ROYAL EXCHANGE. 



prejudices of her time, deserves the 

 grateful remembrance of her countrymen 

 for many wise and extremely beneficial 

 acts, equally contributing- to increase the 

 political and commercial prosperity of 

 England. 



The word Exchange is certainly impro- 

 perly applied to a building in which the 

 act of exchanging or bartering takes 

 place ; but we are not the only people 

 who thus misuse the appellation, as many 

 towns on the Continent have their Places 

 de Change. We know nothing more of 

 the Bourse (synonimous with Exchange) 

 frequented by the merchants of London 

 before the reign of Elizabeth, except that 

 it was situated in Lombard Street. It is, 

 however, reasonable to suppose, that it 

 was too inconsiderable in its extent, or 

 had become ruinous by that period, as 

 Sir Thomas G re sham then entertained 

 thoughts of exerting his influence to ren- 

 der his fellow-citizens an essential ser- 

 vice, and at the same time improve his 

 own property. 



It is singular, that a people celebrated 

 for their commercial enterprize from the 

 very foundation of their metropolis, 

 should have proceeded through many 

 centuries, contented with transacting 

 their business at casual and uncertain 

 meetings, when it seems so obvious to 

 their posterity that a rallying 1 point is ab- 

 solutely necessary, where a trailer may, at 

 a fixed and certain hour, see and converse 

 with those connected with him in com- 

 merce, and meet with purchasers for his 

 commodities. 



There cannot exist a doubt, that num- 

 bers of the citizens of London felt the ne- 

 cessity for an established and convenient 

 Exchange, which may be supposed from 

 the faint attempt made in Lombard Street, 

 and which might have suggested the plan 

 afterwards executed by Gresham, whose 

 very extensive concerns made him more 

 particularly sensible of the deficiencies of 

 London in this instance. The circum- 

 stances attending the founding of the ori- 

 ginal Exchange on the present scite, has 

 contributed to convey all the honour of 

 the undertaking to Sir Thomas, when, in 

 truth, he was only an active partner in 

 that honour ; as it is an indisputable fact, 

 that the Corporation of London purchas- 

 ed, at the expense of the city, not less 

 than eighty houses, and the ground on 

 which they stood, for the sum of four 

 thousand pounds : these they ordered to 

 be taken down, and the earth prepared 

 for building a magnificent structure. 



It will be perceived from this state- 



ment, that the collective body of the citi- 

 zens was by no means deficient in their 

 wishes to second the views of Gresham, 

 who engaged to erect the Exchange at 

 his own expense, and the parties were 

 mutually to enter into conveyances of 

 the ground and building to each other, 

 that their descendants and successors 

 might for ever possess a joint and equal 

 property in the subsequent profits of the 

 concern. This covenant was faithfully 

 complied with by the Corporation, but 

 Sir Thomas neglected to execute his part 

 of it. Hence, it must be admitted, that 

 the latter has no claim to the exclusive 

 gratitude of the natives of London ; on. 

 the contrary, it is very evident, the patri- 

 otism of the act should be divided be- 

 t\veen the then Lord Mayor, Alderman, 

 and Council, and Gresham ; with this ad- 

 mission in his favour, that it is more than 

 probable the Corporation would never 

 of themselves have conferred an Ex- 

 change on the city they governed. 



Sir Thomas laid the first stone of the 

 edifice on the seventh day of June, 1566, 

 which' was completed with brick, and so 

 contrived as to render the reimbursement 

 of his expenses as certain as human fore- 

 sight would permit. This he supposed 

 might be accomplished by the fines and 

 rents accruing from a very considerable 

 number of vaults and shops which inclos- 

 ed the area intended for the ostensible 

 purposes of the building. The novelty 

 of this arrangement operated greatly in 

 his favour, and the shops let rapidly /but. 

 the vaults, as our ancient writers term 

 them, being partly under ground, and 

 consequently equally dark and damp, 

 were but partially occupied. Sensible of 

 his mistake, and determined to retrieve it 

 if possible, he resolved that his future te- 

 nants should take the vaults with the 

 shops at eight marks per annum ; and 

 they proceeded thus for some time, till at 

 length it was fully ascertained the public 

 would not be compelled to descend to 

 purchase commodities in the dark. The 

 tenants, therefore, unanimously resolved 

 to offer him four pounds per annum foi 

 the shop only, resigning all claims to the 

 vaults. This the knight immediately ac- 

 cepted, and let them to merchants for the 

 reception of packages, and large quanti- 

 ties of pepper, which article is still depo- 

 sited in those of the present building. 



While the projector of the Exchange 

 employed every engine to increase his pro- 

 fits on its erection, neither himself nor his 

 colleagues were inattentive to its original 

 purpose ; and they considered, that 



