Henry VI. was crowned in France on the 7th of December 1431 by Cardinal Beaufort his uncle (Bishop of Winchester), and on his return to England he was met at Blackheath by the Mayor and citizens on the 21st of February 1431-1432. The Mayor and aldermen were dressed in scarlet, and the members of the gilds in white, with the cognisances of their crafts on their sleeves. The figure of a mighty giant, with a drawn sword, stood at the entrance of the bridge. When the King had passed the first gate and was arrived at the drawbridge, he found a goodly tower, hung with silk and cloth of arras, out of which suddenly appeared three ladies, clad in gold and silk, with coronets upon their head; of which the first was Dame Nature, the second Dame Grace, and the third Dame Fortune. On each side of these dames were seven virgins, all clothed in white; those on the right presented the King with the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost--sapience, intelligence, good counsel, strength, cunning, pity, and dread of God; those on the left with the seven gifts of grace--the crown of glory, the sceptre of clemency and pity, the sword of might and victory, the mantle of prudence, the shield of faith, the helmet of health, and the girdle of love and perfect peace. On Cornhill was a tabernacle of curious work, in which stood Dame Sapience, and around her the seven liberal arts--Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric, Music, Arithmetic, Geometry, and Astronomy. At the conduit in Cornhill was set a circular pageant, on the summit whereof was a child of wonderful beauty, apparelled like a King, upon whose right hand sat Lady Mercy, on his left Lady Truth, and over them stood Dame Clemency embracing the King's throne. At the conduit in Cheap there were formed several wells--the Well of Mercy, the Well of Grace, and the Well of Pity, and at each a lady standing who administered the water to such as would ask it, and then the water was turned into good wine. A little further west was a tower ornamented with the arms of England and France. By its side stood two green trees, one bearing the genealogy of Saint Edward and the other that of Saint Louis. On entering St. Paul's Churchyard Henry VI. was met by a procession of the dean and canons, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and six bishops, who conducted him to the Cathedral, where he made his oblations. He then took horse at the west door of St. Paul's, and so rode to Westminster, where he was received by the abbot and taken to St. Edward's shrine. His lords then conveyed him to his palace, and the Mayor and citizens returned joyously to London.[113] This was probably the most elaborate and beautiful pageant ever performed in the streets of London.