ter, to which came the Archbishop of Canterbury and
the King's brothers, the Lord Mayor was given the seat of honour above
them all, so greatly was he respected because he was London's chief
officer.

All the workmen, according to their trades, had to belong to companies
called "guilds." Each guild had its own officers and made its own
rules for looking {45} after its members; and it had to see not only
that these members knew how to do their work, but also that they did it
properly and charged a fair price for it. We may still read the rules
about all this made by the Guilds of the Blacksmiths, the Plumbers, the
Glovers, and many others. Truly, the merchants and workmen of London
were honourable and upright, and turned out good honest work. No
wonder, then, that Richard Whittington became a London merchant.

He was a mercer--that is, he sold cloth and silk and velvet and such
things; and so we hear of him providing velvet for the servants of that
Earl of Derby who afterwards became King Henry IV.

Whittington became a great man in the City, was Alderman and Sheriff,
and from June, 1397, until November, 1399, he was Mayor. Mayor for a
year and five months? Are not Mayors appointed every year in October?
and do they not rule only for one year, from November to November?
Yes, but the Mayor chosen in October 1396 died during his year of
office, and the King, Richard II., appointed Whittington to take his
place; and at the year's end the Aldermen chose him to be Mayor again
for the next year.

He was still carrying on his business, and when Henry IV. became King,
and the Princesses, his daughters, were to be married, Whittington sold
to them the cloth of gold and other things necessary for their
weddings. He often lent great sums of money to Henry IV., and in later
days to his son, Henry V., and in the reign of this King he was Mayor
twice. He died in the year 1423; on his gravestone were carved some
Latin words which mean that he was the {46} Flower of Merchants. His
wife's name was certainly Alice Fitzwarren, but she was the daughter of
a Dorsetshire Knight.

So you see the real Richard Whittington was a very great and rich
merchant. But many another has been as rich and great, yet no stories
are told of them; what makes Whittington different from all others?

First of all, he was Lord Mayor three times, or, rather, may we not say
three and a half times? And then he was very wise and generous; he
gave, a