{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_17652/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_17652","id":"gutenberg_17652","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17652","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - British","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore -- England","Whittington, Richard, -1423"],"text":"Produced by Julie Barkley, Janet Blenkinship and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  _Chap-Books_\n\n  _and_\n\n  _Folk-Lore Tracts._\n\n\n  _Edited by_\n\n  _G.L. Gomme, F.S.A._\n\n  _and_\n\n  _H.B. Wheatley, F.S.A._\n\n\n  _First Series._\n\n  ~V.~\n\n\n\n\n  THE HISTORY\n\n  OF\n\n  SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON.\n\n  BY T. H.\n\n\n  EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,\n\n  BY\n\n  HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A.\n\n\n\n\n  LONDON:\n  PRINTED FOR THE VILLON SOCIETY.\n  1885.\n\n\n\n\n  ~Introduction.~\n\n\nThe popular story of Whittington and his Cat is one in which a version\nof a wide-spread folk-tale has been grafted upon the history of the life\nof an historical character, and in the later versions the historical\nincidents have been more and more eliminated. The three chief points in\nthe chap-book story are, 1, the poor parentage of the hero; 2, his\nchange of mind at Highgate Hill by reason of hearing Bow Bells; and, 3,\nhis good fortune arising from the sale of his cat. Now these are all\nequally untrue as referring to the historical Whittington, and the\nsecond is apparently an invention of the eighteenth century. When the\nRev. Canon Lysons wrote his interesting and valuable work entitled _The\nModel Merchant_ he showed the incorrectness of the first point by\ntracing out Whittington's distinguished pedigree, but he was loath to\ndispute the other two. It is rather strange that neither Mr. Lysons nor\nMessrs. Besant and Rice appear to have seen the work which I now present\nto my readers, which is the earliest form of the life of Whittington\nknown to exist. This is printed from the copy in the Pepysian Library,\na later edition of which, with a few typographical alterations, will be\nfound in the British Museum library. This _History_ will be found to\ndiffer very considerably from the later and better-known story, which\nappears to have been written early in the eighteenth century. A\ncomparison between the latter which I print at the end of this Preface\n(p. xxix.) with T. H.'s earlier text will not, I think, be found\nunprofitable. _The Famous and Remarkable History_ here reprinted is\nundated, but was probably published about 1670; the later edition in the\nBritish Museum is dated 1678. One passage on page 7--\"The merchant went\nthen to the Exchange, which was then in Lumber-street, about his\naffairs\"--seems to show that it was originally written quite early in\nthe century, and it is just possible that T. H. stands for the\nvoluminous playwright and pamphleteer Thomas Heywood. The Exchange was\nremoved to its present site in 1568, and therefore our tract could not\nhave been written before that date, but must have appeared when the\nmemory of the old meeting-place was still fresh in public memory. On\npage 11 it will be seen that Whittington, when discontented with his\nposition in Fitzwarren's house, set out before day-break on All\nHallows-day with his clothes in a bundle, in order to seek his fortune\nelsewhere. He had only got as far as Bunhill when he heard Bow bells\nring out what appeared to be--\n\n  \"Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London,\n  Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.\"\n\nThese words took complete possession of him, and he returned before it\nwas known that he had run away. In the more modern chap-book Whittington\nis made to reach Holloway, where it would be less easy to hear Bow\nbells, and from which place he would have found it more difficult to\nreturn before the cook had risen. As far as I can find there is no\nallusion to Holloway or Highgate hill in any early version, and it is\nevident that this localization is quite modern. Mr. Lysons is certainly\nwrong when he says that at Highgate \"a stone continued to mark the spot\nfor many centuries.\" It is not known when the stone was first erected\nthere, but it was probably put up when the name of the place was first\nfoisted into the tale. One stone was taken away in 1795, but others have\nsucceeded it, and now there is a Whittington Stone Tavern; and the\nsituation of Whittington College, which was removed to Highgate in 1808,\nhas helped to favour the supposition that Whittington himself was in\nsome way connected with that place.\n\nThe form of invitation which the bells rung out varies very much in the\ndifferent versions.\n\nIn Richard Johnson's ballad (1612) we find--\n\n  \"Whittington, back return.\"\n\nwhich is then amplified into--\n\n  \"Turn againe, Whittington,\n  For thou in time shall grow\n  Lord Maior of London.\"\n\nIn T. H.'s _History_ (see p. 11) we have--\n\n  \"Turn again, Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.\"\n\nIn the later chap-book version this is altered into--\n\n  \"Turn again, Whittington,\n  Lord Mayor of great London.\"\n\nIt will be seen that the special reference to the fact that Whittington\nwas three times Lord Mayor is not to be found in either the ballads or\nthe chap-books.\n\nIn the _Life_, by the author of _George Barnwell_ (1811), however we\nread--\n\n  \"Return again, Whittington,\n  Thrise Lord Mayor of London.\"\n\nAnd in _The Life and Times of Whittington_ (1841)--\n\n  \"Turn again, turn again, Whittington,\n  Three times Lord Mayor of London.\"\n\nIn the early version of the _History_ by T. H. the fanciful portions are\nonly allowed to occupy a small portion of the whole, and a long account\nis given of Whittington's real actions, but, in the later chap-book\nversions, the historical incidents are ruthlessly cut down, and the\nfictitious ones amplified. This will be seen by comparing the two\nprinted here. Thus T. H. merely says (p. 6) that Whittington was\nobscurely born, and that being almost starved in the country he came up\nto London. In the later chap-book the journey to London is more fully\nenlarged upon (p. xxxiii.), and among those at Whittington's marriage\nwith Alice Fitzwarren the name of the Company of Stationers not then in\nexistence is foisted in (pp. xlii.) It does not appear in T. H.'s\n_History_.\n\nIn many other particulars the later chap-book which contains the story\nas known to modern readers is amplified, and thus shows signs of a very\nlate origin.\n\nWith regard to the three fictitious points of Whittington's history\nmentioned at the beginning of this preface, the first--his poor\nparentage--is disposed of by documentary evidence; the second--his\nsitting on a stone at Highgate hill--has been shown to be quite a modern\ninvention; and the third--the story of the cat--has been told of so many\nother persons in different parts of the world that there is every reason\nto believe it to be a veritable folk-tale joined to the history of\nWhittington from some unexplained connection. None of the early\nhistorians who mention Whittington allude to the incident of the cat,\nand it is only to be found in popular literature, ballads, plays, &c.\nThe story seems to have taken its rise in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.\nThe reason why however the life of Whittington should have been chosen\nas the stock upon which this folk-tale should be grafted is still\nunexplained. Some have supposed that he obtained his money by the\nemployment of \"cats,\" or vessels for the carriage of coals; but this\nsuggestion does not appear to be worthy of much consideration.\n\nIt is said that at Newgate, which owed much to Whittington, there was a\nstatue of him with a cat, which was destroyed in the Great Fire; and in\n1862, when some alterations were made in an old house at Gloucester,\nwhich had been occupied by the Whittington family until 1460, a stone\nwas said to have been dug up on which was a basso-relievo representing\nthe figure of a boy carrying a cat in his arms. This find, however,\nappears rather suspicious.\n\nKeightley devotes a whole chapter of his _Tales and Popular Fictions_ to\nthe legend of Whittington and his Cat, in which he points out how many\nsimilar stories exist. The _Facezie_, of Arlotto, printed soon after the\nauthor's death in 1483, contain a tale of a merchant of Genoa, entitled\n\"Novella delle Gatte,\" and probably from this the story came to England,\nalthough it is also found in a German chronicle of the thirteenth\ncentury. Sir William Ouseley, in his _Travels_, 1819, speaking of an\nisland in the Persian Gulf, relates, on the authority of a Persian MS.,\nthat \"in the tenth century, one Keis, the son of a poor widow in Siraf,\nembarked for India with a cat, his only property. There he fortunately\narrived at a time when the palace was so infested by mice or rats that\nthey invaded the king's food, and persons were employed to drive them\nfrom the royal banquet. Keis produced his cat; the noxious animals soon\ndisappeared, and magnificent rewards were bestowed on the adventurer of\nSiraf, who returned to that city, and afterwards, with his mother and\nbrothers, settled on the island, which from him has been denominated\nKeis, or according to the Persians Keisch.\" Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps\nquotes from the _Description of Guinea_ (1665) the record of \"how\nAlphonso, a Portuguese, being wrecked on the coast of Guinney, and being\npresented by the king thereof with his weight in gold for a cat to kill\ntheir mice; and an oyntment to kill their flies, which he improved\nwithin five years to 6000l. in the place, and, returning to Portugal\nafter fifteen years traffick, became the third man in the kingdom.\"[1]\nKeightley also quotes two similar stories from Thiele's _Danish Popular\nTraditions_ and another from the letters of Count Magalotti, a\nFlorentine of the latter half of the seventeenth century.\n\nMr. Lysons gives much information as to the great value of cats in the\nMiddle Ages, but the writer of the _History of Whittington_ does not\nlead us to believe that they were dear in England, for he makes the boy\nbuy his cat for one penny. The two following titles are from the\nStationers' Registers. The ballad is probably the one subsequently\nreferred to as by Richard Johnson:--\n\n\"The History of Richard Whittington, of his lowe birthe, his great\nfortune, as yt was plaied by the Prynces Servants. Licensed to Thomas\nPavyer, Feb. 8, 1604-5.\"\n\n\"A Ballad, called The vertuous lyfe and memorable death of Sir Richard\nWhittington, mercer, sometymes Lord Maiour of the honorable Citie of\nLondon. Licensed to John Wright, 16 July, 1605.\"\n\nThe first reference that we find to the cat incident is in the play\n_Eastward Hoe_ by Chapman, Ben Jonson, and Marston; for, as the portrait\nwhich was said to have existed at Mercers' Hall is not now known, it can\nscarcely be put in evidence. This half-length portrait of a man of about\nsixty years of age, dressed in a livery gown and black cap of the time\nof Henry VIII. with a figure of a black and white cat on the left, is\nsaid to have had painted in the left-hand upper corner of the canvas the\ninscription, \"R. Whittington, 1536.\"\n\nIn _Eastward Hoe_, 1605, Touchstone assures Goulding that he hopes to\nsee him reckoned one of the worthies of the city of London \"When the\nfamous fable of Whittington and his puss shall be forgotten.\"\n\nThe next allusion is in Thomas Heywood's _If you know not me, you know\nnobody_, 2nd part, 1606.\n\n  _Dean Nowell._ \"This Sir Richard Whittington, three times Mayor,\n  Sonne to a knight and prentice to a mercer,\n  Began the Library of Grey-Friars in London,\n  And his executors after him did build\n  Whittington Colledge, thirteene Alms-houses for poore men,\n  Repair'd S. Bartholomewes, in Smithfield,\n  Glased the Guildhall, and built Newgate.\n\n  _Hobson._ Bones of men, then I have heard lies;\n  For I have heard he was a scullion,\n  And rais'd himself by venture of a cat.\n\n  _Nowell._ They did the more wrong to the gentleman.\"\n\nHere it will be seen that, although the popular tale is mentioned, it is\ntreated as a mere invention unworthy of credence.\n\nThe next in point of time is the ballad by Richard Johnson, published in\nthe _Crowne Garland of Goulden Roses_ (1612), which probably had a much\nearlier existence in a separate form. It is the earliest form of the\nstory of Whittington now in existence.\n\n_A song of Sir Richard Whittington, who by strange fortunes came to bee\nthrice Lord Maior of London; with his bountifull guifts and liberallity\ngiven to this honourable Citty._\n\n  (To the tune of \"_Dainty come thou to me_.\")\n\n  \"Here must I tell the praise\n    Of worthie Whittington,\n  Known to be in his dayes\n    Thrice Maior of London.\n  But of poor parentage\n    Borne was he, as we heare,\n  And in his tender age\n    Bred up in Lancashire.\n\n  Poorely to London than\n    Came up this simple lad,\n  Where, with a marchant-man,\n    Soone he a dwelling had;\n  And in a kitchen plast,\n    A scullion for to be,\n  Whereas long time he past\n    In labour grudgingly.\n\n  His daily service was\n    Turning spits at the fire;\n  And to scour pots of brasse,\n    For a poore scullions hire.\n  Meat and drinke all his pay,\n    Of coyne he had no store;\n  Therefore to run away,\n    In secret thought he bore.\n\n  So from this marchant-man\n    Whittington secretly\n  Towards his country ran,\n    To purchase liberty.\n  But as he went along\n    In a fair summer's morne,\n  London bells sweetly rung,\n  'Whittington, back return!'\n\n  'Evermore sounding so,\n    Turn againe, Whittington;\n  For thou in time shall grow\n    Lord-Maior of London.'\n  Whereupon back againe\n    Whittington came with speed,\n  Aprentise to remaine,\n    As the Lord had decreed.\n\n  'Still blessed be the bells'\n    (This was his daily song),\n  'They my good fortune tells,\n    Most sweetly have they rung.\n  If God so favour me,\n    I will not proove unkind;\n  London my love shall see,\n    And my great bounties find.'\n\n  But see his happy chance!\n    This scullion had a cat,\n  Which did his state advance,\n    And by it wealth he gat.\n  His maister ventred forth,\n    To a land far unknowne,\n  With marchandize of worth,\n    And is in stories shewne.\n\n  Whittington had no more\n    But this poor cat as than,\n  Which to the ship he bore,\n    Like a brave marchant-man.\n  'Vent'ring the same,' quoth he,\n    'I may get store of golde,\n  And Maior of London be,\n    As the bells have me told.'\n\n  Whittington's marchandise,\n    Carried was to a land\n  Troubled with rats and mice,\n    As they did understand.\n  The king of that country there,\n    As he at dinner sat,\n  Daily remain'd in fear\n    Of many a mouse and rat.\n\n  Meat that in trenchers lay,\n    No way they could keepe safe\n  But by rats borne away,\n    Fearing no wand or staff.\n  Whereupon, soone they brought\n    Whittington's nimble cat;\n  Which by the king was bought;\n    Heapes of gold giv'n for that.\n\n  Home againe came these men\n    With their ships loaden so;\n  Whittington's wealth began\n    By this cat thus to grow.\n  Scullions life he forsooke\n    To be a marchant good,\n  And soon began to looke\n    How well his credit stood.\n\n  After that he was chose\n    Shriefe of the citty heere,\n  And then full quickly rose\n    Higher as did appeare.\n  For to this cities praise\n    Sir Richard Whittington\n  Came to be in his dayes\n    Thrise Maior of London.\n\n  More his fame to advance,\n    Thousands he lent his king\n  To maintaine warres in France,\n    Glory from thence to bring.\n  And after, at a feast,\n    Which he the king did make,\n  He burnt the bonds all in jeast,\n    And would no money take.\n\n  Ten thousand pound he gave\n    To his prince willingly,\n  And would not one penny have.\n    This in kind courtesie.\n  God did thus make him great,\n    So would he daily see\n  Poor people fed with meat,\n    To shew his charity.\n\n  Prisoners poore cherish'd were,\n    Widdowes sweet comfort found;\n  Good deeds, both far and neere,\n    Of him do still resound.\n  Whittington Colledge is\n    One of his charities,\n  Records reporteth this\n    To lasting memories.\n\n  Newgate he builded faire,\n    For prisoners to live in;\n  Christ's Church he did repaire,\n    Christian love for to win.\n  Many more such like deedes\n    Were done by Whittington;\n  Which joy and comfort breedes,\n    To such as looke thereon.\n\n  Lancashire thou hast bred\n    This flower of charity;\n  Though he be gone and dead,\n    Yet lives he lastingly.\n  Those bells that call'd him so,\n    'Turne again, Whittington,'\n  Call you back may moe\n    To live so in London.\"\n\nThis ballad, as it stands here with the exception of the last stanza,\nwas reprinted in _A Collection of Old Ballads_, 1823, vol. i. p. 130.\n\nThis ballad is the original of all the later ballads, although the\ntitles have been greatly varied. The Roxburghe ballad (vol. iii. p. 58)\nis dated in the British Museum Catalogue 1641[?]. Its full title is as\nfollows:--\n\n\"London's Glory and Whittington's Renown, or a Looking Glass for\nCitizens of London, being a remarkable story how Sir Richard Whittington\n(a poor boy bred up in Lancashire) came to be three times Lord Mayor of\nLondon in three several kings' reigns, and how his rise was by a cat,\nwhich he sent by a venture beyond sea. Together with his bountiful gifts\nand liberality given to this honourable City, and the vast sums of money\nhe lent the King to maintain the wars in France; and how at a great\nFeast, to which he invited the King, the Queen, and the Nobility, he\ngenerously burnt the writings and freely forgave his Majesty the whole\nDebt. Tune of 'Dainty, come thou to me.' London: Printed for R. Burton,\nat the Horse Shoe in West Smithfield.\"\n\nThe bulk of the ballad is the same as Richard Johnson's, but the\nfollowing first stanza is added, the original first stanza becoming the\nsecond:--\n\n  \"Brave London Prentices,\n    Come listen to my song,\n  Tis for your glory all\n    And to you both belong.\n  And you poor country lads,\n    Though born of low degree,\n  See by God's providence\n    What you in time may be.\"\n\nThe second half of the original seventh stanza, and the eighth, ninth,\nand tenth stanzas, are left out.\n\nImmediately before the last stanza the following one is introduced:--\n\n  \"Let all kynde Citizens\n    Who do this story read,\n  By his example learn\n    Always the poor to feed.\n  What is lent to the poor\n    The Lord will sure repay,\n  And blessings keep in store\n    Until the latter day.\"\n\nThe other alterations are not many, and chiefly consist in\ntranspositions by which the rhymes are varied. This may be seen by\ncomparing with the original the Roxburghe version of the last stanza\nwhich is as follows:--\n\n  \"Lancashire, thou hast bred\n    This flower of charity;\n  Though he be dead and gone,\n    Yet lives his memory.\n  Those bells that call'd him so,\n    Turn again, Whittington,\n  Would they call may moe\n    Such men to fair London.\"\n\nAt the end of one of the chap-books there is a version of the ballad in\nwhich Lancashire is replaced by Somersetshire.\n\nIn the same volume of the _Roxburghe Ballads_ (p. 470) is a short\nversion [1710?] containing a few only of the verses taken from the\nballad. It is illustrated with some woodcuts from T. H.'s earlier\n_History_.\n\n\"An old Ballad of Whittington and his Cat, who from a poor boy came to\nbe thrice Lord Mayor of London. Printed and sold in Aldermary Church\nYard, London.\"\n\nThere is a copy of this in the Chetham Library.\n\nThe following are some of the chief references to Whittington's story in\nliterature after the publication of Johnson's ballad, arranged in\nchronological order:--\n\n  \"As if a new-found Whittington's rare cat,\n  Come to extoll their birth-rights above that\n  Which nature once intended.\"--\n\n               Stephens's _Essayes and Characters_, 1615.\n\n  \"Faith, how many churches do you mean to build\n  Before you die? Six bells in every steeple,\n  And let them all go to the _City tune_,\n  _Turn again, Whittington_, and who they say\n  Grew rich, and let his land out for nine lives,\n  'Cause all came in by a cat.\"--\n\n               Shirley's _Constant Maid_ (1640), act ii. sc. 2.\n\n\"I have heard of Whittington and his cat, and others, that have\nmade fortunes by strange means.\"--Parson's _Wedding_ (1664).\n\nPepys went on September 21, 1668, to Southwark Fair, \"and there saw the\npuppet show of Whittington, which was pretty to see.\" He adds in his\n_Diary_ \"how that idle thing do work upon people that see it, and even\nmyself too.\"\n\nIn the _Tatler_ of September 13, 1709 (No. 67), is a list of great men\nto be entered in the Temple of Fame, and in the subsequent No. 78 is\nprinted the following letter from a Citizen:--\n\n     \"Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff, Sir, Your _Tatler_ of September 13 I am now\n     reading, and in your list of famous men desire you not to forget\n     Alderman Whittington, who began the world with a cat, and died\n     worth three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, which he\n     left to an only daughter three years after his mayoralty. If you\n     want any further particulars of ditto Alderman, daughter, or cat,\n     let me know, and per first will advise the needful, which\n     concludes, Your loving Friend, LEMUEL LEGER.\"\n\n     \"I am credibly informed that there was once a design of casting\n     into an opera the story of Whittington and his Cat, and that in\n     order to it there had been got together a great quantity of mice;\n     but Mr. Rich, the proprietor of the playhouse, very prudently\n     considered that it would be impossible for the cat to kill them\n     all, and that consequently the princes of the stage might be as\n     much infested with mice as the prince of the island was before the\n     cat's arrival upon it; for which reason he would not permit it to\n     be acted in his house.\"--_Spectator_ (No. 5, March 6, 1711).\n\nThe Rev. Samuel Pegge brought the subject of Whittington and his Cat\nbefore a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries in 1771, but he could\nmake nothing at all of the cat. There is no record of the inquiry in the\n_Archaeologia_, but it is mentioned in a letter from Gough to Tyson, 27\nDec. 1771 (Nichols's _Literary Anecdotes_, vol. viii. p. 575). Horace\nWalpole was annoyed at the Society for criticising his \"Richard III.\"\nand in his _Short Notes on his Life_ he wrote--\"Foote having brought\nthem on the stage for sitting in council, as they had done on\nWhittington and his Cat, I was not sorry to find them so ridiculous, or\nto mark their being so, and upon that nonsense, and the laughter that\naccompanied it, I struck my name out of their book.\"\n\nFoote brought out his comedy of _The Nabob_ at the Haymarket Theatre in\n1772. Sir Matthew Mite, the hero of the piece, is elected a member of\nthe Society of Antiquaries, and delivers an address on Whittington and\nhis Cat in which he gave the following solution of the difficulty:--\"The\ncommerce this worthy merchant carried on was chiefly confined to our\ncoasts. For this purpose he constructed a vessel which for its agility\nand lightness he aptly christened a cat. Nay, to this our day,\ngentlemen, all our coals from Newcastle are imported in nothing but\ncats. From thence it appears that it was not the whiskered four-footed,\nmouse-killing cat that was the source of the magistrate's wealth, but\nthe coasting, sailing, coal-carrying cat; that, gentlemen, was\nWhittington's cat.\"\n\nWe may now pass from the fictitious to the real Richard Whittington, and\nalthough this is not the place for a life of the distinguished citizen,\nwhich may be found elsewhere, it will be convenient to set down in order\nthe chief incidents of his career.\n\nRichard Whittington was the third son of Sir William Whittington,\nknight, of Pauntley, Gloucestershire, and it is assumed, by some\nwriters, that he was born in or about the year 1360. We must, however,\nplace his birth at an earlier date, for his name appears in the city\n_Letter Book_, H, fol. 110_a_, (as Richard Whyttingdone), in the second\nyear of Richard II. (A.D. 1379), as a contributor of five marks\ntowards a loan to the city authorities; about four-fifths of the\nsubscribers contributing the same, which is the lowest figure among the\ncontributions.[2] This is the first appearance of Whittington's name in\nthe city books. William, the eldest son, succeeded to the family\nproperty of Pauntley, but, dying without issue, the estate went to\nRobert, the second son, who became high sheriff of the county in 1402,\nand again in 1407. Pauntley remained in the family as late as 1546.\n\nNothing is known of Richard's early life, either as to when or how he\ncame to London. He appears to have married Alice, daughter of Hugh\nFitzwarren, and probably he was originally apprenticed to his\nfather-in-law, whose name appears in all the versions of his history.\n\nThe second appearance of Whittington's name in the city books is in 8\nRichard II., when he was one of the eight common councilmen for Coleman\nStreet ward. In 11 Richard II. he is named as becoming surety to the\nchamberlain in the sum of ten pounds towards providing money for defence\nof the city. In the following year he appears to have been no longer a\nmember for Coleman Street ward. On the 12th of March, 1393, he is named\nas then chosen alderman of Broad Street ward; and on 21st September of\nthe same year he was chosen by the mayor, William Staundon, one of the\nsheriffs for the ensuing year.[3]\n\nWhen Adam Bamme died in the year 1397, during his mayoralty, Richard II.\narbitrarily put Whittington in his place, and at the lord mayor's day of\nthat year Whittington again filled the office, being then regularly\nelected.[4] From his will we find that this king, who was a member of\nthe Mercers' Company, to which Whittington was apprenticed, was an\nespecial patron of his. In 1400 he was excused from attending the\nScottish wars, and in 1406 he was again elected mayor. He rebuilt his\nparish church, and Mr. Riley has printed in his valuable _Memorials_ (p.\n578) the grant by Whittington of land or the re-building of the church\nof St. Michael, Paternoster, \"in the street called La Riole,\" called\nafter the merchants of La Riole, a town near Bordeaux, who had\nestablished themselves there.\n\nWhittington was knighted by Henry V., and in 1419 he was elected mayor\nfor the fourth time. It was in this year that John Carpenter commenced\nthe compilation of his famous _Liber Albus_. We see how highly this\ndistinguished citizen was appreciated from the writings of such men as\nGrafton and Stow. Richard Grafton writes in his _Chronicle_ (1569, p.\n433)--\n\n     \"This yere (1406) a worthie citizen of London, named Rychard\n     Whittyngton, mercer and alderman, was elected maior of the sayde\n     citie, and bare that office three tymes. This worshipfull man so\n     bestowed his goodes and substaunce to the honor of God, to the\n     reliefe of the pore, and to the benefite of the comon weale, that\n     he hath right well deserved to be regestered in the boke of fame.\n     First, he erected one house or church in London to be a house of\n     prayer, and he named the same after his awne name Whittyngtons\n     College, and so it remayneth to this day. And in the same church,\n     besydes certeine priestes and clerkes, he placed a number of poore\n     aged men and women and buylded for them houses and lodgyngs, and\n     allowed unto them wood, cole, cloth, and weekly money to their\n     great reliefe and comfort.... He also buylded for the ease of the\n     maior of London and his brethren, and of the worshipfull citizens\n     at the solempne dayes of their assemblye, a chapell adioining to\n     the Guyldhall, to the entent they should euer before they entered\n     into any of theyr affayrs first to go into the chappel, and by\n     prayer to call upon God for assistaunce.... He also buylded a great\n     part of the east ende of the Guildhall, besyde many other good\n     workes that I knowe not. But among all other I will shewe unto you\n     one very notable, which I receyved credibly by a writyng of his\n     awne hande, which also he willed to be fixed as a schedule to his\n     last will and testament, the contentes whereof was that he willed\n     and commaunded his executors as they would aunswere before God at\n     the day of the resurrection of all fleshe, that if they found any\n     debtor of his that ought to him any money, that if he were not in\n     their consciences well worth three tymes as much, and also out of\n     the debt of other men, and well able to pay, that then they shoulde\n     never demaund it, for he cleerely forgave it, and that they should\n     put no man in sute for any debt due to him. Looke upon thys, ye\n     aldermen, for it is a glorious glasse.\"\n\nStow writes as follows in his _Survey of London_ on some of\nWhittington's good works:--\n\n     \"Richard Whittington, mercer, three times mayor, in the year 1421\n     began the library of the grey friars in London, to the charge of\n     four hundred pounds: his executors with his goods founded and built\n     Whittington College, with almshouses for thirteen poor men, and\n     divinity lectures to be read there for ever. They repaired St.\n     Bartholomew's hospital in Smithfield; they bare half the charges of\n     building the library there, and they built the west gate of London,\n     of old time called Newgate,\" &c.[5]\n\n     \"The 1st year of Henry VI. John Coventrie and John Carpenter,\n     executors to Richard Whitington, gave towards the paving of this\n     great hall twenty pounds, and the next year fifteen pounds more, to\n     the said pavement, with hard stone of Purbeck; they also glazed\n     some windows thereof, and of the mayor's court; on every which\n     windows the arms of Richard Whitington are placed.\"[6]\n\nRespecting the library at Guildhall, Stow, after relating how the Duke\nof Somerset, Lord Protector, borrowed the books and never returned them,\nwrites:--\"This library was built by the executors of Richard Whittington\nand by William Burie; the arms of Whittington are placed on the one side\nin the stone work, and two letters, to wit W and B, for William Burie,\non the other side; it is now lofted through, and made a storehouse for\nclothes.\"[7]\n\nWhittington appears to have died childless, and in the interesting\npicture of his deathbed, copied by Mr. Lysons from an illumination in\nthe ordinances of his college, his executors are seen around his bed.\nHis will was proved in 1423 by John Coventry, John White, William Grove\nand John Carpenter. The College of St. Spirit and St. Mary consisted of\na master, four fellows (masters of arts), clerks, conducts, chorists,\n&c. It was dissolved by Edward VI.; but the memory of it remains in the\nname College Hill, Upper Thames Street. God's House or Hospital for\nthirteen poor men was moved to Highgate in 1808.\n\nBy his will Whittington directed that the inmates of his college should\npray for the souls of himself and his wife Alice, of Sir William\nWhittington, and his wife Dame Joan, of Hugh Fitzwarren and his wife\nDame Malde, as well as for the souls of Richard II. and Thomas of\nWoodstock, Duke of Gloucester, \"special lords and promoters of the said\nWhittington.\"\n\nWhittington's epitaph is preserved by Stow and is in Latin; yet the\nauthor of a _Life of Whittington_ (1811) makes the following\nmisstatement:--\n\n     \"Record, however, has handed down to us the original epitaph, as it\n     was cut on the monument of Sir Richard, by order of his executors;\n     and, exclusive of its connection with the subject of these pages,\n     it may be subjoined as a curious specimen of the poetry of an age\n     which was comparatively with the present so entirely involved in\n     the darkness of superstition and ignorance.\"\n\n      \"Beneath this stone lies Whittington,\n        Sir Richard rightly named;\n      Who three times Lord Mayor served in London,\n        In which he ne'er was blamed.\n\n      He rose from indigence to wealth\n        By industry and that;\n      For lo! he scorned to gain by stealth\n        What he got by a cat.\n\n      Let none who reads this verse despair\n        Of providences ways;\n      Who trust in him he'll make his care,\n        And prosper all their days.\n\n      Then sing a requiem to departed merit,\n      And rest in peace till death demands his spirit.\"--\n\n     _Life of Sir R. Whittington_, by the author of _Memoirs of George\n     Barnwell_, 1811, p. 106.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n     LIST OF VERSIONS, EDITIONS, &c.\n\n     1604-5, Feb. 8. Play licensed, see _ante_, p. vii.\n\n     1605, July 16. Ballad licensed, see _ante_, p. vii.\n\n     1612. Johnson's Ballad published in _Crowne Garland of Goulden\n     Roses_, see _ante_, p. ix.\n\n     1641? Roxburghe Ballad (\"London's Glory\"), see _ante_, p. xiv.\n\n     1670? Famous and Remarkable History by T. H., reprinted in this\n     volume (see p. 1).\n\n     1678. Another edition with the same title as the above (see p. 1),\n     but with the following imprint:\n\n     \"London: Printed by A. P. and T. H. for T. Vere and J. Wright, and\n     are to be sold at their shops at the Angel without Newgate and at\n     the Crown on Ludgate Hill. 1678.\"\n\n     There are a few alterations in spelling, &c. but otherwise it is\n     the same as the earlier edition.\n\n     1730. The History of Sir Richard Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of\n     London. Durham: Printed and sold by I. Lane.\n\n     This is the earliest version of the common chap-book tale in the\n     British Museum. It is divided into chapters, and the headings of\n     these chapters are given at p. xxx. of the present preface. All the\n     other chap-books that I have seen are more or less versions of this\n     story, but one of the most complete is that printed in this\n     Introduction (p. xxxii.) The book was printed in most of the chief\n     towns, as Newcastle, Edinburgh, &c. but one of the most interesting\n     editions is that printed at York and illustrated by Bewick:--\n\n     The History of Whittington and his Cat; how from a poor country boy\n     destitute of parents or relatives he attained great riches and was\n     promoted to the high and honorable dignity of Lord Mayor of London.\n     York: Printed by J. Kendrew, Colliergate.\n\n     The frontispiece represents the stiff figure of a man in wig and\n     gown of the time of Charles II., underneath which is printed--\n\n      \"Sir Richard Whittington behold\n      In mayor's robes and chain of gold.\"\n\n     1808. In the _Antiquarian Repertory_ (vol. ii. pp. 343-346) there\n     is a good account of Whittington.\n\n     1811. The Life of Sir Richard Whittington, Knight, and four times\n     Lord Mayor of London, in the reigns of Edward III. Richard II. and\n     Henry V. Compiled from authentic documents; and containing many\n     important particulars respecting that illustrious man never before\n     published: intended to amuse, instruct, and stimulate the rising\n     generation. By the Author of \"Memoirs of George Barnwell.\" Harlow:\n     Printed by B. Flower for M. Jones, No. 5, Newgate Street, London.\n     1811. Small 8vo.\n\n     1828. The Life of Sir Richard Whittington, Knight, four times Lord\n     Mayor of London. London: Published by Thomas North, 64, Paternoster\n     Row. 1828. (Lysons.)\n\n     1841. The Life and Times of Dick Whittington: an Historical\n     Romance. London: Hugh Cuningham, St. Martin's Place. 1841. 8vo.\n\n     This is a novel written in imitation of Ainsworth, illustrated with\n     plates in imitation of Cruikshank.\n\n     [1845.] Woodcock's \"Lives of Illustrious Lords Mayors and Aldermen\n     of London, with a Brief History of the City of London.\" London.\n     8vo. Pp. 28-46, Life of Whittington; but it contains no information\n     of any value.\n\n     1860. The Model Merchant of the Middle Ages, exemplified in the\n     Story of Whittington and his Cat: being an attempt to rescue that\n     interesting story from the region of fable, and to place it in its\n     proper position in the legitimate history of this country. By the\n     Rev. Samuel Lysons, M.A. London: Hamilton, Adams & Co. 1860. 8vo.\n\n     1871. The Story of Sir Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London in\n     the years 1397, 1406-7, and 1419 A.D. Written and\n     illustrated by Carr. London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1871. Folio.\n\n     A new Ballad prettily illustrated, in which Canon Lysons's\n     researches are taken into account, and the boy is made of good\n     parentage, but the rest of the legend is retained.\n\n     1881. Sir Richard Whittington, Lord Mayor of London. By Walter\n     Besant and James Rice. London: Marcus Ward and Co. 1881. Sm. 8vo.\n\n     Whittington and his Cat. By Ernest J. Miller. Published by the\n     Albany Institute, Albany, N.Y. Weed, Parsons, and Company. 1881.\n     8vo.\n\n     A valuable paper, which contains a great mass of information on\n     both the true and----the fictitious Whittington.\n\n     Whittington and his Cat, an Entertainment for Young People, by Miss\n     Corner.\n\n     The Remarkable History of Richard Whittington and his Cat. Aunt\n     Busy Bee's New Series. Dean and Son. Coloured illustrations on the\n     page.\n\n     The following title is taken from Mr. Lysons's book, and I presume\n     it is merely an edition of the ordinary chap-book.\n\n     History of Sir Richard Whittington. Printed at Sympson's in\n     Stonecutter Street, Fleet Market.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nThe following extract from Granger's _History of England_ is curious as\nshowing that the public would not have a portrait of Whittington without\na representation of his famous cat:--\n\n     \"The true portraicture of Richard Whitington, thrise Lord Maior of\n     London; a vertuous and godly man, full of good works, and those\n     famous. He builded the gate of London called Newegate, which before\n     was a miserable doungeon. He builded Whitington College, and made\n     it an almose-house for poore people. Also he builded a great parte\n     of the hospitall of St. Bartholomew's, in West Smithfield, in\n     London. He also builded the beautiful library at the Grey Friars in\n     London, called Christe's Hospitall. He also builded the Guildehalle\n     chappell, and increased a great parte of the east ende of the said\n     halle, beside many other good workes.\"--_R. Elstracke sc. Collar of\n     SS.; his right hand on a cat._\n\nGranger says of this:\n\n     \"The cat has been inserted as the common people did not care to buy\n     the print without it. There was none originally in the plate, but a\n     skull in the place of the cat. I have seen only two proofs of this\n     portrait in its first state, and these were fine\n     impressions.\"--1775, vol. i. p. 62.\n\nThe following is a copy of the headings of the chapters in an early form\nof the chap-book version of Whittington's life:\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n\n  HISTORY\n\n  OF\n\n  SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON,\n\n  THRICE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON.\n\n\n  _Durham: Printed and sold by I. Lane._ [1730.]\n\n\n\n\n     THE LIFE OF\n\n     SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON.\n\n\n     CHAP. I.\n\n     How, Whittington, being born of unknown parents, was left to a\n     desperate fortune, and rambled the country till necessity and fear\n     made him come to London.\n\n\n     CHAP. II.\n\n     How, at the instance of Mrs. Alice, the Merchant's daughter, he\n     became a servant in the family under the cook maid, who used him\n     cruelly, and how Mrs. Alice took pity on him, and interpos'd her\n     authority.\n\n\n     CHAP. III.\n\n     How, lying in a garret, he was ready to be devoured by rats and\n     mice, and to prevent it purchased a cat with a penny given him for\n     cleaning shoes; and how, with the servants, he adventured the cat,\n     being all his stock.\n\n\n     CHAP. IV.\n\n     How the bitter jade of a cook maid encreasing her cruelty towards\n     him he grew weary of his service, and was running away on\n     All-Hallow's day; but upon hearing the ringing of Bow bells came\n     back again. Also how the merchant abroad disposed of his cat.\n\n\n     CHAP. V.\n\n     Of the great riches received for Whittington's cat more than for\n     all the goods in the ship; on the arrival of which his master sent\n     for him upstairs by the title of Mr. Whittington, and the excuses\n     he made, and how he distributed part of his wealth to his\n     fellow-servants giving the ill-natur'd cook maid 100l.\n\n\n     CHAP. VI.\n\n     How Mr. Whittington, being genteely dress'd, became, to all\n     appearance, a very comely, proper person; how Mrs. Alice, his\n     master's daughter, fell in love with him, and, by her father's\n     consent, married him; and also how he was chosen sheriff of London.\n\n\n     CHAP. VII.\n\n     How he was thrice elected Lord Mayor of London; how he entertain'd\n     King Henry V. in his return from the conquest of France: with an\n     account of his buildings for pious and charitable uses, great\n     liberality to the poor, his death, burial, and epitaph.\n\n\n      EPITAPH.\n\n      Here lies Sir Richard Whittington, thrice mayor,\n      And his dear wife, a virtuous, loving pair;\n      Him fortune rais'd to be belov'd and great,\n      By the adventure only of a cat.\n      Let none who read of God's great love despair,\n      Who trusts in Him of him He will take care;\n      But growing rich chuse humbleness, not pride,\n      Let these dead persons' virtues be your guide.\n\n\nThe following reprint of a later version of the chap-book is almost\nidentical with a large number of editions:\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n\n  ADVENTURES\n\n  OF\n\n  SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON,\n\n  WHO WAS\n\n  THREE TIMES\n\n  LORD MAYOR OF LONDON.\n\n  _And the Surprising History of his_\n\n  CAT,\n\n  TO WHICH IS ADDED\n\n  THE CALEDONIAN, A POEM.\n\n\n  _Banbury:\n  Printed and sold by J. Cheney, in the High Street._\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n\n  HISTORY\n\n  OF\n\n  WHITTINGTON.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nDick Whittington was a very little boy when his father and mother died;\nlittle indeed, that he never knew them, nor the place where he was\nborn. He strolled about the country as ragged as a colt, till he met\nwith a waggoner who was going to London, and who gave him leave to walk\nall the way by the side of his waggon without paying anything for his\npassage, which pleased little Whittington very much, as he wanted to see\nLondon badly, for he had heard that the streets were paved with gold,\nand he was willing to get a bushel of it; but how great was his\ndisappointment, poor boy! when he saw the streets covered with dirt\ninstead of gold, and found himself in a strange place, without a friend,\nwithout food, and without money.\n\nThough the waggoner was so charitable as to let him walk up by the side\nof the waggon for nothing, he took care not to know him when he came to\ntown, and the poor boy was, in a little time, so cold and so hungry that\nhe wished himself in a good kitchen and by a warm fire in the country.\n\nIn this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of them bid\nhim \"Go to work for an idle rogue.\" \"That I will,\" says Whittington,\n\"with all my heart; I will work for you if you will let me.\"\n\nThe man, who thought this favoured of wit and impertinence (tho' the\npoor lad intended only to show his readiness to work), gave him a blow\nwith a stick which broke his head so that the blood ran down. In this\nsituation, and fainting for want of food, he laid himself down at the\ndoor of one Mr. Fitzwarren, a merchant, where the cook saw him, and,\nbeing an ill-natured hussey, ordered him to go about his business or she\nwould scald him. At this time Mr. Fitzwarren came from the Exchange, and\nbegan also to scold at the poor boy, bidding him to go to work.\n\nWhittington answered that he should be glad to work if any body would\nemploy him, and that he should be able if he could get some victuals to\neat, for he had had nothing for three days, and he was a poor country\nboy, and knew nobody, and nobody would employ him.\n\nHe then endeavoured to get up, but he was so very weak that he fell down\nagain, which excited so much compassion in the merchant that he ordered\nthe servants to take him in and give him some meat and drink, and let\nhim help the cook to do any dirty work that she had to set him about.\nPeople are too apt to reproach those who beg with being idle, but give\nthemselves no concern to put them in the way of getting business to do,\nor considering whether they are able to do it, which is not charity.\n\n                   \"Think of this ye affluent,\n  And when the overplus of your fortunes disturb\n  Your minds, think how little stops the lash of penury,\n  And makes the wretched happy!\"\n\nI remember a circumstance of this sort, which Sir William Thompson told\nmy father with tears in his eyes, and it is so affecting that I shall\nnever forget it:\n\n\n\n\n  STORY\n\n  OF\n\n  SIR WILLIAM THOMPSON.\n\n\n\"When Sir William Thompson was in the plantation abroad, one of his\nfriends told him he had an indentured servant whom he had just bought,\nthat was his countryman and a lusty man; 'but he is so idle,' says he,\n'that I cannot get him to work.' 'Aye,' says Sir William, 'let me see\nhim.' Accordingly they walked out together and found the man sitting on\na heap of stones. Upon this Sir William, after enquiring about his\ncountry, asked why he did not go out to work. 'I am not able,' answered\nthe man. 'Not able?' says Sir William, 'I am sure you look very well;\ngive him a few stripes.' Upon this the planter struck him several times,\nbut the poor man still kept his seat.\n\n\"Then they left him to look over the plantation, exclaiming against his\nobstinacy all the way they went; but how surprised were they, on their\nreturn, to find the poor man fallen from off the place where he had been\nsitting, and dead! 'The cruelty,' says Sir William, 'of my ordering the\npoor man to be beaten while in the agonies of death lies always next my\nheart. It is what I shall never forget, and will for ever prevent my\njudging rashly of people who appear in distress. How do we know what our\nchildren may come to? The Lord have mercy upon the poor, and defend them\nfrom the proud, the inconsiderate, and the avaricious.\"\n\nBut we return to Whittington: who would have lived happy in this worthy\nfamily had he not been bumped about by the cross cook, who must be\nalways roasting or basting, and when the spit was still employed her\nhands upon poor Whittington! 'till Miss Alice, his master's daughter,\nwas informed of it, and then she took compassion on the poor boy, and\nmade the servants treat him kindly.\n\nBesides the crossness of the cook, Whittington had another difficulty to\nget over before he could be happy. He had, by order of his master, a\nflock-bed placed for him in a garret, where there were such a number of\nrats and mice that often ran over the poor boy's nose and disturbed him\nin his sleep. After some time, however, a gentleman, who came to his\nmaster's house, gave Whittington a penny for brushing his shoes. This\nhe put into his pocket, being determined to lay it out to the best\nadvantage; and the next day, seeing a woman in the street with a cat\nunder her arm, he ran up to know the price of it. The woman (as the cat\nwas a good mouser) asked a deal of money for it, but on Whittington's\ntelling her he had but a penny in the world, and that he wanted a cat\nsadly, she let him have it.\n\nThis cat Whittington concealed in the garret, for fear she should be\nbeat about by his mortal enemy the cook, and here she soon killed or\nfrightened away the rats and mice, so that the poor boy could now sleep\nas sound as a top.\n\nSoon after this the merchant, who had a ship ready to sail, called for\nhis servants, as his custom was, in order that each of them might\nventure something to try their luck; and whatever they sent was to pay\nneither freight nor custom, for he thought justly that God Almighty\nwould bless him the more for his readiness to let the poor partake of\nhis fortune. \"He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord, who will\nreturn it seventy-fold.\"\n\nAll the servants appeared but poor Whittington, who, having neither\nmoney nor goods, could not think of sending anything to try his luck;\nbut his good friend Miss Alice, thinking his poverty kept him away,\nordered him to be called.\n\nShe then offered to lay down something for him, but the merchant told\nhis daughter that would not do, it must be something of his own. Upon\nwhich poor Whittington said he had nothing but a cat which he bought for\na penny that was given him. \"Fetch thy cat, boy,\" said the merchant,\n\"and send her.\" Whittington brought poor puss and delivered her to the\ncaptain, with tears in his eyes, for he said he should now be disturbed\nby the rats and mice as much as ever. All the company laughed at the\nadventure but Miss Alice, who pitied the poor boy, and gave him\nsomething to buy another cat.\n\nWhile puss was beating the billows at sea, poor Whittington was severely\nbeaten at home by his tyrannical mistress the cook, who used him so\ncruelly, and made such game of him for sending his cat to sea, that at\nlast the poor boy determined to run away from his place, and, having\npacked up the few things he had, he set out very early in the morning on\nAll-Hallows day. He travelled as far as Holloway, and there sat down on\na stone to consider what course he should take; but while he was thus\nruminating, Bow bells, of which there were only six, began to ring; and\nhe thought their sounds addressed him in this manner:\n\n  \"Turn again, Whittington,\n  Lord Mayor of great London.\"\n\n\"Lord Mayor of London!\" said he to himself; \"what would not one endure\nto be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in such a fine coach? Well, I'll go\nback again, and bear all the pummelling and ill-usage of Cicely rather\nthan miss the opportunity of being Lord Mayor!\" So home he went, and\nhappily got into the house and about his business before Mrs. Cicely\nmade her appearance.\n\nWe must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa, to that coast where\nDido expired for loss of AEnus (_sic_). How perilous are voyages at sea,\nhow uncertain the winds and the waves, and how many accidents attend a\nnaval life!\n\nThe ship, which had the cat on board, was long beaten at sea, and at\nlast, by contrary winds, driven on a part of the coast of Barbary which\nwas inhabited by Moors, unknown to the English. These people received\nour countrymen with civility, and therefore the captain, in order to\ntrade with them, shewed them the patterns of the goods he had on board,\nand sent some of them to the king of the country, who was so well\npleased that he sent for the captain and the factor to his palace, which\nwas about a mile from the sea. Here they were placed, according to the\ncustom of the country, on rich carpets, flowered with gold and silver;\nand the king and queen being seated at the upper end of the room, dinner\nwas brought in, which consisted of many dishes; but no sooner were the\ndishes put down but an amazing number of rats and mice came from all\nquarters, and devoured all the meat in an instant. The factor, in\nsurprise, turned round to the nobles and asked \"If these vermin were not\noffensive?\" \"O yes,\" said they, \"very offensive; and the king would give\nhalf his treasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his\ndinner, as you see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in\nbed, so that he is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping for fear\nof them.\"\n\nThe factor jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his cat,\nand told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would\ndespatch all these vermin immediately. The king's heart heaved so high\nat the joy which this news gave him that his turban dropped off his\nhead. \"Bring this creature to me,\" says he; \"vermin are dreadful in a\ncourt, and if she will perform what you say, I will load your ship with\ngold and jewels in exchange for her.\" The factor, who knew his business,\ntook this opportunity to set forth the merits of Miss Puss. He told his\nmajesty \"That it would be inconvenient to part with her, as, when she\nwas gone, the rats and mice might destroy the goods in the ship--but to\noblige his majesty he would fetch her.\" \"Run, run,\" said the queen; \"I\nam impatient to see the dear creature.\"\n\nAway flew the factor, while another dinner was providing, and returned\nwith the cat just as the rats and mice were devouring that also. He\nimmediately put down Mrs. Puss, who killed a great number of them.\n\nThe king rejoiced greatly to see his old enemies destroyed by so small a\ncreature, and the queen was highly pleased, and desired the cat might be\nbrought near that she might look at her. Upon which the factor called\n\"Pussy, pussy, pussy,\" and she came to him. He then presented her to the\nqueen, who started back, and was afraid to touch a creature who had made\nsuch a havoc among the rats and mice; however, when the factor stroked\nthe cat and called \"Pussy, pussy,\" the queen also touched her and cried\n\"Putty, putty,\" for she had not learned English.\n\nHe then put her down on the queen's lap, where she, purring, played with\nher majesty's hand, and then sung herself to sleep.\n\nThe king having seen the exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that\nshe was with young, and would stock the whole country, bargained with\nthe captain and factor for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave them\nten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. With which,\ntaking leave of their majesties, and other great personages at court,\nthey sailed with a fair wind for England, whither we must now attend\nthem.\n\nThe morn had scarcely dawned when Mr. Fitzwarren stole from the bed of\nhis beloved wife, to count over the cash, and settle the business for\nthat day. He had just entered the compting-house, and seated himself at\nthe desk, when somebody came, tap, tap, at the door. \"Who's there?\" says\nMr. Fitzwarren. \"A friend,\" answered the other. \"What friend can come at\nthis unseasonable time?\" \"A real friend is never unseasonable,\" answered\nthe other. \"I come to bring you good news of your ship _Unicorn_.\" The\nmerchant bustled up in such an hurry that he forgot his gout; instantly\nopened the door, and who should be seen waiting but the captain and\nfactor, with a cabinet of jewels, and a bill of lading, for which the\nmerchant lifted up his eyes and thanked heaven for sending him such a\nprosperous voyage. Then they told him the adventures of the cat, and\nshewed him the cabinet of jewels which they had brought for Mr.\nWhittington. Upon which he cried out with great earnestness, but not in\nthe most poetical manner,--\n\n\n  \"Go, send him in, and tell him of his fame,\n  And call him Mr. Whittington by name.\"\n\n\nIt is not our business to animadvert upon these lines; we are not\ncritics, but historians. It is sufficient for us that they are the words\nof Mr. Fitzwarren; and though it is beside our purpose, and perhaps not\nin our power to prove him a good poet, we shall soon convince the reader\nthat he was a good man, which was a much better character; for when\nsome, who were present, told him that this treasure was too much for\nsuch a poor boy as Whittington, he said, \"God forbid that I should\ndeprive him or a penny; it is his own, and he shall have it to a\nfarthing.\" He then ordered Mr. Whittington in, who was at this time\ncleaning the kitchen, and would have excused himself from going into the\ncompting-house, saying, the room was rubbed, and his shoes were dirty\nand full of hob-nails. The merchant, however, made him come in, and\nordered a chair to be set for him. Upon which, thinking they intended to\nmake sport of him, as had been too often the case in the kitchen, he\nbesought his master not to mock a poor simple fellow, who intended them\nno harm, but let him go about his business. The merchant, taking him by\nthe hand, said, \"Indeed, Mr. Whittington, I am in earnest with you, and\nsent for you to congratulate you on your great success. Your cat has\nprocured you more money than I am worth in the world, and may you long\nenjoy it and be happy.\"\n\nAt length, being shown the treasure, and convinced by them that all of\nit belonged to him, he fell upon his knees and thanked the Almighty for\nhis providential care of such a poor and miserable creature. He then\nlaid all the treasure at his master's feet, who refused to take any part\nof it, but told him he heartily rejoiced at his prosperity, and hoped\nthe wealth he had acquired would be a comfort to him, and would make him\nhappy. He then applied to his mistress, and to his good friend Miss\nAlice, who refused to take any part of the money, but told him she\nheartily rejoiced at his good success, and wished him all imaginable\nfelicity. He then gratified the captain, factor, and the ship's crew,\nfor the care they had taken of his cargo. He likewise distributed\npresents to all the servants in the house, not forgetting even his old\nenemy the cook, though she little deserved it.\n\nAfter this Mr. Fitzwarren advised Mr. Whittington to send for the\nnecessary people and dress himself like a gentleman, and made him the\noffer of his house to live in till he could provide himself with a\nbetter.\n\nNow it came to pass that when Mr. Whittington's face was washed, his\nhair curled, and dressed in a rich suit of clothes, that he turned out a\ngenteel young fellow; and, as wealth contributes much to give a man\nconfidence, he in a little time dropped that sheepish behaviour which\nwas principally occasioned by a depression of spirits, and soon grew a\nsprightly and good companion, insomuch that Miss Alice, who had formerly\nseen him with an eye of compassion, now viewed him with other eyes,\nwhich perhaps was in some measure occasioned by his readiness to oblige\nher, and by continually making her presents of such things that he\nthought would be most agreeable.\n\nWhen her father perceived they had this good liking for each other he\nproposed a match between them, to which both parties cheerfully\nconsented, and the Lord Mayor, Court of Aldermen, Sheriffs, the Company\nof Stationers, and a number of eminent merchants attended the ceremony,\nand were elegantly treated at an entertainment made for that purpose.\n\nHistory further relates that they lived very happy, had several\nchildren, and died at a good old age. Mr. Whittington served Sheriff of\nLondon in the year 1340, and was three times Lord Mayor. In the last\nyear of his mayoralty he entertained King Henry V. and his Queen, after\nhis conquest of France, upon which occasion the King, in consideration\nof Whittington's merit, said, \"Never had prince such a subject;\" which\nbeing told to Whittington at the table, he replied \"Never had subject\nsuch a king.\" His Majesty, out of respect to his good character,\nconferred the honour of knighthood on him soon after.\n\nSir Richard many years before his death constantly fed a great number of\npoor citizens, built a church and a college to it, with a yearly\nallowance for poor scholars, and near it erected an hospital. He also\nbuilt Newgate for criminals, and gave liberally to St. Bartholomew's\nHospital and other public charities.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nTwo old houses in London, which were pulled down at the beginning of the\npresent century, have been associated with the name of Whittington, but\nthere is no evidence that he really dwelt in either of them. One ruinous\nbuilding in Sweedon's Passage, Grub Street, engravings of which will be\nfound in J.T. Smith's _Topography of London_, was pulled down in 1805,\nand five houses built on its site. A tablet was then set up, on which\nwas an inscription to the effect that the house had been called Gresham\nHouse, and that Whittington once inhabited it.\n\nThe magnificent house which stood in Hart Street, Crutched Friars, a few\ndoors from Mark Lane, is said to have been called Whittington's palace\nin the old leases, but this is the only evidence in favour of the\npopular belief. The front was elaborately carved in oak, the work of a\nmuch later date than that of Whittington. The decoration is attributed\nto the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII., and on the ceiling among\nother forms was that of a cat's head, from which possibly the tradition\nof its having been the residence of Whittington arose. There was a\npopular superstition that the cat's eyes followed the visitor as he\nwalked about the room. This house was taken down in 1801, but both it\nand the house in Sweedon's Passage were reproduced in the interesting\nOld London Street at the International Health Exhibition of 1884.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] _Catalogue of Chap Books, Garlands, &c._ 1849, p. 69.\n\n[2] Riley's _Memorials of London and London Life_, p. 534 (note).\n\n[3] Riley's _Memorials_, pp. 533-4.\n\n[4] The Royal Mandate, dated June 8, is printed in Riley's _Memorials_,\np. 545.\n\n[5] _Survey of London_, ed. Thoms, 1842, p. 41.\n\n[6] _Survey of London_, ed. Thoms, 1842, p. 162.\n\n[7] _Ibid._ p. 103.\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n\n  FAMOUS AND REMARKABLE\n\n  HISTORY\n\n  OF\n\n  SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON,\n\n  THREE TIMES LORD MAYOR OF LONDON:\n\n\n  _who lived in the time of King Henry the Fifth in the year 1419, with\n  all the Remarkable Passages, and things of note, which happened in his\n  time: with his Life and Death._\n\n\n  WRITTEN BY T. H.\n\n\n  _Printed by W. Thackeray and T. Passinger._\n\n\n\n\n  _The Printer to the Reader._\n\n\nCourteous Reader,--I here present unto thee no strange or forreign news,\nno imagination, or vain conceit of poetical fiction; neither do I tell\nthee of Gallagantua or of the Red Rose Knight, nor such like stories;\nbut I here offer to thy view a true pattern of humility; being the glory\nof our Kingdom, and raised to Honour by desert; the title tells you that\nit is the life and death of Richard Whittington, who for his clemency\nand understanding was three times chosen Lord Mayor of the Honourable\nCity of London, who always acknowledged his beginning to be of mean and\nlow rank; yet he was beloved of the King for his fidelity and trust, as\nmay appear in larger volumes, and the entertainment that he gave at his\nown house to his Soveraign at several times: his bounty upon all\noccasions, when the King wanted his purse; his love to the City and\nCommons; which are not to be buried in oblivion, but rather to be\nproclaimed as living monuments to all people of what condition soever,\nto animate them never to be dejected though never so poor, as the story\nwill more at large declare; all which happened in the days of our\nforefathers, and very probable it may be for us to believe; if we will\nnot give credit to former historians who will give the like to us in\nfuture ages: read it through, and you will find something worthy\nof note, and thou shall do thy self some pleasure and me a high\nfavour.    _Vale._\n\n\n\n\n  _The Life and Death of Sir Richard Whittington;\n  who was three times Lord Mayor of the\n  City of London._\n\n\nThe saying is not so old as true, He that refuseth to buy counsel cheap\nshall buy repentance dear; neither let any work [mock?] a man in his\nmisery, but rather beware by him how to avoid the like misfortune; if\nthou intend to do any good, defer it not till the next day, for thou\nknowest not what may happen over night to prevent thee. Behold thyself\nin a looking glass, if thou appearest beautiful do such things as may\nbecome thy beauty; but if thou seem foul or deformed, let the actions of\nthy life make good that splendor which thy face lacketh. Tell not thy\nmind to every man, make thy self indebted to no man, be friend to few\nmen, be courteous to all men, let thy wit be thy friend, thy mind thy\ncompanion, thy tongue thy servant, let vertue be thy life, valour thy\nlove, honour thy fame and heaven thy felicity. These (Reader) be good\ndocuments for thee to follow, and I am now to present thee with a\nworthy president to imitate; observe his beginning, forget not the\nmiddle passage of his life, and thou wilt no question crown his head. He\nthat made all things of nothing can of a little make much, and multiply\na mite into a magazine, as will easily appear by the succeeding history.\n\nThis Richard Whittington was so obscurely born that he could scarcely\ngive account of his parents or kindred, and being almost starved in the\ncountry, necessity compelled him up to London, hoping to find more\ncharity in the town than in the country: to beg he was ashamed, to steal\nhe did abhor: two days he spent in gaping upon the shops and gazing upon\nthe buildings feeding his eyes but starving his stomach. At length meer\nfaintness compell'd him to rest himself upon a bench before a merchant's\ngate, where he not long sat but the owner of the house having occasion\nof business into the town finding him a poor simple fellow, and thinking\nthat he had no more within him than appeared without, demanded of him\nwhy he loytered there, and being able to work for his living did not\napply himself unto some lawful calling, threatning him at the first with\nthe stocks and the whipping-post; but the poor man, after the making of\nsome plain leggs and courtesie, desired him to pardon him, and told him\nthat he was a dejected man, who desired any imployment, and that no\npains how mean or course (_sic_) soever could seem tedious or\nburthensome unto him, so he might but find some good master, by whose\ncharity he might relieve his present necessity: for his great ambition\nwas but to keep his body from nakedness and his stomach from hunger,\nand told him withal how long it was since he had tasted meat or drink.\n\nThe worthy merchant seeing him of a personable body, and an ingenious\naspect howsoever both were clouded under a rustick habit, began somewhat\nto commiserate his estate, and knocking for a servant had him take in\nthat fellow and give him such victuals as the house for the present\nafforded, and at his return he would have further conference with him.\nThe servant did as he was commanded and took him in.\n\nThe merchant went then to the Exchange, which was then in Lumber Street,\nabout his affairs; in which intrim (_sic_) poor Whittington was hied\ninto the kitchin to warm himself, for faintness by reason of hunger and\ncold (for it was then in the winter time) had quite rob'd him of his\ncolour. Meat was set before him in plenty, and being bred in the\ncountry, as the proverb goeth, _He fed like a farmer_, and having\nsatisfied himself sufficiently and warm'd him to the full, a fresh\ncolour began to come into his cheeks: at which the Merchant's daughter\n(hearing of a new come guest) came into the kitchin, and began to\nquestion him of divers things concerning the country, to all which he\ngave her such modest and sensible answers that she took a great liking\nunto him, and so left him.\n\nDinner time came, and Master Fitzwarren (for so was the merchant called)\ncame home with a good stomach, and brought a friend or two with him from\nthe Exchange; down they sat to meat, and had speech of many things at\nthe table; meanwhile the servants were set also at dinner, who would\nneeds have Whittington, though he had so lately broke his fast, to keep\nthem company, some of them delighting in his country speech, others\nderiding his supposed simplicity.\n\nBut to come to the purpose, the table being withdrawn in the parlour,\nand the guests departed, and Master Fitzwarren and his daughter left\nalone, she being of a good and gentle disposition, began to commend his\ncharity concerning the poor man whom he relieved that morning, to whom\nhe answered, God-a-mercy daughter, thou hast done well to remember me,\nsuch a one I sent indeed, but have my servants done as I commanded them?\nand where is he now? who answered him, that she had given order he\nshould stay dinner, and not depart the house till he himself had further\nspoken with him. At which they both went unto the Hall, and called the\nfellow before them; who appeared unto them with such a bashful humility\nthat it seemed to them both to beg a charity; some language past betwixt\nthem concerning him, which gave them content; at length they bid him\nretire himself.\n\nWhen the father and the daughter had some private conference concerning\nhim she urged him to entertain him into his house, and that there would\nbe some employment for him, either to run or to go of errands or else to\ndo some drudgery in the kitchin, as making of fires, scouring kettles,\nturning the spit, and the like: To whom the father reply'd that indeed\nhis work might be worth his meat, but he had no lodging to spare, and\nshe again answered that there were garrets in the house that were put to\nno use at all, and in one of them he might conveniently be lodged and\nput the house to no trouble at all.\n\nWell at length he was admitted, and made a member of the family, in\nwhich he demeaned himself so well by his willingness to run or go or do\nany service how mean so ever that he had got the good will of all the\nwhole houshold, only the kitchin maid being a curst quean, and knowing\nhim to be an under servant to her, domineered over him and used him very\ncoursely and roughly, of which he would never complain, though he had\ncause enough. The garret in which he lay, by reason it had been long\nunfrequented, was troubled with rats and mice, insomuch that he could\nnot sleep in the night but they ran over his face, and much disturb'd\nhim in his rest: to prevent which having got a penny either for going of\nan errand, or for making clean boots or shooes or the like, with that he\nbought a young cat which he kept in his garret, and whatsoever he had\nfrom the reversion of the servants table he would be sure to reserve\npart for her, because he had found by experience that she had rid him of\nthe former inconveniences.\n\nThe History tells us that this merchant, Master Hugh Fitzwarren, was so\ngenerous that he never adventured any ship to sea but he would have his\ndaughter, his cashire, and every one of his servants, whar (_sic_) or\nwhatsoever, to put in something, and to adventure with him, and\naccording to that proportion which they could spare, every one received\nto a token at the return of the ship. His daughter she began, the rest\nfollowed, and the servants borrowed out of their wages everyone\naccording to their abilities, and when they all had done Whittington was\nremembered and called for, and his master telling him the custome of his\nhome, asked him what he had to hazard in this adventure, who replyed\nagain, he was a poor man, and had nothing in the world saving the\ncloaths upon his back, but for money he had none at all: then his\ndaughter drew out her purse and told her father, that for his servant\nWhittington she would lay down whatsoever he would desire. Who answered\nagain, that what she had spoke was nothing to the purpose; for\nwhatsoever was ventured in that kind must be out of ones proper goods\nand chattels, and again demanded of him if he had anything he could call\nhis own to put to hazard, and charged him deeply concerning that point,\nwho making some unnecessary leggs, told him that he had nothing which he\ncould call his saving a cat, which he had bought with his penny, which\nhe could not spare because she had done him so many good offices, and\ntold them every circumstance before, related, which when the merchant\nheard he told him that he should venture that commodity and none else,\nand charged him to fetch her instantly (for the ship which was called\nthe Unicorn) was fallen down as low as Blackwal and all their lading\nwas already had aboard. Whittington although unwilling to part from so\ngood a companion yet being forced by his masters command by whom he had\nhis subsistence he brought her and (not without tears) delivered her to\nhis factor who was partly glad of her, by reason they were troubled with\nmice and rats in the ship, which not only spoyled their victuals but\ndamaged their wares and commodities.\n\nI must leave the cat upon her voyage at sea and honest Whittington on\nland, who by that cursed quean the kitchin maid was so beaten and abused\nthat he was as weary of his life as of his service: for she (usurping\nupon his plainness and modesty) would be quarrelling with him, upon\nevery small or no occasion at all; sometimes beating him with the broom,\nsometimes laying him over the shoulders with a laddle, the spit or what\ncame next to her hands, being of so dogged a disposition that she still\ncontinued her cruelty towards him, and therefore he resolved with\nhimself to run away, and for that purpose he had bundled up those few\nclothes which he had, and before day broke was got as far as Bunhill,\nand then he sat down to consider with himself what course he were best\nto take; where by chance (it being all-hallows day) a merry peal from\nBow Church began to ring, and as he apprehended they were tun'd to this\nditty,--\n\n  Turn again Whittington, Lord Mayor of London,\n  Turn again Whittington, Lord Mayor of London.\n\nThis took such a great impression in him, that finding how early it was,\nand that he might yet come back in his masters house before any of the\nfamily were stirring, he resolved to go back, and found every thing\naccording to his own wishes and desires, insomuch that when the\nhousehold were up none could challenge him to have been missing. And\nthus he continued as before in his first plainness and honesty, well\nbeloved of all save the kitchin drudge; I come now to tell you what\nbecame of his adventure.\n\nIt so hapned that this goodly ship Unicorn was by contrary gusts and bad\nweather driven upon the utmost coast of Barbary, where never any\nEnglishman (or scarce any Christian) had ever traded before, where they\nshowed their commodities and offered them to be vended. The Moors came\ndown in multitudes, much taken with the beauty of their ship, for they\nhad never seen any of that bigness or burthen before, but when they had\ntaken a serious view of their commodities as hatchets, knives and\nlooking-glasses, fish-hooks, &c. but especially their cloth and kersies\nof several sizes and colours, they brought them gold in abundance for it\nwas more plentiful with them then (_sic_) lead or copper with us.\n\nPresently the news was carryed to the king who sent some of his chief\nnobility to bring him some sorts of every commodity that was aboard,\nwhich when he saw they pleased him highly, sending for the master and\nmerchants factor to court. He at their own rate bargained with them for\ntheir whole lading, nor would he suffer them to depart till he had\nfeasted them royally.\n\nNow the fashion of the Moors is not to sit at the table as the custom is\namong us, but to have a rich carpet spread upon the ground, and when the\nmeal or banquet is served in, as well the king himself as the rest sit\nround about cross-legg'd as taylors commonly used to do upon their\nshop-boards, and in that manner our English are set at the king's\nbanquet, but the meal was no sooner served in but swarms of rats and\nmice seized upon the dishes, and snatched away the meat even from the\nking and queen's trenchers: at which the factor being annoyed asked one\nof the nobility (by an interpreter) if they preserved those vermin for\nsport, or if they were noysome, and troublesome unto them: who answered\nhim again, that they were the greatest vexation unto them that could be\npossible, and by reason of their multitudes they could not be destroyed,\nbut the king would willingly give half the revenue of his crown if he\ncould but only clear the court of them, for not only his table but his\nvery bed-chamber swarmed with them, insomuch that he durst not lay him\ndown to rest without a watch about him, to keep them off his pillow: To\nwhom the factor replyed, that they had a strange beast aboard which he\nmade no doubt would rid them of those vermine: which being told the king\nhe rose from his place and imbracing the factor told him if he could\nshew him such a creature he would ballast his vessel with silver and\nlade her with gold and pearl. Who apprehending the occasion made very\ncoy of the business, telling him it was a creature of great value and\nnot common. Besides they could not spare her from the ship, in regard\nwhen they were asleep yet she was still waking in the night, not only to\npreserve their merchandise but there dyet from the like spoyl. The more\ndainty that he made of the matter the more earnest was the king for this\nbeast, insomuch that he was presently sent for.\n\nAnd a second feast being prepared and the rats and mice appearing as\nthey did before, the young merchant having the cat under his cloak the\nking desired to see the thing which he had before so much commended;\nwhen presently he discovered her, and cast her among them; she no sooner\nsaw these vermine but fell upon them with such a fury that here lay one\npanting, there another quite dead; nor left them till she had frighted\nand disperst the whole number, but such as she seized their carkasses\nlay there as witnesses of their unexpected slaughter.\n\nGreat pleasure took the king and the nobility in the sport, vowing that\nthe hunting of the lyon (of which there was plenty in that country) was\nnot answerable unto it. In the interim one began to praise her for her\ncolour, another commending her for her valour, one said she had the\ncountenance of a lyon, and every one gave his sentence. When the poor\ncat finding no more work for her to do, went round to the King and Queen\npurling and curling (as their manner is), which they apprehended to be,\nas if she inquired of them what she had deserved for that late service.\n\nTo cut off circumstance, no price could part them, and the rather when\nthe factor had told the king that she was with kittens, and that her\nbrood would in some few years, being carefully lookt into, furnish the\nwhole kingdom, so that Whittingtons cats adventure only surmounted all\nthe ships lading beside, with which fortune and unexpected gain we bring\nthem safe into England; the ship lying at anchor near Blackwal, and the\nPilot and Cape-merchant, with some other officers in the ship at Mr.\nFitzwarrens house, which was by Leaden-Hall, to give accompt of their\nvoyage. But these caskets of jewels and pearls, with other unvaluable\n(_sic_) riches which were given for the cat, they caused to be brought\nalong, not daring, by reason of their inestimable value, to trust them\nin the ship. The Bills of lading and the benefit of the return of the\nCommodities being viewed and considered of by the owner, he praised God\nfor so prosperous a voyage, and called all his servants and gave order\nthat according to their adventures every one should receive his portion.\n\nAt length casting his eye upon those rich caskets and cabinets, he asked\nto whose share they belonged; who whispered him in the ear, and told\nhim to his poor Whittington, relating every particular as is before\ndiscoursed. To whom Master Fitzwarren replyed, if they then be his, God\nforbid I should keep from him the least farthing that is his right, and\npresently commanded Whittington to be sent for by the name of Mr.\nWhittington.\n\nThe servants not knowing anything of the business, went unto him into\nthe kitchin, where he was then rubbing the spits, scouring the kettles,\nand making clean the dressers, and told him he must come to his Master\npresently into the parlor. The poor man excused himself, that his shooes\nwere dirty and the room was rubb'd, and if he should but touch any thing\nthere he should spoyl and deface those things in the room. But still the\nmaster of the House called for Master Whittington, sending one servant\nafter another till he was brought before him; and having scraped some\nfew legs, instantly his master took him by the hand, and called for a\nchair for Master Whittington, his daughter, the pilot, and the factor,\nevery one of them saluted him by the name of Mr. Whittington and forced\nhim to sit down. He wondering what this should mean desired them not to\nmock a poor simple man who meant none any harm, &c. and wept (the tears\ndropping from his eyes), desiring them not to deride his poverty, for\nhis ambition was never to come so high as from the kitchin to the hall\nmuch more from the hall to the parlor.\n\nThen came his master to him seriously and said, Indeed Mr. Whittington,\nwe are all in very good earnest, for you are at this time a better man\nthan myself in estate, and then shewed him all those cabinets and\ncaskets, and how richly they were lined.\n\nWhen he perceived by all their earnest asservations that all was true he\nfirst fell down upon his knees and gave God most hearty thanks, who out\nof his great bounty would vouchsafe to cast an eye upon so poor and\nwretched a creature as himself; then turning to his master he presented\nall his riches before him and told him that all he had was at his\ndisposing and service, who answered him again, that for his own part God\nhad sent him sufficient of his own, neither would he take from him the\nvalue of one Barbary ducket. He came nere and with a low leg saluted his\nmistris, and told her that when she pleased to make choice of a husband\nhe would make her the richest marriage in London, because she was so\nwilling out of her own purse (when he was altogether penniless) to lay\nout for his adventure. To the pilot, and master, and every officer, and\ncommon saylor he gave liberal according to their degree, even to the\nship boy, and then to every servant of the house, nay to the very\nkitchin wench who was so churlish unto him, and had so often basted him\ninstead of her roast meats; having caused her to be called unto him he\ngave her an hundred pounds towards her marriage.\n\nThis being done, taylors were sent for, sempsters and the like to put\nhim into cloaths and linnen of the best, who were to accommodate him\nwith all speed possible, and his lodging in the garret was chang'd into\nthe best chamber of the house. And when the barber had been with him and\nthe rest to make him compleat in his habit, there was a strange and\nsudden metamorphosis; for out of a smoky and dirty kitchin-drudge there\nappeared a proper and well-proportioned man, and gentile merchant, in so\nmuch that his young mistris began to cast a more amorous eye upon him\nthan before, which not a little pleased Master Fitzwarren her father,\nwho intended a match betwixt them.\n\nThe brute of this great adventure was presently revised through the\nwhole city, insomuch that his master intreated his late servant to walk\nwith him into the Exchange to see the fashion of the merchants, which he\ndid, when all of them came about him and saluted him, some bid God give\nhim joy of his fortune, others desired of him better and further\nacquaintance, and every one as his several fancy led him: some commended\nhim for his person, others for his modest answers and discreet carriage.\nIndeed, wealth is able to make all these good where they are most\nwanting, which was not in him as appears by the sequel.\n\nWithin few weeks the match was propounded betwixt Master Whittington\nand Mistris Alice, and willingly entertained by both parties and not\nwithout great cost, with the invitation of the Lord Mayor and the\nAldermen very nobly celebrated, and the bridegroom by this means had got\nacquaintances with the best.\n\nAfter this his father-in-law demanded of his son what he purposed to\ntake in hand (his freedom being offered him). Who made answer again that\nsince God had so blest him in his small adventure he would not leave it\nof so, but prove his goodness in a greater, and that his purpose was to\nturn merchant, which reply gave him no small content in regard he knew\nthe best among them would be glad to have the society of so hopeful a\ncitizen, which he continued adventuring in divers bottoms with his\nfather, and had very happy and prosperous returns.\n\nThe time being come when he was prickt for Sheriff he modestly refused\nit as unable to take so great a charge, and would willingly have paid\nhis fine, which his father-in-law would not suffer, at whose persuasion\nhe took the place upon him, in which he so well behaved himself in the\nmanagement of all affairs belonging to his office that he not only left\nit without the least taxation, but with a general love and approbation,\ninsomuch that the universal eye of the whole city was fixt upon him in\nan hopeful expectation what a profitable member of that united body he\nmight futurely prove, and this hapned in the year of our Lord 1493, Sir\nJohn Hodley grocer being mayor and Drewerie Barentine his fellow\nSheriff, of the truth of which Mr. Fabian in his _Chronicle_ and Mr.\nJohn Stow in his _Survey of London_ can fully satisfie you.\n\nIn the year 1497 and the one and twentieth of the same Kings reign, Sir\nRichard Whittington was Lord Mayor of London, John Woodcok and William\nAskam being Sheriffs, and he held the place with great reputation and\nhonour. In which time of his Mayoralty there was much discontent in the\nkingdom, by reason of many differences betwixt the King and the Commons;\nthe circumstances whereof were here too long to relate, only one thing\nis worthy of observation that whether by his adventures or no may it be\nquestioned, bringing in yearly such store of gold, silks, sattins,\nvelvets, damasks, stones, and jewels, &c. into the kingdom might be the\ncause of that great pride and rioting in apparel which was used in those\ndays. But as Harding, Fabian, and others have left to me how in that\nyear of his Mayoralty and after there resorted to the Kings Court at\ntheir pleasures daily, at the least ten thousand persons. In his kitchin\nwere three hundred servitors, and in every office according to that\nrate. Moreover of ladies, chambermaids, and laundresses about three\nhundred, and they all exceeded in gorgeous and costly apparel far above\ntheir degrees; for even the yeomen and grooms were clothed in silks and\nvelvets, damasks, and the like, with imbroydery, rich furs, and\ngoldsmiths work, devising very strange and new fashions.\n\nAnd in this year also, about the feast of St. Bartholomew, grew a great\ndiscord betwixt the Duke of Hereford and Mowbery, Duke of Norfolk, the\nbeginning thereof being as followeth: The two Dukes riding from the\nParliament towards their lodgings, the Duke of Norfolk said to the\nother, Sir, you see how variable the King is in his words, and\n(reflecting upon what had past) how without mercy he putteth his Lords\nand kinsfolks to death, imprisoning some and exciting others. Therefore\nit behoveth us not too much to trust to his fair and smooth language,\nfor doubtless in time he will bring even to us the like death and\ndestruction. Of which words he accused him to the King, which the other\ndenying it was to be tryed by combate. The lists were appointed and the\nday of meeting the eleventh day of September, to which place and on the\nday assigned came both the Dukes and bravely accoutred, appeared before\nthe King ready to enter into battel; when the King threw down his\nwarder, and staying the combate banished the Duke of Hereford for ten\nyears, but the Duke of Norfolk for ever, was travelling many countries,\nat the last came to Venice and then ended his life.\n\nAgain in 1406, and in the eighth of Henry the fourth, Sir Richard\nWhittington was the second time Lord Mayor, Nicholas Worton and Geffery\nBrook being Sheriffs. Again in the year 1409, being the seventh year of\nHenry the fifth, he supplyed the Pretorship, Robert Whittington (his\nnear Kinsman) and John Butler being Sheriffs, and which is more\nremarkable of him then of any other that ever preceded him in that place\nof honour, he was once Sheriff and three times Lord Mayor of this famous\nand honourable City in three several Kings reigns.\n\nNow to cut off all circumstances and come close to the matter, we may\neasily find what this man was, by the pious and religious acts done in\nhis life to the Cities present grace, use and benefit, and to his own\nblessed memory for ever.\n\nIn the Vintry-ward he built a church and dedicated it to S. Michael\ncalling it Pater Noster in the Royal, and added to it a Colledge founded\nto St. Mary, and placed therein a President and four fellows which ought\nto be masters of arts, besides other yearly allowance to clerks and\nyoung schollars, near which he erected an Hospital which he called God's\nhouse, for thirteen poor men, and there according to the devout\nsuperstition of those days were to pray for the souls of his\nfather-in-law Hugh Fitzwarren and Dame Molde his wife, for whom he\nerected a fair tomb in the church he before built, leaving also a place\nfor himself and Dame Alice his lady when it should please God to call\nthem. In which place they were afterwards both of them according to\ntheir degree very honourably interred, great mourning and much\nlamentation being made for him by the Commons of the City in regard he\nwas a man so remarkable for his charity.\n\nHe builded another brave structure which he called after his own name\nWhittington Colledge, with a perpetual allowance for Divinity Lectures\nto be read there for ever, leaving good land for the maintenance\nthereof.\n\nAnd on the west side of the City he built that famous gate and prison to\nthis day called Newgate, and thereupon caused the Merchants arms to be\ngraven in stone. He added to St. Bartholomew's Hospital in Smithfield\nand was at the charge of repairing thereof.\n\nFurther at the Grey-Fryars in London he erected a Library as a testimony\nof the great love he had to Learning, which he began in the year of our\nLord 1421 and finished it in the year following. Moreover that place\nwhich is called the Stocks to this day, betwixt Cheapside and Cornhill,\na good house of stone, which for a flesh market and a fish market\ngreatly beneficial to the City.\n\nBesides he enlarged Guild Hall and glazed most or all of the windows at\nhis own costs or charges, paving the Hall and contributing largely to\nthe Library, adding to those places a conduit which yieldeth store of\nsweet and wholesome water to the general good and benefit of the City.\n\nIn the year 1497, when Sir Richard Whittington was first elected Lord\nMayor, that rebel Sir John Oldcastle was taken in the territories of the\nLord Powess, not without danger and hurt of some that took him, at which\ntime all the States of the realm were assembled at Parliament in\nLondon, therein to provide the King of a subsidy and other aid of money\nand ammunition, who took great pains beyond the seas in France. These\nLords and others when they heard that the publick enemy was taken they\nagreed all not to dissolve the Parliament, until he were examined, and\nheard to answer in the same. Whereupon the Lord Powess was sent for to\nfetch him up with power and great aid, who brought him to London in a\nlyter wounded very much having received seventeen wounds and also a\nclerk which he called his Secretary with him that was of his counsel in\nall his secrecy. As soon as the aforesaid Sir John Oldcastle was brought\ninto the Parliament before the Earl of Bedford who was then left Regent\nand Governour of the Realm in the time of the King's absence being in\nFrance and other Lords and States, his indictment being read before him\nof his forcible insurrection against the King and State in St. Gyles's\nFields, and other treasons and outrages by him committed, the question\nwas asked how he could excuse himself and show why he should not be\njudged to dye according to the law. But he seeking other talk and\ndiscourse of the mercies of God, and that all mortal men that would be\nfollowers of God ought to prefer mercy above judgment and that vengeance\npertained only to the Lord, and ought not to be practised by them that\nworship, but to be left to God alone, with many other words to protract\nthe time, until the Lord Chief Justice admonished the Regent not to\nsuffer him to spend the time so vainly, in molesting the nobles of the\nRealm, whereupon the Duke of Bedford, Regent, commanded him to answer\nformally and punctually to the matter laid to his charge.\n\nThen said Sir John, being thus urged at last after deliberation taken,\nhe said, It is the least thing that I account of to be judged by you as\nof man's judgment, and again he began to talk, but nothing to the\npurpose until the Chief Justice commanded him again to answer finally,\nand to answer them if he could, why he should not suffer death according\nto his desert. To which he stoutly answered that he had no judge amongst\nthem, so long as his liege Lord King Richard was alive and in his realm\nof Scotland, which answer when he had made, because there needed no\nfurther witness, he was then presently censured to be drawn and hanged\non a gallows and then to be burnt hanging upon the same, which judgment\nwas executed upon him the thirtieth day of December in St. Gyles's\nFields, where many honourable persons were present, and the last words\nthat he spake were to Sir Thomas Upingham, adjuring him that if he saw\nhim rise from death to life again the third day he would procure that\nhis sect which he had raised might be in peace and quiet. He was hanged\nby the neck in a chain of iron and after consumed by fire.\n\nMoreover it is recorded that in the time of this worthy pretor Sir\nRichard Whittington the glorious city of Constantinople was taken by\nMahomet the Second, Prince of the Turks, whose souldiers sacked it with\nall extremity and omitted no manners of cruelty by violence to either\nvirgins, aged women, or sucking babes. This Sir Richard Whittington had\ntraffick from thence by his factors which there abode, and were then\ntaken prisoners, so that he lost near upon fifteen thousand pounds,\nwhich when he heard of never was so much as cast down or dismayed, but\nsaid God will send more; yea such was the incessant practice of the\nTurkish tyranny upon this imperial city, as it exceeded the damage,\nrapes and spoyls of other cities. They also beheaded at the same time\nConstantine, sticking his head upon a launce, and with derision caused\nit to be carried thorow the Turkish camp.\n\nIn the space of a week after, there hapned a horrible tempest of thunder\nand lightning which burned almost eight hundred houses and spoiled three\nthousand people at the sacking of the aforesaid city by the said\nMahomet. The Turks found therein so much treasure that they wondred that\nthe citizens would not spend it in souldiers for their own defence, but\nso dotingly to spare the true spending thereof to become an enticing\nprey for their irreconcileable enemies, for indeed it was thought that\nif the State would have hired souldiers, and given them good pay they\nmight have raised the siege of the Turks. It is an old and true saying,\nCovetousness is the mother of ruine and mischief.\n\nThis strange thing happened in the second time that he was elected Lord\nMayor and that was upon the twenty-seventh of April, being Tuesday in\nEaster week: William Foxley, Pot maker for the Mint in the Tower of\nLondon, fell asleep, and so continued sleeping and snoring and could not\nbe wakened with pricking, cramping, or otherwise burning or whatsoever\ntill the first day of the term, which was full 14 days and 15 nights.\nThe cause of this his sleeping could not be known though the same was\ndiligently searched for by the King's Command of his Physicians and\nother learned men, yea the King himself examined the said William\nFoxley, who was in all points sound at his awaking to be as if he had\nslept but one night, and yet lived 41 years after. But in length of time\ndid call to mind how he did wish to God that he might sleep a fortnight\ntogether if it was not so and so concerning a bargain between a\nneighbour of his and himself.\n\nOne Thursday in Whitson week following the Duke of Somerset with Anthony\nRivers and four others kept Justs and Tournament before the King and\nQueen and others of the nobility in the Tower of London, against three\nEsquires of the Queen's Bedchamber, which were performed before some of\nthe French nobility that then were Prisoners to the King, which he took\nin France, to the great admiration of those strangers who never saw the\nlike action before, being so earnestly performed. There was also Sir\nRichard Whittington and the two Sheriff's, and that night the King and\nQueen did sup with the Lord Mayor.\n\nThose strangers which beheld those Justs were prisoners in the Tower at\nthat time, namely, the Duke of Orleance and Burbon, brother to the Duke\nof Britain, the Earls of Vaudosine, of Ewe and Richmond, and the High\nMarshal of France, and many other Knights and Esquires to the number of\nseven hundred, all which were at one time prisoners to the King, but\nnobly used and attended every one according to their rank and quality,\nwho when they were ransomed made it known to their King how honourably\nthey were attended in England, and what respect the King and our English\nnation shewed them being prisoners who might have taken their lives away\nas well as their persons prisoners.\n\nThe second thing that was remarkable in Sir Richard Whittington's year\nwas that the King kept his Christmas at Lambeth, and at the feast of\nPurification seven Dolphins of the sea came up to the River of Thames\nand played there up and down until four of them were kill'd.\n\nOn Saturday the eve of St. Michael the Archangel the year following, in\nthe morning before day, betwixt the hour of one and two of the Clock,\nbegan a terrible earthquake with Lightning and thunder which continued\nthe space of six hours, and that universally through the whole world, so\nthat most men thought the world as then would have ended. The\nunreasonable beasts roared and drew to the town with a hideous noise,\nalso the fowls of the ayr cryed out, such was the work of God at that\ntime to call his people to repentance.\n\nThe four and twentieth day of January following a battel or combat was\nfought in Smithfield within the lists before the King between the men of\nFeversham in Kent, John Upton Notary Appelant and John Down Gentleman\ndefendant. John Upton accused John Down that he and his compiers should\ndesign the King's death on the day of his Coronation following. When\nthey had fought somewhat long and received each of them some wounds, and\nstill persisting in their violent action and no hopes to find out the\ntruth, the King took up the matter and forgave both parties.\n\nOn Candlemas eve following in divers places of England was great\nweathering of wind, hail, snow, rain with thunder and lightning, whereby\nthe church of Baldock in Hertfordshire and the church and part of the\ntown of Walden in Essex, with other neighbouring villages, were sore\nshaken, and the steeple of St. Pauls in London about two in the\nafternoon was set on fire in the midst of the shaft first on the west\nside and then on the south, and divers people espying the fire came to\nquench it in the steeple, which they did with vinegar, so far as they\ncould find, so that when the Lord Mayor with much people came to Pauls\nto have holpen if need had been they returned again every man to his own\nhome, trusting in God all had been well, but anon after between eight\nand nine of the clock the fire burst out again afresh out of the\nsteeple, by reason of the wind more hot and fervent then before, and did\nmuch hurt to the lead and timber thereof. Then the Lord Mayor and many\npeople came thither again and with vinegar quenched the fire which was\nso violent, but no man received any hurt.\n\nMoreover in Sir Richard Whittington's time lived one Richard Fleming,\nBishop of Lincoln, in the year 1430 who founded Lincoln Colledge in\nOxford, which was afterwards in Richard the third's time in the year of\nour Lord 1479 by Thomas Rotherham Bishop of the same sea (_sic_) much\naugmented and enlarged with great revenues. Likewise Magdalen Colledge\nin Oxford was built by William Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester, who was a\nloving and constant friend to Sir Richard Whittington and did much good\nin many parts of this kingdom, and the said Sir Richard did largely\ncontribute to these and the like pious uses by the intreaty of this\nBishop.\n\nIn the year of our Lord 1419, in which Sir Richard Whittington was the\nthird time inaugurated into the Mayoralty as is before mentioned King\nHenry the fifth, who having conquered the greatest part of France and\nespoused Katherine sole daughter to the King and heir to the crown,\ntaking leave of his father-in-law, embarked with his Royal bride and\nlanded at Dover upon Candlemas Day, leaving in France for his deputy his\nbrother the Duke of Clarence, from thence arrived in London the\nfourteenth day of February, and the Queen came thither the one and\ntwentieth day of the same month, being met upon Black-Heath by the Lord\nMayor and three hundred aldermen and prime citizens in gold chains and\nrich costly habits with other sumptuous and brave devices as pageants,\nspeeches and shows to the great delight and content of both their\nMaiesties.\n\nThe four and twentieth day of February following being St. Mathew's Day\nher coronation was solemnized in St. Peter's Church in Westminster;\nwhich being ended, she was afterwards royally conveyed into the great\nhall and there under a rich canopy of State sat to dinner, upon whose\nright hand sate at the end of the table the Lord Archbishop's grace of\nCanterbury and Henry called the rich Cardinal Bishop of Winchester, upon\nthe left hand of the Queen sat the King of Scots in a chair of State,\nand was served with covered dishes, as the Bishops were. But after them\nand upon the same side next to the Boards end were seated the Dutchess\nof York and Countess of Huntington, the Earl of March holding a scepter\nin his hand, kneeling upon the right side, the Earl Marshal in the like\nmanner kneeled upon the left hand of the Queen: the Countess of Kent sat\nunder the table at the right foot, and the Countess Marshal at the left\nfoot of her Majesty.\n\nHumphery Duke of Glocester was that day overseer and stood before the\nQueen bareheaded, Sir Richard Newel was carver and the Earl of Suffolk's\nbrother cup-bearer, Sir John Stewart, Sewer, the Lord Clifford (instead\nof the Earl of Warwick) Pantler, the Lord Willoby (instead of the Earl\nof Arundel) chief Butler, the Lord Gray Caterer, Naperer, the Lord\nAudley (in the stead of the Earl of Cambridge) Almner, the Earl of\nWorcester was Lord high Marshal, who rode about the Hall on a great\ncourser, with many tip-staves about him to make room in the Hall. In the\nwhich Hall next after the Queen, the Barons of the Cinque Ports began\nthe table, upon the right hand towards St. Steven's Capel (_sic_), and\nbeneath them at the table sat the Vouchers of the Chancery, and upon the\nleft hand next to the cupboard sat Sir Richard Whittington (now the\nthird time Lord Mayor) and his brethren the Aldermen of London. The rest\nof the Bishops began the table over against the Baron of the Cinque\nPorts, and the ladies and chief noble-women the table against the Lord\nMayor and the Aldermen, at which two tables of the Bishops the Bishop of\nLondon and the Bishop of Durham sat highest at the one and the Countess\nof Stafford and the Countess of March on the other. And for ordering of\nthe service divers chief lords were appointed officers as Steward,\nControuler, Surveyor, and the like, which places were supplyed by the\nEarls of Northumberland and Westmorland, the Lord Fizmur, the Lord\nFarneval, the Lord Gray of Wilton, the Lord Feres of Groby, the Lord\nPoynings, the Lord Harrington, the Lord Ducy, the Lord Daker, the Lord\nDelaware, &c.\n\nI have shewed you onely the ordering of this rich feast, but the cost\nand sumptuousness of the fare would ask too long and large a\ncircumstance to discourse; what I have hitherto done was onely to show\nto the world that at those high solemnities inaugurations and\ncoronations the Lord Mayor of the City of London and the Aldermen have\nplace, and their presence is still required; the City being the King's\nChamber and in an interregnum he the first and prime officer in the\nkingdom. But I fear I have dwelt too long on the premises which I hope\nnone will hold for an unnecessary deviation. I come now to discourse\nunto you of Sir Richard Whittington's invitation of the King and Queen\ninto the City when he bountifully feasted them in his own house at his\nown proper charge.\n\nHow great and magnificent the Londoners feasts be even amongst\nthemselves especially at that high and pompous festival at Guild-Hall\nthe day after Simon and Jude, at the solemn inauguration of his Lordship\nwho but knows, as also the ordinary Tables of the Lord Mayor and the\nSheriffs where there is free and generous entertainment for all men of\nfashion and quality, the like both for plenty of dishes and order of\nservice is not elsewhere to be or found through Europe. If then their\ndaily provision be so curious and costly, what may we think their\nvariety and rarity was at the invitation and entertainment of two such\ngreat majesties? I must therefore leave it to the Readers imagination\nbeing so far transcending my expression. Let it therefore give\nsatisfaction to any one that shall doubt thereof, that it was performed\nto the everlasting reputation of the honour of the city and great\ncontent of these royal personages invited. The bounty of the table not\nto be question'd. I come now to the fire that he made in the Presence\nchamber where the King and Queen then dined, which was only of sweet and\nodoriferious (_sic_) wood, far exceeding the smell of juniper, for it\nwas mixed with mace, cinnamon, and other rare and costly spices, which\ndid cast such a pleasant and delightful savor through the room that it\npleased his majesty to call him unto him and say, my good Lord Mayor,\nthough your fare be choice, costly and abundant, yet above all things I\nhave observed in your noble entertainment this fire which you have\nprovided for me gives me more content. To whom Sir Richard Whittington\nmaking a low obeysance made answer, It much rejoyceth me dread Soveraign\nthat any that remaineth in my power can give your highness the least\ncause to be pleased, but since you praise this fire already made I\npurpose ere your sacred majesty depart the house to entertain you with\none (I hope) that shall content you much better. The King not thinking\nit could be possible desired him to make a proof thereof, when he\n(having before provided himself for that purpose) brought a great bundle\nof Bonds, Indentures and Covenants under his arm, said thus to the King,\nRoyal Soveraign to whom I owe both my fortunes and my life, I have here\na faggot of purpose left for this fire, which I hope will smell much\nmore sweetly than the first in your nostrils, for saith he, here is\nfirst your Highness security for ten thousand marks, lent you for the\nmaintainance of your royal wars in France, by the Right Worshipful\nCompany of the Mercers, which I here cancel and cast into the fire,\nfifteen hundred lent by the City to our Majesty I send after the former,\ntwo thousand marks borrowed of the Grocers Company, three thousand of\nthe Merchant Taylors, one thousand of the Drapers, one thousand of the\nSkinners, one thousand of the Ironmongers, one thousand of the Merchant\nStaplers, of the Goldsmiths three thousand, of the Haberdashers as much,\nof the Vintners, Brewers and Brown Bakers three thousand marks. All\nthese you see are cancel'd and burnt, saith he, with divers other bonds\nfor money lent by my father in law Aldermen Fitzwarren for the payment\nof your souldiers in France, which coming unto me by executorship I have\ntaken in and discharged.\n\nOthers there likewise due to me of no small sums by divers of your\nnobility here present, all which with the former I have sacrificed to\nthe love and honour of my dread sovereign, amounting to the sum of three\nscore thousand pounds sterling, and can your Majesty (saith he) desire\nto sit by a fire of more sweet scent and savour? At this the King was\nmuch extasi'd and the rather because it came unexpectedly and from so\nfree a spirit, and embracing him in his arms said unto him that he\nthought never King had such a subject, and at his departure did him all\nthe grace and honour that could descend from a King to a subject,\npromising him moreover that he should ever stand in the first rank of\nthose whom he favoured. And so the Lord Mayor bearing the sword before\ntheir two most sacred Majesties as far as Temple Bar the King for his\nformer service and his most kind and loving entertainment at that time,\nand the noble men for that extraordinary courtesie offered them all\nunitely (_sic_) and unanimously commended his goodness, applauded his\nbounty and wished that he might live to perpetual memory and so bid both\nhim and the City for that time adieu.\n\nTo omit all other circumstances having acquainted you with the poor and\nmean estate of this Sir Richard Whittington when he came first into the\nCity of London, and by what means he was relieved in his miserable\npoverty, as also the fortunate success of his small adventure whereby he\nwas raised unto so great honour, that he became the Cities Governour,\nand how discreetly and wisely he behaved in his authority and office,\ngaining thereby the love and probation (_sic_) of all men. And further\nhaving shewed you what goodly buildings have been raised by his great\ncost and charge, as one church, two colledges, and certain almshouses,\nwith yearly means left for the maintenance of all such as shall be\nadmitted into them, and many other charitable acts performed by him\nwhich are before related, to the great good and benefit of the City, and\nwhat things of note happened in his time, I will now conclude with\nMaster Stow, O that London had a Park near adjoining to it, stored with\nsuch Deer (as doubtless it hath, though not easily known) for some build\nAlms houses, free schools, causies and Bridges in needful and necessary\nplaces, others repair ruinated and decayed churches, relieving Hospitals\nin a bountiful manner, and are weekly benefactors to Prisons and those\nperformed by such agents faithfully, that the true bestowers are not\npublicly noted, howsoever they may be easily supposed. But the glory\nthey seek to invade here will (no doubt) for ever shine on them\nelsewhere. And that great God who hath created us, and plentifully\ndistributed in his great bounty all things to men, and yet not given all\nthings to any one man, lest it might take away that necessary commerce\nand mutual society which ought to be amongst us, stir up the minds of\nmore of them to imitate at least, though not to exceed them in their\nbounty and liberality.\n\n\nFINIS.","title":"The History of Sir Richard Whittington","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":19229}