slmred a valuable estate 

 with the community. In consei|iicnce ot his exer- 

 tions, Leonidas was deposed and banished. The 

 people, however, soon became dissatisfied with the 

 projected reform, and while A. was leading an army 

 to aid the Achaeans, the indiscretion of his uncle 

 Agesilaus during his absence, occasioned a consp i- 

 racy for the restoration of Leonidas. The conspira- 

 tors, having succeeded, forced A. to take refuge in a 

 temple, which he never left but for the purpose of 

 bathing. On one of these occasions, he was sur- 

 prised and dragged to prison. The ephori having 

 there questioned nim respecting his views in altering 

 the laws, he answered that it was for the purpose ot 

 restoring those of Lycurgus. Sentence of death was 

 passed upon him ; but the ministers of the law, until 

 forced by Demochares, refused to conduct him to a 

 chamber reserved for the execution of criminals. 

 He was there strangled, and he submitted to his sen- 

 tence with heroic firmness. The grandmother and 

 mother of A. shared the same fate. 



AGITATORS, in English history, were persons 

 elected by the army, in 1647, to watch over its inter- 

 ests, and to control the parliament, at that time sit- 

 ting at Westminster. Two private men, or inferior 

 officers, were appointed from each troop or company, 

 and this body, when collected, was presumed to eqnm 

 the house of commons ; while the peers were repre- 

 sented by a council of officers of rank. Cromwell 

 at first made use of them, but afterwards issued or- 

 ders for suppressing them. These associations, so 

 dangerous to the constitution, gave rise to the act 

 which forbids any member to enter either house of 

 parliament armed a regulation enforced with .jeal- 

 ousy to this day. Hume's Hist. chap. lix. The term 

 Agitator has been applied in later days to political 

 demagogues. 



AGLAIA ; according to Hesiod, one of the three 

 graces, daughter of Jupiter and Eurynome ; accord- 

 ing to others, the mother of the graces, and wife 

 ot Vulcan. (See Graces.) 



AGNAXO ; a lake lying west of Naples. In its 

 neighbourhood are the famous grotto del Cane and 

 the baths of St Januarius. The former is noted for 

 the suffocating vapours of carbonic acid gas, which 

 ascend from its bottom. The baths are beneficial in 

 cases of gout, syphilis, &c. Their reputation has 

 been increased, of late years, by the way in which 

 they have been applied by Mr Von Gimbernat to 

 restore the weakened electricity of the sick. 



AGNATES (agnati), in the civil law; relations on 

 the male side, hi opposition to cognates, relations en 

 the female side. In the Scottish law, A. are under- 

 stood to be those persons nearest related by the fa- 

 ther, though females intervene. 



AGNES, St ; a saint who suffered martyrdom at the 

 time of the persecution of the Clinstians, in the reigp 

 of the emperor Diocletian. Her festival is celebrat- 

 ed on the 29th of January. Domenichino has painted 

 her at the moment of her execution. Two churches 

 of this saint, one in Rome, the other near the city, 

 are remarkable buildings. In front of the latter, the 



