REAL STORY OF WHITTINGTON

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 293, 8 December 1923, Page 19

REAL STORY OF WHITTINGTON

BLOW FOR KIDDIES. A commemoration service on the 500 th anniversary of the death of Sir Kichard Whittlngton, four times Lord Mayor of London, took place at the Church of St. Michael Paternoster. In London, recently. The Deputy Lord Mayor of London and the Sheriffs attended in all the glory of their official gold braid, fur, and fine cloth, with mace-bearers and attendants. The celebration was impressive enough to aid tbe imagination to span the centuries and regard the famous "Dick" as a j very practical, pious, and noble citizen rather than a fairy-story hero. Sir Richard lies burled, together with Dame Alice, bis wife, on the south side of the holy table of the church. A prayer was offered by the Rector for "all flesh who have departed this life, especially Thy servant, Richard Whittlngton." Sir Richard requested In his will the prayers of his successors. Then there was a solemn candle-lighted procession, ''ordered according to the dignity and ceremonial of the Church, very familiar to the godly knight. Sir Richard Whittlngton, when he worshipped on this spot." Sir Charles C. Wakefield, an ex-Lord Mayor, gave an address, wherein was a wealth of information about Sir Richard. Richard, the great civic exemplar, was not. he said, a poor lad as legend stated. He was the son of a worthy landowning knight, and his mother belonged to a good Devonshire family. The important thing about Whittington was not his wealth snd good fortune, but how he used it.