At the Conduit of Cornhill there was a tabernacle in which sat a King in royal apparel: with him the Lady of Mercy, the Lady of Truth, and the Lady of Cleanness, “hem embracing with Reson.” Before the King two Judges of great worthiness with eight serjeants-at-law with this scripture— “Honowre of kyngys in every mannys syght Of comyn curtosie, lovythe, equyte, and ryghte.” At the Great Conduit there was a royal sight like unto Paradise. There were virgins drawing water and wine of joy and of pleasure and comfort, the which are to every man’s comfort and health. These maidens were named Mercy, Grace, and Pity. In this Paradise stood two old men “like heveynly folk.” They were named Enoch and Eli, and they saluted the King with words of grace and virtue. “And soo rode he forthe unto the Crosse in Cheppe. There stood a royalle castelle of jasper grene, and there yn ij grene treys stondyng uppe ryght, showyng the ryght tytyllys of the Kyng of Inglond and of Fraunce, convaying from Synt Edwarde and Synt Lowys be kyngys unto the tyme of Kyng Harry the vj every kyng stondynge whythe hys cote armowre, sum lyberdys, and sum flourdelysse; and on that othyr syde was made the Jesse of owre Lorde ascendyng uppewards from Davyd unto Jesu. And so rode he forthe unto the Lytylle Condyte. And there was a ryalle mageste of the Trynyte, fulle of angelys syngyng hevynly songys, blessynge ande halowynge the kyngys whythe thes resonys in Latyn wrytyn; _Angelis suis mandavit de te ut custodiant te_, etc. _Longitudinem dierum replebo in eum et ostendam illi salutare meum._ And thenne vente he forthe unto Poulys, and there he was ressayvyd whythe bysvhoppys and prelatys whythe dene and the quere, and whythe devoute songe, as hyt longythe to a kynge. Ande so he offerryd there and thankyd God of hys goode speede and of hys welfare. And thenne he rode to Westemyster, and there he restyd hym: and on the nexte day followynge the mayre and the aldyrmen whythe a certayne comeners that were worthy men, and they presentyde the kynge whythe an hampyr of sylvyr and gylte, whythe a M l. there yn of nobellys, etc.” The next great Riding was the reception of Margaret of Anjou when she came over to be married in the year 1445, when the same “properties,” castle, tower, and other devices, were brought out to greet her. The disastrous wars in France, the lavish expenditure which produced nothing but defeat, the unsettled condition of the Low Countries with which the greatest part of the London foreign trade had been carried on, a succession of bad harvests, with other causes, affected the prosperity of the City as well as smaller towns very sensibly. When the Parliament of 1433 voted a fifteenth and a tenth it assigned £4000 to the relief of poor towns. Of this sum £76: 15: 6-1/4 was assigned to eighteen wards of London.