ROYAL EXCHANGE. 
was completed with brick, and so contrived 
as to render the reimbursement oF his ex- 
penses as certain as human foresight would 
permit. This he supposed might be accom- 
plished by the tines and rents accruing from 
a very considerable number of vaults, and 
shops which inclosed the area intended for 
the ostensible purposes of the building. 
The novelty of this arrangement operated 
greatly in his favour, and the shops let ra- 
pidly ; but the vaults, as our ancient writers 
term them, being partly under grouud, and 
consequently equally dark and damp, were 
but partially occupied. Sensible of his mis- 
take, and determined to retrieve it if possi- 
ble, he resolved that his future tenants 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 as- 
certained the public would not be compel- 
led to descend to purchase commodities in 
the dark. The tenants, tlierefore, unani- 
mously resolved to otFer him four pounds 
per annum for the shop only, resigning all 
claims to the vaults. This the knight im- 
mediately accepted, and let them to mer- 
chants for the reception r-f packages, and 
large quantities of pepper, which article is 
still deposited in those of the present 
building. 
While the projector of the Exchange em- 
ployed every engine to increase his profits 
on its erection, neither himself nor his col- 
leagues were inattentive to its original pur- 
pose ; and they considered, that though it 
was impossible the merchants and traders 
of the city, and the foreigners who visited 
it, sliould not perceive tlie advantages it 
otfered them, in the expediting tlieir busi- 
ness, yet that they might be more firmly 
impressed on their minds, he had recourse 
to a stratagem which it was amply in his 
power to apply. 
During the reigns of Edward VI. and 
Queen Mary this enterprizing merchant had 
been employed as their agent in procuring 
loans on the Continent, and had conducted 
himself with so much prudence and suc- 
cess, that Queen Elizabeth entrusted him 
with similar commissions, particularly at 
Antwerp, where he procured her large 
sums. This method of proceeding did not, 
however, accord with the patriotic views of 
our great trader, who contrived to prevail 
upon the sovereign to apply to her own sub- 
jects for assistance, which he more than 
once afforded her himself with much profit- 
able advice on financial matters. The stra- 
tagem alluded to was the prevailing on the 
Queen to go iu solemn procession to the 
new Exchange, and there proclaim it such, 
under the additional sanction of lier royal 
protection and recommendation. Had this 
monarch been less attached to splendid ex- 
hibitions of regal state, the claims of Sir 
Thomas on her gratitude were sufficiently 
powerful to demand a still greater favour. 
It is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that 
she readily consented to perform her part, 
particularly as it was intimately connected 
with the future welfare of her good city of 
London. Accordingly, after due prepara- 
tion, her Majesty departed from Somerset 
House, in the Strand, on the twenty- third 
of January, 1570, attended by the officers 
of her court and a train of nobility, to the 
magnificent residence of Sir Thomas, who, 
at a very great expense, provided a most 
superb entertainment for his royal guest, 
her attendants, and the principal citizens ; 
after which the whole party went to the 
new edifice, where every possible display of 
rich goods was made in the shops, the occu- 
piers of which, delighted with the condescen- 
sion of their Queen, endeavoured to exceed 
each other in gratifying her curiosity, and 
expressing their loyalty and gratitude. The 
moment, at length, arrived for the accom- 
plishment of this well-concerted plan ; and 
Sir Thomas and the citizens had the satis- 
faction of hearing a herald proclaim the 
place a Royal Exchange by the sound of 
trumpet, at the express command of her 
majesty. 
It appeared sufficiently plain after the 
decease of Sir Thomas Gresham, that he 
had not erred in his calculations on the pro- 
bable profits of the Exchange, as it was 
known that his lady received Toll. 5s. per 
annum in rents from it. And this result is 
precisely what a generous citizen would 
wish, that public advantage should be at- 
tended with private benefit to the succes- 
sors of a public benefactor. The difficulty 
attending procuring the perusal of the ar- 
chives of the different institutions of Lon- 
don, has hitherto prevented the historian 
from giving a sketch of the existing connec- 
tion between the estate of Sir Thomas Gre- 
sham held by the Company of Mercers and 
the City of London; but it is certain that, 
after the year 1596, all the affairs of Sir 
Thomas Gresham’s trust were managed by 
a committee of four aldermen and eight 
commoners on tlie part of the Corpor" ■ Ion ; 
and by the master, wardens, and eight of 
the court of assistants of the Mercers’ Com- 
pany. 
