passers-by. His associates were rough and coarse, and his pleasures must have been of the rude sort, which characterized the apprentice life of the time.

The kings of that period differed in no way from the kings of all other times in their chronic shortage of money, and the hard-headed merchants of London were only willing to supply the deficiency on terms not entirely adverse to themselves. Whenever a king needed money he came to the men who were making it and in return surrendered one after another of his rights. Thus the many unique and special privileges which are possessed by the City of London were all bought with hard cash.

Edward III.'s long reign ended in glooms, plague and pestilence, and the people grew restless and discontented. When news of his death reached the City, a deputation, headed by John Philpot, one of the wealthiest merchants, and including large numbers of the Grocers' Company, waited on the successor, young Richard II., at Kennington. After the usual courtly language, they added: "And, furthermore, we beseech you, most noble Prince, that you would vouchsafe to make some good and profitable end of the discord which lately hath arisen, through the malice of some and not the commodity of any, but to the hindrance and discommodity of many, between our citizens and the Duke of Lancaster."

Parliament, taught perhaps by experience, assumed that the new king would make a bad use of any money given him, and had now become strong enough to exercise some control. Therefore, in granting him a subsidy, it wisely stipulated that the money should be placed for safe keeping in the charge of trustworthy officers, and named John Philpot and a William Walworth as such. This, historians tell us, was the origin of the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer.

William Walworth was a prominent fishmonger and the chief promoter of the Fishmongers' Company, and he and Philpot were the foremost City men during Whittington's

younger merchant years. He, no doubt, learnt much from them, and especially from Philpot, who, we are told by Stow, was "a man of jolly wit and very rich in substance." He had also his full share of initiative and strength of purpose. It was during one of Philpot's terms as Lord Mayor that a merchant of Perth collected a little fleet of Scottish, French and Spanish ships and captured several English merchantmen off Scarborough. He slew their commanders, put their crews in chains, and appropriated the cargoes. No one whose real duty it was seemed to have had enough interest, or energy, or courage to punish this act, but Philpot, with his own money, gathered a few ships, manned them with a thousand armed men, and sailed north. He soon met and defeated the enemy, and in his turn seized fifteen Spanish ships laden with wine which he met on the high seas as he returned to London. On his arrival we read “there was great joy made among the people, all praising the worthy man's bountifulness and love towards his king."

But as might be expected, the weak-kneed peers were jealous of this merchant and condemned his conduct as officious and high handed. They called a meeting of the King's Council, and summoned Mr. Philpot before them.

The Earl of Stafford, who deeply resented this independent action, reproached him the most loudly; but the intrepid old merchant spared neither breath nor words in his reply: "Know, sir," he cried, "that I did not expose myself, my money, and my men to the dangers of the sea, that I might deprive you and your colleagues of your knightly fame, or that I might win any for myself; but in pity for the misery of the people and the country which, from being a noble realm with dominion over other nations, has, through your slothfulness, become exposed to the ravages of the vilest race. Not one of you would lift a hand in her defence. Therefore it was that I gave up myself, and my property,